Marsangtus

Marsangtus, nicknamed the Fist, was a Jiralhanae chieftain who fought during the Fall of High Charity.

History
A junior chieftain from the Mutual of TerlKurre, he mustered the martial forces of his tribe and joined the war against Humanity in search of wealth and glory. His tribe was only modestly wealthy, and lacked patronage from the more powerful worlds or High Charity. When Marsangtus set out, his pack seemed doomed to fight as light infantry, or as auxiliaries to a more powerful tribe.

Instead, Marsangtus fought his fellow Jiralhanae. After battle, when other Jiralhanae units were still licking their wounds, Marsangtus would challenge warlords and chieftains to a spite take. A spite take is a Trial of Possession, fought between Alphas over an item of disputed ownership. In past generations, these were fought over lands and inheritances. In the time of Tartarus, these were fought over troops and war machines whose ownership was pretty clear.

Marsangtus fought eight spite takes and lost only one, amassing an eclectic assortment of troops and vehicles which he put to good use on the battlefield. Even though his men and his war materiel was taken from rival armies, he forged them into a single legion. He had martial skill to match his physical might, and so Tartarus picked his legion to aid in the taking of High Charity.

In the early morning of the Great Schism, Marsangtus reverted to form when he led his legion into the Fiefdom Port of the Umtalla Clan. Though he intended to continue the fight, he meant to seize the wealth that the Umtalla clan had warehoused there, and to steal their fleet of starships as well. He all but exterminated the Umtalla officials and pressed their laborers into service, but the Umtalla starships are secured with veinprint locks. Without the key, Marsangtus was forced to focus on the few freighters that were not owned by the Umtalla as his men searched for surviving clansmen.

Among the ships he captured was the medium freighter Libation, and he took a personal interest in the impressment of the crew. He beheaded its shipmaster when he tried to stall for time, and conscripted its all-Kig-Yar crew in order to help him defeat the Sangheili forces marshalling in a nearby Spire of Gifting. However, a surprise attack by rangers and Banshees on the freighter distracted him long enough for Quatch to steal and kill him with his own firearm.

In the confusion of battle, Marsangtus' death was blamed on the Sangheili. His second-in-command quickly raised him as a martyr to rally the Legion to battle.

Personality and traits
Easily half-again the height of a Kig-Yar, and solidly built in terms of body structure, Marsangtus preferred to remain lightly-armored, just as he had been when he first went to war. For the assault on High Charity, he wore blood-splattered plates from a Sangheili major, which hung from his frame via makeshift leather straps. He wore heavier armor when preparing to go to battle, including a gold helmet that enclosed his head and ballistic weave that covered his torso and his limbs. His weapon-of-choice was a longarm spiker with a large bayonet.

Like most Jiralhanae, Marsangtus relished being told he was in command, and emitted an aura of intolerable smugness around him. He didn't have much in the way of patience, and he particularly disliked disliked disobedience or attempts to fool him. His style of command was typically brutish and reliant on threats to keep non-Jiralhanae species in line.

List of appearances

 * Not All Who Wander