Dominus Librarius Miles Rufus Astartes[]
Aurelius of Paran
While the chapter's forces have been fighting the enemies of the Imperium in the Agrippa Sector the task of pursuing their quest has been carried on by the Chapter's Master of the Library, Aurelius.
Once heir to the royal house of Paran in the Africanus Sector, Aurelius was orphaned at the tender age of nine by the assassination of his parents. His uncle Cornelius was elected by the family council to serve as regent until the boy came of age, and filled the role well. The boy's education in the skills necessary to ensure the future success of Paran was well underway when an unfortunate development occurred. With puberty came the onset of disturbingly powerful psychic powers in the boy. This came as some surprise to the family as psykers were almost completely absent from the Paran genetree, and the family council was at a loss for how to deal with the situation.
After much debate and heated argument, the opinion was strongly in favour of sending the boy to Terra, with Cornelius being the sole dissenter. Then Aurelius himself came before the council and explained that he had foreseen his death should they send him to Terra.
This news swayed most of the council to Cornelius' camp. He suggested that they make arrangements for Aurelius' abdication, and foster him into the Chapterhouse of the Red Guard on nearby Priory. There he believed the boy would have his best chance among the Librarians of the Twelvers whose legendary power had kept the chapterhouse safe through the Time of Troubles and the Age of Apostasy.
While it was his best chance, a difficult road lay ahead for the boy on Priory. Up till then his life had been concerned more with study and politics than the harsh physical regimen required of the novices at the chapterhouse. Adding the mental exercises that the Library required to keep his burgeoning powers under control was a sore trial.
But within the boy dwelt an indomitable spirit. Despite the trials and hardships he endured, and eventually completed the training and survived the implantation of the chapter's geneseed and subsequent modifications.
As a young codicier of the Library he was initiated into the secrets of the Chapter, their long watch for the missing ship of Barbarossa, and why the ship stayed behind in the warp; not to save the rest of the fleet, but to protect the Star Child, whom they had found there.
He also learned of the Adversary of the Crux Crucius, a demon prince who sought to destroy the Star Child and haunted the chapter in retaliation for Barbarossa's attack. But most important was his initiation into the discipline of the Library. Imparted millennia earlier by a wandering Grey Sensei, he took to the skills and discipline with an ease entirely at odds with his earlier difficulties.
Laertes, the Master of the Library, took Aurelius under his wing, and eventually as he foresaw his own end he chose Aurelius as his successor. Laertes foresight was clear, and within a year he was dead, killed in a skirmish with Eldar pirates. Aurelius accepted the robes of Mastery, and served the chapter since.
With the election of Korvus as Legate, he was integral in the plans to take the initiative in their quest for Barbarossa's ship, and planned their course against the records the Chapter had gathered over the millennia.
It was a course that would lead them to the Agrippa Sector, and embroil them in the war that raged there. It would also lead him closer to the chapter's goal than ever before. Using information from the interrogations of the Sorceress called Belladonna Schwartzchilde he uncovered that the ship had indeed been sighted among the tides and eddies of the warp in the Agrippa Sector. He learned a chilling fact as well. The Adversary, so long silent and forgotten, was near at hand, and as best as Aurelius could tell from the descriptions, was the Agrippa Sector's Morpheus Vrool.
It was time to act, and decisively. With a small force of battle brothers he has pursued clues, hints and leads, seeking the lost ship out in the far reaches of space.
Korvus 23:48, 9 February 2008 (UTC) Nicholas Cioran