Sisters of Astartes

A monastic organisation within the Imperial Church of Astartes, the Sisters of Astartes are an all-female order dedicated to the Divine of warfare Astartes. In honour of their patron, all members of the order train rigorously with sword, spear, bow and almost any other weapon one could imagine, save for anything to do with Blackpowder, whose use they view as dishonourable.
The Sister’s very practical dedication to Astartes in this way means that the Imperial Church has a ready-made fighting force of fanatical warriors at their disposal, should they wish it and the Sisters of Astartes have fought in many wars alongside Imperial forces.
Additionally, the Sisters also run a boarding school out of their monastery home, the Academy of Astartes, where the daughters of wealthy families can receive a highly rated traditional and military education.

Structure

The order is led by the Abbess, who only answers directly to the head of the Imperial Church of Astartes, the Arch Priest of Astartes. The Abbess’ position is held for life, and on their passing the next Abbess is chosen from amongst their immediate subordinates, the Sisters Superior.
Sisters Superior are given all manner of duties by the Abbess, and in order to become one, one must have spent 20 years as a Sister within the order and pass a gruelling series of martial challenges in order to be granted the title. There is no cap on the number of Sisters Superior, but it is rare to have more than 50 at any one time within the order. Amongst the Sisters Superior a hierarchy exists based on the length of time each has held the office, with the longer serving sisters being more senior.
Below the Sisters Superior are the bulk of the order, the Sisters, who are members of the order who have passed the trials and have been deemed worthy of the title.
The lowest rung in the order are Novices, who are those who aspire to become full Sisters. Each Novice must spend five years undergoing a gruelling regime of lessons, chores and weapons practice before they are allowed to take the trials to see if they are worthy of becoming full Sisters.
Separate to the hierarchy of the order, but below all of the sisters and novices in station are pupils – the daughters of wealthy household who are receiving their formal education at the Academy of Astartes, see below.

Divine Patron & Divine Purpose

As indicated in their name, the Sisters of Astartes exist to worship and venerate their Divine patron Astartes and they see it as their calling to perfect the art of war and combat in his honour. They also view it as their divinely appointed purpose to defend the Imperial Church of Astartes and the Arch Priest of Astartes.

Secular Function

Beyond their role as a holy order, the Sisters of Astartes also act as a school, with their monastery, the Academy of Astartes having provision to house up to 100 boarding pupils. The Sisters will only provide education to those whose families are able to provide a substantial donation to the order each year, which limits their intake to the nobility of the Empire of Turelion and occasionally noble houses from further afield. They will also only accept female pupils within their walls.
Pupils at the Academy are given a strong grounding in the religious doctrine of Astartes, though they are not trained to the level of, or formally ordained as Novices of the order, as well as being given a strong grounding in literacy and numeracy. However, what sets an education with the Sisters apart from that which is on offer in the Empire of Turelion more broadly is that all pupils are trained to a high standard in the use of martial weapons, along with being given a grounding in other skills that might be of use on the battlefield, horse riding for example.
Children as young as 5 can be sent to learn with the Sisters of Astartes and as long as their fees are paid on time and they do nothing that results in their expulsion, pupils can remain in education with the Sisters of Astartes until their 18th birthday.

Demography and Population

Reflecting the overall population of the Empire of Turelion, the majority of the Sisters of Astartes are Human, but the order is open to members of any species and members of the order from longer lived races often find themselves as the source of particular adulation amongst their sisters, as they are able to hone their skills over a much longer period of time.
At any one time there are around 200 members of the order, with the majority being based in their monastery home, the Academy of Astartes.

Territories

The only territory that the Sisters of Astartes have control over is their monastery, the Academy of Astartes, located on the lower slopes of the southern Spears of Astartes mountains and its surrounding hinterland.

Military

Whilst the Sisters of Astartes have no defined military wing, they are all trained warriors and almost all of them are experienced veterans of war. Only a fool would be so stupid as to attack their home, the Academy of Astartes as each of them would gladly lay down their life in the name and service of Astartes, likely taking down a multitude of adversaries before finally succumbing to death themselves.
So renowned are the Sisters in martial techniques that they are often called upon to provide training to The Provincial Armies, and on occasion even the Imperial Drakes have been trained by members of the order.

Foreign Relations

The Sisters of Astartes do not maintain independent foreign relations, separate to the Empire of Turelion. As a subordinate organisation to the Imperial Church of Astartes they accept the Church’s official standing with regards to geopolitical entities and other factions beyond the borders of the Empire.

Education

All novices who are accepted into the order are given a solid grounding in numeracy and literacy, if they do not have this already, and they are also given a thorough education in the doctrine of Astartes.
Additionally, each novice is trained to an incredibly high standard in all forms of martial weapons and skills, with many of the sisters and even some of the novices rivalling members of the Imperial Drakes in their skill with the blade and bow. The only weapons that the Sisters of Astartes do not train with are Blackpowder Weapons, which they view to be vulgar and unsubtle.

Founding Date

263DP

Type

Religious, Monastic Order

Parent Organization

The Imperial Church of Astartes

Deities

• Astartes

Location

Academy of Astartes

Controlled Territories

• Academy of Astartes

Insignia

The Sisters of Astartes are either represented by the symbol of a pair of crossed spears, or by the symbol of a female warrior, holding a spear aloft.