The Howling was an event in 401.M34.[1]
Black Templar Space Marines ended the Catelexis Heresy by executing the Cacodominus, an alien cyborg whose formidable psychic presence allowed it to control the populace of 1,300 planetary systems as well as seventeen Dreadblade Knights.[3] However, the Cacodominus's death scream echoed and amplified through the Warp, burning out the minds of a billion astropaths and distorting the signal of the Astronomican. Millions upon millions of ships were lost in the resulting upheaval and entire sub-sectors slid into barbarism without the Adeptus Terra to guide them.[1]
Some Imperial scholars have speculated that this psychic catastrophe could have destroyed all of the Black Templars' Librarians; this would explain why the chapter has not had any since that time.[2]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook, pg. 124
- 2: Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 45 - Abhor the Witch
- 3: Codex: Chaos Knights (8th Edition) - A Saga of Destruction