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I have some Ideas for the name of my SoB minor Order but I'd like to see what others may come up with for some inspiration.

I've all ways wanted to to a SoB army I have 3 models with a 4th in the mail and I'm going to be try my hand at a kit bash between an alternate rhino variant by Bitspudluo "Bison" using the sides and wheels and the GW Immolator for the SoB to get a AFV feel to the vehicles kind of like swat / eswat (appleseed). I'm one of the hopefuls of "crossing my fingers but not holding my breath" for SoB plastics from GW and I'm also keeping an eye on Raging Heroes for their 'sisters of eternal mercy' female space paladins kickstarter. In the meantime i'm just gathering some models that look interesintg and seeing what conversions and kit bashing that I can do for them in the meantime.

Armor Colors - Grey armor, Green robes, White shoulders and helm crests, small gold detailing


If this helps I've also put together an order creation table using the one off of 1d4chan ( http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Battle_Order_Creation_Tables )

-Order Type
Order Militant

-Order Originator
Volenteer selection from Sacred Rose, Argent Shroud; Small numbers from Bloody Rose, Martyred Lady.

-Order Purpose
Stratigic Prognostication / Standing Force

-Order's Flaw
Bad Ecclessiarch Relations - The Order has deviated from the Imperial Cult in a significant way.

-Order Demeanour
See, But Don't Be Seen - Stay sensible, stay alive.
Sisters in Battle - Your sisters are your life!
Swift As The Wind - Crush the Heretic before they realize we are here!

-Primary Saint
Battle Sister (Dunane Knuton)

-Deeds of Legend
The Saint led a campaign agains a rebel army, Defeating the foe and bringing an entire sector back into the light of the emperor.

-Order's Homeworld
Imperial Navy and Trading port Hiveworld
+terrain
Temperate Alipine Forest
+Rule of Homeworld
No Involvment- "Our sacred Maindens shall not be political tools" (minor advisory roll to significant law enforcment/millitary situations)
+Order Organisation
Slight Variation for adaptation to homeworld needs.

-Orders Strategy
Ranged Combat with Vehicle and Airial insertions. (think S.W.A.T. / ES.W.A.T. )

-Order Divergence
Modified Weaponry/vehicles - preference to wheeled vehicles as opposed to tracked vehicles.

-Order's Methods of Worship
Honour those Gone before - "Look to your superiors for guidance, they shall not fail you" [Purity of Man - "Protect the Hallowed human form from rusted iron"]

-Order's Size
Under Powered

-Order's Allies
Adeptus Arbites
Impirial Navy
Adeptus Mechanicus
Navigators
Adeptus Astra Telepatica
Astropaths

-Order's Enemies
Rogue Traders who deal in illigal activies
Chaos Space Marines
Deamons
Chaos Cults (reputation of quickly stamping out cults that manifest in their homeworld star system and sector)
{less than frendly relations with the Administratum and Inquisition usualy due to getting in their way and mucking things up}

That's an awkward shade of green to name. Forest Green? ^^; I quite like the amount of detail you have already, though.

Silver armour with green robes. Focus on blitzkreig and aerial tactics (Pleasepleaseplease get an Aquila Lander or two for this army!).

Names... names... usually a good bet is an adjective noun couplet.

Order of the Verdant Tide?
Order of the Verdant Wind?
Order of the Holy Storm?

 Furyou Miko wrote:
That's an awkward shade of green to name. Forest Green? ^^; I quite like the amount of detail you have already, though.

Silver armour with green robes. Focus on blitzkreig and aerial tactics (Pleasepleaseplease get an Aquila Lander or two for this army!).

Names... names... usually a good bet is an adjective noun couplet.

Order of the Verdant Tide?
Order of the Verdant Wind?
Order of the Holy Storm?

thanks! the green is actuality Dark Angles Green with Codex Grey armor. I took a look around and getting an Aquila Lander might not be easy as the kit might be discontinued by forge world.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

You have a colour scheme damn near exactly the same as mine, and I still haven't named mine either.

I've been tossing up naming mine the Order of Absolution (in regards to their backstory, they advance quickly and use a lot of short range weapons).

Good luck, they look damn good!

Bad Ecclessiarch Relations - The Order has deviated from the Imperial Cult in a significant way.

This needs some explanation, because the Imperial Creed is not exactly a unified religion. How the Emperor is worshipped on one planet is not how he is worshipped on the next, and Wars of Faith arise between variant versions of the Imperial Creed all the time (neither of whom are objectively wrong).

The only things that can be said of the Imperial Creed that are true across all worlds is that 1) The Emperor was a man, 2) He ascended to Divinity, 3) He is immortal and protects Mankind, 4) He was the father of the Primarchs, half of whom betrayed him, 5) The Astartes are of his flesh and blood, and are his Angels of Death, 6)There is a place called the Warp where all evil comes from and is the abode of Daemons, the God-Emperor seals them away.

That's pretty much it.

An Order that deviated from those basic precepts would probably not be around long... or would all be Repentia, which amounts to the same thing.

1d4Chan's Order creation kit is cool, but it misses the mark in certain aspects. The thing about the Sisters is that they only have 2 training facilities, their doctrine and their dogma do not deviate from each other because of this. With only two places to keep an eye on, the upper-ranks of the Sororitas can perform some pretty strict "quality control" on the training of Neophytes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You should also look into making a character, either the current Canoness or perhaps a historical heroine of the Order, based on
Saint Hildegard of Bingen.

 Psienesis wrote:

Bad Ecclessiarch Relations - The Order has deviated from the Imperial Cult in a significant way.

This needs some explanation, because the Imperial Creed is not exactly a unified religion. How the Emperor is worshipped on one planet is not how he is worshipped on the next, and Wars of Faith arise between variant versions of the Imperial Creed all the time (neither of whom are objectively wrong).

The only things that can be said of the Imperial Creed that are true across all worlds is that 1) The Emperor was a man, 2) He ascended to Divinity, 3) He is immortal and protects Mankind, 4) He was the father of the Primarchs, half of whom betrayed him, 5) The Astartes are of his flesh and blood, and are his Angels of Death, 6)There is a place called the Warp where all evil comes from and is the abode of Daemons, the God-Emperor seals them away.

That's pretty much it.

An Order that deviated from those basic precepts would probably not be around long... or would all be Repentia, which amounts to the same thing.

1d4Chan's Order creation kit is cool, but it misses the mark in certain aspects. The thing about the Sisters is that they only have 2 training facilities, their doctrine and their dogma do not deviate from each other because of this. With only two places to keep an eye on, the upper-ranks of the Sororitas can perform some pretty strict "quality control" on the training of Neophytes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You should also look into making a character, either the current Canoness or perhaps a historical heroine of the Order, based on
Saint Hildegard of Bingen.

Hmm, I do agree. The 1d4chan order creation tool is good, but as you said has some flaws. Additionaly I could look into the SM chaper creation tool from one of the earlier SM codex's and look at the flaw's there to see if any of those would fit better ( the one on 1d4chan is worded similar to the SoB one and is not much help)...hmm thinking about it they would have to be in a similar situation as the Space Wolves where they have taken on the beliefs of some of the pagan gods of the local population of which would not be possible for SoB with their stick quality control that you described.

4th ed SM codex has it, looking at it the "Flesh over Steel" major Drawback would probably fit quite well. It's described as a lack of the Heaviest equipment or adopted special fighting techniques making such equipment less significant; in the SM codex it lists a 'only 0-1 of Land Raider, Predator Destructor, whirlwind, Vindicator. Can not use land raider crusader or predator annihilator. Transport options use a Fast Attack slot on the force organisation chart.' So in translation for SoB that could mean only 0-1 exorcist, Pennant Engine.

I'll have to read up on that character suggestion otherwise the one I have for now is the Battle Sister Dunane Knuton (deunan knute from Appleseed) as I'm trying to have a slight SWAT / ESWAT flavor to the army with the wheel'ed vehicles instead of tracks.

Oh, Saint Hildegard of Bingen isn't a character, she's a real-life Saint who studied and wrote about botany (hence the tie-in to your green Sisters), composed what is, perhaps, the first morality play (as well as other musical works) and was known to have visions. She also battled sickness and illnesses throughout her life, which might be an "in" to a Minor Order that especially fights Nurgle and his cults.

 Psienesis wrote:
Oh, Saint Hildegard of Bingen isn't a character, she's a real-life Saint who studied and wrote about botany (hence the tie-in to your green Sisters), composed what is, perhaps, the first morality play (as well as other musical works) and was known to have visions. She also battled sickness and illnesses throughout her life, which might be an "in" to a Minor Order that especially fights Nurgle and his cults.

Ohh, now that's an interesting idea.

Looks quite a bit like the DiY Order for my Sisters of Battle, the Order of the Ardent Lady. I went with plain gray armor, pale gold highlights, and simple white tabards/gloves. As I use to run Immie spam back in the day, they were an Order specializing in vehicle combat. And singing. Don't ask.

Their patron is St. Dale, known as the Ardent Lady, who happen to find herself carried from one side of the galaxy to the other, constantly being kidnapped, fighting her way free, leading revults, rescuing wayward Imperials, and defeating even the most hardened heretic with the soulful melody of her voice risen in epic hymn!

The Sisters of the Ardent Lady are drawn haphazardly from other Orders, mostly by virtue of bring at the wrong place at the right time. Under the aegis of a traveling Chior, the Sisters of St. Dale bring the holy trinity of the Bolter, the Flamer, and the Melta in battle as literal (musical) instruments of war!

Note: these are my 2nd Ed Sisters, added to in 3rd, and not played since that the horridly shameful WD mini-Dex. Oh, the music was Glorious!

SJ

The background comes down to how strictly you want to adhere to which version of the fluff. As Psienesis said, the training of Sororitas in GW's interpretation of the setting is very centralised, and the convents practice strict isolation from the population of the worlds they are posted on. In essence, every Sister sees herself as a member of the Sororitas first, and her Order second - as opposed to the Space Marines where it's the other way around. The Sisters even transfer between the Orders with a minimum of fuss. If you can get your hands on it, the Liber Sororitas from White Dwarf #292 goes into a bit of detail regarding this.

That being said, it's also of note that slight deviations between the Sisters' demeanour exist, depending on the Founding Saint of the Major Orders. It's just minor personality traits that do not render the Sisters incompatible between Orders, but reflect a convent being more prone to pray to a particular Founding Saint, and instilling her virtues in its novitiates, thus shapeing the character of future Sisters and passing on those habits. All Battle Sisters strive to emulate one of the six Founding Saints, and different idols mean different virtues to focus on. Here is a short description from White Dwarf.

If you really want to have bad relations with the Ecclesiarch, I'd rather explain it with the Sisters' role as an internal police force. Maybe your girls happened to arrest or kill a Cardinal who used to be a close friend of the current Ecclesiarch? Much like with real life churches, the higher echelons of the Ministorum are a matter of politics, and the Adepta Sororitas, whilst also meddling with it (-> Orders Famulous), strive to maintain a distance in order to retain their purity. So if they'd have to choose between their duty or the goodwill of an influential cleric, there's a rather big chance a Canoness would choose the former in a heartbeat.

I also have a feeling you might want to spend some time on how and why the Order has such good relationships with specific Imperial adepta and not others, specifically when it comes to psykers. Almost 50% of your "allies" list is made up of people who the Sisters normally suppress, after all.

Another possible problem might be that the Minor Orders have always been described as splinters from a single Major Order - essentially a temporary base that just turned permanent due to either the mission commander or the Canoness seeing a need to maintain a presence, and then successfully petitioning for sanctioning the creation of a Minor Order for this purpose.

That being said, with the aforementioned option of Sisters transferring between Orders, personally I'd say that you can still roll with it, as long as you explain how those Sisters got to share a roof. Maybe they've just been working side by side for months already, so when the order came to establish a new Minor Order, maybe it just made sense for everyone to stay, since they've already identified with the cause.

A bigger issue might be the colour selection, as the Orders Militant make use solely of different combinations of red, white and black. You don't have a lot of minis yet, so you could still change .. but if you like your current choice a lot (and I admit it does look snazzy), I'd say just roll with it and accept this small deviation. The Painting Masterclass article had GW themselves suggest alternate colour schemes, so as far as they are concerned, it's basically just "this is what we have them use, but here are some other cool ideas. go nuts and have fun!" After all, there is no canon, and the Forge World studio has already invented an Order that uses blue robes.


Apologies I can't be of much help when it comes to the name, though, as I'm terribly indecisive when it comes to names myself. However, what you could do is explore their background a bit more, and see what sort of name best suits the Order's purpose in detail, or their tactics. Furyou Miko already provided some good ideas that seem to fit nicely.

Furyou Miko wrote:Pleasepleaseplease get an Aquila Lander or two for this army!

Nuuuh! Valkyries!

jeffersonian000 wrote:they were an Order specializing in vehicle combat. And singing. Don't ask.

What? Sounds rather normal for SoB.

Uh, Lynata? Red, White and Black?

The Argent Shroud would like a word.

They use predominantly white, red and black, but there is no hard and fast rule on that. For example, my Sisters wear blue robes.

Also, Aquilas fit the imagery better than Valkyries for what the OP asked for :p (although Valks are cool too).

Furyou Miko wrote:The Argent Shroud would like a word.

Actually, in heraldic regulation, silver = white!

Furyou Miko wrote:They use predominantly white, red and black, but there is no hard and fast rule on that.

The "predominantly" does not refer to the number of Orders, though, but their representation on the uniforms.

"The uniforms of the Adepta Sororitas are based upon the original garments worn by the Daughters of the Emperor. The Orders of the Ebon Chalice and Valorous Heart display the colours of the original Convents, unchanged for 4.000 years. The other Orders continue this principle with only minor modifications to distinguish them on the battlefield. The Orders Militant make use of three main colours in the design of their uniforms: black, white and red."
- 2E C:SoB

Personally, I think it reinforces the idea that they're very big on tradition.
But as I said, the Painting Masterclass article in WD #292 discussed the idea of using other colours, so it's really just a matter of your preferred interpretation. This is 40k, after all, and doing your own thing is part of the game's appeal. I certainly didn't want to appear as if I'm dissing your Order!

"Whether you decide to paint your Sisters of Battle in the uniform of one of the major convents or want to create your own using the same heraldry, the same colours and techniques should still prove useful.
Of course, you may simply choose to use a whole new colour scheme from your own imagination. Here are a few examples of dramatically different colour schemes to get the inspiration flowing."
< 1st pic: Sister in golden armour and red robes >
< 2nd pic: Sister in blue armour and white robes >
< 3rd pic: Sister in yellow armour and red robes >

Furyou Miko wrote:Also, Aquilas fit the imagery better than Valkyries for what the OP asked for :p (although Valks are cool too).

Aren't Aquilas just armed shuttles rather than dropships, though? From its looks, it appears the thing has to actually land, whereas with a Valkyrie you just open its side doors and have your Sisters rappel down, or jump out if they're Seraphim. Also, the Aquila looks smaller than the Valkyrie; not sure if you can really put a full squad inside?

Mind you, I haven't seen the Aquila's model, I'm just judging based on some photos.

The Aquila has a front ramp under the nose, and is about the same size as the Valkyrie in terms of wing span.

Really, the Aquila isn't something I would push from a game stats point of view - it has limited transport capacity (7 models) and is armed with just an autocannon unless you buy it extras - but from a visual point of view, there is nothing better to simply scream: "THE IMPERIUM IS HERE! THE ECCLESIARCHY IS HERE!"

Well, Battle Sister squads can now be as small as 5 minis, so I suppose that would work. But as a troop transport, the Valkyrie seems like a superior choice. I freely admit that I just love its rugged look and how it reminds me of the Mil-Mi 24, though.

Though you have a point regarding its shape. It's why I like the idea of the Lightning fighter for the SoB so much, actually.



Come to think of it, how about mixing Valks and Aquilas? The Aquila could be reserved for the Canoness. Almost like a command vehicle, flying with a formation of Valkyries loaded with troops. After all, there were two types of helicopters in that scene in "Apocalypse Now", too.

Plus, its shape and role make it perfect to perform (= look nice) in an official capacity like a "state visit" as well. It's like Emperor Palpatine's shuttle from Star Wars!

However, yes, the Aquila Lander is, basically, a shuttle. It's not intended to see deployment or use in a "hot" AO.

How about The Order of the Emerald Flame?

Hmm, some interesting Ideas and points I should think about.
___
@ Lynata - Didn't think of it that way for having 'bad eccleasiarch relations', and for the idea's that I have for the my order that would work quite well. As you said with SoB party being an 'internal police force' meeting or dealing with a Cardinal while on the surface acting in goodwill but under the surface is very morally reprehensible [ imagine the situation of the evil political official or corrupt corporate business legally able to do horrendous immoral repugnant actions and getting away with it ] I would imagine a Canoness would be more than happy to either arrest him or execute said Cardinal on the spot. In terms of lore it could be...using the Emperors name to benefit himself perhaps or in some other fashion.

As you said here -- "Another possible problem might be that the Minor Orders have always been described as splinters from a single Major Order - essentially a temporary base that just turned permanent due to either the mission commander or the Canoness seeing a need to maintain a presence, and then successfully petitioning for sanctioning the creation of a Minor Order for this purpose. " -- While for my order it consist of volunteers from mostly 2 (Sacred Rose, Argent Shroud) and a few from Bloody Rose, Martyred Lady. It was established at first that there was a need for SoB in the sector and solar system and as you put it a need to maintain a presence there and so instead of a group of volunteers they were then grouped under a unified banner of a minor order for that sector/solar system.

Its from the Strategic Prognostication / Standing Force where there was a need for them at first as a preventative measure against any threats that might appear and after some time the effectiveness (by simply doing what SoB do) and of the presence of the sisters was noted as rather effective enough to unite the group under a single banner of a minor order.

For some of the allies thanks for pointing that out as I'm not 100% on the smaller details of the SoB. When I was picking out the list for allies I was in the mindset of they would be on good relations with groups that deal with ships a lot including the groups that help ships travel through the warp like navigators and astropaths that while most SoB ( irc most SoB share the same level of dislike an suspicion as the Black Templars). A better way to put it [and i should also note this in the OP] is that they are more ...... tolerable to those groups than other SoB orders as they understand the need and necessity of those groups for space travel.

Now as for the color selection it mostly started as choosing colors that were not the Black, Red, and white that is normally seen on sisters and wanted something different for them. for the armor I chose Grey because I really like the way i was painting Grey on my SW, I when with green on the robes because I liked the idea of them having green robes, and then the White on the helm crest and shoulders is there to break up what would be a rather bland color scheme to me. Though Psienesis gave a really good back ground tie in with a real historic Saint that studied Botany to give reason for the green robes.
___

Though for the names that I came up with before I started the thread were - Argent Rose, Sacred Shroud, and Verdant Knight. I'm definitely going to add the historic Saint Hildegard of Bingen as a character to my order along with Dunane Knuton and her partner Briehana. Rhinos/Immolators with wheels and SoB rappelling out of Valkries in a similar fashion to SWAT and other military groups is a big inspiration for my order and it lends itself very well to operating on a hive world that is also a sizable trading ship port and imperial navy hub world where transportation is key to stop heretics from making an escape on a departing space ship.

Though Please keep posting name ideas, I'm really liking the use of Verdant (green) in the name ideas

I like the idea of aquilas refitted as gunships, escorting the valkyries, too. heh.

fox-light - the Sisters don't hate psykers. They hate witches. The Sisterhood apparently have quite a good relationship with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Imperium's sanctioned psyker division, since they have taken over from the Sisters of Silence in the role of Guardians of the Black Ships.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
I like the idea of aquilas refitted as gunships, escorting the valkyries, too. heh.

fox-light - the Sisters don't hate psykers. They hate witches. The Sisterhood apparently have quite a good relationship with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Imperium's sanctioned psyker division, since they have taken over from the Sisters of Silence in the role of Guardians of the Black Ships.

Ahh, well the more ya' know. thanks!

fox-light713 wrote:meeting or dealing with a Cardinal while on the surface acting in goodwill but under the surface is very morally reprehensible [ imagine the situation of the evil political official or corrupt corporate business legally able to do horrendous immoral repugnant actions and getting away with it ]

Yeah, exactly. Like funneling tithe money into his/her own coffers, using a frateris militia to extort money from the people in the parish, or even rumours regarding the abuse of young Schola graduates assigned as lay servants (art imitates life )

fox-light713 wrote:It was established at first that there was a need for SoB in the sector and solar system and as you put it a need to maintain a presence there and so instead of a group of volunteers they were then grouped under a unified banner of a minor order for that sector/solar system. Its from the Strategic Prognostication / Standing Force where there was a need for them at first as a preventative measure against any threats that might appear and after some time the effectiveness (by simply doing what SoB do) and of the presence of the sisters was noted as rather effective enough to unite the group under a single banner of a minor order.

I'd recommend fleshing that need out a bit more - depending on how large your convent would be. More background is always good, as not only it provides a fuller "fluff experience", but also opens up more potential for even more tie-ins and ideas.

Going by GW's force disposition charts, there aren't a lot of Battle Sisters in the galaxy. The six Major Orders basically exist as a mobile response force, using the fleets of the Convents Prioris and Sanctorum to traverse the entire Imperium and beyond to deploy in large numbers. The Minor Orders on the other hand are much smaller (I think around a hundred Sisters on average, though it can go as high as a thousand and as low as a single "shrine maiden" Sister) and more locally restricted, with a much more specialised purpose (usually whatever had the Major Orders commit troops to the area in the first place).

Ideas that spring to mind would be for their region to be situated in an area that has a history of Chaos activity or sees a lot of mutation amongst the civilian population. Alternatively, there could be an important holy site that requires protection. If you want a tie-in with the Navy, some of your Sisters could accompany pilgrim ships to serve as guardians against aliens or mercenaries trying to board these ships to take slaves. Or, for a stronger focus on aerial drops, flesh out the planet's description and come up with a reason that warrants this specific deployment type.

For example .. the planet was a temperate world with lots of forests and mountains but large hive cities dispersed across the globe, right? That probably means that aircraft and some sort of railway are the preferred means of transportation between the cities. Given that they're hives, there is a huge potential for nasty stuff hiding in the lower levels, but with a world description like this you could also have things hiding in the woods. How about risk of a mutant uprising? There could be rising levels of tension amongst the populace as well as more and more clashes between rebels and local enforcers. Maybe there's a mutant army preparing for a big war against their oppressors, and your Sisters as the most elite force on the planet sees regular deployment (mostly in the cities, rarely in the dangerous and wild forests) when it comes to smoking out nests of this resistance. For this threat you could even take some inspiration from Fallout: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Unity
Alternatively, or in addition to this the system could be located in close proximity to some xenos species that is regarded as a threat to the humans' spiritual sancticy or the safety of local Ecclesiarchy relics. Maybe move it close to the Tau Empire?

On a sidenote, I'd recommend to invent some reason for why the planet was settled in this way, as forests + huge, dirty cities (as opposed to normal "horizontal" settlement and displacement of the woods) may sound like a weird combination. Perhaps an ancient decree by the Emperor or the High Lords/Administratum designating the beautiful planet a vacation spot for rich people and limiting construction/settlement to a few carefully selected areas. Over time (perhaps following the chaos and widespread devastation of the Horus Heresy), the original purpose of the world faded, but the law remained unchanged, because Imperium. So as people were not allowed to expand beyond the original city borders, they just began to build upwards. Cue the hives!

Of course, some poor sods or adventurous miners would keep building small shacks or illegal settlements outside the borders, but they get stomped out by the enforcers as soon as they're discovered. With the side effect of leaving the forests an ideal hiding place for mutants, criminals and seditionists fleeing the oppressive cities. Maybe there was already a big mutant rebellion sweeping through the sector and the Sisters got called in to assist, but even though it was crushed the leader was able to remain in hiding and everyone knew it'd only be a matter of time until they strike again, hence the need for a prolonged presence? Maybe the Sisters thought it'd just be a matter of months or years, but by now it's been several centuries and nothing big happened ... until recently when mutant uprisings and similar incidents are suddenly on a rise again, almost as if on cue with the rest of the troubles the Imperium has to face towards the end of M41.

Ah ... apologies, I easily get carried away with ideas once I'm on a roll. ^^'

fox-light713 wrote:her partner Briehana

You know, for the full 40k'ified reference you could make her "partner" an Arco-Flagellant..

Furyou Miko wrote:the Sisters don't hate psykers. They hate witches. The Sisterhood apparently have quite a good relationship with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Imperium's sanctioned psyker division, since they have taken over from the Sisters of Silence in the role of Guardians of the Black Ships.

Why would they have a good relationship just because they're policing them, though? Most of the Black Ships are guarded by the ISTs, but even the ones that had Sisters travelling on them ... I'm not sure playing prison guard creates a lot of goodwill between both institutions when everyone in the AAT once was a prisoner, and probably doesn't have fond memories of that time.

I mean, it's obviously a matter of interpretation, but personally I believe "suspicion" would fit their image better. From what I've read, the Ecclesiarchy regards the psyker gene as a mutation - an abberation - and even sanctioned psykers are just a "necessary evil" to them.
I don't usually give much about what some Black Library novel says, as they go against codex fluff with disappointing regularity, but I think James Swallow's SoB novels caught that mindset nicely when they had Miriya and that other Sister bitch about Black Ship guard duty.

Yeah, I know the BT were cooled down in their hatred of psykers, but I don't think the Sisters have become any less-jealous.

I see it kind of like a flowchart, but it's a real simple one:

Is the psyker's name God-Emperor of Mankind?

Yes: OK, it's cool.
No: BURN THE WITCH!

> God-Emperor of Mankind
> psyker

Pretty sure it's heresy to say that, though.

Oh, and I certainly didn't want to make it sound as if the Sisters wouldn't make any difference between witches and sanctioned psykers at all. But personally, I think they'd regard the latter as "repentant sinners" who obviously have come to accept the sinful nature of their bodies and now do their best to beg forgiveness of the Emperor by serving Him-on-Earth with their detestable abilities. They ought to be pitied, but it's just so hard to feel empathy for those wretched mutants.
Especially since not all of them are entirely honest in their repentance, and some might even question the rightfulness of their fate! And as we all know, ungratefulness paves the way for subversive thoughts, and we all know what kind of risk psykers can pose!

It's kind of like with the Templars and the Mages in Dragon Age, I think. Yeah, that could work as an analogy.

It is noted that even Sisters who suddenly evidence psychic ability (late bloomers?) don't get shipped off to the Black Ships. They just disappear into the oubliettes under the Convents.

I'm also pretty sure that they're aware the God-Emperor was a psyker, and the greatest and most-powerful to ever exist. All other psykers pale in comparison to His Radiance, and thus are inferior... and, also, subject to weaknesses (like daemons exploding out of their skull) that He was not.

How about order of the Bloody Cloth.

If you're going with Saint Hildegard of Bingen, you can start including lots of themes and elements from her in the name of the Order.

I think the healing/medical aspects are more for an Order Hospitaler, while the visions and such should be saved for an Order Dialogous... but for an Order Militant, there's a few things you can go with:

Order of the Cleansing Hymn
(mayhaps the exorcise the daemonic through holy song? The Order symbol is an open book, lined with tableture, haloed in flame)

Order of the Virtuous Blood (based on Saint Hildegard's Liber Vitae Meritorum... and also, inicidentally, a vampire-destroying order from ES4: Oblivion)... also in keeping with her writings, there can be the Order of Divine Works (Liber Divinorum Operum)... and what work is more divine than the purging of the Mutant, the Heretic and the Xeno?

@ Psinesis & Lynata - Definitely some ideas to think about

Though Bloody Cloth and Virtuous Blood, give me the image of red robes rather than green ones; and Divine works would suggest more of a white primary color scheme. However they could still work in tandem with Saint Hildegard tie in to the green robes.

Psienesis wrote:It is noted that even Sisters who suddenly evidence psychic ability (late bloomers?) don't get shipped off to the Black Ships. They just disappear into the oubliettes under the Convents.

Isn't the case only in FFG's RPG, though? It sounds like that one background package from the Radicals sourcebook.

Never been a fan of that. GW fluff notes how they specifically look and test for this sort of stuff in the Schola (which kind of makes sense), and if you're found out, you get separated. "Late bloomers" is a really weird idea here; you don't just "suddenly" mutate and change your genetic makeup to strengthen your psychic potential. Unless Chaos/the Warp is involved, I guess.

Psienesis wrote:I'm also pretty sure that they're aware the God-Emperor was a psyker, and the greatest and most-powerful to ever exist.

Wouldn't this undermine the idea of him being a god? Psychic powers could be seen as a mundane explanation for supposedly divine abilities - and even though it's the truth, it sounds like something the Church might suppress. Both to reinforce the separation of psykers as something to shun and avoid rather than revere (comparing them to the Emperor could be seen as making them more emperor'ish than "pure" non-psychic humans ... the heresy!), as well as to make sure that everyone understands that all the Emperor did was a miracle.

Hmmh. I need to read more on this subject...

Well, I guess it depends on whether they teach that the Emperor was always a god, and chose to walk in mortal form for a while... or if they teach that the Emperor ascended to become a god.

Interestingly, I don't recall which is the case.

Pretty sure it's "was Man, ascended to godhood", hence "Feast of the Emperor's Ascension" across the Imperium and the "he ascended to the Golden Throne of Terra" (which is blatantly an allusion to the Biblical throne of Heaven, of course)

Isn't the case only in FFG's RPG, though? It sounds like that one background package from the Radicals sourcebook.

At this point, I'm not sure. So many books, so many years.

Wouldn't this undermine the idea of him being a god? Psychic powers could be seen as a mundane explanation for supposedly divine abilities - and even though it's the truth, it sounds like something the Church might suppress. Both to reinforce the separation of psykers as something to shun and avoid rather than revere (comparing them to the Emperor could be seen as making them more emperor'ish than "pure" non-psychic humans ... the heresy!), as well as to make sure that everyone understands that all the Emperor did was a miracle.

Maybe? But, also, it demonstrates that he could do it, and do it flawlessly, but all these witches are trying to put themselves on equal footing with him, and are found wanting. Best to purge them.

Here's a list of some of the names that I've come up with so far.

Verdant Cloth
Verdant Shroud
Emerald Rose
Argent Flame
Verdant Blade
Emerald Blade
Verdant Rose
Verdant Lady

Though I'm starting to like the sound of "The Order of the Argent Rose". With a before and after the actions of Saint Hildegard of Bingen.

before - Grey armor with White robes, shoulders and helm crest.

After - Grey armor, Green robes, white shoulders and helm crests

The iconography could be a white rose inside a silver halo. Then after Hildegard's actions it would have a green background behind the rose.