I am running a Deathwatch campaign and one of the player's wife would like to play an Adepta Sororitas. So one of the ways I am going to get her character up to par is making rules for the specific orders, simular to the chapters of the space marines. Here is what I came up with for the main 6 militant orders. I made alot of it up since I could not find alot of information on the specific orders,I just expanded on what Lexicanum already had,

Part 2: Orders of Adeptas Sororitas- Not alot of information given on the specific orders so I will take what lexicanum has and expand on it.

Orders Militant-

Order of the Bloody Rose

One of the original Orders, the Bloody Rose has a long history of serving the Ecclisiarchy. Their colors are Red and Black. This Order tends to favor ranged weaponry. +5 BS,+5Fel

Demeanor- Sisters of the Bloody Rose are even less tolerant of Radical Inquisitors then their fellow orders. When justice needs to be brought to fellow witchhunters, this order is usually called upon.

Advancement for Order
Litany of Hate 800 Talent
Scourge of Heretics 500 Talent
Hatred(Radical Inquisitors) 500 Talent
Interrogation+10 200 Skill
Forbidden Lore (Heresy)+10 200 Skill
Forbidden Lore(Ordo Hereticus)+10 200 Skill

Order of Sacred Rose

As old as the Order of the Bloody Rose, and based on Terra this Order considers itself the epitamy of what an Adepta Sororitas should be. This Order excells at flame weaponry. +5BS/+10BSwhen using flame/melta weapons, +5WP. Their Colors are white and black.

Demeanor-This Order sets the standard for the Adepta Sororitas, much like the Ultramarines set it for the Astartes. This Order allows no straying from original doctrine in the Rule of the Sororitas .

Advancements
Cleanse and Purify 500 Talent
Peer(Adepta Sororitas) 500 Talent
Good Reputation(Adepta Sororitas) 1,000 Talent Peer
Scholastic Lore (Terra) 800 Skill
Peer(Ecclisiarchy) 500 Skill

Order of Our Martyred Lady

Originally called Order of the Fiery Heart, The Order Changed its name in the memory of Canoness Saint Katherine. Their Colors used to be black and red, has recently changed to all red. The Order has a long history of fighting orks. The Order has become adept at melee and close quarter fighting. +5WS +5 T

Demeanor- This Order is infamous for the Saint Garrot Scriptorum incident, where they were ordered to capture and torture all the scribes.

Advancements
Interrogation+10 200 Skill
Interrogation+20 200 Skill
Interrogation Mastery 500 Ascended Skill
Swift Attack 500 Talent
Lightning Attack 800 Talent Swift Attack
Hatred(Orks) 200 Talent
Forbidden Lore(Xenos) 400 Skill

Order of the Ebon Chalice

Little is known of this Order, even though it is one of the main 6 Orders Militant, they allow other Sisters to take the spotlight while attending to more secretive matters. +5Ag +5Per Their colors are White and Silver.

Demeanor- The Order excells at secrecy, and likes to keep it that way. They dislike any that inquire about the sisterhood or the ecclisiarchy.

Advancements
Security 200 Skill
Silent Move +10 200 Skill
Silent Move +20 200 Skill
Concealment+10 200 Skill
Disguise 400 Skill
Forbidden Lore(any) 400 Skill


Order of the Valorous Heart

This Order holds loyalty dearest. They regard their patron Saint Lucia in extreme regard, simular to a space marine chapter holds it's primarch.This Order has extended experience with heavy weaponry. Their colors are black on black. +5BS, +5Str

Demeanor- The Sisters of this chapter are so zealous, they seem to seek insult or heresy where their is none.

Advancements
Crack Shot 400 Talent BS40
Forbidden Lore(Heresy)+10 400 Skill
Forbidden Lore(Heresy)+20 400 Skill
Scholastic Lore(Adepta Sororitas)+10 200 Skill
Peer(Adepta Sororitas) 500 Talent

Order of the Argent Shroud
This Order has a proud history of combat. One of the few orders to have engaged and survived combat with traitor legions. This Order cares less about heresy and more about actual warp entities and physical horrors.
Their color is silver and white. +5BS, +5Int

Demeanor- This Order is called in when chaos marines or daemons are suspected and Grey Knights are not available. A fact they are proud of.

Advancements
Slayer of Daemons 1,000 Talent
Hatred(Chaos) 500 Talent
Forbidden Lore(Daemons) 400 Skill
Forbidden Lore(Traitor Legions) 400 Skill
Forbidden Lore(Warp) 400 Skill

I can't say I've taken the time to review everything you've done, but I'll say one immediate problem I see is that the sisters are already getting a bonus for homeworld etc... which for the marines is built into their chapter of origin. Though if I understand correctly you're objective is to buff them so no worries then. Good thinking.

Golgenna Grenadier said:

Oh, ya I forgot to mention that, this is more in place of the original homeworld system to make it fit with DW. Though I did add to all SoB a starting talent Schola Progneum (Simular to Deathwatch Training Talent) to also represent their conditioning, and I just used the bonuses recommended in IH for that.

Mhm, it's a neat idea per se, but according to the fluff the differences between the individual Orders Militant are far, far smaller compared to how the Marine Chapters differ from each other - which is why individual Sisters can so easily transfer back and forth with few issues concerning integration. I also noticed that you based some of these traits around the few incidents that are widely known to the playerbase, but I think you got the wrong impression there. For example, the Order of the Martyred Lady does not have "a long history of fighting orks" just because that one war on Armageddon. The problem here is that the history we have is simply incomplete: The Orders Maioris each existed for several millennia and were active in many great wars all across the Imperium, so the little fluff on events we have is but a tiny fraction of what actually happened.

If you're interested I can look up some bits from older sources - I do remember a few White Dwarf articles going into depth on the Orders. They do stress that they are far more uniform than the Astartes (due to every single Order tracing back its origin to the ancient Daughters of the Emperor of San Leor), but at the same time it is said that there seem to be certain "differences in personality" attributed to their Patron Saints (I'd need to re-read my files for specifics). If you want, maybe you can work something out with this?

Alternatively I would suggest going for individual convents instead of fleshing out the Orders as a whole. The larger Orders are spread out across the Imperium, and a convent from one side of the galaxy will remain unaffected by what their Sisters experience on the other. But if you base your stats around the history of a single Sororitas abbey you could work out a lot of different traits, from a specialized armoury and training (due to local incidents) up to biological differences (due to the environment).

Lynata said:

Thanks, ya I made a lot of if up I just used what I could find from lexicanium and wiki, If you do have a source for this older fluff I would greatly appreciate this.

Nimon said:

Alright, I'll dig up the old stuff once I get home - just give me a few hours to finish work.

It's a shame that there isn't much fluff available, though some of the really old sources (like the aforementioned WDs or even the very first Rogue Trader game) contain a lot of interesting official information that hasn't been repeated anywhere else yet, so it is not widely known. I'll happily share it, though, for the more it gets re-distributed the better for the overall representation and understanding of the Adepta Sororitas. I'm happy to see that FFG picked up at least some of the old fluff in BoM. Though it makes me wonder if the other parts were left out deliberately or if they just didn't discover everything that was published and then forgotten years ago.

Thanks!, ya I am just at school between classes myself. I do have an old. 3rd edition codex for witch hunters that has some background. I chuckle when I see the art from this book reprinted so much in the DH material, they could use some new artwork! I used to play the SoB on the table top(not really table, I was in Iraq and we used rocks for the models, but hey it worked. We got tired of playing spades.)

Heh! Though I have to say, I was impressed by the amount and quality of new Sororitas-themed artworks in BoM. As for those that have been shown before ... well, some just deserve to be reprinted again and again.

Alright, here goes. This is from Andy Hoare:

Each of the six Orders Militant Maioris has its primary base in either the Convent Sanctorum on Ophelia VlI or the Convent Prioris on Terra. These convents are massive fortresses, housing many tens of thousands of the Orders' Sisters and servants, and form the administrative, military and religious heart of each Order.

As the Orders are primarily based together at one of these two sites the Sisterhood as a whole is a far more homogenous organisation than many other institutions of the Imperium, such as the Adeptus Astartes or the Imperial Guard. Though Sisters spend many long hours in solitude or training, they are nonetheless part of a wider organisation than their own Order, and for this reason see themselves as members of the Adepta Sororitas as much as their own Order. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a Sister to transfer from one Order to another, particularly in the case of a Sister who has become wounded or too old to fight transferring from an Order Militant to one of the non-militant Orders, such as the Orders Famulous or Hospitaller. It has also been known for a senior member of the Adepta Sororitas to leave the organisation entirely for higher office elsewhere, such as within the upper echelons of the Adeptus Terra, or the Inquisition – such an event is unheard of within the Adeptus Astartes, and far from common within the Imperial Guard.

It has been observed that the different Adepta Sororitas Orders do not display any great divergence from one another in terms of combat doctrine or organisation, as do many Space Marine Chapters and Imperial Guard regiments. Such differences arise, in the case of the Astartes, from the strong genetic link with the Chapter's Primarch or, in the case of the Imperial Guard, as a result of combat doctrines unique to the culture from which the regiment was raised. The Adepta Sororitas can trace the routes of their doctrines to a single source - the San Leor temple of the Daughters of the Emperor - and their teachings have remained largely unchanged since that time.

Despite the lack of significant divergences between the Orders Militant in terms of organisation and combat doctrine, there is a degree of variance to be found within the teachings of the founders of the Orders, which tends to reflect the outlook of each Founding Saint. For example, the Sisters of the Order of Our Martyred Lady can be said to reflect the vengeful nature of their patron, Saint Katherine, while the Sisters of the Order the Bloody Rose share the brooding, quick to anger nature of Saint Mina.

It goes on to explain the lesser-known Orders such as the Sabine or the Pronatus. If you're interested in that I can quote it as well. As for the Patron Saints and their personality, here's what we know:

Saint Dominica
Patron Saint of the Sisterhood • Founder of the Order of the Ebon Chalice • Bearer of the Grail of Ages
Alicia Dominica is renowned throughout the Imperium as the Sister who ended the Reign of Blood when she beheaded the High Lord Vandire. In the aftermath of the galaxy-wide strife brought about by Vandire's tyranny, she formally founded the Sisterhood according to the instructions of Sebastian Thor, and established the Order of the Ebon Chalice as her own Order.
Dominica led her Sisters on many crusades, and oversaw the early years of the Adepta Sororitas for several centuries before falling in battle at the Scourging of Frideswide's World. It is said that she survived literally hundreds of blows throughout the battle, but was finally laid low by a single lasgun blast that penetrated a weakened point in her armour and pierced her heart. The symbol of Dominica's Order is the skull-filled and flaming Ebon Chalice, a representation of the terrible knowledge imparted to Dominica when she was brought before the Golden Throne. Few are aware of the significance of this symbol in Sororitas art.

Saint Katherine
Founder of the Order of the Fiery Heart • The Shield Bearer
Katherine is said to have been the bearer of Dominica's Praesidium Protectiva, and was known for her determination and avenging spirit, always to be found at the forefront of any conflict. She was regarded as Dominica's second-in-command, and led many successful campaigns against the forces of heresy and warpcraft in the name of her liege.
Her order was originally entitled the Order of the Fiery Heart, in reference to her fierce persona, but the name was changed to the Order of Our Martyred Lady after her death at the hands of the Witch-cult of Mnestteus.
Katherine appears in Sororitas art as an avenging angel stood upon a cloud and surrounded by a halo. She often bears a sword and banner in reference to her symbolic role as bearer of Dominica's arms, as well as a shield, representing Dominica's Praesidium Protectiva.

Saint Silvana
Founder of the Order of the Argent Shroud
Like the other founding Saints of the Sororitas, Silvana was a member of Dominica's bodyguard when she was taken before the Golden Throne. She is noted for the many selfless acts of self-sacrifice she performed throughout her life, and Sisters who have survived a battle despite terrible odds often invoke her name in thanks for deliverance from the forces of evil,
Silvana is said to have died after being poisoned by a Death-Cult Assassin, and legend states that her body mysteriously vanished after having laid in state for a week within the Inner Sanctum of the Convent Prioris. A silvery image of her bones was left imprinted on her death shroud, which is revered as one of the Sisterhood's most holy relics, and that gives the Order its title. The image most often associated with Saint Silvana is the death shroud, imprinted with the ghostly image of her skeleton.

Saint Lucia
Founder of the Order of the Valorous Heart
The youngest of Dominica's companions, Lucia was martyred after being captured by Recidivists, who gouged out her eyes and forced her to endure the screams of 1,000 innocents as they were tortured to death before her. Unknown to Lucia, a group of her own Sisters were amongst those put to death, but it is said that not one of them uttered a sound as they endured their tortures, so as not to cause Lucia any more pain than she had already suffered.
Lucia is represented in Sororitas art by a woman with eyes shrouded and a drop of blood running down one cheek. She may also carry a sword, held upright to symbolise her martial role within the Orders Militant. She may hold a skull in her left hand, which represents the severed head of Lord Vandire, which she is said to have recovered after Dominica put him to death, flensed, polished, carved with the Litanies and placed within the ancient archive of the Vault of Origins.

Saint Mina
Founder of the Order of the Bloody Rose
Mina was known as a dark and brooding sister, quick to anger and deadly in combat. The Order of the Bloody Rose was not formally created until two and a half millennia after the founding of the first four orders, and by this time Mina was long dead. Her Order had existed as a small group of Sisters who provided a bodyguard for the Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas, and it was from this group that the new Order was formed.
Mina was martyred at the hands of a sanguinary cult, the agents of which are said to have ambushed her at prayer in a small shrine on Hydraphur. None of her sisters were present, but it is said that when they came upon her body the entire shrine was covered in the blood of her assailants, a score of which lay dead around her own blood-drained form.
The symbol of Saint Mina is a red rose, with prominent thorns, representing her nature. Behind the rose are crossed two knife blades dripping in blood, symbolic of the circumstances of her martyrdom.

Saint Arabella
Founder of the Order of the Sacred Rose • The Liberator
Like the Order of the Bloody Rose, the Order of the Sacred Rose was not formally created until the reign of the Ecclesiarch Deacis VI. Saint Arabella was known as a particularly serene, even-tempered sister, renowned for her calm nature in the face of adversity. She is said to have been instrumental in the negotiations that led to Dominica accepting the plan of the Adeptus Custodes taking the Sisters before the Golden Throne and has earned the honorific 'Liberator' because many sisters pray to her for liberation from doubt and rash action at times when a cool head is required.
It is not known whether Arabella was martyred or died of old age, or some other fate overtook her, and any inquiry into the subject with the Sisters of her Order is always met with a stony silence. Arabella's symbol is a white rose, held aloft in a mailed gauntlet.

That is pretty awesome, thanks. Knowing who the founders are will deffinatly help. Maybe what I will do for now is talk about lesser convents from the main 6 militant orders and how they might differ sector to sector. For instance how does a lesser Argent Shroud convent in the calaxis sector differ possibly from those in terra ect. Since the orders themselves are so unifor I think you are right, I will need to focus on more local differances.

I was thinking there must be a lesser order that was formed under Saint Drusus in the calaxis sector too. This will keep me busy for a bit.

Nimon said:

Aye, that's a good idea! Given the Ministorum's penchant for being at the forefront of exploration, it is very likely that the Angevin Crusade included some Sororitas, either as Militant bodyguards for the numerous clerics, or as Hospitallers for the many troops of the Imperial Guard, or as Dialogous for communication with the native population or between fleets and regiments of different dialects, or as Sisters Sabine for the infiltration and manipulation of the local aberrant faith. And of course the Sisters Pronatus for snatching some valuable archaeotech before the Mechanicus can get its hands on it - technology is a valuable asset for trade between the Sororitas and the AdMech, whose relationships are so strained that both sides continually try to screw each other.

Actually, now that I think about it, there's even more potential to this. IH notes that there is an established pilgrim path throughout the Calixis Sector called the "Footsteps of Drusus". When we keep in mind that one of the many duties of the Orders Militant is the safekeeping of exactly these passages and the protection of pilgrims, it doesn't take much to get the idea of an Order Minoris dedicated to this task. It would likely be very decentralized, having many smaller convents scattered along the Drusian pathway and a rather good connection to the Sisters of the Void as well as the Imperial Navy and maybe even some Rogue Traders...

Anyhow, if you're interested in any other things concerning the Sisterhood, just name a topic. I've got more of this old fluff here.

Cool thanks, now that you mention It I have never before heard of the Sister's Sabine or th eSister's Pronatus. I looked them up and found only a paragraph on each. Sister Sabine would be on the fore-front of this new crusade it sounds like, So I could also expand on them in the jericho reach. *Spoiler* The Emperor Protects DW supplement also mentions a sister found in the feral world of the first module(dead from gene stealer). This could be a good place to start thier story. The Pronatus sound like they must have a connection with the Adepta Mechanius? Simular to a Tech-Marine I am guessing.

Interestingly, unlike any and all of their fellow Sororitas from other Orders, the Sisters Sabine make awesome infiltrators, so I'm not sure why this idea was not exploited by FFG for a Dark Heresy Inquisitorial cell. The Orders Pronatus are more concerned with religious artifacts, but they do also recover xenos and archaeotech from frontier worlds. They don't have a direct connection to the AdMech (as the official business between the two organizations is handled via the Ecclesiarchy's Technology Purification Center in the Convent Sanctorum as soon as it comes to trading new discoveries), but both could be seen as rivals who constantly try to be one step ahead of the other.

Both Orders are rarely mentioned, but a convent of the Orders Pronatus on the planet of Parnis was featured in the Daemonifuge comic. The Sisters there tried to safeguard and experiment on a captured Keeper of Secrets recovered frozen in a block of solid ice - unfortunately, the Daemon Lord managed to corrupt a number of Sisters, so they turned on one another and the creature was freed.

Here's some more old fluff written by Andy Hoare:

The Orders Sabine
A little-known group amongst the peoples of the Imperium, the Orders Sabine operate at the very edges of human space, perhaps only returning to Terra or Ophelia VII once in a Sister Sabine's lifetime. The Orders Sabine accompany the Missionarus Galaxia on missions to newly rediscovered human worlds, and they specialise in infiltrating those often regressed and primitive societies that it is believed would oppose the arrival of the Imperium. Sisters Sabine often set themselves up as prophets of the Emperor, preaching the Imperial Cult in secret or fomenting revolt against the religious leaders of a world. When the Missionarus Galaxia arrives and announces its presence to the world's peoples, the Sisters Sabine will have prophesised such an event, and will lead those natives sympathetic to the Imperial Creed in a sudden and deadly coup against their leaders. Through their work, the Sisters Sabine are often cut off from the Imperium for a great many years, and many have the appearance of having 'gone native', adopting the clothing, language and manners of the culture they are infiltrating. It is only when her true purpose is revealed that the Sabine will throw off her disguise and become, once again, a pious servant of the Emperor.

The Orders Pronatus
The Orders Pronatus specialise in retrieving, guarding, studying and repairing artefacts of value to the Ecclesiarchy. This includes the uncounted thousands of holy relics revered by the peoples of the Imperium, but it also relates to items captured by the forces of the Imperium that are considered too powerful or significant to be allowed to fall into enemy hands. They also have the responsibility of maintaining and blessing the many banners and symbols of the Orders Militant. They have even been called upon to re-consecrate the livery of other Imperial bodies, as was the case when they repaired the Chapter banner of the Lamenters Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes after its involvement in the Badab Uprising. It is said that the Sisters Pronatus who repaired the banner wept openly as they did so, so terrible to contemplate were the sins of the Lamenters. To this day, the standard is known as the Banner of Tears. Some Orders Pronatus are known to have given all in the defence of the artefacts they are charged with guarding or studying, and the fate of the Order of Blessed Enquiry is a salutary lesson in the risks inherent in hoarding an object imbued with the evil of the Ruinous Powers, even if the intent is to safeguard Humanity from their corrupting influence.

And there's more:

The Missionarus Galaxia
Although much of the galaxy is now the domain of the Emperor, there are still countless worlds yet to see his light. It is the goal of the Missionarus Galaxia to bring the Imperial Creed to these lost worlds, to spread the wisdom of the Emperor and expand the Adeptus Ministorum.

The Missionarus Galaxia works in a number of ways to meet these ends. At least one Missionary is sent with every exploratory vessel, in case evidence of human life is encountered. If the Missionary does come across a lost community, it becomes his job to learn as much about their culture and forms of worship as he can. As he does, the Missionary must also try to teach the doctrines of the Imperial Creed to the natives. This can be a very long process, involving the substitution of the Emperor for the settlers' own dominant deity and inserting Ministorum practices into the religious ceremonies of the natives. He must remove the more barbaric and less desirable aspects of the native creed (such as blood sacrifice) and is also responsible for identifying any other undesirable traits, like residual genetic mutation, Chaos worship or alien dominance.

In some cases it may take several generations of natives and Missionaries until the Missionarus Galaxia is satisfied with the state of the inhabitants' religion. Early Missionaries coded prophecies and prepared omens into their teachings, which can be exploited by later Missionaries to gain themselves more of a foothold. Of all the departments of the Ministorum, the Missionarus Galaxia is one of the most free and undisciplined, and the men within its ranks value initiative, courage, tolerance and intelligence above raw faith and inflexible dedication to the word of Ecclesiarchal lore.

And here's an interesting bit about Sebastian Thor trolling the AdMech - likely one of the factors contributing to the less-than-friendly relationship between the two organizations that exists today:

As previously noted, the standard equipment of a Sister of Battle is the boltgun and a suit of 'Angel'-pattern power armour. Both are provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus under treaties arranged subsequent to the Age of Apostasy, and it is largely due to the work of Sebastian Thor that the Sisterhood is now the best equipped fighting force in the Imperium outside of the Adeptus Astartes. Thor's treaties, made before the creation of the Convent Sanctorum on Ophelia VII, allowed Mechanicus supervision of all Ministorum forges and equipment maintenance facilities in the Convent Prioris in return for permanent loan of the machinery necessary to produce the power armour and bolters that Ecclesiarch Vandire had ordered built for his bodyguard. The Mechanicus agreed hastily, foreseeing a virtual stranglehold on the Ministorum's mechanical resources and intelligence.

They were mightily displeased when Thor later returned to the Convent Sanctorum and transferred much of the Ecclesiarchy's technology facilities there, including the valuable Missionarus Galaxia technology purification centre, which oversees the investigation of equipment discovered by Explorator missions. Never on the best of terms, relations between the Mechanicus and the Ministorum were soured considerably by this development, but the Mechanicus found it impossible to retract their commitments to provide weapons and armour, and on Thor's orders the Ecclesiarchy has since been relatively trustworthy in providing to the Mechanicus details of newly recovered technology.

[...]

Given the legacy of simmering mistrust between the Ministorum and the Mechanicus, the supply of more esoteric equipment to the Sisterhood is sporadic at best, and much care is devoted to the maintenance of the pieces of high technology the Sisterhood has acquired over the millennia. On occasion the Mechanicus has found it necessary or profitable to supply the Sisterhood with shipments of advanced weaponry and battlefield electronics, but the rarity of this equipment means that it is only risked in battle when circumstances are dire indeed. Most of the techno-arcana in the possession of the Sisterhood is a result of individual Mechanicus gifts to Sisters who have performed some act of notable benefit to the Mechanicus, and these items are lovingly cared for by the Orders of their recipients. Contrary to popular belief, the Sisterhood is not shy of making use of its sacred relics, though naturally great care is taken to ensure their safety and proper function before they are taken into battle. Most members of the Orders Militant believe that the best place for a sacred relic is in the hand of a Sister actively fighting against heretics, though much of the Clergy would prefer if relics were left in shrines, rather than risked in battle.

Cool, Thanks for that. I have got some work done into the Calixian Orders, I will post what I have so far here as a rough draft and let me know what you think. I have only the Orders Militant, and the Orders Hospitaller finished.

This is entirely fan made, based on some information provided by Fantasy Flight and other information from Lexicanum.com. This is an expansion to previous work on the 6 main orders of the Adepta Sororitas. After receiving some helpful advice and background from user Lynata, I have decided to focus on the Sisters of the Calixis sector and expand on them. This is a work in progress and any help is welcome, feel free to use any of this in any way you wish in your campaigns. I think the Sisters are an important element to the Dark Heresy game and 40k universe, hopefully this give you something to build from. The mechanics I will suggest are to be in place of home world advances in DH, and are meant to be similar to the bonuses that space marines get for their specific chapters. For some games this might make a sister too powerful, in that case I would suggest just using it for character background and ignoring the mechanics.

Orders Militant

Order of the Violet Rose - This order was created for the Angevin Crusade, largely from members of The Order of the Bloody Rose, but many others contributed as well. Though this order sustained heavy casualties during the crusade, they have maintained a strong presence in the Drusus Marches sub sector and preserve the memory of Saint Drusus. During the Drusus Day pilgrimage, the Sisters of the Violet Rose heavily patrol the path of the savior. The Order’s main strong hold is on the planet Veneris, though many smaller convents and abbeys can be found throughout the Drusus Marches.
Sisters of the Violet Rose are very pious and well respected. +5 Willpower +5 Fellowship

Alternate Order Advances
Peer(Ecclesiarch) 500
Lore: Common (Calixis Sector) 200
Forbidden Lore(Calixis Sector) 400
Scholastic Lore(Angevin Crusade) 600
Air of Authority 1,000

Order of the Storm - Originally named Order of the Shining Light, this order received this name from The Storm Warden chapter of the Adepta Astartes, with whom they fought alongside with during the purging of Vigil(now a dead world) against the infamous Slaugth, for their prowess in battle. The Order maintains a good relationship with The Storm Wardens, and aid is often exchanged both ways in times of need. The Order of the Storm is small and maintains an auxiliary unit attached to the 23rd Drusus Dragoons on Clove.

The Order of the Storm has extensive experience in battle. +5 WS or BS +5 T
Alternate Order Advances
Peer(Storm Wardens) 500
Forbidden Lore(Slaugth) 400
Hatred(Slaugth) 500
Lore:Common (Adepta Astartes) 200
Hunter of Aliens 1,000

Order of the Holy Flame - This Order is the largest in the sector, maintaining two full preceptories and dozens of convents and missions throughout the sector. The Order of the Holy Flame works closely with all three Ordos in the Calixis sector and are one of the main forces for the Tyrantine Cabal. The Order maintains a preceptory on Cloister in a bastion once possessed by the Black Templars, that is now a main base of operations for the Calixian Conclave of the Inquisition. Another preceptory is on Scintilla the sector’s capital.

The Order of the Holy Flame has many contacts within the calixian sector and the inquisition. +5int +5Fel
Alternate Order Advances
Forbidden Lore(Tyrantine Cabal) 400
Forbidden Lore( Underworld) 400
Lore: Common (Calixian Sector) 200
Scholastic Lore(Tyrant Star Myths/Legends) 600
Peer(Calixian Conclave) 500

Orders Hospitaller

Order of our Scared Lady - This order is unique in that it is full of sisters that have a great distaste for violence, and have taken a vow to never kill another human, and to harm a human only when absolutely required(mutants are not human). What this order lacks in fury, they gain in mercy, the healing powers of this order are known beyond the calixian sector. The Order’s name refers to their patron saint Elana the Unshaken (who bore a scar for each world she visited). The Order of our Scared Lady can be found on almost any hive/feudal or frontier world within the sector. The largest hospital is in scintilla.

The Order of our Scared Lady is misunderstood by other Adepta Sororitas, but are loved by the citizens of the Calixian Sector. +10Willpower, -5 Fel when dealing with another order of Adepta Sororitas. May only take Faith Talents from the Emperor’s Mercy Category( pure faith only exception.)
Alternate Order Advancement
Survival 200
Medicae 400
Chem Use 400
Peer(Calixian Civillians) 500
Faith Talent(Mercy) 400

Order of the Forlorn- This Order is found often in remote parts of the sector, space ports, and Imperial naval vessels operating in the calixis sector(Superstitious Admirals believe their presence reduces dangers of the warp). The Order of the Forlorn refers to Vidicus The Forlorn, a Rogue Trader made saint to travelers. Port Gavinus is the Order’s main hospital. The Order of the Forlorn especially dislikes the Order of our Scared Lady, whom they are often mistaken for(often to the dismay of those mistaken, who quickly retract any statement made). Many seek this Order’s blessing before embarking on a long journey through the warp.

The Order of the Forlorn is well traveled and street savvy. +5 Int +5 Willpower
Alternate Order Advances
Medicae 400
Chem Use 400
Tech Use 500
Navigation (Stellar) 600
Peer(Imperial Navy) 500

Thanks to everyone here for some really interesting and useful information

much appreciated

There are some quite interesting depictions of AS and their lives in the later Cain novels - although he himself is often less than complementary about them as he feels they tend to fond of charging headlong into the enemy with little planning or thought.

He does however mellow his views later

Da Boss said:

Those books are rather useless as sources of background information, though, as they give a completely false impression (making out, alcohol and gambling being perfectly fine for the supposedly chaste, puritan and penitent Sororitas) and - at times - go directly against established facts (Schola Progenium is gender-divided, different sexes do not mix ... ever).

It's quite dangerous as some people may take these things and see them as true in regard to the setting. Make no mistake: The Cain novels are a work of satire written by the character himself, not an accurate depiction of the Imperium written from a neutral PoV.

A better and more accurate depiction is the novel "Faith & Fire" from James Swallow. Its sequel, "Hammer & Anvil" has finally been announced for release by the end of 2011.

well I think that may be (IMO of course) a little harsh?

The one character, Celestian Julien is noted as being fairly unusual - I took her posting to be partially due to her slightly encentric behavoiur as a decorated veteran - much as some veteran Astartes can be a bit unusual...............

I am not sure where it says the Schola Progenium are always single sex - although happy to be enlightened as your knowledge is most impressive!

Amberley does confirm that the inclusion of the novitiates is also unusual allthough her assertion that often a Scholar Progenium will have a member of the Sisterhood on staff, looking for suitable female aspirants /recruits makes sense to me

Not got Faith and Fire yet - although I quite enjoyed his Blood Angels books

To be fair I don't think any of the Codexes, BL novels or other fluff pieces are written from a neutral POV in fact quite the opposite. I do find both the Cain novels and the Dh tie in novels as refreshig take and had no real problems with the content. I found such books as the Soul Drinkers more problematic for my view of the 40K universe but each to their own

I thought the depiciton of the Sisters in Legacy (Shira Calpurnia series) was also pretty good ?

I thought it was most interesting that the Sisters often resemble their founding Saint in the same way as the Space Marines do the same with their respective Primarchs.

Da Boss said:

well I think that may be (IMO of course) a little harsh?

Maybe, let's say I was a little bit disgruntled by this novel attempting to dismantle the piousness of the Adepta Sororitas by claiming it is perfectly fine for them to sleep around, get drunk and play games of luck when every other source - including DH - states they are chaste and consider self-deprivation and utter devotion to their duties prime virtues. My signature is a quote from IH and a good example of this mindset. A Sister displaying a behavior like the one in that novel would be lucky to get sent to a Repentia squad and not get executed right away without chance for redemption for cultivating so many sins at the same time, and in a position where she is supposed to set an example for future novices. It would be easy to charge her on accounts of not only breaking her oaths, but of corrupting the Sisterhood's most precious resource.

Even worse, however, is that the Cain books are so popular and now everyone considers THAT to be a good example of the Sororitas!

I dislike this attempt at "humanizing" them. Their zeal and fanatism have always been defining elements of the Sororitas, and portraying them like Imperial Guard in power armour is just as wrong as writing the hypno-indoctrinated and warforged Marines as if their personalities would not have been affected by that. A number of authors are "guilty" of this style which I think of as taking the grimdarkness out of the setting to make the characters more interesting and easier to relate to. This is not the way to do it.
Some good writers (Swallow for Sororitas, Thorpe for Astartes) have shown that it is perfectly possible to make Sisters and Marines intrigueing characters without letting them look like ordinary people. It's just more difficult. If some writers eschew this challenge they should stick to Guard characters which are - depending on what world the Regiment was raised on - much closer to how we as people think today.

Da Boss said:

2nd Ed. Codex: Sisters of Battle. It contained quite a lot of interesting stuff!

And thankyou! I've made an effort to collect every piece of fluff about the Sororitas there is, given that detailed information about them is rather scarce. They have always been an outsider army - almost an unwanted stepchild (and treated like that in most books they appear in) - which makes any information about their background even more valuable.

Da Boss said:

Yes, that is also mentioned in the Codex.

Da Boss said:

Isn't everything else usually written from 3rd person perspective, though? I thought the Cain books are basically the memoirs of this character.

Da Boss said:

Can't comment on that, though I'd put that book on my list of things to get. Arbites are one of the aspects I find interesting as well, and an appearance of a Sororitas character (even if only a short one) is an additional bonus for me. In fact, I very much love Necromunda. :3

I'm also looking forward to the end of this year and 2012. Black Library is releasing two new products for the Sisterhood ("Red & Black" and "Hammer & Anvil") and rumours about a new Codex: Sisters of Battle are abound...

Ya, I have not read those books, but after reading all that I do not think I will like too. If a Schola Progneum operated like that it would be considered corrupt and purged.(might make for a fun DH campaign though).

This is what I got:

"The Schola Progenium is responsible for the care and education of orphans of Imperial servants. From the favoured sons of an Imperial Guard colonel to the children of a scribe posted to a distant world, the Schola Progenium cares for them all. Each diocese contains a number of Schola Progenium habitats where the orphans are gathered together. Headed by an Abbot, the Preachers of the habitat educate the young in a variety of studies, including religious education.

By the time a Progena reaches early adolescence they will have displayed skills in a certain direction and their tutelage to the age of sixteen will focus on these talents and hone the pupil to a career in one of the Imperial organisations. Most of the Progena will end up in the Adeptus Terra as scribes clerks or overseers. However, a few will be assigned to higher positions. Male Progena may become Commissars in the Imperial Guard, petty officers in the Imperial Navy or enter the priesthood itself and become a Preacher or Dean (a subordinate to a Deacon). Female Progena may well be entered into the Adepta Sororitas. Progena of both sexes may be recruited into the Inquisition or even the Officio Assassinorum. It is a great honour to pass through the Schola Progenium and those who do are well aware of their privilege.

The lifestyle of the teachers and pupils is strict and puritan. During the Age of Apostasy, most of the Schola Progenium was corrupted and rife with slavery and depravity. Orphans were used as slave labour in factories and mines making goods for the Ecclesiarchy. Particularly promising individuals were sold to Imperial commanders as slaves and servants, and the most attractive became concubines for Imperial Nobles. The most physically adept were sent to be trained as Frateris Templars or Brides of the Emperor, swelling Vandire's armies with the best recruits. The habitats themselves became associated with licentious practices, and their money was put to questionable ends. In direct contrast, each habitat now maintains a strict separation between the two genders and contact between them is restricted purely to religious ceremonies. Only with this purity can the Progena hope to be elevated to a position within the Emperor's domain.

All members of the Adepta Sororitas are drawn from the Progena of the Ministorum's Schola Progenium, which operates training and education facilities in practically every advanced Imperial star system. The children of Imperial citizens assigned to long-term or permanent duty away from their homes are automatically transferred to a Schola habitat. It is also common practice for agents of the Inquisition, Officio Assassinorum, Sisterhood and the Imperial Guard Commissariat to periodically monitor the progress of children in other education facilities and arrange for them to be transferred to the Schola if a particular aptitude for Imperial service is noted.

Once a Progena is noted to have talents specific to an Adeptus their education program is modified to include specialist courses intended to promote the knowledge and ideas that will be necessary in their future service. During this period a Progena may be considered for a number of different roles and assigned courses accordingly before the most suitable form of service is determined. Thus it is not uncommon for Sisters to possess non-standard training in espionage, special weapons or advanced religious theory, if at one stage they had been considered for service in the Inquisition, Officio Assassinorum, or the Clergy proper.

All Sisters are given courses that cover stamina and endurance, marksmanship, devotion, religious indoctrination, comparative theology, unarmed combat and equipment maintenance. All are trained extensively in the use of Sisterhood Angel pattern power armour and light scout armour, boltguns and standard pattern hand grenades and sidearms. A high emphasis is placed on versatility and ability to improvise in combat situations, so all Sisters are trained in the use of other weapons, including most variants of lasguns and autorifles, allowing the Sisterhood to continue fighting in situations where supply of their standard weapons and ammunition is unavailable. Though special and heavy weapons specialists are not selected until after the Progena have begun their service as Novices with the Sororitas, those marked for the Sisterhood are generally given training in more advanced weaponry, including flamer and melta weapons, their support weapon variants, and of course heavy bolters.

Most Schola habitats have access to a variety of esoteric weapons, for the training of future Inquisitors and Vindicare assassins. It is not uncommon for the Abbot of a Schola to arrange, informally, for a future Sister to have experience with plasma rifles and cannon, sniper rifles, and occasionally such rarities as graviton guns and distortion cannons. Because of this, the Sisterhood has a well-deserved reputation for making the best use of whatever offensive weaponry it finds to hand.

All Sisters are given religious training, essentially the basic course from which other Progena will specialise into particular branches of the Clergy. The Sisterhood encourages practical religious thought, which tends to produce recruits with an educated and resilient sense of piety and duty to the Emperor. In combat situations it is often noted - though the Clergy prefers to believe otherwise - that Sisters are more effective at bolstering the morale and faith of their co-combatants than most ordained preachers, whose faith tends towards the zealous, and who can appear fanatical to the average Guardsman.

Sisters intended for service in the non-combatant Orders are given specialist training to complement their skills but also receive the standard weapons and combat training of the Orders Militant. It has been noted by the Schola that non-combatant Sisters find it far easier to earn the respect of the Imperial agents they work beside if they have the skill and fortitude of a warrior, even if it is never required of them to do battle. Veteran Sisters of each of the non-combatant Orders often spend time training Progena when their duties allow them to do so."

Keep in mind this is 2nd Edition fluff. I don't even know what a graviton gun is.

That said I still think it's a nice piece of info. And quite grimdark, in a way.

Graviton Guns have rules in DH, p133 of Inquisitors Handbook.

Basically it shoots a blob of high gravity at an area, causing people to fall down, disrupt machines/vehicles. And at a GMs discretion, shatter brittle/weak surfaces, containment containers, floor boards, etc. So extreme pinning and terrain damage/disruption.

Oh yeah, I think I remember now! In the Forgeworld section? The thing that looked like a big vacuum cleaner, right?

I admit I only glanced at those pages; Forgeworlds/Mechanicus are a topic that I only keep track of rudimentarily. I do read it, but my memory has the weird habit of being able to recall every last detail of the things I find fascinating and being absolutely miserable at storing everything else. Mphhh.

I have finished my work on the Calixis Sector Adepta Sororitas I am going to make it a seperate thread.

The Graviton Gun was first introduced, like the Sisterhood back in the original RT book (p71)

Thanks Lynata for the extract - pulled out my own copy of the 2nd ed book and still can't see the bit that says they are single sex - and whilst I agree that many, perhaps most are likely to be so - see no reason why some for historical or cultural reasons may be co-ed.

I still think Julian is made out ot be (rightly I feel) a most unusual Sister - the others described in the books are pretty much "standard issue". Despite his stated dislike of the Sisterhood, Cain often confirms their formidable, unflinching and resolute nature (even if he personally does not really consider them virtues). In Duty Calls, Cannoness Eglantine and her sisters of the Order of the White Rose are the epitome of the Sisterhood? Despite Cains apparent disdain even he admits how effective they are in combat,..... coomenting with such gems as:

The doggedly resisting Sororitas, falling back slowly as that irresistable tidal wave of maign bio-forms broke against the shore of their bolter fure and expertely wielded sarissae.

One of her early lines is "A true servant of the Emperor should feel no disquiet, however dire the news.... He protects"

for info - Legacy mentions a member of Order of the Eernal Gate, one of the Orders Pronatus, Sister Elouera Krovedd, Sister Palatine but checking back the Sisterhood is more involved in Crossfire (order of the Sacred Rose). IIRC all 3 have recently been released as a compilaiton - well worth getting

Amberley does, I admit rather controversely, state that the AS "doesn't actually require its members to be celibate" although interestingly reading the defination of chaste (on the equally debatable WIKI) gives:

The words "chaste" and "chastity" stem from the Latin adjective castus meaning "pure". The words entered the English language around the middle of the 13th century; at that time they meant slightly different things. "Chaste" meant "virtuous or pure from unlawful sexual intercourse" (referring to extramarital sex),while "chastity" meant "virginity".It was not until the late 16th century that the two words came to have the same basic meaning as a related adjective and noun.

That said - Julian is the only AS character I can think of who it is suggested indulges in such areas - Cain makes various remarks such as this which confirms the commonly held view even for "Men of the Imperium" such as he.........

I suppose if any planetary force can be considered uncomprimised by the 'stealers it would be them - after all they were hardly likely to passon the taint even if they were infected.

Da Boss said:

That bit is from WD 211/212 - the extract is from a compilation of all Sororitas fluff ever released, pretty much a "fluff bible" for the Sisters.

Da Boss said:

Which is wrong, even if we only go purely by common sense. The Adepta Sororitas have always been described as being utterly dedicated to their duties and as practicing self-deprivation. Their idea of "fun" was to write with pens that have barbed spikes biting into the fingers or whip each other with scourges. Just to get drunk is a massive transgression on multiple accounts (doing it for enjoyment, affecting combat readiness ,setting a bad example, damaging the Sisterhood's reputation).

The Battle Sisters in particular serve as the Ecclesiarchy's physical representation of purity and piety. The angelic designs of their armour are not by coincidence. They have to act as examples for people to look up to in awe, fear and hopes - and for some reason I don't believe it is compatible with this idea when you have them mingle with Imperial Guard to get laid. That's the kind of stuff that, normally, 4chan fan fiction is about, and I'm a little shocked it actually appeared in a licensed product.

Furthermore the Sororitas have been abused as concubines during Vandire's reign, so it stands to reason that they'd be extra-careful to distance themselves from such activities and return to the "no males in our house" rule they had on San Leor and regain this kind of purity.

As a sidenote, Daemonifuge outright talks about "forbidden affections" as Canoness Ramientes and Inquisitor Hand research a corrupted Repentia Mistress'es connections to the Navigator of the Ecclesiarchy's flagship, the Lunar-class cruiser Hammer of Thor.

Ok got my WDs out and still can't see it - do you have a page ref?

You do make a very convincing argument - with my only defence being I still think the idea of the character was the "exception that proves the rule" - whether it works or not is obviously a personal thing but as I said all the other AS characters confiorm to the normal themes.

I am not really sure what 4chan is - I'll google it - probably too old

The argument about the treatment by Lord Vandire and subsequent reaction to it is compelling......especially since I expressed my surprise on this forum when the new book on the AS had first been titled Brides of the Emperor rather than Daughters........ironic really!

I suppose Chastitiy could be so ingrained in the Sisterhood that no actual vow is called for - its considered a given - reaching here a little I guess.........