Covenant

Inquisitor Covenant of the Ordo Malleus

Covenant is an Inquisitor of the daemon-hunting Ordo Malleus. He is one of a new breed of fiery, determined individuals dedicated to purging perceived corruption within the Inquisition itself. As a member of the Ordo Malleus, he has access to specific daemon-hunting equipment, such as a Psycannon, and makes a particular point of destroying the daemonhosts created by his less puritanical cohorts. Currently Covenant is scouring the southern rim of the galaxy of the taint of Chaos. In recent years, Covenant's actions have been focussed on the Caradryan Sector of the Segmentum Tempestus, where his investigations have revealed the existence of a powerful Horusian fraction within theInquisition.

History

The driven and charismatic Covenant is the foremost of a movement of young firebrand Inquisitors emerging from the Ordo Malleus conclaves of the galactic South, focused not on the broad Imperium but upon the ranks of the Inquisition itself. Initially dismissed as over-zealous novices promoted too early, Covenant and his colleagues have answered this cynicism with brutal purges of their brethren. Rumour has it that their crusade through their own corridors of power is a reaction to a series of betrayals along the southern rim, where Inquisitors gave in to despair in the depths of the Second Tyrannic War and turned to forbidden arts to combat the menace of Hive Fleet Kraken. There are even claims of a secret pact wherein the young and hot-blooded Inquisitors swore to punish the crimes of the old and misguided, and that Covenant renamed himself for that pact to honour it. But he and his fellows refuse to discuss their pasts, only the work they have yet to do and the justice they have yet to mete out.

Piercing the veil of secrecy Covenant has surrounded himself with is no easy task, and what is known about him is highly fragmentary at best. Covenant's true identity and origins are unknown. In fact, the Imperial and the Inquisitorial Archives have been purged of any mention of him before his admission within the ranks of the Holy Ordos. According to these informations, Inquisitor Covenant performed his apprenticeship under the notorious Thorian Inquisitor Argento, which has believed many of his peers to mark Covenant as a Thorian himself, a status that  has not been confirmed so far. Covenant and Argento's second Interrogator, the later Inquisitor Idris, both simultaneously reached the rank of Inquisitor, a painful transition that perhaps heralded much of his future career. Although the exact extent of Argento's treachery has been redacted, what is known is that Argento diverted from the Thorian dogma and did not contend himself with merely searching for the Emperor's new host-body, but actively sought to create a Living Saint capable of harbouring the Emperor's entire conscience. Highly reminiscent of the blasphemous methods employed by Radicals to create Daemonhosts, Argento's efforts were deemed heretical by Covenant and Idris which confronted their master and ultimately thwarted his plans and slayed him. It was in recognition of this act that both former Interrogators were confirmed by the Inquisitorial Conclave in their rights as fully-fledged Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus.

In recent years, Covenant has concentrated his efforts on hunting those Inquisitors he deemed corrupted by the taint of radicalism, zeroing in on Inquisitor Goldoran Talicto, which he formally denounced as a heretic at the great Inquisitorial Conclave on Ero. By sheer luck, Inquisitor Idris was also present at the Conclave and immediately supported Covenant's accusations against Talicto. However, unforeseen to both Inquisitors, the Renegade Talicto had secretly planned to kill those members of the Inquisitorial Conclave present and assume formal command of the gathering Imperial Crusade. Covenant's effort, while sufficient to disrupt Taclito's plans failed to apprehend the renegade Inquisitor or indeed prevent the Massacre of the Reliquary Tower, as Taclito had covertly smuggled a highly effective band of assassins - a resurrectionnist Cult later revealed as the Renewed - onto Ero. In the fierce fighting that ensued, Inquisitor Idris was slain while trying to evacuate the sacred Reliquary Tower before its Plasma Generators overloaded. Suspected of being a Traitor himself, Covenant was confronted by Lord Inquisitor Vult, the highest ranking member of the Inquisition in the Caradryan Sector before gaining his trust and joining forces with him. Covenant's investigations soon revealed that the man posing as Goldoran Talicto was in fact a usurper, the real Inquisitor having been found slain on the distant planet of Iago. Convinced that the imposter was in fact a mere agent for a more powerful organisation, a trio of Horusian Inquisitors called "the triumvirate" in Taclito's notes, Covenant and Lord Vult were investigating a secret asteroid base referred to as "the Archive" when they were directly attacked by those they were hunting down. Their opponents not hesitating to open a portal into the Warp and unleash a tide of Daemons at them in a desperate attempt to stop them. Through the heroic sacrifice of Lord Vult, Covenant and his retinue escaped the asteroid-base before the Archive itself was destroyed by a volley of Plasma Torpedoes fired from the Traitor's ship, the Falchion-class Frigate Truth Eternal. Cleared of all the charges pending against him in a formal Inquisitorial Trial, Covenant now hunts for the Truth Eternal in the vain hope that it would lead him to its dark masters.

Covenant's Retinue

• Cleander von Castellan - Cleander von Castellan, more commonly known under his formal title of Duke von Castellan is the scion of a once wealthy and powerful Rogue Trader dynasty from Xarxis Plethis. Having inherited the von Castellan hereditary trade license, he sold the family estates to buy a new starship in order to reestablish his family's reputation and wealth by voyaging through the void. His travels took him further and further towards the Southern Rim of the Segmentum Tempestus, where he encountered no less than four non-Imperial worlds, with which he opened exclusive trade negotiations. It was at this point that Inquisitor Covenant caught up with him. In return for not being punished for failing to disclose the whereabouts of aliens, the Duke signed an agreement pledging himself and his ship, the Dionysia, to Covenant, and has subsequently answered the Inquisitor's call on several occasions. Von Castellan has little sense of honour or duty, but is scared of reprisals should he renege on his oath. Over the years, a semblance of trust has grown between the two men, and in truth, Cleander von Castellan enjoys the additionnal authority and reputation his close association with Covenant has given him.
• Viola von Castellan
• Glavius-4-Rho - Glavius-4-Rho was the Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus charged with the maintenance and safeguarding of the mighty Plasma Reactors that powered and protected the famed Reliquary Tower on Ero. Subdued by a powerful Psyker within the ranks of the Renewed, a Chaos Cult used by the renegade Goldoran Talicto to murder his fellow Inquisitors, Glavius-4-Rho lowered the Reliquary Tower's Void Shields and initiated a catastrophic reactor failure that would eventually destroy the Tower and kill all within. Rescued from the blast by the actions of Covenant and his acolytes, seeing himself as a failure for having permitted sacred machines under his care to be destroyed, Glavius-4-Rho abandoned his rank of Magos in the Martian Priesthood and remained with Inquisitor Covenant during his hunt for the renegade Inquisitor Talicto.
• Ivixia Dannica - Covenant recruited the notable Inquisitor, the Daemonhuntress Ivixia Dannica, from one of the Schola Progenium on Alena-Mora. She was the daughter of the Imperial Guard Colonel Dannica whose regiment had been seconded to service with Inquisitor Grainne of the Ordo Hereticus during his Examinations into the Cardinal of Alena-Mora during the Sargossa Schism. Following the successful persecution of the Cardinal for his apostate teachings and the prescribed punishment of both him and his world, Colonel Dannica's regiment was granted feudal rights over the ashes of this world. The tales of the executed Cardinal's wickedness filled her with a righteous loathing of all things heretical and evil. Such was her fervour in this pious hatred that many believed she would take her vows and become a member of one of the militant orders of the Adepta Sororitas. This was not to be. On Ivixia's eighteenth birthday, Inquisitor Covenant appeared at her family's estate and demanded to see the young girl. The Colonel obeyed the mysterious robed figure and allowed him to speak with his daughter. Covenant was convinced that Ivixia would make an ideal recruit for his retinue and began subjecting her to a lengthy series of ordeals to prove her spiritual purity and physical suitability. Ivixia passed each one with ease, but as she continued with the tests, an act of base treachery reaching back to the examination of Inquisitor Grainne was to come to fruition. Those that had escaped the initial purges of Colonel Dannica's regiment had clandestinely continued following the apostate teachings of the planet's formal ruler. A network of daemon-hunting cults existed throughout the planet, slowly gathering power until such time as they were ready to avenge their master and regain control of their world. As Ivixia's tests continued, the Chaos Cultists struck at the Colonel as his family attended a regimental ball. A Daemon from the darkest regions of the Warp manifested in a blazing pyre of blood, slaughtering the guests in a frenzy of bloodletting. Schooled in the mystical arts of the Daemonhunter, Covenant was able to hold the daemon at bay, but not before it slew the Colonel with a sweep of a warp-forged blade. The Colonel's body burst into flames, immolating in a heartbeat until nothing but his charred skull remained. At the sight of her father's murder, Ivixia screamed at the daemon and the power of her words staggered the daemon for the briefest instant. It was all the opening Covenant needed and he was able to destroy the daemon's form and send it back from whence it came. In the aftermath of the massacre, Inquisitor Covenant led the purges of the cults with Ivixia at his side, convinced more than ever that Ivixia was the right choice for his acolyte. Six months to the day following her father's death, Inquisitor Covenant left Alena-Mora with Ivixia Dannica as his latest Acolyte. Recalling the teachings of her father, Ivixia had his skull modified by the lexmechanics of Inquisitor Covenant and turned into a weapon carrying Servo-skull. Now her father would remain with her wherever she went and could continue to serve the Emperor beyond death. Together Covenant and Ivixia continued to travel around the southern rim of the galaxy, stamping out many blasphemous sects dedicated to the worship of daemons and other warp-spawned abominations.
• Josef Khoriv- Josef Khoriv is a Schola Progenium Drill Abbot in service of Inquisitor Covenant. Born in the lower levels of Adrianis Hive on distant Mandragora, Khoriv is a born fighter. He lost both of his parents early in his life and succeeded to survive on his own in the gang-infested warrens and humid environment of Adrianis Hive before being seized by an Imperial Navy press-gang and forced to work in the chain-gangs of the artillery crews onboard one of the Navy's great starships. This episode in his life have left him with powerful muscles as well as leaving him nearly deaf, a handicap which was overcome by equipping him with an augmentic ear. It was on the starship that Josef Khoriv first encountered the divine teachings and holy texts of the Adeptus Ministorum, first kindling in him the vocation to become a Preacher. While hardly eloquent or given to long sermons, Josef's humble origins permitted him to know exactly what laid in his congregations' hearts. Now nearly sixty years old according to Terran standard, he serves Inquisitor Covenant, having met him during the Purge of Golian where Covenant unearthed and purged a Genestealer Cult. Both men have known each other for a long time and have become close friends.
• Koleg- Koleg serves as Covenant's weapon and infiltration specialist, as well as his demolition expert. His favorite weapon is a deadly macrostubber, which, while it lacks the explosive capabilities of the more cumbersome Bolter, has greater penetration capacities than standard las-weaponry. Koleg is a master of explosives and usually carries a cumbersome Grenade Launcher into battle when he expects trouble. Koleg's martial training has left him bereft of fear or indeed most human emotions, the warrior acting purely on logic and experience, which make for a deadly combination.
• Mylasa- Sometimes referred to as the Bringer of Oblivion, Mylasa is a powerful Primaris Psyker whose help is needed when Covenant's own impressive psychic powers are not enough to fight an enemy. If avoidable, Mylasa is not deployed to the frontlines, but frequently remains behind. Her condition is so severe that she has lost the ability to speak in the physical world and must rely solely on mind-speech. When directly interacting with someone, she chooses to appear as a stunningly beautiful red-haired noblewomen in a dark green satin dress.
• Severita - Formerly a Battle Sister of the Order of the Bloody Rose, for her failures, Severita has become a Sister Repentia. In an unusual move for one of her status, she chose to leave her Order behind and link her fate to that of Covenant. Utterly loyal, Severita is an accomplished warrior, be it with the blade or the Bolter. She sometimes act as Covenant's assassin because of her excellent marksmanship.

Wargear

• Carapace Armour
• Flak Armour
• Power Falchion
• MIU-Linked Shoulder Mounted Psycannon
• Pump Action Combat Shotgun
• Scatter Shells
• Hellfire Shells
• Bolt Pistol

Sources

• Dark Heresy: Enemies Beyond (2nd Edition) (RPG), pg. 20
• Inquisitor: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 97, 107
• Specialist Games - Inquisitor Ivixia Dannica by Graham McNeill
• The Horusian Wars: Resurrection (Novel) by John French