Today we’ll have a look at some of the more important Order Minoris of the Adeptus Sororitas, checking on their background informations, important persons and notable conflicts. (And don’t ask me how the title picture is related to this post ^^)
All informations are gathered from several wiki-sites etc. and just brought together.
- Order of the Ermine Mantle
- Order of the White Rose
- Order of the Bleeding Heart
- Order of the Blue Robe
- Order of the Black Sepulchre
- Order of the Lamentations
- Order Vespila
- Orders Pronatus
- Notable Mentions
The Order of the Ermine Mantle
The Convent of the Order is located on Subiaco Diablo, a former Hive World in the Segmentum Obscurus and it was there, where the Order fought the Chaos forces during the 13th Black Crusade.
Sister Sabrina
The Order of the Ermine Mantle is most known for their Sister Sabrina, who eventually became the new Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas. Under mysterious circumstances, she vanished during her pilgrimage to San Leor on the ocean world of Habren IV. Dozens of attempts to find her failed and until today, her Sisters strive the galaxy in search for hints of her destination.
Since her disappearance, the post of Abbess has remained vacant.
Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas – The original head of the Adepta Sororitas was Alicia Dominica, who led the organisation in the centuries following the Age of Apostasy. Following Dominica’s martyrdom there was a void left in the organisation as none of the other leaders felt they were adequate to follow in her footsteps. Eventually Ecclesiarch Equitus XI was forced to intervene, he ordered the leaders of each of the Orders to elect one of their number to lead the Sisterhood. After debates lasting many weeks, Sister Palmiro of the Order of the Holy Word was elected by majority to take up the role of Abbess.
Unfortunately, Sister Palmiro was an extremely humble woman and declined to take up the post. Instead she stated that her intention was to depart on a pilgrimage to San Leor. After further debate, it was decided that Sister Palmiro should, in fact, complete her pilgramage – but that she would take up the position of Abbess on her return and regard it as a suitable penance. After barely a century it became a tradition that the post of Abbess go to the candidate who least desired the role and that they should consider the position a penance rather than a privilege and that, before taking up the post, she should undertake a pilgrimage to San Leor.[Needs Citation]
For the best part of four millennia, this tradition was upheld – up until the election of Sister Sabrina of the Order of the Ermine Mantle, who disappeared during her pilgrimage and never returned to Terra. Until Sabrina is found, or her fate is determined, Ecclesiastical law states that the post of Abbess must remain vacant.
Sister Rosetta Anastasia
Another notable member of the Order of the Ermine Mantle, is Rosetta Anastasia, who grew up in the Schola Progenium on Terra and left for Subiaco Diablo after she was accepted into the Order.
During the 13th Crusade, she was afflicted with a fever, which denied her participation in the battles for her new home and led to pledging the Oath of the Penitent. Becoming a Repentia forth on she fought for redemption at the side of her sisters.
Eventually, drawn by feverish visions and profound experiences at the shrine of Saint Joachim, she set out to an unknown destination, holding up the blade of Saint Joachim himself.
The Order of the White Rose
The Order of the White Rose was split from the Order of the Sacred Rose in M39.
In the name of the Ecclesiarchie, the Order was controlling the fiefdom of Gavarrone, on the World Periremunda. Gavarrone is a huge plateau, but also the name of its biggest settlement. From this location, the Order of the White Rose also controled several other fiefdoms like the mining complex “Hell’s Edge”, located on the eponymous mountains, close to the equator.
Heresy and Engulfment
In 933.M41 the Order got the attention of both the Inquisition and the Commissariat, when the current Canoness Eglantine gave shelter to the heretical Inquisitor Killian and his AssistantMagos Metheius of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Killian tricked the Canoness by lies about saving mankind and fighting back the forces of Chaos, while in reality, his wish was to examine an ancient artifact called “Shadowlight”, a device to immensely amplify the powers of a psyker
Eventually, the Heretic was stopped by Commisionar Ciaphas Cain and Inquisitor Amberley Vail, but this was of no more importance, when a Hive Fleet befell Gavaronne. The Fleet was attracted by a captured Lictor and easily overrun the outlying monastry of the Order of the White Rose, killing (propably) all Battle Sisters of the Order.
It is possible that some of the Sisters, guarding the settlement of Gavaronne, survived the attack of the Hive Fleet when it was eradicated from Orbit by a precise attack from an imperial Flottille. But it is unlikely that a small Order as the White Rose, with less than a few hundred Sisters, would ever recover from such losses.
The Order of the Bleeding Heart
The Orders abbey is located on the Shrine World of Emiline’s Hope, home to the bones of Saint Emiline.
Ork WAAAGH!
In 425.M41, an Ork WAAAGH! under the command of the Arch-Maniac of Calvera attacked the Yerena System, destroying all that stood against it and sweeping towards the main populated worlds at the system’s core. One planet on the Orks’ main axis of attack was the Shrine World of Emiline’s Hope, so named for the blessed saint who had given her life to recapture it from the Forces of Chaos nearly a millennium earlier. Realising that there was no way the paltry number of Sisters based on Emiline’s Hope could withstand the full force of the Orks, the Canoness Superior reluctantly ordered the planet’s evacuation. Having been entrusted with the care of the Saint’s bones they reverently placed her remains in sacred urns and began the journey to Caprium, the nearest spaceport to their abbey.
But the Orks moved far swifter than anyone had believed possible and en route to Caprium, the processional convoy bearing the saint’s bones was ambushed by Ork Kommandos as the Sisters stopped for morning prayers. Caught completely off-guard, the Sisters were mercilessly cut down and the Rhinos looted by the Orks. As the Kommandos returned victorious to their encampment, they did not realise that they were being followed.
Sister Martika
A sole survivor of the attack, a young Celestian named Sister Martika had recovered consciousness beneath the corpses of her Sisters and had sworn vengeance on the Orks, trailing them back to their camp. As night fell, she stealthily infiltrated the camp, identifying the Rhino that contained the Saint’s remains and made her way towards it, planting a number of grenade booby traps along the way. Sister Martika hauled open the crew door and hurled her last few grenades towards a nearby group of warbuggies. The resulting explosion was more devastating than she could have hoped for, all seven of the buggies detonating in a string of roaring explosions. The encampment erupted in chaos as the night was lit up by more explosions as the grenade traps explodes, set off by the confused Orks.
Martika gunned the engines of the Rhino and drove it at top speed through the howling Orks, smashing aside their flimsy vehicles and crushing those not swift enough to avoid her weaving course. She broke through the outer edges of the camp and pushed the Rhino’s engine to the maximum, offering her prayers to the Saint’s remains for forgiveness at their rough treatment as she made her escape to Caprium. Before long the Orks were in pursuit, scores of red buggies and trukks racing after her. Knowing that the Rhino could not outrun the faster Ork vehicles, Martika slewed from the road and began weaving her way through the forest, the beams of her Rhino’s headlights spearing through the darkness. She skillfully drove between the densely packed trees while many of the more reckless Ork drivers slammed into them, destroying their crude vehicles in giant fireballs. Eventually the forest thinned and the Orks closed the gap, spraying the Rhino with gunfire even as Sister Martika voxed Caprium for aid. The vehicle stood firm against the shots, though the chase, having lasted the better of the night, had exhausted almost all of the Rhino’s fuel. At close range, the Orks’ shooting took a far greater toll, punching smoking holes in the Rhino and thick, black smoke poured from the engines housing.
But the Rhino would not fail in its duty and, even as the gears crashed and the engine spirit howled in anger, it continued to carry its charges towards Caprium. The Rhino finally cleared the edge of the trees, the walls of Caprium visible in the distance as two Ork trukks pulled level with the Rhino. Martika sideswiped both, and sent them spinning out of control. More Ork vehicles began moving up to attack, when explosions suddenly ripped through the Orks as the gunners on the walls of the spaceport began to fire. The ground thundered with the impact of the shelling, a storm of lethal shrapnel ripping apart the Ork trukks with ease. Shell after shell blasted huge holes in the Ork pursuit and within seconds it had been blasted to fragments and Martika’s Rhino lurched through the gates of the spaceport. Exhausted, but elated, the young Celestian staggered from the Rhino and gave thanks to its indomitable spirit before presenting the urns containing Saint Emiline to her Canoness. It recognition of it indomitable spirit, the Rhino was repaired and became Martika’s personal transport, carrying her into battle until the day of her death.
The Order of the Blue Robe
The Order of the Blue Robe is part of the Convent Sanctorum on Terra and is mostly known for the aid of Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Jentz during the Second Abonian Genocide in 688.M40.
Second Abonian Genocide (688-698.M40)
Inquisitor Halan Jentz of the Ordo Hereticus declared the entire population of the Abonian sub-sector diabolos inculcatus and gathered a Crusade army that included elements of the Order of the Blue Robe and the Order of the Black Sepulchre of the Adepta Sororitas as well as the Red Hunters, War Bearers and Subjugators Chapters. The Crusade raged for a decade before the Inquisitor declares the sub-sector’s crimes accounted for.
Order Colours and Badges
The Order of the Blue Robe makes use of white Power Armour and light blue vestments. Their weaponry is also painted light blue.
The iconography of the Order is that of a black-coloured ankh, with an image of a blue-coloured patron saint placed in the centre of its upper portion.
The Order of the Black Sepulchre
The Order of the Black Sepulchre is believed to be one of the Orders Minoris of the Adepta Sororitas, the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus which also has close ties with the Ecclesiarchy. From the lack of tangible records and evidence, it is believed that the Order is but a minor representative of its kin and there are only few records of participation in wars and campaigns – The Orphean War of Faith being the most notable.
This would indicate that the Order’s homeworld is located in the border regions of the Segmentum Tempestus and the Segmentum Pacificus, although even that is unconfirmed.
The Orphean War of Faith (903-922.M39)
After a long millennia of decline and recurring xenos incursions, the vile touch of Chaos is discovered on several worlds within the Orpheus Sector, at the very edge of Imperial dominion. The sector’s defenders and rulers, unable to organise themselves or reach common terms after many solar decades of resentment and infighting, are on the brink of losing control over the entire Dark Marches region when they are saved by the unexpected arrival of an Imperial Crusade. Led by Arch-Confessor Marduk of Helvamon, who is said to have been guided by visions of the Holy Emperor Himself, this ramshackle fleet bore thousands of Imperial zealots, Imperial Guardsmen and militiamen as well as pilgrims into the Orpheus Sector. The fractious Planetary Governors and rulers rally around the Arch-Confessor and the Imperium launches a powerful a powerful counterattack to reclaim its domains. The Crusade’s fervor is such that even the vile daemons of Chaos shirk back from it, while the sector’s populace, inspired by Marduk’s fiery oratories, swell the campaign’s rank. After several warbands of Chaos Space Marines are encountered, most notoriously of the thrice-cursed Deathmongers, the dreaded Alpha Legion and the much feared Night Lords Traitor Legions, the Arch-Confessor called for aid. The then space-faring Angels Revenant Chapter answered his call and the Ecclesiarchy sent its most elite warriors, the Adepta Sororitas, in the form of detachments of the Order of the Valorous Heart and the Order of the Black Sepulchre. Lastly, upon learning that daemons had been set loose, the Ordo Malleus also despatched a strike force of its most fearful warriors, the legendary Grey Knights. With this mighty host, the Imperium succeeded in reconquering the sector in a gruesome twenty-standard-year-long campaign that would see the death of a full fifth of the sector’s population.
Second Abonian Genocide (688-698.M40)
Inquisitor Halan Jentz of the Ordo Hereticus declared the entire population of the Abonian sub-sector diabolos inculcatus and gathered a Crusade army that included elements of the Order of the Blue Robe and the Order of the Black Sepulchre of the Adepta Sororitas as well as the Red Hunters, War Bearers and Subjugators Chapters. The Crusade raged for a decade before the Inquisitor declares the sub-sector’s crimes accounted for.
Defence of Magdelene IX (996.M41)
In the wake of the disastrous Raid on Kastorel-Novem, the Order of the Black Sepulchre deployed Battle-Sisters to protect the venerated Shrine World of Magdelene IX in the Forsarr Sector. Splinter-elements of WAAAGH! Garaghak under leadership of Big Mek Buzzgob — the same Warlord responsible for the defeat of the Raven Guard on Kastorel-Novem — attacked Magdelene IX in 023.996.M41. Despite the help of thousands of Cultists of the Red Redemption and Magdelene IX’s own Frateris Militia, the world fell to the Orks on 866.996.M41. The Sisters of Battle deployed to Magdelene IX are believed to have been lost to the last woman.
The Order of the Lamentations
The Order of Lamentations is also a miner order of the Sisters of Battle and rarely known, if not for creating the Raiment of Sorrows, which has since become an Adeptus Custodes relic.
The Raiment of Sorrows – is a shroud-like raiment, that was handwoven by the Sisters of the Order of Lamentations and then allowed to sit in state at the foot of the Golden Throne for a full century. It later came into the Adeptus Custodes‘ possession and is now a relic that serves as a potent reminder of their failure to protect the Emperor, during the Battle of Terra. Now being in the Raiment of Sorrows’ presence, fills them with a cold determination to never fail in their sacred duty again. The Raiment of Sorrows can be worn into battle and any dying Custodes near it can draw strength from the relic, in order to deliver one final blow against the Emperor’s enemies
The Raiment of Sorrows also made it into the current 8th Edition Codex of the Adeptus Custodes.
The Orders Pronatus
The Orders Pronatus specialise in retrieving, guarding, studying and repairing artefacts of value to the Ecclesiarchy. This includes the uncounted thousands of holy relics revered by the peoples of the Imperium, but it also relates to items captured by the forces of the Imperium that are considered too powerful or significant to be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
They also have the responsibility of maintaining and blessing the many banners and symbols of the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. They have even been called upon to reconsecrate the livery of other Imperial Adepta, as was the case when they repaired the Chapter banner of the formerly disgraced Lamenters Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes after its involvement in the Badab War.
It is said that the Sisters Pronatus who repaired the banner wept openly as they did so, so terrible to contemplate were the sins of the Lamenters. To this day, the standard is known as the Banner of Tears. Some Orders Pronatus are known to have given all in the defence of the artefacts they are charged with guarding or studying, and the fate of the Order of Blessed Enquiry is a salutary lesson in the risks inherent in hoarding an object imbued with the evil of the Ruinous Powers, even if the intent is to safeguard Humanity from their corrupting influence.
Notable Orders Pronatus
- Order of the August Vigil – One of the Orders Pronatus, specialising in the guardianship and defence of holy relics across the Imperium.
- Order of the Blessed Enquiry – One of the Orders Pronatus, believed to have been destroyed due to their collection of artefacts of the Chaos Gods. It is rumoured that they had discovered Slaanesh‘s true name and were responsible for the creation of the anti-daemon weapon known as the Daemonifuge.
- Order of the Eternal Gate – One of the Orders Pronatus. Imperial records speak of the Order of the Eternal Gate, whose responsibility is the retrieval of ancient or dangerous relics and artefacts for the Ecclesiarchy.
The Order Vespila
The Order Vespila is located in the Calixis Sector, an Imperial sector located in the Segmentum Obscurus on the northern edge of the known galaxy, near the Halo Stars and the Eye of Terror. The “dark sisters” of the Order Vespila are tasked by Cardinal Kregory Hestor with the sanctification of the bodies of fallen kin, and are sometimes called upon to serve as forensic specialists when a Throne Agent has recourse to disinter a long dead corpse.
The Orders Vespila was created when Cardinal Kregory Hestory petitioned the Orders Hospitaller to populate this Order within the Calixis Sector. Tasked with the internment of bodies, the Order Vespila’s grey shrouded ceremonial robes are synonymous with the death of priests. The sisters of the Order Vespila have earned the name “dark sisters” because of their association with the death of beloved Ecclesiarchal clergy. It is unknown why Cardinal Hestor felt it so important to be certain that the bodies of the faithful were properly buried, but rumours abound that he has secret knowledge of a prophecy regarding a long dead saint. When an Inquisitor needs the Sisters’ macabre skills he calls upon the Ecclesiarchy to provide him with the graveyard guards of the Order Vespila.
Notable Mentions
The Order of the Glowing Chalice
Many of their members are drawn from the Schola Progenium facility on Vedill I. They are known for frequently going into battle together with the Storm Trooper 9th Iotan Gorgonnes Regiment, which also has many of its members originate from Vedill
The Order of the Vermilion Hand
In 941.M41, they sacrificed themselves to help stop the Plague of Madness.
The Order of the Noble Guard (?)
Propably a bad translation from german. The Order is specialized in guarding ecclesiarchic relics and shrines of the imperial cult.
I hope you liked this little excursion and may the Emperor be with you!
Sisters of Saint Nora 