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So, something I've been wondering for a bit now. We've got both the Sisters of Silence and the Distaff as all female groups of psychic blanks, and the Culexus Assassins that are a mix of both genders. It seems like there is a "large" population of male blanks that are unaccounted for, or do they simply not exist?

Canonically, I can only thing of Jurgen from the Cain books and potentially Jason Macabee from Dark Crusade, (though I'm not sure if he's still cannon or not since the Necron Pariah's got removed) as male blanks from cannon.

I always thought it was weird that Astartes didn't try to train blanks, as they would be just as valuable to an organization like that as a Librarian would, but I don't know of a single time where that has been the case. Are they just not available to be taken through the process?

Given the size of the Sisters of Silence and how relatively easily Bequin managed to create the Distaff in only a few centuries, there should be a considerable number of male blanks out there unaccounted for. Does anyone know if there is a canonical explanation for that?

They die. Like not even joking, most blanks don't make it to a middle age let alone a ripe one because everyone instinctually hates them because they vibe really wrong.

The Sisters actively recruit so that's why they can keep their numbers up and presumably so did Bequin.

If nobody is looking for the other Blanks, they won't get found.

The Culexus Temple is also an Assassin Temple.

Those blanks, male or female, sent on those Black Ships have a rough ride. It’s said one in ten survive the transportation, as the candidates are forced to fight for their survival.

The survivors are then divvied up among the Temples.

Given Blanks draw the ire of regular humans? I’d imagine their survival chances are markedly lower, as they’re natural if largely irrational targets.

On the Sisters of Silence? I’ve long speculated they’re not naturally occurring. Not only do they have a genuinely remarkable number of Blanks in one place? That they’re also all female is suspicious.

I reckon, but of course cannot prove or cite any specific background, that they’re somehow manufactured. Straight up Cloning is possible. And since we know The Kin of the Leagues of Votann are designed with “hardened souls” during the Cloneskein process, I see no reason that couldn’t be Turned Up To Eleven, Or Even Twelfty, using the same technology. And, whether by limitation of the technology, limitation of the understanding of the technology, or a deliberate choice since turned ritualistic application, they only turn out female Blanks.

Don't forget, blanks are also used in the most powerful weapon available. They drive the Psi-Titan.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Don't forget, blanks are also used in the most powerful weapon available. They drive the Psi-Titan.

Some drive it, some are consumed like literal shells whenever it does some (anti)-psy-ing, and presumably others are ground up into axle grease because hey, who needs any sort of efficiency in the Imperium anyway. But jokes aside, it stands to reason that a lot of blanks are consumed in the construction of these things in one way or the other, both in the literal building of the Engine and especially its more esoteric armaments, as well as in the process of finding the probably vanishingly small overlap of the population that is both a blank and capable of meshing with a Warlord-class titan at princeps level. That ought to account for a lot of blanks, although i'm pretty sure that the Collegia are not male-exclusive at least in recent fluff. That being said, the Psi-Titan is just not widespread enough to impact numbers on a galactic scale, as (again iirc) there are like a grand total of a couple of dozens of them, only the Emperor himself is allowed to order the construction and/or use of them, and they're basically only in actual operation because they loopholed themselves out of that conundrum by interpreting the last official command they were given really widely (it went like "Go forth and destroy all the foes arrayed here against us, employ whatever is necessary, and since enough of these foes made it out of Terra technically of course this means you can go far and wide in the search for Bob, the last Chaos Marine you did not tick off of your list yet).

I thought Grey Knights had a reasonable proportion of blanks a one point. They were either super level playmate or true blanks. Did that get retconned, or did I dream it?

That I’ve no idea on!

But also? I’m wondering, how, given the untold trillions of Smelly Hoomans exist in 40K, and how rare it is for a Blank to live terribly long before someone stoves their head in?]

Are there even enough for a statistically significant study?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
That I’ve no idea on!

But also? I’m wondering, how, given the untold trillions of Smelly Hoomans exist in 40K, and how rare it is for a Blank to live terribly long before someone stoves their head in?]

Are there even enough for a statistically significant study?

I think it's more of a general uneasiness and weariness than active disdain or a flight/flight thing for anyone who's not a psyker. I mean, given Bequin's line of work before Eisenhorn picked her up, it certainly wasn't completely off-putting.

You're point about lifespan is also why I think it's odd that there are no marines as blanks. Since their training picks up at such a young age, it's likely the chapter would get to them before the Black Ships, or anyone else getting overly stabby.

And same blanks live long and fruitful lives saving the life of a certain Commissar over and over and over and over again.

 Tawnis wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
That I’ve no idea on!

But also? I’m wondering, how, given the untold trillions of Smelly Hoomans exist in 40K, and how rare it is for a Blank to live terribly long before someone stoves their head in?]

Are there even enough for a statistically significant study?

I think it's more of a general uneasiness and weariness than active disdain or a flight/flight thing for anyone who's not a psyker. I mean, given Bequin's line of work before Eisenhorn picked her up, it certainly wasn't completely off-putting.

You're point about lifespan is also why I think it's odd that there are no marines as blanks. Since their training picks up at such a young age, it's likely the chapter would get to them before the Black Ships, or anyone else getting overly stabby.

Given part of the Astartes conversion process is psychic indoctrination? One assumes Blanks aren’t accepted as candidates.

I dare say there may be agreements that any found are handed over to a more requiring branch of the Imperium.

Hypno-indoctrination isn't psychic, it's just phycological. No wizards are involved in the process just good old MK Ultra Extreme Edition brutality.

It’s both. Hypnotic and Psychic conditioning. Mostly to get the brain playing happily with its new organs on the instinctual level. But also to ensure loyalty.

Any evidence to support that?

Every example of it in novels and in the Siege of Cthonia rulebook has it as a good old fashioned brainwashing device (style may vary) and it's literally just burning information relevant to being an Astartes into an Aspirants brain.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Tawnis wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
That I’ve no idea on!

But also? I’m wondering, how, given the untold trillions of Smelly Hoomans exist in 40K, and how rare it is for a Blank to live terribly long before someone stoves their head in?]

Are there even enough for a statistically significant study?

I think it's more of a general uneasiness and weariness than active disdain or a flight/flight thing for anyone who's not a psyker. I mean, given Bequin's line of work before Eisenhorn picked her up, it certainly wasn't completely off-putting.

You're point about lifespan is also why I think it's odd that there are no marines as blanks. Since their training picks up at such a young age, it's likely the chapter would get to them before the Black Ships, or anyone else getting overly stabby.

Given part of the Astartes conversion process is psychic indoctrination? One assumes Blanks aren’t accepted as candidates.

I dare say there may be agreements that any found are handed over to a more requiring branch of the Imperium.

Ohhh... that's a good point. I'd forgotten about that.

About Marine blanks:

The fact that blanks radiate bad vibes makes them poorly suited for well ordered teams. You want the squad to operate like one seamless unit, every brother covering and coordinating with each other flawlessly.

Which is hard to do when nobody feels comfortable around Brother Blank.

That said, I could see marines finding a spot for them. Probably under the auspices of the chaplaincy. Trained up as lone wolf psychic killers (Ques que c’est). Sort of like the Justiciars. Chapters like the Black Templars would be all over that.

If they could get past the “nobody likes you” part.

 Gert wrote:
Hypno-indoctrination isn't psychic, it's just phycological. No wizards are involved in the process just good old MK Ultra Extreme Edition brutality.

Was just coming in to say this. AFAIK, hypno-indoctrination is like a science fiction version of the old idea of hypnopedia.

Been trying to find a source, and I think I’ve got myself confused. Standard psycho-indoctrination is indeed not psychic. Where I think I’ve got my wires crossed is the Chapter’s Librarians screening aspirants for psychic talent.

Is there not a blank Grey Knight in one of the novels?


Presumably, given how rare blanks are, the other groups which are hunting for them, and how exceptional you need to be to become a Marine aspirant, the chances of someone being both a blank and good enough to become a Marine is just astronomically low.


GW cared so much about female representation that they just never bothered to expand upon the Sisters of Silence background at all (why would you care - they're not roided out super soldiers?) They were clearly able to recruit relatively large numbers, from across a wide range of worlds and cultures, without a centralised control; and could afford to only recruit half or less of the blanks they encountered, but how does that work? Who cares!

Feel like a Blank Grey Knight defeats the purpose of being a Grey Knight.

 Gert wrote:
Feel like a Blank Grey Knight defeats the purpose of being a Grey Knight.

Agree.

The whole thing with the GKs is that they are, as a chapter, 100% psychers.

I could see a blank in normal marines. It’s a stretch, but could work.

Non-psychics just catch bad vibes for standing next to a blank. Uncomfortable, but not dangerous or debilitating. But psychers? You powers get messed with. And that’s a non-starter.

I could see the GK’s keeping a few locked up in stasis, as living weapons. But as battle brothers? Seems to go against their core identity.

Not saying it’s not cannon somewhere, but I’d just roll my eyes reading it if that’s the case.

I disagree. The point behind the Grey Knights is to combat daemons. As is pointed out at length in the Cain books amongst others, the most effective way to combat daemons is by blocking their link to the warp, rather than trying to fight fire with fire.

The original compilation text doesn’t go so far as to mention blanks, but it’s pretty clear that not all GKs are psykers. The squad as a gestalt is, but not necessarily each individual.

The Blank GK aren’t line battle brothers but rather the caretakers of their dead.

Another thought on Astartes and Blanks?

We probably should remember that Astartes tend to recruit from world’s with harsh environments. Not necessarily Death Worlds, but also Primitive and Medieval Worlds. Not only do such worlds tend to produce necessarily hardy stock, but also tend toward a well established Warrior Culture. Not exclusively of course, but certainly by preference.

How long do you think a Blank would survive in such a, shall we say robust society? If a child is known to be a right spooky-tooth that upsets the Cattle Equivalent and is blamed for souring the Milk Equivalent? They’re probably not going to be simply banished, are they?

The same is kind of true of Psykers, but a Psyker’s nature generally doesn’t manifest until puberty. A Blank? It’s from the get go. Heck, I even wonder if the mother has ill will to a Blank child during pregnancy.

So whilst a child coming into psychic powers would probably be rounded up and killed, or sent off on a Black Ship if one is in the vicinity? It’s not for some years, as it takes time for their powers to manifest. A Blank is likely facing entirely irrational hostile reactions from birth.

 Flinty wrote:
I disagree. The point behind the Grey Knights is to combat daemons. As is pointed out at length in the Cain books amongst others, the most effective way to combat daemons is by blocking their link to the warp, rather than trying to fight fire with fire.

The original compilation text doesn’t go so far as to mention blanks, but it’s pretty clear that not all GKs are psykers. The squad as a gestalt is, but not necessarily each individual.

Spoiler:

In the Custodes books by Chris Wraight, the Custode Valerian makes the comment that the GKs don't realize that their anger towards the Khorne daemons are actually fueling the daemons and making them stronger.

 Nevelon wrote:
About Marine blanks:

The fact that blanks radiate bad vibes makes them poorly suited for well ordered teams. You want the squad to operate like one seamless unit, every brother covering and coordinating with each other flawlessly.

Which is hard to do when nobody feels comfortable around Brother Blank.

That said, I could see marines finding a spot for them. Probably under the auspices of the chaplaincy. Trained up as lone wolf psychic killers (Ques que c’est). Sort of like the Justiciars. Chapters like the Black Templars would be all over that.

If they could get past the “nobody likes you” part.

Also, perhaps for specific chapters. That whole shtick sounds very Raven Guard. Blanks would make great infiltrators / assassins.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Those blanks, male or female, sent on those Black Ships have a rough ride. It’s said one in ten survive the transportation, as the candidates are forced to fight for their survival.

What??? Why would they do that? This is just grimdumb. Blanks are already rare and should not be wasted on some idiotic survival-of-the-fittest BS.

On the Sisters of Silence? I’ve long speculated they’re not naturally occurring. Not only do they have a genuinely remarkable number of Blanks in one place? That they’re also all female is suspicious.

Oh, that's interesting. Is the pariah gene still canon? Even if not, it's still possible that blankness can be "cultivated" in certain conditions. Kids born and bred among blanks might grow up to be blanks too, but by virtue of their Warp-shielded environment rather than their genes.

Relatedly, it's mentioned in a previous Drukhari codex that Asdrubael Vect has captured a large number of blanks from realspace and locked them in cages as a living barrier to keep some kind of Warp chasm from expanding and swallowing the rest of Commorragh. If anyone has both the know-how and a strong incentive to figure out how to clone or breed blanks, it's the Drukhari.

 Gert wrote:
They die. Like not even joking, most blanks don't make it to a middle age let alone a ripe one because everyone instinctually hates them because they vibe really wrong.

I wonder if this wrongness is felt less keenly by non-psychic races? For example, on a human world that has become part of the T'au empire, a blank who has been rejected by their human family might find acceptance among the T'au. I'm aware that T'au are not blanks themselves (it's more that they're psychically inert, while blanks have negative psychic energy), but there's still less of a gap.

Admittedly, a human blank born among the Guevesa is a very specific set of circumstances that cannot possibly happen on a large scale, though it might serve as the backstory of a novel character.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
In the Custodes books by Chris Wraight, the Custode Valerian makes the comment that the GKs don't realize that their anger towards the Khorne daemons are actually fueling the daemons and making them stronger.

Hence why the best way to deal with Khornates is artillery or orbital bombardments. Cold, dispassionate annihilation from several kilometers away.

.

Which is why they’re in demand with the Culexus Temple.