Velayne Ramaeus

Velayne Ramaeus is an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos and the leader of the faction of the Deathwatch known as the Dead Cabal.

History
Inquisitors are, by their very nature, subtle, inscrutable, and enigmatic. Most wear this mystery around themselves like a cloak, almost ostentatious in their guile. The same could be said about Velayne Ramaeus, though such sentiments would hardly do the mysterious Inquisitor justice. Little of certainty is known about the woman, though her credentials are of the highest order and as a result, her authority among the Deathwatch is all but limitless. None remember the details of her arrival in the Jericho Reach, though most assume that the Inquisitor rode in on the first waves of the Achilus Crusade, as few can recall her presence before that time. If asked directly about her service in the Deathwatch, the stewards of Watch Fortress Erioch react with puzzlement. Back through the centuries, scattered among the recollections of the older members of the Deathwatch are memories of a woman bearing her description, though no official record exists as evidence. It is almost as though she had always been there, but went unnoticed until the last several decades. Beyond her rosette and her authentication seal, no concrete record exists of her before the discovery of the Warp Gate. Despite this lack, the Chamber of Vigilance has reconciled her credentials and require no other confirmation of her devotion.

Since her arrival, Inquisitor Ramaeus has proved to be like many of her kind, not one for sloth or inactivity. In but a few short years, she had taken command of the Dead Stations and collected about her the four members of the Deathwatch that would become known collectively as the Dead Cabal. With her trusted Battle-Brothers positioned throughout the Jericho Reach and watchful for unusual phenomena and dire warning signs, the Inquisitor set about her own work, though what this is, few can say. The few times she has made her actions widely known, it was to provide evidence that the things which lurk between the stars of the Jericho Reach are stirring and to demand that the Deathwatch take action against them. Perhaps due to her intense secrecy and unwillingness to disclose what she has learned, these warnings and demands have largely fallen on deaf ears. As a result, Inquisitor Ramaeus spends little time actually aboard the Watch Stations of the Deathwatch and rarely, if ever, enters the confines of Watch Fortress Erioch. Despite her routine absence, she has a reputation for suddenly appearing where she is most needed and vanishing just as abruptly when the situation has passed; a habit that does little to inspire trust among her fellows. She has a habit of finishing the sentences of others and responding the their actions before they happen, almost as though she knows what one is about to say or do before they do it. Some speculate that this shows that the Inquisitor possesses some psychic talent. Other, highly learned scholars and adepts among the Deathwatch, whisper ever more mysterious explanations, perhaps even a connection to the obscure Ordo Chronos.

What Velayne Ramaeus’ true purpose is, not even the members of the Dead Cabal can accurately say. Many among the Deathwatch suspect that the outspoken Inquisitor knows a great deal more about the goings on of the Jericho Reach than she lets on, and a small few accuse her of outright sabotage and treason. She does little to acknowledge these accusations, simply dismissing them as the idle chatter of those who spend too little time taking action against the doom which lies ever at the doorstep of the Imperium. These days, the Inquisitor leaves the matters of the Dead Cabal to those whom she trusts, Watch Captain Mathais in the main.

There are a great many rumours concerning Inquisitor Ramaeus among the Space Marines and Inquisitors of Watch Fortress Erioch, but each is as unsubstantiated as the next. Some speculate that lack of recorded information concerning the Ramaeus is due to a coverup of the highest order; that perhaps all record of her has been expunged to conceal her place in a great conspiracy or to obscure her part in a failed operation. Others suspect that she is not who she says she is and that the Chamber of Vigilance has placed undo trust on the duplicitous Inquisitor. True paranoiacs among the Inquisition even claim to have evidence that Inquisitor Ramaeus is, in fact, a highly trained operative of the Officio Assassinorum, sent to infi ltrate the Deathwatch until the day when her murderous arts shall be called upon.

Whispers between these sceptics claim that Ramaeus has learned the use of polymorphine from the Callidus Temple assassins and uses the transformative drug to take the form of any number of individuals throughout the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach, thus explaining her mysterious comings and goings. For her part, Ramaeus does little to quell these rumours or explain herself, leaving her brethren to speculate while she girds the Imperial holdings in the Jericho Reach against what is to come.

In recent years, Inquisitor Ramaeus has become more active than ever before. She travels the Jericho Reach by her usual, unknown means, passing from one dead world to the next, with a haste and an urgency that has drawn the attention of the Battle-Brothers stationed aboard the Dead Stations. Where once she acted entirely alone, she has recently lead several separate excursions to the worlds of the Dark Pattern. Some of these missions end in conflict and bloodshed, as the Inquisitor and her chosen escorts unearth the slumbering horrors of these worlds. Others, prepared for similar action, find only dead rock and barren wastes, almost as if the Inquisitor were expecting some event that had yet to happen. Recently, Inquisitor Ramaeus has been conferring closely with Knight-Warden Alric, though the subject of those conversations remains unknown. Given their shared preference for working alone out among the scattered worlds of the Dark Pattern, such discussions suggest a discovery which may have dire implications for the Jericho Reach. As well, these interactions give some credence to the long-standing suspicions that the Inquisitor and the inscrutable Black Shield had a connection to one another prior to their time in the Deathwatch.