Astorath has the sacred calling to seek out those amongst the Scions of Sanguinius whose souls have been claimed by the terrible genetic Flaw known as the Black Rage, and whose mental degeneration has become so severe that even an honourable death in battle is no longer possible. His quarry found, Astorath ends his lost Battle-Brother's life with a single mighty blow to the neck, severing his head to thwart the fiendish endurance granted by the Black Rage. This is without doubt an act of mercy, a gift to the accursed. Nonetheless, no Battle-Brother can ever feel entirely comfortable in Astorath's presence, for they know that the bite of his forbidding axe might one day be the last thing that they feel.