Adepta Sororitas
The Adepta Sororitas are an organization that feature in Warhammer 40,000.
Contents |
History
The Adepta Sororitas was an all-female militant order of humans that formed within the Imperium of Man. Their founding was traced to the 36th Millennium during the turbulent times known as the Age of Apostasy. During this age the Ecclesiarchy held nigh-total power, which it used to ensure that every single subject of the Emperor of Mankind in the Imperium paid their dues, both spiritually and financially, to the duly appointed officers of the faith. In time, the Ministorum exercised such power that it began to dictate the policies of the ruling Senatorum Imperialis of the High Lords of Terra. The ecclesiarch came to be viewed as speaking with the authority of the Emperor Himself, and he influenced every aspect of the governance of the Imperium. Perhaps it was inevitable that the other great bureaucracies of the Imperium should grow resentful of the Ministorum. The Adeptus Administratum in particular found its own powers greatly curtailed, for the Ministorum's tithes took precedence over its own raising of funds and resources, leaving little in the coffers to pay for the running of the secular components of the Imperium. The Administratum's political influence soon waned so far that the Ministorum was able to dictate policy in secular matters as well. The raising and deployment of armies, the prosecution of wars, the commitment of significant Imperial resources and the appointment of sector lords all fell under the effective control of the Ministorum. In time, other institutions began to distrust the Ministorum's power, and the Adeptus Astartes and the Adeptus Mechanicus in particular became increasingly estranged from the Ministorum-dominated Imperial government. At this time, a series of Warp Storms cut off vast swathes of the Imperium's space from interstellar travel and communication, increased by an order of magnitude. The Warp began to seethe with roiling energies which bled forth into realspace, making travel between anything other than worlds in the same planetary system increasingly perilous. Central governance of worlds limited to periodic contact at the best of times entirely collapsed.
Where the Black Ships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica were unable to get through, entire populations fell to daemonic incursion or Enslaver domination. Civil war and anarchy beset the Imperium, with those planets that remained accessible being ruthlessly suppressed by the increasingly brutal Frateris Templars. Seeing that their foes were tearing themselves apart, the myriad enemies of humanity struck. The Traitor Legions sallied forth from the Eye of Terror, using their own blasphemous sorceries to strike planets otherwise cut off from outside aid. Orks traversed the Warp in their ramshackle Space Hulks, uncaring where the tides of the Empyrean regurgitated them and wreaking havoc in regions previously beyond their reach. The Drukhari used their Webway to freely navigate the galaxy, and struck wherever they desired, dragging millions of captives screaming to their infernal realm of Commorragh, to suffer tortures and degradations beyond a sane man's imagination. The entire Imperium was gripped by an apocalyptic frenzy of doom and anarchy. Countless new sects sprung into being, many proclaiming that the God-Emperor was enacting His final judgement upon Mankind and that the end times were at hand. No world was untouched by the anarchy, as whole populations rose up in increasingly bizarre and extravagant acts of penance and self-flagellation. Anyone who dared attempt to reason with such doomsayers were declared Heretics, and world after world tore themselves apart in an orgy of bloodletting and violent penance. In this time arose Goge Vandire who was the 361st Master of the Administratum where he came into a position he had attained by the ruthless application of bribes, threats and outright assassination. A strident opponent of the Ministorum, Vandire had plotted against it for many standard years. Shortly before his ascension to the rank of High Lord, Vandire brought about the selection of a man of his own choosing to head the Ecclesiarchy, ensuring that none could stand before his subsequent rise.
Overview
The Sisters were led by an Abbess and are organized into Orders. There are Six main Orders and a host of smaller orders. As the militant arm of the church, they are tasked with suppressing witchcraft and heresy, and guarding the Imperium's shrine worlds.
The Adepta Sororitas was part of the Ecclesiarchy and was divided between two Convents - the Convent Prioris located on Terra and the Convent Sanctorum based on Ophelia VII, although in practice their forces were spread throughout the Galaxy. The overall commander and spiritual leader of the entire Sisterhood was the Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas. As the leader of the Adepta Sororitas, the Abbess was sometimes elected into the High Lords of Terra. Below the Abbess were the Prioresses of the two Convents who were in charge of their Convent and the various Orders based there.
The Convents of the Sisterhood are organized into several Orders. There are two different kind of Orders: The Orders Militant, or Sisters of Battle, the military arm of the Ecclesiarchy composed of the six Major Orders and countless subsidiary Lesser Orders Militant; and the Non-Militant Orders, each of which has different roles and responsibilities in the Imperium. The largest of the Non-Militant Orders rival the Sisters of Battle in size and notoriety, but there were also hundreds of other orders, the vast majority of which were unknown to the bulk of Mankind. The most well-known were the Orders Hospitaller, composed of surgeons, physicians and nurses, the Orders Dialogous, scholars dealing with languages, cyphers and translations, and the Orders Famulous, acting as diplomats, chamberlains and advisors for Imperial noble families.
The hierarchy of the Sisters of Battle included:
- Battle Sisters :
- Repentia :
- Retributor :
- Dominions :
- Celestians :
- Seraphim :
- Zephyrim :
- Celestian Sacresants :
- Imagifiers :
- Palatines : experienced commanders and skilled combatants who served as a lieutenant to their Canoness.
- Reliquant at Arms : a position within the Adepta Sororitas' Order Pronatus, that were typically given to long-standing members of the Order. They were skilled both in the care and restoration of ancient relics, as well as the destruction of those who would do the relics harm.
- Sister Dogmata :
- Sister Dialogus :
- Canoness :
They often work with the Inquisition, as their responsibilities overlap.
Vehicles used by the Sisters of Battle included:
- Paragon Warsuits :
- Mortifiers :
- Rhino :
- Exorcist :
- Immolators :
They were known to make use of chapel-shaped landing craft known as Drop Chapels that were deployed on battlefields.
Members
- Morvenn Vahl : Abbess Sanctorum
- Alicia Dominica :
- Saint Arabella :
- Saint Katherine :
- Saint Celestine :
- Amalia Novena :
- Junith Eruita :
- Veridyan :
- Agathae Dolan : an Adepta Sororitas Hagiolater, who always accompanies the Reliquant at Arms Aestred Thurga and records the deeds of those Battle Sisters who fight beside her.
- Ephrael Stern :
- Geminae Superia : Eleanor and Genevieve were both once Canoness's of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. They were both killed by the Daemon Prince Urkanthos during the battle for Cadia in the 13th Black Crusade. Due to their bravery and faith, both were resurrected as Living Saints by Saint Celestine upon her arrival to Cadia and they serve as her champions thus making her twin guardians.
Notes
- The Sisters of Battle feature as one of the playable factions in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
In other media
Television
- In Pariah Nexus, the Adepta Sororitas appeared in the setting of the animated mini-series.
Video games
- In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm, the Sisters of Battle featured in the story mode and were a playable faction in the real-time strategy video game expansion. Canoness Selena Agna of the Order of the Sacred Rose were dispatched with a force of Sisters of Battle to the Kaurava system located in the Lithesh Sector of the Ultima Segmentum. This brought them into a brief conflict with forces from across the galaxy, including the Blood Raven Space Marines and the 252nd Conservator Regiment of the Imperial Guard. In this campaign, the Sisters were supported by the Living Saint Anais.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Prophecy, the Adepta Sororitas were referenced in the setting of the DLC content for the action RPG video game. The playable Inquisitor could choose an Adepta Sororitas background where it was said they were initially among the Sisters of Battle before joining the Inquisition.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War, the Adepta Sororitas were introduced as a playable faction as DLC in the setting of the strategy video game. They were one of the factions that were battling over the world of Gladius Prime.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, the Adepta Sororitas appeared in the setting of the strategy video game and were introduced as a playable faction in DLC.
- In Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, a member of the Adepta Sororitas appeared as a companion in the setting of the CRPG video game. Sister Argenta was assigned to a ship belonging to the Rogue Trader house of the Von Valancius dynasty. Argenta was the daughter of imperial officers where she was orphaned at a young age, and put under the care of the Schola Progenium, an educative institution, which trained her to become one of the Emperor's chosen: the Adepta Sororitas. Upon joining her new sisters, the faithful girl was re-baptized Argenta, in the honor of a Saint of the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse. She later was assigned a mission within the Expanse, on the remote outpost of Footfall, where she was to guard a sacred reliquary. However, she will be led away from her mission for reasons yet unknown
Appearances
- Warhammer 40,000:
External Links
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