Vulkan He'stan

Vulkan He'stan is the former commander of the 4th Company of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter. He'stan now serves as the Chapter's current Forgefather -- bearing their Primarch's name and charged with walking in his footsteps to locate the mythical lost relics of Vulkan.

History
He'stan served with distinction for nearly a standard century when the Salamanders' Chapter Council commanded he set down his burdens as commander of the 4th Company and don the mantle of the Forgefather. As He'stan relinquished his old titles and duties, so too did he set aside his forename, for the rituals of the Salamanders dictate that he who walks in Vulkan's footsteps, bears his name and bears it with pride. According to Chapter legends, the Primarch Vulkan left behind nine relics of advanced technology crafted or designed by his own hand for his prodigy to find and wield if they proved worthy. The Primarch purposely hid these artefacts throughout the galaxy to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, but also because he knew that even the grandest prize was as nothing were it to be seized without challenge. Since Vulkan's disappearance over seven millennia ago, the Salamanders have appointed one from amongst their number to seek the lost legacy of their Primarch. This quest has been handed down through the Forgefathers, the greatest heroes within the Chapter, and, at the close of the 41st Millennium, it is a burden currently borne by Captain He'stan.

Guided from system to system, He'stan has walked a crooked and winding path through the galaxy, guided by the clues within the legendary Tome of Fire. Though he no longer commands a company of his own, He'stan can draw upon any and all of the Salamanders' resources to aid in his eternal search. Many of the worlds He'stan must visit are in the hands of traitorous humans, alien invaders or worse. Clues can only be unearthed at such places once they have been scoured clean by Bolter and Chainsword, and the Salamanders do not hesitate to bring their full might to bear if such is required. The Salamanders would endure any woe and suffer any loss to retrieve the Primarch's gifts, for they believe that he will return to them only when all nine artefacts have finally been recovered.

Wargear
Only four of Vulkan's original nine aretefacts does He'stan seek -- the others have been found through the travails of previous Forgefathers. He'stan himself is already the keeper of three, including:
 * The Spear of Vulkan - A master-crafted relic blade that burns so brightly as to set even Ceramite ablaze.
 * Kesare's Mantle - A legendary drakescale cloak made of Adamantium-hard drake scales.
 * The Gauntlet of the Forge - A master-crafted armoured gauntlet with a built-in miniature Heavy Flamer, whose molten rage none can endure.

The other two recovered artefacts remain on the Salamanders' moon of Prometheus, for they are valuable beyond measure. One is the Forgeship Chalice of Fire, whose vast manufactorums provide the Salamanders with their weapons of war. The other is the Eye of Vulkan, a spacebound defence laser assembly that stands eternal vigil over the Salamander's fortress-monastery on Prometheus. Of the remaining artefacts, the Engine of Woes, the Obsidian Chariot, the Unbound Flame and the Song of Entropy, only the names are known. Their size, form and location are locked within the Tome of Fire, there to be uncovered as the Primarch's prophecies reveal themselves.