Camlin

Summary
"I am not a traitor." -Camlin.

Camlin is the commander of the 50 loyalist survivors of the Stone Giants. He is young and fair haired, eager for the fight and loyal to the Emperor, although that loyalty has taken many years to develop.

Recruitment
Camlin was recruited much the same way as any Stone Giant; kidnapped from his home as a youth. Like many of that Chapter, he was introspective about the fates of his family, but for a quite different reason: he knew they were dead.

The Stone Giants had kidnapped him during the middle of a raid on his village by a rival. Though the Space Marines could have saved his family, Camlin lived with the knowledge that they had chosen not to; they had deliberately ignored his pleas to go and help them. For all the years he served as a Space Marine, he remembered the failings of his future Brothers; though on the outside, he swore never to fail again, on the inside something festered within him.

Giants Fall
When Vortigern, Chapter Master of the Stone Giants, began convincing his brothers to betray the Imperium, Camlin was among the first to join him, his anger at the loss of his family so long ago filling him. Although he was but a reserve company Captain, he still commanded great strength, and was willing to follow Vortigern into battle if he must, and indeed was eager to go into battle, in revenge for his family's death. However, fate was to have a different path laid out for him.

Camlin was one of those ordered to evacuate by his Chapter Master when the Inquisition response came. Though it tore his heart out to watch it, he saw his home world burn.

Epiphany
At first, he saw Adirio's extermination merely as confirmation that he had been right about the Imperium of Man, but then, the night after he and the other survivors had fled, something struck him. As a young man, he had made a vow; that he would never abandon the peoples of the Imperium, that he would always fight for them. Remembering the many hundreds of thousands of such people who would surely have died upon the burning wreck of his home, a sudden shocking feeling came to him. He had failed them. Rather than fight for them, keep them safe, he had assured their destruction and eternal damnation. He could have stopped Vortigern, but instead, had let selfish desire guide him. Weeping hot tears of anger at himself, Camlin repented his sins, praying to the God-Emperor.

The following morning, he walked into the great hall of the strike cruiser Drostan to find Caedmon, former Captain of the Fifth Company, orating to the three hundred or so survivors about vengeance. Finding within himself reserves of faith and strength of character he never knew he possessed, Camlin stepped up to the podium and began speaking of an alternative; the survivors could attempt to repent their sins and earn salvation. Though most, including Caedmon, were vehemently against this idea, fifty Brothers heard these words and found something stirring in themselves: a desire for repentance, and redemption. Thus, with Caedmon's permission (if not his approval) those fifty warriors, led by Camlin, set out on a quest for redemption.

Quest for Redemption
Little is known yet of the few remaining loyal Stone Giants' quest for redemption; it is known that Camlin was spotted on Karis Cephalon, seeking parts and a Magos for his ship, as well as a star chart. What he seeks to do with it, and what redemption he thinks it will bring, is unclear.

Camlin's Company
Camlin's men are an odd sort; alhough every one of them stood by Vortigern and his denial of Imperial rule, something within them has decided to seek forgiveness. And so, they follow Camlin. They are a motley bunch - no two from the same squad, no two with quite the same story. Some follow Camlin merely because the idea of going to war against the Imperium doesn't enthuse them, others because they truly regret their actions.

In appearance, Camlin's Company are rag tag as their Renegade brothers, but unlike the Renegades, retain their Imperial iconography - indeed, they have far more iconography than they ever had before, almost to the point of overkill, as if to emphasise their regained loyalty in the face of their excommunication.

It is unknown what the Brotherhood of Peace, their surviving loyalist brothers who formed a new Chapter, think of them, if anything.

Personality
For most of his service as a Space Marine, Camlin held a darkness in his heart; he would kill without mercy, was distrustful of other Space Marine Chapters and even his own Brothers, and doubted the divine providence of their mission. He was all too easy prey for the heretical words of Vortigern.

However, upon seeing the death of his world and remembering his vow, Camlin has become a born again Marine; indeed, he is almost as zealous as a Chaplain, and is known to inspire fanatical fervour in his men when the time comes for them to prove their loyalty on the field of battle. In lieu of having actual Chaplains, Camlin has also taken it upon himself to serve as the guardian of their souls.