AKA The Rat King, The Unmurdered, Vermes Invictus, Rat Bastard, Little Rat (by Angron), Angron's Dog (derogatory)
PRONOUNS: he/him
HEIGHT: 5’6”
AGE: 37 Terran years (as of 905.M30)
ORIENTATION: biromantic demisexual
FACTION: Imperial Army (Traitor), 76th Lacus Hellwalkers - attached to XIIth Legiones Astartes “World Eaters," answers directly to the primarch
HOMEWORLD: Civilized/Death World Lacus Magna
VOICE CLAIM: Karl Urban as Vaako (Riddick)
PLAYLIST: here
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RELATIONSHIPS
Angron: commanding officer, lover
Praetorian-Adjutant Agares Malgor: second in command, childhood friend/sister figure
8th Captain Khârn: close friend, comrade
Mors Kapnobatai: adopted son
Naenia Onesiphoros: personal Remembrancer, friend and confidant
Uryskh Velkhadael, Archon of the Kabal of the Broken Wings: abuser, former slavemaster
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BIOLOGICAL
PSYCHIC RATING: Nu (no conscious psychic talent, mild attunement to the Warp)
KNOWN INJURIES: heavy lash scarring over entirety of back, damage to the amygdala resulting in faulty processing of fear stimuli, portion of ribcage replaced with steel prosthetic, various combat injuries, missing arm (late Heresy)
OTHER TRAITS: Lacusan humans possess a slightly increased level of strength, endurance, and durability compared to most baseline strains. They also possess a slight resistance to low temperatures, immunity to a number of toxins (leading to drug ineffectiveness), heightened night vision, and oversized canine teeth. Lacusan eyes contain a tapetum lucidum, resulting in eyeshine. These exaggerated predator traits are more obvious in Lacusans born outside the world's walled cities, considered a sign of the 'Old Blood' possessed by the DAoT era ruling houses. These Lacusans may suffer from a rarely occurring berserk battle-lust referred to in folklore as 'witekai' or 'war sickness.'
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BACKGROUND
Born on Lacus Magna in the outer village of Griseus, Areshkar spent the majority of his childhood learning how to survive the mercurial climate patterns and vicious beasts of his homeworld. He befriended a young albino pariah girl named Agares after defending her from a group of boys from the next village over, intending to attack her for her status as a blank.
As an adolescent, Areshkar enrolled in a university program in the walled city of Fernah-42 and earned a degree in biology. After acquiring a position as a young researcher, he would gain an academic rival intent on discrediting his work, which would escalate and end in a brawl in which Areshkar accidentally killed him.
Faced with prison time for manslaughter, he was offered the opportunity to join the newly formed Lacus Hellwalkers instead, as the Lacus system had just been brought into the Imperium by the primarch Horus Lupercal. At this time, Agares would enlist as well.
Areshkar's early military career was exemplary but not particularly noteworthy, with most of his promotions happening because he managed to outlive several of his superior officers and usually had the highest kill count in his unit. The early Hellwalkers regiments would go on to gain a reputation as beast hunters and heavy shock infantry. After reaching the rank of colonel, Areshkar would be captured in battle against the Kabal of the Broken Wings and taken as a prisoner by its archon.
Areshkar spent five years as the personal pit fighting slave of Archon Uryskh Velkhadael, forced to fight whatever other unfortunate creatures the kabal captured or purchased from Haemonculi for the archon's amusement. He was personally beaten and tortured by the archon himself during this time, his suffering preserving the Drukhari from the jaws of Slaanesh.
Uryskh's flagship would be located by elements of the World Eaters legion in search of their primarch (who had stolen a frigate and vanished). During the boarding action, Areshkar was found and rescued by Khârn after dragging him off of the mangled corpse of the archon, which he was in the process of beating to a pulp after escaping his cage in the midst of the chaos. During his brief stay with the World Eaters, he formed a friendship with his rescuer.
Areshkar would be returned to active duty after SOMEHOW passing all of his psychological evaluations (likely through the sheer power of masking his trauma). Not long after being reassigned to the 76th Lacus Hellwalkers alongside Agares, he would suffer a traumatic brain injury during the disastrous Streptothane compliance, leaving him unable to process fear stimuli correctly. This injury would be covered up by regimental chirurgeons, as would the subsequent mental break that led him on a campaign of merciless genocide against the xenos-aligned human civilization. This event earned him the moniker 'Reaper of Streptothane,' which he LOATHES.
Areshkar would soon ascend to the rank of general after several more campaigns and several more deaths in the chain of command. Weary of dealing with him, Lacusan brass hatched a scheme to rid themselves of Areshkar and the troublesome 76th Hellwalkers and 69th Hellspitters by assigning them to the World Eaters, now fully in the grip of the Butcher's Nails not long after the Night of the Wolf.
Happy to be reunited with his old friend Khârn despite his recent changes, Areshkar would insist on introducing himself to Angron. Khârn forbade this, knowing Areshkar would likely be killed by his father, however the general disregarded this and snuck down to the Conqueror's triumphal hall to meet the primarch. Upon entering and attempting to speak to Angron, Areshkar was brutally attacked by the primarch, however the general would fight back and hold his own for a while (which Angron found intriguing and amusing.) He was then rescued yet again by Khârn, dragged away broken and bleeding but laughing like an idiot. As the regiment's chirurgeons had not yet arrived, he would be operated on by apothecaries Torix Kharyskhaan and Saxon Månegarm. Half of his ribcage was reconstructed after the incident.
Areshkar would come to develop an almost pathological respect for and loyalty to Angron after his defeat at the primarch's hand, often going out of his way to earn his praise. He would be given the Blood Hand battle honor by Angron after defeating a massive xenos warbeast in single combat during the 203-82 compliance, saving the lives of not only his own men but several World Eaters squads in the process.
Areshkar's relationship with Angron would be even further complicated by the events of the Ctenophora campaign, which I will not go into detail about here as I have an in progress fic about this called Vexations, which you can and should read HERE on AO3 >:3
After Ctenophora, Areshkar became a close friend and trusted advisor of Angron, considered a voice of reason by some (the newly minted Warmaster, Horus) and a horrible little enabler by others (Lotara). Angron would often confide in him, seeking out his company when he was upset and trusting him with tasks he refused to allow legion serfs to help him with. Eventually, Areshkar spent more time in the triumphal hall than his own quarters, usually falling asleep there after spending hours talking to the primarch. Struggling with his growing affections for Angron, a half-conscious 'I love you' would slip out one night as he fell asleep. He did not anticipate that the primarch in fact shared his feelings.
Towards the end of the Great Crusade, the 203rd Expeditionary Fleet came across a xenos-held world at the edge of Segmentum Obscurus named Klepsydra IV. On this planet, the once prosperous and peaceful human populace had reverted to a feral state after being conquered by a technologically advanced alien race. During the campaign, Areshkar and his command staff located a tiny orphaned boy living alone in the mountains, speaking broken Gothic and calling himself 'Mors.' The boy stayed with Areshkar and his squad, showing them ways to navigate the terrain and avoid xenos traps. Despite his general dislike of children, Areshkar grew fond of Mors over the course of the campaign and took it upon himself to adopt the boy and raise him as his son. Mors idolized his father, learning from him how to fight and stick up for himself. Noticing Areshkar's affections towards Angron, he began to view the primarch as his other parent, his fondness manifesting as a desire to become a World Eater. While Areshkar vehemently denied this request at first out of concern for his wellbeing, he could not bring himself to deny his son's greatest desire and eventually caved. Against all odds, Mors survived to become a full Astartes and later served in the Eighth Assault Company under Khârn, even enthusiastically taking the Butcher's Nails to be more like his second father and his 'older brother,' the captain.
Having doubted the causes and practices of the Imperium silently for most of his career, especially after the events of Ctenophora, Areshkar had no qualms about following Angron to war under the banner of Horus; he knew his loyalty lied with his beloved from the beginning, and never the Emperor. On Isstvan III, he would slay his longtime rival, the loyalist General Kirkhij of the Cthonian Headhunters (who belongs to @undevelopeddistrict ).
During the Shadow Crusade, he was overall amiable with but distrustful of Lorgar; Lacusan folklore taught him to be wary of those who claimed to have power over devils. He was appreciative of Lorgar's apparent interest in saving Angron's life, having been devastated upon learning that the Nails were killing him. As Angron's condition worsened Areshkar's love for him never faltered, and while intimacy became nearly impossible at times, he would allow Angron to bite him when the Nails-pain was at its worst regardless of whatever injury it caused himself.
The Battle of Nuceria was the single worst event in Areshkar's life. The Hellwalkers had been enthusiastic to make war on the primarch's accursed homeworld, many of them tattooing or painting their faces in his honor. The initial campaign went well, however the arrival of Roboute Guilliman and the Ultramarines spelled disaster. Agares would be mortally wounded during the assault and die in Areshkar's arms, and he would later lose his left arm at the elbow battling the Invictarus who killed her. His power sword, Vae Victis, would be shattered however he would ultimately slay the Ultramarine. Bleeding out and crippled by crushing loss, Areshkar would be able to do nothing but stand by and watch as the love of his life was betrayed by his brother and ascended to daemonhood against his will.
After what he considered his greatest personal failure, Areshkar subjected himself to what he considered a deserved punishment. The Ulfhednar was an ancient suit of living armor constructed by houses Ulver and Sarkal during the Dark Age of Technology. A creature in its own right, it was constructed of flesh, bone, and cursed Lacusan alloy, possessing a bestial Warp-tainted intelligence and liable to feed on the blood of the wearer if not sated by the blood of the enemy. Areshkar had sworn never to use the foul family heirloom, but would come to believe it was a fate he deserved and a burden he should carry for his defeat. He would receive a prosthetic arm and a new sword, Vae Victis II, from Vel-Kheredar; the latter was forged from the remains of Vae Victis, Agares's executioner blade Coffinworm, a piece of the slain Invictarus's sword, and fragments of the Armor of Mars shattered during Angron's ascension.
Struggling to come to terms with Angron's new form, Areshkar would make the effort to visit him multiple times, though he was seldom lucid enough to recognize him. The few times that he did, the daemon primarch openly wept and shuddered, a broken shell of his former self.
Leading the remains of the Hellwalkers and Hellspitters, Areshkar fought in the Siege of Terra alongside the World Eaters. He would lose another member of his command staff, Colonel Syret Ix Raal, following the World Eaters into the Imperial Palace, and witnessed the (albeit temporary) death of Khârn at the hands of Sigismund. He recalls very little of the Siege, having spent most of it in the throes of witekai, or 'war sickness.' After the confirmed death of Horus, Areshkar took what remained of his forces as well as multiple squads of World Eaters who respected him (including his son Mors) and retreated aboard a Warspite-class battleship, which he would re-christen as Lacustrine.
40k Areshkar is a whole different beast and will get his own separate lore post. He has been in multiple AU projects as well but the above is his "canon" timeline.
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WARGEAR
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TRIVIA
Areshkar speaks fluent Nagrakali.
The surma combat blade he wields is part of an ancient Lacusan tradition. It is a tooth harvested from the mouth of a slain Behemoth, a creature about the size of an Imperator titan, which he and his regiment slew together.
Lacus Magna's main industries are mining, forestry, and fisheries.
He is the only known mortal to have challenged World Eaters to sanguis extremis in the fighting pits and won, and regularly fought alongside his son Mors. During the Heresy he hung the Butcher's Nails of a slain World Eater from his belt as a trophy.
While many World Eaters were either fond of him or indifferent to him, there were a number who despised him for being their father's favorite.
He has a pet rat named Till, which is a perpetual. He has no idea why the rat is a perpetual, but he has been accidentally stepped on multiple times by Astartes and regenerated.
One of the Hellwalkers' seldom-used specialties is animal handling, and they occasionally use native Lacusan species such as nightravens and bladecatchers in combat.
Lotara somewhat dislikes him and has described him as 'a smaller, more snide Angron.'
He is a fiend for energy drinks and the most disgusting rotgut amasec known to man.
He's a pretty good father to Mors despite being a wretched little freak of a man and a war criminal.
The amygdala injury he suffered causes him to act recklessly and get himself into Situations. Turns out people process fear stimuli the way they do for a reason!
He is friends with Abaddon. Ask @undevelopeddistrict how that one happened.
Some Lacusan phrases he uses include "devils below," "devils take you," and "by the depths." These are references to a subterranean complex on Lacus Magna called the Devil's Kitchen, which contains a Warp anomaly and has been recorded to release daemons in the past (called devils by the locals), as well as the world's freshwater oceans.
He has freckles.
He used to be a self insert, now he is my Creature. I put him in situations.
I've had him since 2020.
He has a praise kink, but specifically for praise from Angron.
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FICS
Vexations
And Hell Followed Him (from a discontinued alt Heresy project)
planned appearance in Imperium Aeternum if we ever continue it
Naenia Onesiphoros, Remembrancer assigned to the 76th Lacus Hellwalkers, painter and poet
only artist known to have painted Angron and survived, hailing from a family of Terran dangerous game hunters and as adept with a sword and pistol as she is with a paintbrush
portrays war in her work in all its gory detail without a facade of manufactured glory
