Cardinal Fortis

Titles: Pilgrim Shepherd, Lord of the Dark Watch
Seat of Power: Pax Calixis (Imperial Cruiser)
Arch-Diocese: The Periphery and Halo Stars
Even after centuries of Imperial exploration and settlement,
much of the Calixis Sector remains a wild frontier. The sector
is also on the very edge of the Imperium and many of its
worlds sit precariously close to the halo rim. These untamed
areas however are of great importance to the Ministorum as
they represent the ongoing war of faith to reclaim lost worlds
and spread the light of the God-Emperor even further. Within
the Calixis Sector the stewardship of these regions, primarily
consisting of the Periphery and the near Halo Stars, falls to
Cardinal Fortis. Among the older cardinals, Fortis has for over
a century governed his diocese from a heavily converted Lunar
Class cruiser know as the Pax Calixis, hooked up to humming
machines and pumping tanks of fluid that keep his ancient
frame alive. Attended by an army of missionaries, confessors
and lay-priests, Fortis and his ship sail a slow circuit around
the rim of the sector, seeding worlds with the faithful and
bringing the word of the God-Emperor to the godless.
While his position is a vital one to the Ministorum and
his good work has brought millions of new followers to the
Imperial Creed, Fortis has little to do with the politics of the
Sector Synod, only making contact infrequently to petition for
more resources for his crusade. In recent times, however, the
Imperial expansion into the Koronus Expanse and the influx of
pilgrims toward that region has caused some friction between
Fortis and Kregory. Fortis maintains that as a new untapped area
of faith, and a region of the Halo Stars, all matters concerning
the Expanse should fall into his diocese. However the gateway
to the Expanse, Port Wander, can be found on the edge of
the Drusus Marches, Kregory’s diocese, and the Cardinal of
the Marches is loath to give up the stranglehold he has on
the wealth the port is producing for the church and the
power it affords his sub-sector. In a move to settle the
matter Fortis has been seeking aid from Ignato to go
to Port Wander himself and build a mighty shrine to
the God-Emperor for the pilgrims and missionaries
passing into the Expanse. He then intends
to have himself transplanted from the Pax Calixis into the shrine, effectively
taking up permanent residence in Port Wander and officially claiming it as part of his
diocese. This is a plan that Kregory would go to great
lengths to stop, should he learn of it---perhaps going
so far as to ensure that the Pax Calixis would never reach Port Wander...
Though he has
remained outside the
politics of the Sector
Synod, Fortis is far
from naive in Ministorum matters
within the sector. In fact Fortis has his
own share of powerful secrets, which if he chose, he could use to
increase his standing and influence within the Synod. Principal
among these is that he is one of the few members of the
Ministorum that knows the truth behind the Margin Crusade---that it is a lie. While the majority of the church believes that High Confessor Corvinus’ crusade into the Halo Stars is an ongoing
venture claiming new worlds and bringing in new wealth and
followers, the truth is that it was lost decades ago. Of course,
the resources, troops and other supplies which continue to pour
into the church under the holy writ of the Segmentum Synod
are still being used. Most find their way to another crusade, the
existence of which is a well kept secret, while some are
siphoned off by Fortis and others for their own
church campaigns. Understandably if the truth
about the Margin Crusade were to surface, the
Ministorum would stand to lose these resources
and possibly even the support of dozens of
worlds who have sent off their sons to
die in what they believed was an
Emperor-ordained war of
faith.