Sebastian Yarrick

Sebastian Yarrick was born Sebastian Vaarden on Taos III. He was orphaned as a child and raised by his grandfather Yarrick who had served as a sergeant in the Imperial Guard. An Ork invasion later claimed his grandfather and left Sebastian alone behind enemy lines for years. He survived by hiding in the wilderness and killing Orks with traps before Imperial forces recovered him. He eventually entered the Schola Progenium and joined the Commissariat. Yarrick served through numerous campaigns and developed an unusually deep understanding of Ork behavior and language. By the time he was assigned to Armageddon he was already an experienced commissar approaching retirement.

The arrival of Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka during the Second War for Armageddon ended any prospect of retirement. Yarrick recognized the scale of the invasion and defied Overlord Herman von Strab by ordering an astropathic call for aid. He was sent to Hades Hive as punishment and took command of its defense when the Orks reached the city. Yarrick held the hive long enough to consume enormous amounts of Ghazghkull’s forces and became the warlord’s most respected human enemy. During the fighting the Ork warboss Ugulhard severed Yarrick’s arm. Yarrick killed him and later had the Ork’s power klaw fitted as his replacement. He survived the fall of Hades and became known throughout the Imperium as the Saviour of Armageddon. When Ghazghkull eventually returned for the Third War Yarrick was given supreme command of Armageddon’s Imperial forces and again denied the Orks the decisive victory they sought.

Yarrick pursued Ghazghkull after the war alongside High Marshal Helbrecht and the Black Templars. Their hunt eventually brought him to Icaria where Yarrick personally confronted his old enemy during the planet’s destruction. Ghazghkull crushed Yarrick and left him broken on the battlefield. Imperial survivors reported him lost and the Bell of Lost Souls sounded for him on Terra. A Space Wolves priest had secretly recovered him however and their medicae reconstructed enough of his shattered body to keep him alive. Yarrick returned to Armageddon when Wazdakka Gutsmek’s Speedwaaagh! threatened the world and immediately resumed command of its battered defenders. He later broke through to Hive Death Mire and succeeded in sending a distress signal that drew major Imperial reinforcements toward Armageddon.

Appearance: Sebastian Yarrick has pale weathered peach skin and a tall lean build. His visible eye is dark beneath a heavy brow while the other is covered by a circular red mechanical lens. His short gray hair is mostly concealed beneath a peaked commissar cap decorated with a gold skull emblem and red trim.

He wears a long gray military greatcoat beneath heavy silver and gold chest armor. A large golden eagle spreads across the breastplate with a prominent skull at its center. Gold epaulettes cover the shoulders. Brown belts and sashes wrap around his waist with additional skull ornaments and pouches.

His left arm is replaced by an enormous red mechanical claw with thick armored housings exposed pistons and two massive serrated pincers. A small green circular component and hanging parchment strip decorate the casing.

Dark brown boots cover his lower legs beneath the long coat. Gold edging follows the coat hem while layered fabric panels fall around his legs. Additional skulls medals and metallic fittings decorate the uniform throughout.

Personality: Yarrick is severe and uncompromising but does not waste soldiers merely to demonstrate authority. He understands that fear alone cannot hold an army together during a prolonged siege. At Hades Hive his presence drove exhausted soldiers to continue fighting without requiring the constant executions associated with many commissars. Yarrick studies his enemy carefully and has no objection to exploiting superstition when it serves Imperial victory. His decision to turn an Ork power klaw into his own weapon and install a weaponized bionic eye reinforced the terrifying reputation that Orks had already built around Old Bale Eye. Age and repeated injuries have diminished his body without weakening his determination.

Ghazghkull is Yarrick’s greatest enemy and the opponent who has defined much of his life. Their hatred is accompanied by genuine recognition of each other’s ability. Ghazghkull regards Yarrick as one of the few humans worthy of being his enemy while Yarrick understands the Ork warlord well enough to know that treating him as a mindless brute would be fatal. High Marshal Helbrecht respected Yarrick enough to allow him to accompany the Black Templars in pursuit of Ghazghkull. The soldiers of Armageddon regard Yarrick as a living symbol of resistance and his return from supposed death restored order to forces that had been approaching collapse.

Yarrick is an ordinary human whose effectiveness comes from extraordinary experience and willpower. He is a veteran commander with an exceptional understanding of defensive warfare and military morale. Decades of fighting Orks have made him an authority on their language and psychology. He remains a dangerous close-range combatant despite his age and extensive injuries. His reconstructed body now depends partly on a cybernetic armature after the wounds he suffered on Icaria.

His most distinctive weapon is the enormous Ork power klaw taken from Ugulhard and modified for human use. Yarrick’s missing eye was replaced by the Bale Eye which contains a compact laser weapon. He has carried both a laspistol and a storm bolter during different campaigns. His later equipment includes the Pharus Horrifica servo-skull which can assist with long-range communication. Yarrick has also commanded from the Fortress of Arrogance. This massive Baneblade became closely associated with his campaigns against the Orks and has repeatedly served as both a command vehicle and a symbol of his presence on the battlefield.