Inquisitors

[Lord Solcia]

First of all, I myself can feel I'm stretching the bar a little bit by putting a direct non-Space Marine question on here, thus, if I am indeed doing any wrong, please have mercy on me.

 

Now for my question.

 

If I recall, the Ordo Hereticus found a loophole in something that said they can indeed have military power, but only in the form of women. Now, does this include an Inquisitor's retinue as well? I just looked at all the entries on all leads on the almighty LEXICANUM, but still come up short.

 

I am sorry if this seems a tad ignorant of me, I do admit to ignorance in this subject though.

 

But please do not be too harsh, my Inquisitorial duties were for the Ordo Malleus. ;)

[Brother Tyler]

The restriction imposed upon the Ecclessiarchy (Adeptus Ministorum, whatever you want to call them) is that it could no longer maintain men at arms. This was following the Age of Apostasy when Goge Vandire utilized the Frateris Templars, a large standing force of men loyal to him and willing to fight on his behalf. So the loophole that the Ecclessiarchy found was that the Adepta Sororitas, being women weren't "men" and could, therefore, be maintained as the standing fighting force of the Ecclessiarchy.

 

The Adepta Sororitas also operate as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus, which was founded to keep watch over the Ecclessiarchy and to ensure that heresy/apostasy on the level of the Reign of Blood (another name for the Age of Apostasy) could never happen again.

 

And I'm moving this over the Inquisition forum where it is a) appropriate, and b) people who have ready access to the books can correct any of the errors of my memory.

[Lord Solcia]

Thank you for the information Brother Tyler, and thank you for moving this to the correct forum, but with no offense directed at you (of course), I still await to have my question answered. I shall be waiting Brothers! ;)

[Toogeloo]

Think of the Retinue for an Inquisitor as his bodyguards and other "roadies" if you will. Inquisitors and their Retinues are not military forces, they are agents of the Ordos Hereticus, Ordos Xenos, and Ordos Malleus that essentially go and get answers to questions or posse up to take on a small band of Heretics. Inquisitors will employ the Sisters of Battle, Inquisitorial Storm Troopers, Priests and the Ecclesiarchy's War Machines, and even occasionally Marines or Imperial Guardsmen to launch full scale assaults when the more force is required. The use of Marines is rare and generally only if Daemons are present should they be called upon, but the Daemonhunters are typically the force called in when this is the event. The Ecclesiarchy prefers that an Inquisitor make use of the "non-man military" Sisters of Battle to get around the men at arms loophole when a large scale force is required however.

[revnow]

At its core, an Inquisitor's retinue is a group of extraordinary individuals that they have come to find useful and placed in their employ. Aside from the inner politik of the Inquisition, there are not a lot of restrictions on who can be part of a retinue, as Inquisitior's tend to be very independent by nature. Eisenhorn for example had an entire "harem" of untouchables at his disposal when his operation was in its prime. Radicals go so far as to maintain daemonic/heretical/xenos advisers or combat tools. It really comes down to the beliefs and operational style of the Inquisitor.

 

And Brother Tyler's clarification on the fluff surrounding the Ordos Hereticus and the Ecclesiarchy is correct. The Ordos Hereticus is more "allied" to the Ecclesiarchy than anything as it is still fundamentally a part of the Inquisition, and in some instances those two do not get along very well. The simplest line to draw without going into an excruciating amount of detail is to remember that at their cores the Inquisition is (primarily) a Political Institution where the Ecclesiarchy is (primarily) a religious one. They are technically independent though often intertwined.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Okay, where to start....

 

In the history of the Imperium, the Age of Apostasy of Goge Vandire is as Brother Tyler has stated. The restriction was placed upon the Ministorum to no longer have men at arms. The blatant manipulation of the wording of the Decree Passive was allowed after people realized the Adeptus Sororitas would be as much policing the Ecclesiarchy as acting as their military body, so it was allowed. The Ordo Hereticus of the Emperor's Most Holy Inquisition was founded at the same time, and there's secret treaties and deals between the two orders that aren't stated in any background fluff text I've ran across, but are known to amount to the Adeptus Sororitas pulling double duty as both the army of the Ecclesiarchy as well as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus.

 

Now, as far as the Inquisitors commanding forces, the Inquisition works as basically a huge club of secret agents that go around the Imperium enforcing justice and being super heros. They're kind of like Darth Vader, Men in Black, James Bond, except they answer to no authority other than their own and the High Lords of Terra... one of the high lords is usually a senior Inquisitor. Essentially way back when the Emperor had some buddies who were personal advisors and very awesome, and after the golden throne these buddies founded the Inquisition to continue making sure the Imperium kept going mostly forward.

 

The 'retinue' in 40K terms are a bunch of sidekicks and friends of the Inquisitors. They are the Robin to the Inquisitor's Batman. They aren't anything other than friends and helpers of the Inquisitor, and hold no formal rank anywhere save what they had before joining the Inquisitor's warband. Their power, is that they can call the Inquisitor, who has universal power over most anything (with various exceptions).

 

An Inquisitor's military might is their own household of guards and soldiers (Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, sometimes Death Cult Assassins), other agents of the Imperium (Officio Assassinorum Assassins, other Inquisitors), the chamber's militant (Grey Knights, Adeptus Sororitas), forces they can outright commandeer and give new orders to (Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy), and previous favors they may be able to cash in if they ask very very nicely (Adeptus Astartes, Techpriests of Mars/Titan Legions).

 

Technically the Inquisitor would be in command of such a large operation, but what would probably happen is the Inquisitor would tell the various General's, Space Marine Captains, and so forth what they need to happen, then let the military commanders do their thing while the Inquisitor worried about their real mission. Something along the lines of "I need you to engage the heretics holed up in this city. They are ugly and painted funny and need to die. While you engage their military forces I need an escort of marines to get myself and my agents to this citadel, where we will infiltrate the defenses and go after the heretical cardinal personally and bring him to justice, thus ending the revolt."

[Castigator]

The Ordo Hereticus of the Emperor's Most Holy Inquisition was founded at the same time, and there's secret treaties and deals between the two orders that aren't stated in any background fluff text I've ran across

 

Just to add a little extra detail, this treaty is known as the "Convocation of Nephilim."

"The exact details have never been revealed, but some believe it to be linked to the knowledge imparted to Dominica and her companions before the Golden Throne. That such knowledge could be so dire as to bind the two organisations so formally is a testament to the weight of the task with which the Adepta Sororitas and the Ordo Hereticus are burdened.

Others believe that the Convocation was intended to curb the powere of the Ecclesiarchy, exploiting the fact that the Sororitas are a loyal and zealous force that could be used to enforce the agendas of the newly formed Ordo, thus turning a blind eye to the flouting of the spirit of the Decree Passive. Whatever the truth, those who seek it without the blessing of the highest ranking members of either organisation will find only a slow and painful death in the deepest excruciation chambers of the Ordo Hereticus, or a fiery, yet equally painful, end at the hands of the Adepta Sororitas."

[Lord Solcia]

Thanks everyone for the supreme information! That's everything I needed.

[Melissia]

Keep in mind that the Ordo Hereticus can and does induct imperial guardsmen and even call in favors and temporarilly induct Space Marines, and that more often than not, the Sisters take actions independant of the Inquisition (although unlike the Space Marines, many of the actions the Sisters take are approved of by the Inquisition because of the nature of the Sisters' beliefs and priorities, that doesn't mean that they are doin the Inquisition's bidding).. So... yeah, they're definitely not restricted to just women.