Fel Zharost

Fel Zharost was the former Chief Librarian of the VIII^th Legion, the Night Lords, during the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium. Following the Night Lords' reunification with their uncaring and cold-blooded Primarch Konrad Curze, the Terran Astartes of his Legion were rapidly replaced with a large influx of new Space Marines drawn from the criminal elements of Nostramo, who quickly supplanted their original Terran-born counterparts like Zharost.

Almost a standard century later, following the Council of Nikaea and the rendering of the Emperor's judgement against the use of psychic abilities, Zharost confronted First Captain Jago Sevatarion, who was in temporary command in place of their absent primarch. Disgusted by what his Legion had become under the Night Haunter's leadership, he demanded some form of judgement against the Legion's Librarius.

In response, Sevatar exiled Zharost and cast him out of the VIII^th Legion. Zharost made his way back to Terra, the place of his birth, but was eventually tracked down and mercilessly stalked by an unknown assailant. This mysterious individual, a member of the Knights-Errant of Malcador the Sigillite, ultimately offered Zharost a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the Emperor, and to continue to serve Him in another capacity.

History[]

Within a few standard years of his Legion's reunification with their Primarch Konrad Curze on his homeworld of Nostramo, Zharost was one of the few ill-favoured and withering remnants of Terran-born Astartes that still served in the VIII^th Legion. He was disgusted by those who had come after him, the Nostraman criminals who supplanted the original Terran-born Legionaries, and now made up the majority of the Night Lords.

A few centuries earlier, Zharost had been born in the prison sinks beneath Albia, which was the realm of the banished and the condemned. He was raised from this hell after the Great Crusade had already left the light of Sol, though only by a few solar decades. That made him old compared to most of the Legionaries of the VIII^th Legion, but young compared to some. Zharost understood, better than anyone, that his Legion had become willing servants to terror after their reunification with their primarch, often merely for the sheer joy of engaging in such tactics.

When the Emperor passed His Decree Absolute against the use of psykers following the Council of Nikaea, Zharost sought a private audience with First Captain Jago Sevatarion, who had been left in temporary command of the Night Lords in their primarch's absence. He demanded that Sevatar render judgment against the Legion's Librarius -- and against him. Enraged by his demands, Sevatarion leapt upon Zharost, and struck him in the chest with his deactivated chain-glaive, knocking the chief librarian to the chamber floor.

He then rendered his judgement -- Zharost was cast out. He would no longer be of the VIII^th Legion -- his hands were to be stained red. The first captain condemned Zharost to death should they ever meet again. As Zharost made to leave he tried to argue with Sevatarion that their Legion had stood for something once. The first captain rolled his eyes, and dismissively waved the disgraced former chief librarian away.

Before he could stop himself, Zharost's rage got the better of him, and he summoned forth his innate psychic abilities. Before he was even aware that he had lost control, he had used his powers to slam the first captain with a wave of power into the primarch's command throne. As he slammed Sevatarion's head into the throne, he angrily accused Sevatarion and his benighted Nostraman brethren of having murdered the Legion with their cruel and sadistic ways.

But before he could continue his diatribe, Sevatarion utilised his own innate, and hidden, psychic abilities to strike back at Zharost. Shocked at the unexpected attack, the chief librarian staggered back, blood pouring from his mouth. Sevatarion did not rise from the throne to follow him, and with an effort, he warned Zharost to get out of his sight.

The chief librarian returned to Terra, to the place of his birth, amongst the prison sinks beneath Albia. Eventually he was hunted by an unknown assailant, an Astartes clad only in plain grey and unburnished power armour, and captured. Zharost believed that his executioner should at least know the truth about whom he was punishing, and if he was going to die, he would do it on his own terms. Facing his imminent execution, he utilised his psychic powers to telepathically show his would-be executioner his past.

Zharost shared his personal history for an eye-blink of time, showing the other Astartes every moment of his life. When he had finished, he requested that he be allowed to see the light of the sun one last time before his death. And so Zharost used his powers to look into the other Astartes' mind, but was stunned by what he saw -- betrayal, broken oaths, and the deaths of sons at the hands of their fathers. He saw what the vision of Imperial Truth and light had now become in the broken galaxy beyond Terra trapped in the nightmare of the ongoing Horus Heresy. Zharost finally knew why the other Astartes had hunted him down.

Once Zharost recovered from the revelation, the member of the Knights-Errant of Malcador the Sigillite who stood before him informed the former chief librarian of the Night Lords that he had not come to judge him, for that right belonged to another, but to offer him an opportunity for salvation.

Zharost was brought to meet Malcador the Sigilite and was given the choice of joining his Knight-Errants and fighting for the Imperium once more. If he did so, Zharost would be given the chance of ending the threat of his former comrade the Night Lords Chaos Sorcerer Vathras Kell, who was conducting a Chaos ritual on the world of Malec'Nar seeking to corrupt that world's large deposits of blackstone so that the mineral could be psychically charged in such a way that it would intensify the power of a summoned Warp storm drawn from the larger Ruinstorm. This would transform the world into a recruiting ground for creating new Possessed for the forces of Chaos by allowing the population of the world to be claimed by Daemonic possession. Malcador claimed that eliminating Kell would both elimnate a threat to the Imperium and provide Zharost with the needed closure on his painful past with the Night Lords.

Zharost accepted the offer and his fellow Knight-Errant Macer Varren joined him aboard the voidship Achlys as it travelled to Malec'Nar. While Varren would aid Zharost in this task, he warned the former Night Lord that he was charged with killing Zharost, should he betray the Imperium and rejoin his former comrades.

Once they arrived, Zharost could sense that the corrupted world of Malec'Nar was now projecting a singular song of agony into the Empyrean. When they landed, it became clear that the world's Blackstone deposits were being used to amplify Kell's ritual. The two Knight-Errants then fought their way through the world's Chaos-corrupted population to reach Kell. The sorcerer was not alone, however, as he was also accompanied by a group of Night Lord sorcerers who were aiding him. This included Cyfan, Dimav and an unnamed Night Lord. While these Night Lords were strong in the power of the Warp, their abilities were as nothing compared to Kell's psychic might.

Their reunion allowed Kell to rage at Zharost for abandoning him and the rest of the Night Lords' Librarius. It had been a personal betrayal to the sorcerer, who claimed it was Zharost's fault for what had befallen their Legion's Librarians after he left. Without the chief librarian's presence, they were at the mercy of their fellow Night Lords. Despite the Edicts of Nikaea against the use of psychic powers, Kell and the other former Night Lords Librarians were still mistreated and became traded like cattle within their Legion. Kell blamed Zharost for the Librarians' fate and had developed a deep hatred of the former chief librarian.

When the Horus Heresy later began, Kell joined his Legion in betraying the Imperium. After hearing this, Zharost apologised -- before suddenly attacking the Night Lords alongside Macer Varren. The first to die was the unnamed Night Lord sorcerer who fell at Zharost's hands. Dimav was then killed by Varren, as Zharost clashed with Kell.

Despite his increase in power through the embrace of Chaos since they last met, Kell proved to be no match for Zharost and was struck down. Before he died, however, Zharost told Kell that his death was not justice for the sorcerer's actions, but vindication for Zharost's warning to him. By embracing the ways of Nostramo, Kell had become corrupted and lived a life without purpose or meaning.

With the sorcerer dead, only Cyfan remained and he had Varren at his mercy. Before the Night Lord sorcerer could kill the Knight-Errant, though, Zharost killed Cyfan with his psychic powers. With that, Zharost completed his mission and Kell's death freed Malec'Nar from the power of the Ruinstorm, which began to rapidly recede from the world. Without Kell to maintain the ritual, the power of the Empyrean fled from the world's blackstone deposits and Malec'Nar's agony was finally was silenced.

It is like that just before the Siege of Terra began Zharost was chosen by Malcador and the Emperor to serve as one of the founding eight grand masters of the Grey Knights, "The Titans", taking the name of Khyron.

Sources[]

Child of Night (Short Story) by John French
Eater of Dreams (Short Story) by Marc Collins
The Buried Dagger (Novel) by James Swallow, Ch. 7
The Horus Heresy: Legions (Computer Card Game) (Image)