Deathwatch Black Shield - Notable Deathwatch Black Shields: Deathwatch Chaplain Vigilant - The individual known as Brother Vigilant arrived in the final hours of 812.M41 to Watch Fortress Erioch aboard a badly damaged Inquisitorial courier vessel belonging to an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor who had departed only a month before on some urgent, unknown mission. The Inquisitor was nowhere to be found and the crew had died from void exposure or radiation sickness within a week of departure, leaving only a single clue as to what had brought the vessel to Erioch. A stasis-crypt was found within the courier's hold, containing a single Space Marine in a Sus-an Membrane-induced coma, clad in battle-scarred black warplate and clutching a Crozius Arcanum that had seen much use. Upon the nameless battle-brother's awakening, Watch Commander Mordigael gathered the Chamber of Vigilance at the newcomer’s urgent request, to hear his case. Three days passed, as he explained himself and put his fate at the mercy of the Master of the Vigil. Whatever was said is sealed by agreement of the Master of the Vigil and the Inquisitor of the Chamber, never to be spoken of again, and the bearer of this news was granted leave to swear the Apocryphon Oath and begin a Vigil without end, taking the name Brother Vigilant in place of his own. However, instead of taking to the field immediately, Brother Vigilant spent three standard years in intense study, learning the many rites and rituals of the Deathwatch, before he emerged to do battle with the Emperor’s enemies, bearing once again the scarred and war-worn Crozius Arcanum he arrived with, having taken up the mantle of a Deathwatch Chaplain. At present, Brother Vigilant operates from Watch Station Andronicus, departing frequently with itinerant Kill-teams venturing deeper into space contested by the T'au.Knight-Warden Alric - Alric is a mystery come forth from the depths of the void. This Deathwatch Black Shield has proved to be indispensable to the Dead Cabal -- a handful of like-minded, inquisitive Deathwatch Space Marines that have been drawn back to the study of nearly-deserted Watch Stations, now known as the Dead Stations, and the ancient traces of knowledge and prophecy they contained. These members of the Long Watch have since dedicated their lives to finally unravelling the enigma of the Jericho Reach known as the Dark Pattern -- a series of mysterious events that continue to unfold, presaged in numerous ancient prophecies foretelling of great strife and darkness are coming to pass in this area of space. The Knight-Warden has provided the Dead Cabal with nearly prophetic insight into the workings of the Suhbekhar Dynasty, his knowledge of the Necrons rivalling even that of Master of the Forge Xerill. During his tenure among the Deathwatch, the mysterious battle-brother has earned a reputation for arriving, unexpectedly and without warning, where he is needed most. The members of no less than a dozen Deathwatch Kill-teams owe their lives to the silent warrior, each facing insurmountable odds only to find salvation in the arrival of the Knight-Warden, his head bowed in silent salute and his Power Flail swinging. Not even his brothers within the Dead Cabal can say how the Knight-Warden knows where he is needed, though the unquestioning certainty with which he conducts himself defies the notion that his actions are without direction.Deathwatch Battle-Brother Hail - In the year 651.M37, a brother of the Deathwing bearing no Chapter device arrived at Watch Fortress Erioch. This brother "Black Shield" called himself Hail, and was the lone Space Marine occupant of the rapid strike vessel Unquiet Angel. Hail claimed that he had learned the location of the remains of the vanished 4th Company of the Black Consuls Chapter, a force lost in its entirety a millennia earlier, and sought the aid of Watch Fortress Erioch in seeking them out. Following the convening of the Chamber of Vigilance, a Kill-team joined Hail aboard the Unquiet Angel. Hail led the Kill-team to a massive space hulk drifting in the dead space on the edge of the Phaegis System. The Kill-team boarded 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 reached them, the Black Consuls renewed their oaths to the Deathwatch with a pledge of battle-brothers three times what it was previously.Deathwatch Battle-Brother Janus - Brother Janus is a Black Shield, and characteristically about whom little is known. He bears a chain about his neck that appears the twin of that once carried by Brother Andruk of the Crimson Castellans, but whether there is any association between the fallen hero of the Lux Veritatis and the Black Shield must remain a mystery. Brother Janus had taken his Apocryphon Oath a mere ten days before this operation, and his presence on the Strike Force was specifically requested by Inquisitor Ramaeus. It is reported that Brother Janus fought alongside Inquisitor Ramaeus at some stage during the attack on the ritual site and, although no corroborative records confirm it, some claim that the two know one another and converse as if old compatriots.Deathwatch Battle-Brother Nullus (Demetrian Titus) - Demetrian Titus, the former captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company during the Liberation of Graia, served time as a Black Shield in the Deathwatch known only as "Nullus" to his battle-brothers at the watch fortress of Watcher Keep. Following his imprisonment by the Inquisition on suspicion of heresy following the Graia campaign, Titus was freed from stasis in an Inquisition holdfast by a kill-team of the Red Hunters following the death of Inquisitor Thrax. He was handed over by the Inquisition to the Deathwatch of Watcher Keep to be tested for Chaos corruption. Once found free of any such taint, he volunteered to serve with the Deathwatch, believing that the failure of his Chapter to seek him out meant that he was considered too tainted to serve alongside them anymore. Consumed by shame at this untrue supposition, Titus chose to serve as a Black Shield, his true name and Chapter of origin erased. After a mission against the Tyranids on the world of Kadaku during the Recidious Campaign, Titus was left mortally wounded but was recovered by an Ultramarines task force that had been sent to relieve the Deathwatch on that world. Reunited with his Chapter, who had never given up hope of finding him, Titus was forced to cross the Rubicon Primaris and become a Primaris Marine to survive his injuries. As his position as captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company had been filled in his standard century-long absence, Chapter Master Marneus Calgar felt the best solution was to make Titus a Primaris Lieutenant and one of the two sub-commanders of the 2nd Company he had led for so long and so well. Titus accepted the demotion with grace, grateful only to be serving the Emperor once more alongside his battle-brothers.