The Chamber of Vigilance is the war council of the Deathwatch in Jericho Reach. Established by a tradition whose origin is now long forgotten, the primary purpose of the Chamber of Vigilance is to discuss the import of developments in the Jericho Reach and to decide on how the Deathwatch should respond. The reasons for a gathering of the Chamber of Vigilance are many and diverse. Usually, such gatherings are connected to new intelligence on a threat to the Reach, or in
response to battlefield reports from Deathwatch in the field.
In recent decades, however, the periodic opening of a new portion of the Omega Vault has also caused the Chamber of Vigilance to be gathered with increasing frequency.

The Chamber of Vigilance takes its name from the central chamber of Watch Fortress Erioch’s primary command level. The Chamber is circular and over two hundred paces wide. Its ceiling is a great dome, in the centre of which is set a circle of armoured crystal that allows in the reflected light of Erioch’s dying sun.

When a gathering is called, braziers burn incense wood in seven niches around the chamber’s edge, and servo-skulls, yellow with age, circle to record every detail of what transpires before them. The floor is black stone inlaid with symbols and words of the Codex Astartes worked
in adamantine. The symbol of the Deathwatch rests at the chamber’s centre beneath the pale light of the void cast down from Erioch’s light. There are no chairs in the Chamber of
Vigilance; all who gather here stand as a sign that the duty of their watch is unending and without respite. Embedded in the floor and ceiling are null field generators and vox baffles,
as well as hololith projectors and sound generators for when information must be displayed to a gathering.
The membership of the chamber is not fixed. The Chamber consists of all senior members of the Deathwatch present at the time of the gathering, plus any members of the Inquisition present at the fortress who may be invited (their presence being at the Master’s discretion), or any other servants of the Imperium whose voice and knowledge is important to the Chamber’s deliberations. Although the membership of the Chamber of Vigilance shifts and changes, there are two positions that are permanent by tradition: the Master of the Vigil and the Inquisitor of the Chamber. Both must be present in order for a gathering to be called.