Ciaphas Cain
Ciaphas Cain was an Imperial Commissar. He was in active service in the last century of M41, and was over 200 years old when he was recalled into service during Abaddons 13th Black Crusade, and it is certain that he survived more than a quarter of a century into M42. Propaganda made him out to be the hero of the Imperium circa late M41 although in truth he was mainly focused on surviving. (However he differed to many other Imperial Commissars in that he would not readily sacrifice soldiers unless it ensured his own survival.) Cain tried his utmost to avoid engaging in actual combat, but would have to anyway to maintain his status as a Hero of the Imperium, which ironically, would involve him in more dangerous situations than any he would usually see as a Commissar. He was responsible for many successful campaigns throughout his career and retired to become a professor at a Schola Progenium. In M42 his Memoirs were published among the ranks of the inquisition. They are Sequestered by order of the Holy Ordos, and are kept and organised as the Cain Archive by Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Amberley Vail
with whom Cain had many encounters over his career, and shared a close working relationship and association.
It is worth noting, as Inquisitor Vail does in footnotes throughout his memoirs, that Cain was a skilled liar and dissembler, and therefore anything to which he refers that is not independently documented could well be a fabrication to maintain his reputation.
Origins & Early Life
Cain makes numerous mentions to his home world, apparantly a Hive World, though he never mentions a name or any feature which could lead to it being identified. However, he shows a definite affinity for underground passages and has a natural sense of direction when underground. He claims that his parents were killed while serving in the Imperial guard, which is why he was sent to be trained as a Commissar. However, it has not been stated in which regiment they served. His record at the Schola Progenium where he was educated and trained shows that his marks were at the low end of average in everything save sports and combat training. He also had a clear disciplinary record, however this probably means he didn't get caught.
Service History
Throughout his service in the Commissariat, Cain seems to have served predominantly with regiments raised from the Ice World of Valhalla. He picked up a number of their habits and slang terms, although he never became enamoured to the cold they enjoyed, or their habit of taking showers in ice water. His loyal aide Ferik Jurgen, was a Valhalla guardsman, and served Cain faithfully for many years.
Currently the earliest extracts available from the Cain Archive tell of his time serving with the 597th Valhallan Regiment While serving with them Cain appears to have been very close to the troopers, particularly with the senior officers with which he had a personal friendship.
Cain was Present along with the 597th Valhallan Regiment for their first action during the Gravalax Incident, where he was awarded the Order of Merit of Gravalax, Second class, for his part in preventing the Tau annexation of the planet. In truth, the planet had been infested by a Genestealer cult who had been trying to spark off a meaningless war over a backwater planet between the Tau and the Imperium in order to distract them from the approach of Hive Fleet Leviathan. It was during this affair that Cain first encountered Inquisitor Amberley Vail, and also discovered that his aide Jurgen was in fact a Null: a trait which saved Cain's life as he duelled the Genestealer Patriarch.
Cain was recalled into active service in 999.M41 to defend the Schola Progenium at which he had become a professor. His participation in these events has not yet been published not recorded, though he would have been of considerable age. Despite his age, given his illustrious past he would most likely have been deployed to the front line, despite any protests he would surely have made.
