Fanmade =][= Ordo Minoris

[Gamiel]

Ordo Minoris, the lesser ordos of the Inquisition. There are no set number for them, giving us, the fans and the players, free reins to create over own. Or develop the minor ordos since most of them have only a sentence to their name (which sometime is "Unknown purpose").

When it comes to size have the Ordo Militarum been described as large by the standards of minor Inquisition factions, with over 500 Inquisitors currently active, while Ordo Necros only have 5 members.

This thread here is for me to list, with links, others' fanmade ordos or discussions on established ones, togheter with my own, as a way to have them all (or rather gateways to them all) in one place.
 

 

+ Fanmade Ordo Minoris +
Ordo Agricola - Oversees Agri worlds, overall food production, and the trade and shipping of food products. [by me, Gamiel]

Ordo Arcanum - Monitor the Ordos Malleus and Hereticus, in order to keep the threat of corruption at bay. They are also responsible for studying and devising counters for the arcane powers of the warp. [by @Ulrik_Ironfist ]
Ordo Explorator - Keep tabs on Mechanicus Explorator Fleets and Rogue Traders. Also monitor the Ordo Xenos, for xenophilic tendencies. [by @Ulrik_Ironfist ]
Ordo Foramennigrum - Tries to uncover the different reason why Space Marines have fallen to Chaos or had to be declared Renegade, and what Chapters Chaos Warbands ones was or belonged to. [by me, Gamiel]

Ordo Lucrum - Oversees the efficient usage of the imperium's resources. [by Rairaijin on Reddit]

Ordo Mentalist - The monitoring of sanctioned research, studies and use of psy-tech, and discovering the illegal development and use of psy-tech. Also deal in xeno psy-tech. [by me, Gamiel]
Ordo Opscuros - Monitoring the black ships, notorious for their incarnationist agenda. [by Johan Egerkrans a.k.a. Jeff Vader - have also appeared in White Dwarf 2017 February issue]

Ordo Redactor - Goes around deleting files in the Imperium’s archives that are seen as not fitting with the offical line of what happened or is going on. [by Andy Hoare (possibly, see second post below)]

Ordo Scorpius [you have to scrole down a bit to get to the info about them] - The ordo to kill all other ordos, in case of extreme danger and threat to the Imperiumme. [by Lukas Adolfsson]
Ordo Thoth - Tries to uncover the mystery of the Horus Heresy. [by me, Gamiel]
Ordo Trask - Oversees abhumans. [by me, Gamiel]

 
 
+ Fanon regarding established Ordo Minoris + 
Ordo Astartes - is developed and given a historical Militant Order by our own Brother @apologist here and here.

Ordo Redactus -  is developed by our own Brother @apologist  here.

Ordo Scriptorum - is developed by Migs of the IRON SLEET here 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Gamiel

[Brother Tyler]

Ah, these would be great additions to the [still unfinished*] Tabula Inquisitio.

 

* I got distracted after I started adding the individual named Inquisitors.

[Gamiel]

Have added some fanmade Ordos to the OP:

Ordo Lucrum - Oversees the efficient usage of the imperium's resources. [by Rairaijin]

Ordo Scorpius [you have to scrole down a bit to get to the info about them] - The ordo to kill all other ordos, in case of extreme danger and threat to the Imperiumme. [by Lukas Adolfsson]

Ordo Redactor - Goes around deleting files in the Imperium’s archives that are seen as fitting with the offical line of what happened or is going on. [by Andy Hoare (possibly, see below)]

 

--------------------

 

Also, regarding Ordo Chronos did Andy Hoare, according to the internet, make a blogpost about them (which is no longer accessible therefore I cannot verify if what's quoted is true), here is what others (I have found the quote in more than one place) have said master Hoare wrote:

 

Friday, 25 February 2011 Existential cogitations on the Inquisitorial Ordos

Scanning the interwebs recently I came upon a discussion on a minor piece of background (sand-boxed to the Fantasy Flight Games setting) relating to an arm of the Inquisition that I myself am responsible for creating, and it was interesting to see people’s reactions to it and their theories as to just why it was created. The discussion reminded me of my own chain of thought during the writing of the piece in question, so I thought I’d write a blog entry on the subject.

The arm of the Inquisition in question is the Ordo Chronos, and it first appeared in the Dark Heresy: Ascension supplement. It came into existence not as a random whimsy or any desire to introduce a Time Lord-like archetype into Warhammer 40,000, but, initially at least, as a response to a design challenge. When we wrote Ascension, Games Workshop’s Manager of Intellectual Property, Alan Merrett, provided us with an overview of the current standing of the Inquisition. Alan’s document was thorough and presented a guide for writers working on any subject relating to the Inquisition, ensuring we all knew which themes were worth pursuing and which weren’t. One piece of wisdom addressed the question of Inquisitorial Ordos, stating that there are three which we really care about and should focus on, but that others do exist, if only for a short time or specific place.

This got me thinking, because I’ve always felt that the three Ordos cover between them every single threat to the Imperium we could possibly imagine. What enemy of Mankind couldn’t be encompassed within the mandate of the Ordo Hereticus (the Enemy Within), the Ordo Xenos (the Enemy Without) or the Ordo Melleus (the Enemy Beyond)?

In the past, both writers and players have invented other Ordos, but to be honest, they’ve never really ringed true to me. We’ve had the Ordo Sicarius, established to look out for and deal with rogue assassins, but wouldn’t that be a job for the Ordo Hereticus? We’ve had other Ordos described as dealing with all sorts of other things, including Plague Zombies, which to me would fall under the remit of the Ordo Malleus, being products of Chaos. To me, the three main Ordos exist to combat truly existential threats to the Imperium and to Mankind, and so any new ones we invent should do so too, and be clearly delineated.

So what existential threats might exist beyond the three already covered by the main Ordos? I could think of two, and I’m quite sure others will be able to come up with more. The first is the notion of time distortion, a phenomenon already seeded into the Warhammer 40,000 oeuvre via the hazards of miscalculated warp jumps. That’s why I created the Ordo Chronos – not as some huge, fanfared plot device, but as a nice little example of the sort of threat that should, in my view, merit an Ordo all its own.

To return to the discussions I was reading about the Ordo Chronos, some people did seem to view them as one-dimensional, 40k Time Lords. That’s not the case at all, as after all, existing to combat the effects of time distortion doesn’t mean they bring it about. However, as Inquisitors they would be just as subject to factionalism as their peers. Perhaps Puritan Ordo Chronos Inquisitors (‘Time Hunters’?) ruthlessly hunt down anyone who has fallen prey of a mistimed warp jump, just in case anything happens to alter the Imperium’s fate. Equally, perhaps Radical Time Hunters seek to utilise heretical technologies, and consider changing the course of history a valid way of keeping the Imperium alive? Just imagine the wars that these two factions could be fighting without the rest of the Imperium ever even knowing about it!

Sounds cool to me, so as a hobbyist, I want to know what these guys might look like. Perhaps they’re a bit steam punkish, with cog emblems, huge mechanical goggles, idiosyncratic technologies and eccentric costumes? Maybe the Radicals are accompanied by all sorts of riff raff washed up by the tides of space-time? I can certainly picture a little ‘Victorian sci-fi’ here, but maybe that’s just me!

What of the other existential threat then? Well, this one is a little vague, but Stewart Brand once said something along the lines that ‘information wants to be free’, and in the Imperium, the ultimate oppressive state, that would make it pretty dangerous. Dangerous enough to warrant an entire Ordo to keep it under control? Maybe! Who do you think it is that goes around deleting files in the Imperium’s archives? They don’t just get corrupted, they get wiped, from everywhere, and that’s some undertaking! I have a tongue in cheek name for these guys – the Ordo Redactor – and I imagine them as grey-suited, blank-faced agents who ensure information is kept under control. Maybe the Puritans believe in hiding the truth away, deleting it even, so that it never escapes. Perhaps the Radicals believe it better to hide it in plain sight, as many conspiracy theorists believe actually happens today?

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the relevance of the Ordos and the existential threats they combat. Hopefully this whimsical diatribe also reveals something of my thinking too (though maybe not!) I’d be very interested in hearing if anyone else can think of some more

Edited April 11, 2021 by Gamiel

[Gamiel]

=][= Ordo Foramennigrum =][=

The Adeptus Astartes are in many ways the greatest asset the Imperium have; each loss of a Chapter a notable wound in the Imperial defences and offensive capability. And when a Chapter turns to the enemy the Imperium has not lost a asset but a also gained a great enemy. The Ordo Foramennigrum of the God-Emperor’s Holy Inquisition has as a mission to find out what have made Chapters turn from the Grace of Him on Terra, so it can be prevented, or at least discovered in time to exterminate a to far gone Chapter while they are still in one place.

The Foramennigrum is more of the “after report” kind of group, who go through all available material about and around a fallen Chapter to find out what made them fall. Something made harder by the Imperium’s policy to destroy any information about a Chapter once it has been declared renegade, and then often deny that the Chapter ever existed. Since this is highly classified information no less than an inquisatoriel order could be allowed to collect or studdy it.

The information gattered by the members of Ordo Foramennigrum will be shared with fellow inquisitors, especially Ordo Astartes, but also the Lords of Terra, and the Watch Commanders of the Deathwatch. This is the theory. In practice Foramennigrum inquisitors have just as much of a tendency of hording information, paranoia, and territorial thinking as all other inquisitors.

 

=][=

 

+ Exemplary inquisitors +

 

Inquisitor Inga-Gustava looks like an aged, bent over grandmother, if this is by choice or because of so advanced age that rejuvenation treatments have stopped working is unknown. She walks with the help of a cane and the arm of one of her acolytes. None of this make her appear unthreatening since she’s constantly followed by five Black Shield Space Marines. Inquisitor Inga-Gustava’s main method of work in her ordos service is to capture renegade Space Marines and then interrogate them for all knowledge and understanding about their history and why they turned from the Emperor’s light.

She usually does this by appearing on battlefields where renegade Space Marines are the enemy, and ordering the Imperial forces to help her Black Shields to capture renegades. Sometime just one renegade will be enough for her, other times she will order her Black Shields back to the field many times.

She has also been known to take command of Imperial Navy, or Space Marine, forces and ordered them to hunt a warband or go to a place where she knows members of a renegade Chapter are.

 

=][=

 

Inquisitor Kipchaks-Tenggeri search for the lost knowledge about fallen Chapters by hunting down what’s written about them and confiscating it before other imperial agents destroys it. He is suspected to be behind the killing of at least two squads of deletions units and whisking away the information containers they had been ordered to destroy. As for now so have nothing been proven, but the suspicion remain.

 

=][=

 

Inquisitor Etsuko-Πa Eisenhorn (no known relation to Gregor Eisenhorn of the Ordo Xeno) is secretly manipulating things around three different Chapters in a ongoing study to see if can she can make any of them turn renegade. While doing this she also oversees the excavations and studies the remains of Adeptus Astartes presence on three former chapter worlds. The information from those studies are dutifully written down, catalogued and spread among her fellow inquisitors.

 

=][=

 

+++Thought for the day: It is better that one hundred innocent fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one traitor kneels before the lords of darkness+++

Edited July 6, 2022 by Gamiel

[TechCaptain]

Hmm Just saw this one I see missing from official ones is Ordo Mechanium, Basically Justicars of the Forge are an order that doesn't appear in lore much. Their mandate and purpose is provide light insight into the Adeptus Mechanicus as a whole but work often with Ordo Xenos  when STCs are discovered they judge if the Imperium would truly benefit from the production of it. Also they also sample the Forge Worlds to make sure they are producing enough for their responsibilities. Not much is really known about numbers or methods. Another interesting point is the Inquisition has to be careful in their dealings with the Mechanicus in all interactions since technically the job of keeping order within the Mechanicus is the Juris Section of the Mechanicus, not the Inquisition. By ancient treaty the Mechanicus are allies and not fully Imperium to have to listen to the Inquisition. It is a very complicated web at that level. 

 

Edit: The Ordo Explorator of DIY make seems like a subset of what Ordo Mechanium covers. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by TechCaptain

[Gamiel]

On 5/24/2021 at 7:42 AM, TechCaptain said:

Hmm Just saw this one I see missing from official ones is Ordo Mechanium, Basically Justicars of the Forge are an order that doesn't appear in lore much. Their mandate and purpose is provide light insight into the Adeptus Mechanicus as a whole but work often with Ordo Xenos  when STCs are discovered they judge if the Imperium would truly benefit from the production of it. Also they also sample the Forge Worlds to make sure they are producing enough for their responsibilities. Not much is really known about numbers or methods. Another interesting point is the Inquisition has to be careful in their dealings with the Mechanicus in all interactions since technically the job of keeping order within the Mechanicus is the Juris Section of the Mechanicus, not the Inquisition. By ancient treaty the Mechanicus are allies and not fully Imperium to have to listen to the Inquisition. It is a very complicated web at that level. 

There is a Ordo Machinum which is described by the Lexicanum as "Overseeing the Adeptus Mechanicus, they are primarily concerned with the reintegration of recovered STCs into the Imperium's armies and the rare adaptation of alien technology into the established Mechanicum protocols. They ensure that laxness on the part of the Mechanicus does not permit a flawed design to enter Imperial service and more importantly prevent a greedy Magos from withholding vital designs for himself.[1]

Inquisitors of the Ordo Machinum often accompany Mechanicus archaeological teams to distant worlds, monitoring their recovery and analysis of STCs. Thus, they often work in concert with the Ordo Xenos — especially when the world in question has been under alien control or there is any suggestion of non-human origin for the technology the Mechanicus intends to recover.[1]"

 

Quote

Edit: The Ordo Explorator of DIY make seems like a subset of what Ordo Mechanium covers. 

Many minor Ordos deal with things that are subsets of the Major ones or each other, and all the Ordos overlap each other

Edited July 6, 2022 by Gamiel

[Gamiel]

Have added a link to our own Brother @apologist fanon regarding the Ordo Astartes on the War of the False Primarch blog

Edited July 6, 2022 by Gamiel

[Gamiel]

Two fanmade philosophies, more fitting for Ordo Astartes inquisitors, but could see some of the other ordos also following them, I have no idea about theri names, any suggestions?

 

XXXX - (Puritan) Believe that Chapter’s that don’t displayed the character and/or warfare preference of their supposed forefathers are either signs of faults in the byrocrasy or signs of gene-seed corruption. In either case in need of investigation, if it’s the former the fault need to fixed, if it’s the later the Chapter need to be accessed for the possibility that they have mutated to far from acceptable standard. Many of the followers of this philosophy have been accused of having a too narrow definition of what they see as acceptable differences from the 1:th Founding Chapters among the successors, making most successors suspect in their eyes.

 

XXXX - (Radical) Believe that Space Marines many times make better leaders than baseline humans and the old rules that prevent many of them from ruling worlds or leading armies should be removed for the betterment of humanity.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Two fanmade philosophies, more fitting for Ordo Astartes inquisitors, but could see some of the other ordos also following them, I have no idea about theri names, any suggestions?

 

XXXX - (Puritan) Believe that Chapter’s that don’t displayed the character and/or warfare preference of their supposed forefathers are either signs of faults in the byrocrasy or signs of gene-seed corruption. In either case in need of investigation, if it’s the former the fault need to fixed, if it’s the later the Chapter need to be accessed for the possibility that they have mutated to far from acceptable standard. Many of the followers of this philosophy have been accused of having a too narrow definition of what they see as acceptable differences from the 1:th Founding Chapters among the successors, making most successors suspect in their eyes.

"El'Jonsonists," after the Dark Angels Primarch? The Dark Angels do have more influence over their successors than other First Founding Chapters, leading to accusations of "Legion building."

XXXX - (Radical) Believe that Space Marines many times make better leaders than baseline humans and the old rules that prevent many of them from ruling worlds or leading armies should be removed for the betterment of humanity.

"Guillimanists," after the Ultramarines Primarch? Ultramar is often described as the best ruled realm in the Imperium. Edited April 25, 2022 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Gamiel]

Two more fanmade philosophies, I have no idea about their names right now, any suggestions?

 

XXXX- Believe that when a successor chapter is too different in character, culture, organisation and/or combat style from their 1th Founding primogenitor chapter it’s a sign that either that bureaucratic mistake have happened and the successor have been written up with the wrong gene-seed origin, or that corruption of the chapter’s gene-seed and/or indoctrination methods have happened. If the later it’s, they believe, something that possibly/likely (here Inquisitors are divided) will lead them into rebelling against the Imperium, going mad (in other ways than rebelling), or mutating beyond what’s acceptable divisions.

An secret subgroup of this philosophy believe that some of the traitor Legions gene-seed was secretly used to create some chapters (one way and another) and try to find out those chapters by looking for chapters showing character, culture, organisation and/or combat style that resemble (to their understanding) those of the traitor Legions.

 

XXXX - Fear the possibility of the Space Marine Legion’s being recreated and the threat that would mean. To prevent that the members work to create stiff between chapters of the same gene-seed-linage (one way or another), to make communication harder between them, make it so their homeworlds are not near each other, and/or prevent them from joining the same warzones.

[40k_fan]

My Ordo Minoris Ideas:

 

Ordo Navis

Much like the Ordo Militarum, but relating to the Imperial Navy. Not much more to say. Spaceships cool.

 

Ordo Arbitrorum
An Ordo that investigates the activities of the Adeptus Arbites and makes sure they never get out of line. They may be judge, jury, and executioner, but they aren't too far above the law. Think the police of the police.

 

Ordo Excultus

This Ordo is dedicated to human civilizations that have emerged at a level of technological or societal development equal to or greater than the Imperium itself (eg Auretian Technocracy, Dulanians, Interex, Olamic Quietude.) Their duty is to prevent infiltration and invasion by these civilizations towards Imperium, and preventing the Imperium at large from knowing of them.

Comparable to the Ordo Xenos in many ways, with the difference being that they are dealing with not xenos but other humans or posthumans. It's like an inverted Ordo Barbarus, hence the name, Excultus, meaning 'cultivated' or 'civilized' as opposed to 'barbarian'.

 

Ordo Distinctus

This Ordo focuses on investigating, keeping a close watch on, and sometimes purging groups of abhumans and mutants. Whenever a new mutant strain of humanity emerges, it is ultimately up to them to decide its fate. Some overlap perhaps with the Ordo Hereticus if psykers and blanks count as abhuman or not.

One of their most secret investigations is into the mutants known as 'Perpetuals' and it has yielded some findings that seem completely insane, heretical even, and yet...

[40k_fan]

Ordo Ferrum

A minor ordo dedicated specifically to the threat of Abominable Intelligence. We don't want an incident with Men of Iron II: Electric Booglaoo. They make sure machines are sufficiently non-threatening to the Imperium.

 

Ordo Siderum

If the Ordo Chronos investigates discrepancies in time, the Ordo Siderum investigates discrepancies in space. Irregular movement of starts and planets, mysterious appearances and disappearances of celestial bodies across the galaxy. Someone has to make sure the very fabric of space is holding intact.

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by 40k_fan

[40k_fan]

=][= Chambers Militant of the Minor Ordos Pt. 1 =][=

 

Ordo Astartes =][= Space Marines (Chapter: Red Hunters, Begrudgingly)

Simply put, a group dedicated to keeping the Space Marines in check isn't going to be happy about using Marines to do their dirty work like the other Ordos. Overall, they don't even end up needing an actual fighting force all that open, if a chapter actually up and does a heresy, then dealing with them would probably be relegated to the Black Templars; The Ordo Astartes is much more administrative than it is combative, they focus on making sure Chapter Relics are acceptable, making sure no Legion-Building occurs, and making sure any potentially corrupting gene-seed mutations are closely monitored. The case in which they need to fight a chapter is when it goes Rogue but not necessarily Hereticus.

 

When they actually do need a fighting force, canonically, the Red Hunters space marine chapter has been used to monitor other chapters and keep them in check, which, again, I don't imagine the Ordo Astartes is thrilled about, but they can equip them with Vengeance Bolts for their boltguns or something. (+1 Damage)

 

If chapter is a true lost cause, such as due to mutation, and it's time for said chapter to be disbanded, I'd imagine the Ordo Astartes in conjuction with the Temple Venenum have made all sorts of chemical agents and virus bombs that are specifically tailored to ravage the Astartes' physiology. So if a chapter doesn't agree to go out peacefully with a bolt in the brain, the alternative is going to be a lot worse for them.

 

Ordo Chronos =][= Space Marines (Chapter: The Knights of Eternity)

In Canon, the Knights of Eternity is stated to have fallen to Hive Fleet Kraken. And nothing else is known about them. You know what's worth mention? Their chapter symbol is nearly identical to the Inquisitorial Rosette. Given their name, and their potential link to the Inquisition, I envision them as a Chamber Militant of the Ordo Chronos, plucked out of the flow of time right before their purported 'destruction' by the Tyranids, and made to act as time-cops for the Ordo Chronos to maintain the timeline. This is pure fanon, but I think it has a lot going for it.

 

Ordo Redactus =][= Officio Assisinorum (Temple: The Temple Secretum)

The Temple Secretum guards the darkest secrets in the Imperium. Which is exactly what the Ordo Redactus does as well. They obviously aren't going to be keeping secrets from each other, it makes sense that they would work together, and the Temple Secretum is clearly a lot more hands on, whereas the Ordo Redactus is much more intelligence-based.

 

Ordo Custodis =][= [REDACTED]

The Ordo Custodis is tasked with monitoring for the one group that is expected to never falter or fall. And yet they've been at work for a very long time on a proper contingency for the most unlikely scenario: If the Custodes ever go rogue, there's one other group of transhumans that rival and perhaps exceed the raw physical might of the Custodes. One they haven't come face to face with in a very, very long time... If anyone else knew what the Ordo Custodis was doing, they would be gutted by the Ordo Scorpius. Except the Ordo Scorpius knows exactly what the Ordo Custodis has up their sleeves, and they haven't made any move against them.

 

Ordo Distinctus =][= Sisters of Battle (Order: Sisterhood of Steel), Gland War Veterans

An Order of the Sisters of battle that is particularly vehement towards mutants, which is saying something. Who knows, maybe they'll equip hotshot lasguns to burn away the wretched filth. That would be a pretty unique kit, and not at all inspired by another ground that calls theselves the X-hood of Steel that also hates mutants with a passion and loves lasers.

 

As well, another useful tool of the Imperium joins the fight. Gland Warriors. They aren't baseline human, but they aren't mutants. They are augmented humans. There is a difference. Basically inquistorial storm troopers who are always on Frenzon and ready to take some mutant heads for their collection. But still totally human, so it's okay.

 

Ordo Machinum, Ferrum =][= Shackled Artificia

How do you deal with tech cultists that have gone rogue? You fight them with the one machine they cannot ever control. A thinking machine. One that doesn't follow orders. One that hates the humanity with a passion.

 

Perhaps a nerve shredder won't work for someone who replaced their nerves with wires, but a phosphex and graviton beams sure will. That and being ripped limb from limb by the very beings they sought to emulate when they replaced their organs with machines.

 

Of course, maintaining the utmost vigilance on evil killer robots is a lot of work, even if they are lobotomized, so the human members of the Chamber Militant have their work cut out for them too.

 

Ordo Navis, Opscuros =][= Inquisitorial Blackship Fleet

Not surprising. If you're fighting in space, you fight in space. With space ships.

Of course, this is the inquisition, so they can afford to equip their ships with the good stuff. If a Navis ship goes rogue, by the time an Ordo Navis Blackship shows up, they would be wise to surrender. Hell, it's quite likely the ship would have Vanus Infocytes that skim minds across the galaxy for any potentially rebellious thoughts, and advanced DAoT-era chronowarp technology that would allow it to show up in the past before the mutiny in question even occurs, and stop it before it happens at all. Seem 1984-ish? That's the point. This is the inquisition. What did you expect?

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by 40k_fan