Death Oath - History: The tradition of the Death Oath has been inherited from the ancient time of the Great Crusade, when both individual Space Marines and entire Space Marine Legions would take solemn oaths of moment to accomplish some glorious goal or die trying. Often, a dishonoured Space Marine would swear an oath of moment to accomplish a task considered nearly impossible even for a superhuman Astartes, and find redemption in death while trying to fulfill the oath. If by a miracle the Astartes managed to accomplish his heroic task, he would then be vindicated, and welcomed back amongst his Battle-Brothers as a hero.In the late 41st Millennium, a Death Oath is not often pronounced. Space Marines are indoctrinated and psycho-conditioned from the moment they are accepted as Aspirants into their Chapter that to fail the Emperor and their Primarch is the worst sin possible. Yet for all their fearlessness and prowess in battle, failure is not unknown to the Space Marines, and some events simply cannot be ignored or prayed away. The loss of a sacred Chapter relic, or unnecessary losses in battle are but two examples of failure for which a Space Marine will be called to account. In some instances, the Astartes' superior will impose a Death Oath upon the penitent Space Marine. However, the monastic existence of the Astartes, and their fanatic reverence for their Primarch progenitor sometimes calls for punishment even in victory, as was demonstrated by the Death Oath pronounced upon the Ultramarines' Captain Uriel Ventris after his victory over the Tyranids at Tarsis Ultra: to the Ultramarines, achieving victory while disregarding the Codex Astartes is a grievous sin.When the Death Oath is pronounced, the Battle-Brother will receive his task before the whole of the Chapter and then be cast out. For all intents and purposes, he is dead to his brothers and no longer exists. To receive a Death Oath is a harsh punishment for an Astartes, for he will then be truly alone in a hostile galaxy. Most Astartes who receive such a punishment die trying to fulfill their oath, but a few manage to miraculously succeed and are welcomed back to their Chapter as heroes after being tested for any corruption. A few others, unable to fulfill their objectives, either join the retinue of an Inquisitor or petition for service into the Deathwatch as a Deathwatch Black Shield, in order to give their death a measure of meaning. Sadly, some Astartes lose their sanity completely and turn Renegade, filled with nothing but hatred and contempt for the Imperium they were forced to leave.Despite their similarities, the Death Oath is not the same as the Warrior's Pilgrimage tradition: the former is an exile from a Space Marine's Chapter enforced as punishment, while the latter is a voluntary exile in order to atone for wrongdoing and eventually return to the Chapter if the quest proves successful. However, the two remain closely linked, since the situations that would prompt either to be enacted upon an Astartes are identical, and it is not unheard of for a Space Marine to request to be allowed to make a Warrior's Pilgrimage from his Chapter Master at the same time his fellows request that the punishment of exile be meted out upon him.