Order of Our Martyred Lady - Notable Sisters of Our Martyred Lady: Palatine Ariel - Palatine Ariel led her sisters through the Jericho-Maw Warp Gate and into the fallen Jericho Reach at the behest of Cardinal Cal. However, shortly after arriving she had a dream. In it she saw flesh-masked daemons cavorting atop fallen statues of the Emperor. Beyond them, a beam of light illuminated a tall mountain covered in interlocking Aquilas. Beneath the mountain, a foul black cloud swirled. Even as she watched, the daemonic hordes grew closer to the mountain, and she knew that if they were to discover the evil beneath it, the consequences would be catastrophic. When Ariel awoke, she was convinced the Emperor had revealed her real duty. Following their palatine's vision, her commandery braved the Warp storms around Eleusis and found the mountain she had seen. No one knows precisely what the Order of Our Martyred Lady found on Mount Sifr, but they are singularly devoted to protecting it from the unfaithful. Ariel has sworn a vow to allow only the confirmed faithful of the God-Emperor to pass through the gates of the Lethean Abbey, though her vision has made her suspicious of all who seek entrance. Since the construction of the defences around Mount Sift, Palatine Ariel has allowed no one to cross the threshold into the abbey, not even the Cardinal himself.Saint Katherine (KIA) - Saint Katherine is the Matriarch and patron saint of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Originally, she was the founder of the Order of the Fiery Heart. She was one of five companions of Alicia Dominica, the patron and founder of the Adepta Sororitas. Known as the Shield Bearer, Katherine was regarded as Alicia Dominica's second-in-command having been the bearer of Dominica's Praesidium Protectiva - a large shield said to contain a shard of the Emperor's own personal power armour, and said to be impervious against physical attacks. Katherine was well known for her fiery determination and vengeful spirit, ever leading her Sisters at the forefront of innumerable battles and leading the prosecution of numerous Wars of Faith against Heretics in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. She was the founder of the Order of the Fiery Heart. Her Sisters reflected her vengeful and fiery nature. Leading her Order for many decades, she was declared a Living Saint within her lifetime for performing legendary acts. Eventually, Katherine met her end at the hands of evil men, when she was murdered by the Witch-Cult of Mnestteus. So deeply did her Sisters mourn Katherine's loss that they renamed their Order the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Unknown to her fellow Sisters, sometime before her untimely death, Saint Katherine visited the world of Sanctus Lys in the Palatine Sector. Beneath an Imperial shrine, in a hidden crypt, she interred her golden power armour and her legendary sword, the Ardent Blade. These powerful artefacts were found centuries later and retrieved by another Living Saint, Saint Celestine.Saint Praxedes (KIA) - At the start of the Second Tyrannic War in 991.M41, Canoness Praxedes reinforced the Caladenian Regiment of the Astra Militarum on Okassis. She led the Imperial forces in defence of the cardinal palace and launched a gallant counterattack when the Tyranids reached the palace. She led from the front and managed to kill a Hive Tyrant, throwing the rest of the attack into disarray. This allowed many refugees to flee the planet and left Praxedes and her forces on the world. She proceeded to press deep into the heart of the Tyranid forces and led a guerrilla war against the Tyranids. The disruption she managed to cause meant that the attack on the spaceport by the Tyranids was nowhere near as effective as it should have been. This allowed the remaining civilians to flee the planet. All contact was lost with her forces once the last shuttle had taken off and she became known as the first martyr to Hive Fleet Kraken. Her name is revered across the Ultima Segmentum but some claim she fights on still against the hordes of Tyranids from within. She was finally confirmed killed in action on Okassis, where she succumbed to her mortal wounds after slaying the Hive Tyrant.Saint Celestine is a revered Living Saint of the Adepta Sororitas' Order of Our Martyred Lady, a being of incredible psychic power and faith believed by many in the Imperium of Man to be have been resurrected as a tool of the Emperor of Mankind Himself. As a mortal, she was thought slain during a campaign against the Renegade Warmaster of Forrax, but has returned at various times since to rescue Imperial forces in danger of being destroyed by the enemies of the God-Emperor. Wings spread wide, halo blazing and Ardent Blade in hand, Saint Celestine is an embodiment of the God-Emperor's might. She shines like a star amid the smoke and fumes of the battlefield, radiating holy light. The faithful are filled with strength and courage by her presence even as Heretics recoil in terror. Those who ﬂee are wise to do so, for Celestine strikes like the Emperor's own judgement, smiting the unrighteous with a strength that belies her human form. With a gesture, the Living Saint calls fires of psychic retribution down from on high, or infuses her sick and injured allies with healing energies. The Geminae Superia fight at her side, the former Sororitas Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor, hand-chosen champions who would lay down their lives -- and have, several times -- to protect the blessed saint from harm. Celestine is borne aloft on a column of divine radiance and sometimes attended by cherubs and doves. She is clad in a suit of shining golden Sororitas power armour, and wields a blade wreathed in fire -- a blade so bright none can bear to look upon it. All of noble heart who gaze upon Celestine and dare meet her eyes are filled with adoration, whilst those whose souls harbour evil and corruption are struck with terror. Celestine's influence upon the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, for whom she has become the focus of total veneration, is indeed miraculous. She is now a Living Saint, a mysterious warrior who appears in times of great need and whom the Sisters of Battle would willingly follow to the centre of the Eye of Terror were she to lead them there. Saint Celestine has fought at the vanguard of numerous Wars of Faith, and hundreds of thousands of Heretics have met a bloody end at the hands of her armies. It is said that she has fallen in combat several times, having been dealt a mortal blow by one of the Imperium's many enemies. However, each and every time she has miraculously returned to life, rising like a phoenix from the ashes. To the astounded faithful that see her rise again, Celestine has stated that she will die only when the Emperor Himself claims her, and not a moment before. Celestine's most recent and greatest intervention came in 999.M41, when she appeared on Cadia as it was under assault by Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade. She brought crucial reinforcements to the Imperial defenders and became one of the leaders of the Imperial survivors -- who named themselves the Celestinian Crusade in her honour -- after Cadia was destroyed by the forces of the Despoiler. With the aid of the newborn faction of the Eldar called the Ynnari, the Celestinian Crusade managed to flee the Cadia System through the Webway to the Realm of Ultramar and its capital world of Macragge. There, Celestine played an important role in the events that led to the resurrection of the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman. Celestine joined the Terran Crusade that Guilliman proclaimed, and fought alongside it all the way to Holy Terra so that the Primarch could meet with his father, the Emperor. Once at the Imperial Palace, Celestine swore to stand with the Guilliman, now the Lord Commander of the Imperium, as he promised to unleash a great counteroffensive -- the Indomitus Crusade -- against the forces of Chaos.Saint Valpurgis (KIA) - Valpurgis was a Celestian Superior of the order. She was known as the "Purgator of the Smotherpox" and the "Slayer of Witches." She was martyred during her service to the Emperor.Miriael Sabathiel - Miriael Sabathiel was a former Sister-Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady and is the only acknowledged battle-sister to have willingly chosen to serve Chaos in the history of the Imperium of Man. Canoness Olga Karamanz tried to apprehend Miriael, proclaiming a desire to help her, but was murdered by Miriael for her troubles. Miriael now serves as a servant of the Pleasure God Slaanesh and is one of his finest and most prized Chaos Champions.Sister Piety - Born on the world of Jove's Descent, Sister Piety was an early convert to the Imperial Creed, and as a young girl (recently graduated from the Schola Progenium) served the Ecclesiarchy's mission throughout her home system. The mission’s preacher took the pious girl under his wing and blessed her with a new, more befitting name. Eventually he sponsored her admission into the Convent Sanctorum, and Piety has proved a most devoted Daughter of the Emperor. Piety bears the heavy title of Ward Sentinel; see the description of Javar's Watch for what this entails. Sister Piety’s duties have made her a shrewd and insightful woman. While her faith in the God-Emperor is unwavering and she trusts Palatine Ariel implicitly, the Ward Sentinel does not disdain the help of the Ecclesiarchy or the Inquisition as her Palatine does. In fact, Sister Piety has been in contact with Inquisitor Deschaine for several years—a fact that she has not shared with Palatine Ariel. In the course of her duties as Ward Sentinel, Sister Piety has permission to leave the Lethean Abbey and is encountered among the shrines of Vermillion's Grace far more frequently than any other member of the Adepta Sororitas.Petronella the Pious (KIA) - Petronella the Pious was a famed abbess of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, who was renowned for the miracles that occurred in her presence. Though the humble warrior never claimed to possess any unusual powers of worth, it seemed that the eye of the Emperor was ever upon her. Those who witnessed Petronella's abilities described her foes being consumed by holy fire, while the abbess' friends were spared from death by miraculous twists of good fortune. After the abbess' courageous martyrdom on Xyphol V, her skull was fashioned into a sacred totem by the Ecclesiarchy, to which her blessings still cling.Rosina the Astute (KIA) - Rosina the Astute was a canoness of the order who was martyred during her service to the Emperor.  She is remembered a sa master tactician and the "Scourge of the Altymhor Dynasty."Cesti the Dawn-bringer (KIA) - Cesti was a Palatine of the order who was martyred during her service to the Emperor. She was known as the "Champion of Mordian" and the "Leader of the Dawn March."Gillith the Indomitable (KIA - Presumed) - Gillith was a battle-sister of the order who is presumed to have been martyred in the Emperor's service. She is remembered as a foe of the Drukhari, and the "Breaker of Shackles."Ephrael Stern - Known as the "Thrice-Born" and the "Daemonifuge," Ephrael Stern had been promised by her parents before her birth to the Adepta Sororitas. She was raised on the planet Antigone's Harbour by the Saint Sabbat Schola Progenium. The Arch Drill-Abbot of the school submitted the young Ephrael for induction within the Sisterhood and was accepted by Sister Patricia from the Order of the Holy Seal. The Novice Stern excelled at her new monastic duties as a battle-sister-in-training. She eventually completed her training and along with 500 other Novices took her sacred Oaths of Adherence at the Ecclesiarchal Palace on Terra. Sister Stern was then chosen to become a member of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Shortly after her induction into the Order, she was sent to the Ecclesiarchy Cardinal World of Ophelia VII. Whilst stationed there, her exemplary service record helped elevate her to the esteemed ranks of the Order Seraphim within record time. Only three years later she would be ordained as a Sister Superior. Sister Stern was eventually sent on a mission on behalf of the Order, to investigate a lost convent of Sisters of the Orders Pronatus on the world of Parnis. There, Stern and her Sisters discovered what had become of their fellow Sisters. A powerful Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, a Keeper of Secrets named Asteroth, had been freed from its bonds and destroyed the convent. He then took the ruined bodies of 700 battle-sisters and forged them, body and mind, into a terrifying construct of living flesh known as the Screaming Cage. Though the fallen Sisters were forced to share their torment and suffering, the daemon failed to take into account that they were also able to inadvertently share their faith as well. As the daemon sought to kill the remaining Sisters sent to investigate the convent, Ephrael Stern fell in battle. Seizing this one chance, the fallen Sisters within the Screaming Cage used their combined powers to bring her back to life -- filling her with the full might of their combined faith in the God-Emperor to combat the Forces of Chaos. Once returned to life, the resurrected Stern was told to flee as the fallen Sisters hid her presence from the daemon and its Chaotic servants. Stern's memory of these events was erased. She was the only one who managed to return to her Order on Ophelia VII, being the sole survivor of the expedition to Parnis, her sanity stretched to the limit. Her seemingly unnatural power made her the object of suspicion amongst members of her Order, with many of her Sisters viewing her as having been corrupted by the Ruinous Powers. Stern was placed within a holding cell for four years until her exact nature could be determined. At this time she was attacked by a Sister who was being controlled by a daemon of Slaanesh to silence her. But the enraged Ephrael managed to defeat her attacker with her bare hands. This set new events into motion. An Inquisitorial investigation, under the command of Inquisitor Silas Hand, was sent to the Order on Ophelia VII to investigate the sole survivor of the Parnis Expedition. Whilst at the Sanctorum, Stern underwent numerous trials to test her purity and her soul for corruption. Not found wanting during these trials, Sister Stern was declared uncorrupted and was reinstated within the ranks of her fellow battle-sisters, and granted her former position of Seraphim and rank of Sister Superior. Inquisitor Hand, not fully trusting Sister Stern, nevertheless took her with him to investigate the former convent on Parnis. During the investigation the fallen Sisters of the Screaming Cage finished their holy work -- pouring all of their remaining knowledge and power into Sister Stern to fight the corruption of Chaos. Inquisitor Hand sacrificed himself to defeat Asteroth and banish the daemon back to the Warp. Sister Stern went missing after this second expedition, once again being the sole survivor. Hunted by both the Imperium as well as the Forces of Chaos, Stern remains aloof from both. She even sacrificed herself, stabbing herself in the heart, to escape the foul machinations of the vile Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. Resurrected once again by the power of the faith within her, Stern finally embraced her power and used it freely for the first time. She has even been able to use her newfound abilities to defeat a Culexus Assassin that had been sent to kill her by the Inquisition. Her current whereabouts remain unknown.Miriya - Miriya was a Celestian Elohim (equivalent to the rank of Sergeant) who was originally tasked with passing judgment upon a newly rediscovered world of Hollos, which had been lost for two millennia, due to being cut off by a Warp Storm. During initial investigation she uncovered that Hollos was once a research colony that studied Replicae technology (cloning), and that Replicaes were utilised as soldiers to defend their world from incursions by the Forces of Chaos during the time Hollos was cut off from the rest of the galaxy. But over time, the chemical processes within their bodies that gave them red coloured skin and made them subservient, dissipated, until they developed free will. They rebuilt Hollos to be a pacifist society, shunning their role as soldiers in which they had been designed and forced to fulfill. Initially, Miriya was going to turn over all Replicaes to the Adeptus Mechanicus, per Imperial decree, which stated Replicae did not hold citizenship, therefore they had no civil rights. But she also uncovered a plot by the human citizens of Hollos who wished to overthrow the Replicae. These revolutionaries proved to be a cult of Tzeentch, who ended up staging a revolt. Declining to utilise orbital bombardment that would see the death of millions, Miriya instead ordered the Adeptus Mechanicus representative to release the chemical agent within the Replicae's neural chemistry that would make the them subservient and denied of free will once more. Unfortunately this process would be irreversible. Once this process was completed, the Replicae were ordered to stop the revolt, and did so without hesitation, fighting alongside Miriya and her fellow battle-sisters. Following these events, Miriya would later be assigned to bring the psyker, Torris Vaun, to justice. When he escaped her custody and murdered one of her comrades, Lethe, and tortured another, Iona, Miriya pursued him to the world of Neva. There, she and her remaining comrades discovered a greater plot threatening the entire Empire, and ultimately saw Vaun and his compatriot, Viktor LaHayne, defeated. Through interrogation, they learned of an even greater plot -- that Vaun was actually a product of experimentation of psykers. Miriya, her assistant Verity, and Battle-Sisters Cassandra and Isabel later uncovered and destroyed this plot. However, due to the methods utilised by Miriya and the ordeal with Vaun, she was relived of and stripped of her position as a Celestine elite and reduced to the rank of a line Sister of Battle by Canoness Galatea. Following this event, she later accepted a post as part of a mission to reclaim the abandoned Adepta Sororitas fortress-convent on Sanctuary 101, which had the misfortune of being the first to have contact with the marauding Necrons, who subsequently massacred all the battle-sisters that were present. Her assistant Verity agreed to accompany Miriya to help reconsecrate the convent.Temperance Blaise - Temperance Blaise was the Canoness Superior in charge of all Adepta Sororitas forces on Vigilus during the War of Beasts. She was known to possess a fiery temper and was so roundly feared by the powers that be on Vigilus that she was given free rein by the entire ruling Aquilarian Council to prosecute the Vigilus campaign as she saw fit. Beneath her was a network of trusted Canonesses and Celestian Superiors she had named "the Sacred Thorns," each of whom was entrusted with the defence of the Ecclesiarchy's interests in a different hivesprawl. Temperance was so enraged by the assault upon her world by foul xenos scum that in the early days of the war she did much of the fighting herself. Only as it became clear that the conflict would not be won by the Imperium quickly and would drag on as a stalemate for quite some time did her wrath cool. She resumed her duties as war leader and began to coordinate very closely with the elements of the Adeptus Astartes that came to Vigilus.Canoness Superior Junith Eruita - Junith Eruita was raised to become the canoness superior or leader of the entire Order of Our Martyred Lady during the Indomitus Crusade.Canoness Justyne - Justyne was the canoness who led a commandery of the Order of Our Martyred Lady as part of Battle Group Faustus of the Indomitus Crusade's Fleet Secundus during the campaign to retake control of the Bosphori System.Canoness Serita - Serita commanded the 3 preceptories of the Order of Our Martyred Lady who participated in the defence of the Cardinal World of Benediction's Grand Honorificum cathedral-city complex during the Talledus War.Palatine Erika Luminas - Erika Luminas is a palatine of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. She's a ferociously zealous  and experienced war leader. Her dedication to the God-Emperor and to her order's martyr, Saint Katherine, manifests as fearlessness that many outside her order have mistaken for recklessness. Her sisters, who devotedly follow her curt battle cant and inspiring sermons in the deafening fog of war, know better. Luminas is possessed of a selfless dedication to service and an instinctive willingness to do whatever is necessary to enact the Emperor's will. In countless Wars of Faith, Luminas has turned apparent defeat into crushing victory, courageously storming enemy firepoints and assaulting the foe's elite warriors. Luminas inspires those sisters who survive to fervent acts of bravery, seeking any way to be by her side. In desperate last stands, the hands of the Emperor are believed by some to shield them, rewarding their faith with divine guidance. The palatine has led successful, though bloody, strikes against a host of enemies, yet none fill her with more rage than desecrators of the holy. When a sorcerous plague unleashed by the forces of the Death Guard began to ravage War Zone Metalica in the Charadon Sector during the Era Indomitus, Palatine Luminas and her forces were sent on a vital task to aid the Imperium. They were charged with finding the bones of an Imperial Saint, Saint Jheraldine, which would bolster a protective ward around its sector's most vital Imperial cities. Their search led them to  the metropolis of Purity City on the Shrine World of Martyr's Rest, which unfortunately had just been turned into a deadly arena by Drukhari led by the Succubus Lelith Hesperax. This was because the Succubus intended to use Purity City as a battleground to prove once and for all that she was the best gladiator in Commorragh. Luminas' forces clashed with the Drukhari as the Adepta Sororitas searched the city for the saint's bones in what became known as the Battle of Martyr's Rest.Sister Argenta - Argenta is a battle-sister currently of the Orders Pronatus and a former sister of the Order of Our Martyred Lady of the Adepta Sororitas currently serving in the retinue of the House von Valancius Rogue Trader dynasty in the Koronus Expanse of the Segmentum Obscurus. The terrible tread of gigantic Titans, the scream of Drop Pods entering the atmosphere -- these are the sounds that make the hearts of Heretics tremble. So too does prayer -- the holy battle prayer of the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Also known as the Sisters of Battle, these fierce and devoted women make up the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy, the state church of the Imperium of Man. The orphaned daughter of Astra Militarum officers, the child that would become Sister Argenta received harsh training in the Schola Progenium -- the crucible of the Imperial military elite. Only one memory survived from before the ordeal of training -- or was it merely a dream? In this vision, the girl saw grey ship hulls and dirty military camps, dank trenches, faceless people in Astra Militarum uniforms, the roar of a counterattack, the crescendo of her mother's heart-rending cry, broken by an ominous silence...and the golden Aquila lying among the ashes, so immaculate, so alien in this gloomy and bleak environment. The symbol of the God-Emperor of Mankind. Somewhere in the malicious oceans of the Warp, the Emperor was fighting the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. For the young orphan, He became a semantic constant, an object of worship, an impeccable role model, the reason she had survived hell. Guided by this shining symbol, sure that she had been chosen for some great, as yet unknown, purpose, the girl proved herself time and time again in the Schola and ascended to the ranks of the Adepta Sororitas. Her birth name was forgotten, replaced by a new one -- Argenta, the name of a local saint worshipped in the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse. A long and crooked path then led her to Footfall, where she was to join a small mission of her order to guard a holy reliquary. It seems that Argenta lives and breathes for one purpose -- to achieve perfection worthy of the Emperor's most faithful warriors. She is unstoppable, audacious -- sometimes too audacious. The battlefield is her temple, and bolter rounds are the words of her fervent prayer. When she rushes into battle, the ship's bulkheads reverberate with the passion of her prayers, and her allies feel the surge of power. But what led the young sister away from her duties as a guardian of the reliquary? Was it a holy epiphany or a fall from grace? This remains a tightly held secret...