The boy who was to become Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia was found in the war-wracked ruins of Kasr Gallan by soldiers of the 8th Cadian Regiment. He would not speak of the horrors he had endured but his faith in the Emperor and his own will were already forged into a weapon of iron that he did not hesitate to use. Impressed by his courage and strength, the 8th Regiment adopted him and he was inducted into the Youth Army or Whiteshield corps, and it was here he met Jarran Kell.

The brooding Creed and garrulous Kell forged a bond that was to last for the rest of their lives. Already Creed was a natural leader and was driven by a fanatical devotion to the Imperial cause. Soon, his Whiteshield platoon was hurled into the five-year Drussite Crusade, and by the time the Cadian army celebrated victory in the blaze of the xeno-pyres, Creed was a captain of the Shock Troops and Kell his Colour Sergeant.

In 999.M41, a murderous plot by the forces of the Great Enemy killed several members of the Cadian High Command. In times of such dire emergency there existed a special military rank, Lord Castellan of Cadia, bestowed for life or until the emergency was over. Returning to Cadia from his latest campaign, Creed was met with massive acclaim from the rank and file of the Cadian army. One by one his potential rivals stepped down in the interests of unity until the foundling boy was, by common consent, appointed Lord Castellan of Cadia.