Uriel Starikov

Discovered (world)	Perfidiae V, although some doubt as to the accuracy of this exists
Discovered (period)	c.817.M30
Legion	Thirteenth
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	various
Distinguishing Traits	gregarious, calculated, observant
Flaws	sociopathic, manipulative
Fate	Unknown

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.

I would prefer not to discuss Uriel Starikov.

(Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.)

Uriel Starikov was the primarch of the Thirteenth Legion, now known as the Children of Astarot. By use of guile and deception, he lead the legion in the Great Crusade. He was the first traitor primarch, and started the Heresy, while ensuring he was trusted as an ally by the loyalists up until the Siege of Terra. He would eventually become a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch.

Personality

In a word, Uriel is contradictory. In one moment he can be affable and gregarious; in the next blunt and menacing. The only constant is his unpredictability. He perfected the social arts in his youth, and used his guile and wit as a devastating weapon alongside the sword and gun. Manipulation and deception are perhaps his most favoured tools, and one can never truly be sure of his intentions or actions, even long after the fact.

Ever the decisive pragmatist, who puts purpose and practicality above all else Uriel has no time for redundancies or bureaucracy in his command. Yet he is also an aesthete - a man with an eye for the arts, food, drink, and luxury - and a strange dichotomy emerges, with non-essential elements being removed, and that which remains is lavish and exquisite in quality.

To others he appears careful, and guarded, but also genuine and understanding, a combination that can be quite disarming. Of course, he is a consummate actor, and an excellent judge of both character, and personality, able to read individuals and audiences, and tailor his approach on the fly accordingly.

He leads as a father would his children, and never punishes failure, but will also never forgive a betrayal to his person, no matter how patient he must be to enact his vengeance. He is demanding of those under his command, but does not judge those who fail to meet his exacting standards.

Appearance

The first things people noticed about Uriel, were his easy smile, and his large, knowing eyes - described as both alight with mischief and predatory alertness. He often raised his right eyebrow questioningly in response to unforseen circumstances. His chin was well defined on his jaw, and his cheeks were gaunt. His hair was dark brown, and kept short, high and tight; the top combed over neatly to the back. His face was clean shaven or lightly stubbled. He stood at a middling height among his Primarch brothers, neither tall, nor short. He was strong but not thick-set.

Now a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Uriel is a shape-shifter. He has been recorded as adopting many forms, from small children to, to his original form, to well-known public figures, to twisted daemonic visages of insanity. There is some evidence to suggest Uriel is not entirely in control of this power, evidenced chiefly by his surprise revealing on the steps of the Imperial Palace at the Siege of Terra.

Wargear

His battle armour is no different from any other marine from his legion, apart from being crafted to a higher standard as befitting a Primarch, and larger to reflect his stature over his fellow marines. He wields a Power Warhammer, wrought from a silver-alloy, a curved Perfidian cavalry Power Sabre that had been crafted by his brother Brennus as a gift for their first meeting, and 2 small adamantium power daggers that are concealed on Uriel at all times, also forged by Brennus. He also uses a master-crafted Grizwold-pattern Bolt-Revolver, which has an over-sized cylinder holding 24 shots.

Uriel likes to collect weapons, and has a awe-inspiring personal armoury aboard his flagship the Perfidus Iter, including some artifacts believed to date back to the dawn of mankind, as well as various patterns of Imperial and non-Imperial weaponry.

History

++ Report Request Pending... ++

++ Alpha-Omega Clearance Required. ++

++ Clearance Challenge: Recognised. ++

++ Clearance Level: Alpha-Omega. ++

++ Report Request Accepted. ++

++ Subject: Children of Astarot. ++

++ Topic: Uriel Starikov. ++

++ Authored by: Imperialis Logistica/Corpus Logistician, Merlynn Xavius. ++

++ Accessing// ++

++ Welcome, Inquisitor. ++

When I was assigned the task of documenting the Children of Astarot for the Administratum's record, I not once imagined it would become my life's work. I have spent over 150 years studying and researching the XIIIth Legion, and I feel that I don't know any more facts about them than I did at the beginning, I have merely become more lost in the mazes of their design the closer I got to what I thought was the truth.

But my feelings aren't relevant here, only my observations, and professional opinion, so I shall digress, and get to the point.

Uriel Starikov is the key to understanding the Children of Astarot, but also, perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest enigma of all. All of the Legiones Astartes are reflections of their Primarch's genetic banding, each marine embodying some degree of their Primarch's character. To this end, much of my observations are based on the characters of key members of his legion, then cross-referenced with records and interviews with those who met the evasive Primarch in person.

To begin I will address Uriel's youth.

The following is the official story of the Primarchs life

Youth

The world Uriel was discovered on, was rather advanced by most standards, even starting to progress into inter-system space travel once again. But the world of Perfidiae V was still divided by nation states, with their armies and political agendas. Recovering in the aftermath of a great, world-spanning war, and facing mutually assured destruction at the hands of archaeotech weaponry, the nations of Perfidiae V were forced to use politics and espionage to further their agendas. It was in this 'Cold War' state, that Uriel arrived on Perfidiae V.

Uriel was only a baby when Fyodor Zhilov found him in the forest located on the grounds of Fyodor's estate. As a general and spymaster of his nation, Zhilov didn't have much time for babies, yet despite the cunning, ruthless patience he was known for, Zhilov took the baby in anyway. Zhilov's diary became public after his death, and revealed that while he has no interest in the child, he had not the heart to leave the child to die, and put the boy into the care of his servants. Once he was of age, Uriel began to play games with the staff and children, occasionally getting into trouble for eavesdropping on meetings Zhilov held with government officials and the officers under his command. Uriel was described as an inquisitive child, always eager to learn, and this thirst for knowledge would be what saved Uriel.

Uriel still very young, had walked in on Zhilov and his henchman, Reinhardt Gerhlen during a meeting. They were talking worriedly about the fact one of their head spies had been caught by an enemy intelligence agency. Gerhlen was insistent on killing the spy before he could spill any secrets, when Uriel asked a simple question: "Why?" At first Zhilov was furious at the intrusion, and was about to beat Uriel, but as he raised his fist, the question sunk in - why indeed? Zhilov laughed, confusing both Uriel who expected a beating, and Gerhlen for the sudden change of mood. Zhilov explained that the spy knew many secrets, but he still only knew so much, so he was worth more to the enemy as an active asset - thus Gerhlen could feed the spy new lies to inform the enemy of along with the real truths he did know. Zhilov's nation would lose several of their established but still minor assets they had painstakingly developed over the years, but they had gained a much more valuable thing: a way to control the enemies moves. Gerhlen caught on, so Zhilov explained to Uriel, that if the enemy thought that Zhilov was unaware they had captured Zhilov's agent, they would 'turn' him, or make him work for them instead, while he pretended to work for Zhilov. This way, enemy would believe the intelligence and secrets the captured agent would give them. But because Zhilov knew that the agent is working for the enemy, they could tell him lies, and mislead the enemy into doing things they wouldn't do otherwise. Zhilov noted that Uriel seemed to understand, and decided to educate the boy, now seeing that young Uriel might grow to be a useful asset.

As his education progressed, Uriel's thirst for knowledge, and aptitude for learning did not diminish, and his love for games and play lead him to Regicide. At first he didn't quite understand how to think so many moves ahead of the game, but under Zhilov's demanding standards, Uriel prevailed, learning in the process that patience is a virtue, and that things fall into place over time. Before he was 10, Uriel was able to beat almost everyone at Regicide, everyone except Zhilov, who was always able to stay several moves ahead of him.

Zhilov, a former world champion Regicide grand-master, who had in-part earned his moniker 'Starik' (meaning 'Old Man') through the patience and meticulous forethought that Regicide had imparted on him during his own youth, decided to shape Uriel into a grand-master too. It took some time to get Uriel to see so many moves ahead, but as Uriel grew the concept stuck, and Uriel became astute at predicting people's behaviour and reactions. There was however, an unforeseen circumstance of teaching Uriel this; Uriel began pulling elaborate pranks on people, predicting how they would act, and laying his prank accordingly. At first Zhilov was frustrated by Uriel's apparently immature change of character, but Gerhlen would point out that it was because Uriel was reading people and playing them against themselves - exactly what any good spy would do. With this new perspective, Zhilov ordered Gerhlen to take Uriel on as a trainee, and teach him the ways of politics and espionage.

And so once he had come of age, Uriel entered the world of espionage. Gerhlen placed Uriel in the field, under the direct supervision of an Ambassador, and would periodically check up on Uriel to see how he was getting on. Life under the Ambassador, Valentin Hesse, was not what Uriel had expected, or indeed trained for; He spent most of his time talking with dignitaries and accompanying Hesse on diplomatic trips to rival nations. But the thirst for knowledge still drove Uriel, and so he studied everyone he met, learned their likes and dislikes, and crucially, how best to play to them as an audience. Under Hesse, Uriel's social abilities increased to impressive levels, and as Uriel's accelerated growth kicked in, Uriel gained a commanding presence; it didn't take Uriel long to learn to use that as a tool for his aims too. As the years passed, Uriel rose rapidly through the ranks of his nation. He survived purges, political and military flash-points, and even the capture of his friend and mentor Gerhlen, all the while acquiring secrets and manipulating events well in advance, so that when the time came to deal with an identified threat, Uriel had already won.

On his 27th year, Uriels foster-father Zhilov passed away. Uriel was saddened by his loss, the old man having been instrumental in his rise, and responsible for the man Uriel was. Uriel was chosen to be the new leader, and was give the moniker 'Starikov', meaning Son of the Old Man, as a sign of respect; acknowledging that Uriel was truly like 'Starik', a master of the 'Great Game' that is espionage and war.

Coming of the Emperor

The arrival of the Emperor was not entirely the great event it should have been.

After Zhilov's death, Uriel found himself in a position of power. Zhilov had never ruled, but had wielded immense power in his nations political sphere, largely due to the blackmail he held over many of the governments leaders. His power had let him get his way, but he never controlled the nation, nor lead the people. But where Zhilov was respected yet disliked by his nation, Uriel's control of social interaction had made him many friends, and his fairness in allowing assets to control their fate under Uriel earned him begrudging respect even from his assets.

He had never sought out to lead, but by moving in the realms of politics and power, Uriel had acquired ultimate authority in all but name. Now the defacto leader of his nation, Uriel began to consolidate his power on the planet, uniting the nations of the world one person at a time. He meticulously ensured that many of the positions of power in his opponents nations were held by agents and assets Uriel controlled, assassinating and blackmailing those who stood against him. With impressive secrecy Uriel meticulously brought the other nations of Perfidiae under his sway, outwardly appearing to be nothing more than an era of peaceful foreign policy and unity as politicians and generals alike called for an end to the hostilities and tension of the past.

It was now that the Emperor arrived. Flanked by his towering Custodes guards, the Emperor landed and demanded to speak with the leader of the Perfidian people. Several nations sent their delegations, still believing that they were a conglomeration of national interests without one leader. The Emperor was frustrated, and his searching did not reveal his lost son, just scores of minor state leaders who were disgruntled and fearful of the Emperor's splendour and towering armed guards. Tensions rose as the Emperor grew tired of explaining that the gathered leaders were not his son, and that he had no desire to speak with them, causing many to make preparations for war.

Tensions subsided however, as word reached each party present that finally, recourse would be had, and a formal diplomatic meeting would be taking place. The leaders of the worlds nations gathered, resplendent in their robes of state. The Emperor was waiting with them, and an awkward silence filled the room, as each side waited for the other to speak. But they waited in vain, as words were not why they were there. Gunshots rang out around the hall in a deafening crescendo. In only a few seconds, the grand hall had been transformed from an exquisite and stately room, into a visage of blood strewn corpses, smoke, and shattered glass. The Custodes guards about the Emperor closed ranks in the first split-seconds, looking for the threat, but found themselves confused by the Emperor's calm order to hold fire.

Still only moments from when the first shot had rang out, the grand halls great doors swung open, and a towering, broad figure strode purposefully into the room, utterly unfazed by the dead bodies and gun-toting bemasked soldiers who had abseiled in through the windows of the ancient hall and begun their bloody work. The figure marched up to the Emperor, soldiers forming up behind him in his wake, unflinching at the wall of bolter barrels and halberd blades turned on him as he approached. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, father, I believe?"

And so Uriel and the Emperor spoke at great length. Uriel explained how the leaders slain at his entrance were no great loss, as any man or woman of substance and talent had been recruited by Uriel's networks. And in turn, the Emperor revealed to Uriel his purpose in life, and the role he would play in the Imperium.

Great Crusade

 undergoing rewrite, disregard

Foreword: Despite his youth being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite doubt still being present, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions. I have also examined personal correspondence, of Uriel himself and those who knew him, as well as cross-referenced sources of information to corroborate where possible. I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.

'By Merlynn Xavius'

++

Despite his innate mastery of espionage, and nascent understanding of strategy, Uriel's first forays into legion scale operations were not as spectacular as one might expect given his future reputation. In fact, those inclined to show the primarch no mercy, might even go as far to say that his initial campaigns were laughable for an individual such as a primarch. However, the often overlooked point is that he still managed to win said campaigns, so this may be a bit harsher than fair, although there is certainly evidence to suggest that he was outplayed by his opponents, and under-prepared in his own plans.

Uriel's first campaign, Metnav I, is highly illuminating reading if one wishes to gain an understanding of the individual Uriel would grow to become. In 817.M30, the same year Uriel was discovered, Imperial intelligence made contact with a small human empire, in the Metnavira Sector. Despite a highly militarised society, imperial emissaries concluded that the Metnaviran Empire was willing to join the Imperium peacefully, on the stipulation that they be officially accepted into the fold by a high-ranking member of the Imperium. This task was given to Uriel Starikov, as a means of giving a newly commissioned legion an easy win. And so Uriel arrived on the planet of Metnav I, the Capital of the Metnaviran Empire to formally accept them into the Imperium and discuss their future. However, the intelligence seems to have been bad, as Uriel was taken prisoner with a small entourage of his honour guard, the fleet was forced to disengage from orbit by previously hidden orbital defences, and the rest of Uriel's forces were scattered into the deep jungles of the planet by the overwhelming onslaught of the Metnaviran military attack. From this position Uriel seems to have slowly put his shattered force back together, and carefully engineered a plan to snap victory from the jaws of defeat; regardless of how he did it, what is clear is the effect it had on the primarch. Previous to the Metnaviran campaign, Uriel had no existing intelligence networks set up, instead trusting in, and relying on, the intelligence gathered by the Imperial Intelligence Corpus. Uriel also used no human agents, although there is evidence of numerous human individuals working for him in various roles, none of those seem to have been field agents. After Metnav I, Uriel would form the 'Kokolny', and establish the beginning of what would become a frightening network of spies and assets.

But the greatest effect the campaign may have had is on Uriel's personality, as the person he was when entering the jungle hives of Metnav I was man far more naive and trusting than the one who left it. Upon exiting those jungles, Uriel had become a harder man, no longer would he trust the words of others, more resolved to never again let himself be caught off-guard or unprepared by the machinations of others. This, and the campaigns following Metnav, shaped Uriel into the cynical, and calculating man known to history today.

With the establishment of his intelligence networks bearing fruit, Uriel began to play politics with his brothers, sharing information relevant to their campaigns and interests, and coordinating efforts for the Crusade with his own clandestine operations. From this point also, we see the Children as they are understood today, begin to form. Worlds were brought into the Imperial fold through careful diplomacy, and worlds torn asunder by civil war and xenos invasions steered and manipulated into being by the XIIIth Legion's guiding hand.

Threats such as the Eldar were tackled head on, many forced into the webway to avoid the Children of Astarot's operation. So too was the enemies within the Imperium itself dealt with; Uriel growing into his role as his father's spymaster. The defeated human foes, now part of the Imperium, who sought to covertly work against the Imperium they swore fealty to, were tracked down and brought to justice or slain by the Children of Astarot's many operatives. Secret societies and clandestine brotherhoods were infiltrated or located and destroyed, their efforts to hinder or reverse the Imperium's successes negated with some delicately placed bolt shells. Even dissenting voices among newly conquered worlds were prey to the XIIIth Legion, who actively engaged in propaganda and careful manipulation of public opinion, isolating the dissenters, removing their very ability to become a threat to the Imperium, before silencing them forever. There are suggestions that the Children allowed some groups to survive, utilising their established connections to other Imperial dissenters and networks to reveal yet more threats to the Imperium, although some have also gone further, and claimed the Children used these dissenters for their own ends. These claims range from greed and corrupt motives, to harnessing the evil the anti-Imperials represented, and using that to direct Imperial attention to places the Children deemed in need of Imperial assistance. I have found no corroborating evidence for these theories, yet one such claim seems plausible, as a group of anti-Imperial anarchists managed to enact a coup d'etat on the world of Sarros III, a locally important forgeworld, right under the noses of the Children. This coup resulted in Imperial Army forces being dispatched to pacify the planet, with a small contingent of marine support from the Children themselves. The arriving Imperials found that the anarchists were already dealt with, only for a small Ork incursion (seems to have been a splinter from a larger Waagh) to strike the sector. The larger Ork Waagh would have surely defeated the under-supplied Imperial forces had the Orks captured the forgeworld, as Serras III was the primary producer of munitions and armour in the sector. If the Children did indeed use the anarchists to draw attention to what they had foreseen as the critical point of the campaign, they used but a handful of marines and changed the fate of the entire sector through their manipulations.

During this period, Uriel seems to have also decided that the Eldar were one of the greatest threats to the Imperium, believing them to manipulate factions to the detriment of the Imperium, and as such, Uriel took it upon himself to oppose this threat, entering into what the XIIIth refer to as '"the Great Game"', whereupon they actively sought out and opposed the Eldar. going to great lengths to prevent their plans from fruition.

It seems that with his many fights with the Eldar resulted in Uriel building up quite a repertoire of knowledge on his chosen foe, always seeking to know his foes movements and secrets wherever they could be extracted, often through torture, coercion, and mind-delving.

This lead him to an obsession. I have only a letter from a former legionnaire of the XIIIth legion to support my theory, but I believe that Uriel heard of the existence of the mythical Black Library. I presume that the Black Library Uriel seeks is the same that I found reading the Inquisitor, Enoch Vestin's, 'The Heirs of the Old Ones', who claims that the Black Library is a great repository on all the knowledge the Eldar have, including the nature of the Ruinous Powers. If Uriel knew that the place he presumably sought was a repository of knowledge on the Chaos Gods, it could be presumed that he seeks information and secrets on the gods themselves, to what end I cannot say, but based on his character, I would theorise that Inquisitors of the Radical faction may approve of his plans. But this is all of course, conjecture; Why exactly Uriel seeks the Black Library, if indeed it is the same Black Library that he seeks, is a mystery, but I would go as far to assume it is for the ultimate good of the Imperium.

Before the discovery of Uriel, the Children of Astarot were known by a different name, that has since been lost to the annals of history. Upon being reunited with Uriel, the legion was renamed the Children of Astarot. There is much speculation over what 'Astarot' is, or what it is a reference to. Some sources claim it as being Uriel's adoptive father Zhilov's codename during the 'Great Game' on Perfidiae V. It was supposedly one last acknowledgement of the great man by Uriel. This argument is confounded by there being no records on Perfidiae V of Uriel's existence, or even of the Emperors visit itself, leading one to believe that this is indeed, fake. However, there are a few records that support its claims. Specifically one from an intelligence official's personal correspondence, that speaks of a Fyodor Zhilov, referring to him in the text as the 'Old Man in the Woods'. Another claim is that Astarot is an ancient god of death, secrets, and commerce, on the rather nondescript Deathworld of Dolus IV. Dolus was once a rising star in the South-Eastern sector of the Segmentum Solar, the colony there prospering alongside the squat abhumans found there. But contact with the world was lost, and it has since become a deathworld, full of horrific creatures. In M38 the planet was destroyed by exterminatus on the order of Inquisitor Altese, the reason is sealed. Uriel's connection to the planet is unclear, making it seem that the naming is a mere coincidence, but in my collating sources on the legion, I have learned that when regarding the Children of Astarot, or especially Uriel Starikov: Coincidence's don't happen.

[TO BE MOVED/WIP]

Regardless of his upbringing, being born from his genetic code, the marines of the XIIIth Legion took to the methods of manipulation and espionage Uriel introduced with great affinity; their own innate thirsts for knowledge, and aptitude at deception pleasing Uriel greatly.

Unofficial theories