Yser
Yser was a man who served as the spiritual advisor for the Renegade Space Marine Sarpedon and the Soul Drinkers Renegade Chapter.[1]
History
Yser was, in his own words, a "violent petty thief" earlier in life. He was a human trafficking victim, having been one of the many men whose lives were purchased and sold by the Van Skorvold Cartel. He was transported to the cartel's headquarters, the Van Skorvold Star Fort, but managed to escape from his captors, fleeing into one of the derelict sections of the star fort with a number of others.[1a]
He started receiving visions from The Architect of Fate, a being he believed was an aspect of the Emperor of Mankind. This led to him becoming an informal priest, preaching to his fellow escapees in the bowels of the star fort.[1c]
When the Van Skorvold star fort was raided by the Space Marines of the Soul Drinkers Chapter, Yser saw the Marines overpower and destroy several squads of security troops.[1a] He believed that the Marines' commanding officer, Sarpedon, had been chosen by the Architect of Fate and was destined for great things.[1c]
The Soul Drinkers were on the space station not just to capture the leaders of the Van Skorvold cartel, but to retrieve a missing relic of their Chapter - a weapon known as the Soulspear.[1a] However, the Soulspear was stolen from them by their supposed allies in the Adeptus Mechanicus, led by Archmagos Khobotov, who threatened to destroy the star fort if the Space Marines did not back down.[1b][1c] Yser contacted Sarpedon and showed him a forgotten hangar bay full of antique starfighters, which Sarpedon used to mount an attack on the Mechanicus's ship and the weapon they had deployed.[1c] The attack was successful, but the Soulspear had already been transported away from the system and the Soul Drinkers had to cripple the Imperial battlefleet they were working with and flee. Sarpedon allowed Yser and his flock to come with them, despite them not being either Marines or Chapter Serfs.[1d]
Yser became a spiritual advisor for the now-renegade Chapter, regularly delivering sermons to the remaining Marines.[1e] He continued in this role, working directly with the Chaplain Iktinos, when Sarpedon and the majority of the Chapter turned their backs on the Imperium, deciding to serve only the Emperor directly.[1f] Yser also continued to receive visions that Sarpedon used to guide the Chapter in their new mission - it was Yser who located the Space Hulk Brokenback, which served as the Soul Drinkers new fortress-monastery and base of operations, after having a vision of the Architect of Fate wearing a crown of stars that provided the Hulk's coordinates.[1f]
Over time, Yser saw more visions; he saw a Daemon World, ruled by a Daemon Prince of Nurgle known as Ve'Meth.[1g] This led Sarpedon to order an invasion of Ve'Meth's planet[1g], culminating in an attack on Ve'Meth's fortress and battling the Daemon itself.[1h]
After slaying Ve'Meth, the Chapter returned to the Brokenback. Here, they were confronted by another Daemon - a Prince of Tzeentch named Abraxes. Abraxes revealed that it was actually the Architect of Fate; it was responsible for granting Yser his visions and had manipulated the Soul Drinkers, attempting to make them fall to Chaos. At this point Yser was killed, as Abraxes opened a portion of the Brokenback into the vacuum of space and simultaneously flayed his mind.[1h]
