Samaritan Pilgrimage Fleets

*Praesis ut prosis, non ut imperes -* mandate of the Lord Samaritans

The blessings of the holy Emperor are bestowed upon Gondwana's worlds by the Pilgrimage Fleets of Laurentina. These are the holy vessels of the Lord Samaritans, carrying initiates of the Hallowed Glaive and masters of Laurentian Kin, sworn to see all systems and constellations of the sector prosper once more and bring about the golden age of mankind.

## Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage is begun by Initiates and mortal brethren alike at the starports of Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia, upon the high spires of this ring, where the chosen board their holy ships and become pilgrims along the stars, destined to seek knowledge and victory under different suns. The pilgrimage unites the Astarte's duty in war and the eternal search for knowledge by the Cult Mechanicus Cambria.

The foremost mandate of the Pilgrimage is to uplift humanity's worlds and leave the Imperium stronger than it began. Stronger not only in arms but in blood and soul. It is to lead worlds into the Emperor's Glory, enlighten and strengthen them, so that the Hallowed Glaive may never have to call for a crusade to reclaim them.

## Blessings and Imperial Glory

The pilgrims of Laurentia deliver the Emperor's blessing with fire and sword, in bread and wine, and above all, through the knowledge of elder days. As protectors and soothsayers, guardians and teachers, the Astartes and their Laurentian brethren stand watch over many worlds, seeking to uplift them and restore the lost domains.

Blessings of the sword are delivered to all besieged by the Imperium's myriad foes. So long as the resistance does not yield, the pilgrim fleets will seek to break them free and reward their burden of long battle with victory.

Blessings of bread and wine are delivered to worlds in peril through no fault of their own, so that the souls of humanity may not be diminished by thirst and famine, and new riches may arise from burnt fields.

Blessings of knowledge are delivered to the worthy, to those who will use all their skill to further the Imperium and the immortal glory of Holy Terra. These blessings are given by the priests of the holy Cult Mechanicus Cambria, by the librarians and chroniclers of the Astartes chapter and the Brethren from many worlds, who once have come to Laurentia to add their experience and wisdom to the vast archives of Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia.

### The Fleet's Return

Where such blessings are given, the Pilgrimage Fleets will return in time to take from the newly arisen riches of the world what they have given. From worlds they freed in battle, new recruits are taken as serves and auxilia. From worlds they gave bread and wine, crops of the next rich harvest are taken. From worlds where the knowledge of elder days was sown, relics and artisans are given, and great teachers are brought to other worlds, to further the knowledge of humanity and the craftsmanship and knowledge of the masses.

## Masters and Mentors of War

Seldom are the fleets of pilgrims far from war, for they seek bloody battle to vanquish the Imperium's foes and let new worlds arise rich and powerful from the ashes. On the frontier of the galaxy, they seek the famished and besieged, as to arm them and teach them how to fight and to repel the waves of heretics and Xenos descending upon their worlds.

### Doctrine

When sailing against the Emperor's foes, the Pilgrim Fleets are quick to strike, hitting hard and decisively to crush the enemy within the first wave of their attack. Once battle commences, they quickly move in, seeking to disable the enemy with precision rather than force and to deliver their deadliest warriors right to their enemy's heart.

Each pilgrimage vessel carries Laurentia's masters of war, Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive and Warriors of the Blood Brethren. The Emperor's Angels and mortals alike form an unstoppable force when boarding enemy vessels, taking compartment after compartment, deck after deck, until the hostile craft is left in the chapter's hands, either to be added to the pilgrim's fleet or to be sent into the nearest sun.

Through close ties with the Cult Mechanicus Cambria, the Astartes Chapter and their mortal brethren have come to revere the art of war as one of efficiency and precision, understanding combat as a mere instrument in the Emperor's hands with the sole purpose to facilitate the greater, mechanical order predestined for the galaxy. None are more strict in this understanding than the Lord Samaritans. To their Pilgrimage Fleets, a costly, drawn-out victory is none at all, for their mission is to build up and preserve, not to destroy.

## Astrography

Journeying from the heart of Glaive's reach, the Pilgrimage Fleets follow the tides of warp and war, coalescing in those regions where worlds outlive the direst times and the need for the pilgrim's aid is greatest. The exact routes and schedules of their perpetual journey are only known to the ship's masters themselves and dictated by higher powers of fate and the Emperor's will.

Nevertheless, some voices have been known to possess the authority to summon the Pilgrims, among them foremost the three highest souls of the Triumvirate, the Chaptermaster of the Hallowed Glaive, the High Executor Trantor and the Archmagos of Cambria. When called upon, the Pilgrims arrive quickly and in force, seeming to stand by at any time for swift action.

## History

The first pilgrimage fleets sailed between Nimbus Laurentia and the Forge World Cambria when initiates of the Hallowed Glaive would participate in the cleansing of the Ringworld's regiones from Technobarbarian tribes and the most powerful Ork clans. Soon after, the pilgrims began visiting worlds along the way and later still, worlds far from any common routes, on the very fringes of the Gondwana Sector.

By the first turn of a millennium, after the new chapter homeworld was established, traditions of the Laurentian Brethren and the Glaive's initiations had taken hold and the Pilgrim's journey among the stars was at their core. Thus, the fleet's journeys were set in stone and interrupted only by the great wars shaking their homely Subsector Cambria.

## Notable Vessels & Classes

### Devana Destroyer

Legends are cast even about the smallest of Astartes vessels hailing from Port Laurentia of the Hallowed Glaive. Many such vessels are part of the chapter's Pilgrimage Fleets, which carry initiates and the highest of Laurentia's chosen mortals to prove themselves worthy on the battlefields of the many worlds of Sector Gondwana. To this end, these ships are fortress-temples to the God-Emperor and Omnissiah, devoted to a life in service to the chapter and through it, worship of these higher powers. Those upon these ships do not merely go to war -  they fulfill a destiny ten thousand years old and strong, an unbreakable fervor is with them no other fleet can match.

### Marzyana Pilgrimage Vessel

All worlds of Sector Gondwana revere the arrival of Pilgrimage Vessels, for they bring blessings from the Lord Samaritans of the Hallowed Glaive Chapter. Protection in times of war, food and water in years of famine, architects and medicae in the wake of catastrophe - these Astartes believe it their duty to protect and preserve, to uplift all of the Emperor's creation from the ashes of a war-torn galaxy. In so doing, they learn to know the worlds they protect and gather wisdom wandering many worlds which the Emperor deemed worthy of reclamation.
In all but few cases, Pilgrimage fleets are on their way to war, when they pass by the many worlds behind the frontlines. For their blessings they receive offerings to strengthen their crusade everlasting. And with the fate of mortals in their heart, they join their battle brethren in war.