McNeilllook ot lhe Grohdm ol iourney o monlorturedby o Doernon os o child,who would growlo be(one Wit h Hunter Tyrur, o monwho'swordolone conimile

lhe doemonic.
-l-he yoLrng lyrus was to b I orphaned at anearly rge Hewds a m e r es i xs ! n m e 6 o l d w h e nt h e daemons canreto h s horneworld of Loressaan soatd agr 'world rn the ObscufusAct ng Segmentum throughan ado escentg rl insidiously m r a c u l o up so w e r s whose of healing had c!red many peoplefrorn Tyrus vilage, the Daernon Prince Kholoih the Excoiatorspread a plagueof rnutaton across Loressa. Thrsweakened ihe fabricof reaiiy enolgh {or h m io forc his way from the lmnrateriumrto the d l n d .l i h r e w B i r s u n p r o t e c t em gu se the daemondestroyed Tyrus v r a g ea n d b e g a n the slaughter of it,

VVITCH HTJNTEFI
THE TFIIALS OF \/\/ITCH HTINTEFI TYFIIS

in a heapedpie Over ihe next'few ho!6 KholothtorturedTyrus tak ng an eye afd s icingofi an ear,ihat he rnight s t I h e a rh i so w n s c r e a r n as n dw i t n e s s the destruction of hisflesh.As th leering y o u n gg r l e x p l a i n ep dr e c s e l y w h a th o r r o r s h ew o u l dn e x iv r s t upoi his body,Tyrus despaired and prepared for deathOny ihe t mey interverUon of Wrtch H u n i e rC o v o n i s w , ho had irackedthe daemonio Loresa via ihe trnperors Tarot savedTyrls life The Tarothas gu ded the servants of t h e E m p e r ofr or tenmilennia and, tho!gh the signifcanceof its readings are ofti obscrreto the point of mea'ringles i ts s h o l yl n s t r u d o ni s s a d to be mbued w t h t h e E m p e r os rown w I Suchindeedseerns to havebeen the casea5 Covons, clad n a massive sut of elaborate y too ed armour intrkatelycaruedwth decofative scrollwork and flLrting, materlalised with folr Sreyarmoured anges of i n t h e v i a g es q u a r e . destr!cton The daemongirl pausedin her gfuesome handwork a n di u r n e dt o f a c et h e Wrich H!nter, a hiss

the combatants as the creat!rwas banrshed backto the he fronr ivherce it came,and Tyrls watchdas one of the angelsb!rned the corpsein the ceansing f reof tsweapon. Tyrus, almostb indedby pain and blood loss,staggered to the edgeof the b a,e, hisskln blister ng in the infernal heat and spat his hatred nto the f l a m e sH . ecursed thedaemon s name and,as an armouredga!ntlet sett ed o n h s s h o l l d e rh e o o k e du p n t o t h e sternteaturesot Covonis and knew that thre was on y one paih open to h m now Tyrus becameCovonls apprentice and jo!rneyed backto the p trorn wh ch Covons orbiiingstarsh a n di h e C r e yK n i g h t ( sa sT y r u s would laier know ihem) had ie eported He arsimlaiedthe wondeE of techrology and the waysof the Witch Hunier with a,al on y the truly dedicated can mlster l-lewas glJtedwith cybernet c replacements for his rn ssng eye and ear and Covofls nnructedhinr r the path of ihe Wiich Hunter,the took and methods at theif d sposal and, lastly, the heresy of the daemonic. Never beforehad Covonisknown an acoyie to maner the Rtes ot Detestation so q u c k l y o f o n ew h o s e p o u sd e v o t i o n As the yearsot inienseiraining passed, Tyrus grew to manhoodwith his hatred o f d a e m o na s n dt h o s e whowould growing consodwith suchcreatures stro'rger with eacbpaqsing day. He m a s t e r ew deapons marualskik and the rtes by wh ch ihe daernon could be vanquished. Suchwas h s sirengthof devotionto the immodal 6od Ernperor that hisword alonecouldstay the hand of a daemonic creatur and cause it to reel r pa n ai his fery zealand d e v o t i o i M a n yb a s e a n dr e p u l s v e creaiures of the warp were destfoyed by Tyrus and h s master, lrti a faiefll b a t te i n t h e r o y a l a u d i e n c ce h a m b eo rf Eps on Regalis. The Ernperor's Taroi had led Covons and lyrus io the palaces of Regalis'great and rnightyin search of deviancyThe monarchy of proiened their Epson Regalis rnocence,b!t Covonis was adamant; they would faceTral by Holy seal.

Tyrus was dragged t h e v l l a g e ,r n a r n

the mightyfig!re

gnl.Three of the

Covonis swung his

glitteringarc and beheaded the shf ek ng daemon r, daemonic energy

'-h.;:

50 lHf lNQUlStTtOll

Inio the palrns of eachmemberof the royaltamily Covonrs placeda leaiureless wax tab et and heatedan nquisitorial seal When the sealglowed w t h h e a i ,c o v o n i s explained h,e w o ! l d press it inio the wax !pon eachof ihelr palms.Ihose whosefleshwas burned would know the ful wrath of the I n q u i s i t i ow n ,h i e t h o s e w h o l es k i n remained unblernrshed would have thelr innocence dlsplayed for all to see. As Covons pressed the sealinto the f rst ouistretched hand,the human f e a t u r eo s f t h e K n g s d a u g h t es rp l t apad rnio the leeringface of a daemon Wo6e, it was a daemonCovonisknew; Kholothihe Excoriator ln an nstantthe daemonwas free and dealta mortal blow to the venerable Wtch Hunter As he fell, the lastvestgesof humanity were castfrorn ihe face, of the captives and the daemons werefree. Tyrls quicklyswept up Covonis'powef knife and sei about hirnself with terriblefury a n dr g h t e o u s a n g e rh i sh e a db u r n i n g with vengeance. The lesser thrail d a e m o nis n K h o o t h ! s e r u i cw e e r en o matchfor Tyrus, and at last he and Kholoihstoodfaceto face the sole nguresleft standing rn the eorespatiered audience chamber The two enernies fought a duelthat had beenfive decades in the making, and almostkil/edthe Wiich Hunter's apprenticeBellowing word, of holy purty that the daemonh forbiddento withstand, Tyrus fought with the strengthof the Emperor. The bitter foes tradedblows,eachgrievous enoughto

feli a lesser being Sheefforceof wil kept lyrls siandingand, as he grappled with the daemon, serrnons of preiyand devotionspiling from hrs ipr, he punchedCovonrsweapo'rthroughthe daemons chest,draggingout its still beatingheart and crushedt in his gaunueted f st. Ihe daemongr nnedas it died spout'rg blasphemous oaths ihat promised ihe Wtch Hunterihat ihey wou d meet againand ihat i had alreadywatchedh m die a thousand times Suspecting the corupiion of the roya famry e)(tended to the planet's populatro'rTyruslaunched a bloody purgeof the s!rounding citiesihat raw ters ot thousands bufnedat the stake to ensure the purty of tpsilo'r Regals Tyrus took h s manerl suit of armour as h s own a'rd repared the damage which the daemonhad wrought on /ts holy fabric Covonis masters elevated Tyrus to the statusof Wtch Hlnter and grantedh m the full remitof an l m p e r i al r q u i s i t o r l f h i se x p e f ences with Covonishad taught hlm anyihrng, it wa, that there was only room for one specesin the Salaryand ihat was H!manity.His p!rges ot aliens, heretrcs and war ockshavebecomeegendary amongn eventhe mon punianrcai lnquisito|5. A fierceMonodorninart, Tyrus'quesiio exierrninate heresy, witchcraftand alieninf !ence has carriedhim from one sideof the galaxy to ihe other his rousingorations tanningthe flamesof zealand fath on everyplanethe purges. After the Cland War on Dantis ll against the Tyran ds,

Tyrrsrecruted Sergeani Stone,an lmperialCuardveteranwho was one of o i l y t h r e er u r v v o r s of a bionically atefed cornpany of the Lostok23rd Stones aggressive'ress and devotionto duty madehirn an idealmemberof Duringthe Treachery of Hanuchek, joined tofceswth Devoiee Tyrus Ma icani,a discipeof the Redenrpiionist faith ,pawnedon Necromunda, who ed h s fanatical army on a holy crusadeThe battieto destroy H a n u c h ea kl l b u t a n n i h i l a t e d Mallcantl folowe6 and, at ih gladly concusion,ihe Redemptionist accompan ed Ty.usin h s pufges.In pu^u t ot the (in hls eyes)heretic journeyed l n q u r s i oL f c h t e n s t e iT n, yrus io the world of KansCephalon, where he recruiied ihe Securit Enforcr Barbaretta. Her help in invenigaiingthe rnuta'rtuprislngs, which Tyrusbelleved might havebeenspo'rsored by Emssary Fabian, was invallable,and she has provento be a worihy addrtionto the W ich Hlnter s retinue TyrLrs continues to purs!e ihe unholt purgethe unclean and smitethe unworthy.it is h s holy task to bringthe tife of ihe Emperor to thosewho need it most and destroythosewho would see ts light dimmed Tyrul reliance on methods first usedthousands of years ago rs reassurlng to manypeople,who seethe gullt or inrocenceof his subjects determined by the will of the Emperor Himself.

THrrNQursrflOlit 5l