The Ecclesiarchy Sects of the Prosperitas Sector

You can find a more general overview of the Ecclesiarchy here

Five Things to Note About the Loyal Ecclesiarchy of the Prosperitas Sector

• They are the weaker faction. With the Temple of the Saviour Emperor having come out into the open as the power behind the apostate Cardinal Grulge despite his excommunication by the Ecclesiarch on Terra. The true extent of its corruption and compromisation of the Prosperitas Ecclesiarchy has been made manifest. A long campaign to purge the Ecclesiarchy of those not loyal to Grulge has ensured the Temple's dominance in the Sector with those loyal to the Ecclesiarchy petitioning other sectors for aid against their foes.

• They are most inexperienced and of lower status. Only a few rivals to Grulge who were smart enough to pay lip service to the Cardinal have survived to form the leadership of this sect with most of its leadership and direction coming from the Order of His Sanguine Tears of the Adepta Sororitas and 'advisors' from the Ordo Hereticus who seek to put an end to the heresy of the Temple.

• They are more cosmopolitan. Unlike the Temple which follows a single unifying doctrine, those who remain loyal to the Ecclesiarchy and the reforms of Sebastian Thor come from many sects that have formed in the Prosperitas Sector over its history as a frontier sector. The Prosperitas Sector attracts sects not widely accepted in the wider Imperium from the Red-robed Redemptionists who shoulder-to-shoulder with the inexplicable cog-robed Nongentists from Ferraeus, and vaguely feral hesychasts from Morghull work together under one banner against Cardinal Grulge.

• They are wavering. More and more Priests are worryingly starting to waver into their commitment to the Ecclesiarchy, with Grulge supposedly demonstrating powers of the faith after his recovery of the bones of Saint Nafisa from Archenemy forces on Nivalis there are some who question if the Temple is not instead the correct way, and such a miracle demonstrates that the Emperor has blessed a renegade, rather than condemn him.

The Loyal Priesthood

Priests in the Prosperitas Sector are not unused to having their loyalties tested, before the coming of Cardinal Grulge the Priests of the Prosperitas Sector were fragmented, central rule by an Arch-Confessor on Nivalis was weak and many sects and planetary priesthoods were used to governing themselves. Grulge's arrival in the Prosperitas Sector marked a change in this as religious clamp-downs were initiated by the more tyrannical Cardinal as he sought to consolidate his power over them - he brought unity, many agreed this, but his restrictions on religious freedoms were a stranglehold, now revealed as seeding the proscribed sects of the Temple, that made it dangerous, for a long time, for those divergent sects to practice their beliefs openly.

In some ways this has ensured that those Priests and Sects loyal to the rule of the Ecclesiarchy over the Imperial Faith that have survived are the most canny and strong-willed examples of their kind, but that is not always for the best as the fractures between the sects does occasionally show.

There was no true name for this faction until 593.M41 when the Ecclesiastic Conclave of Agrial formed to denounce Grulge and present a writ of excommunication against the increasingly renegade Cardinal. Since then they have described themselves as 'Loyalist' as they serve the legal Priesthood of the Imperium, but out here on the fringe the rule of the Temple has gone largely unchallenged by Sector authorities that are aware that the Temple represents a considerable bastion against the Archenemy regardless of their power.

The Loyalists have suffered setback after setback since the initial Conclave on Agrial, losing control of the Shrine World itself to Fidelis Templar forces. The fall of Agrial has robbed them of all the most important sites of Ecclesiarchy power, with both Nivalis as principle shrine world and St. Sebastian’s Redoubt as the principle seminary of the Sector fall under Temple control.

Currently their leadership is divided. The Ecclesiastic Conclave of Gaudium that has formed from the myriad temples on Gaudium as the Hive World slowly begins to drag itself back towards prominence in the eyes of the Ecclesiarchy despite the overpopulation and grime that saw it loose the attention of pilgrims. Meanwhile the Order of His Sanguine Tears represent the most potent leadership and allies that the Loyalists can call upon other that the Ordo Hereticus as the Battle Sisters who were once Grulges allies have turned against the apostate.

The War for the Soul of Prosperitas

In any normal sector the current civil conflict wracking the Ecclesiarchy would be resolved with brutal efficiency, the Temple is a proscribed sect, its members, while not loyal to the Archenemy, are heretics in the eyes of the Imperial faith who have broken with Ecclesiarchy law. The full weight of Imperial law would have fallen upon them and they would have been stamped out for daring to declare themselves so openly. But since war ignited between Ecclesiarchy factions with Grulge's excommunication in 594.M41 the loyal members of the Ecclesiarchy have failed to find direct support for their cause from all bar members of the Ordo Hereticus.

There are a number of reasons for this, but one comes down to strength. Between controlling the vast army of the Fidelis Templar and the majority of Priests that are loyal to himself and the Temple of the Saviour Emperor - Grulge holds considerable influence over the Prosperitas Sector, his armies are an aid to the Imperium and while Imperial Officials and the Prosperitas Crusade nod their heads in agreement about the crimes Grulge has committed, they hesitate to act against him for fear of embroiling their forces in a costly internal conflict while the forces of the Archenemy seek to drive back the Crusade and sink their claws into the Sector.

While the Ordo Hereticus has purged Templars from posts in the great Imperial institutions, the Temple holds considerable power on many of the besieged worlds of Subsector Secundus where its Fidelis Templar are often the first line of defence alongside their PDF forces. Many worlds accept the tyranny of the Apostate Cardinal in exchange for his protection and are hesitant to demonstrate their duties to the Ecclesiarchy by acting against him.

To make matters worse for those who fight against Grulge, the apparent demonstration of 'divine powers' as demonstrated by mythological 'Saints' of the God Emperor after his recovery of the bones of Saint Nafisa from the Archenemy has caused many to question if the Temple is not, in fact, the faction blessed by the divine will of the God Emperor.

Loyalist Sects of the Prosperitas Sector

As it has grown and interacted with other cultures around the Imperium, so, too, has the Ecclesiarchy spawned sects and factions that practice divergent strains of belief to the core one. Many of these are purged for Heresy, should they be found to deviate in an unacceptable manner. Still, there are those who are seen to have some value to their continued existence, and are preserved and kept as part of the greater Ecclesiarchy.

The Prosperitas Sector is no exception, and a myriad of minor sects called the region home before Cardinal Grulge arrived. Many have faded into the shadows since, or even been purged – but some still, somehow, managed to survive.

The sects beneath represent but a small selected handful of the faiths that exist that retain their loyalty to the Ecclesiarch and are considered free of the influence of Cardinal Grulge.

Nongentists

Priest who come from both the Imperial Cult and the Cult of Mars and seek to unify both faiths, Nongentists follow the teachings of Saint Nongentae of Ferraeus who straddled the two faiths and was canonised for her loyalty to the God-Emperor and part in the construction of the Great Cathedrals of Nivalis. A fusion of both Cults the Nongentists are an anomaly - they are favoured greatly by the Loyalist Priesthood because their technical skills are of great aid given the traditional friction with the machine cult, but their loyalties to Mars and obsessions with bionic modification (each member of the sect strives to be in perfect balance a hybrid of exactly 50% organic/machine) and their somewhat deviant fusion of Mechanicus designs and Ecclesiastical religious art do upset more traditionalist priests of both cults.

To make matters more complicated the Nongentists have been known to educate those of the Imperial Faith in the mysteries of technology inducting them into the Machine Cult in contradiction of the oaths of Tech Priests to Mars and Priests of the Imperial Cult to the Ecclesiarchy. This strange fusion sect who have appeared on many worlds since the breaking of loyalties with Cardinal Grulge, originates from Ferraeus and might well have been stamped out by other Priests there due to their unacceptably emotive faith compared to the machine-like ordered society promoted by the Machine Cult, singing loud hymns as they work. But their fanatical efficiency compensates for whatever upset their deviation from the norm occurs.

In truth Priests of both cults treat the Nongentists with a degree of amusement and interest, seeing them as a potential template for cooperation rather than the traditional hostility between the two cults at best, and amusing contradiction at worst.

The Redemption

The Redemption is an ultra-fanatical sect within the Imperial Cult, thought it is largely divorced from the guidance of the Ecclesiarchy. This violent cult was imported in the holds of Imperial colony ships bound from Segementum Solar and has holdouts across the Imperium, its initiates dehumanise themselves, wearing masks and hoods to hide their faces, an act they believe turns them into ‘weapons’ of the faith. Dressed in red robes the shade of blood and fire, Redemptionists believe that the only redemption from sin is death, and their rampages against perceived ‘sinners’ more often than not consume innocent lives.

While the Ecclesiarchy admires virtues of fanaticism, xenophobia and hatred, the Redemption of the Prosperitas Sector is often uncontrollable and shows little respect to the leadership of the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperium and is just as likely to turn it’s acts of violence on them as it is on the enemies of the Imperium. To this end, the Cult is largely outlawed on most planets in the sector and suppressed by Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Arbites alike.

Despite this the Redemptions general distrust of the social order has kept it largely free of the influence of Cardinal Grulge and while Ecclesiarchy Loyalists have as many issues with the Redemption as the Temple, it serves to provide them with a useful hoard of fanatics who are violently opposed to Grulges tyranny and decadence.