“My militia of faithful, you may not be clad in the blessed flak armor of the Imperial Guard. You may not bring the Emperor’s wrath through the barrel of the righteous Lasgun. What you lack in the Imperium’s most blessed weapons of war you replace with fervor and faith. No army forged can stand before the might of the Emperor’s judgement wrought by our hands.”
–Abbot Von Schteil at the Veneris quarry uprising
Since the dark days of Sebastian Thor’s great reformation, the Ministorum has been prevented, by the dictates of the Decree Passive, from maintaining forces that consist of “men at arms.” Although this statute put an end to the vast standing armies of the ancient Ecclesiarchy, the archaic wording of the decree has been subjected to many abuses over the centuries, and only a fool would assume that the Ecclesiarchy lacks military power.
In times of great need (wars of faith or crusades), the Ecclesiarchy arms its male servants, both from the clergy and the mass of lay followers. A great mass of clerks, Deacons, Pardoners and other minor functionaries swarm from the great temples and cathedrals, armed with whatever weapons they can lay their hands upon. To some, they are nothing but a disorganized rabble, a greater threat to themselves than to any opposing force, but on many occasions the Frateris have been known to perform tremendous acts of courage and valor in the name of the Emperor.
Members of the Frateris Militia are not professional soldiers, and receive no training in their role. However, their faith is strong, and they often go on to perform great and terrible deeds in the name of the Master of Mankind.
One of the many legends of Saint Drusus involves a close friend and confidant, Abbot Rempsi. As a young man Rempsi had been drafted into the Frateris Militia and joined the crusade to retake the Calixis sector. He was a fiery orator whose rage was barely contained even when not surrounded by the bloodshed of combat. The survival rate of the Frateris Militia during the Angevin Crusade was low by any standards but Rempsi manage to survive a dozen conflicts before he met Drusus.
While in warp transit the vessel carrying both the Imperial Guard and the Frateris Militia was assailed by daemons blinded with rage and intent on severing the heads of the crew. Locked in a bulkhead with several dozen Frateris Militia, Drusus battled alongside Rempsi, holding the choke point leading to the Navigator’s chambers. Eventually overrun, dozens of daemons rushed through the corridors. The young Rempsi bellowed with rage and his militia followed him headlong towards the enemy and then abruptly stopped. Peaceful calm washed over them as they began to recite litany. The daemons were repelled, unable to come within striking distance of the Frateris Militia and Drusus knew that he had witnessed a miracle. Abbot Rempsi was forever changed and Drusus travelled with him for years until the Abbot eventually died in battle.
Calixian Fraeteris Militia[]
While reviled as a useless and disorganized pitchfork-wielding mob by professional military strategists, the Frateris Militia have proven their worth time and time again in low-level conflicts throughout the Calixis Sector. Veterans of the Frateris Militia often identify strongly with on another as brothers, just as any other military unit. On many shrine worlds organizations of ex-militia can grow very powerful as the tight knit nature of the group assures mutual support.
In 799.M41 a million strong mob of Frateris Militia on Maccabeus Quintus, whipped into a frenzy by the exhortations of the Grand Hierophant and his entourage of Black Priests, conducted a brilliantly successful prosecution of a deadly False Prophet of the Pilgrims of Hayte, with only a few thousand innocent victims.
707.M41 saw the Frateris Militia literally crush an uprising by disgruntled marble miners on Veneris by toppling a two kilometer high Macrostatue of St. Berevus onto the assembled rioters.
While strategy isn’t usually associated with the militia, in 681.M41 Deacon Ollenburger and his rabble group carved a defensible position by crashing the remnants of their badly damaged Jericho-class transport. Their force of around 3000 Frateris Militia armed with nothing more than handguns and improvised weapons beat off an attack from over ten thousand hardened slavers on the frontier world of Faldon Kise.
It is true that the Frateris Militia are by no means professional soldiers on many worlds they are in effect the dominant military power, and high ranking clerics repeatedly turn to them to prop up their theocratic regimes. The Inquisition has a mixed view of the Frateris Militia. On the one hand individual Inquisitors are often inspired by the insane acts of courage and faith exhibited by poorly trained and led congregants, frequently recruiting Acolytes from the ranks of the survivors of heroically doomed wars of faith. Yet on the other hand the Inquisition as a whole---and in particular the Ordo Hereticus---is mindful of the historical precedent of the Age of Apostasy, where the military forces of the Ministorum grew too powerful.
Alternate Career Rank[]
Those who serve the Ecclesiarchy are often drafted into the Frateris Militia to serve in times of need. While not formally trained or given a wage as members of a proper military would be, they are excused from other official duties during their service. Anyone with strong loyalty to the Ecclesiarchy could have served in a Frateris Militia and an Inquisitor or Cardinal values those who bring experience at arms to an Acolyte Cell in the field.
Required Career: Adept, Cleric or Scum
Restrictions: This Alternate Career Rank is only open to male characters.
Alternate Rank: 1 or higher (0 XP)
Starting Equipment: A character who replaces Rank 1 with Frateris Militia also replaces all starting equipment with a Las Carbine or Hunting Rifle and 2 reloads, Aquila Necklace, a Charm, a Knife, a backpack and a Flak Vest.