Sylvester Nule FitzGibbons, called 'Lurk', was an unusual Inquisitor, noted by different individuals and organizations for being, variously, 'crazy' 'stupid' 'brilliant' 'blessed' 'lucky' and 'just plain weird.'
Early Life
Lurk was orphaned at an early age, and grew up in the slums Downtown of Hive Primus on Dortun, a Hive World in Segmentum Solar.
Lurk was considered too weird and crazy for any gang to take him in, so he grew up alone, without that protection. He survived by selling information, and soon earned his title of 'Lurk' for his skill at hiding about, listening to what others wanted to keep secret.
In late 970.M41, Lurk met a mutant unlike any other he had ever seen: her name was Eve, and she was a beautiful woman, except she had great eagle's wings for arms, and strong talons for feet: she and Lurk immediately felt a rapport, both of them being outcasts, and took to seeing each other often.
Inquisitor Lurk
In 971.M41, An Inquisitor came to Hive Primus, seeking a Chaos cult called the Cathedral of Vengeance. He hired Lurk to take him and his retinue to a place where the cultists were meeting, which Lurk did.
However, when they got there, the party was ambushed by the cultists and all were killed except for the Inquisitor, who was mortally wounded, and Lurk who helped him escape the ambush.
Impressed by Lurk's spirit in refusing to leave without him, the Inquisitor passed on his Inquisitorial Seal before he died, extracting a promise from Lurk that he would deal with the cult.
Lurk recruited a friend of his, Abraham van Helsing, and the two of them successfully infiltrated the cult. There they overheard the cultists discussing their activities, and learned that the cult had been ordered to find an 'experiment' that had escaped from its creator.
After that, Lurk and Abraham tried to leave the 'Cathedral' but they were caught. In the ensuing struggle, Lurk pressed a hidden lever, which turned out to be the Cathedral's self-destruct mechanism.
Lurk, Abraham and most of the cultists escaped the Cathedral, and in the confusion, the cultists escaped arrest by the local Arbites.
Lurk met again with Eve, who revealed that she was the experiment the cultists were looking for: a Chaos Apothecary had her kidnapped from her home and mutated her into her new form. After some time, she managed to escape, killing him in the process and destroying much of his laboratory, which had been located deep within Hive Primus.
With Eve's help Lurk and Abraham located the cult, and Lurk ordered the local Arbites to attack the cult site.
Space Hulk
After the destruction of the Cathedral of Vengeance, two inquisitors came to Dortun, to find out what happened to the dead Inquisitor: they found Lurk, Abraham, and Eve, immediately arrested them and took them aboard ship for transport to a nearby Inquisitorial Fortress for a full debriefing.
Shortly after jumping into the Warp, the ship was caught in a Warp turbulence, and crashed into a Space Hulk. Most of the crew were killed in the crash, and the ship was invaded by the Genestealer Cult which had stowed away aboard the Space Hulk.
Lurk, Abraham and Eve escaped the ship, along with a squad of Inquisitorial Storm Troopers, the ship's Navigator, Amanda Keeler, an Astropath, Joseh Gund, and several ordinary crewmen. With a bit of fast talking, Lurk convinced the Storm Troopers to follow his lead, at least until they got off the Hulk, and they set off to try to find some way off.
The Hulk was large enough to have its own atmosphere, and the small party evaded the Genestealers long enough to construct a beacon and broadcast a distress signal.
A reply came that their message was received, and a Space marine force was incoming to cleanse the Space Hulk.
Before the Astartes got there, the Genestealers found them again, and a terrible battle ensued: Abraham was badly wounded, and most of the other survivors were killed.
After the Genestealers destroyed the beacon, Lurk led the survivors in a fighting retreat to a (relatively)safe place in an ancient wreck where they sealed off a section from the Genestealers.
As supplies ran low, Eve revealed a previously-hidden psyker ability to track creatures and objects. She helped them find a source of clean water, allowing them to hold out until the arrival of the Space Marines(of the Desert Lions Chapter).
The Shrike
After the survivors were evacuated aboard the Shrike, a Desert Lions Strike Cruiser, Abraham discovered that a Tyranid, a Lictor, had somehow stowed away aboard the ship.
After the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers told the Desert Lions about Eve, Lurk, and how they all came to be on the Space Hulk, the Marines refused to listen to their warning, and Lurk, Eve and Abraham were placed under arrest.
Once the ship reached the Desert Lions' home system and was on course for their Fortress-Monastery, the Tyranid began to systematically exterminate the entire crew, starting with the Astartes command group, then all but two of the Stormtroopers.
Eventually, Keeler, Gund, the Stormtroopers, and the few surviving crew released the three prisoners, and they hunted the Tyranid through the darkened bowels of the ship. Striking from the darkness, the Tyranid picked them off one by one.
One Stormtrooper gave his life to distract the Lictor long enough for Junior Enginseer Malakai Johanson to restart secondary power systems and illuminate the darkened decks. It was then that the survivors discovered that not one, but an entire brood of Lictors was aboard, just waiting the opportunity to spread to other ships, stations, and even worlds.
While Gund broadcasted an order for all ships to keep away, the rest of the small party hurriedly fortified their position and tried to think up an escape plan. Appealing to the Shrike's Machine Spirit, Johanson mapped a route to the vessel's escape pods; using his knowledge and Lurk's Inquisitorial authority, they activated the Shrike's self-destruct, then made a break for the nearest escape pod.
Eve killed a Lictor, and Lurk and Abraham succeeded in killing another, but by the time they reached their destination, only Lurk, Abraham, Eve, Keeler, the last Stormtrooper whose name was Aronson, and a few of the crew were left.
They beat off the Lictors long enough to prep an escape pod, then boarded and escaped only moments before the Shrike exploded. But a piece of wreckage struck the escape pod, throwing them wildly off course.
Phonom
The out-of-control escape pod crash-landed onto the Feral World of Phonom. The crash was investigated by both the Planetary Governor, and the native primitive tribes.
Lurk presented himself as an Inquisitor, and the other survivors as his retinue(the reasoned they were more likely to gain help to get off-planet that way). But the governor, Kolersus Karnum, became convinced that Lurk had come to remove him from office.
The inhabitants' belief systems had been manipulated by the Ecclesiarchy into casting the Governor as a god; in his years on-planet, Karnum had come to believe it himself, and had gradually amassed to himself considerable power and wealth, well above that normally permissible to a planetary governor.
The governor ordered his troops to kill the Inquisitor and his retinue, but Lurk and his party evaded the governor's troops, and ran into the forest, where they encountered a party of the natives, who guided them to safety.
It turned out, that the Ecclesiarchy's missionaries had had really done a sloppy job of turning the natives' religion toward the Emperor: they worshiped a rotating pantheon, in which Gods came and went fairly freely, and they believed the Emperor and the Planetary Governor were simply the latest arrivals.
After seeing the powers and weapons of Lurk and his fellows during their escape, the natives naturally assumed that they were new gods, come to throw down the Governor, who had come to terrorize and tyrannize them.
After a hurried discussion, Lurk and his fellows agreed to keep up the charade. They raised an army of the Feral population, and waged a 'crusade' against Karnum and his forces.
After defeating some units of Karnum's army, the natives gained access to modern weapons, and in the climactic battle at the governor's palace, they triumphed over the
Using his Inquisitorial Authority, Lurk appointed Aronson Planetary Governor, then the rest of the 'Gods' commandeered a shuttle, and departed to find somewhere people wouldn't try to kill them.
Ursus Primor
Lurk and co. next appear in oficial records in the city of Gatorham, the capital city of the agri-world of Ursus Primor, having arranged passage there from Phonom on a passing Rogue Trader vessel.
Ursus Primor was a quiet, relatively peaceful agri-world(one of the reasons Lurk picked it); without any actual money to live on, he made use of his Inquisitorial authority to commandeer resources and facilities. To explain his presence, Lurk informed the planetary authorities that he was there to conduct a routine investigation, sure he wouldn't find anything.
Unfortunately, he did.
The Pact of Night, Chaos Cult then active on Ursus Primor, had discovered that by a series of forbidden and horrific rituals, they might be able to cast the planet into the Warp: instant Daemon World, earning them all a promotion to Daemon Prince(apart from the ones who'd be eaten by Daemons or mutated into Chaos Spawn. Obviously, an Inquisitor on their world could not be tolerated.
The Cultists ambushed Lurk and his retinue with several Possessed, but Eve destroyed one of the Possessed, giving them a chance to escape the trap.
The Cultists and Possessed pursued them through downtown Gatorham, causing chaos in rush hour traffic. Most of Lurk's companions scattered, and the majority of the Possessed came after him; desperate to escape, he took refuge in a museum, where he found an ancient firearm in a broken display. Lurk took it, and used it to kill one of the Possessed, before Eve and Abraham arrived with the rest of the company and local Arbites and PDF, and killed the last of the Possessed in a bitter firefight that laid waste to much of downtown Gatorham.
Later life
Coming soon
Equipment
Lurk carried a variety of weaponry and tools throughout his checkered career, usually consisting of whatever he could beg borrow or steal on a moment's notice. He did however, hang onto a few items for some time.
Lurk's Hat
Lurk's hat is without a doubt, the ugliest thing you could ever hope not to see. It almost seems to radiate horror and disgust. Indeed, many people find themselves either utterly repelled, or drawn to it in horrified fascination. This is no act of the Warp or the infernal powers, it's just that ugly. Characteristically of the man, Lurk has persisted in calling it 'the coolest hat ever' and stubbornly resisted all attempts to make him get rid of it.
The Cannon
Apparently a simple blackpowder carbine, Lurk picked up 'The Cannon'(as he called it) out of a museum on Ursus Primor(at the time, they were fleeing from a number of Possessed intent on eating them alive). As far anyone can tell, it has no special features of any kind: it is not a blessed weapon, or particularly harmful to any enemy of the Imperium. But it has been noted to have an uncanny talent for hitting exactly what needs to be hit.
Lurk's Retinue
Coming soon.
Quotes
- "When I read of how Saint Phistinius went unto the enemy unarmed and unarmoured, little did I know that I would soon be following his example."
- —Lurk
Lurk's Hat
- "This is the coolest hat ever!"
- —Lurk
- "What is that on your head?!"
- —A panicked Abraham van Helsing, on seeing Lurk's hat for the first time
- "What in the Emperor's name is that?"
- — An Imperial Inquisitor, on seeing Lurk's hat for the first time
- "Return to the Warp, Daemon!"
- —Deacon Shanse, on seeing Lurk's hat for the first time
- "Sir, stay calm, don't panic. There is something eating your head."
- —Inquisitorial Stormtrooper Aronson, on seeing Lurk's hat for the first time