Adepta Sororitas

Template:OHPortal The Adepta Sororitas (also "the Sisterhood" or "Daughters of the Emperor") is a religious group that was incorporated into the Imperial Cult millennia ago. It is a common misconception that the Adepta Sororitas is the same as the Sisters of Battle, but the latter term technically refers only to the Orders Militant, the best-known part of the organization.

The Adepta Sororitas are an all-woman subdivision of the religious organization known as the Ministorum or Ecclesiarchy. They share with the Inquisition a similar role, policing the divisions of the Adeptus Terra. While the Inquisition's jurisdiction is entirely broad and encompassing, the Sororitas' is confined to heresy and mutation. The Sisterhood is religious where the Inquisition is relatively secular. As the Sisterhood's power extends only over the Adeptus Terra, the self-governing Inquisition remains beyond the Sisterhood's vigilance.

The Sisterhood's Orders Militant are the mailed fist of the Ecclesiarchy, rooting out and mercilessly destroying corruption and heresy within humanity and every department of the Imperium. The Decree Passive rules that the Ecclesiarchy cannot maintain any men under arms. The Sisters, being all women, are exempt from this decree.

File:Battle Sisters Squad c.gif

Sisters of Battle

Orders

High Lords of Terra
Ecclesiarch	Ordo Hereticus
Abbess of the Adepta Sororitas (position currently unoccuied)
Convent Sanctorum (Ophelia VII)	Convent Prioris (Terra)
Orders Militant
Order of the Bloody Rose	Order of the Sacred Rose
Order of Our Martyred Lady	Order of the Ebon Chalice
Order of the Valorous Heart	Order of the Argent Shroud
Orders Hospitaller
Order of the Eternal Candle	Order of the Cleansing Water
Order of Serenity	Order of the Torch
Orders Famulous
Order of the Key	Order of the Holy Seal
Order of the Gate	Order of the Sacred Coin
Orders Dialogous
Order of the Holy Word	Order of the Sacred Oath
Order of the Quill	Order of the Lexicon
Orders Minoris - Minor Orders
Order of the Eternal Gate
Order of the White Rose

In the 41st millennium, the Adepta Sororitas is a part of the Ecclesiarchy and is divided into two Convents. The Convent Sanctorum located on Terra, and the Convent Prioris based on Ophelia VII.

The overall commander of the entire Sisterhood is the Abbess, based in the Convent Sanctorum, and one of the potential High Lords of Terra.

Types of Orders

The Sisterhood is further organized among several Orders. The famous Orders Militant follow the ways of war. Other orders do not follow this way per se and rather follow the ways of Study.

• Orders Hospitaller: aid the poor, and heal the sick and the wounded in many hospitals and clinics of the Sisterhood. Some of their hospitals are part of Imperial crusades.
• Orders Dialogous: help to translate the innumerable dialects and slangs used throughout the Imperium. At the behest of the Inquisition and certain parties they also study Xeno languages, also translating texts obtained from Xeno artifacts. Sisters Dialogous are often employed as Sages in Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors' retinues.
• Orders Famulous: organize and maintain households of certain Imperial governors and Imperial nobles, serving as advisers and by their very presence reminding them of their higher loyalties. They oppose any disloyalty with the support of faithful followers from the inside of the household itself.

Besides these famous major Orders there is also an unknown number of minor Orders whose functions are widely unknown. We know of the Order of the Eternal Gate whose responsibility is the retrieval of relics and artifacts for the Ecclesiarchy. Also known is the Order of the White Rose whose main task is unknown. This order split away from the Order of the Sacred Rose in the latter part of M39.

Structure

Each Order follows the same basic hierarchical structure:

• Order: Led by the head Canoness called the Canoness Superior and runs the Entire Order.
• Preceptory: An organization of individual convents with up to 1,000 Sisters, equivalent to an Adeptus Astartes Chapter, lead by a Canoness Preceptor.
• Commandery: Normally smaller convents or detachments of militant Sisters with up to 200 Sisters, led by a Canoness Commander.
• Mission: The smallest organization of Sisters, consisting of a few units and can be lead by a Canoness or the lesser Palatine.

Members

Ranks

Individual members ranks can vary in requirement and duties, but they follow the same basic hierarchy:

• Abbess: commander of the Convent Sanctorum on Terra; also the overall spiritual leader of the Sisterhood. She is assisted by a Prioress.
• Prioress: two of them administrate the two convents.
• Canoness: who leads the individual order.
• Veteran Sister Superior: who command a single Veteran Seraphim squad.
• Sister Superior: who lead a single squad of Seraphim or a squad of Battle Sisters into battle.
• Veteran Seraphim:
• Seraphim: only the very best Battle Sisters are able to join this elite. Seraphim receive special training and equipment.
• Battle Sister: The basic rank of Adepta Sororitas.

Equipment

The Adepta Sororitas make heavy use of Flame Weapons as they see them as a way to cleanse the soul before total death. Though they are not genetically enhanced like Space Marines, they also wear Power Armour and have the same general unit set-up, although they tend to prefer heat and flame based weapons, for the 'purifying' effect of fire. They also gain very strong faith-based powers to help them in their struggle against their foes.

Famous members

Others

• Seraphim Ephrael Stern, current location unknown
• Saint Celestine, KIA

Current Status

The Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy are totally different and separate organizations, and both exist outside the bureaucracy of the Imperium; The Inquisition's and the Sororitas' tasks however overlap, and some Orders have been seconded to the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus.

Problems with Canon

The following statement comes from the Codex: Sisters of Battle 2 edition: "A sign of the Sisters strength is the fact that in their entire history only a single sister, Miriael Sabathiel, has fallen to the lure of Chaos. How Miriael fell is unknown, only that she was turned from the Emperor's light to Slaanesh worship, and now serves as one of the prince of chaos' greatest warriors."

However this is clearly contradicted by the Graphic novel Daemonifuge in which a Sister was seduced by a Navigator (who had been corrupted by a daemonic servant of Slaanesh) and several Sisters were completely corrupted by a Keeper of Secrets, a greater Daemon of Slaanesh. It is quite hard to believe that only a single Sister fell to the corruption of Chaos during all these thousands of years, but possible nevertheless.

References and Sources

• Daemonifuge (Graphic Novel Series)