Botchulaz

Botchulaz is a Great Unclean One, a Greater Daemon of the Plague God Nurgle.

History
Within the pantheon of Father Nurgle, Botchulaz is one of his favoured children. This ancient pestilent evil has plagued mankind for millennia. Botchulaz boasts that he even fought the Emperor of Mankind once, at some unknown point in history, and that not even the latter could kill him. Sometime during M38, Nurgle sent his minion Botchulaz to spread his pestilence and plagues amongst the crowded hive-populations of the Imperial Hive World of Aerius. Unbeknownst to the Daemon Lord, he had blundered into well executed trap set by the Eldar. Led by their leader Farseer Kaorelle, the Eldar warriors dropped from the sky and attacked the vile Daemon, enmasse. Kaorelle began the necessary ritual in order to bind Botchulaz, trapping the loathsome creature within the psychic construct known as the Black Pyramid.

Unfortunately, the Eldar were interrupted when they were attacked by Imperial forces before they could complete the ritual. Aided by the Inquisition, the Space Wolves Space Marines and a detachment of Galt Regiment Imperial Guard troops assaulted the Eldar. During the ensuing melee, they seized the arcane Talisman of Lykos. As the brutal fighting continued, the talisman was broken into three separate pieces, rendering its powers dormant. At the conclusion of the battle, the commanders of the Imperial forces divided their prize amongst themselves. One piece was taken by Inquisitor Darke, one by the senior Space Wolves Astartes and taken back to The Fang, and the remaining piece was given to Commander Byran Powys of the Galt Regiment to be taken back to Galt.

Botchulaz remained fettered within the Black Pyramid by multiple layers of arcane ward-pacts, Eldar spirits and the Farseer's powerful incantations. These intricate patterns only reveal their flaw, once every 3,000 years when stars fall from the sky and the Aerius's moons are in the proper alignment. Whilst imprisoned, the Great Unclean One was still able to communicate with his foul servants on a limited basis. During his imprisonment, he eventually discovered the locations of each broken portion of the Talisman of Lykos. The Daemon Lord schemed to acquire these pieces so that he could free himself from his wretched prison. Returning every 3,000 years, in the latter part of M41 the return of the comet 'Balestar' heralded dire portents for the Imperial Hive World of Aerius. This coincided with a deadly plague that had struck Aerius, though this 'coincidence' was actually helped along by the subtle manipulations of Botchulaz and his foul agents hidden amongst the masses of mankind.

Heeding the dire warnings of the Oracle of Chaeron, Inquisitor Ivan Sternberg turned to the mighty Space Wolves for help in recovering the pieces of the ancient Talisman of Lykos, which could cure the disease-ridden planet and restore order. This was to be Raganr Blackmane's first mission as a proper Blood Claw, in the Great Company of Berek Thunderfist. He was assigned to assist the pair of Inquisitors, Ivan Sternberg and Karah Isaan. The Inquisitors had come to Fenris to request the aid of the Space Wolves in reclaiming the Eldar artefact. The planet Aerius was suffering from a deadly plague, and Sternberg suspected that the Black Pyramid, a famous structure of the planet, which was once the site of a great battle of Space Wolves, the Imperial Guard and the Inquisition against the Eldar, could restore the planet. One piece of the Talisman was kept in the Vault of Victory within The Fang, one was to be found on the planet Galt, and the third was lost in the Warp aboard a derelict Space Hulk.

Unknown to Inquisitor Sternberg one his servants, Commander Gul of the Inquisition vessel Light of Truth was a heretic follower of Botchulaz. Acquiring the first piece from the Space Wolves, the Inquisitors and the Space Wolves set out for the world of Galt. When they arrived at the planet to recover the second piece of the Talisman, they found that an Ork horde had invaded the system and that the Ork Warlord Gurg had taken possession of the piece of the Talisman as his own. Ragnar and his companions infiltrated the Ork horde, and battled against the Warlord to reclaim the second piece of the Talisman.

Inquisitor Isaan then used her psychic abilities to discover that the last piece of the Talisman was aboard a Space Hulk, near the dead sun of Korealis. Ragnar and the Inquisitor successfully recovered the final piece of the Talisman after battling the myriad dangers, such as Genestealers, aboard the Hulk. After acquiring the final piece, the Talisman of Lykos was now whole. When they travelled to Aerius to use the Talisman, they found nearly the whole planet had already been infected by the plague. Taking the arcane item to the central chamber of the Black Pyramid, before entering they were warned by what appeared to be an Eldar spirit (in actuality a hologram) not to use the magical device. The Inquisitors and their Space Wolves escorts ignored the warning.

When Inquisitor Sternberg activated the Talisman they unwittingly released Botchulaz from his imprisonment, much to the shock of the Imperial servants. The gloating Great Unclean One recounted his tale of woe of how he came to be imprisoned within the psychic construct, then proceeded to tell them that they had been manipulated to do his bidding all along. Calling forth his minion, Commander Gul to received his reward for his faithful servitude, Ragnar Blackmane quickly drew his Bolt Pistol and shot the traitor Commander through the heart, killing him. Inquisitor Isaan then boldly attacked the Greater Daemon with her psyker abilities but Botchulaz mortally wounded her. The Daemon Lord reanimated Gul's corpse, ordering the revenant to kill the intruders. Tapping into the power of the Black Pyramid, Botchulaz began casting a grand spell of archaic power, animated the millions of the planet's plague victims as Plague Zombies. Inquisitor Sternberg and the Space Wolves valiantly fought the Greater Daemon, distracting the loathsome creature long enough for Isaan to siphon the power of the Talisman of Lykos in order for her to seal the Black Pyramid, sacrificing herself in the process and trapping Botchulaz once within.