Deathwatch Epistolary

"I have looked across the frozen plains of Ynnen and seen the ghosts of ancient civilizations stir back to life to show what once was: their war machines, their marching ranks, their jagged, ugly cities. They are all sand and dust now, fallen long ago even before the light of the Emperor reached that benighted place, but even dust remembers when it was once a mountain. They must not rise again."

- Deathwatch Epistolary Zoshan Firehand of the White Scars Chapter

A Deathwatch Epistolary is a potent battle-psyker of the elite Deathwatch whose formidable powers were unlocked whilst completing a Vigil as lower ranking Lexicanium. Often these elite Librarians return to the Deathwatch later in their lives in response to a personal request from a Watch Commander or to complete an unfinished matter they uncovered during their formative years or simply because they have come to believe the dire threat of the xenos deserves their special attention. An Epistolary wields devastating powers, bestriding the battlefields with fire and wielding the powers of the elements themselves. As part of a Kill-team, their support is invaluable to combating the alien menace especially against xenos psykers.

History
Often, the lowest-ranked Librarians, known as Lexicaniums, most commonly undertake a Vigil within the Deathwatch. It is rare, but not unknown, for individuals to unlock psychic powers through their experiences during their Vigil that raise them to the rank of Codicier or even Epistolary while still in the Watch. Other Librarians return to the Deathwatch later in their lives in response to a personal request from the Watch Commander, to finish some matter first unearthed in their formative years or simply because they have come to believe the threat of the alien deserves special attention. Such renowned individuals hold a high rank within the Deathwatch and are liable to be consulted on all major undertakings. Their powers of precognition offer an opportunity to rend the veil on potential outcomes and they have ways to uncover hidden knowledge that would be unreachable by other means.

As part of a Kill-team an Epistolary wields devastating powers capable of incinerating hordes of enemies and entire nests of aliens. He bestrides the battlefi eld with fire and wielding lightning with the power of an angry god. Few foes will stand before the coming of an Epistolary as their minds fill with terror and webs of confusion. Those few that can resist the psychic onslaught must face the terrible fury of the Epistolary’s Force Weapon, a blade blazing with the white-hot certainty of his own will. The most important call made for a Deathwatch Epistolary is to take the field against xenos psykers. Many alien species encountered by Deathwatch Kill-teams boast warp-dabblers and sorcerers of varying talent that make pacts and sell themselves willingly to the Ruinous Powers. Others, like the Eldar, have their own esoteric methods to shape the warp to their will. Yet others have innate psychic powers that can render them immune to conventional weaponry, dominate or stupefy Space Marines. All of these and more represent dire threats to an unprepared Kill-team without psyker support. A Librarian can warn of such perils before they are encountered, or at least in time to act against them decisively with targeted attacks.

An Epistolary can overcome the most potent alien psyker coven or protect his Battle-Brothers from an overwhelming psychic miasma. With an Epistolary present, a battle is fought on two planes—both the physical and psychic—and Librarians are specially equipped for this task. Their awesome powers are channelled through the conductive wiring of a Psychic Hood, a piece of wargear linked directly into the Librarian’s brain. The psychic hood extends the wearer’s consciousness so that he can “feel” manipulation of the warp and counteract it. Augmetic crystals in the psychic hood help him to focus and enhance his strength in the battle of wills that follows. With their psychic defences stripped away, aliens easily fall prey to conventional kill-team tactics.

Time spent in the Deathwatch offers a Librarian a unique opportunity to learn about alien psykers and to study their methods for manipulating the warp. A Deathwatch Epistolary is deeply knowledgeable about such matters, a veteran of many encounters with not just xenos creatures but their artefacts and structures too. The reading of xenos minds, while distasteful, is acknowledged as an unpleasant art form in its own right that can expose the murky web of motivations and alien thought processes to full examination. Deathwatch Librarians excel at countering and combating xenos pykers and alien witches, subverting their powers and breaking their will with a single thought. By the time a Battle-Brother attains the rank of Epistolary he has become a true master of psychic warfare and has learnt well the strengths and weaknesses of the alien mind and how best to exploit them. Psychometry, the art of object reading, opens insights into the operation and purpose of things made by alien hands (or their equivalent) even long past their extinction. On many occasions looking at past relics has prevented future disasters by correctly predicting the resurgence of an alien threat at a specific site or by revealing a key weakness that can be used to bring about their doom.

Such prolonged exposure to xenos also places particularly stringent demands on an Epistolary. The gradual insinuation of alien thoughts and concepts into the Librarian’s mind is an ever-present peril that must be guarded against. Every piece of knowledge won can bring with it the seeds of potential destruction in the form of memetic trap or a psychic poison. Any psychic contact with an alien mind, living or dead, can bring with it a subtle corruption, a tiny chink in the Epistolary’s mental armour that opens him to further attack. Against these perils the Epistolary must match the power of his will and he must maintain a blinkered mind always closed to new concepts and alien designs. He must master his own mind and know it always to be his own, uninfluenced and pure to the end.

Wargear

 * Power Armour
 * Psychic Hood
 * Force Weapon
 * Bolter or Bolt Pistol
 * Frag Grenades & Krak Grenades

Optional Deathwatch Epistolary Wargear

 * Storm Bolter
 * Combi-weapons such as a Combi-Flamer, -melta or plasma pistol
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Storm Shield