Azaleth, better known as The Ironbound, is a Greater Daemon of Khorne. The reason for his moniker "The Ironbound" is that at an unknown point in time, he was fused with a dreadnought of unknown origin or pattern. Despite this, he can still traverse the Warp like any other daemon. In addition, his mechanical shell will go to the warp with him if he is ever banished. Why this is is unknown, though it has been hypothesised that he has bonded so strongly with the dreadnought that it is now completely a part of him.
History[]
627.M34: Chaotic invasion of Destral[]
When the Chaotic warband known as the Crimson Desolators started an invasion of the Hive World Destral, they started a ritual to open a gate to the Warp so that the armies of Khorne could spill forth. The ritual failed, and instead of opening a portal, they summoned the Ironbound. He slaughtered all the cultists present in his fury, and then moved on to kill the Destral population and PDF. Those who couldn't hide in a place where the Ironbound couldn't reach were killed. The PDF managed to send out a distress call despite the widespread slaughter. This prompted a few nearby Imperial Guard regiments to move in to aid in the vanquishing of the Ironbound.
When the regiments arrived, the Ironbound had killed off a major amount of PDF guardsmen. Though the superior armaments of the regiments provided a challenge for the Ironbound, he still destroyed the forces they sent against him. He only halted when he was hit directly by a shell from a Basilisk artillery unit. At that point the Imperial Guard managed to gain ground against the Ironbound.
This advantage didn't last, however. All the blood that had been spilled empowered him, and he healed faster. He was back to being able to defeat the Guard and what they threw at him, and when he was back to full power, he found their artillery batteries and tore them apart.
As the Guardsmen realised that the threat of the Crimson Desolators and the Ironbound combined was too big for them, yet another distress call was sent out.
Personality[]
As with all Khornite daemons, Azaleth has an innate bloodlust and rage. He kills remorselessly whenever he can, and when there are no foes in his vicinity, it is not uncommon for him to kill his allies instead. Because of this, he is often sent into battle alone so as to not cause unneeded casualties on his own side.
Abilities and Traits[]
The Ironbound is a very capable fighter. Before he was fused with a machine, he would utilise a large sword in combat, and as such was a skilled swordsman. After the fusion, he stopped using conventional melee weaponry. He became more of a brawler than anything else, which has worked exceptionally well for him due to his mechanical form having greater strength, durability, and weight than his old form. A drawback of this is that he is slower now, but he compensates for this by using the ranged weaponry that the dreadnought he fused with has. Despite this, he is still faster and more agile than most dreadnoughts.
Due to the daemon/machine fusion, the mechanical parts of Azaleth heal as though it was flesh.
Despite the endless rage, he is not stupid. He can figure out how to best slaughter an opposing force, and still remain unhindered. This is shown during the invasion of Destral; when he was hit by an artillery round, he went after the artillery as soon as he could to eliminate that threat.
He is only able to think tactically in regards to himself, however. He would not be able to command a larger force, since he has absolutely no skill within large scale tactics.
Equipment[]
The only equipment that the Ironbound uses is that which the dreadnought he fused with has. The only notable weaponry this includes is bolters built into both its hands, enabling the Ironbound to fire at his foes from a distance. They are generally utilised against foes fleeing from him, or foes who are too quick for him.
Beyond the bolters he just utilises his arms and occasionally legs for combat, crushing his enemies with his immense force.