“You accuse me of being a madman. What right have you to judge what is sane and what is not? I have fought with the shadows on the edge of your vision. I have seen the faces that laugh at you in your nightmares. I have felt the fetid breath that issues from the mouth of hell itself. I have heard the silent voices that make your spine tingle with dread. I have entered the realms between worlds where there is no time or place. I have clashed with creatures the sight of which would sear your soul to the core. I have bested horrors that chill with a gaze and tempt unreasoning terror. I have faced death eye-to-eye and blade to blade. I have stared into the eyes of insanity and met their all-consuming stare. I have done all this for you; for your protection and the guarantee of a future for Mankind. And yet you accuse me of being a madman, you, who have never had your sanity tested so sorely. What right have you to call me heretic and blasphemer, who have not heard the whisper of dark gods in your ear? You are weak. Vulnerable. Human in your frailty. I am strong, yet you still judge me for my sins, you who art most sinful to the heart. Only the insane have the strength enough to prosper; only those that prosper truly judge what is sane.”
–Inquisitor Felroth Gelt
Name: Felroth Stasius Gelt
Known Aliases: Lord Slyknife, the Haunted Hunter
Known Associates or Organisations: The Black Regiment, Lord-Captain Laomyr of the Triumph of St. Drusus, Rogue Trader Serren Travius
Preferred Methods of Operation: Gelt prefers to work with an extensive network of Acolytes and former associates. A charismatic and inspirational man, Gelt can call on the services of many agents throughout the Calixis Sector. He has been known to use captive psykers secured inside grav-suspended nutrient vats to provide a modicum of protection from the powers of the warp. Gelt is not afraid to get deeply involved in person, and prefers a “hands-on” approach to his investigations.
Felroth Gelt is a renegade Inquisitor who has been branded a Radical and a heretic by the Tricorn Palace. A former Monodominant Puritan, Gelt hounded the enemies of the Imperium across the Calixis Sector for more than three centuries. Gelt was a bold and courageous man, and quickly earned the favor of Lord Inquisitor Caidin, under whose mentorship Gelt flourished. He explored death worlds, sailed on ships of the Imperial Navy, commanded a personal regiment of stormtroopers in the field, and kept a series of captive psykers for his personal use. He became well-known for having encountered a wide variety of foes, from mutants to beasts, to stranger things like the daemon of Kinog and the Kantressian Foulmind. Each victory, however, came at a price: the lives of his Acolytes and a gradual wearing down of his once-firm adherence to the Monodominant Creed. Each success seemed empty, devoid of true importance. Gelt bent his attention to transcribing his journals into a tome that would guide younger Inquisitors and Acolytes, imparting some of his own hard-won lessons of survival.
All of that changed upon the cursed world of Kasha. Gelt had travelled there to assist with the suppression of the Rebellion of the False, an uprising triggered by a macabre heretical cult. It was during this turmoil that he first met Inquisitor Draven, a dark and driven man who reminded Gelt of his younger self. But where Gelt had been steadfast to the Puritan path, Draven chose to seek out any advantage he could find. Gelt then bore witness to the fruit of Draven’s labors: the power of Chaos turned against the Emperor’s foes. Enthralled, Gelt accompanied Draven on further expeditions throughout Imperial space and beyond. Having been enlightened by the teachings of the Xanthites, Gelt’s aged frame is now revitalized by the power of the warp, his long years of service and experience now turned in a new direction.
Since coming to the Xanthite doctrine, Gelt abandoned his journals, his Acolytes, and every other aspect of his former life. He chose instead to dedicate himself to seeking out more tools to turn against the enemies of Mankind, and subsequently vanished from known space. Gelt has not been heard from since, and his absence has led some members of the Inquisition to conclude that, in fact, he never existed at all; the journals and notes left behind must be fabrications designed as a distraction or a trap for the unwary. Those same rumors declare that only Lord Inquisitor Zerbe knows the truth.