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 Wyldhunt wrote:
That's something I've always been a little unclear on. Are nulls/blanks *actually* soulless, or are their souls just functionally undetectable due to their null field?

Like, in D&D terms, an anti-magic field is still a magical effect.

It’s a bit vague, altering between “no presence in the warp” and “negative presence in the warp”.

There may also be degrees of blankness.

A background book that I don't understand the purpose of says that the assignment has seven classes of people who are resistant to psychic effects, but only the most severe class are untouchables who are used the way the Sisters or Frauka are used. I don't expect that to matter for most other books

I say go for it. The Dudes of Dumbness cry out to be made... well, not actually cry out, but... yeah.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oooh... Chaps of Censorship?

Men of Muffling?

pelicaniforce wrote:
A background book that I don't understand the purpose of says that the assignment has seven classes of people who are resistant to psychic effects, but only the most severe class are untouchables who are used the way the Sisters or Frauka are used. I don't expect that to matter for most other books

...which book?

 Flinty wrote:
I say go for it. The Dudes of Dumbness cry out to be made... well, not actually cry out, but... yeah.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oooh... Chaps of Censorship?

Men of Muffling?

Surely if anything it’s Misters of Silence?

 General Kroll wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
I say go for it. The Dudes of Dumbness cry out to be made... well, not actually cry out, but... yeah.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oooh... Chaps of Censorship?

Men of Muffling?

Surely if anything it’s Misters of Silence?

Strong contribution! Nice

 Flinty wrote:

 General Kroll wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
I say go for it. The Dudes of Dumbness cry out to be made... well, not actually cry out, but... yeah.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oooh... Chaps of Censorship?

Men of Muffling?

Surely if anything it’s Misters of Silence?

Strong contribution! Nice

Misters of Muteness if we want to go more on the alliteration route.

I am not into gender exclusivity. For example, Howling Banshees and Wyches are commonly depicted as female, but there are also male members. These organizations tend to be mostly female because their traditions are geared towards matriarchy, which means the men are likely not treated/seen as equal. In fact, male Wyches are essentially sex toys so that the female Wyches can reproduce.

I agree with female Custodes and I will agree with male/LGBT Sisters of Silence as well. I don't even like the name, by the way.

On the “hey, what’s with all the chicks?” feature of Sisters of Silence. As I’ve mentioned in a few interlinked threads, for me the evidence points to them not being natural manifestations of the Pariah mutation,

After all, there’s a pretty decent number of Sisters of Silence, especially for a mutation which has been described as a one in billions chance. So many billions, it’s possible a given planet may only produce a single Blank/Pariah/Null per generation. This is suggestive some kind of gene editing is going on.

That they’re all female, essentially reducing any already supposedly recruitment pool by approximately half? That again for me supports some kind of tech wizardry going on, as outside of Tradition (which whilst a poor reason still remains a reason) why would such a specialised Order impose such a restriction.

The tradition could stem from the onset of Old Night. Perhaps their base on Luna started off as a prison for sci-fi witch hunts. A place to keep bothersome Blanks away from a burgeoning psychic population. And it was their concentration in one place, and their immunity to warp shenanigans that allowed their survival. And as the dust settled, their persecution was remembered, and “Sisters, let no man ever bind as they once did” type stuff.

But that, in itself, doesn’t explain their frequency, only gives a possible Chinny Reckon as to why they’re all female. So the technological answer remains, for me at least, the most likely.

And we can look to the wider Imperium and Galaxy for similar examples. House Escher for instance? Whatever it is that makes their males feeble and imbecilic aside, we know they’ve mastered (or at least can do!) parthenogenesis. Essentially virgin births, where no male or sperm is involved.

House Goliath is almost the reverse there. Originally genetically designed to be big, strong, resilient, all-male and, importantly, sterile. But life uh…found a way. And whilst comparatively rare, when a Mummy Goliath and a Daddy Goliath love each very much, a Baby Goliath is possible.

And that’s just well documented examples from a world by no means at the top of the technological heap.

Next we’ll look at the Votann. Each and every one is a Designer Baby. The Votann determines what traits the members of the next generation will likely need, and provides those via gene bank. And on an individual basis. Which is remarkable.

So in-universe? We know that tech exists. So we know that theoretically it is possible to manufacture Blanks to order, we just can’t be sure that’s what the Sisters of Silence are doing.

Oh and of course we know cloning exists, and the Imperium is iffy at worst about that sort of thing.

Finally? All Hail Algorithmo for his bounty this day. Because this video popped up on my YouTube feed, covering the various forms of parthenogenesis in nature. It’s pretty low level stuff, but it is accessible and nicely factual. I present it as a way of demonstrating that the Imperium, or at least pre-Old Night Man could’ve adapted one, some or all of these natural versions to humans.




And finally, let’s not rule out that if my hypothesis of gene editing/cloning/cloneskein is correct, the manifestation of the Pariah Gene is by no means the original intent of the tech. It could be a happy accident that once people’s heads started exploding and things started crawling out? A failed experiment suddenly proved its worth, and was put into production.

 Haighus wrote:
There may also be degrees of blankness.

From 40K wiki:
Omega Minus (-7) - Omega Minus grade psykers are actually the "anti-psykers" usually referred to as "Untouchables" or "Blanks." These individuals are so inert in the Warp as to actually exhibit a negative psychic influence upon others. This primarily manifests in realspace as a region of "blankness" (hence the name) surrounding the individual where psychic powers will not work. It is impossible for psychic powers or entities native to the Immaterium to penetrate or affect this space. Imperial science has learned that the psychically inert region surrounding the Omega grade subject even interferes with natural bioelectric function in an organic brain. This neurological effect on others often results in the development of the irrational fear and loathing that baseline Humans nearly always display towards Blanks. This can even manifest in psychosomatic effects, such as thinking that the Blank emits a highly offensive odor. For psykers, however, the sheer presence of a Blank produces excruciating physical and mental distress.
Psi (-6) - This grade of The Assignment, which actually includes Psi through Sigma grades inclusive, represents individuals who are oblivious to fluctuations in the Warp and are immune to psychic probing by a telepath. The range of this ability varies, with the highest class at Sigma grade being deemed "blunt" or resistant to some psychic effects, and the lowest grade of Psi being extremely resistant to the effects of psychic power, yet still capable of being affected by an extreme degree of psychic strength.
Chi (-5) See above.
Phi (-4) - See above.
Upsilon (-3) - See above.
Tau (-2) - See above.
Sigma (-1) - See above.
Rho (0) - An individual at Rho grade is incapable of manifesting any psychic abilities, but can be fully affected by them or other manifestations of Warp energy. This is the grade that encompasses the vast majority of Humans in the Imperium and serves as the baseline grade of The Assignment.

I had heard it before in Majorkill's vid on Psyker tier/ classes that they did go into "Negative" psyker-ness, but was unaware of the various degrees. I'm assuming Omega Minus means no warp whatsoever while Chi and Phi means a smaller range or extent?
Once again, thanks James Workshop for leading to more questions with the "Lost age of technology/ we dunno/ etc" hand-waving.

Does the Wiki say what the source is for that table/structure, btw?

Especially if we're talking the Fandom wiki...

Seems like it's heavily paraphrasing the psychic mastery section of the Inquisition illustrated guide from black library (which is a terrible book)

It's not even a good paraphrase, human baseline is rho-pi, not just rho, and omega is just omega, there's no "omega minus" on the scale

robbienw wrote:

A.T. wrote:

robbienw wrote:
No one would say that unless it was an all male force. If it was a mixed gender force they'd say my soldiers are ready. Or my company is ready. Or my force is ready. Or my crew are ready. Or just "we are ready".

No, in those cases they would often use men as a gender neutral term.

They really wouldn't because then they'd think the group was entirely male, and its very easy to use other terminology to indicate a mixed group.

Hi. I'm non-binary. And as a non-binary person, I'm *exceptionally* aware of when people used gendered language to refer to me, or those around me.

I'm here to say you're wrong. Masculine language is the default used in English, rightly or wrongly, and in military terms, this is INCREDIBLY common. But, in case you don't believe it, please go and check out two entries on GW's website.

Veteran Guardsmen (evident in the name), and the entry for the Catachan Command Squad, which is described with the following text:
"The Imperial Guard is a vast fighting formation and for its operations to go smoothly a substantial command structure is needed. The officers who lead Platoon Command Squads are charged with ensuring their Platoon fulfils the Company Commander's orders and gets the job done. Platoon Commanders are accompanied by a hand-picked team who help him fulfil his duties. The Command Squad coordinates ambushes, prioritises targets, positions kill-zones and leads the charge to destroy the enemy."

Does this imply that all Platoon Commanders are men?

robbienw wrote:We have the quote from RT stating they are men

Rogue Trader, famously published at a time when GW would never have used "men" as shorthand.

the quote from 30k where the Emperor states they are men

Which one?

the quote from the 8th edition codex that explicitly states their recruits are infant boys

Again, possibly an oversight, but sure, I'll acknowledge it.

a BL author stating he wasn't allowed to iclude a female one because they are male

That's not what it was at all.

ADB was told that he couldn't *because the miniatures were all male*. Not because "Custodes are male". There is a distinction to be made there.

an entirely male miniature line

We only have models of male Vindicare Assassins. Can only men be Vindicare Assassins? We only have models of male priests. Can women not be priests? We only have male Scions. Can Scions only be men? And only very recently have we been able to reliably and faithfully depict all-women Cadian units.

A miniature line isn't always the most accurate depiction of 40k.

and a whole book 60+ book series that ran for 80 years that hasn't featured or mention a single one amongst a host of named male Custodians.

Huh?? For 80 years? Which series is that?

That book series has also not named every Custodian. It's also never mentioned things like Ultramarines Nullificator Squads, or Aethon Pattern Sentinels, or countless other things. Does that mean those also don't exist?

Its a retcon, nothing more.

It *is* a retcon, yes. But it's only really a retcon of the 8th edition Codex, and of a scant few words in it. It's not a retcon of "a whole 60+ book series that ran for 80 years", or from some foundational text in Rogue Trader.

So, I think some perspective is in order here.

Charax wrote:
Seems like it's heavily paraphrasing the psychic mastery section of the Inquisition illustrated guide from black library (which is a terrible book)

It's not even a good paraphrase, human baseline is rho-pi, not just rho, and omega is just omega, there's no "omega minus" on the scale

I think it is combining several sources- Omega minus is from a different source and the 40k wikia looks to have assumed they are the same rank. Which they could be, but they could also be different, or one is a subrank of the other.

Or it’s just good old Imperial Efficiency!