Ezekiel Cornatus



Ezekiel Cornatus is a very peculiar individual. He is a bisexual muscian that has had his life turned on it's head. Due to a series of unfortunate events and a streak of incredible bad luck he has gone from a care free musician to a revolutionary, a criminal and finally to a Rogue Trader.

Early Life
Ezekiel Cornatus was born to the priviledged Cornatus family on the Imperial planet of Sanctimony. His family were minor nobility but still well off enough to give their son an ideal childhood, free of worry or care. As a young boy he quickly became popular with his peers due to his quick wit, natural athletisism and his outgoing personality. Despite being born of a family of little importance, he quickly became the ringleader of his own little posse.

As a teenager Ezekiel was already a well known and popular youth. He spent much of his time fraternizing with his peers and had remarkable success with the opposite sex. He was also very good at sports, generally excelling at any game he took an interest in and quickly becoming unopposed in said game. He became particularly adept in a sport called Knicking. It was a sport in which to combatants used specially modified sword that caused pain but not bodily injury in a kind of safe duel. It was in playing this game that he would meet Macadeus Enoulis, who would become his best friend.

Macadeus was a respectable young man from a very powerful and influential noble family on Sanctimony. He was very much the opposite of Ezekiel. Where Ezekiel was easygoing and open minded, Macadeus was serious hardworking and pious. One would never think that these two could become friends but they did. They met at a Knicking tournament. The two of them faced of in the deciding match of the Tournament, in which Macadeus handed Ezekiel his first defeat since learning the sport.

After this Ezekiel would come to acknowledge Macadeus as his rival. However, as time went by their rivalry blossomed into friendship. They were now as close as brothers and as thick as thieves. It was rare to see Ezekiel without Macadeus at his side and vice versa. They even found a secret hideout that only the two of them knew about. The two swore to be friends forever.

When he was 18 Ezekiel's unusual sexual tastes were exposed. He was attending a ball and having fun like he usually would. He noticed I young man that was not dancing and having fun like everybody else. That young man was Richard Mennis, a young noble that was largly treated as an outcast by the rest of the young nobles. Feeling sympathetic, Ezekiel asked Richard to dance when a slow dance started. Richard and most of the other party goers thought that Ezekiel was playing a joke. Ezekiel quickly proved them all wrong when he ended the dance with a kiss.

Afterward Richard would be the first of Ezekiel's man-to-man relationships. This caused a bit of an uproar amongst his peers and an even bigger one with his parents. Ezekiel may have very well have become a pariah had it not been for his natural charm and a loyal group of friends that defended him, including Macadeus. Eventually Ezekiel's relationship with Richard ended as most do. Despite having taken a male partner for a while, Ezekiel quickly jumped back in the game, showing no aversion to dating girls. However, while Macadeus remained Ezekiels loyal friend, the incident caused him to begin to question Ezekiel's moral fiber.

Ezekiel continued with his lifestyle for a few years. His tutors noted that Ezekiel was smart, genius in fact but had poor grades due to lack of effort and interest. His reputation amongst his peers was that of a lover and a party person. While it was true that he was more of a lover than a fighter, he was more than capable of handling himself in a fight and his cocky attitude often got him into quarrels which he would almost certainly win. He became increasingly distant with his parents who disapproved of both his sexual preferences and his decision to disregard his family's position and take up music instead. He would shortly form a band and become popular.

The Star of Sanctimony
Ezekiel's career became more and more successful, becoming widly popular to the point where Ezekiel Cornatus became a household name on Sanctimony. His band, Ezekiel and the Limit Pushers, was asked to perform in Hive Cities all over Sanctimony. His success was so great in fact that he began to become well known within the rest of the sector.

Seeing a chance to increase his planet's standing in the sector and the rest of the Imperium at large, the Planetary Governor of Sanctimony decided to make Ezekiel the poster boy for the planet. He began to develope a close personal relationship with Ezekiel and made sure that Ezekiel got whatever he desired.

In short order, Ezekiel wasw becoming a big star and began touring nearby systems. He had truly surpassed the position he had held at birth and was living the high life. He played for nobles, Planetary Governors and many other important Imperial officials.

As his fame grew Ezekiel began to live an increasingly extravagant lifestyle. He could have any sexual partner that he took a fancy to. He also began to use drugs recreationally. This lead to him developing an addiction to some of them, particularly a drug called Caress, which increases the sensitivity of all five of the users senses, allowing them to experiance sensations to a heightened degree.

While Macadeus remained loyal to his best friend, he was beginning to have doubts that Ezekiel's lifestyle was healthy and was starting to think it might be best for Ezekiel to take a break from his career. Ezekiel on the other hand would hear none of it and continued on has he was. This advice would later prove to be correct.

A Star Falls
As with any famous figure, Ezekiel's life was often put under a microscope. One particular individual that was quick to critisize Ezekiel was an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus named Harlannon. Harlannon followed Ezekiel's life closely and did not approve of how Ezekiel conducted himself. He was always quick to point out that Ezekiel's lack of piety and this thrill seeking bordered on heresy.

Despite his clear dislike for Ezekiel, Harlannon could not find anything that could be used to put him on trial. Then he struck paydirt. Harlannon discovered that a sizable cult of Slaanesh had formed within Ezekiel's fanbase. Looking at how Ezekiel conducted himself, one could easily be persuaded that he was the center of this cult. Harlannon immediately assumed Ezekiel's guilt.

Harlannon attempted to make an arrest during one of Ezekiel's concerts. Ezekiel naturally did not uderstand what was going on and pleaded his innocence. Harlannon would not hear any of it and attempted to pass judgement right then and there. Realizing that he was about to be killed for a crime he did not commit, Ezekiel attempted to escape. He would have been captured and executed that day had luck not been on his side. Many of Ezekiel's avid fans came in to try and stop the Inquisitor. This allowed Ezekiel to escape. However this pretty much proved his guilt in Harlannon's eyes and everyone that attended that concert was tried as a heretic and executed as a result.

Searching for any safe haven he could find, Ezekiel soon found that those he had formerly depended on had turned on him. His parents had effectivly disowned him, the Planetary Governor was openly condemning him, clearly trying to save face and eliminate any chance of being implicated himself. In the end Ezekiel found himself hiding out in the hideout that only he and Macadeus knew about.

Sadly even this would not spare him. At first Macadeus could not belive that his best friend had become a heretic. He desperatly testified to Ezekiel's innocence. Unfortunately faced with evidence and with persuasion by Harlannon, Macadeus came to believe that Ezekiel had become a heretic as well. He told the Inquisitor where their hideout was, knowing that it was the only place that Ezekiel had left to hide.

Ezekiel had luck on his side and managed to make a narrow escape. He now had absolutly no one he could trust, no resources he could use and the whole planet was now calling for his execution. Ezekiel fled to one of the smaller Hive Cities on the Planet and sank into the shadows of the Underhive.

Rock Bottom
Thus began the darkest period in Ezekiel's life. In the Underhive Ezekiel was a nobody with nothing to his name. He lived in squalor. Furthermore he was suffering considerably from withdrawl. He had been addicted to numerous drugs back when he was a star. Now that he was poor he no longer had the ability to get the drugs he had used before. In order to ease the suffering of the withdrawl, Ezekiel began doing cheaper, low quality drugs that were sold by the gangs down in the Underhive. He spent any money that he came by on these drugs and was both sick and starving for a while. Then he overdosed.

Noone had any time for some faceless loser dying in the gutter. Ezekiel's life would have ended there had he not recieved aid. It just so happened Rowlorn Sagilet, a mutant that would become a life-long friend and comrade had been passing by and noticed him. Rowlorn knew all to well what it meant to need help and have people turn their backs. He took pity on Ezekiel and brought him to his home to nurse him back to health. Despite having little to spare, Rowlorn and his unmutated sister Clarana would save Ezekiel's life and help him kick his addictions.

A New Start
Ezekiel now had a second chance at life. He had become close to Rowlorn and Clarana. He was determined to pay them back for what they had done for him. He began working as a musician again, getting any money he could. He also got a job in a factory.

As time went by he became closer and closer to the Sagilet siblings. Regardless of what trouble they got into, Ezekiel and Rowlorn had each others back. Ezekiel and Clarana began to have a romantic relationship. Wanting to be honest with Rowlorn, Ezekiel confessed about their relationship. Rowlorn then cracked Ezekiel upside the head before giving them his blessings.

Things were looking up for Ezekiel. However, everything was not perfect. Ezekiel began to notice how oppressed and mistreated many of the citezens were. Before he had lived a privledged lifestyle, and in the gutter he had rarly been sober enough to really pay attention to what was going on. Ezekiel's sense of moral outrage began to build.

Ezekiel Cornatus, Artist, Lover, REBEL!!
While he did not like what he was seeing, Ezekiel did not feel the need to break the status quo. He was enjoying his life with Clarana and Rowlorn too much to risk it, and besides the world would always have unfortunate no matter how good things got. However he would soon recieve a rude wake up call. One night, Sanctimony's PDF entered into the Underhive. They used flamers and explosives and attacked the people of the Underhiv without distinction. Within the coarse of one night, the Underhive was set ablaze. Rowlorn explained to Ezekiel that This happened every few years. The Planetary Governor sent the PDF down to purge any mutants within the Underhives of Sanctimony. In order to save time and perform a clean sweep, the PDF troops would simply attack everybody, justifying their actions by saying that the people were most likely criminals anyway. Naturally the Planetary Governor was aware of this and allowed it because it cleaned his planet of undesirables.

What had happened that night had shook Ezekiel's prior beliefs to their very core. While he had always been fairly unconventional, Ezekiel had truly believed in the values and righteousness of the Imperium before this. Inquisitors that sentenced innocents to death, Genocide of guiltless mutants and peasants and Planetary Governors that sponsored it. This was not he Imperium he had been sold. It was true that there were less than savory elements within the Underhive, but many of the peole were just poor families that were trying to survive in the face of despair. Not to mention that the goal of the attack had been to massacre the mutants who were mostly trying to get by, and many of whom had become Ezekiel's friends. This was the straw that broke the camels back.

Ezekiel Learned of a small rebel faction that had been in operation for some time. Ezekiel became determined to join this rebellion and remove the corrupt Imperial official s from power. He asked Rowlorn and Clarana to come with his and help him liberate the planet. At first they did not want to be invovled. As long as they had remembered the best way to survive had been to offer no resistance to the authorities. However, Ezekiel made a passionate argument that convinced not only the Sagilet siblings, but a few others that it was time to draw the line in the sand.

Having joined the rebels, the trio instantly got to work. Ezekiel and Clarana quickly proved themselves quite adept as agents, and Rowlorn quickly became known as the most fearsome warrior in their branch. However, despite the good work that the rebels were doing, Ezekiel was having some doubts about their ability to reach their goals. The rebels were dedicated and passionate, but they were also disorganized, undisciplined and lacked good leadership. Ezekiel began to try and make reforms to his banch of the rebellion. Almost immdiately the organizations lack of good leadership got in the way. The Branch Head, a man named Emile Sorvot, lectured Ezekiel for trying to change things, believing Ezekiel to be an arrogant young wise-ass who was trying to look good. Ezekiel did his best to work within Emile's rules but soon found the Branch head to be unreasonable and inflexible.

However, Ezekiel's talents were soon recognized. During an inspection by the head of the Rebellion, the branch was attacked by PDF troops. Emile was quickly killed and it looked certain that the day was lost. In the midst of the chaos Ezekiel rose up and rallied the forces together. Ezekiel not only managed to avoid annihilation, but actually won the battle, killing one of the PDF's leaders to boot. The head of the rebellion, a former PDF Colonel named Mrodint, clearly saw that Ezekiel could be a serious asset. He made Ezekiel one of his lieutenents, and Ezekiel asked that Rowlorn and Clarana be put under his command.

Personality
Ezekiel is a man with a true devil may care personality. He has been decribed on numerous occasions to be very charming. He easily manages become friendly with strangers and is usually the most looked at person in a room unless he chooses not to be. He is also known for his wit, and is a natural joker. Often he will make a joke during a very dire situation. He is well aware of his charisma and relies on it heavily. He prefers to talk his way out of or in to situations rather than using force.

Ezekiel often lives in the moment seeking to enjoy his life to the fullest. He makes sure not to take thias too far as he has had bad experiences with the followers of Slaanesh. He is quick to form a relationship with others, having had numerous romantic and sexual relationships with numerous people over his lifetime, both male and female. He has often joked that he must have over a hundred illegitimate children scattered across the stars. Despite this he only rarly opens up to his partners, only confiding in those he has developed a special connection with. He is also known to have a gamblers streak in him. Often he will pick risky choices, and it seems he gets a kick out of avoiding the potential consequences.

Ezekiel tends to be very open-minded, making friends with criminals, Abhumans, mutants and even Xenos. He has no problem with those that have beliefs that are not his own. This means he is usually very tolerant of other religions. Of coarse there are exceptions to his open-minded views. Chaos being chief among them. He also has a slight phobia in regards to Psykers. He is well aware that Psykers are people just like anybody else. However he is leery of their abilities and particularly hates fighting them. When it is known that he will have to face a Psyker, Ezekiel will often complain adamantly, which usually makes his comrades chastise him.

While he is very mush an easygoing and free spirit, he does have certain traits that are more rigid. He has strong senses of honor and loyalty. Someone that has earned Ezekiel's loyalty will find themselves with an ally that will never abandon them even if it puts him at risk. He also has a deep sense of right and wrong. This has caused him to develope and antiauthoritarian attitude that often puts him at odds with tyrants and bureaucrats. It has been noted that he does not like being told what to do.

Abilities and Traits
Ezekiel Cornatus is a man of many talents. Considered something of a prodigy, his talents were squandered in his youth. When he began his career as a rebel and a criminal his talents truly came to light. Ezekiel is a skilled fighter. He has good aim with a gun, and has mastered a variety of weapons throughout his career. He is comfortable with just about any role in combat. However, Ezekiel's true skill and martial passion comes out when weilding a sword. Before his life became more violent, Ezekiel had been very skilled at a game called Knicking that simulated a sword duel. That skill caried over when he began using the genuine article. Ezekiel has found very few opponents that have been able to match his skill with a blade. His favourite weapon is a Power Saber.

For all of his skill in combat, Ezekiel would much rather use his charm or cunning to win the day. Ezekiel has been gifted with a true silver tongue, easily able to persuade others. This combined with his guile makes him quite formidable. Ezekiel has a flare for grand schemes. His plans are usually creative and unorthodox. They are also often quite risky, taylor made to fit Ezekiel's gambler side. It should be noted however, that Ezekiel has a keen eye for spotting odds that he can't beat. If he believes that there is a good chance that he will get taken down, he will cut his losses and make a run for it.

One of Ezekiel's most unusual traits comes from his habits earlier in life. Back when he was a star musician and when he was stuch in the gutter, Ezekiel used countless drugs. needless to say that the withdrawl he suffered while kicking his addictions was severe. However, exposing himself to all of those drugs and becoming sober actually changed his body chemistry slightly. Due to what he went through Ezekiel's body has developed an acute resistance to foreign substances. This has been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, Ezekiel is highly resistant to toxins and poisons. This has saved his life on more than one occasion. The flipside of this advantage is that his body is also resistant to many medicines, causing Ezekiel to require alternative treatment or incredibly high concentrations to be effective.

Ezekiel's final useful trait is not truly something that he has control of. That being his luck. While Ezekiel has suffered much throughout his life and had many misfortunes befall him, it has been noted that he has the devils luck. Often he escapes dangerous situations by the skin of his teeth, with only a slight twist of fate keeping him from the grave. At other times his outrageous plans work by sheer fluke. Regardless, his friends and comrades have made a policy of never playing him in a game of cards.

By
"I bet 1000 crdits that I can talk the armor off a Sister within half an hour. Any takers?"

- Ezekiel Cornatus just before losing 1000 credits.

"As people, I am okay with Psykers. If I meet one in a personal setting, I will try to ignore the itching feeling that they are rifling through my mind and be cordial. I have been friends with criminals, mutants, Xenos and even a Psyker or two in my day. So you see I really don't hate Psykers. However, say I am casually walking across a battlefield, minding my own business and enjoying my bloody day, and i nearly get blown to hell. I, disoriented, will get up thinking I had a near miss with an artillery shell, but I find myself looking at a bloke with fire coming out of his every bleeding orifice. Now that is not an acceptable situation."

- Ezekiel Cornatus on his "Personal Issues" with Psykers.

"Good evening soldeirs. It is your esteemded priviledge to have had me assigned to you as your Commisar. I felt that it is important that I explain some ground rules. Failure to salute will result in execution. Failure to rush headlong into certain death at my command will result in execution. Breathing in my general viscinity without my permission will result in execution. Not praying to me before you go to bed will result in execution. Making any noise in my presence whatsoever will result in execution. Not magically appearing in front of me when I call your name will result in execution. Having any opinions whatsoever will result in execution. Any challenge to me will result in execution, and like all Commisars and dogs I consider eye contact a challenge, so lets chalk that up to execution as well. Is there anything that I am missing? Oh yes! Touching the Commisar's reserves will result in execution. I am serious. If I catch any of you grubby fisted thieves trying to take my liquor, then may the Emperor have mercy on you because I won't!"

- Ezekiel Cornatus during his time impersonating a Commisar.