Index Sororitas: The Order of the Crimson Crescent

[Ace Debonair]

-= The Order of the Crimson Crescent =-

"Few things better serve The Emperor than a keen eye and a steady hand." - Sister Felcia Rayeland

-=Homeworld and Early History =-

A Sister of the Order of the Crimson Crescent

 
"Faith can remain pure, even when walls crumble and bodies falter." - Sister Auria Eribell


In the year M40.204, A Decree was passed by the highly influential Cardinal Vesur as part of a long-term plan to reinforce the strength of the Imperial Faith in the distant reaches of the Ultima Segmentum.
 
 Vesur's plan involved the construction of great cathedrals and shrines, sweeping across three sectors. Entire regiments of Imperial Guard and fleets of Imperial Navy would receive formal blessings from the Ecclesiarchy, and pilgrimages to reclaim lost Holy relics or sites were put into motion. In the midst of this great triumph of the faithful, the Order of the Crimson Crescent was born.
The Order takes it's name from the terracotta-hued moon orbiting their homeworld of Terremorn - viewed from within the planet's atmosphere, the moon appears a deep, vivid blood-red colour. On nights when it is particularly clear in the sky, it is said to be a clear sign of the Emperor's favour.

Terremorn itself was once a shrine world, whose union with the Imperium dated back to the early days of M36. The planet was lost amidst the ceaseless turmoil of the following centuries, and was thought to have been completely overrun by hordes of traitors.

But in fact, the population of Terremorn remained largely loyal and true to the Emperor. Though their shrines fell into disrepair, and then further lapsed into ruin, the people of the world continued to dedicate themselves to reconnecting with the Emperor.

When the world was reclaimed in M39, the Ecclesiarchy were somewhat dismayed to note that what had once been a thriving shrine world was now much closer in nature to a hive world - teeming populations and vast structures covered the surface of Terremorn.

However, they also saw that the once-proud temples, churches and icons of Imperial faith, though badly dilapidated, remained places of pilgrimage, and so quickly began working to strengthen the faith of the population once more.

 
 

-= Canoness Isaudrea Fiorle =-

"The Emperor protects most those who would protect themselves." - Isaudrea Fiorle, First Canoness of the Order of the Crimson Crescent

At the time of the Order's founding, trials were held on a dozen shrine worlds to find women strong enough of body and soul to represent The Emperor's light in what was viewed as a dark corner of the galaxy.

Out of the thousands selected to take part in these gruelling trials, over three hundred women succeeded. Amongst those first brave souls, one would truly become a legend to her new family: Sister Isaudrea Fiorle, best remembered as the First Canoness of the Order of the Crimson Crescent.

Canoness Fiorle was a giftedly talented strategist, at her best when adapting plans even in the midst of battle. She also had a decided preference for marksmanship and precision over unrestrained agression, using small squads of highly-trained sisters to pick apart isolated or weakened targets without the need to engage them at close range.

Even though she was slain in battle seventy-three years after her appointment to the role, to this day the Order of the Crimson Crescent pay honour to their First Canoness in their prayers to the Emperor, and her tomb is the centrepiece of the Order's headquarters.

On Terremorn, if your firstborn is a daughter, it is considered good fortune to name her Isaudrea, and numerous petitions for Canoness Fiorle's posthumous recognition as a Saint have been made over the years.

Isaudrea Fiorle was also known for her charisma, and her proudly outspoken views unarguably shaped the Order's perception of The Emperor even to this day.

-= Beliefs and Doctrines =-

"Through our Faith, we must become both a guiding light and a cleansing flame," - Sister Elsabet Mallor


Rather than percieving The Emperor purely as a saviour and protector, the Order of the Crimson Crescent view Him as a Warrior-God. They worship The Emperor as a peerless, unimaginably lethal master of war who bestows his blessings only on those He considers strong enough to have earned them. In turn, those fortunate and powerful enough to recieve the blessings of the Emperor are charged with the sacred duty to use those blessings to protect those weaker than themselves.

Sisters of this Order will routinely put themselves through trials of great endurance, in order to test their devotion and hopefully prove themselves worthy of the Emperor's blessings in times to come. 

Another quirk in the Order's system of beliefs is their view on Space Marines. Largely shunning the commonly held "angels of death" belief found across most of the Imperium, the Order of the Crimson Crescent view them as imperfect aspects of The Emperor, cast off and separated from The Emperor's divine magnificence, that he might become even greater.

Though the Order's attitude towards Space Marines is largely neutral, the Sisters of the Order of the Crimson Crescent are rarely shy in voicing their views concerning the failings of Space Marines, which seldom earns them any friends amongst the Adeptus Astartes.

-= Notable Conflicts =-

"Victory in hard-fought battle is the truest way to praise Him." - Sister Melandra Vyne
 
Since their inception on Terremorn, the Order of the Crimson Crescent has proven to be a stalwart force against all threats to the Faithful. Marching fearlessly into even the most fierce battles to bring the Emperor's strength to those in dire need, the Order has a storied history of conflict with xenos and heretics alike.

-= The Breaking of Waaagh Toofpulla =-

In the year M40.884, Warboss Toofpulla and his considerable horde of "Shootin'est Orkz" carved a bloody path through three lightly guarded systems in Segmentum Ultima, slaughtering Imperial citizens and regiments alike with wave after wave of powerful artillery attacks, striking with surprising co-ordination for greenskins. They would routinely destroy their targets before distress signals could even be sent out.

When they crushed Hive Trebalth on the world of Aminast, however, they made the mistake of assuming the collapsing hive had killed everyone within.

Sister Jemila and her squad had been tasked with protecting a Deacon of the Adeptus Ministorum on a hitherto routine visit to Aminast, and though the hive had largely been obliterated by the ork's ceaseless barrages of artillery, the basement of the local Church somehow survived intact, preserving not only the Deacon and three local Preachers, but Sister Jemila's squad, whose first action was to alert the rest of the Order to the presence of the orks.

And so it was that when Waaagh Toofpulla threatened to engulf the world of Korbor, the Order of the Crimson Crescent, working with the planet's own military, caught the greenskins in a most devastating trap. Deploying their own Exorcist artillery, the Order crippled the xeno's own tightly-grouped, mortar-armed vehicles and their crude artillery batteries. The Sisters themselves were then able to ensnare the weakened greenskin formations with a pincer movement, their massed bolter fire and support from Seraphim squads and Immolator tanks on either side tearing through the greenskins with characteristic efficiency, burning away the aliens' remains until only ash remained.

-= "Lord Colliver's Comet" =-

Named by astronomers for the noble Lord Coliver, a planetary governor who famously struck down a heretic using a burning branch, this comet crashed into the Agri-world of Dewart's Gate in late M41.

At the time it was thought a sign of the Emperor's judgement, until mechanical creatures of unknown origin or design climbed out and began attacking civilians, all the while reciting twisted chants of praise to the Dark Gods of Chaos.

The Order of the Crimson Crescent were called in to purge the monstrosities.

When the Sisters arrived, the world of Dewart's Gate had been badly scarred and burnt by the attacking creatures. They had raided settlements and destroyed farms.

More terrifying still, the corpses of the slain marched alongside them, abominable metal contraptions buried into and across their backs. Their heads lolled awkwardly as they walked, their eyes staring sightlessly at nothing. They stumbled along slowly and made for easy targets, but their hands still gripped weapons firmly and they moved as though controlled by the vile, armoured machines that had been inside the comet, joining them in reciting their twisted sermons.

The battle was fiercely fought. Though the enemy's tactics were poor, their puppet-hordes would continue to attack even if set aflame or suffering from lost limbs or gaping wounds - only by destroying the metal devices buried into the dead could they be halted. The leading machines themselves proved highly resistant to flames and most other small arms fire, but the Order's tanks, melta and power weapons were still able to dispatch them in short order when brought properly to bear.

When the main body of the Order returned to the comet to destroy it once and for all, they discovered the controller of these gruesome machines - an injured Magos of the Dark Mechanicum. The 'comet' had turned out to be a large, malformed and withered escape pod of some kind from a heretic's vessel. The mechanised creatures within had either been his creations or his slaves.

For his sins, the Dark Magos was burnt alive at the stake in the ruins of the largest surviving settlement on Dewart's Gate, hearing the Sisters and crowds of the faithful chant hymns of praise to The Emperor as he perished.
 
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=
 
EDIT:
Updated for great zeal 10/4/2015

Also, I changed the colours. Blue robes are cool, but didn't really suit the Order too well.
 
 
 
All comments, thoughts, criticism, outright ridicule, insults, random quotes from old films, sage advice and other thoughts, suggestions or ideas are definitely more than welcome!

Edited April 17, 2015 by Ace Debonair

[Aqui]

I like what I've read so far

 

Regarding the layout. My initial post was mostly a guideline. As long as the points in said post are met, I think some creative licence can be allowed

[Knurd]

I thought any establishment viewing the Emperor as a deity were frowned upon before the Heresy.

 

You could have them become lost after the Age of Apostasy.

 

Or possibly have a Lectitio Divinitatus cult hidden and then have the cult become prevalant following the Heresy.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Knurd

[Ace Debonair]

I thought any establishment viewing the Emperor as a deity were frowned upon before the Heresy.

Yep, you're right about that!

 

Funny thing is, I could have sworn I'd changed that bit to 'dated back almost to the days of the scouring'.

 

Oh well, that's another change to make when I get time to update the article.

Many thanks!

[Ace Debonair]

Update!
 
I've added a few snippets to their beliefs (and given them their own section) and sort of kind of figured out the stuff with headers and the like again.
I might not have all that much written yet, but at least it looks a bit more professional.
 
On that note, I can't seem to find the old BBCode101 topic anywhere - none of the old links to it seem to work anymore, most perplexingly.
In the end I wound up copying Skull-headers from one of the help topics!
 

Anyhow, as stated above: All comments, thoughts, criticism, outright ridicule, insults, unexpected haikus, sage advice and other thoughts, suggestions or ideas are definitely more than welcome!

 

EDIT:

I also changed the Order's colours to something I thought looked more suitable.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Ace Debonair

[TDF]

Regarding the homeworld, the existence of a shrine world in the Scouring era kinda broke my suspension of disbelief, tbh. The Ecclesiarchy wasn't formerly accepted by the High Lords until M32. As far as I'm aware, Shrine Worlds or worlds where the majority of the population believe in the Emperor as a deity simply didn't exist during the Scouring era. There's nothing wrong with the story, but shifting it forward by at least a couple of millennia would be a bit better, imo. You could have the planet cut off by just some random warpstorm.

 

I like their opinion of Astartes, it's something I've never seen before. But you used 'seldom' twice in the same sentence. Might wanna fix that.

[Conn Eremon]

While it was not yet the Adeptus Ministorum, it did exist as the Temple of the Saviour Emperor during this time, and was known to have many faithful well beyond Terra, as well as a multitude of other faiths that it would eventually subsume or supplant.

 

I see no reason why such a world could not have existed at that time. Even an Imperial classification like Shrineworld could be seen as being retroactively applicable.

 

 

 

As an aside, I rather think the Order of the Crimson Crescent and the Order of the Perpetual Sorrows would get along famously in the persecution of wayward Chapters.

[Ace Debonair]

Regarding the homeworld, the existence of a shrine world in the Scouring era kinda broke my suspension of disbelief, tbh. The Ecclesiarchy wasn't formerly accepted by the High Lords until M32.

Darn it.

Looks like I misread a thing, I could have sworn they were around back then, but now I can't find anything to back that up with.

Crazy days!

 

As far as I'm aware, Shrine Worlds or worlds where the majority of the population believe in the Emperor as a deity simply didn't exist during the Scouring era. There's nothing wrong with the story, but shifting it forward by at least a couple of millennia would be a bit better, imo. You could have the planet cut off by just some random warpstorm.

 

I like their opinion of Astartes, it's something I've never seen before. But you used 'seldom' twice in the same sentence. Might wanna fix that.

 

Surely the Word Bearers converted a few worlds in the Pre-Heresy days that stayed loyal?

 

If not, it's no big deal. Moving the conversion of Terremorn into a Shrine World to a later date seems like the most expedient solution to the whole issue anyhow.

 

Noted about the overuse of 'seldom', I'll get right on fixing that.

 

As an aside, I rather think the Order of the Crimson Crescent and the Order of the Perpetual Sorrows would get along famously in the persecution of wayward Chapters.

Quite possibly, although the Crimson Crescent's unusual view of The Emperor might just make them the Perpetual Sorrow's next target!

[Conn Eremon]

Hence the qualifier. All other circumstances, they should probably stay away from each other. :D

[TDF]

 

As far as I'm aware, Shrine Worlds or worlds where the majority of the population believe in the Emperor as a deity simply didn't exist during the Scouring era. There's nothing wrong with the story, but shifting it forward by at least a couple of millennia would be a bit better, imo. You could have the planet cut off by just some random warpstorm.

 

I like their opinion of Astartes, it's something I've never seen before. But you used 'seldom' twice in the same sentence. Might wanna fix that.

 

Surely the Word Bearers converted a few worlds in the Pre-Heresy days that stayed loyal?

 

That's a good point, didn't think of that. Just do whatever you want to, it's your Order.

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

 

 

As far as I'm aware, Shrine Worlds or worlds where the majority of the population believe in the Emperor as a deity simply didn't exist during the Scouring era. There's nothing wrong with the story, but shifting it forward by at least a couple of millennia would be a bit better, imo. You could have the planet cut off by just some random warpstorm.

 

I like their opinion of Astartes, it's something I've never seen before. But you used 'seldom' twice in the same sentence. Might wanna fix that.

 

Surely the Word Bearers converted a few worlds in the Pre-Heresy days that stayed loyal?

 

That's a good point, didn't think of that. Just do whatever you want to, it's your Order.

 

Now I want to see a Shrine World that was 1) founded by the Word Bearers, 2) survived the HH and 3) founded their own sort of proto-Sisters, not dissimilar to the proto-astartes, and 4) become an Order marked down in the Tabula :yes:

[Ace Debonair]

 

 

Surely the Word Bearers converted a few worlds in the Pre-Heresy days that stayed loyal?

That's a good point, didn't think of that. Just do whatever you want to, it's your Order.

 

Now I want to see a Shrine World that was 1) founded by the Word Bearers, 2) survived the HH and 3) founded their own sort of proto-Sisters, not dissimilar to the proto-astartes, and 4) become an Order marked down in the Tabula

 

 

Since it's been almost five years, I take no shame in finally bringing this to light: I've already used the "Homeworld claimed by the Word Bearers in the Pre-Heresy days" hook for a Space Marine Chapter.

But me being me, it's buried under sixteen tons of subtlety, and only VERY vaguely alluded to.

 

So much so in fact, that nobody noticed even though it was part of a community challenge, and nobody picked up on it even when I announced there was a sneaky secret in the Tabula Astartes thread years later:

 

 

Got one for you:

 

Chapter Name: Obsidian Hunters

Creator: the Liber Astartes community

Founding: (Not sure, actually, can't seem to find anything saying one way or the other which founding they're from )

Gene-seed: Ultramarines

Predecessor: Inceptors

Article Link: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/214941-winter-2010-community-diy-challenge/

 

EDIT:

Nobody ever did spot the dirty little secret I buried in their homeworld, either...

 

 

And here's what I mean by buried under layers of subtlety:

 

Presumed lost from the rule of the Imperium in the tempestuous wake of the Horus Heresy, the world of Illustris lies near the Veiled Region in the Segmentum Tempestus.

Hinting it was an Imperial World in the Heresy days.

 

The one definitive surviving link to previous Imperial rule can be found in the somewhat decrepit temple on the far north of the continent. Far more splendid and magnificent than any of the other structures found on Illustris, it is home to the ancient line of Illustrian kings, dating from long back before the dynasties that rule the Dominion were established.

 

But who could have built such a magnificent temple during the time of the Great Crusade?  

 

Various prayers and catechisms within the Illustrian culture refer, at times, to a Great Emperor, a figure who created marvels and whose very presence could tame and command the great beasts of the wild. Others talk of him being attended by an army of enormous statues, grey as the stones and yet alive.

Doubly pleased with this one - the Pre-Heresy Word Bearers wore grey armour, and it's a nice nod to the Terracotta Army. Since Illustris was in part based on Ancient China, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to mention it!

 

I'm pretty pleased with myself that nobody spotted the secret, even so. It seemed really obvious to me, but then I guess I had the advantage of already knowing.

 

Link to the Tabula-Astartes-approved article in case anyone wants to re-read it:http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/287541-obisidian-hunters-the-winter-2010-diy-challenge-revisited/

 

 

TL;DR: instead of rehashing an old idea of mine, maybe I'll just change up Terremorn's timeline.

[Ace Debonair]

Welp, looks like I killed my own thread with that last comment.

Anyhow - shiny new update!

 

I fixed a few little errors and moved Terremorn's initial union with the Imperium to M36.

 

And either most or least importantly, I've added more quotes to the different sections. I'm feeling pretty good about them, but would definitely like a second opinion. And a third. Actually, make that as many opinions as I can get!

[Ace Debonair]

Please forgive the double post, but I've made more changes.

 

I adapted the origins a little bit and re-worded some of the clunkier sentences.

 

Turns out I am much too quick to describe run-down things as "once-proud".

 

 

EDIT:

Changed my mind about that last bit.

 

EDIT EDIT:

 

I haven't changed my mind about over-using "once-proud", rather I was referring to another, since-deleted bit.

 

Bad grammatical inconsistency! Bad!

Edited April 16, 2015 by Ace Debonair

[Aqui]

Noticed a typo

 

Since their inception on Terremorn, the Order of the Crimson Crescent has proven to be a stalwart force against all threats to the Faitthful.

Good stuff otherwise!

[Ace Debonair]

Blasted typos.

 

Consider it purged!

 

EDIT:

Test run:

 

Oh good, I can still make headers and stuff work.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Ace Debonair