Alexandri of Rosskar

Alexandri of Rosskar
Title/Honours	Emperor of Rosskar [Surrendered], the Unifying Dictator, Greatfather Rosskar.
Discovered (world)	Rosskar
Discovered (period)	c.855.M30
Legion	Twenty-fourth
Heraldry/Sigil
Distinguishing Traits	Cautious, Pragmatic
Flaws	Callous, Ambitious
Horus Heresy role	Loyal. His Legion fought in more battles than any other in the Great Scouring
Disposition	Assassinated

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Alexandri of Rosskar was the Primarch of the Twenty-fourth Legion; the Silver Cataphracts, known for their dour attitudes and utter lack of pride. The tactics of Alexandri were highly controversial, but his was the hand that allowed Terra to be saved by the Void Angels and the Steel Marshals. His potential to seize power in the shattered Imperium led to his assassination by the upper echelons of his Legion and by his own brother, Gaspard Lumey.

Appearance

Regal is the best word to describe Alexandri. A huge, flowing brown beard that goes down the front of Alexandri's power armour even in combat. Rosskar's unique sun and the planet's own society put an immense stress on the Primarch. He has aged whereas his own brothers have not. Dark circles have burrowed in deep into his eye sockets and many lines have formed on his face. Even specks of grey and white have touched his beard. All this only adds to his appearance as the iron-fisted ruler of Rosskar. He stands slightly taller than most other Primarchs, but not by much. His Terminator plate is adorned with silver-livery and symbols of the many Vityaz Houses crushed by his hand. Stylistic images of Rosskan Hounds form on the front of his armor, the emblem of his Legion and his own personal crest.

History

Youth

Alexandri's pod was spotted by a band of Woodsmen making rounds on the northern border of the Crazkahn Province. It was a random chance that they saw the streaking beam of starlight in the long night of Rosskar. The men resolved to inspect the wreck, to see if it was a falling light or perhaps a means of salvation for all of Rosskar as was told to them by their mothers in childhood. The men faced a hard, grinding trek through the trees before finding the capsule with the young Primarch inside. The men would not abandon an infant to the forest, to be eaten or worse, taken in by the Witches. The last of them to return was only a single man with a torn arm carrying the child in his remaining one. He had but one hope, to deliver the child to his liege, Elena Ibirien.

The Lady Elena was of the Vityaz, the ruling aristocracy of Rosskar subordinate only to the rule of the Royal Family. Her duty was Warden of the Northern Reach, a vast territory in a impossibly large province. The Lady was virtually able to operate without any oversight from any other Lord or Royal. At first, Alexandri was kept among some other of her charges to train up as a Woodsmen. But it was not long that at the mere age of six, the youthful Alexandri showed great promise. Unprecedented for any noble, Elena adopted him as her own son and raised him on her own from then on. He was not to be coddled, but properly educated in all ways. He was put to the task at only eleven years old of joining the Woodsmen on their patrol runs, and as a teenager sent with them into the forest to hunt.

All proceeded well until a Verestok, a three headed lizard beast would threaten the fortress Alexandri called home. As the beast forced him down, and was about to bring the killing blow, he lashed out. Conjuring the powers of the warp, a bolt of pure immaterium struck the creature straight in the chest. As it fell, the former comrades and even friends of Alexandri among the Woodsmen surrounded him. Witch they cried as they tried to bind him, showing no sympathy or remorse for their actions. If he was a truly a witch, they had but one thing to do now. Kill him. Initially stunned and shocked by their total dispassionate motives, Alexandri steeled himself to respond in kind. In only an hour, all of the defenders who ran out to face the Verestok had been slain by his hands.

Elena cared not for the deaths of her servants, doing whatever she could after the event to conceal any connection with it to her son. Her loyal contacts reached out working night and day in the wilderness to find the hidden Covens. To give them an offer of a new inductee. For the next five years, Alexandri was trained by the Witches and he would never be out of control with his gift again. In return, he would keep the interests of the Covens in line with his own same as his mother had done in secret for years. The bastion was slow to recover, but while a Woodsmen's life was hard it offered innumerable advantages. Alexandri gave incentives to other workers along the frontier, stealing the workforce out from other competing lords with a mere raise.

Alexandri started studying now, in all fields academic, scientific, and arcane. He would press any advantage he saw in the coming years, earning a reputation as a competent commander. Dozens of threats were ended by his quick, decisive action. The patterns of countless monster packs were studied, their weaknesses exploited, and his men drilled into a proper fighting force to combat them. In time, they even surprised all by putting down a peasant revolt with Alexandri leading the charge through the rebels. His stunning leadership garnered the attention of the High Warden Jat Tarl. The man was close to the Governor of Crazkahn, tasked with the defense of the province. Alexandri was no longer a youth but instead a man, worthy of being his apprentice.

In time Alexandri would usurp the position of his master, coming to be more beloved by Governor Wista of Crazkahn than him. The transition was made seamless when old man Jat gave up his power willingly after witnessing how well his pupil outplayed him politically. For the next fifty years, Alexandri worked tirelessly to live up the position of High Warden. His promise to the Witches was kept, with an added stipulation that they would not interfere at all with provincial business. In return for the added clause to their agreement, he made sure Psykers were safely delivered to them for teaching. The days of fighting monsters became a distant memory for Alexandri however, as revolt after revolt was ruthless culled by his soldiers and Vityaz. The Primarch came to pity these small folk he now was exclusively fighting. They had no choice due to Rosskan society, a man with no options is hardly a man at all. It was not unreasonable for them to fight for their right to live. It would be a sympathy that would guide his hand in the years to come.

War of the Three Kings

The initial strike that would start the War of the Three Kings began when the Governor Lerrov of the Xivan province, a mining and industrial powerhouse declared himself lord of his own domain. His aim was to be rid of the rule of the Royals, and uplift the Vityaz even further to ensure their loyalty in the coming war. As the Takautan levies were mobilizing, the peasants seized the opportunity to turn on the rule of the tyrants forever. Alexandri was protector of the realm was sworn to come to the aid of the capital province. His battle-hardened forces were preparing to march was the levies were whipped into shape, right as the Governor of Crazkahn declared himself King of Rosskar using a tenuous blood-tie through his grandmother to claim the throne. A

Alexandri was about to turn his men to take Itar, the city from which the 'King' ruled. To his shock, Lady Elena came out to confront him declaring to him that she had married Wista after he humbly proposed to her. Her ambitions to be Queen of Rosskar, Governor of Crazkahn after her husband won the war were explained clearly to him. Unable to turn his might upon the only family he had ever known, Alexandri complied with his adoptive mother's wishes by swearing fealty to Wista. His armies crossed an ice desert, losing a third of their strength to reach the southern expanse of Takaut. The fighting there had left it barren of life, and the Crazkahn army marched north towards the heart of the Rosskan Kingdom.

Toloveia, the first city able to rise from the war with the Men of Iron, was locked in a deadly siege that had lasted since the beginning of the war. Every day from the start, the fighting had only escalated. Millions were dead, dogs roamed the streets eating off the dead. Alexandri set up meetings with the peasant leadership, who under any other circumstances would fight him same as their oppressors. But the High Warden spoke of the benevolence of this new King Wista. How he understood the blight of the commoners, removing the restrictions on travel, giving them funding to boost crop production, and other fantastic notions. With numbers bolstered by the peasant militia, Alexandri's armies to marched on the Royal Palace. The soldiers defending it were told to surrender with the resolution no harm would come to them, the Vityaz promised they would not only be spared but allowed into the new monarchy without question.

The leaders of the rebellion did not agree to this, but found themselves within the clutches of Alexandri's forces. The Primarch carefully explained that his army now not only matched them, but also had superior equipment, and with the former Royalists added to them they had nearly doubled their strength. It was comply, or face a massacre. They surrendered to his demands forthright. King Rasalov, an aged man in his sixties begged for his grandchildren to be spared. The High Warden had them placed under house arrest with a handpicked guard, ignoring the orders from Wista to eliminate the whole lineage down to the bastards. Months were spent cementing the hard fought peace in the Takaut Province. But soon Toloveia was functioning normally. Alexandri would only have volunteers in his army, not pressganging the militia to fight for him if they did not wish. This was a ploy made by Alexandri, as he had delivered all he had promised and more. The people adored him now, showering him with praise despite the leadership knowing what a conniving man he was.

But Rosskar was not united. Xivan loomed on the horizon, having been one in purpose this whole time. Preparation. Preparation for the inevitable invasion. The war with Lerrov's Kingdom was a daunting prospect. Alexandri's army was loyal, dedicated, and drilled respectably. But it was not equipped for the war. They had double the Vityaz he had, marching in ancient suits of power armour. Their soldiers had more rifles, and if reports from his spies were to be believed a new weapon. A repeating rifle, a fixed emplacement capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. If this was true, the less equipped of his forces would be totally useless. Unable to close with the enemy, they would be torn to ribbons. There was no way of winning against that. That is, if Alexandri fought fair.

A giant navy of Ice-grinders were constructed in record time. Reinforcements from Crazkahn arrived believing that Alexandri required more aid in securing the capital, this time by a more reasonable land route that took three times as long. Along with them was the true complement the Warden had been waiting for. The invasion began immediately, wasting no time and starting in total secret with the forces mobilizing quietly. None of the other leadership besides those required to help initiate the offensive were alerted. For the following weeks people would wait hours to finally leave after trying to seek audience with the new warlord of Rosskar. Xivan was taken totally unaware, a message being sent as his forces looted the countryside attempting to force Lerrov's men into a fight.

It initially worked. Levies formed up on their own initiative, charging into the jaws of the Crazkahns and Takautans. But it wasn't enough. Believing Alexandri had foolishly wasted his only hand to play, the armies of Xivan rallied out to face the invaders. Alexandri crossed a river band in the eastern side of the province, finding himself with the bridges cut off and escape denied. But Lerrov had played right into his hands. Two bands of Vityaz slipped away before the entrapment began, racing out to wreak havoc in the towns and cities. The slaughter was horrific, making some of the soldiers flee to defend their homes. Lerrov was then faced with a dilemma, he could turn back to crush the wandering murderers but put his back to Alexandri. Or he could try to assault the Primarch across a river, though frozen, would result in enormous causalities. Sending his own bands out to face the Vityaz could be disastrous too. As he spent the next day thinking over what to do, Alexandri attacked.

The forward sentries were cut down not by gunfire, but by hidden shadowy assassins summoned up from the infernal depths. A rain of warpfire came down on the tents of the soldiers, their battlements razed around them. Their machine guns were ruined or cast down, unable to be used in the static battle they were betting on. Though outnumbered, Alexandri's forces had encircled the enemy completely and began marching forwards into the center. Lerrov was able to put on his chest piece and leggings, charging out to face the Primarch who was leading the attack as he was famous for. The two never met in battle. The witches from Crazkahn that had been slipped into Alexandri's armies destroyed the King's bodyguard. Scholars have long debated of the truth of it, but Lerrov is infamous for asking why Alexandri would resort to such disgraceful methods.

The Primarch replied that it wasn't disgraceful. Because he won, and would make it so.

Xivan's main army was crushed, the reserves occupied with the roaming Vityaz. A campaign of unending viciousness was launched upon the province to bring it into compliance, the lieutenants and most promising formations being granted trophies of the spoils for their compliance. Any sign of discontentment among the troops was swiftly dealt with, the recordings of the campaign contradictory as the ultimate fate of multiple forces fighting under Alexandri at the time.

The Warden returned to Takaut, a month before King Wista and Queen Elena arrived. A hundred Vityaz heads were piled on a mound at the front of the palace, in honor of the returning ruler. As Wista bowed in thanks, Alexandri took his head and added it to the mound. He would then proceed to explain that if his mother wished to be Queen, he would have made done whatever he could to make it a reality. But she had manipulated him, and for that she would be lucky to live. The display was public for a reason. Though Alexandri loved Elena, truly, he knew he would never be respected on Rosskar if she was not even punished but rewarded for her capricious nature. The old King Rasalav then came out, announcing that none of his heirs were more fit to rule Rosskar than Alexandri, and named him his successor before abdicating from power the following evening.

Lady Elena was to be incarcerated indefinitely, but secretly Alexandri made it comfortable for her as possible at the chosen location. She died eventually coming to respect her son far more than she thought imaginable, despite everything that had transpired. She held a venomous contempt for his betrayal however, one that kept her from ever admitting this fact to him. She died only a decade later leaving Alexandri in the false belief that she despised him vehemently.

The Coming of The Emperor

At first the Emperor's coming was met with glee and celebration. Alexandri himself was glad that there was a man he could call an equal, someone to ease the weight of ruling off his shoulders. He had no idea what the Emperor's actual position was, more akin to Alexandri's youthful days as a unifying warlord. This made Alexandri make the fateful remark that he'd be happy being nothing more than a Regent, managing the Imperium in the Emperor's Name, not his own. This brought a smile to his Father's face. A knowing smile.

This happiness did not last for long however. Upon learning of the Covens existence, the Emperor immediately acted without consulting his son in any capacity. Time was short, the decision had to be made without hesitation. The Custodes were quick to expunge every trace of the societies from Rosskar. When it turned out that some were being hidden from the Emperor by the Secret Police, more purges continued this time in the hearts of Rosskar's cities. A great many deaths were caused as the Silent Sisters joined the fray, to null the effect of the witches' sorceries.

Alexandri would never forgive his Father for this act, but he understood the necessity of accepting it. Rising up to oppose him was pointless, he was a being above him. Disappoint and failure were two things strong in Alexandri's mind. This time would be no different.

The Great Crusade

Never once did the Silver Cataphracts refuse the call to arms when summoned. Due to the massive population of Rosskar the Legion's ranks swelled to the brim, and then spilled over. It was never clear if the Alexandri even once told the truth of the actual size of his Legion. To further add to this blatant growth of Astartes numbers, millions of regular human soldiers were introduced as part of the Legion as the Rosskar Strelky. The Strelky served as a valuable source of support during the Crusades, fighting as an auxiliary force to the Cataphracts main operations.

When not helping the Emperor or his fellow Primarchs however, Alexandri was eager to expand the realms of the Imperium on his own. Using envoys and trusted functionaries, a small portion of his Legion would act in the Emperor's name but obviously make sure certain worlds favored Rosskar as their destination of tithe payment. He searched for worlds either with unrealized industrial potential or low population, high resource worlds. A huge warmachine was forged form the tiny fiefdom he claimed to help fund his ever expanding Legion and auxiliary force. When rumors of a rising amount of Librarians in the Cataphracts came to light, along with reports of witches serving in the auxiliary, it became clear that Alexandri had great ambitions that might upset the balance of order in the Imperium. Still, even if Alexandri broke regulations, he was always loyal to humanity, understanding the Imperium's way was the best way. The Imperial Truth just needed, bending.

His actions created great controversy as sometimes Alexandri would made ridiculous deals to secure peaceful surrender, and others he would be mercilessly swift in destroying whole planets. At a glance his decisions might be decided upon whim, but in fact it was all carefully calculated in his mind. In his mind, all that mattered was occupying planets with the least amount of loss. That is, overall loss. If a planet needed to be taken by brute force, it would be. If a planet could be talked down and negotiated with, it would. Alexandri's liberal approach to dealing with Xenos made some question his methods even more. But a few demonstrations of his disregard for alien life made it clear to all this was not another Aubrey the Grey.

Even though the loyalty of Alexandri was at times questioned, the Emperor knew the nature of his son from the few meetings they had. He was loyal, for he understood a civil war would bring too much needless ruin. And that the Emperor was the right being to unite humanity, just as Alexandri was the right man to unite Rosskar.

The Heresy

It seemed Hektor had not considered that.

Alexandri spent most of the Heresy away at the very edge of Pacificus, protecting newly-conquered Imperial sectors from a series of massive incursions from the foul xenos known as the Yaotl. When word came of Hektor's betrayal, the Regent abandoned his attempts to push back into Yaotl space and sped straight towards Rosskar. There he would gather up his strength and move towards Terra, deciding along the way who held the interests of humanity more. The Emperor's decision at Nikaea had put some serious doubts in the Master of Mankind. But along the way to their homeworld word came of the assault upon it, which decided the Primarch's loyalties.

The planet was reduced to smoldering ash but there was still hope. It was there he met with Roman Albrecht who came to aid him with his own Legion. Together, the Regent and The Duelist raced towards Terra fearing they would arrive too late to save their ill-fated Imperium. And they were right. Arriving at the same time as the Void Angels led by the ever critical Gaspard Lumey. The Emperor was near fatally wounded. Kleisthenes was dead. The golden crown of the galactic realm, the birthplace of humanity, was left in ruins. Billions were dead, sacrified for nothing more than Hektor's hubris.

To the end of his days, Alexandri considered not arriving to Terra sooner to be his greatest failure.

Post-Heresy

During the Great Scouring all saw Alexandri's skills as a general. With the backing of his brother Roman, the Steel Marshals and Silver Cataphracts demolished the shattered Traitor Legions in a whirlwind of galaxy spanning assault. Feeling immense guilt over his late arrival, Alexandri pressed his Legion harder than any other. So much in fact that the tremors of his decisions echo in their very genetic coding thousands of years later. The Traitors would be swept away, and peace would reign supreme once more. But the Imperium never quite recovered from the Heresy, from the Scouring. Everything was geared towards war, and for good reason. On all sides the Imperium faced dire threats, which never ceased in their ferocity or severity.

Before he could make serious changes with the help of Roman, Sebastion Rex had to be dealt with. His hate for the man had intensified a thousand-fold over his neutrality in the Heresy. His Legion attacked him with a zealous fury, Alexandri taking to the field himself which was seldom done. Together, him and Roman faced down their masked brother. In his last act however, the Hidden Rex took the Duelist with him in a suicide attack. The warp shockwave produced by Rex's bomb horribly scarred Alexandri, leaving him physically a withered shell of himself.

Alexandri had lost half of his entire family in the Heresy, but this did not stop him from pushing the remaining members to fulfill their ambitions. Or what he said their ambitions were. Soon his kin spread out into multiple high-ranking positions in the aftermath of the Scouring. One even arose to the position of a High-Lord which immediately alerted Gaspard Lumey of the danger that Alexandri posed. The Regent made no allusions to his actions, purposely inviting several Marshal-Generals aboard his flagship to discuss matters of the future. Whole sectors soon saw that perhaps having not an Emperor, but someone to rule the Imperium in his stead, may be a wise decision. Alexandri would make sure he carried the backing to be worthy of this idea.

The Silver Cataphracts would have followed Alexandri into hell, not out of admiration, but out of the logic that Alexandri would only go into hell only if it was the best option. Now? But now he was being driven by dreams and fancies, not by reality. An attempt to seize power would only bring further death. With the blessing of Gaspard Lumey, one of the last remaining Primarchs, First Captain Sergei eliminated Alexandri subtly. The assassination was made to look as if the age old Rosskan rebels had finally got him. After living through the trials of his own world's conquest, and everything in between during to the end of the Scouring, Alexandri of Rosskar died from a coward's bullet.

Unremembered, unnoticed the Primarch went. A short golden age after the Scouring came, when the Traitor Legions were too busy tearing themselves apart and the numerous threats to arrive later had not yet come. No one wanted to press for details, fearing what might come if they looked for them. Gaspard, even if he did not desire it, had brought peace through his sole rule.