“Words are the weapons of our enemies. I have seen an apostate sermon cut through a soul like a chainsword. Leaving nothing but a husk where once a loyal servant stood. The weapons of our enemy must be blunted upon our faith.”
–Sister Sephi of the Order of the Lexicon
Of the three well-known Orders Non-militant, the Orders Dialogous is the one least often seen. Revered within the Ministorum as some of the most learned people in the Ecclesiarchy, the Sisters Dialogous generally keep to themselves. Inquisitors heading into places that speak new or unusual dialects often seek them out for their skills in unlocking ciphers and translating languages. Though they specialize in languages and processing information, Sisters Dialogous are just as martially trained and fanatically devoted to the Imperial Creed as any Battle Sister.
Sisters Dialogous generally leave their datastacks only when their linguistic or cipher-breaking skills are needed. There have been occasions where a full Mission is sent to retrieve data, though this is rare because the risk involved in letting sisters with access to sacred and secret information out into the open is very high and has to be authorized by the Convent. This has led the Dialogous to be a much more cloistered and in some ways naïve Order than the others.
Dialogous in the Calixis Sector[]
As in other sectors of the Imperium, the Calixis Sector Sisters Dialogous have opted to stay out of the limelight, providing support and information to both the Ecclesiarchy and the Holy Ordos. While the entire Sisterhood is far more active in the Calixis Sector than in other places, they still hold true to the principle that knowledge comes before action. When on active field duty with the Orders Militant or the Ordo Hereticus, they are generally used in a support role as a communications or scientific experts. Field agents are likely to hear them only at the other end of a comm-link as they provide detailed information on the enemy.
The largest concentration of the Order Dialogous in Calixis is the Sanctum Dialogous on Solomon. It houses a full preceptory of Sisters Dialogous and is guarded by a thousand Battle Sisters and a squadron of Imperial Navy ships in orbit. While regular traffic is allowed to and from the planet, it is commonly believed that the Naval ships keep sensors locked on the small promontory where the Sanctum is located. No one has revealed the secrets held in its vaults (under penalty of death), though it has been thought to hold all manner of heretical and xenos texts which have been fully translated into High Gothic. In conjunction with their joint work with the Sisters Famulous, they also maintain the history and blood lineage of the founding nobles for the sector including the Sinos family, the Haarlocks, the Sabrehagens, and, of course, the Angevin. Whatever is actually in there, the information deep below the Sanctum rivals that are housed anywhere within the Ecclesiarchy’s holdings.
Another aspect of the Order Dialogous is that they are some of the best information gatherers in the Sisterhood. Respected for their translation skills, they often work in data repositories and thus have access to new sources of data. Both the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition use this detailed information on potential threats to the Creed and the Imperium. While the Sisterhood has frowned on the Inquisition’s usage of Dialogous services, their efforts have led to the discovery and destruction of some of the larger cults in the sector. Prol IX and the Library of Knowing on Fenksworld each house a small contingent of Sisters Dialogous.
The Order Pronatus[]
Tasked with the care of holy relics reclaimed from the clutches of renegades and heretics, the Order Pronatus is subtly influential within the Ecclesiarchy of the Calixis sector. They can be found on many shrine worlds, tireless working to purify the stain of the Warp from artifacts recovered on crusades. Inquisitors will occasionally recruit the skills of an Order Pronatus sister when they feel their acolytes may need to deal with unholy devices.
A Sister of the Order Pronatus is effectively a Sister Dialogous for game play purposes. With GM permission the character may exchange Forbidden Lore (Heresy) for Forbidden Lore (Warp).
Alternate Career Rank[]
Sisters Dialogous are talented at breaking ciphers and translating texts. They are also extremely diligent in caring for the records they are entrusted with and guarding the secrets of the Ecclesiarchy and the Sisterhood. They understand knowledge is useless if they don’t act on it. Any extended field assignment with either the Inquisition or the Ecclesiarchy grants them a unique opportunity to experience the Imperium first hand and to use their knowledge to actively hunt down heretics and pry their secrets from them. They also know that the information they seek and guard comes with the eternal threat of temptation. It has been drummed into them that they cannot fail in their duties, because when condemned knowledge falls into the hands of the unwary, catastrophe often follows.
All Starting Skills, Talents, Gear and Wealth listed here replace the Adept Rank 1 starting Skills, Talents, Gear and Wealth.
Starting Rank: Rank 1 (Replaces Rank 1 Adept)
Starting Skills: Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Literacy, Logic, Speak High Gothic, Speak Low Gothic, Performer (singer), Trade (Copyist) and Forbidden Lore (Heresy).
Starting Talents: Pistol Training (SP), Melee Weapon Training (Primitive) or Basic Weapon Training (SP), Light Sleeper.
Starting Gear: Shield Robes, Dialogous Staff, Chaplet Ecclesiasticus, Ring of Suffrage, Rule of the Sororitas, Stub Revolver (and two reloads).
Requirements: WP 30, INT 30
Starting Wealth: 100+2d10 Thrones
Monthly Income: Learned Class
Restrictions: Characters with this alternate career rank may not purchase Psy Rating advances or any advance that allows use of psychic powers or sorcery.