The Gearwrights
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The Gearwrights are an unsanctioned sect of the Prosperitas Imperial Faith who follow 'Saint' Callum Gearwright, a figure unrecognised by the orthodox Ecclesiarchy but believed by their followers to be a Living Saint.
Four Facts about the Gearwrights
- They are Anti-Establishment. The Gearwrights lean towards a liberal belief system - they have seen the atrocities committed by the Imperial state against faithful citizens, and believe their Saint would oppose them. Oddly, this has resonance with many lowborn and some rare liberal or progressive members of the State and the Imperial Hierarchy, who do feel the Sector has suffered too much, and that Hermione Durovera is too fond of the Gauntlet over the Velvet Glove.
- They represent hope. Though the Gearwrights follow an uncanonised and unsanctioned Faith, the Ordo Hereticus has found no taint or sin within them. While they may challenge Imperial norms their current presence is tolerated because for now they have represented something good for the Sector after many years of disruption and chaos. For all the fears they might be some front for something else, the Gearwrights have proven not to be.
- They have many sympathisers. The Gearwrights find considerable support amongst those tired of poor leadership and the seemingly hopeless situation in the Prosperitas Sector. There are those who would encourage it to grow into an officially sanctioned Sect, and many who argue for its protection at the highest level.
- They are under threat. Many see the Gearwright sect as something to be protected, because it is in danger. The Temple of the Saviour Emperor ruthlessly persecuted the sect during its ascendancy, and the forges of Naximus Prime see the movement as a threat.
The 'Saint' Gearwright
The canon of 'Saint' Callum Gearwright is a relatively new one, the Saint having been martyred in recent history. Born on Olethros Secunda, they were taken from that world to become an Astropath of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Soon after their return to the Sector they began to display gifts beyond that of a simple Psyker - gifts that some likened to that of manifestations of the Emperor's divine power. Little is known of their life other than that they returned to their homeworld on Olethros Secunda to spread the Emperor's faith amongst a population that had suffered under Adeptus Mechanicus rule. Though they sought to unite both cults, their actions were opposed by the Priesthood of Naximus Prime, who sent assassins to hunt them.
Surviving this attempt on their life, they came to Polarnus Station during its siege by the forces of the Archenemy. It is said were martyred protecting the forces of the Imperium there from a great beast of the Archenemy, only to rise again empowered by the Emperor's Light.
It is not known what happened to Callum Gearwright after that battle. Many believe them to have returned to the Emperor's side until Them-on-Terra returns them to aid the Prosperitas Sector as its time of need grows dire. Nevertheless, the story of 'Saint' Gearwright quickly spread through the Sector despite their Sainthood not being confirmed by the Ecclesiarchy.
The Gearwrights
'Saint' Gearwright's story seeded hope in the hearts of many citizens who needed it when the sector seemed most blighted by unnatural horror and the Archenemy. And with the sack of Olethros Secunda, the largely localised cult of the obscure and un-canonized Saint was been scattered amongst refugee populations of Subsector Secundus.
Though the ‘Saint’ had small followings elsewhere in the sector, the scattering of Oltheran refugees led to an explosion of the sect amongst the Imperial laity. The words of demagogues preaching a cult of caring and solidarity proved popular while more traditional members of the Ecclesiarchy and the Temple of the Saviour Emperor fought with each other. Leaderless following the exposure of the crimes of the Heresiarch Grulge, many lowborn flocked to the sect and joined in worship of the God-Emperor and veneration of the messages of their newfound patron Saint.
The response to this unsanctioned Sect, the Gearwrights, has been mixed amongst the Imperial hierarchy, with many nobles were concerned about the egalitarian and anti-establishment undertones in the preaching of the apostate sect.
The Loyalist Ecclesiarchy response has been oddly mixed: with the Sorors of the Order of his Sanguine Tears refusing orders to punish this deviance, and choosing to focus upon greater concerns, while many Priests oppose the sect openly, condemning its teachings loudly at the guidance of the Nobles of the Sector. But other Priests, and even some Nobles, show sympathy to the Gearwrights, seeing their anti-establishment teachings as directed against not against all of the governing bodies, but, rather, to the failings of the Great Houses and Ecclesiarchy in the Prosperitas Sector; some even openly uplift the sect, and there are rumours of petitions for canonization of the Saint being sent to Terra.
In the years before its dissolution, the Temple's response to the Sect was brutal and repressive. The apostate Cardinal Grulge was rumoured to be responsible for several massacres of the followers of this sect in Subsector Secundus, on Nivalis and elsewhere, with Grulge brooking no challenge to his primacy by the uplifting of an uncanonized Saint.
And yet, despite the Temple faction’s brutal response, the Sect survived the dark years of the Silence. With the Temple's fall in 597.M41, there is a general feeling of good fortune amongst the population - as the faith does not erupt into something malign - and more and more the Saint is embraced, and the belief grows.
A spark of hope, however small, has been lit.
An unsanctioned Sect
This newborn sect has no legal backing by the Ecclesiarchy, and the Ordo Hereticus are likely to be critical of membership of it as a result.
In legal terms, under Ecclesiastical law, the Gearwrights are a heresy until such a time as it is formally recognised by the Ecclesiarchy. However, for that process to occur, the Sector requires a Cardinal: it currently has none, following the excommunication and execution of former Cardinal Grulge. This makes membership of the sect dangerous, and many Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus believe that without proof and canonization, the sect is walking a very dangerous line by worshipping their 'Saint'.
In addition, the Naximan Priesthood consider the Gearwrights to be labour-agitators, and are known to enact harsh penalties against those who defend or harbour them within their domain.