Adeptus Ministorum

The Adeptus Ministorum is not formally part of the Adeptus Terra. Rather it is a sister organization which works hand-in-glove with the servants of Earth. The Adeptus Ministorum derives its power and authority from the common belief in the Emperor’s divinity. Also known as the Ecclesiarchy, after its chief high priest, the Ecclesiarch, the Adeptus Ministorum is vast and powerful. Its duty is to guide and interpret the innumerable ways that humanity has found to worship the Emperor, shepherding the myriad worlds of man along the unsteady path that lies between heresy and true devotion. Whole worlds lie within its administration and on many others still they are the most powerful Imperial institution.
Like the Administratum, the Ecclesiarchy is a complex and byzantine organisation. A bewildering hierarchy of priests, confessors, cardinals, novices, clerics, bishops and missionaries all owe fealty to the Ecclesiarch in his palace on Earth. Just as varied are the various roles within the Ministorum, from wandering missionaries, to charismatic preachers and theosophical scholars. Two of the most famous institutions within the Adeptus Ministorum are the training orphanages of the Schola Progenium and the battle-sisters of the Adepta Sororitas.
==The Calixis Sector==
“I believe there can be no dispute that the Calixis Sector is the rightful domain of the God-Emperor; these are His worlds and His people. We are merely his voice and the chosen interpreters of His will; but make no mistake; the authority we command is in no way diminished by this, our humble role.”
–Arch-Cardinal Ignato in an address to the Lucid Court
From the moment Solomon Haarlock first set foot upon
the worlds of the Calyx Expanse, the Ministorum
has had a presence within the sector. From fledgling
settlements to sprawling hive worlds, the Ministorum makes
its presence felt wherever the Imperium’s shadow falls and is
as much a power within the sector as any other arm of the
Adepta Imperialis. In fact given the presence of Saint Drusus,
and the focus he draws to the Calixis Sector, on many worlds
the power and influence of the church far outweighs that of
either the Administratum or the direct control of Sector Lord Hax. More insidious still, the Ministorum has roots reaching
into almost every facet of the sector and agents, allies and
sympathizers in many of its most powerful organizations (a
degree of influence and favor rivalled only by the Holy Ordos
themselves). It is little wonder then that within the Calixis
Sector the leaders, interests, and rivals of the Ministorum have
a significant impact on the fate of its worlds and its people.
The Ministorum is a powerful force in the Calixis Sector. The area is sacred to Saint Drusus and is a destination for pilgrims from many sectors around, with many of its most notable places being religious in nature. Arch-Cardinal Ignato is energetic in keeping up the numbers of preachers and confessors active in the sector and these promulgators of the Imperial word are the most common adepts by far on most of the sector’s worlds.
Every sub-sector has their own Arch-Dioceses, ruled by a cardinal and these form the Sector Synod, headed by Ignato, which rules on spiritual matters affecting the Calixis Sector. Pious, Emperor-fearing citizens abound and pronouncements by Ignato or the Synod can be disseminated by the clergy and reach the ears of the average citizen far more effectively than through any other means. The majority of citizens perform some act of worship regularly, from trudging along to a dingy temple once a month to nightly prayers in a noble’s private chapel.
Most permanent places of worship are home to a member of the Ecclesiarchy, which means that the Ecclesiarchy’s adepts are numerous and strongly connected to the population in a way that no other adepts are. On worlds where adepts are lacking (such as Sepheris Secundus) much of the day-to-day preaching is done by lay clergy, pious individuals trained and deployed by Ecclesiarchy adepts to spread the word in places where even a devoted preacher baulks to tread. While there are few places in the Calixis Sector where the Emperor’s word is not preached, the scattered nature of the adepts and the use of lay clergy mean that strict dogma is not always observed.
Sometimes the teaching of the Imperial Creed can drift away from the Ecclesiarchical line. On Sepheris Secundus, for example, the barons and the queen are sometimes portrayed as sacred beings imbued with the Emperor’s power by lay preachers who grew up in the planet’s feudal system. On Iocanthos, mercenaries pay fealty to the Emperor as paymaster, while in Scintilla’s underhives, countless versions of the Emperor are worshipped, from a fearsome god of destruction appeased with murder to the spirit of the hives themselves. While the Imperial creed reaches everywhere in the Calixis Sector, in truth Ignato and the other cardinals of the Sector Synod often have to strive hard to maintain orthodoxy there.
Within the Calixis Sector, the Scintillan Cult is considered
to hold the greatest sway over the hearts and minds of the
people. This is not only because of its vast wealth and close
access to the governance of the sector, but also because its
many Chantries train and produce an army of confessors and
preachers, all faithful to its doctrines, who travel throughout
the sector to tend and shepherd the faithful. Historically these
men and women have been considerably active in admonishing
and sometimes crushing any opposition to their interpretation
of the Imperial Creed.
The Scintillan Cult is not without competition, however.
The firebrand oratory and crusading zeal of the Redemptionist
movement grows apace on several worlds, not least of all on
Scintilla itself. Meanwhile on many other worlds, local myths
and interpretations of the faith still hold sway. This holdover of
local beliefs is most particularly evident on the influential shrine
world of Maccabeus Quintus where the controlling ascetic
sect’s beliefs differ markedly in practice from their Scintillan
brethren. Thanks in part to distance and to the Maccabeans’
disinterest in “worldly” affairs beyond their immediate borders
(plus some powerful connections, including in the Ordo
Malleus), relations between Maccabeus and the Scintillan Cult
remain cool but civil, and no overt conflict of faith has broken
out... yet.
The Sector Synod and its cardinals are only a part of
the Ministorum’s presence within the Calixis Sector
and there are many other layers of leadership, synods
and cults stretching all the way down to the average Imperial
citizen. While not common, several other Calixian worlds
do have officials recognized by the Ministorum as cardinals.
Most shrine worlds for example are traditionally governed
by a cardinal; such as on the Piety of Seth where Cardinal Praetus Catullas Halaby also bears the mantle of planetary
governor. Each world is also often its own synod or cult; its
own microcosm of the Ministorum linked in to the greater
Ecclesiarchy and the Sector Synod by the cardinal of its Arch-Diocese. This is where the true power of the church lies and
where it deals with day-to-day issues; often without word
ever reaching the ears of Ignato and his council of cardinals.
For this reason, whenever a member of the Ecclesiarchy
visits a new world, it is tradition that they introduce
themselves to the governing Ministorum cult and its leading
officials---even if this only done through correspondence or
intermediaries and not face-to-face. This is an important act
within the Ministorum, as it is considered good form to defer
matters of local faith to the reigning hierophant, bishop or
cardinal and not overly meddle in their affairs. The theory
is that the church remains strong though the leadership of
its local priests and their knowledge and control over the
hearts and minds of their followers, and a System Synod
will always know best how to further the interests of the
Ministorum within its diocese. For the most part this concept,
coupled with the distance between worlds and sub-sectors,
has allowed the church to take a firm hold within the Calixis
Sector where the sole governance of a far away ruling body
would have only managed a weak grasp on distant worlds.
Of course, the strength of the System Synods and their
leadership is a double-edged sword. While on the one hand
it allows the Ministorum to dominate planets far beyond the
easy reach of the core worlds, it has also fostered some fiercely
independent splinter groups and divergent cults. This is largely
the cause of the situation on Maccabeus Quintus and why the
cult there has been allowed to flourish. If Ignato were to have
his way, the Sector Synod would have much more direct control
over the system cults and their leaders and a more active role
in determining policy and church procedure from the hives of
Scintilla all the way out to the battlefields of Protasia. In many
ways this matter is core to the conflict between Ignato and
Kregory, the reason Cardinal Cal Sutai Arran and the Periphery Church have gained
so many allies and why Cardinal Fortis enjoys such support
from worlds only nominally connected to the Imperium.
==Calixian Cults==
System Synods and the variety of the worlds and cultures
on which they thrive have given rise to a myriad of Imperial
Cults and variances on the Imperial Creed within the Calixis
Sector. This is not an unusual occurrence and one that the
Ministorum encourages and tolerates in equal measures to
foster the Cult of the God-Emperor in peoples and places
where it might not otherwise take root. While almost every
world within the Calixis Sector has a slight variance on the
Imperial Creed, there are several which stand out and have,
through the strength of their followers and the support of
their synods, spread out across the void.
*Drusians
*Sisters of the Void
*Vitrian Covenant
*Red Redemption
*Cult of the Emperor Revenant
These Calixian Cults are of course only a handful of those
recognized by the Ministorum. Added to these are many
other minor religious variations on the Imperial Faith (almost
as many as there are worlds), cults only tolerated but not fully
recognized (such as Children of Shade and Cloudspeakers of Clove) and also numerous Death Cults who practice murder
in the name of the God-Emperor (such as the Moritat and the
now proscribed Astral Knives). There are a myriad of monastic orders, including the scholarly
Codexarians of St Elo, who devote their entire lives to
creating beautifully illuminated versions of an unintelligible
local mistranslation of the works of Confessor Dolan
Chirosius. Also common are the Elanans, who paradoxically
honor their widely travelled and proselytizing patron saint
by walling themselves in narrow cells and never speaking to
anyone.
==Calixian Saints==
The Calixis Sector is full of saints, men and women who
have given their lives to the glory of the Emperor. Some
are very minor, only revered in a single city or town,
while some can be found wherever Imperial rule extends.
Large or small, saints form the human face of the Ministorum,
giving worshippers something to relate to and aspire toward.
Saints are also often associated with certain aspects and
particular causes, such as stellar travel or guilt. Some saints are
even more specialized, watching out for those that work with
ill-tempered Grox for example. This means, regardless of your
situation, there is always a saint watching over you and to
whom you can offer a prayer of protection.
The truly devout take no chances and festoon themselves with the symbols and
tokens of many saints. Saints also have a prominent place in
Imperial culture beyond their religious connotations. Their
names can be found on everything from worlds and stellar
craft to streets and children. Often something that is akin to
a saint’s cause bears their name, such as a warship called the
Saint Drusus (of which there are one hundred and thirteen so
named to date), so it might embody some of the fierceness of
its namesake. Taking all of this into account, saints form an
important part of a citizen’s life, as prolific and ever-present
as the Cult of the Emperor itself.
*Drusus the Warrior
*Vidicus the Forlorn
*Rybel Gorth the Watcher in the Dark
*Quivvar Nog of Fedrid
*Elana the Unshaken
==Holy Days==
Every world in the Imperium (and often nations and communities on that world) observes its own set of holidays and religious festivals
in the name of the Emperor. There are, however, a number of holidays common to many worlds in Calixis, though their time and the
exact details of their execution still vary from world to world.
Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension
This annual event is the most common festival held in the Emperor’s name. It celebrates the moment, ten thousand years ago, when He was raised to
the Golden Throne and made the transition to divinity. On many worlds this is a week-long event, with feasting, games and spectacles to honor the
Emperor. Often symbolic sacrifices are made in His name, such as the burning of books to offer their knowledge up to Him. It is also an auspicious
time to join people in wedlock or conceive children, leading to mass gatherings of citizens intent on one or both of these undertakings. It is also said
that during the Emperor’s Ascension, no false judgments can be made, making it impossible to overturn a ruling made during this time.
Not all worlds celebrate the Ascension with feasts and festivals. On some, especially primitive worlds, this holiday marks a time when
the Emperor looks down from His divine realm and remembers His mortal followers. It is at this time that those brave and bold enough
can earn a place at His side. Thus the Ascension becomes a bloody time when men and women fight and die in an effort to please the
Emperor, each trying to outdo the courage and skill of the others.
However it is celebrated, the Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension is the most notable Imperial holiday and the one that the majority of
Imperial civilians observe, even if they do so only to gain a brief respite from their daily drudgery.
Drusus Day
Drusus is the patron saint of the Calixis Sector and is venerated first among the saints on dozens of worlds. It is unsurprising, then, that
he has a day dedicated to his memory and his achievements. Celebrated at the turning of a planet’s cycle, when it takes the first day of
a new year, Drusus Day reminds people that “new beginnings” are the gift that Drusus brings. When he led his armies into the Calixis
Sector and drove out the xenos and rebels, he brought with him the gift of brotherhood and unification from Terra.
On this day, citizens, especially soldiers, renew their vows and oaths to the Golden Throne and all it stands for. Clerics too remind people of the saint’s sacrifice and courage by putting on retellings of the crusade. In these stories, depending where the tale is told, each world often plays up
its own importance, claiming that theirs was the first to be liberated or was the only one that rose up to aid the crusaders, or some equally
fanciful twist. Drusus Day is a popular time for thousands of pilgrims to embark upon retracing the steps of the warriors of old.
Festival of Saints
Most saints have their own holy days that are specific to them and their deeds (such as Drusus). However, the Festival of Saints provides a day for
all saints to be honored, as well as a time when new saints may be considered to join their ranks. This is especially important for very minor saints,
such as Yorgic Thrice-Branded or Ewerft the Handless, who have small followings and little power within the Ecclesiarchy. During this time, stories
are told and devout followers try and convert people by extolling the virtues and merits of their chosen saint. As a result, it can be a dangerous
(or at least frightening) time to go near to a shrine as citizens are accosted by frothing saint worshippers dressed in bizarre costumes and spouting
proverbs.
Causing an equally strong response is the chance of being raised to sainthood. While it is uncommon for anyone to be so bold as to try
and claim that they themselves should become a saint (though there are a few that have tried---some with surprisingly good cases), everyone seems
to know of someone who died serving the Emperor and thus deserves the eternal recognition of the Ecclesiarchy. As a result, clerics and priests are
subjected to long lines of supplicants and must listen to countless hours of prattle to then judge whether any are worthy of the greater attention of
the Ecclesiarchy. Needless to say, it almost never happens; the last saint raised in the Calixis Sector occurred some two centuries ago.
Emperor’s Gift
Every planet in the Imperium owes loyalty and gives tithe to the Emperor. Whether this tithe is collected once every solar cycle or once every
one hundred years, it is the first and most important responsibility that the Emperor demands of His subjects. Because of the importance
of a planet’s tithe, it has on many worlds become a sacred day known as the Emperor’s Gift. On this day when millions of tons of ore,
precious metals or foodstuff are borne skyward, citizens look up and give thanks to their contribution to the great work that is the Imperium.
It is also on this day that a world offers up newly raised Guard regiments, fresh-faced soldiers who leave their world forever to serve the
Emperor among the stars.
These men or women spend the day of the Gift enjoying themselves and are refused very little by those they leave
behind---in some places it is considered good luck to serve such soldiers before they depart. The Gift is also a time of fierce pride amongst
citizens toward their world, making it dangerous to be an off-worlder, for slandering the name of a planet during the time of the Gift is
almost guaranteed to start a fight. Some have speculated that it was, in fact, not the Ecclesiarchy but the Administratum that sanctioned this
holiday. After all, how else could you hope to strip a planet of its wealth and leave it feeling good about it?
The Burning of Sins
Sin is a concept propagated by the Ministorum on every world it touches. It is the unconscious debt all citizens owe to the Emperor for
the improper way in which they live their lives. Because most people feel bad about themselves most of the time, it is not hard for the
Ministorum to convince them that they are sinners, and that they must somehow make amends. This was no doubt the logic behind the
holiday known as the Burning of Sins. At this time people are allowed to absolve themselves of their wrong doings and transgressions
against the Ecclesiarchy through a symbolic burning of their sins.
Great bonfires are built before cathedrals and shrines, and citizens
gather, clutching their sins written onto paper. Those who are brave enough can then come forward and let the presiding cleric or priest
read aloud the sin and decide whether or not to grant forgiveness. If he does so, the sin is thrown into the fire and the citizen receives
a blessing and permission to leave. If however, the sin is too great for such a simple “fix”, then the citizen has a choice: they may either
tithe the sin’s monetary worth to the Ecclesiarchy, (a sum decided on by the cleric), or leap into the flames themselves.
==Adepts, Clerics and Missionaries==
In the shadow of the Synods and the cardinals’ politicking,
legions of adepts, clerics, missionaries, and other Ministorum
servants spread the faith and defend it from the core worlds to
the far flung edges of the sector. These men and women serve
as the front line of the Ministorum, guiding the followers of
the God-Emperor in their day-to-day prayers and observances.
Even on the most established worlds, such as Scintilla where
the Tarsine Synod dominates the local populace, it is these
lesser Ministorum functionaries which bring the word of the
Imperial Creed to the people. Given the number of these
Ecclesiarchy personnel, it is difficult to accurately understand
or map the church’s structure beyond the ranks of its upper
leadership, and in many ways this is how the Ministorum
prefers it: promoting the concept that the Emperor and his
followers are everyone and everywhere; inextricably woven
into the very fabric of Imperial society.
To a cleric or missionary in such a system, it is as important to
have unwavering faith in the God-Emperor as it is to be faithful
to one’s home world, cult or System Synod. While all followers
of the God-Emperor are in theory connected by their faith, it
is an undeniable truth that politics often trumps religion when
it comes to the interests of star systems or sub-sectors. Acolytes
with connections to the church will therefore usually trace their
links back to the single world or synod where they have allies
or where their training in the Ministorum was conducted. Only
the most well travelled and influential of individuals can count
on the unconditional aid of the church beyond these local
boundaries, and even then they call not on the Ministorum as
a single unified entity but rather as a collection of fragmented
allies drawn from scores of cults, synods and scattered worlds.
Not all arms of the Ecclesiarchy, however, are so firmly
rooted on individual worlds or in solitary systems. This is
especially true of two such groups of Ministorum servants
within the Calixis Sector: the Red Redemption and the
Mendicantine Fraters. Free of the dominion of the System
Synods, both of these groups can be found on worlds across
the sector, championing the cause of the Imperial Creed and
actively pursing what they view as the interests of the God-Emperor. When mixing with the common citizens, outside of
spires and planetary palaces, travelers will certainly see both of
these cults in action; and should they cross the Ministorum it
is likely that these are among the first cults to respond to such
transgressions. The Redemption especially is quick to react to
threats to the Imperial Creed, usually with extreme violence.
==Noble Houses and Ministorum==
On many worlds, the power and influence of the noble houses
are tied directly into that of the church. This relationship
is one that dates back to the founding of most worlds
where the families that would one day rise up to be called
nobles brought with them the Imperial Creed. In fact it is
a tradition on many worlds that the second born son of a
noble family be given up to the Ministorum for training as a
cleric or confessor as part of an ancient pact that ensures good
relations between the nobles and the Ecclesiarchy. A variation
on this practice is known as the Chance of Faith, which waits
for children to reach their naming age before setting them a
religious task such as finding the image of Saint Drusus in a
stone wall or spending a night in an ancestral tomb to see if
they dream about the Emperor. If they pass, then the Emperor
has called them and they are sent off to be trained by the
church. Of course, should the child get wind of the purpose
of the test, most conspire to ‘fail’ in favor of a life of noble
decadence rather than one of religion. On some worlds, such
as Tephaine, the links between Ministorum and the nobility
are almost indistinguishable, with siblings sharing the power
of both church and state between them. On others, such as
Malfi, the roles of noble and priest are kept strictly separate.
Regardless of local politics and the feelings of individual
nobles, the fact remains that the noble houses rely on the
Ministorum, as much as they chafe against its strictures, as an
inviolate part of their society.
==Pilgrim Coin and Church Tithes==
While the Administratum is directly responsible for the
planetary tithes that keep the Imperium running, the
Ministorum also draws massive amounts of revenue for itself
from the followers of the Imperial cults and the System
Synods, as well as the thriving pilgrim trails that crisscross
the sector. Presented to local governance and Imperial
authority as ‘donations,’ much of this vast amount of income
slips quietly through the fingers of Sector Lord Marius Hax,
a situation which he has tried (without success) to remedy.
For the most part, tradition and its own measure of political
power protects the Ministorum from taxation and regulation
by the Administratum, but it is a complex subject at best (as
are most things that include tax and the Administratum in
the same sentence) riddled with loopholes and exceptions. So
should an Acolyte dig deep enough, or become embroiled
in such matters, he would discover that behind the hunt
for heretics, the expansion of the Imperium and the war
to protect the God-Emperor’s followers, another silent war
is being waged between millions of church scribes and
countless Administratum adepts as they fight a
paper battle for every Throne the Ministorum
makes.
The followers of almost every cult
within the Calixis Sector contribute to
the wealth of the church in some way.
Cynical Acolytes may observe that
this could be one of the main driving
forces behind the Ministorum’s efforts
to recruit more followers, beyond
serving the glory of the God-Emperor.
Regardless of motive, however, tithes
are the key source of income for
local churches which seldom see
much support from beyond the
limits of their System Synod.
Such cults are constantly trying
to spread their influence so as to
attract more wealth and power to
themselves; such a practice is even
encouraged by the Sector Synod,
while they may preach unity, prefer
strong planetary cults and churches which
can stand on their own without external
support. As they say, “the Emperor helps
those who help themselves,” a truism
Arch-Cardinal Ignato himself likes to
cite. One of the most notable results of
this financial independence is on the
hive world of Hredrin in the Josian Reach where the Cult of the Divine Saviour preach tithing to the God-Emperor as both a mark of gratitude
for success and a sacrifice to ward off
misfortune. Also known as the Tithe of Weal and Woe it has created a generation
of faithful citizens intent on living a life not excessively
good or excessively bad, lest they become impoverished by
donations---and then have to give even more coin to repent
for their misfortune!
In addition to tithing and donation, the other (possibly
larger) source of church coin comes from pilgrims. The
Pilgrim Paths crisscross the sector from the core worlds to the
edge of the Halo Stars and back again. Every day millions and
millions of pilgrims come from light years away to ply these
trails, with some even travelling from distant segmentums on
holy journeys which will take a lifetime to complete. The
money raised from these pilgrims as they pay to visit holy sites,
travel to shrine worlds or view sacred relics is vast and unlike
local tithes very difficult to keep track of. Ostensibly Ignato
and the Sector Synod claim all income from pilgrims within
the Calixis Sector for the Calixian Ministorum. However
Ignato knows that laying claim to coin and collecting it are
two very different things and the Sector Synod probably only
ever sees less than a third of the revenue the pilgrims provide.
The rest ends up in the hands of the shrine worlds, cults
like the Mendicantine Fraters or Sisters of the Void,
and the numerous con men, charlatans and vagabonds who
follow the pilgrims from one world
to the next like vultures stalking their
prey. To combat this problem, Ignato
recently commissioned the formation of
the Humble Watch, clerics tasked with
walking the pilgrim trails (like the
Footsteps of Drusus or travelling aboard
the Misericord) and hunting out those
that would rob the church of its rightful share.
==In the Name of the Saint==
Both saints and shrine worlds
are a key part of the Calixis
Sector and do much to raise the
church’s profile in people’s minds.
As a result of the importance of
these people and places it is little
wonder that the Ministorum goes
to great lengths to safeguard
their relics and memory from those that
would disgrace or defile them. Throughout
the sector, Reliquarians, clerics tasked with
safeguarding, recovering, and verifying relics
and saints, travel between worlds to deal with
new discoveries. They are few in number,
however, and the claims of divine objects
and sacred places are very numerous, so local
priests and worshippers may wait years or even
decades until a Reliquarian arrives to inspect
their sacred items and pass their findings on
to the Sector Synod for careful dissection and
contemplation (usually taking many more years
and often resulting in the church expressing no
interest in the trinket, person or place). This is only a part of
their purpose, however, and the majority of their time is spent
chasing rumors of true relics or hunting out the true location
of miraculous events or the resting place of blessed individuals.
In these matters the Reliquarians are given a very broad
mandate by the church and the ability to call on resources from
local synods at a moments notice if they catch the sent of a
relic or saint. For their part the System Synods are usually more
than happy to help, aware of the importance of the work of the
Reliquarians---not to mention the revenue the discovery of a
local relic could bring. On occasion a Reliquarian may also fall
in with the Inquisition, usually members of the Ordo Hereticus,
as their paths will cross on occasion when hunting down such
lost objects. Such alliances are uneasy at best, however, as the
church and the Inquisition pursue such objects for very different
reasons. This means that should the Reliquarian actually
find the relic he is seeking he will need to act quickly lest it
disappear into the lightless vaults of the Calixian Conclave and
slip beyond the reach of the church forever.
==War of the Empty Cathedrals==
It is no secret that the church has little love for the Adeptus
Mechanicus and their worship of the Omnissiah. While many
accept that this is merely another cult and variation on the
Imperial Creed, the Ministorum in general finds the Mechanicus’
practices distasteful and an affront to the more traditional
methods of revering the God-Emperor. Of course as an astute
Acolyte may discern, this as all just smoke and mirrors, for the real
friction between the Ministorum and the Adeptus Mechanicus is
one revolving around the influence of Sector Lord Marius Hax,
the Calixian Noble Houses and the Planetary Governors. The
problem is part of what has become know as the War of the
Empty Cathedrals, and is without a doubt the most significant
conflict between the two organizations within the sector.
The root of the issue comes from the fact that the church,
under the auspice of the God-Emperor, lays claim to every
world in the Calixis Sector. The logic goes that if it is part
of the Imperium then it belongs to the Emperor, and if it
belongs to the Emperor then it is part of the Ministorum’s
interests and area of operations. Of course numerous worlds
and systems within the sector have little or no real church
presence on them; because they have been gifted to the
Adeptus Mechanicus by the Sector Lord and turned into forge
worlds. These are classified by the Ecclesiarchy as ‘Empty
Cathedrals’ or worlds waiting for the presence of the church
to bring them wholly into the light of the Emperor. The most
notable of these worlds is the Lathe system in the Golgenna
Reach, a center of the Mechanics’ power within the sector.
During the expansion of the Imperium into the Calixis
Sector and bloody years of the Angevin Crusade, the church set
up a mission within the system. The mission was then expected
to grow into the roots of a strong Ministorum presence, as it
has on countless other worlds, and weave them into the fabric
of the greater church. However the grant of the system by
Drusus in 380.M39 to the Adeptus Mechanicus effectively
wiped away all Ecclesiarchy control in one fell swoop. Never
content to see its power contested, and not one to forget, the
church has waged a quiet war for influence in the system ever
since, one that has endured for more than two millennia. Rarely,
however, does the conflict turn into open violence between the
two mighty factions. Instead, it is mostly played out as a war of
influence between Ignato and his opposite number on Scintilla,
Magos Luol Rho, for the ear and favor of the Sector Lord. As
unlikely as it seems that the Ministorum will ever again set foot
in any great numbers on the worlds of the Lathe system, their
faith and fervor means that they will never stop trying.
==Expansion and the Margin Crusade==
Along the edge of the Calixis Sector, the Imperium wages war
against the dark to push back its borders and reclaim the worlds
of man for the Emperor. Alongside crusading soldiers, brave
pilgrims and the legendary Rogue Traders, the missionaries
and clerics of the Ministorum are at the forefront of this
expansion. Nominally occurring all along the edges of the
sector, as well as into the numerous uncharted regions within
it, this expansion is mostly focused within the Periphery and
the nearby Koronus Expanse, the latter connected to the sector
via the warp gate at Port Wander. Cardinal Fortis oversees
much of these efforts, especially within the Periphery where
his clerics, confessors and missionaries make the perilous
journey out beyond the dead worlds of Sleef and into the
darkness of the spinward rim. He has also however recently
taken a keen interest in some of the lost human worlds of
the Expanse, such as those recently charted within the aptly
named Heathen Stars and has petitioned the Sector Synod for
more resources to try and reclaim these wayward planets in
the name of the God-Emperor.
Fortis is of course not the only Cardinal to take an interest
in the expansion of the Ministorum to the Halo Stars. Kregory,
in his efforts to draw as much power to himself as possible
and increase his standing with the church, has become a
close ally of the Rogue Trader Jonquin Saul. A financial and
trading dynasty, the Saul family has seen its fortunes rise of
late with the support of the Cardinal of the Drusian Arch-Diocese at its back and has launched several expeditions into
the Expanse. The price of such an alliance however may be
more than Jonquin has bargained for and though to date
Kregory’s requests have been relatively reasonable (investigate
a star here, take on board a cleric there, leave these sealed
letters at your ports of call) it seems likely that the time is fast
approaching when the cardinal will ask for something more,
something Jonquin may have a hard time refusing.
While the Ministorum constantly picks at the darkness
surrounding the Imperium, from time to time it also embarks
on grand crusades, hurling men and ships into the void to
carve out new realms in fire and blood. Since the creation
of the Calixis Sector, the Ministorum have initiated and
sanctioned hundreds of crusades down the centuries from
minor expeditions to reclaim lost territory to massive
undertakings intended to forge whole new sectors in their
wake. Perhaps one of the largest and most recent of these has
been the Margin Crusade. Led by High Confessor Corvinus,
it embarked in the year 784.M41 across the Periphery and
into the darkness of the galactic north; a flotilla of dozens
of cruisers and millions of troops. In the three decades since,
dozens more ships and millions more troops have been raised
in the name of the crusade and sent off into the void never to
return. What only a handful of the highest ranking members
of the Sector Synod know however is that Corvinus is dead,
slain by alien hands on a distant world and his crusade
smashed to bloody wreckage amongst the stars.
Despite this however the Ministorum continues to fabricate
news of the crusade’s success and to draw fresh troops and
vessels from the compliant worlds of the sector. Some of these
the church uses for itself (outside the sector of course), the
majority however find their way to other fronts far from the light
of their home stars. The church finds having an active crusade
useful in more ways than one. Quite apart from the resources
it generates, it allows them to draw attention away from more
local problems and the concerns of the System Synods and
planetary governance. So as long as it serves their purpose the
Margin Crusade will continue to exist, toppling fictitious alien
empires and reclaiming distant worlds for the Imperium.
==War with the Faithless==
The church also spends a great deal of time and effort hunting
down the faithless and those that have turned from the light
of the God-Emperor. Not to be confused with the ceaseless
hunt for heresy and heretics by both the Ministorum and the
Ordo Herectius, the faithless are those that were once devout
members of the church and have since betrayed it. While it
is true many of these faithless are also demented heretics, the
church takes a personal interest in their recovery and repentance
as their actions are seen as a slight against the Ministorum and
the Imperial Creed itself. The list of the faithless is long indeed
and includes numerous names such as the Apostate Bishop Saren, architect of the Burning Heresy; Cleric Tablor Zul, once
a missionary and now self-proclaimed king of the moon Zul’s Landing; and Confessor Elye the Traitor, who sided with the
Golden Army of Var during the opening days of the Protasian conflict. No misdeed, however, is too large or too small for the
church to overlook or ignore and part of the Sector Synod’s
task is approving names to add to the growing list marking
them forever with the stamp of the unrepentant.
The most significant example of this war with the faithless
exists on Protasia, a world in the Drusus Marches where an
ongoing Imperial military campaign is trying to reclaim
the world from separatist forces. Once a devout planet, the
Ministorum enjoyed a strong presence on Protasia and holy
wonders such as the Thirty-Two Hallowed Steps and the
Golden Army of Var drew pilgrims from across the sector.
However in the wake of the Foulmind Heresy and the
nightmare of the Hundredfold Host, the church on Protasia
changed. While records remain unclear, it is believed that the
leader of the Protasian Synod, Arch-Bishop Galarphan, or at
least something wearing his skin, was responsible for this first
great schism and the first seeds of the separatist movement
which would grow and thrive under his watchful eye. At first
the Sector Synod was not overly concerned with the rise of
new cults and the disappearance of a few pilgrims and clerics;
it was only later when human sacrifices and dark rituals were
uncovered did it discover just how rotten the core of the
Protasian Synod had become.
Now Ignato sees the strife engulfing this world as the
personal business of the church and has caused both Cardinal
Kregory and Sector Lord Marius Hax great pains as he
meddles in their efforts to pacify the world. Ignato believes
that somewhere on Protasia the Arch-Bishop Galarphan still
lives, directing his splinter faith and fuelling the moral and
determination of the separatists, and the Arch-Cardinal would
like nothing more than to bring him back to Scintilla in chains
to meet the just and righteous retribution of the God-Emperor.
==Unique Equipment==
Mefonte’s Orthodoxy
A tome or data-slate containing a thrice-blessed collection
of catechisms, castigations, and psalms first assembled by
Pius Mefonte in the 4th century M41. These are some of the
best-known verses of the Calixian Ministorum, and the work
itself---ornamented, gilded, and set with flowing pennons of
scripture—is a sign that he who owns it is holy and well-versed
in the God-Emperor’s teachings. It grants a +10 bonus
to Charm Tests involving religious oratory or inspiration and
an Imperial audience.
Weight 2kg, Scarce