Constantin Valdor

"There are no bystanders in the war of life and death, no place the battle cannot reach; so fight it without remorse or relenting, for death will surely do the same."

- Attributed to Captain-General Constantin Valdor

Constantin Valdor, known as 'The First of the Ten Thousand' and 'The Shield of the Emperor', was the first Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the ancient Legio Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind. Since the bygone era of the Wars of Unification to reunite Terra and the subsequent Great Crusade launched into the stars to reclaim the lost worlds of Humanity, under Valdor's peerless leadership, the Legio Custodes were an unstoppable force and covered themselves in glory for years uncounted. Even during the civil strife of the Horus Heresy they remained utterly resolute and unquestionably loyal, feted throughout the Imperium as the Emperor's finest warriors.

It is said that Constantin Valdor epitomised all that it meant to be one of the Legio Custodes. Stoic, watchful, fiercely intelligent and - when required - a truly inspirational leader, Valdor was a true hero of the Imperium who never once faltered in his duty. It is not recorded what became of Valdor after the Emperor's withdrawal to the Golden Throne, following His mortal wounding at the hands of the Arch-Traitor Horus during the epic conclusion of the Battle of Terra, but there are those who believe he serves the Emperor still...

History
Few warriors in the entire history of the Imperium have even come close to the martial magnificence, selfless dedication and strategic excellence of Constantin Valdor, first Captain- General of the Ten Thousand. He was a puissant warrior and a being of supernatural stature and gravitas, such that many had likened him to one of the Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions and that he could even have matched one of the Emperor's sons in a contest of blades, and though while this is doubtless hyberbole, records of his existence predate any of the Primarch's creation.

Such was his fighting skills, martial power and physical and mental abilities that there were those, even within the Imperial Court, that dared to whisper it, called him 'Primarch' in all but name. This was in doubt a disingenuous claim, as for all his power Valdor was made and trained to serve a different and far more focused purpose, that of Lord Commander of the Custodian Guard, and to Valdro the petty concerns of conquest and glory, dominion and victory were as nothing when compared to his own sworn duty.

Yet Valdor's value to the Emperor was so much more than as a mere combatant. From the earliest days of the Unification Wars - perhaps even before then - Constantin Valdor was the Emperor's staunch companion, and his loyalty to the Master of Mankind was absolute. The Captain-General would rather have taken his own life than risk that of the Emperor; Valdor's devotion to his master was such that there was no act he would not perform, no deed he would not consider, to ensure the Emperor's continued survival.

So while Constantin Valdor held a rank in some ways higher than that even of a Primarch, and sat at the centre of Imperial power on Terra, he seldom exercised his influence, save where his purview was directly concerned, and then never with ambition or aggrandisement. But should his purpose be challenged or worse yet should anyone or anything seek to endanger the Emperor or His chosen representatives, Valdor was as a demigod of vengeance made incarnate: unstoppable and unrelenting.

Constantin Valdor faithfully served the Emperor of Mankind from as early as the Unification Wars, the Great Crusade and the dark days of the Horus Heresy, in which he was active during some of the most significant events and campaigns that took place during this Age of Darkness, including the Burning of Prospero and the Battle of Terra. During that titanic siege, the Legio Custodes fought alongside the loyalist Legions to defend the Emperor and His palace. They showed no mercy to the turncoat Space Marines. They did not waver, even as megatonnes of explosive death rained from the burning skies, even as daemonic abominations spilled through the veil of reality and renegade Titans hammered the palace walls with city-levelling weaponry. Valdor and his Ten Thousand fought valiantly during that nightmarish battle, driving back one offensive after another.

During this final epic battle of the Horus Heresy, the unthinkable would happen. At the culmination of the Siege of Terra, the Emperor led a last-ditch boarding action against Horus' battle barge, the Vengeful Spirit, where He met the Arch-Traitor in single combat and defeated him at the last, but the cost was appalling. Though they cut down traitors and Daemons beyond count, Valdor and his fellow Legio Custodes were unable to prevent Horus from mortal wounding the Emperor, and leaving his father's mind and soul trapped in a shattered husk of a body. Grief-stricken, the Custodians bore their master's body back to Terra, there to be interred forevermore within the machineries of the Golden Throne. They swore a penitent's oath and donned the mourning black, consigning themselves to watching over their fallen lord for the rest of time.

Following the failure of the Warmaster's assault upon Terra, the Emperor's surviving loyal sons lead a furious war of ]vengeance, which came to be known as the Great Scouring, in which they hounded the fleeing Traitor Legions across the galaxy. During this tumultuous time in history, the war of reciprocity was a time of violent catharsis and retribution. Yet the newly reorganised Adeptus Custodes took no part in it, standing their sombre watch upon the throneworld and contemplating their ultimate failure. Though records conflict as to how and when, it is during this period that Captain-General Constantin Valdor disappeared from Imperial histories, along with his weapons and armour, which never made their way to the Hall of Armaments. The Custodians elected Valdor's successor from amongst their ranks and continued their watch.

Notable Campaigns
in crude hieroglyphs and cave etchings, stasis-locked scads of parchment and gene-sealed tomes that no man now can open. They speak of the towering demigods that strode at the Emperor's side, trusted bodyguards and respected counsellors that he took into his confidence. These crimson and gold clad transhuman warriors took part in many notable campaigns of the Wars of Unification. From the earliest days of the Unification Wars - perhaps even before then - Constantin Valdor was the Emperor's staunch companion, and his loyalty to the Master of Mankind was absolute.
 * The Unification Wars (Unknown Date.M29-M30) - It is not known when the Emperor fashioned the Custodians. The truth The truth is hidden in fragments of the past, accounts of figures appearing
 * Battle of Maulland Sen (Unknown Date.Late M29) - This campaign, known also as the Battle of the Red Frost, was an epic campaign between the Emperor's newly-created proto-Astartes of the Thunder Legion, a small cadre of Custodians led by Constantin Valdor and the forces of the Priest-King of the Maullan Sen Confederacy of the Nordyc hives. Although outnumbered nearly seven-to-one, the Imperial forces were able to defeat the horde of genetically-altered warriors, witch-marked men and zealots of the Priest-King, who was captured by the Custodians. After the battle, the Priest-King was executed by the Emperor Himself. But according to detailed extant records preserved in the Trans-Nordyc Akashic archives, states that in actuality it was one of the Emperor's gold-clad 'Custodians' who was responsible for striking the head of the confederation's tyrant-prophet from its shoulders in the aftermath of the campaign.
 * Assassination of Koja Zu (Unknown Date.Late M29) - A handful of years following the Battle of Maullan Sen, it was Constantin Valdor who was assigned the dire task of carrying out the assassination of Koja Zu, the Minister of the Anuatan Steppes. With her death, Valdor claimed the minster's young son, Ra Endymion, for induction into the Legio Custodes.
 * Battle of Mount Ararat (Unknown Date.M30) - The Imperial historical chronicles tell of the last battle of the Unification Wars, known as the Battle of Mount Ararat, which was fought in the Kingdom of Urartu. During this final battle the remaining proto-Astartes, known as the Thunder Warriors, were slain to a man. The chronicles recorded that the famed Thunder Warrior Arik Taranis, known as the "Lightning Bearer," raised the Banner of Lightning at the final declaration of Unity which established the rule of the Emperor of Mankind over the entirety of Terra before dying of his wounds. It was a measure of the Thunder Warriors' heroic sacrifice that they had all died to win the last and greatest victory for the Emperor. Unfortunately, this version of events is completely false. In reality, during the last years of the Unification Wars, the Thunder Warriors at last realised that their creator had cursed them with short lifespans, and turned upon him for what they saw as his betrayal. Several hundred prototype Astartes of the I Legion of the newly created Space Marines of the Legiones Astartes, alongside a cadre of several hundred Custodians, even then believed to have been led by the legendary Constantin Valdor, that stood in the Emperor's defence, carrying out a merciless culling of the obsolete and rebellious gene-soldiers. With those last relic forces purged in a ruthless act of barbarity worthy of culminating the Age of Strife, Terra could at last be pronounced unified, and the Emperor could turn his gaze to the stars for the benefit of all Mankind.
 * Council of Nikaea (004.M31) -

Wargear

 * The Apollonian Spear - Believed to be crafted by the hand of the Emperor Himself and once wielded by His own hand in battle as far back as the Unification Wars in which He rose to power on Terra, the Apollonian Spear was given to Valdor upon his accession to the mantle of Chief Custodian, and it had served no other since. Like the signature armament of the Custodian Guard, it incorporated both a power blade and inbuilt bolter weapon, though in both cases these were of a potency far exceeding those even the Emperor's elite carried into battle.
 * Iron Halo
 * Misericordia
 * Plasma & Krak Grenades
 * Arae-Shrike
 * Digital Lasers
 * Custodian Armour