The_Crusader
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So...I've been working on gathering my characters if you will, for a story I'm doing that already have several short stories involved with it. Now my main characters are an Inquisitor and his team of specialists (assassins, tech-guys, his interrogator etc.) Now what every good hero needs is a good villain, and I figured what better bad guy for an Inquisitor then an apostate cardinal? So I've got his back story here and I would love to hear some opinions. Constructive criticism always welcome!
The Life of Victor Raam.
Raam led a relatively unimpressive life, he grew up on Corinth and was drafted into the Corinthian 112th Imperial Guard when he turned 18. A brilliant man with preternatural technical abilities, Raam only just fell short of the requirements to become a tech-priest of Mars and was instead assigned to an infantry platoon. Proving himself on the field of battle time and again, Victor Raam was quickly promoted to sergeant. He proved a ruthless leader, caring little for cowardice and showing no mercy. This earned him the favor of his platoon's Commissar, who was quoted as saying; "Victor Raam is the most gifted soldier I have ever seen. Utterly devout and relentless, he is the true embodiment of the Imperial Doctrine." Upon his Commissar's reccomendation, Raam was promoted to Captain. Soon after, his military career would come to an end. Captain Raam disobeyed a direct order from his commanding officer and was brought before a military inquiry board. The Commissar responsible for Raam's promotion spoke in his defence, citing the "Extenuating Circumstance" clause given in "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer." and how Raam's actions had saved the lives of his men, yet still accomplished the mission at hand. After hours of deliberation by the inquiry board, Captain Victor Raam was relieved of command and received an honorable discharge from the service. He returned home to Corinth where he lived off his military pension until the age of 24 when he opted to join the Imperial Church as a preacher. Raam the preacher was a charismatic man who led his flock dutifully for four years. All was not well however, Victor Raam wanted more, he desired power, power to help the faithful people of Corinth escape the destitution and squallor they lived in. He was made a bishop by the Cardinal of Corinth and his fervour was renewed. Raam then had the best intentions in mind, but if history has taught us anything it is this; some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions. Bishop Victor Raam was still able to do very little, he was a figurehead to the church and little more, possessing no real political power. That is, until he was approached by a man who called himself only Commodous. Commodous promised Raam the power to help his people on one condition, Raam would serve Commodous and do as he was bidden next time he was called upon. Raam agreed, and his downfall began. SHortly after the meeting with the mysterious robed man Commodous, the current Cardinal died, naming Victor Raam his successor with his final breath. Raam was overwhelmed by this, but embraced his new office. Not a week into his term, a document was brought before Raam by a subordinate preacher, Donovan Black. The document was an order to conduct a crusade into the neighboring system on the grounds of political corruption of the highest level. By order of the Lord Governor Sub-sector, the planet was to be pacified and destroyed. Raam had just gotten his first taste of real power, he had signed the death warrant of an entire planet. In that moment, the good man who was Victor Raam was destroyed. The Cardinal watched with relish as his old unit, the Corinthian 112th, marched on the Planetary Governor's palace amidst the burning ruins of the capital. A young platoon captain, and leader of the operation, named Marcus Sturm violently executed the Governor, his family, and all of his household staff, effectively siezing control of the planet. Raam contacted Sturm via confidential data slate, ordering him to pull back and obliterate the planet from orbit. Sturm readily did as he was bidden and for three days the world burned. Not a single living soul remained, and the planet's name has long since been lost to the annals of history. After the campaign, Cardinal Raam again contacted Sturm, complimenting him on his actions and offering him a substantial sum of money on the condition that the 112th would become the church's private military force. It was a risky gambit, but men are easily corrupted by money and power. Sturm readily agreed, and the 112th became the sword in the hand of Victor Raam. By this time word had reached the Governor of Corinth as to Raam's order to annihilate an entire planet. He burst into the Cardinal's office demanding an explanation. Raam calmly explained that his orders came from the highest tier and that it was a tragic, but necessary decision, one that he hoped not to give again. This seemed to satisy the Governor, and for six months things calmed down. During Corinth's week of adulation to the Emperor of mankind, Raam spoke to the public, declaring that he was dissappointed in the "decadent" manner in which the citizenry lived. He ended his speech with the order that planetary tithes be raised an astonishing 15 percent. This plunged Corinth into an even deeper state of destitution, and the majority of the money wen straight into Raam's pocket. He had effectively become a billionaire off the record and quite literally overnight. Again the Governor came to Raam in an outrage, demanding to know the meaning of such an action. The now Lord General Marcus Sturm shot him in the head. Raam again appeared before the public and instituted a state of martial law. The planetary defence force that had answered to the governor was eradicated, and complete military control was given over to Sturm and the 112th. Riots were frequent, but ill organized, and thus quickly put down by Sturm's rightly feared ecclesiastic stormtroopers. Cardinal Raam was overjoyed, he was now the sole ruling power on Corinth, and not even the dreaded Inquisition knew it. Not yet. Raam's reign of terror would continue on for nearly a decade before the mysterious Commodous appeared before him again. This time however, Commodous revealed his nature as an apostle of Lorgar. He stated that Raam was to be trained as a sorceror and construct a massive battleship that would act as the Arch-traitors' flagship in their black crusade against the Imperium. Raam scoffed at this order, for he fancied he had become more powerful then the Dark Apostle. He had already dabbled in sorcerous arts of his own accord, and had more then enough funding to build a decent sized war fleet. Being unarmored, Commodous proved an easy opponent, and was summarily executed by Sturm. Now Raam was free. He could do as he pleased with total indiscretion. Victor Raam had, in the span of little more then fifteen years, become the most dangerous man in the galaxy. He longed for more power, more conquest. And so he would have it. The name of Cardinal Victor Raam would become a monicker of fear and power in the solar system. Of Raam's first encounter with the Inquisitor Jericho Cross well, that's a story for another time.
The Life of Victor Raam.
Raam led a relatively unimpressive life, he grew up on Corinth and was drafted into the Corinthian 112th Imperial Guard when he turned 18. A brilliant man with preternatural technical abilities, Raam only just fell short of the requirements to become a tech-priest of Mars and was instead assigned to an infantry platoon. Proving himself on the field of battle time and again, Victor Raam was quickly promoted to sergeant. He proved a ruthless leader, caring little for cowardice and showing no mercy. This earned him the favor of his platoon's Commissar, who was quoted as saying; "Victor Raam is the most gifted soldier I have ever seen. Utterly devout and relentless, he is the true embodiment of the Imperial Doctrine." Upon his Commissar's reccomendation, Raam was promoted to Captain. Soon after, his military career would come to an end. Captain Raam disobeyed a direct order from his commanding officer and was brought before a military inquiry board. The Commissar responsible for Raam's promotion spoke in his defence, citing the "Extenuating Circumstance" clause given in "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer." and how Raam's actions had saved the lives of his men, yet still accomplished the mission at hand. After hours of deliberation by the inquiry board, Captain Victor Raam was relieved of command and received an honorable discharge from the service. He returned home to Corinth where he lived off his military pension until the age of 24 when he opted to join the Imperial Church as a preacher. Raam the preacher was a charismatic man who led his flock dutifully for four years. All was not well however, Victor Raam wanted more, he desired power, power to help the faithful people of Corinth escape the destitution and squallor they lived in. He was made a bishop by the Cardinal of Corinth and his fervour was renewed. Raam then had the best intentions in mind, but if history has taught us anything it is this; some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions. Bishop Victor Raam was still able to do very little, he was a figurehead to the church and little more, possessing no real political power. That is, until he was approached by a man who called himself only Commodous. Commodous promised Raam the power to help his people on one condition, Raam would serve Commodous and do as he was bidden next time he was called upon. Raam agreed, and his downfall began. SHortly after the meeting with the mysterious robed man Commodous, the current Cardinal died, naming Victor Raam his successor with his final breath. Raam was overwhelmed by this, but embraced his new office. Not a week into his term, a document was brought before Raam by a subordinate preacher, Donovan Black. The document was an order to conduct a crusade into the neighboring system on the grounds of political corruption of the highest level. By order of the Lord Governor Sub-sector, the planet was to be pacified and destroyed. Raam had just gotten his first taste of real power, he had signed the death warrant of an entire planet. In that moment, the good man who was Victor Raam was destroyed. The Cardinal watched with relish as his old unit, the Corinthian 112th, marched on the Planetary Governor's palace amidst the burning ruins of the capital. A young platoon captain, and leader of the operation, named Marcus Sturm violently executed the Governor, his family, and all of his household staff, effectively siezing control of the planet. Raam contacted Sturm via confidential data slate, ordering him to pull back and obliterate the planet from orbit. Sturm readily did as he was bidden and for three days the world burned. Not a single living soul remained, and the planet's name has long since been lost to the annals of history. After the campaign, Cardinal Raam again contacted Sturm, complimenting him on his actions and offering him a substantial sum of money on the condition that the 112th would become the church's private military force. It was a risky gambit, but men are easily corrupted by money and power. Sturm readily agreed, and the 112th became the sword in the hand of Victor Raam. By this time word had reached the Governor of Corinth as to Raam's order to annihilate an entire planet. He burst into the Cardinal's office demanding an explanation. Raam calmly explained that his orders came from the highest tier and that it was a tragic, but necessary decision, one that he hoped not to give again. This seemed to satisy the Governor, and for six months things calmed down. During Corinth's week of adulation to the Emperor of mankind, Raam spoke to the public, declaring that he was dissappointed in the "decadent" manner in which the citizenry lived. He ended his speech with the order that planetary tithes be raised an astonishing 15 percent. This plunged Corinth into an even deeper state of destitution, and the majority of the money wen straight into Raam's pocket. He had effectively become a billionaire off the record and quite literally overnight. Again the Governor came to Raam in an outrage, demanding to know the meaning of such an action. The now Lord General Marcus Sturm shot him in the head. Raam again appeared before the public and instituted a state of martial law. The planetary defence force that had answered to the governor was eradicated, and complete military control was given over to Sturm and the 112th. Riots were frequent, but ill organized, and thus quickly put down by Sturm's rightly feared ecclesiastic stormtroopers. Cardinal Raam was overjoyed, he was now the sole ruling power on Corinth, and not even the dreaded Inquisition knew it. Not yet. Raam's reign of terror would continue on for nearly a decade before the mysterious Commodous appeared before him again. This time however, Commodous revealed his nature as an apostle of Lorgar. He stated that Raam was to be trained as a sorceror and construct a massive battleship that would act as the Arch-traitors' flagship in their black crusade against the Imperium. Raam scoffed at this order, for he fancied he had become more powerful then the Dark Apostle. He had already dabbled in sorcerous arts of his own accord, and had more then enough funding to build a decent sized war fleet. Being unarmored, Commodous proved an easy opponent, and was summarily executed by Sturm. Now Raam was free. He could do as he pleased with total indiscretion. Victor Raam had, in the span of little more then fifteen years, become the most dangerous man in the galaxy. He longed for more power, more conquest. And so he would have it. The name of Cardinal Victor Raam would become a monicker of fear and power in the solar system. Of Raam's first encounter with the Inquisitor Jericho Cross well, that's a story for another time.
