Questions about Ecclesiarchy Fluff.

[River Black]

I am in the very beginning phase of writing the history of my Adepta Sororitas Order and had a few questions. The main problem that I am having is in generating a fluffy history for the order and still having it jive with existing and well established fluff. This includes time frames, inner political working and other fine details that typically punch holes in other people fluff. And here we go…

 

Part One: Politics

My original thought was to have my sister’s order currently fighting in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade but when I reviewed the history of the crusade I saw no involvement from any part of the ecclesiarchy what so ever. Would the ecclesiarchy have an interest in taking part in the crusade and would it be realistic that there a sister’s order was taking part in the fighting? I know this sounds like a dumb question but im looking deeper than the typical “kill the mutant and the heretic” mentality. It would be asinine to think that a huge influential body such as the ecclesiarchy could exist with that single track mind… political gain and individual advancement must play a part in it as well. So basically what would motivate the ecclasiarchy to deploy their militant arm besides their hatred of the mutant, heretic and psykers. Also are the sister’s orders self governing bodies that report to the ecclesiarchy like the space marines or does the ecclesiarchy control all of the different orders and tell them where to go and what to do. Do the individual orders have the freedom to choose their own battle or are they deployed. Any other information you can provide with in reguard to the inner working of the Ecclesiarchy would be fantastic.

 

Part Two: Time Frame

As I already stated I would like my girls to be taking part in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Does anyone know the time frame in which this crusade took place? I read somewhere that it started in 600 M41 but I couldn’t find the source.

 

Part Three: Founding?

I know the major Orders were founded in M36 at the conclusion of the Age of Apostay but I was wondering about the creation of new Orders. How do they normally come about? Do they split off from an existing Order much in the same way a space marine Chapter has a second founding, or are they just created new as a result of an inspirational leader. What role does the Ecclesiarchy play in the creation of an Order? Do they create it or do they just acknowledge the fact that there is a new independent order? If this is the case at what point does the Ecclesiarchy recognize the order as being legit?

 

Im sorry for the long post but as you can see im taking this fluff thing pretty seriously. I cant stand it when I read DIY profiles that goes completely against already established fluff. I dont like pulling stuff right out of my ***.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Without going too much into the Ecclesiarchy bit (as while I have a great deal of Inquisition fluff I haven't found as much on the Ecclesiarchy at all) I can say it's easy to have your DIY order on the Sabbat Crusade. All you have to do is remember the other hats worn by the Adepta Sororitas.

 

First, if they happen to be on planets attacked, they Will defend themselves. They could also come to a distress call of other Imperial Forces nearby. They have a regular job of conducting purity checks on other Imperial Organizations, and forces of the Ecclesiarchy do involve themselves in actions (check the Apocalypse rule book, in the Armies of the Inquisition section, the fluff on the right hand page about an Inquisitor's activities against a cult and how it blows into a full fledged Imperial army from Every organization).

 

Second, remember they are a Chamber Militant of the Inquisition! Even without consent or will of the Ecclesiarchy, an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus can get the aid of the Sisters of Battle for activities. On a Crusade you're bound to run into plenty of Heretics and/or unsactioned psykers, and quite possibly mutants! Also the Inquisition is going to want to police said crusade for signs of gradual corruption of Chaos. The Sisters of Battle are an excellent force for this, as fluff has stated that essentially only ONE Sister has ever fallen to Chaos. As a whole they are incorruptible due to their Faith. Also it is quite likely that any Inquisitorial activity in the crusade wouldn't be recorded as Inquisitors often operate off the books.

 

I know Minor orders are created, I'll try and remember to check my old Sisters of Battle codex from the previous edition as well as things like my Codex Imperialis over the weekend and see if I can turn anything up for you.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Apologies for the double post, but this is a new line of thought so I didn't want to just edit it in the last one and have it be missed.

 

When I mentioned in the previous post that mutants, witches and heretics would be present in the crusade's target worlds, it wasn't intended as the "There's bad guys to they'll burn them!" If you take the stance that the Order is acting on request from an Inquisitor, and the Inquisitor is investigating any sort of cult activity, Chaos or Xenos manipulation of local governments, actions by rogue Inquisitors or other agents in the area in or around the Crusade, then it is highly likely that there would be Inquisitorial forces involved that aren't on recorded troop rosters. In addition, the Sabbat Worlds Crusade is against significant Chaos activity, which means that investigation of both friendly units, as well as local governments is important and would be taking place. Furthermore, Inquisitors are often the ones who can puzzle out the actual goals of Chaos or Xenos agents and inform military commanders of these, thus helping the Crusade as a whole by their own investigations.

 

While the Inquisitors are not always the Commander in Chief of allied forces (thusfar it seems it's typically actually an Imperial Guard General who works with whatever Space Marine commanders are in the area and representatives from the Adeptus Mechanicus for any Titans as evidenced by examples in Tactica Imperialis), Inquisitors certainly advise these commanders or pursue their own agendas on the side of the Crusade. I think you have PLENTY of leeway with having your order involved in such an action between the fluff I have seen from everything from the Eisenhorn trilogy, to the Apocalypse rulebook, the Sisters of Battle codex, the Witch Hunters codex, Tactica Imperialis, etc.

 

I will do more research as I can on the Ecclesiarchy aspect for you over the next couple of days, but by including even a single Inquisitor, even an Elites choice once, you have more than enough fluff to explain the Sisters presence.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Alright, so I checked my copies of Codex Imperialis, Codex Sisters of Battle, and Codex Witch Hunters. While chalk full of information about Cardinals, different Ecclesiarchy orders, the Ordo Hereticus (yes, they were even mentioned back in the Codex Sisters of Battle!), how the various Diosces are organized, they were completely lacking in terms of the creation of new orders of the Adepta Sororitas. They had some additional information on the role of the non-militant orders and what they did, but nothing relating to the questions you asked originally.

 

This next bit is based on my own interpretation of fluff and trying to relate it in real world terms. It has no relation to my personal views of any real world religion or history.

 

In terms of fluff, I would portray the Ecclesiarchy as sort of money grubbing, power hungry Catholics. You have your folks that genuinely believe in trying to save mankind, you have those who are simply trying to expand the influence of the Ministorum and get more worshippers, you have your Missionaries and Confessors, and you have your people who are in it to make a buck. In short, a veritiable cornacopuia of political opportunity for you to write fluff!!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions and I can see about getting you some of the relevant information.

 

EDIT: The best thing then is to say that orders are formally created by the Ecclesiarchy based on the history and splitting/organizing of the 6 major militant orders of the Adepta Sororitas. I would recommend going off that fluff if you wanted a concrete basis. The best source for that information I found was in the Codex Sisters of Battle from a few editions ago.

[River Black]

Thanks for the info and reply. I agree with you on the Ecclesiarchy and on how different individuals will use the organization for different purposes. I think that will play a significant role in how my order came about.