TEXT: A HISTORY OF THE 
  JERICHO REACH
  
  2
  Know No Fear
  A Legacy of War
  ‘We are the Imperium; we are a slave to our past. Our future is bound to things that are lost to memory and legend. This is our strength, our 
  curse and our destiny. Ask me not of the future; ask me instead what fate is written in the deeds of the dead.’
  –Yoren Kipraus, Cardinal of Verronus, martyred 245.M36 
  T
  his document is a brief timeline of selected events pertaining to the history of the Jericho Reach, the wider events that 
  have shaped it and those of the Deathwatch, whose tireless vigils have held sway there. Amidst upheaval and invasion, the 
  Deathwatch have remained. Amidst crumbling foundations of the Imperium’s might and the return of ancient foes, the 
  Deathwatch have remained. Amidst the conquests of the Achilus Crusade and the ravages of Hive Fleet Dagon, the Deathwatch 
  have remained. 
  THE PRE-HISTORY OF THE JERICHO REACH
  [The Following data is culled from limited available sources.]
  Unknown Circa M30  The Great Crusade
  The Volume of Space later designated as the Jericho Reach is conquered during the Emperor’s Great Crusade to unify the galaxy 
  as a realm of Mankind by ﬂ eet forces primarily under the auspices of the Ultramarines and Night Lords Space Marine Legions. 
  The area of the reach is sparsely populated by pre-Imperial Humanity, but bears many life-sustaining and resource-rich worlds, 
  and as such, is quickly marked as an area for Imperial colonisation and expansion. Numerous minor xenos races are exterminated 
  in an extremely bloody campaign to bring the Reach under Imperial control, and 132 worlds are ascribed to have been brought 
  under Compliance. Such evidence that remains indicates that the most serious opposition to the Crusade here was encountered 
  in purging an entrenched Ork pocket-empire in the Reach’s Rimward portion, and most particularly in destroying the remnants 
  of a highly technologically advanced, likely very ancient, and clearly non-humanoid xeno-form known in several records as the 
  ‘Ghanathaar’ who dominated the Reach’s border with the Galactic Eastern Fringe.* This later conﬂ ict destroys the capacity of 
  numerous worlds in this portion of the Reach to sustain life, a factor that will shape the future Jericho Sector.
  *The Chapel of Ages on Macragge, Chapter World of the Ultramarines, contains among its thousand shrines a Charantracite relief panel 
  graven with the names of two thousand and thirty-three fallen Battle-Brothers who perished in the War against the ‘Ghan’at Hark’  which is 
  believed to pertain to this mighty conﬂ ict, but no known other records are extant.
  2
  These records are taken from the Meageran Data-Looms of the slumbering cloister of Watch Fortress 
  Erioch, Clearance level Heliotrope-Sigma: Available to all Battle-Brothers of the Deathwatch. Further 
  Access and Files Granted only by writ of Watch Commander Mordigael.
  These records have had a number of important entries purged under mysterious circumstances. 
  Some of the ciphers contain codes unique to an Inquisitor Lord many thought dead. I 
  must presume it is Herrod... what kind of game is he playing?
  –Quist
  
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  M31 
  THE HORUS HERESY
  Through the foul machinations of Chaos and the sorrowful treachery of the Warmaster Horus, the Imperium is brought to the 
  brink of annihilation by a great civil war that sees the realm of Humanity shattered asunder and fully half of the Space Marine 
  Legions turn against their Emperor. Although Horus and his traitors are defeated in the Siege of Terra, the Emperor is grievously 
  wounded and must ascend the Golden Throne and a time of great darkness and bloodshed ensues, lasting nearly a millennium 
  before a semblance of order is restored throughout the Imperium. As part of this, those Space Marine Legions who remained 
  loyal are broken up into smaller Chapters so that no such great rebellion can ever again be conceived.
  Circa Early M32
  Foundation: After an interregnum lasting over twelve-hundred years and often riven with bloodshed, the Imperium’s hold over 
  the Jericho Reach is ﬁ nally fully cemented, and it is re-designated the Jericho Sector in the great Imperium Universalis. The Sector 
  capital is the hive world of Verronus which once served as a Crusade way-station and has maintained its likes to the wider human 
  domains in the preceding centuries, while the Shrine world of Eleusis gains prominence some centuries later for its native saint and 
  because, legend claims, it was blessed with the tread of the Emperor’s foot. 
  The foundation of the Sector is not without incident, however, as a suppression campaign must be fought against shadowy xenos 
  forces who have begun to prey upon the stars of the southern zone around the star system of Oertha. The menace is driven off, and 
  the [Restricted Access], one of the Fleet-based Space Marine Chapters who take part in the campaign claim title and right to the feral 
  world of [Restricted Access] as one of their recruiting grounds, binding them in part to the defence of the Jericho Sector. 
  M32-M35 
  THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE JERICHO SECTOR
  With the wider Imperium swelling to a peak of power and inﬂ uence, the Jericho Sector is but one of many that bloom into a 
  renaissance of power and achievement as scores of Imperial worlds of every type are raised up from the rubble of past failures 
  and the un-trodden soil of alien worlds in Mankind’s name. The 
  Jericho Sector becomes both a bastion and exemplar of Imperial 
  civilisation and majesty carved from the cold wilderness of 
  space with a burgeoning population that quickly soars into 
  the hundred of billions. The Sector is a hub of commerce and 
  industry with its bloody past all but forgotten, a realm of piety 
  and devotion whose renown is such that it is spoken of on Holy 
  Terra as a gem of Humanity’s domains. Its goods are sought after 
  as far aﬁ eld as blessed Ultramar and distant Espandor.
  With the passage of millennia the power and fortunes of 
  the Imperium wax and wane, but the Jericho Sector manages 
  to remain strong and prosperous despite the vicissitudes of war, 
  invasion, and petty disaster. However, the dawning of M35 
  heralds both a darkening of the Sector’s fate and the coming of 
  the Deathwatch into the known histories of the Jericho Reach.
  401.M34-975.M35 
  THE NOVA TERRA INTERREGNUM
  The Imperium is dived into warring factions by civil war 
  within the Imperial Commanders. During the centuries of 
  battle and attrition that follow, the Jericho Sector (distant 
  enough from the front lines to be spared direct contact with 
  the conﬂ ict) is nevertheless a vocal and active supporter of the 
  Terran Loyalists, channelling large volumes of manpower and 
  resources to fuel the war. The drain of the Sector’s resources 
  becomes increasingly hard to sustain, leading to widespread 
  shortages and unrest on many of the worlds of the Jericho 
  Sector for the ﬁ rst time in living memory.
  
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  267.M35
  The First Martyr: The ﬁ rst accessible record pertaining to Watch Fortress Erioch available to this Clearance level: Balthazar 
  Ho’Tsun, Master of the Watch, Captain of the Imperial Fists, has died in an action in the Slinnar Drift. The enemy engaged and 
  other forces involved are not recorded. 
  566.M35 
  The Unseen Death: The [Restricted Access] Space Marine Chapter is declared Excommunicate Traitoris for their high crimes 
  against the Imperium. As a result, their goods and chattels are also declared forfeit by Inquisitorial order as they themselves are 
  under sentence of death. The feral world of [Restricted Access] is therefore put under close scrutiny by the Deathwatch of Erioch 
  according to this order, and thereafter subject to Exterminatus, its presence removed from all maps and charts of the Sector. 
  990.M35 
  The Burning of the White Palace: A series of Deathwatch Kill-teams are despatched to Vanir and perform a surgical strike 
  against the Imperial Governor and his administration. The Kill-teams purge the Governor’s palace of all life and then detonate 
  a series of inferno devices that reduces it and the surrounding seven square kilometres of the planet’s surface to cinder ash. This 
  event leaves an indelible mark on Vanir’s history, and enters the mythos of the native population of Vanir as the ‘Wrath of the 
  Black Angels.’ This incident creates an enduring legend that survives even the later collapse of the planetary civilisation and 
  unto the modern period.
  M36-M37 
  THE FALL
  The fall of the Jericho Sector from grace was swift, and much is recorded of its cause before the darkness descended and blotted 
  out hope and reason.
  Circa 100-600.M36  
  The Age of Apostasy: High Lord Goge Vandire tightens his stranglehold on the Imperium, beginning a monstrous tyranny 
  that will become known as the Reign of Blood and thereby gives birth to the Age of Apostasy, the darkest period of bloodshed 
  and strife the Imperium has known since the Great Heresy. As part of his web of power and control, Vandire ensures that 
  numerous key Imperial Sectors singled out either by their strategic importance or wealth are ﬁ rmly within his sphere of control 
  by placing in control of them puppet-commanders whose only loyalty lies with him. The Jericho Sector is soon encompassed 
  by this policy and at the High Lords’ direct command a new ruling partnership comprising the Lady Sector Castagar Murella 
  and Arch-Cardinal Udo Asterus are appointed as Over-Governors Temporal and Spiritual, respectively, of the Jericho Sector. All 
  prelates and Imperial commanders must bend their knees to their new masters, whose authority is backed by squadrons of the 
  Imperial Navy and tens of thousands of Frateris Templar shock troops. Taken by surprise by this unexpected turn of events and 
  the legitimate authority that carries out the change, the control of Vandire’s puppet rulers goes initially all but uncontested, and 
  what little resistance that forms is quickly beaten down and a bloody period of tyranny and oppression previously unseen takes 
  hold of the Jericho Sector. Meanwhile, the Over-Governors become infamous for the speed and callousness with which they 
  swiftly proceed to expand their personal wealth and power. 
  The Deathwatch of the Sector, operating in secrecy, and with their extent and holdings unknown to Vandire’s lackeys, follow 
  their usual millennia-old pattern of non-interference in the Imperium’s worsening domestic affairs unless they impinge on their 
  remit. However, the Master of the Watch orders all under his command to studiously protect their inviolate nature and secrecy 
  of the Watch. Any Frateris Templar vessel or force that strays too close or interferes with the Deathwatch’s activities is quietly 
  and efﬁ ciently diverted or destroyed as a matter of policy, and the secrecy of the Deathwatch is maintained.
  245.M36  
  The Voice of Truth: Yoren Kipraus, Cardinal of Verronus, speaks out publicly against the ‘worldly sin and excess’ of Arch-
  Cardinal Asterus and is soon taken in the night by Frateris Templar forces. His basilica is stripped and laid waste and his 
  clergy slain or enslaved. Kipraus himself, after months of torture, is declared a heretic and is torn apart by marrow-jackals as 
  entertainment at a great feast in the honour of the anniversary of the Over-Governors’ appointment. For his martyrdom, Kipraus 
  will later be beatiﬁ ed by order of Sebastian Thor. 
  
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  257-262.M36  
  The Poison Hatches Out: Revolts and armed resistance movements 
  ﬂ are up across the Jericho Sector, as quota-tallies demanded by the Over-
  Governors increase exponentially. While most of these insurrections 
  are quickly and brutally crushed, the resulting collateral damage is 
  extensive, marring the Sector’s production capacity further, which in 
  turn means ever increasing demands to make up a shortfall that cannot 
  be fulﬁ lled, creating an ever-worsening cycle of repression and revolt. 
  The Over-Governors begin a paranoiac series of purges to remove 
  anyone that they perceive as a potential threat and increase their revenue 
  by plundering the coffers of the Sector’s magnates and nobility. Among 
  these, the estates and vessels of the then absent Free Captain Mordecai 
  Haarlock, whose holdings span the Jericho Sector and several others beyond its borders, are seized by order of Over-Governor 
  Murella Mordercai on his return. In protest, Haarlock resists arrest, slaying those who would hold him. He ﬂ ees with a single vessel, 
  the Spear of Destiny, into the Slinnar Drift, swearing bloody vengeance. 
  263.M36 
  The Lord of Lightning: In response to the opening of a cell in the Omega Vault and the revealing of a broken spear of 
  archaic design and unknown material, a Deathwatch Kill-team undertakes a quest to the Feudal world of Sovereign, which they 
  discover suffers under the grip of a murderous xenos energy-entity which has offered itself as a false messiah to the natives. The 
  spectral creature has grown strong on the life-forces of thousands sacriﬁ ced in its name and is worshiped by an army of savage 
  warriors. A single Deathwatch Battle-Brother returns to Erioch with the Thunder Lord’s shattered crystal heart.
  263-270. M36 
  Haarlock’s War: Through force of personality and fear, Mordecai Haarlock convinces a vagabond ﬂ eet of privateers, refugee 
  merchants and disgruntled captains to join him in a war of resistance against the Over-Governors and those that stood with 
  them. They begin a guerrilla war of ambush and lightning attacks against tithe-shipping, lone Frateris Templar vessels and 
  outposts, as well as smuggling weapons and priests who have turned against Vandire’s mastery of the Ministorum to resistance 
  movements against Vandire’s rule across the Jericho Reach and in neighbouring regions. 
  Mordecai Haarlock displays an uncanny genius for this kind of shadowed warfare, both as a corsair captain and spymaster. 
  As his infamy spreads, he becomes known as the Spider Lord. A single man at the centre of a web comprising countless strands 
  of terrorist cells, spies, agents, and corsair ships. His emblem of the golden spider clutching an Imperial Eagle becomes a symbol 
  of hope for those crushed under the Over-Governors’ rule, and a mark of fear for their vassals.
  266.M36 
  Haarlock and Erioch: The annals of Watch Fortress Erioch record the arrival of The Spear of Destiny on the edge of the Erioch 
  system. Not knowing where he is becalmed, Mordecai Haarlock moves in-system, and he is swiftly surrounded and brought 
  under the guns of the Deathwatch. Forced to power down, Mordecai and his close associates are taken on board the Watch 
  Fortress under guard by Kill-teams. 
  Three days later, Haarlock and his ship are permitted to leave. He never speaks of what occurred within those three days, nor 
  does he ever return to the Erioch system.
  268.M36 
  The Darkfall: A vast city-sized vessel of unknown origin appears hurtling out of the Warp at great speed in the Andronicus 
  system, and crashes into Andronicus Prime’s second moon, shattering it. Debris rains down on the planet, blotting out the sun 
  and laying its verdant forests waste. All life on Andronicus Prime is exterminated in a matter of days.
  273. M36 
  The Defector: Revolt against the Reign of Blood has sparked across the Imperium like wildﬁ re, and elsewhere, the holy Sebastian 
  Thor’s Confederation of Light is steadily destroying the strength of Vandire’s rule. Fleeing the assassin’s blade for his Thorian 
  sympathies, Flag Captain Durek of the Imperial Navy battlecruiser Power of Terra encounters Haarlock and agrees to join his cause. 
  With him he brings a network of contacts within Battleﬂ eet Jericho and alliance with the Confederation of Light.
  
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  273.M36 
  The Darkling Stirs: Something alien stirs amid the frozen, 
  night-shrouded surface of Andronicus Prime, and the Deathwatch 
  respond. Kill-teams sweep the shattered ground and targeted 
  bombardments take place from orbit. In the aftermath, a Watch 
  Station is established in the turbulent asteroid ﬁ elds that now 
  strangle the near-orbital approaches to the planet. 
  275.M36 
  The Wrath of the Deathwatch: Lady Sector Murella learns 
  of the existence of fortiﬁ ed Watch Stations scattered across 
  the Sector from contacts within the Navis Nobilite. Unable to 
  establish who controls them, but fearing that they pose a threat 
  to her rule, she orders the Watch Stations seized. None of the 
  forces sent to capture them ever return. Ever larger forces are 
  sent to the fray, forcing the Deathwatch to unleash its own 
  power in defence of its watch and sacred duty, which is not for 
  such a petty tyrant to dispute. Realising the folly of making 
  war on the Adeptus Astartes far too late, the Over-Governor’s 
  power is critically weakened, and the best of her warriors and 
  warships squandered in battle. 
  277.M36 
  The Downfall of the Over-Governors: Free Captain 
  Mordecai Haarlock leads a ﬂ eet of insurgent vessels in a surprise 
  attack on Verronus, having drawn the forces of the remaining 
  Frateris Templar warships in the Sector away through a 
  diversionary attack on Eleusis. His strike ﬂ eet succeeded in 
  breaking through the system’s defences. Accompanied by an 
  elite force of unrecorded nature, Mordecai Haarlock executes Murella for ‘betrayal of the ideals and soul of the Imperium of 
  Mankind.’ Meanwhile, the Arch-Cardinal is torn apart by a lynch mob while trying to ﬂ ee.
  395.M36  
  Aftermath: After the death of Vandire and the end of the Reign of Blood, Free Captain Mordecai Haarlock is granted a 
  Warrant of Trade by Sebastian Thor. The warrant is a greater charter of writ to him and the heirs and successors of his blood 
  unto the end of all things, and conditional ﬁ rst upon the restoration of order to an Imperium still plagued by heresy, war, and 
  division. This honour is supposedly in recognition of Haarlock’s actions against Gorge Vandire’s forces, but some sources note 
  that Mordecai had been expected to ascend to rule the Jericho Sector himself, and that the granting of the Warrant of Trade 
  effectively banished Haarlock (who was perhaps, at best, too dangerous and resourceful a man to entrust with such a task) 
  beyond the bounds of the Imperium once the wars of the Apostasy were over and his usefulness was at an end.  
  Almost exactly a century later (in 395.M36), Mordecai Haarlock, taking up the mantle of Rogue Trader, vanishes from the 
  Imperium, taking his ﬂ eet with him. What ties, if any, he kept with the Jericho Sector remain unknown. However, the dark 
  coincidence of his deep connection to the later founding of the far distant Calixis Sector, a region that would prove inextricably 
  linked to the Jericho Reach’s future, is a matter of shrouding mystery that has troubled many within the Inquisition.
  416.M36 
   
  The Storm: The ship carrying Masimat Helicos, Lord Sector Designate of the Jericho Sector, disappears during the onset of a 
  violent storm during warp transit, marking the beginning of the darkest days of the Jericho Sector. Astropathic messages become 
  so unreliable that a message telling that the ofﬁ cial ruler of the Sector never arrived takes ﬁ ve years to be received. 
  From this point, warp storms on the edge of the region become more violent and more frequent, all but cutting it off from 
  any swift access to the wider Imperium, critically stymieing any efforts to rebuild or consolidate following the end of the 
  Reign of Blood. Even the Deathwatch within the Sector is forced to retrench, as it too is largely cut off from ready access to 
  reinforcement or re-supply, although its own resources and vessels prevent this interference from completely isolating them.
  
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  M37-M41 
  THE AGE OF SHADOWS
  Darkness and dissolution descend upon the Jericho Sector. From this point onwards, the records of its history are no more 
  than a few fragments of an unknown whole, with only the Deathwatch’s tireless vigil maintaining any semblance of Imperial 
  involvement in the region.
  889.M36  
  The End: The endless wars and calamities of the Imperium grind on. Still cut off, the Jericho Sector is left to fend for itself, 
  all but entirely bereft from contact from the outside—save from occasional deep range patrols from the Battleﬂ eet Ultima and 
  far-ranging trade and exploration vessels. Cut off and isolated, world after world is subsumed to horror, civil decay, or warfare, 
  until ﬁ nally in 889.M36, the Imperial authorities declare with the stroke of an auto quill that the Jericho Sector as an entity to 
  be no more. The region of space it once occupied is returned to being designated the Jericho Reach.
  380-405.M37  
  The Star-Killa Krew: An Ork freeboota ﬂ eet of over one hundred ships ravages the northern region of the Jericho Reach, 
  attacking and devastating Castobel, Aurum, and Alphos. Codicier Kiataino masterminds a plan to destabilise the Ork forces 
  before they can become entrenched, and succeeds in killing their warboss and his immediate possible successors, forcing the 
  Orks to turn on each other in a savage ﬁ ght to establish dominance, neutralising the Ork threat.
  651.M37 
  The Black Shield: A brother of the Deathwatch bearing no Chapter device arrives at Watch Fortress Erioch. This brother 
  ‘Black Shield’ calls himself Hail, and is the lone Space Marine occupant of the rapid strike vessel Unquiet Angel. Hail claims 
  that he has learned the location of the remains of the vanished 4th Company of the Black Consuls chapter, a force lost in its 
  entirety a millennia before, and seeks the aid of Watch Fortress Erioch in seeking them out.  Following the convening of the 
  Chamber of Vigilance, a Kill-team joins Hail aboard the Unquiet Angel. Hail leads the Kill-team to a massive space hulk drifting 
  in the dead space on the edge of the Phaegis system. The Kill-team board the vessel and succeed in recovering the banner of 
  the Black Consuls 4th Company and a number of other relics, despite being assaulted by scores of warp ghouls and other foul 
  creatures. In gratitude for the eventual return of their remains some decades later when the conveyor ship despatched from 
  Erioch reaches them, the Black Consuls renew their oaths to the Deathwatch with a pledge of Battle-Brothers three times what 
  it was previously.
  920.M37  
  The Spiders of Mataras: Mataras IV is subject to the ﬁ nal sanction of Exterminatus carried out by the Deathwatch to prevent 
  further contamination by a parasite-colony of the horriﬁ c Hadrus Skin-Weaver xenoform from spreading to neighbouring 
  worlds. The Hadrus is a species only previously encountered in the southwestern extremes of the Segmentum Tempestus, and 
  its presence on Mataras IV is a mystery of dire import that remains unsolved.
  111.M38 
  The Nightmare Lords: The Feudal World Ynnen falls to the tyranny of an Enslaver outbreak. A full eighty Deathwatch 
  brothers and two Dreadnoughts have to undertake the elimination of the Enslavers. Only eleven Battle-Brothers return alive and 
  both occupants of the Dreadnought sarcophagi are slain, but successfully returned to await new interments.
  249.M40 
  The Long Night of Verronus: The hive world of Verronus, once a bright star of Imperial majesty and the seat of the Jericho 
  Sector’s power, ﬁ nally succumbs to centuries of slow collapse, its last threads of civilisation collapsing as the ill-tended power-
  stems that maintain its spires ﬂ icker and ﬁ nally die. Foul cults, witches and abominations that have thus far been kept in check 
  only by the direst sacriﬁ ces of Verronus’s last defenders rise up, their hour come around at last. With the failing of the light, all 
  that remains is a ﬁ nal long night of anarchy, famine, and living nightmare.  
  
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  325.M40  
  The Hereteks of Samech: A Mechanicus Explorator Fleet 
  battles its way through the Warp Storms shrouding the Jericho 
  Reach to re-contact the Forge World of Samech. The ships are 
  lured into close orbit and ﬁ red on by the defence systems that 
  ring the world. The Cult Mechanicus declare the Forge World 
  Apostate under a penalty of death, an order that has yet to be 
  carried out.
  360.M40 
  The Coming of the Carnivores: A modiﬁ ed, marauding 
  ‘war sphere’ vessel belonging to the mercenary (and highly 
  carnivorous) xenos species known as the Kroot appears in 
  the Jericho reach and attacks outlying worlds in the Black 
  Reef region. Hunted and stalked by Deathwatch vessels and 
  repeatedly raided by Kill-teams, the massive Kroot ship is badly 
  damaged but manages to ﬂ ee, driven away from the region.
  656.M40 
  The Fury of Hell: The Hadex Anomaly comes into being, 
  swallowing the hive world of Verronus. It is believed that 
  the Anomaly emerged due to the bloody rites performed by 
  those dark souls that abided there. Across the Jericho Reach, 
  nascent pyskers burn and daemons stalk the land as a sudden 
  wave of unholy power ripples through the localised area of 
  Warpspace. Those afﬂ icted psykers are either sent irrevocably 
  mad or transﬁ gured into short-lived and murderous demi-
  gods who kill thousands and further push those few worlds 
  that remain under civilised control over the brink. On Watch 
  Fortress Erioch, a full third of the Astropathic choir dies, weeping blood. The Omega Vault opens, yielding up a holo-projector 
  that shows only the image of a face mask in the shape of a golden human skull. 
  175.M41 
  The Fifteen of Midael: The Deathwatch rapid strike vessel Instance of Fire is attacked by an unknown warship of an archaic 
  design, and forced to ﬂ ee before the vastly overmatching vessel. Guided by infernal power, the warship pursues the Deathwatch 
  vessel to Midael and catches the Instance of Fire and disables it in a brief exchange of ﬁ re. Escaping to the Watch Station on 
  Midael’s surface, the ﬁ fteen surviving Battle-Brothers make death oaths and prepare their last defence in the armoured tower 
  of the Watch Station. They hold out for seventeen days against a company-strength force of Chaos Space Marines clad in red 
  armour emblazoned with the marks of the Dark Gods. When a relief force reaches Midael, it is too late; they ﬁ nd the Watch 
  Station despoiled but repairable. The bodies and armour of the ﬁ fteen defenders are never found.
  397.M41 
  The Year of Dreaming Depths: A period of sustained and often deadly warp disturbance affecting the Koronus Expanse in 
  the Segmentum Obscurus is observed. Concurrently, the warp storms in the Jericho Reach lessen, but do not give way. Wreckage 
  of the Iron Promise, a Rogue Trader vessel belonging to the minor bloodline of Unurndel lost within the Koronus Expanse in this 
  year, is later discovered on the dead world of Belissar by the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach.
  Circa 400.M41 
  The Invasion of Black Reef: At an unknown date during this period, the aggressive, expansionist xenos race known as the 
  Tau begin wide-scale colonisation and invasion operations in the Black Reef region of the Coreward portion of the Jericho 
  Reach.  Shielded from immediate detection by the warp storms and stellar phenomenon of the region, the Tau ﬂ eets quickly 
  gain an entrenched foothold on several worlds, and enslave many human populated worlds. 
  
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  715.M41 
  The Visitation: Two Inquisitors arrive at Watch Fortress Erioch unannounced, their credentials and ciphers for access all in 
  order. One calls herself Camilla Noesis, and the other claims the name Kaleb, but hides his face behind a featureless mask of 
  tarnished silver. They give no explanation of how they learned of the Watch Fortress’s location; they simply say that the time was 
  as it should be. Their arrival coincides with an opening of a chamber within the Omega Vault. Within is found a chronograph 
  dating from the Dark Age of Technology which appears to be meticulously marking a countdown of time, measuring the hours 
  and their divisions with total precision. The Chamber of Vigilance stands in discussion for thirteen days and nights. The two 
  Inquisitors take all records of their discussions as they leave. 
  755.M41  
  The Warp Gate Opens: The gate in the great warp storms on the periphery of the Calixis Sector is discovered by the Imperial 
  Navy Frigate Spear of Tarsus. Sensing something causing a localised area of calm in the great warp storm, the ship’s navigator 
  drops the Spear of Tarsus out of the Warp. At the centre of this sea of ethereal calm is a vast Warp Gate of xenos design. The gate is 
  found to be active and becomes the immediate focus of the attentions of the Ordo Xenos, Deathwatch, and savants of the Adeptus 
  Mechanicus devoted to the rare study of such arcane machinery. Preliminary investigations reveal (to not inconsiderable surprise) a 
  static warp conduit leading to the deadspace region bordering the Jericho Reach on the other side of the Imperium.
  756.M41  
  The Gathering of the Ascension: On the eve of the Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension, four Inquisitors and two hundred 
  brothers of the Deathwatch arrive to the fortress at the same time. All claim to have received a coded message that called them 
  to attend at the Watch Fortress. The source of the message is unknown. 
  In the days after the Feast of Ascension, the Watch Fortress becomes a battleground of mistrust and murder, as a shape-
  shifting assassin of unknown origin stalks the corridors and vaults of the Watch Fortress. The assassin is caught and slain after a 
  seventeen-hour manhunt, but only after the death of two of the four Inquisitors, nine acolytes, and twenty-three Space Marines. 
  [Other Details Classiﬁ ed]
  M41 to the Present
  THE AGE OF WAR
  777-Present.M41
  The Achilus Crusade:  With the discovery of the stable Warp Gate, the possibility of using it to launch a crusade into the 
  Jericho Reach and reclaim this formerly great realm for the Imperium quickly ﬁ nds favour with the High Lords of Terra.  A plan 
  hatched under the command of Lord Militant Achilus to undertake this singular military campaign, and under his command 
  were mustered forces ranging from the Imperial Guard, the Adeptus Astartes and Adepta Sororitas, and scores of Imperial 
  Navy warships to enact the Imperium’s will. The High Lords were mindful, however, that the existence of the gate and what it 
  portended offered dire peril as well as possibility, and decreed that the crusade was to be launched from a staging point far from 
  the territory it intended to conquer, and under a shroud of the deepest secrecy, with the complicity of the masters of both the 
  Calixis Sector and the Departmento Munitorium. 
  The Crusade would prove to be a bloody, grinding conﬂ ict fraught with reversals of fortune and beset by enemies both 
  unexpected and nightmarish. 
  As for the Lord Militant, he would not live to see out its ﬁ rst decade.
  786.M41 
  The Banner Has Fallen: The death of Lord Militant Achilus occurs when the Proclamation of Wrath suffers a catastrophic 
  Geller Field failure. Afterwards, Solomon Tetrarchus ascends to the position of Lord Militant commanding the crusade into the 
  Jericho Reach. 
  786.M41 
  The Council of Ashes: Lord Militant Tetrachus summons all senior command staff to the fortress world of Alphos. Also 
  present are senior members of many of the Chapters of Adeptus Astartes present in the crusade at that time, as well as members 
  of the Ecclesiarchy, Mechanicus, and Inquisition. The gathering is a grand war council at the commencement of which ﬁ fty 
  senior ofﬁ cers formerly favoured by the late Lord Militant are withdrawn from command or shifted into more junior roles.  A 
  council of new advisors and ofﬁ cer elite is formed and begins a dramatic reorganization of crusade forces and strategy. 
  
  10
  Know No Fear
  785.M41 
  The Greyhell Front: The Canis Salient is launched against the Tau controlled domains of the Velk’han Sept in the Black 
  Reef area of the Jericho Reach, reinforcing armies already ﬁ ghting against the highly organised and sophisticated alien forces 
  across the so-called Greyhell Front previously dispatched by Lord Militant Achilus. The ﬁ ghting is particularly bitter. Lord 
  Commander Ebongrave, the Imperial Salient Commander, gains a swift reputation for barbarous and unorthodox tactics. 
  786.M41  
  Against The Tides of Hell: The Acheros Salient is launched towards the centre of the Jericho Reach, there to give battle to 
  the degenerate worshippers of Chaos and their foul allies, and retake the core worlds of what was once the Jericho Sector. The 
  resistance they meet is unexpectedly high, particularly in the daemon-haunted Cellebos Warzone and casualties incurred by the 
  Imperial forces are massive, blocking the salient’s progress into a bloody war of attrition.
  787.M41
  The Crusade Conquers: The Orpheus Salient is launched to reclaim worlds lying along the rimward portion of the Reach. 
  Here, progress is relatively rapid and successful, with scores of worlds returned to Imperial control. 
  788.M41
  The Loss of the Margin Crusade: Elsewhere in the Imperium, contact is ﬁ nally lost with forces of the troubled Margin Crusade. From 
  this point on, the Margin Crusade exists as a lie, and is used to garner greater tithes and musters of troops and materiel for the Achilus 
  Crusade from the distant Scarus, Ixaniad, and Calixis Sectors via the Warp Gate to replace heavy and ongoing losses. 
  789.M41
  The Return of Castobel to the Imperial Fold: Battlegroup Santos reaches the Castobel system and ﬁ nds that it has stayed 
  loyal to the Imperium through four Millennia of shadow and isolation. A hundred-day festival of celebration is declared. At its 
  end, the ﬁ rst regiment of tithed Imperial Guard (the 1st Castobel Reborn) are lifted off the planet. The 1st Reborn will be the 
  ﬁ rst in a series of regiments tithed from the planet.
  789.M41
  The Seriphos Sanction: Covert operations by the Deathwatch disrupt diplomatic talks between the technologically advanced but 
  renegade human world of Seriphos Secundus and the emissaries of the Tau. Deathwatch Kill-teams assassinate both Tau Ethereal Caste 
  dignitaries and representatives of the Seriphon Unity, plunging the two factions—renegade human and xenos—into open warfare. 
  789.M41 
  The Liberation of Colhep: Battlegroup Venicus, together with a company of Storm Wardens Space Marines, breaks the 
  alien enslavement of the Colhep systems.  A daring in-system translation from the warp and surgical strikes against key enemy 
  holdings in overwhelming force return the human population to Imperial rule in a single week of ﬁ ghting.  
  805.M41 
  The Conquest of Eleusis: Warp storms abate around the Eleusis system. Crusade forces ﬁ nd the once sacred world has fallen 
  the worship of false gods under the tyranny of a priest caste called the Charnel Oracles. It is cleansed of their dark taint by 
  the forces of Battlegroup Argo under the personal command of General Curas in a brutal extermination campaign against the 
  blood-glutted abominations that much of the planet’s population have devolved into. After their priests are isolated and slain, 
  the mutants, despite their monstrous distortions of body and inhuman savagery, lack the intelligence or cohesion to mount 
  an organised defence, thus freeing the scattered few who have remained fully human from their torment. Following the swift 
  and merciless victory, a thousand-day re-hallowing and sanctiﬁ cation of the world begins by the faithful servants of the 
  Ecclesiarchy. 
  805.M41
  The Destruction of the Crimson Harvest: A vast space hulk designated the Crimson Harvest and forged from the fused and 
  twisted remains of xenos star vessels and artefacts of unknown origin appears on the edge of the Hadex Anomaly. Ships bearing 
  the blasphemous sigils of Chaos take ﬂ ight from the dark forge of Samech and make their way to rendezvous with the craft, 
  
  11
  Know No Fear
  sparking a deadly series of running battles between the servants of the Ruinous Powers and attack ships from the Crusade forces 
  operating in the Acheros Salient and the Deathwatch. The Deathwatch Kill-team under Brother Sergeant Hurak of the Iron 
  Hands sacriﬁ ces itself in order to plunge the Crimson Harvest into the heart of a dying star, thus denying the pawns of Chaos 
  their prize.
  807.M41 
  The Conquest of Vanir: The war against the secessionist systems of the self-proclaimed Kingdom of Vanir is broken by a 
  daring strike at the hive world of Vanir by Orpheus Salient Crusade forces. 
  810.M41
  The Lament of Goln: Six Deathwatch Kill-teams under Lexicanum Raphael break the attack by the forces of Chaos on the 
  recently conquered world of Goln. The Deathwatch attack crippled the Chaos Leadership in the progress of recovering a psy-
  active xenos artefact from the host’s commanding cabal. Fearing that they will be overwhelmed by a second counterattack, General 
  Saiden, the commander of Crusade forces in Goln, orders the Kill-teams to redeploy against the remaining Chaos forces. The 
  Deathwatch forces withdraw without acknowledging the General’s ‘order.’ Goln falls three days later to a second Chaos assault.  
  812.M41
  The Shadow in the Warp: Communication between parts of the Crusade and re-conquered Reach is lost without warning. 
  Particularly affected is the Orpheus Salient which disappears behind a crawling shadow of Warp interference.
  814.M41 
  The Great Devourer: The Deathwatch warship Thunder’s Word enters the Freya system to investigate the silence of an Astropathic 
  relay. It ﬁ nds no trace of the relay and indeed no trace of any life in the Freya system. Preparing to leave the system, the Thunder’s 
  Word encounters two Tyranid drone ships. Its hull scored and pitted with acid and its magazines nearly exhausted, the Thunder’s 
  Word arrives at Watch Fortress Erioch bringing news that the 
  Great Devourer has come to Jericho Reach. 
  814.M41
  Death in the Void: The Deep Range Cruiser Admiral Ishmael 
  goes missing after attempting to make contact with the lead 
  elements of the Orpheus Salient. All across the northern 
  (Rimward) portion of the Jericho Reach worlds are swallowed 
  by darkness and horror, and the vaunted Battlegroup Argo is 
  lost, presenting a severe blow to the crusade forces.
  814.M41 
  Dagon: The name of the Tyranid attack into the Jericho Reach 
  is ofﬁ cially designated as Hive Fleet Dagon, and identiﬁ ed as 
  the greatest single extant threat to the crusade, and indeed the 
  lives of every living being in the Jericho Reach. The Deathwatch 
  remains fully engaged in facing this threat.
  817.M41
  Current Date: The Omega Vault is becoming increasingly 
  active, and threats of a scale unprecedented in their scope, 
  diversity and sheer portent stalk the stars and shadowed worlds 
  of the Jericho Reach, leading many within the Inquisition to 
  draw the conclusion that a great turning point in the fate of the 
  region, perhaps the Imperium itself, is coming to pass here in 
  the Jericho Reach for good or ill. The Watch continues, and the 
  watchers stand ready. 
  
  12
  Credits
  CREDITS
  FANTASY
  FLIGHT
  GAMES
  Fantasy Flight Games
  1975 West County Road B2
  Roseville, MN 55113
  USA
  Copyright © Games Workshop Limited 2010. Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer 40,000 Role Play, Deathwatch, 
  the foregoing marks’ respective logos, Know No Fear and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/
  devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters, products and illustrations from the Warhammer 
  40,000 universe and the Deathwatch game setting are either ®, ™, and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2010, variably registered 
  in the UK and other countries around the world. This edition published under license to Fantasy Flight Publishing Inc. All rights 
  reserved to their respective owners. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any 
  form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
  Product Code: DWP4   
  For more information about the DEATHWATCH line, free downloads, answers 
  to rule queries, or just to pass on greetings, visit us online at
  www.FantasyFlightGames.com
  Lead Developer
  Ross Watson
  Written by
  John French and Alan Bligh
  Proofreading
  Dave Johnson and Thaadd Powell
  Graphic Design
  Kevin Childress
  Cover Art
  Matt Bradbury
  Interior Art
  Alberto Bontempi, Hector Ortiz, and Mark Smith
  Art Direction
  Zoë Robinson
  Production Manager
  Eric Knight
  FFG Lead Game Designer
  Corey Konieczka
  FFG Lead Game Producer
  Michael Hurley
  Publisher
  Christian T. Petersen
  GAMES WORKSHOP
  Licensing Manager
  Owen Rees
  Head of Licensing
  Paul Lyons
  Head of Intellectual Property
  Alan Merrett
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Warhammer/40k/Game books/Deathwatch/Sheets and Supplements/Deathwatch - Know no Fear - A History of The Jericho Reach.pdf