Eris Bellona
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Traitor Rock (Novel) |
Father Eris Bellona was an Ecclesiarchy Priest whose crisis of faith, led him to fall to Heresy and created the Malouri Uprising.[1a]
History
This occurred after news of Cadia's destruction, during the 13th Black Crusade, began to spread despite the Imperium's efforts to stop it. Bellona was serving with a Regiment of the Elnaur Chasseurs on Malouri, when he learned of Cadia's fall and this froze his blood. The scale of the catastrophe made him believe that the future of humanity hung by a fraying thread and this greatly impacted his mental state. Bellona soon began to isolate himself[1a], on the Astra Militarum's island fortress of Crannog Mons[1b], in order to clear his thoughts and meditate on the perilous state of the Imperium. A solution to the Imperium's problems was finally revealed to Bellona, however, when a glowing golden skull appeared to him. It claimed that in order to survive[1a], the Imperium needed to return to the age when Goge Vandire ruled over Mankind. For this to happen, though, a cleansing purge would have to take place[1b]. The skull then said it would tell Bellona what to write, to ensure that a new age of the Imperium would begin. Bellona truly thought this was a sign from the Emperor and he was gripped by fear and exhilaration, as he began to write the skulls' thesis. The responsibly weighed heavily on him, though, as Bellona believed he was an unworthy vessel for the task[1a]. However he successfully did so and soon nailed the skull's words to a wall of the fortress' Cathedral of Saint Helena Richstar.[1b]
Though called Heretical by an Ecclesiarchy Adept, the thesis' ideas drew in the Elnaur Chasseurs' Lord-Marshal, Holzhauer. After seeing it called for a military leader to lead the purging Crusade that would save the Imperium, the arrogant and ambitious Holzhauer declared he would take command[1b]. The Lord Marshal soon gathered others to Bellona's cause and the Malouri Uprising began[1c]. While he was no Heretic and had wished to save the Imperium, Bellona's actions instead led to the deaths of billions of Imperials.[1a]
