Erridan Kraus

Erridan Kraus is a Magos Explorator from the Forge World of Stygies VIII. Having served as a Secutor upon Stygies VIII, Erridan decided he best served his family and the Omnissiah by not staying within his forge but going forth into the void of space to hunt down and destroy xenos threats to the Mechanicum and the Imperium. However, he does this not out of duty to either empire but so that he may acquire advanced xeno technology or long lost archeo-tech. This mentality led him down the path to that of a Magos Explorator. With his Explorator Fleet VX-7743.II, Erridan Kraus has ventured across the Segmentum Pacificus, searching for scraps of data upon Space Hulks, xenos worlds, and human held worlds should even a rumor of lost knowledge or technology be heard to be upon it. Now he ventures into the Eressa Sector within the Segmentum Pacificus for a multitude of reasons known only to himself.

Early Life
Born to Voral and Kassandra Kraus, ruling Magi of a minor forge upon Stygies VIII, Erridan was raised wealthy and surrounded by the best teachers and soldiers his father had at his disposal. As a boy, Erridan became enthralled with technology like most children raised amongst the Magi of a Forge World. He showed a great interest in the Skitarii and their weapons, asking question after question about them to his father. Magos Voral believed that Erridan would make a great Magos one day due to his natural curiosity and strength of will, for Erridan was a stubborn child and firm in his beliefs even from a young age. He dreamed that Erridan would one day be leading the family's Skitarii into battle against vile xenos and bring back the spoils of war to the family's forge wherein they may exploit the rewards for their own gain.

Like many young boys, Erridan was rowdy and aggressive, giving his mother no end of headaches but making his father proud due to cementing the belief that his son would be the key to making his minor Forge into a great one with the conquests and spoils he would bring from war. Encouraged by his father, Erridan was trained to fight, learning to use various weapons from a young age, which, unexpectedly for his father, saw him grow violent by constantly picking fights with other children. Ever since he was 5, Erridan showed a particular aptitude for violence which became apparent when he began picking fights with older children of other Magi families and, despite being younger, left his opponents with bloody noses, bruises, and occasionally broken bones, though he had his fair share of those as well. Many Magi viewed Erridan as troublesome and he would garner many enemies throughout his younger years.

Whereas his father trained him to become a solider, Erridan's mother taught him the ideals of fairness, respect, and tradition. Erridan became a fanatical follower of the Omnissiah and the Machine Cult, seeing the Emperor as the Omnissiah incarnate and all technology as sacred, from the most humble cogitator to Emperor-Class Battleships. Erridan ensures every single rite and litany is perfectly performed before using any technology, carrying a tome of prayers to soothe and awaken the Machine Spirit of various machines. Yet, his belief in the sanctity of technology does not solely preside in that of the Mechanicum, but technology of all life forms. This belief grew from the unorthodox teachings and actions of the Magi of Stygies VIII and therefore his interest in xeno-tech grew greatly, much to the dismay of his mother who was strictly orthodox whereas his father was of the unorthodox beliefs of Stygies VIII.

From a young age his parents cultivated a strong sense of loyalty within Erridan, a trait which never left him throughout his life. His loyalty towards his family and friends grew to be unbreakable, though he kept his circle of friends quite small, a fact his mother lectured him on constantly when he was younger. Erridan also grew to become a man who believed that nothing is fair in the universe and nothing is owed to you, yet, he made it his personal goal to be a fair man in an unfair life. As a child, Erridan would fight often with other children because they would cheat and lie in games. As an adult, Erridan would treat his menial and servants fairly, avoiding overly harsh sentences for failure or sin but also not being overly generous in his rewards for good service. The final and possibly the core of Erridan's nature is his honor. Erridan Kraus had been raised to be a soldier, a leader of men and warmachines in the thick of battle. His father had ensured that he would grow into a man of honor, facing his opponents head on and face to face, unlike the cowards who he had to battle with in the politics of the Stygies VIII where backroom deals, blackmail, bribery, and even assassination were utilized. Erridan held his honor as a central to his very being as a soldier, a politician, and tech-priest of the Omnissiah.

Tutelage
For most of his young adult life, Erridan had been taught by his parents and his tutors, a Secutor Tech-priest of his family's forge by the name of Emyl Garidos and a Reclaimator by the name of Korlax Baelton. His father taught him the core values of being a leader of men so that he may one day rule the forge after his own passing. His mother taught him the values of tradition, the Machine Cult, and the ideals of fairness and justice. The teachings of his parents became the core of Erridan's nature and how he would view the galaxy but it is the teachings of Emyl and Korlax that shaped him into the man he grew to be.

Emyl Garidos was a chief advisor to Erridan's father in military matters. He was entrusted with providing reports on the arsenal of the forge and maintaining the vast warmachines therein. Emyl taught Erridan all he knew regarding warfare; tactics, statistics of warmachines, the histories of great wars, the strengths and weaknesses of the forge and those of rival forges, and his own personal experiences as a commander. This is where Erridan thrived; running simulations, devours the statistics of weapons and machines, and dedicating many strategies used in historical battles to memory. He showed particular strength in tactics involving cohorts of Skitarii over the usage of Legio Cybernetica, Battle Servitors, Knights, or other forces of the Mechanicum due to their tactical flexibility. In particular, Erridan was interested in the Skitarii Rangers for their ability to pick off enemy leaders, tirelessly pursue and hunt down targets, act as long ranged infantry support, and perform the roles of scouts as well as lethal skirmishers. Rather than having Combat Servitors or Gun Servitors as bodyguards, Erridan has always favored the usage of Skitarii Rangers and Infiltrators. He used this knowledge when he became a Secutor for his father in 497.M41 and led the forge's forces in a campaign of genocide against a minor Greenskin infestation upon a planet where the family had a mining station.

Korlax Baelton was a Reclaimator bound by oath to serve Magos Dominus Voral Kraus. Korlax pledged his fealty to Voral after the Magos Dominus caught him studying forbidden technology within the sealed vaults of his forge, yet spared his life. Magos Voral did not spare his life out of pity or mercy but instead out of pragmatism. He believed that he could use a servant well versed in the acquiring of lost and forbidden technology for his own usage and what better servant for the job than one who's life he was ownership over? Throughout the years of his service, Korlax salvaged, repurposed, and stole hardware as well as technology for his master. Yet, one day Magos Voral spotted Korlax along with his son Erridan walking through his forge one evening and noticed Korlax speaking fervently about a topic he could not make out from such a distance but could see that it had enthralled Erridan for he was engrossed in whatever it was Korlax was speaking about.

The next day Voral went and confronted Korlax about the evening before and the Reclaimator confessed that he was speaking about a piece of xeno-technology he had discovered long ago to Erridan. After a few seconds of silence, Voral broke into a chuckle and told the Reclaimator that from hence forth he would teach Erridan all that he knew and had discovered about xeno-technology over his long years as a Reclaimator. This puzzled the Reclaimator who anticipated that he would be executed for his heresy, but Voral unveiled to the unorthodox tech-priest that he too sought xeno-tech and that he wanted his son to understand the importance and value of such technology. However, Voral made Korlax swear under pain of death that he would never share this information with anyone, most especially Voral's wife; Magos Juris Kassandra. After swearing upon his life to do his master's will, Korlax and Voral went about scheduling tutoring sessions with Erridan away from prying eyes down in the forbidden vaults to begin his studies.

Young Erridan would spend hours with Korlax down in the forbidden vaults, going over all the xeno-technology he gathered for his master, explaining what he understood and also what he could not understand. He compared and contrasted various xeno-technology with one another from different races as well as with Imperial technology. It was Korlax that gave Erridan a greater understanding of how technology "worked" beyond the simple superstitious nature of the Cult Mechanicus. Yet, this did not in any way shake his zealous belief in the Cult Mechanicus but, instead, only strengthened it, for now he understood both the spiritual nature of the Machine Spirit as well as the hardware of the machine itself. It was the teachings of this small and venerable Reclaimator that had greatly influenced his decision to become an Explorator in 531.M41.