Order of the Sacred Rose
| Order of the Sacred Rose | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Founding | M.38 | |
| Daughters of | The Daughters of the Emperor | |
| Canoness Superior | Unknown | |
| Strength | roughly 15,000, Plus whoever they pick up on campaigns | |
| Specialty | Digging in their heels. Slow, defensive grinds. Getting fellow imperials to join the fight. | |
| Allegiance | Imperium | |
| Colours | White armour, with black coaks with red linings. | |
"Within me burns the holy radiance of the Emperor made manifest, while your soul festers with the meagre filth of Chaos. I am the light to your darkness, heretic. As sudden dawn scatters the shadows of night, so I and my sisters shall purge all trace of you from this holy place and make it as though you never were."
- – Sister Superior Cheandra Lassemer, Order of the Sacred Rose.
"God is able to give you the power to endure that which cannot be changed... Why be anxious? Come what may, God is able."
- – Martin Luther King Jr.
The Order of the Sacred Rose is a major Orders Militant of the Sisters of Battle. They are the responsible, cool-headed sibling to the Order of the Bloody Rose; unflinchingly calm, unflinchingly loyal, and prefer making their fights as long and as drawn out as they can.
About the Order of the Sacred Rose
The Order of the Sacred Rose was created in the name of Saint Arabella, who was one of Alicia Dominica's sisterhood in the Brides of the Emperor, and was the girl who apparently convinced Alicia to go hear out those banana guys on what exactly was going on with that Goge Vandire guy, and arguably the lynchpin on ending the Reign of Blood for good. Fittingly, Arabella was a reasonable, calm, serene woman who seemingly never broke in the face of adversity or in the face of heresy, who became known as the "Liberator" due to however many people would start praying to her specifically to liberate them from anxious thoughts and get them back in calming shape, and not because she liberated a shitload of planets. She is unusual for orders of Alicia Dominica's friends that set up Sisters of Battle Orders in that the prerequisite martyrdom that follows getting an Order is not exactly known; instead of having a well-known death at the hands of cultists or something like that, she just vanished. And whatever it is that happened, her order isn't talking about it...even though she was never actually alive when she led them, so you figure it out.
The Order believes they are a conduit of the emperor's will, and consider themselves the devoutest of the very devout of the Sisters Of Battle. Their faith in the emperor is such that they believe that he's already decided they're gonna win whatever fight they're in, and all they have to do is carry it out. Which extends to their time on the battlefield: They hammer the enemy with sustained fire without stopping, locking ranks whenever the enemy tries to break them, and then smash into the weak links of the enemy's line; singing to the emperor all the while, completely unfazed whatsoever by the horrors they see before them. Their patron saint was known for the sheer amount of miracles that seemed to happen in her wake, and that apparently extends to the women shooting things in her stead, and the Ecclesiarchy and fanatical devotees the galaxy over follows them around like the bunch of simps they are hoping to get a glimpse of the Sacred Rose's abilities, and they tend to so they always seem to end up with a force way beyond whatever the Imperium's enemies were expecting.
In the time of the Age of the Dark Imperium, they've been instrumental in keeping the Imperium from going entirely underwater thanks to their ability to get people to join their fights. Which is good, because 80% of their convents just so happen to be in the Dark Imperium, which is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the imperium and is up to their elbows in daemons and xenos, which has hardened their tactics a bit: They routinely execute people who doubt the security of the imperium, and basically commandeer whole guardsmen regiments (not that the terrified guardsmen mind), and have been able to show up just in the nick of time to save regiments even though they can't possibly have heard the swallowed up distress calls. The faith of the emperor indeed.
Notable Campaigns
- The War for Piety (835.M41) - The shrine world Piety showed up after being swallowed by a warp storm, and as you might expect, time in the warp did not do a fucking shrine world any sort of kindness, and it became a massive fuckfest Daemon World. Cannoness Sariah, obviously displeased that the world hadn't managed to hang onto it's faith while it was getting raped on all sides by the ruinous powers, decided to rustle up the girls to go pick up the few not-daemon infested relics left on the planet, and proceeded to fight for three straight days through the underhive for what ended up being three pieces of paper and a femur of some saint. Then they all just barely made it out of there before the Grey Knights showed up to do the usual thing they do to Sisters of Battle, and opted to blow up the planet instead.
- Fires of Faith (M41) - A bunch of Orks hitching a ride on some meteorites smashed into the planet Typhas I, where the order maintained an isolated outpost. The planetary defenders naturally got a right good krumpin' at the hands of the greenskins, but the Sisters locked themselves in the sanctuary's crypts and prayed for guidance. As it happened, a freak enormous solar flare enveloped the planet and microwaved the Orks clean off the surface, and the Sisters got away unscathed.
- War of Faith - Kaurava System (M41) - The Sisters of Battle Soulstorm campaign. Depending on how you do this, they either martyr themselves, wipe the system clean, or are sent back to Segmentum Ultimatum to be held by the Inquisition.
- Defence of Valedor (997.M41) - A doomed mission where Hive Fleet Leviathan completely shreds through the Ecclesiarchy world of Valedor in a matter of hours. The only survivors are the Order, who just barely make it out of the system, which seems less of a feat at first, but then you realise they managed to get the hell off of a planet being swarmed by 'Nids, and they ate a fucking battle barge full of Space Marines as well, so it was a pretty narrow scene.
- Cryptus Campaign (998.M41) - Canoness Magda Grace goes to help Space Vampires punch Hive Fleet Leviathan in the synaptic balls. Magda and the Sacred Rose manages to grind the genestealers and vanguard fleets into raw biomass on the night world of Dessecran's undercity, and loses an eye to a Lictor that'd been stalking them and the PDF throughout, but she gets even by putting a bolt round through it's head. Then she meets her end over to Lysios when the Tyrianids show up again, and wouldn't you know it, that Lictor managed to survive getting blam'd and noms her for her trouble.
- The Greater Faith (M42) - The Tau have been spreading their anime DVDs all over the Chalnanth expanse, and that has converted quite a few worlds all over that part of space. Rightfully pissed off, the Sacred Rose are going 'round saving those who remained loyal, and burning up those who stuck with the Tau. They're currently having a mess of trouble dealing with the Ethereals, and the battles rage to this day.
On the Tabletop
If you play this Order, you are going to accept that your Miracle dice are now a trivial resource to you, and that you're going to get a lot of Ecclesiarchial might killed while holding a position for dear life, and infuriate your enemy by the sheer abuse of those Miracle dice and the fact that your battle sisters just. won't. die. You're going to be playing defense for a good part of the game, your warlord will be a carbon neutral creator and user of Miracle Dice that you absolutely should be doing always (Especially if you're taking Cheerleader Cannoness, see Tactics for more info), and whatever you take, you should be taking a detachment that at least makes it easier for you to end up with Miracle dice. Make sure to take the Sacred Rite "Light of the Emperor" to keep that pool deep.