Today’s lore is all about an innovator of science and the creator of the Primaris Space Marine, as we take a look at Belisarius Cawl.
Charged with a daunting task by the Primarch Roboute Guilliman Cawl created one of the most deadly super soldier races in the galaxy. But, what else has he done? Let’s find out more about this titan of tech.
Via: Lexicanum
Master of Masters: Belisarius Cawl LORE
Belisarius Cawl is an Archmagos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus who has been involved in one of the Imperium‘s greatest secrets for many centuries. He first appeared openly during the Thirteenth Black Crusade of the late 41st Millennium. Cawl is known as the Dominatus Dominus, the Master of Masters, one of the highest ranks available in the Mechanicum. Unlike many Tech-Priests within the Mechanicum he does not seek to copy or discover lost technology, but to innovate.
Cawl himself is over ten thousand years old, though how exactly he has sustained his life for so long is unknown. Cawl has been memory wiped at least twice, leaving his own origins a mystery even to himself. It is thought that he has used forbidden alien methods technology with mechanical bionics to sustain his life at the cost of any humanity he may have had left.
Cawl first appears in history during the Horus Heresy, where he was a Tech-Acolyte on the Mechanicum world of Trisolian System. Cawl at this time maintained that the Emperor was the Omnissiah, but disagreed with a great deal of Mechanicum dogma as he felt they should innovate rather than ritualistically maintain. He believed in the human form and refused many of the more visible cybernetic modifications utilized by other Tech-Priests.
However, during this time, the young Cawl secretly performed illegal brain enhancement surgeries on himself in order to increase his own intelligence. Later the Trisolian System assaulted by traitor forces led by Horus himself, and Cawl was betrayed when his master Hester Aspertia Sigma-Sigma defected to the Warmaster. He became disgusted at the sight of the corrupted Horus, but feigned submission to survive.
Later during the battle, Cawl, along with his colleague Friedisch Adum Ship Qvo were able to kill Aspertia and escape the Trisolian System – but not before Cawl absorbed his master’s intelligence core and mastery of cloning.
After the Heresy Cawl was charged by Roboute Guilliman to oversee two great tasks should the Primarch fall. They were to be the resurrection of Guilliman and the creation of the Primaris Space Marines with the Sangprimus Portum, two things he worked on for the next 10 millennia.
At the time of the 13th Black Crusade, Cawl was guided by a Harlequin Shadowseer to a planet that was long-abandoned during the 4th Black Crusade. After battling Orks on the world he recovered an artifact and learned of the Pylons holding back the Immaterium. He was then instructed by this mysterious Shadowseer to go to Cadia, where he aided in the defenses of the world against the forces of Chaos.
He was eventually joined into a reluctant alliance with the Necron Lord Trazyn the Infinite and the duo joined together to activate Cadia’s Pylon array. While initially successful in activating the Pylons, Cadia was shattered by Abaddon‘s redirection of the remains of a Blackstone Fortress into the planet. Cawl fled the Cadian system with his artifact and several allies including Saint Celestine, Inquisitor Greyfax, and Marshal Marius Amalrich.
Hounded by the Black Legion who sought his artifact of still unknown significance, Cawl and his allies were eventually guided into the Webway on Kalisus by his saviors: Eldar under Eldrad Ulthran.
The Eldar guided the expedition to Macragge where Cawl revealed that his precocious artifacts were the Emperor’s Sword and a suit of Power Armour that could heal the comatose Primarch Guilliman. During the Ultramar Campaign Cawl was able to successfully work with the Eldar in resurrecting Guilliman, who drove the Chaos invaders from Ultramar.
Cawl accompanied Guilliman in the subsequent Terran Crusade and was one of the few to reach Terra. Once on Terra Cawl talked with Guilliman of a secret pact with Mars and of his work nearing completion. He then made his way to the Red Planet to oversee its success.
This secret project was Cawl was revealed to be the creation of Primaris Space Marines, the next generation of the Angels of Death. In truth, Cawl had been working on the project for 10,000 years.
Despite his seeming loyalty and effectiveness, Guilliman still harbors a great amount of distrust for Cawl. He believes Cawl to border the heretekal, particularly with regard to his creation of an artificial intelligence known as the Cawl Inferior.
Due to this, Guilliman has repeatedly refused Cawl’s requests to become Fabricator-General. Cawl’s actions have also made him enemies with many across the greater Mechanicum, particularly the more religious and conservative Tech-Priests.
