Nomir Astelan

[anaris]

Let the Emperor guide you,

He is the Light, by his Will are we set free.

Let the Emperor fortify you,

We move at his Word, we are his Word and it shall armour us; his Word shall set us free.

We are the Chosen of the Emperor,

For by His Word shall Light be brought to the universe.

- The Hymn of Fortification


Players Name: Anaris
Name: Nomir Alestan
Race & Gender: ‘Human’, male
Age, Actual and Apparent: A little over ten thousand, apparently no more than three hundred or so.
Height & Build: Large and heavily built, without armour. A big man, even for a Marine.
Hair & Eyes: Black and grey, respectively.
Physical Description: Nomir’s tendency is to adopt cloaks and robes, in keeping with the modern Dark Angels. However, he will readily display his features, as scars, service studs and eight feet of height tend to achieve what kind words and bribery cannot. He has a sculpted nobility to his face, weathered by much combat. He lacks flesh on it, the skin tight with age and weathered with the beginnings of the unnatural tan of those who use a flamer too often. Added to the darkly gaunt face is an air of sleeplessness. Weary eyes and the set of his muscles seem to imply that he hasn’t slept in the three centuries his service studs show him to have seen. Those three studs, standard for Marines, are driven into his skull above his right eye, among a network of fine scars. The rest of his body is standard Space Marine fare: not human by any stretch of medical or even casual examination. A Black Carapace requires a lot of explaining in hospitals.
Career & General Skills: About what you’d expect from a ten thousand year old Marine, even if much of that has been spent in hibernation. He is confidently expert with standard Imperial battle gear, including his personal choice of flamer and chainsword, as well as possessing an excellent understanding of strategy and tactics. Also, he has of course undergone all of the Marine implantations. One of those nineteen, the progenoid in his abdomen, has been removed at a later date.
Weapons: One black market flamer, obtained no doubt through some nefarious dealing. He also carries a chainsword, doubtless of the same pedigree. Assorted backup weaponry, an array of knives, grenades and the like, all equally illegal-looking.
Armor: Power Armour by preference, but a Marine with his own set, particularly such a fine one, would raise eyebrows, and so his ancient suit has been stashed somewhere and doesn’t see the light of day. His protection comes from scavenged scraps and, of course, the Carapace.
Equipment: Nomir generally travels light. His physique requires little food, and he’s been operating basically non-stop on the Catalepsean node for the last three centuries, so neither bedroll nor rations are brought. He can, however, carry a lot of whatever is needed, thanks to the Biscopea.
Personality Description: Alestan has been betrayed by his Primarch and the Imperium. He doesn’t seek to destroy it, however. There is a sadness in him at the loss of the Crusade, but he seeks to continue it in his own way. Although it isn’t clear to look at him, Nomir is a man who once walked with the Emperor himself. His quiet faith isn’t in the God-Emperor, great warp-borne protector of mankind, but in mankind itself, and it is, in its own way, unshakable. As such, Alestan tends to act carefully, with great respect for the lives of the innocent. He doesn’t mouth the Catechisms of Hate in a crisis, instead opting for the Hymn of Fortification, and that says a lot about his outlook on life. In peaceful situations, he tends to possess a quality quite out of keeping with his apparent inhumanity and even his Chapter, a tendency to talk, often at great length. He is largely friendly, outside of battle, in part because of his long isolation.
Background: As far as can be checked: Nomir Alestan served the Dark Angels Chapter with distinction for over three centuries. His list of engagements and honourable victories is impressive and lengthy. However, he never rose above his initial rank, lacking the urge to command. The official records record his loss to Chaos on a world in the Carcharodon Cluster, along with most of his squad.

According to Alestan, however, the incident is a different story. “One of our number turned to the Archenemy and opened fire on the others. We were caught by surprise, and suffered heavy losses. We eventually brought him down, although our leader was wounded, and many of my brethren were either injured or dead. Upon checking the bodies, I noticed a missing member of our squad. It was discovered that he had left, and intended to report our loss. Apparently, he had misunderstood, and declared that we were servants of Chaos, having seen us open fire on one of our brothers, but not his initial shots. The rest of my squad was lost to the world, and only I survived to escape.” To all chemical, psychic or physiological tests, Alestan is telling the truth (and no, he doesn’t have the innate power to fool lie detecting tests).

In truth, Nomir Alestan is a pre-Heresy Marine, although he has spent much of the intervening time asleep, thanks to the Sus-an Membrane and Mucranoid. He recently awoke aboard a Rogue Trader ship, encased in a guardian sarcophagus and on his way to be sold to the Dark Angels. Naturally, he didn’t allow that. His three service studs represent the three centuries of conflict he is willing to lay claim to: Two pre-Heresy, fighting alongside the Emperor, and one of those before the discovery of the Lion. The third stud is that since his awakening. His other studs have been pried out and the skin scarred to cover their marks.

His history with the Dark Angels Chapter is a deception. The Adeptus Astartes, even the Angels, have stagnated, and thus the authority codes of Alestan and his superiors still granted remote access to the Rock’s cogitators. The records were altered and inserted by the best crackers someone else’s money and an eight foot giant capable of punching through a wall could buy. Coupled with Alestan’s greater understanding of the ancient technology, the alterations are for all practical purposes undetectable.
Religion: Humanistic, although he will swear by the Emperor. Never the God-Emperor.
Goals: The Great Crusade and all that it represents, on the grand scale, but on a more personal level, to be left alone by the Angels who hunt his kind.