Chaplain Titus Strome
Titus Strome embodies everything Watch Fortress Erioch stands for; unrelenting duty, unshakeable faith, and an abiding hatred of all things alien. Like the fortress itself, Strome also has many secrets. Strome first came to Erioch as a Black Shield, his past history and Chapter expunged. From the outset he made his every moment serve his duty to the Deathwatch, throwing himself into a cycle of training, fasting, and prayer that caused some Battle-Brothers to question his sanity.
Strome’s readiness was truly tested in his very first deployment when his Kill-team was caught in a Xenos heretek ambush on Meniscus. Battle-Brother Zarkus, the team leader, was killed outright and every other member seriously wounded in the opening salvoes of the engagement. Despite his injuries, Strome protected the survivors by making a ferocious singlehanded counterattack that destroyed the heretek’s weapon-nest and scattered its crew.
After extraction, Strome’s armor was found to carry over two hundred impact hits sustained in battle, fully a third of which had pierced the blessed ceramite and drawn blood. Even Space Marines are not immortal, and their gene-enhanced metabolisms can only survive so much harm. The Apothecaries did not expect Strome to live through such injuries and the Deathwatch Chaplain was called to give final unction.
It was at this time, according to Strome, that his path became clear to him. The quiet strength and unwavering sense of righteousness of the Chaplain kindled within him a lust for life that returned him from the brink of death. Slowly, painfully, Strome recovered from his injuries and was always pushing at the limits of his endurance. As soon as he became fit for duty, Strome sought apprenticeship with the Chaplains and was accepted as an acolyte. For many years Strome served under different Chaplains, being in effect reduced to a mere novice learning catechisms and legends of the Long Vigil. He applied himself to every trial with fervor, winning the approval of every one of his masters before he was finally inducted into their ranks.
When seen without the silvered death mask of a Chaplain, Strome’s face is thin and aesthetic, his eyes lighting with fanatic fervor whenever talk turns to Xenos. Despite his cadaverous appearance, Strome is a masterful close-combat fighter capable of trading blows with an Ork Warboss or overthrowing a Carnifex—just two of the feats to be found in his long list of battle honors.
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