"There is no such thing as a plea of innocence in my court, a plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time. Guilty."
- —Inquisitor Lord Fyodor Karamazov
Inquisitor Karamazov atop his Throne of Judgement.
Fyodor Karamazov is an Inquisitor Lord of the Ordo Hereticus, also known as the "Pyrophant Judge of Salem Proctor." A staunch Amalathian, Karamazov habitually judges and does battle atop his Throne of Judgement, a walking mechanical cathedral staffed by several servitors who record sessions of Karamazov's court as well as carry out the invariable sentence of guilt upon all he judges.
While others might act in secret, he instead often leads entire armies to descend upon worlds he finds wavering from the grand destiny the Emperor set forth for Mankind. Karamazov is generally hated by the Ecclesiarchy and Thorian Inquisitors for his actions on the world of Salem Proctor, where many innocents were executed on Karamazov's orders for crimes of heresy and witchcraft they had not committed.
For this Inquisitor, there is no defence or mercy in his court; even the innocent are guilty of wasting his valuable time and are set aflame with the many witches and Traitors he always discovers among the societies he comes to judge.
History[]
Inquisitor Karamazov and his acolyte cadre
Fyodor Karamazov is an Inquisitor Lord of the Ordo Hereticus and, even in those unforgiving ranks, a more uncompromising and ruthless individual would be hard to find. Over the course of a career spanning nearly two Terran centuries, Karamazov has blazed a trail of blood and fire from one side of the galaxy to the other. From the world of Salem Proctor to Ultima Macharia, from Bakka to Cypra Mundi, he is a grim legend, an unrelenting investigator who will stop at nothing to uproot corruption and heresy.
Karamazov's actions are driven, first and foremost, by an unswerving belief that Mankind lives, even now, according to a plan set in motion by the God-Emperor many thousands of standard years ago. His life's work has been to ensure that no one, Human or alien, Inquisitor or Daemon, interferes with this grand plan.
To most Inquisitors, this would seem an impossible task in both nature and scope, but such is Karamazov's unshakable confidence, in both his own ability and the Emperor's perspicacity, that he has never once doubted his actions. Indeed, Karamazov believes that, as Mankind's unfolding fate is in accordance with the Emperor's grand design, his own actions must serve as an essential part of that design, and are therefore above reproach.
Many Inquisitors prefer to work under a cloak of secrecy, conducting business in the shadows unless strictly necessary, but Karamazov cannot be counted amongst their number. In pursuit of his goals, Karamazov can as likely be found at the head of a crusading army as he can presiding over the judgement of Heretics.
His actions are without guile or subterfuge, for nothing of either can be found in his heart -- displaced long ago by a deep distrust of his fellow man. So it is that Karamazov's every deed is bold to the point of audacity, the better to serve as a warning to those who would interfere with Mankind's destiny.
Whether in pursuit of a campaign or heresy, Karamazov inevitably directs his minions from his Throne of Judgement, an ancient walking cathedral presented to him following the Abraxan purges of 930.M41. The throne is well-armed, and its bulk more than compensates for its master's less than imposing physical presence, so Karamazov long ago bound it into the pomp and ceremony of his trials.
There are many ways by which a man can find himself unceremoniously hauled before Karamazov's ostentatious Throne of Judgement on a charge of heresy, treason or witchery. For Karamazov, there is no such thing as a minor infraction of the sacred lore -- even the merest departure from Imperial protocol and procedure is an affront to the Emperor's plan for Mankind and must therefore be punished without mercy.
Clemency, forgiveness, mitigation -- these things are unknown in Fyodor Karamazov's court. Nor is there any hope of defence to be found in genuine innocence. Karamazov has no patience for those foolish enough to appear guilty when they are blameless. Such halfwits are guilty of wasting his valuable time, if nothing else, and are led without hesitation to the purging fires alongside the murderers, Traitors, saboteurs and Heretics.
Wargear[]
- Throne of Judgement - Karamazov is always accompanied by his Lexmechanic who acts as a scribe to record all of his judgements and who is cybernetically linked into the throne itself, and his Execution Servitor who mans the throne's primary weapon. The Throne of Judgement is based on the chassis of a Space Marine Dreadnought and is armed with a Multi-melta. Karamazov himself carries the power sword known as the Sword of Justice and is accompanied by a Servo-skull. Karamazov, a member of the Ordo Hereticus, carries an Inquisitorial Mandate with him at all times.
- Sword of Justice (Master-Crafted Power Sword)
- Orbital Strike Relay
Trivia[]
Karamazov's name is a reference to Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. Its most famous chapter is entitled "The Grand Inquisitor." In the novel, Fyodor Karamazov is the father of the titular brothers.
Inquisitor Lord Karamazov's title of "Pyrophant Judge of Salem Proctor" is a reference to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, as Proctor is the name of a convicted but innocent witch; and Salem is the Puritan township in Massachusetts that he lived in.
Sources[]
- Codex: Inquisition (6th Edition), pp. 50-51
- Codex: Witch Hunters (3rd Edition), pp. 44-45
- Inquisitor: Rulebook (Specialist Game), pp. 54-55