Raylan Caraten - Star Leopards Librarian

“Sinapse…a poor choice in evolution. But at least my message will reach the lot of you worms.”

Raylan Caraten of the Star Leopards, at the Extermination of Light, final words.

There are many ways to define a hero: the first to run straight at the nearest danger; the one who shields others from danger, whether they’re known to him or not; the inspiring voice and hand to light a fire in the hearts of those around him even when all seems lost; the legend who excelled where ordinary individuals failed. These are actions, and heroes often fulfil only one or a few of them, yet there is a constant that all heroes endure, no matter the deeds that carved their name into History: they carry a burden. Their courage comes at the price of overcoming the innate fear at the impossible; their dependability comes with a neglecting their own glories and time for self; their excellence comes at the expense of almost everything else. In the case of Raylan Caraten, his devotion to his Chapter and brothers meant he had to overcome his own self-doubts and test himself at every waking moment. It also meant the end of almost every bond of brotherhood he had forged in his glorious career.

Respected, admired and liked through the entire Chapter, Caraten’s turning point was at the Siege of Canumas, where, in a duel with a Word Bearers sorcerer, his enemy turned his own nerve-disrupting attack against him. Only a fast reaction enabled him to almost instantly reactivate his own nervous system, stay on his feet and vanquish the traitor psyker. In immense pain, he managed to survive the rest of the battle and bring himself to the medicae. There one of his closest brothers, Apothecary Maun, told him of how there was no hope to re-establish his irrevocably damaged nervous connections, or even replace them bionically – his nervous system was too damaged and running on too much warp energy to be touched. To Maun, these were simply readings of temperature, energy fluctuation and nerve-response time. Caraten knew what it truly meant: at any time, he could simply release that energy and endanger the whole of the Chapter. Yet he felt the calling to endure, borne from a vision he’d experienced that showed him bathed in light, victorious over a terrible beast, the Star Leopards’ banner still intact: it was no dream of glory, for the ever-humble Caraten craved none. It meant he would be needed for the Chapter to endure.