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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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These are [[Artificer]]s that are inducted from [[Knight Worlds]]. Whenever a cargo ship arrives from a [[forge world]] to collect food and resources, it will also take a small party of apprentices from the Knight world. These apprentices are drawn from all levels of society and could be the third son of a [[Noble]], or the offspring of a lowly farmer. Over the course of their decade-long apprenticeship on the forge world, they are trained in the skills needed to maintain suits of Knight armour and then returned to their planet of origin as a fully trained Sacristan. Unbeknownst to the Imperial Knights, however, the trainees are also indoctrinated into the [[Cult Mechanicus]], providing a network of agents who can further the interests of the Tech-Priests.{{Fn|1}}
Sacristans are not true tech-priests, in a sense, they do not delvers or researchers. They aren't educated in the deeper mysteries of the Machine God, like a tech-priest. Instead, they are primarily trained in repairs and maintenance. They are forbidden from investigating the workings of the Knights they care for. Doing so would be a terrible insult to the ancient creators, and a violation of the ancestors spirits within.{{Fn|3b}} True tech-priests further inducted into the Cult Mechanicus are held in reverence above the sacristans themselves.{{Fn|3d}} Sacristans will sometimes pilot Knights for short distances to fulfill their maintenance duties. They do so with the manual controls of a Knight, not entirely dissimilar from piloting a [[Sentinel]]. It isn't necessary to take on the [[Ritual of Becoming]] or neurally connect with the respective [[Helm Mechanicum]] or [[Throne Mechanicum]] in order to pilot the suite to perform these simple tasks.{{Fn|3c}}
The local artificers that maintained the Knight armour during the Age of Strife had already established themselves as a vitally important part of each knightly house, and the training they have received from the Adeptus Mechanicus has only served to increase their status. From their first foundation, the Sacristans quickly styled themselves as a priesthood for the half-forgotten mysteries of the technology that they knew, and as their power grew, the relationship between them and the knightly houses shifted and changed. Where in the past, the technicians were seen as mere subjects or vassals, the Sacristans soon began to speak with one voice, and by threatening to remove their services from any house that would not heed their advice, they soon became almost as influential in knightly society as the Nobles themselves.{{Fn|1}}
