Astraeos

Astraeos was a Librarian of an unknown Space Marine Chapter that in late M32 or early M33 was targeted for elimination by the Grey Knights under the orders of Lord Inquisitor Castus Izdubar, following the loss of the Athaenium of Kallimakus at Apollonia. He and three other members of his Chapter survived - its former Chapter Master, Thidias, its chapter banner bearer, Kadin, and another marine, Cadar. They secured transport on a rogue Mechanicus ship, the Titan's Child, under the captaincy of a rogue techpriest, Carmenta, and fled for the Eye of Terror. Entering the Eye the ailing vessel was captured by the Harrowing, a band of Chaos Space Marine renegades. Cadar was killed in the assault and turned into a daemonhost by one of the Harrowing's sorcerers, Maroth, who removed one eye from each of the other three exiles. However a member of the Harrowing was the exiled Thousand Sons first captain, Azhek Ahriman. When an envoy arrived from the sorcerer-lord Amon seeking Ahriman, Ahriman revealed himself and sought Astraeos and his fellows as well as Carmenta to be his allies. Astraeos, not knowing who Ahriman really was, put his trust in with the revealed sorcerer and became his most devoted pupil, and took his revenge on Maroth by taking the eyes of the sorcerer. Astaeos would be troubled by the daemonhost of Cadar, but chose to not reveal this at first to Thidias and Kadin - ultimately he bound the deamon to himself. Eventuallly Thidias was lost and Kadin learned of Cadar's host, but the remaining two exiles continued to support Ahriman. Lacking a navigator they went to tbe border of the Eye and captured one, Silvanus, from an Inquisition ship on which was Iobel. Though Ahriman was severely wounded, they succeeded and Astraeos, Kadin and the daemonhost Cadar helped Ahriman take control of Amon's warband. Despite their initial tensions, the homeless Astraeos and Kadin became Ahriman's most loyal warriors in the years that followed.

Ultimately Astraeos was sent by Ahriman to be captured by the Inquisition so that the sorcerer-lord might capture Inquisitor Iobel, who he believed knew the location of the Athaenium of Kallimakus. His memories were burned and hidden, making the former Librarian and sorcerer take up the energies of Inquisition. Astraeos was tortured, including by a Grey Knight captain, Cendrian, but managed to escape his imprisonment at his trial before the arrayed members of the Ordo Malleus. Ahriman had planned this, and struck at the assembled Ordos so as to kidnap Iobel. Whilst successful in this regard, Astraeos was struck down and thought dead by the members of Ahriman's coterie, including Kadin - who thought himself the last of his chapter.

In truth Astraeos was blinded, blanked and linked to a cyber-skull - and further interrogated by the Inquisition under Lord Izdabar. He would reveal the hunt for the Athaenium and the Inquisition would race Ahriman to Apollonia, where it was held - having presumed that just as they broke Astraeos Ahriman would have broken Iobel. At Apollonia, however, an implanted shard of Ahriman provided Astraeos with the energy to escape - and revealed to him that it was the Inquisition, and its chapter-militant the Grey Knights, who had purged his Chapter. Offering revenge, Astraeos took it and went on a blind and psychically empowered rampage throughout the lead Inquisition ship.

He would be taken down there, and put into a form of limited stasis by the Inquisition as it raced to Apollonia where the Athaenium was held. There he called upon the daemon in Cadar's body he had long ago bound to himself but never called upon - and was empowered by it. However Astraeos also realised that his fate, and that of his chapter, had been caused by Ahriman. In helping Ahriman and in encountering the Grey Knights he set in motion the demise of his chapter, which occurred subsequent to Ahriman's successful theft of the Athaenium. He began planning revenge, stepping into the warp to escape the flaming ruins of the Inquisition ship.

Sometime later at a temple on an unknown planet two Thousand Sons sorcerers led by a third Calitiedies, with the heads of serpents, hawks and jackals on their helmet, and their warriors met with a sorcerer in bronze who 'bor[e] the marks of ancient lore on [his] armour, and knowing the words of passing from ancient Prospero.' The strange, crypto-Prosperine sorceror revealed himself: "I am Astraeos and your oaths will be mine."