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Intro - Refuge
- History - Religion |
The Ladies of the Night began either by accident, or by a whim of the Chaos Gods. An Imperial army was defending their world from an ork infestation. The orks very nearly won on a major front, routing an Imperial Guard formation, and driving through to the base camp area. The auxiliaries accompanying the army included a hospital run by the healing order of the Sisters of Battle, some camp followers who worked part time as cooks, some cooks who worked part time as camp followers, and a few "female companions" of the army commander, attempting to corrupt him to Chaos.
The camp was defended, but it was necessary to follow up the defeated Orcs, to prevent them infesting the region. The debate on who was to command the female auxiliary formation, and its structure, was in many ways more difficult than the defense of the camp. The Sisters wished to organize a standard Sisters of Battle organization. The healer superior was adamant that taking heavy weapons was against the wishes of the Order and the Emperor. Taking chaos sorceresses was even more against the wishes of the Order and the Emperor. Those who dealt with the energies of Chaos would inevitably be corrupted.
The sorceresses countered that they were not corrupted. If one was prudent in one's use of energy, one could wield psychic powers, retrain human shape, and retain sanity. This is more true of females than males. It is true that the ability to alter one's body, to accelerate one's metabolism, tempts one to exaggerate certain base instinctive drives. However, most males have exaggerated base instinctive drives too.
This argument did not move the celibate sisters.
The Guard commander, allegedly under the influence of certain persuasive corrupting circumstances, ruled in favor of his female companions. Lascannon and other Imperial Guard heavy weapons were distributed, in defiance of SoB doctrine. Some of the less flexible Sisters of Battle were allowed to remain with the hospital unit. In the field, the chaos sorceresses and the more flexible Sisters of Battle exchanged notes on the use of psionics. They discovered their schools of occult power were not entirely incompatible. Both had an affinity for fire and life. While the sorceresses were better at shape shifting, the healers were better at healing. The Sisters insisted that certain powers would be banned, and that care should be taken in mastering other powers slowly and carefully. The sorceresses taught methods and techniques that allowed more novices to develop better individual control than the Sister's classic techniques allowed.
The resultant school of psi encourages learning healing first, then shape shifting, then fire, then transport through the warp. Novices tend to be healthy, well built, with active appetites. With experience, some modify their bodies for additional strength and dexterity. Others alter their bodies into distinctly non-human shapes. The most common form is the succubus, a light winged shape capable of flight. Those who develop their skills to the point of taking new shape can generally cast Flames of Change as a weapon, and travel considerable distances through the warp.
While at first the resulting order accepted male members, it was soon learned that males tended too much towards violence and power. Asking for too much too fast, their sanity generally suffers. There have been occasional males with discipline and restraint enough to master the order's methods without going insane. There have been occasional females who have attempted too much too soon. The order acknowledges both, but is fairly firm in taking only female apprentices.
After the Orc War subsided, the Ladies of the Night became a permanent Imperial Guard formation, and provided healers and "morale officers" to other units in the field. They served well, though the original Sisters of Battle sent letters denouncing the new formation to Terra. Thus, at irregular intervals, inquisitors, Sisters Superior, Space Marine detachments and other intolerant hide-bound (expletive deleted) Imperial scum attempted to alter or destroy the new sisterhood. The Ladies have since wandered the borders of the Imperium, protecting human kind while fighting irregular battles against the more intolerant Imperial organizations. Of late, they have allied with the Tau, fighting for the greater good, encouraging the Tau to take human worlds under the protection of their new Empire. Their policy is to fight for human kind, but against the intolerant Imperium.
The male demons dwelling in and near the Eye are shunned by the Ladies as brutish, undisciplined and insane. They are used as an example of what happens if one attempts to use too much power too quickly with insufficient discipline. Occasionally young male demons with memories of human drives seek out the Ladies as mates, or for a few moments pleasure. The Lady's doctrine is to return joy for joy, respect for respect, and trouble for trouble. Most male demons are nothing but trouble. While the Ladies sometimes work with their brothers against loyalist Imperial units, most of the Ladies are far more comfortable working with Tau or Imperial Guard allies. Once, a Demon Prince attempted to subdue the Ladies, to subject them to his will as warlord. Once. The Ladies considered this attempt to enslave them troublesome.
Next : Religion The Book of Change...
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Intro - Refuge
- History - Religion |