Knight-Baroness Oula Sammanta, Pilot of 'Omenstrider', Matriax of the House Erritian. Spoken at the Red Concord.
Master of the Laniidae. First of the Thorn Wreath. These titles belong to the Captain of the First Company of the Crimson Shrikes, a position currently occupied by Faaial Juriakon. A resolute warrior, Juriakon has led the First for fifty-two Terran years, and brought nought but victory to the Shrikes.
Juriakon deployed exclusively with the Laniidae during the Shrine War, using the teleport homers carried by the Scouts of the Tenth to bring instant and cataclysmic assaults upon rebel mortals and later Traitor legion elements. Yet Juriakon's greatest achievement is one that took place away from the battlefield. During the first meetings with the ancient Knight House of Erritian, Inquisitor Judia Isut, the leader of the Imperial battle group assigned to the Shine War found his efforts to recruit the House's allegiance were met with blunt refusals. In the last meeting, known as The Red Concord, Isut believed that a show of force was required to show the House that the power of the Imperium was not to be ignored. A request for a Crimson Shrike escort was granted, and the honour guard was led by Juriakon himself.
The House was not moved by this overt display of force. A lesser opponent may have been coerced by the terror of the war-plated transhumans in their court, but the Matriax of House Erritian was not moved. The House was brutal and merciless in combat, and their warriors were nobles in name only. Matriax Sammanta met the Shrikes with only a deep cackle of disgust. The Shrikes bristled at this insult, and for a few tense moments it seemed that the room would be filled with slaughter and the sound of bolters. However, Juriakon was not only famed for his leadership of the Thorn Wreath, but for his abilities as a wordsmith. He had written treatises and lectures that had spread around not only his Chapter, but amongst the whole of the Astartes brotherhood. He requested that the Matriax engage with him, crone to Marine. Sammanta consented to this, and they retreated to her private quarters for one day and one night. No record of their talks are kept, but after they returned to the court the Matriax pledged her support to Inquisitor Isut, with a special note exclaiming her respect of Juriakon and the Shrikes.
Seen here wearing his Terminator war-plate, and carrying the relic blade 'Termination Shock', Juriakon placed himself and the Laniidae under the command of Ryylo Koridas, providing the anvil to Koridas's hammer-blow of rapid strikes from his company. Although the Knights of House Erritian were in essence an independent force within the Imperial battle lines, the respect shown to Juriakon meant that he and the Laniidae were nearly always supported by at least one Knight, the sound of merciless laughter broadcast on loudhailers as the Knights began their attacks.
Addendum - After the House of Erritian was destroyed on orders from Inquisitor Isut, Juriakon was reported to have spent ninety-nine days in mourning and etched the House symbol into his left greive. It appears that the respect given by House Erritian was mutual.
