Ursarkar E. Creed

"What do I ask of my officers? Merely that they do their duty with fire in their bellies and a prayer on their lips."

— Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed

Lord Castellan Usarkar Creed — Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia

Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia is the 50-year-old supreme commander of all Imperial military forces assigned to Cadia and also serves as the Imperial Commander and Imperial Planetary Governor of that crucial Fortress World. Creed is known to be a tactical genius who has saved his world from falling to the Forces of Chaos again and again. He most recently led the Imperial forces in the defence of Cadia from the massive invasion unleashed on the Fortress World by the Forces of Chaos during Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade.

History

Creed was discovered as a young boy in the burning ruins of Kasr Gallan by soldiers of the 8th Cadian Imperial Guard Regiment following the horrors of a Chaos attack upon Cadia. He refused to speak of the atrocities he had witnessed at the time, and even now almost never speaks of it. However the horrors he had witnessed had not dimmed his faith in the Emperor of Mankind and had also honed him into a vicious and determined fighter. The 8th Cadian Regiment was impressed by this child and he was then raised by members of the regiment, where he learned all the arts of war from an early age. He quickly became an excellent soldier and was drafted into the Cadian "Whiteshields" corps, a dedicated and often suicidal youth force that supplemented the Cadian Planetary Defence Forces. This is where he met Sergeant Jarran Kell, and the two quickly formed a life-long bond of friendship.

By the end of the five-year-long Drussite Crusade, Creed had become a Captain of the Cadian Shock Troops and Kell was his Colour Sergeant. Soon reaching the rank of Lord General, in action after action he proved himself a nearly flawless tactician and strategist. After not only resisting but utterly destroying an Eldar attack on the world of Aurent in 992.M41, Creed became the most successful living Cadian commander of his time, and the only thing preventing his rank from further progression into the rarefied heights of the Imperial military was his humble (or rather, unknown) birth.

In 999.M41, Creed was raised to the rank of Lord Castellan after a successful plot to assassinate the Cadian Governor Primus and Lord Castellan, Marus Porelska, and much of his High Command was carried out at the Battle of Tyrok Fields during the 13th Black Crusade by the traitorous Volscani Cataphract regiments of the Imperial Guard. Creed rallied the survivors and gathered together a force strong enough to utterly defeat the Traitors and rescue the body of the governor from desecration. As the victorious survivors sang their praise to the Emperor, they shouted for Creed to take up the title of Lord Castellan, a special rank created within the Cadian hierarchy only at times of military emergency that would be held for life or until the crisis ended. Three times he refused them, but with no others to step forth and claim the responsibility, at last he accepted, putting him in full command of the Cadian planetary military forces and Imperial Guard Regiments either until his death or the ultimate defeat of the Forces of Chaos.

Creed is now almost never seen without his Colour Sergeant, and perhaps only true friend, Jarran Kell, a deeply devout man who wears the Medallion Crimson, which is only awarded to Imperial Guardsmen who suffer horrific injuries yet have lost neither their faith in the Emperor nor the will to fight on. Creed was later named the "newly-instated Governor Primus" of Cadia, meaning that sometime after the start of the 13th Black Crusade he was also officially named the Imperial Planetary Governor or Protector of Cadia by the High Lords of Terra.

Jarran Kell

Creed's best friend is Sergeant Jarran Kell, whom he met when both served as Cadian Whiteshields. The brooding, silent youth that was Creed and the garrulous, expansive soldier formed an unlikely friendship that has lasted for a lifetime. Where Creed is silent and calculating, Kell is roaring and booming as only a colour sergeant of the Imperial Guard can be. He is a trusted companion who recognised early on that Creed was Cadia's only chance to survive the dark days ahead as the 13th Black Crusade prepared to break upon its shores. Kell has made it his life's work to keep Creed from harm and has the scars and wounds to show for this determination. Kell is rarely away from Creed's side, where his loud, booming voice drowns out the cries of the enemy and makes sure that the Lord Castellan's every order can be heard and acted upon.

Inspiration

The appearance and personality of Ursarkar E. Creed is based loosely on the famous World War II-era British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Soviet Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the American General George S. Patton, and the Roman Consul Gaius Julius Caesar.

Game Terms

The rules for Ursarkar E. Creed and Jarran Kell require that they be fielded together, and Kell doubles as a regimental standard bearer. The rules for Creed portray him at a point between the battle against the Volscani regiments and the full outbreak of hostilities during the 13th Black Crusade.

Sources

Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition), pp. 40-41
Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), p. 57
Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pp. 10-11, 13, 30, 50-51
White Dwarf 283 (US), "Heroes & Villains of the 41st Millennium - Ursarkar E. Creed, Lord Castellan of Cadia" by Pete Haines, pp. 68-73