Omega Vault
The Omega Vault is a mysterious chamber deep within the Deathwatch Watch Fortress Erioch.
Who built the Vault and what purpose it holds remains a mystery, but no living creature can open its doors. The Vault seems to have a mind of its own, dispensing gifts and opening at seemingly random intervals. It is however known to yield mysterious artefacts during times of upheaval in the Jericho Reach. In the past, the Vault has provided tomes of archaic lore, strange fragments of alien devices, ancient weapons forged in times long gone, world-slaying virus canisters, enigmatic star charts, and bizarre xenological specimens. On one occasion, its gift was an ancient Astropath held in a stasis field. When awoken, the Astropath sent one brief astropathic message and spoke two words before expiring from extreme old age, his final duty discharged. At the centre of the Omega Vault lies another, inner vault: a secret of secrets, bound with scores of locking mechanisms which have slowly opened themselves, one-by-one, down the centuries.[1]
Known Openings of the Omega Vault
- 263.M36: The Vault opens and reveals a broken spear of archaic design and unknown material. A Deathwatch Kill-team goes to the feral world of Sovereign, which is found to have fallen under the rule of a xenos energy being which is worshipped as a false messiah by the population. It has grown strong on the life-force of the thousands sacrificed in its name and is served by a army of savage warriors. A single Deathwatch brother returns to Erioch with the Thunder Lord's shattered crystal heart.[2a]
- 274.M38: The Omega Vault opens and offers up a Data-Crystal of impossibly archaic pattern that only the most ancient of the Deathwatch systems can read. On the crystal there is only a set of astrographic coordinates. Once examined, the coordinates are determined to represent nothing more than an tract of interstellar void spinward of Jove's Descent. The investigation vessel remains on station for ten days before returning, but an instant before it plunges into the Warp, the ship's astropath suffers a terminal seizure, his last words a shrieked warning that mankind must never set foot in that reach of space again.[3b]
- 656.M40: The Hadex Anomaly swirls into existence and the psychic shockwaves are felt all across the Jericho Reach. On Watch Fortress Erioch a full third of the Astropathic choir dies, weeping blood. The Omega Vault opens and reveals only a chamber with a holo-projector that emits the image of a face mask in the shape of a golden skull.[2b]
- 715.M41: Two Inquisitors arrive at Watch Fortress Erioch unannounced. One is named Camilla Noesis and the other claims only the name Kaleb. They refuse to give a explanation to how they knew of Erioch's location or why they are there, their only reply being that the time was as it should be. A chamber opens in the Omega Vault revealing a chronograph from the Dark Age of Technology that is meticulously marking a countdown, measuring the hours and their division with total precision. The Watch Fortress Chamber of Vigilance meets for thirteen days. The Inquisitors take all records of the discussion with them when they leave.[2c]
- Date Unknown: A relic boltgun named the Eternity Gate Boltgun is found within a chamber of the Omega Vault. The bolter has a engraving on its casing showing the deeds of its original owner as he fought against the Traitor Legions before the Eternity Gate and it strikes the battle-brothers who witness it with an aura of age and duty, undiminished by the centuries it has spent in stasis within the Omega Vault. [3a]
- Date Unknown: Watch Fortress Erioch's defence systems are suddenly activated and a alert for an imminent attack on the fortress is issued. The battle-brothers can however not find any sign of an enemy and the defences deactivate themselves. Furious, Watch Captain Brand orders a search to find the reason and it is found that a chamber of the Omega Vault has been opened. In it, a simple tome bound in withered leather is found. The book is thereafter known as the Derleth Lexicon after its compiler.[3c]
Sources
- 1: Deathwatch: Core Rulebook, pgs. 328-333
- 2: Deathwatch: Know No Fear:
- 3: Deathwatch: The Outer Reach:
