focus chapter: Guardians Of The Covenant

The Guardians of the Covenant are as dedicated to the scholarly arts as to the ways of war. Masters of both, the Battle-Brothers of this Chapter use their keen intellects as a weapon as sharp as their Chainswords. The Chapter's Astartes study the teachings of the Emperor and of their PrimarchLion El'Jonson in minute detail, attaining a unique perspective on the object of their diligent studies. Every shred of ancient wisdom is absorbed, debated and analysed, so that no ruse or stratagem is beyond the Guardians of the Covenant, and none may better them on the field of battle.

This attention to the wise words of these and numerous other important figures carries over into more areas of the Chapter's identity, as many of the Chapter's brethren are masters of the calligraphic arts. These supremely skilled Artificers spend long hours adorning the Chapter's arms and armour, banners, and even the flanks of its war machines, with passages drawn from numerous sacred Imperial texts. Exactly what drives these brethren to express themselves in such a manner is unknown, and much like the activities of many of the Unforgiven Chapters, is subject to mystery and deliberate misdirection.

The Guardians of the Covenant are known to be most active on the borders of the Segmentum Pacificus and as such have faced numerous alien threats emanating from the vast reaches of the unexplored void. The Halo Stars and the Veiled Region extend beyond the Imperium's outer frontiers for many hundreds of light years, and none can known what alien horrors might lurk in the depths of the void. The Chapter is known to have defeated an invasion by the race of the Lelith, as well as numerous xenos empires now thankfully extinct. They have faced and defeated threats from rampaging Orks and saved entire planetary populations from being dragged screaming into the Webway by the sadisticDark Eldar. The Chapter has even faced the newly emergedNecrons, for many of their Tomb Worlds are to be found in the dark regions of the galaxy where the Guardians of the Covenant are most active.

• Lelith Incursion (Unknown Date.M41) - The Lelith were an aggressive xenos species that assaulted an entire Imperial sub-sector in the Halo Stars of the Segmentum Pacificus. The Guardians of the Covenant engaged them in battle and despite heavy losses were able to drive this species back into the void and reclaim the sub-sector for Mankind. The exact date when this event occurred has been lost to Imperial records.

The Guardians of the Covenant organise themselves along the same lines as their primogenitor Chapter, the Dark Angels, and so are considered to be in partial compliance with the Codex Astartes.

Due to the Chapter’s home world being located on the borders of the Segmentum Pacificus, it is rare indeed for its Battle-Brothers to be encountered standing the Long Watch as far distant as the Jericho Reach. Only a handful of the Chapter’s brethren are known to have served in the Deathwatch, though none have done so since the coming of the Achilus Crusade. Nonetheless, several items of Power Armour belonging to Battle-Brothers from the Guardians of the Covenant that have taken the Apocryphon Oath lie unclaimed in dusty niches of the Hall of Glory, their owners having fallen in battle whilst serving the Deathwatch.

The Guardians of the Covenant's Chapter homeworld of Mortikah VII, a Feudal World, lies close to the Imperium of Man's western rim in the Segmentum Pacificus and the Chapter often acts to defend the worlds of the Halo Stars in that region from the numerous xenos threats they face.

Not much is known of the Chapter's combat doctrines, although by all accounts they seem to be a Chapter that shows a great deal more care for the common citizens under their protection than their parent Chapter.

The lifestyle and doctrines of the Guardians of the Covenant are even more monastic in nature than is normal for a Chapter of theAstartes. The Battle-Brothers of the Chapter devote as much time to intellectual study and the scholarly arts as they do to training for battle. They maintain scriptoriums in their fortress-monastery where every Astartes of the Guardians of the Covenant is expected to spend time learning as well as aiding the Chapter in the creation of illuminated manuscripts of sacred Imperial knowledge. Because of their respect for learning and the dissemination of knowledge, the Chapter is known to have close ties with certain elements of theAdeptus Mechanicus in their region of the galaxy and often gains access to stores of more advanced equipment and Imperial technology as a result.

Record of Oblivion - The monastic Guardians of the Covenant have kept many records of secrets long lost to the rest of the Imperium. Among the archives and data-stacks of the Chapter's fortress-monastery on Mortikah VII is a massive data-tome known as the Record of Oblivion which contains a record of other civilisations brought down by the Imperium’s might. These writings on now-extinct xenos races and long-defunct Renegade sects are now their only remnant, a source of immense satisfaction to the Space Marines who were the key instrument of their demise. Limited selections are occasionally transcribed from the tome and given to Battle-Brothers about to serve with the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach, as a token of the great service they are summoned to perform. Possession of a fragment of the Record of Oblivion is a great comfort to a Battle-Brother in the hellish warzones where he must battle, reminding him of what folly it is to assume anything but the inexorable triumph of Mankind.The Chapter uses graphic imagery that is distinctly gothic in nature. The Guardians of the Covenant decorate their vehicles with text and images copied from illuminated manuscripts sacred to the Astartes that they have produced themselves in their scriptoriums on Mortikah VII, such as the Codex Astartes and the Requiem Angelis.

The Guardians of the Covenant's Power Armour is silver with black shoulder plates. The Guardians of the Covenant often wear crimson hooded robes over their armour.

The Chapter's badge is two white, downward pointed, crossed swords.