Drill Abbot

“No no no! By the Throne, boy, how many times? Depress the loading catch before removing the drum feed, not while removing the drum feed! You’ll jam the weapon! (smack) Oh stop bawling, child. You’re ten years old, you should have learned basic autogun procedures by now. Fifty press ups and fifty Pax Imperiums. And certainly there will be no dinner.”
–Drill Abbot Kross Vorgt
Drill Abbots are decorated veterans of the Imperium’s
wars who tirelessly work at converting the orphans of
martyred Imperial servants into driven and dedicated
fanatics prepared for the trials of Imperial life.
The Imperium has many layers of government, but
those who rise to the top tend to be the survivors of the
Schola Progenium, a brutally effective institution which
every year produces untold numbers of planetary governors,
Commissars, Adeptus Arbites, Navy officers, Storm Troopers
and Inquisitors. Such prodigies
require tutors capable of driving
home hard lessons and able to
instil discipline into the souls of
the scared and lonely young.
The Drill Abbots are
technically full preachers of the
Ecclesiarchy, but are excused from a preacher’s
normal duties of ministering to the faithful in
favor of a more specialized role in teaching the
future leaders and special forces of the Imperium.
This sacred duty is fulfilled through the focused
application of devotional teachings, exercise
and weapons training. They stalk the hallways
of the Schola, striking the fear of the Emperor
into the hearts of youths who one day shall have
the power of life and death over millions. Even the
most ruthless Lord Inquisitor may still, centuries
later, remember his time in the Schola Progenium
with a mixture of fear and awe due to the work of
these fearsome individuals.
Drill Abbots come from a wide variety of
backgrounds, but most have served at least half their
lives in one branch or another of the Imperial military.
They have seen first hand the enemies of the Imperium,
and are anxious to impress upon their young charges
the absolute necessity of faith in the Emperor and skill at
arms. They are charismatic and inspiring, caring in their
own harsh way, and famed for their unbending stubbornness
and strength of will. They seek to maintain their fighting
edge throughout their lives, and remain fierce and skilled
combatants and warriors.
Many Drill Abbots forge lifelong bonds of mutual respect
with the Progena in their care, which can result in useful
contacts years later with some of the most senior figures in
the Sector. Indeed, it is not unknown for Inquisitors to recruit
their old tutors for their retinues, as a sign of the tremendous
debt they owe for the gift of the light of the Emperor.
After serving so long within the Schola Progenium, some
Drill Abbots find it difficult to return to active duty or to be
drafted to an Acolyte cell. While these men serve the God-
Emperor to the best of their ability, it is often a surprise when
their commands are not met with cowering obedience.
So harsh are many of the methods Drill Abbots employ
that many students fear for their lives. The more fearsome
Drill Abbots have been known to employ branding, freezing
cold and sleep depravation to motivate their charges, which
is the source of the understandable terror that some Progena
feel. This fear is not typically necessary, however, as Drill
Abbots wish to prepare them for service to the God-Emperor
and it is well known that service only ends in death.
Regardless of their past, Drill Abbots are well known
for their uncompromising and stubborn natures. Coupled
with their faith in the God-Emperor of mankind they have
considerable martial prowess and the respect of even the most
season guardsman. A Drill Abbot has suffered and knows how
to administer it in turn; they are not people to be trifled with.
==Alternate Career Rank==
A Drill Abbot is typically an experienced Imperial Guardsman
who is ordained as an Abbot by the Adeptus Ministorum. They
are drawn from decorated NCOs of the Imperium’s military, as
such men and women already have the experience and skills
necessary to forge warriors from the rabble and raw material
of the Progena. Although the process of indoctrination into
the Schola’s more arcane educational techniques takes some
time, most Drill Abbots are thrown in at the deep end and can
go from fighting Orks to fighting for the souls of troubled
adolescents in just a few short weeks. Encouraged to treat
these children just as they would treat soldiers, the task of a
Drill Abbot is not one for the merciful of heart. A certainty
of purpose is required, one must know that to show a pupil
mercy is to lie to them about the nature of the galaxy.
Required Career: Guardsman
Alternate Rank: Rank 5 or higher (3,000 XP)
Other Requirements: 20 Corruption or less. In addition
the character must take a leave of absence from any other
duties to teach at a Schola Progenium for no less than a year.