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THE STORM BEARERS CHAPTER OF THE ADEPTUS ASTARTES Born of Man. Die for Man. Greater than Man. Origins Not all that is Man is created equal, and this stands true even for those who came of Man but have become far more than Man. The Emperor’s Angels of Death, transhuman warriors formed into Chapters, are Founded every few centuries. Not all of these Chapters are formed equally. Some are born poor, bereft even of a home world, bound to an existence of vagrancy across the stars. Auspiciously born from the blood of the 18th gene-line, in the 18th Founding, the Storm Bearers were more fortunate. To them were gifted an unconquerable fortress upon the orbiting moon of a world specially selected for suitable recruitment, as well as an immense Star Fort and numerous outer system planetary defenses with which to defend their home. The Aetna System was not only well placed to provide easy access and monitoring of several nearby subsectors, but had also come under a most unconventional siege. No enemy had yet been encountered, but evidence too substantial to ignore suggested a great threat had worked its way in. The Storm Bearers first action as an independent force was to root out and extinguish this threat, thought to be the Polyphemians, an ancient Etnaphemian myth that could potentially be the oldest known record of the foe. The Storm Bearers thought it superstition, and blamed the failure of the locals in locating and eliminating the threat on their superstitious nature. Superstitious though they may be, the threat was real. The enemy was real. The deaths of dozens of Space Marines attested to the power of the enemy, and yet such was its cunning and stealth that only the dead were left as evidence of its existence. Even the Steropes facility, a hub-bastion that coordinated the extensive network of defenses surrounding Aetna’s outermost planet, was susceptible. Analysis of recordings made on recovered Space Marine suits revealed the impossible truth. That the enemy was everywhere and yet the suit’s wearer would simply forget the creature’s existence once it had left the battle-brother’s sight. The recording was disseminated across the Chapter, and soon other recorded encounters were uncovered. Study of the creatures in the recordings commenced, and countermeasures were extrapolated and put in place. The Chapter’s Librarians began to concentrate upon the sensation of a sudden shift in their brothers’ memories; unable themselves to simply fixate and locate the xenos breed. This task fell to the Chapter’s Techmarine corps, who would modify the Chapter’s supply of suits to provide recognition whenever such creatures are witnessed, and log it so that the wearer would be reminded once the creature leaves sight. This advantage allowed the Storm Bearers to finally uncover and bring ruin upon the xenos hiding in their midst. The struggle against the xenos would last nearly two hundred years before the last uncovered nest could be put to the sword, though possible sightings and unsubstantiated reports would continue indefinitely. With the Polyphemian threat neutralized, the Storm Bearers would settle into their role as guardians, the superstitions and weaknesses of mortal man now laid bare. For millennia, the Storm Bearers would be the bulwark and the tempest both, as the Imperium required. Their exploits, particularly those of their long line of Lightning Bearers, would earn them great glory. In time, they would be given the greatest honor of providing the seed through which another Space Marine Chapter would be born. This Chapter would take the name of one who had fallen long, long ago, as the Storm Giants reborn. Home World Brontes was once a more civilized world, well onto its way into becoming a proto-Hive World. This did not suit the Storm Bearers, who wanted their world to inspire a more warrior spirit rather than simple genetic suitability. The Storm Bearers would be far from the only Chapter to affect directly the fate of their home world, but few would go so far as to reverse cultural progress and systematically destroy all evidence of an advanced civilization. The survivors, who were many as the Storm Bearers kept casualties at a minimum, formed smaller, local communities. Retained knowledge of metallurgy and other skills stalled regression in the equivalent of the Bronze Age. This setting has been encouraged and even violently enforced by the Storm Bearers. The planet of Brontes is a volatile one. Its large, harsh seas make for difficult ocean-faring, and traffic between its extensive, rocky island chains and small, isolated continents is light. The erratic orbit of its satellite moon of Mene, upon which the Storm Bearers’ fortress-monastery resides, plays havoc with the planet’s already fluctuating magnetic field. Storms of immense size and ferocity form with frightening regularity out among the tumultuous waters, their titanic fury when they hammer upon the shorelines inspiring the Chapter and giving them their name. Combat Doctrine In contrast to their Nocturnean kin, the Storm Bearers are deliberate and cumbersome, but far from slow. The Chapter maintains a large fleet of Thunderhawk vessels, preferring to arrive upon the enemy like a great storm cloud upon the horizon, though they are far from adverse to orbital deployments, drop pods striking the battlefield like bolts of lightning. Speed of delivery is imperative, their military strength gathered tight to lend the blow as much weight as possible. This preference has made them adept at offensive siege warfare, using their heavy, lightning assaults to shatter defenses, as well as to isolate and eliminate enemy commands no matter how deeply defended or concealed. Organization The Storm Bearers are strong components of the Codex Astartes, finding deviations as distasteful as any conservative Successor of the Ultramarines. Within the Chapter’s auxiliary forces there is, perhaps, a greater deal of communication and interaction than may be commonly found. Ongoing threats faced by the Storm Bearers has seen such internal organs as the Reclusiam, the Forge or the Librarium cooperate and partner for creative means of overcoming these challenges, such as the task to eradicate the Polyphemian xenokind requiring the services of the Librarium and the Forge in equal measure. Though these auxiliary formations remain separate within the Chapter’s chain of command, to an outsider familiar with other Space Marine Chapters the distinction may not be so clear. The Storm Bearers regularly maintain a crusader force tasked far beyond the borders to their realm and protectorates, and as such, the Chapter has been witnessed upon worlds and in battles across the breadth and width of the Imperium. Leadership over these crusades will fall to one commander, overseeing many companies in his command. These commanders are given the role of representing the Chapter well beyond its sphere of influence, and as such are given the rank of Lightning Bearer. This rank comes with exceptional honor and glory attached, as well as promises of future advancement. There have been more Storm Bearer Chapter Masters who had once served as Lightning Bearers than not. Beliefs The Storm Bearers came to the Aetna System bearing copies of the Promethean Creed, the spiritual treatise that continues to shape their Salamander brothers. Over time, the Storm Bearers would make changes and additions, inevitably coming to very different conclusions and the applications of their beliefs. The Cyclopean Creed, as the editions held by the Storm Bearers came to be called, has grown to place less faith in humanity than its parent Creed, finding them inherently weak and susceptible to corruption. Though such an assessment is often born of distaste, the Storm Bearers see this truth as due to their exceptional vulnerability and need for protection. The powerful gifts the Emperor and Vulkan provided the Angels of Death be not for mortal use, though it does instill a strong sense of responsibility. The Adeptus Astartes are gifted with the thunder and lightning of war, so that they can do what mortals cannot and should not. While the Storm Bearers see themselves as superior and above the general populace, their beliefs continue to bind them to humanity in service rather than in rule. Gene-seed The genetic material of the Storm Bearers remain effectively pure, what few mutative deviations exist are of little consequence. The most evident of the Storm Bearers deviations is in the improper function of their melanochrome organ. When operating at peak efficiency, the organ enables the Marine to shift skin tone for absorbing multiple levels of radiation. This organ within a son of the Promethean will malfunction, what should be temporary becoming permanent. The interaction between Brontes and Mene releases regular, periodic bursts of exotic forms of electromagnetic radiation. The Storm Bearers’ genetic legacy is affected, causing hair growth and eyes to pale and whiten, while the skin darkens in color, though far from the extent as seen by their Salamander brothers. These physical changes separate the sons of Vulkan from mortal kind, a divide the Storm Bearers embrace. Battle Cry “Fire and thunder!” http://i.imgur.com/H4zfnWk.jpg Pict-capture of a Storm Bearer survivor Outside the remains of the Steropes facility

Index Sororitas: Order of the Unbroken Crown Origins: Created in the latter days of M.37, the Order of the Unbroken Crown was the result of a prophetic vision dreamed by the infamous Cardinal Sedemio of the Kharidys Sector. The Cardinal declared that he had seen a great danger to the Emperor's realm one day emerging from the nearby Solios Nebula, but also saw a circlet of light that banded the edge of the nebula and protected the Imperium. This crown had a single point that fell on the otherwise unimportant world Viorda Secundus. Sedemio petitioned the Ecclesiarch - who was, incidentally, his half-brother - that the Adeptus Ministorium must take a stand to save the worlds around the Solios Nebula by decreeing the foundation of a new Lesser Order of their militant arm, the Adepta Sororitas. A Mission of more than eight hundred Sisters of Battle hailing from the Order of the Argent Shroud and led by the decorated Canoness Preceptor Felicia Agara was dispatched to Viorda Secundus. A great Convent House was built in the mountain wastelands beyond Viorda's single Hive. The people of the Hive welcomed the Sisterhood with open arms and the noble families of the world eagerly agreed that they would care for the Order's few material needs. Palatine Agnatha Ferrina Palatine Ferrina is the current commander of the Order of the Unbroken Crown. More than a hundred years of thankless duty, combined with the ungrateful spite of the people of Viorda Secundus, have made a once devout warrior into a mordant and waspish old woman. Ferrina has become cold and self-serving, caring more for preserving the sanctity of her quiet cell than for protecting the worlds of the Imperium. Rumours even abound in the lower Hive of Viorda that the Palatine has made pacts with the forces operating out of the Nebula, supplying them with materiel taken from the Order's own stockpiles. Whispers from various sources claim seeing shipments of weapons, bolt ammunition and even power armour components leaving Viorda Secundus, though what possible use simple renegades could have for such high-tech armaments is unclear. Later History: The initial years of the Order's vigil were marked by success as Preceptor Agara led assault after assault into the Solios Nebula, destroying countless fledgling bands of pirates. But as decades and centuries passed, the threat posed by the Nebula seemed to lessen and the fear of the fulfilment of Sedemio's vision waned. Over the next two millennia, as the Order's purpose was gradually marginalised and forgotten, the people of Viorda Secundus began to view the Sisterhood with less and less favour. Their watchfulness and dedication came to be seen as indolence and cowardice. Their requests for supplies, though met in full, were eventually accompanied by thinly veiled insults to the honour of the Order. At the same time, as other battlefronts and worlds required the might of the Adepta Sororitas, the strength of the Order was eaten away as units and Missions were reassigned. Though the millennia-old decree of Cardinal Sedemio could never be entirely undone, the most fervent of the Unbroken Crown became more and more eager for orders that sent them away from the Solios Nebula. Those that remained were inevitably those content in their bitter solitude and needless watchfulness. In the time of the present Imperium, the Order of the Unbroken Crown is poorly named. A shadow of their former glory, the Sisters have no power to fulfil the purpose for which they were created, their numbers eroded to barely more than a half dozen squads. Even though in recent decades the Solios Nebula has once again become the haunt of pirates and renegades, the Order is rumoured to have neither the ability or the inclination to act against them. Combat Doctrine: There is typically little that will rouse the Sisters of the Order to leave the quietude of their Convent House and go to war. However, if forced to act in order to protect their own interests, they are fierce and canny fighters. The Order usually operates as blocks of infantry, some of their number mounted in Rhinos or Immolators. These units are commonly armed, as one would expect, with the Sisterhood's trinity of bolter, melta and flamer. While the Order is famed for its bright, fiery colours, it is not uncommon for squads to hide these beneath obscuring mud, soot or cameoline. The Unbroken Crown uses few of the more complex war machines available to the Adepta Sororitas, such as Exorcists, though this is more likely due to a simple lack of maintenance rather than any idealogical issues. Sisters Repentia - and thereby Penitent Engines - are also very unusual, as the Order's tolerance for impious behaviour appears to be far higher than that found in an average Convent. When Battle Sisters are punished in this way, it is often less a matter of their having failed the God Emperor and more a question of having crossed their immediate superiors. Homeworld: Viorda Secundus is a minor world in the Kharidys Sector. A poor planet when compared with its important sister world, Viorda Prime, it is a barren waste with an atmosphere barely thick enough to support human life. Its people live in countless scattered townships and mining settlements, ruled from the only major conurbation, the Hive where the Planetary Governor holds court. Most have little in a material sense and it is therefore understandable that they have come to resent the tithe required by the Unbroken Crown. Once, three hundred years prior to the present day, the rulers of the noble Houses of Viorda refused the Sisters their 'rightful' tribute. The Order's response was as swift as it was brutal, first quietly bringing the majority of their squads within the Hive's walls and then assaulting the private residence of one of the Noble Houses. The palace and all its occupants, whether highborn or commoner, were torched to death in the fires caused by Flamers and Meltas. In a matter of hours, transports carrying foodstuffs, fuel and other supplies were rolling across the empty plains to the Sororitas Convent House. Battle Cry: The Adepta Sororitas are famous for going into battle singing loud praises and waving great banners proclaiming the glories of Mankind. The Order of the Unbroken Crown is far more pragmatic, slipping quietly into position until they are ready to unleash the thunder of their boltguns.

Alright folks, time for me to throw my hat in the ring in full. Here is the Sisterhood I've been holding onto now for about . . . four years, apparently. Wow, I've been at this for a while. As always with my DIYs, I have a tendency to do some very bare-bones creations, names, colors, and a very short snippet, create a whole host of them (at some point last year I counted just over a couple hundred, with about 2/3s B&C appropriate), and then with aching slowness go about developing them to the point of being worthy of being posted. Often, a huge amount of their character and history are completely unknown to me until I take the time and just try to increase the word count. I always like to think about how the ideas first originated, as it goes to show just how far I've come in this whole business. The Order of the Perpetual Sorrows originated as a Sisterhood based off of an old Facebook group I was a part of, the Green Randoms. I would jokingly create an in-universe clan around it (this was a D&D group), called the Verdant Variables. For some reason that I no longer recall, I took that as the base for a Sisterhood, which was originally called the Viridian Valkyries, had a convent on Fenris itself, and yes, it was that bad, shut up. Their color scheme has been unchanged since then, but as you'll be able to see from here on out, they really don't have anything else left from that time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I'll continue working on it, but C&C on what I have so far would be appreciated. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OHAehTs9PrQ/UmP3bTH-hvI/AAAAAAAAaP0/Fgf4zLo3r3w/s400/city-saint.jpg “Defilement comes through the sons of Man Born Divine, through Cain refleshed. She will lift the silver veil from her face, and from her eyes shall flow the tears of the silenced into perpetuity, to wash the corrupt in a flood of condemnation.” Order Name The Order of the Perpetual Sorrows Home Planet Bathkol, a temperate shrineworld of Sector Aexynder, Subsector Raphestus Founder Viridiana Serif, Our Weeping Lady. Born 248.M38, Martyred 412.M38 Notable Sisters Yohanna Candidus, Palatine-Commander of the Serifi, Purifier of the Sunderers It is no surprise that the Order of the Perpetual Sorrows would endear themselves to their founder and her ways. As the first Canoness named herself of the Seraphim, and favored their use alongside armour contingents, so too did those who followed her. There is a strong leaning in the Sisterhood towards the Seraphim squads, leading towards an imbalanced organization. It became necessary to subdivide the Seraphim, to single out the exceptional and the experienced. These veteran Seraphim congregate in the Chapel of the Serifi, for which they view Viridiana Serif as its patron saint and from whom they are named. These women can often be seen at the forefront of every major battle of the Sisterhood, their skills and fervor lending them an unrivaled edge. Though the Serifi are considered a Commandery according to the Order's organizational structure, they exist far higher in their hierarchy. The Palatine-Commander often holds a position of honor in the Sisterhood, her voice as heeded and respected as any preceptory mistress. Only when the entire Order is mobilized for war do the Serifi stand united outside of their Chapel, as their Commandery are most often spread across the Order and its various conflicts. History Communion with the God-Emperor, a most sacred practice, has guided the devoted for millennia. Though often difficult to interpret, the lives of millions are turned to the task of extrapolation. One such interpretation called for the founding of one of the Lesser Orders Militant. Viridiana Serif, a Canoness Preceptor of the Order of the Argent Shroud, was granted the honor of separating her convent from the Order. Taking with her the relic tome Luctus Aeternia, and naming the Order after the prophetic glimpse that saw to its creation, Lady Serif, now Canoness Superior of the Order of the Perpetual Sorrows, retained the convent upon the shrineworld Bathkol where the Preceptory was based, expanding it to accommodate the increased potential of a full Order. Within a century, the Sisterhood had gained incredible renown in the local Sector as a fast-acting militant order, striking with overwhelming force at the earliest signs of heresy. The zeal with which they met the secretive cults of Sector Aexynder caught the attention of Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus, and quickly they would take advantage of the fiery Sisters in their own investigations. In time, they were seen by the Inquisition as a powerful tool in this Sector and its surrounding regions, with many Inquisitors even petitioning the Sisterhood for permanent detachments to follow them across the Imperium's greater expanse. With their harsh intolerance for even minor deviations of the Imperial Creed, the Sisters of the Order of the Perpetual Sorrows can be seen participating in wars of faith in every corner of the Imperium. Beliefs The Sisters of Perpetual Sorrow record with careful precision the heretical crimes committed against Him on Earth within the tactical log Luctus Aeternia. To the Sisters, these crimes should never be forgotten, lest they be repeated, and are often invoked during sermons. It is, however, of note that what this Sisterhood condemns as heretical is, perhaps, more conservative than the greater Ecclesiarchy's general approach to the differing faiths in the God-Emperor. To the Sisters of Bathkol, the God-Emperor is the All, born whole from the holiness of Terra's children. To these Sisters, worship of the God-Emperor in any other aspect is condemnable. They see totemic representations of the God-Emperor as debasement before false idols. While they are willing to curb their indignation and bile for otherwise loyal Imperial domains, these beliefs made them willing participants in retributive campaigns based upon ideological conflicts, particularly when involving the contrary beliefs of a Space Marine Chapter. These beliefs have spread beyond the Sisterhood, in no small part because of their charismatic prominence on Bathkol and beyond. On a few worlds, their particular outlook on Space Marines have taken rather well. On Hathmose it is most understandable, the planet's denizens having long memories into their past, when renegade Space Marines would raid their stores with clockwork precision and brutality before being run off by a detachment of Loyalist Space Marines of the Flesh Tearers Chapter. For the embittered Hathmosians, they could not distinguish between savior and ravager. The Sisterhood, however, has not taken kindly to a particular sentiment among those they have so influenced. With the focus the Order has on the Seraphim squads, especially the often more ornate Serifi, there are those among the masses who look up to these women that see them as the God-Emperor's true angels. Indeed, the Order has become increasingly frustrated with what they see as false idolatry, loudly and at times even violently denouncing it. Significant Battle Dragon's Fall – M39: Like many Space Marine Chapters based out of feral death worlds, the Sunderers had a unique, contradictory view of the Emperor. While ostensibly holding to the improper belief system of the Adeptus Astartes, that of the God-Emperor as “just a man,” the further uncivilized beliefs of their own recruitment stock pervaded and corrupted the Chapter. This has occurred among those who would call Him on Earth their grandsire since time immemorial, when the God-Emperor, in an unfathomable act of wisdom and compassion, allowed for the continued existence of the Space Wolves Chapter. The Sunderers, inheritors of the White Scars Chapter, another barbaric lineage not unlike those of the Wolves or the Salamanders, had for several thousand years looked to the feathered, saurian mega-fauna of their home world as symbolically representative of the God-Emperor's power and ferocity. Even before their corruption by the powers beyond, the Sisters of Perpetual Sorrow would have proclaimed them damned in moments. With the Imperium fully seeking to unleash judgment upon the Sunderers, the Order gladly lent the taskforce its entire strength. This proved fortuitous to the forces of the God-Emperor, as it was one of the Order's Commanderies that successfully disrupted a ritual centered upon the Chapter's former High Reclusiarch, a ritual that surely would have turned the tide of battle and necessitated the call for other, more terrible allies. http://i.imgur.com/q9lV8YL.jpg

Order of the Gilded Blade Foundation Sister Poloma Castillion In 236.M41 the Order of the Argent Shroud spearheaded an Imperial reclamation campaign on the agri-world of Oldama Majoris. Whilst the holy sisters made swift progress in their assault on the capital city Iuga, stamping out heresy and inspiring hundreds to take up arms against the Emperor’s enemies, elsewhere the Imperial forces faltered. Disaster struck less than two weeks into the campaign when the 21st Harjinn Ghilmen regiment was massacred by a mob of heretics led by the reviled demagogue known as the Ash Priest. With the battle in Iuga intensifying and the Ash Priest’s force, now numbering close to twenty thousand, closing in from the rear, Canoness Commander Volenta ordered her second-in-command, Palatine Crusixis, to lead a small force of sisters into the dense Oldaman forests and continue the fight in the Emperor’s name. From the depths of the forest Palatine Crusixis launched numerous raids on heretic positions, massacring patrols and destroying supply posts. Nevertheless, as supplies dwindled and casualties mounted, the small force of sisters began to lose morale. The Ash Priest also needed to rekindle the heretical faith of his followers and began to burn the forest to the ground. The sisters retreated further and further, seeking to reach the edge of the fast-approaching wall of flames and loop back to outflank the heretics. It was then that they discovered a long-forgotten shrine to the Emperor. The walls were covered in tangled ivy, but were thick and defensible. The catacombs contained a treasure trove of swords, maces, flails and shields, archaic but usable. But the greatest treasure hung above the altar: a master-crafted power sword that shimmered with golden light. Palatine Crusixis declared that here that the sisters would make their last stand. The inferno washed over the shrine, incinerating the plant life and splintering the marble mosaics covering the outer walls. The sisters sheltered safe in the catacombs, singing hymns of praise to Him on Earth and sharpening their blades. When the flames had passed on the sisters emerged to defend the shrine from those who would despoil it. The battle was hard-fought, with the sisters relying almost entirely on the melee weapons they had uncovered and the heretics lacking heavy artillery to breach the walls of the shrine. After five hours of brutal combat the Ash Priest himself took to the field and was met by Palatine Crusixis. Although the arch-heretic was swollen with daemonic power, he was no match for the faithful sister and Crusixis decapitated him with one swipe of the golden sword. After this glorious victory the few surviving sisters swept across the land, their zeal burning brighter than ever. Those Oldamans who had remained faithful emerged from hiding to join the righteous crusade and, with their prophet slain, the heretics quickly capitulated. When Imperial reinforcements arrived two years later they found a world cleansed of heresy and eager to rejoin the Imperium of Man. Palatine Crusixis successfully petitioned the Covent Prioris to found a new commandery around the shrine they had discovered and two centuries later the Order of the Gilded Blade was formerly recognised as a Lesser Order Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Present Day At the close of the forty-first millennia Oldama Majoris has been transformed from a backwater agri-world to the most popular shrine world in three sectors. Pilgrims touch down at the spaceport outside Iuga and travel into the city along a highway lined with adamantium statues of the primarchs and the saints. In Iuga the pilgrims visit the shrine that marks the spot where Canoness Commander Volenta fell, torn apart by a rapid mob of heretics, and leave a traditional offering of a drop of blood to commemorate the sisters of the Order of the Argent Shroud who sacrificed their lives to free Oldama Majoris. After a tour of the other holy sites and shrines in Iuga the pilgrims remove their shoes and walk barefoot through the forest to the Shrine of the Emperor Saviour, now a sprawling temple complex containing training and living facilities for the Order of the Gilded Blade. The pilgrims take mass at the altar and view the golden sword with which Palatine Crusixis slew the Ash Priest. The pilgrims are then invited to an audience with the Canoness Superior or her representative. They are questioned on their journey and any heretical or xenos activity they witnessed or heard reports of. If the pilgrim is judged to be faithful and reliable their information is acted upon, whether it be a report of an ork invasion of hive world or a rumour of a witch hidden in a cave in the most remote and unimportant world. The sisters of the Order of the Gilded Blade know that all heresy is dangerous if allow to fester, no matter how inconsequential it may appear. “The Imperium is run by men and women who dream of sectors and subsectors, fleets and armies, sieges, pitched battles and orbital strikes. I do not deny the importance of these things. But the people who live in the Imperium have smaller dreams. They dream of their families, their neighbours, their farm or manufactory. They do not comprehend the Black Crusade, the horde of xenos, the world-ending warp rift. Such things do not concern them because they are too vast, too far beyond imagination. The things they fear are smaller: the raider in the night, the mutant in the sewer, the witch in the forest. Some say such things are insignificant, too lowly to demand our attention. To this I say: where do we draw the line between the tolerable heresy and the intolerable? Did the Emperor give his life so the Imperium could be partially saved? How can the smallfolk of the Imperium stay faithful if the Emperor’s representatives abandon them in their hour of need, no matter how small that need may seem in the grand scheme of things? Left unchecked the raider will return emboldened, seeking larger bounties. The mutant will bind together with others of its kind and rise up to overthrow the lawful government and enslave those who rightfully persecuted it. The witch will attract the attentions of those beyond and cause a whole world to be put to the torch. Call our work insignificant if you will. We know that it is not.” - Canoness Tirista Gonrolo Combat Doctrine The Order of the Gilded Blade numbers around six hundred battle sisters, with over four hundred away on active duty at any given time. The Order’s remit means that its forces are often spread thin on over a dozen worlds, many deployments consisting of only one or two squads with little chance of reinforcement during the mission. This means that each sister is highly trained to operate in any combat role and with any weapon in the Order’s arsenal. The Order of the Gilded Blade is unafraid to use stealth and infiltration tactics against the enemies of the Emperor, believing it is unworthy to apply notions like ‘honourable combat’ to such scum. Indeed, with the sisters usually operating at a numerical disadvantage, such tactics are vital. In recent years, following heavy petitioning from pilgrims and planetary authorities, the Order of the Gilded Blade has established small waystations on several worlds along major pilgrimage routes. These serve as rest points for weary pilgrims and as garrisons for up to a hundred sisters. The waystations have proved a resounding success, allowing the sisters to carry out more missions on worlds far from Oldama Majoris. They are swiftly becoming pilgrimage points in their own right for those of poor means who struggle to get offworld. The War for the Soul of Hive Gharne – 892.M41 The sisters of the Order of the Gilded Blade first learned of the heresy growing in Hive Gharne from Quarant Ipsos, an elderly pilgrim who had sold everything he owned to fund his pilgrimage from Terentis VI to Oldama Majoris. He spoke of his grandson, kidnapped and forced to fight to the death in underground arenas. The local Arbites saw it as a way regulate the district’s population, but Quarant had learnt the holy words of the saints all his life and knew that blood-sport was a grave sin against the Emperor, depriving Him of men and women who owed Him their lives. The sisters recognised the need and despatched three squads to Terentis VI. It soon became clear that the arenas were merely a cover for a well-organised gang of blood cultists whose influence spread throughout the underworld of Hive Gharne. The sisters remained in the shadows at first, carrying out raids on minor drug dens, warehouses and blood-pits. Each strike was well planned and initiated with no survivors left to breathe word of their presence. The sisters also reached out to priests of the Adeptus Ministorum, requesting that they stir up their congregations to oppose the arena fights. With their operations under attack from an unknown foe and the faithful rising up against them, the blood cultists overplayed their hand. A tide of gangers, pit-fighters and death-seekers spilled on to the streets, massacring anyone in their path including each other. The Arbites were forced to respond, deploying en masse to fight the cultists. The sisters also revealed themselves, using intelligence extracted during their initial operations to locate and destroy the cult leaders. The heresy was eradicated within a week. Sister Superior Ysobil Romora first came to the Shrine of the Emperor Saviour as an orphan girl, six years old and born on pilgrimage. She told the tale of how the pilgrim ship she was travelling on was attacked by eldar corsairs and how her parents sacrificed their lives to lead the aliens away from her hiding place. Like many of the parentless girl-children who find their way to the Shrine Ysobil was inducted into the Order of the Gilded Blade as a novice. She was trained every day in faith and in battle, excelling in every field. When she finally attained the rank of battle sister on her sixteenth birthday it was widely seen as being several years late. Over the following years Sister Ysobil continued to excel. Her sharp eye and ferocious strength frequently saw her assigned as a Retributor heavy weapons specialist. It was her heavy bolter that cut down the ork mob on the steps of the Temple of the Primarchs on Laodiseah and her multi-melta that destroyed three traitor Leman Russ tanks on Drexus. In a brutal fight on Chennov Ysobil was forced to take command of the Order’s force after heavy casualties. After leading a heroic counter-attack on the rebel position that ended up winning the war, Ysobil was promoted to Sister Superior. Her final battle took place in the dark forests of Kapuchin III where she was torn limb-from-limb by a giant mutated monster. This grisly sight inspired her sisters to greater fury and they fought unceasingly over the next three years until the planet’s mutant infestation was finally cleansed. Sister Superior Ysobil Romora