Sisters of the Golden Orb

 While my sisters are not painted yet, they are primed and ready to paint and, as you'll see from the paint scheme below, they shouldn't take to much painting up. 

The Order of the Golden Orb

Orders founding Convent -	Convent Sanctorum (Ophelia VII)
Orders Originator -	Order of the Valorous Heart
Orders Founded purpose -	Crusade
Orders Founding -	c. M37 during the Age of Redemption
Orders flaw -	We stand alone
Orders Demeanour -	Relic Keepers
Figure of Legend -	Battle Sister Meshea
Deed of Legend -	Slayer of the Nurgle Daemon Prince Buboe the Plaguebringer
Orders Homeword -	Deathworld of Galara IV
Homeworld terrain -	Contaminated Desert
Homeworld Influence -	Minor Influence
Orders Oragnisation -	Slight Variation
Orders Doctrine -	Orbital Insertion
Orders Divergence -	Modified Vehicles
Method of Worship -	Honour Those Gone before
Order size -	Ranks complete
Alliances -	Various Space Marine Chapters, including Emperors Disciples and Brazen Hawks
Enemies -	Chaos Space Marines and the Mutants\Abominations of the Morthern Wastes
Notable Relics -	Globus Cruciger of Sister Meshea

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The order of the Golden Orb is a minor order of the Adepta Sororitas, based on the death world of Galara IV in the outer edge of the Segmentum Pacificus. The order is relatively large for a minor order although it contains only a small number of full trained battle sisters. 

The order was formed during the period known as the Age of Redemption, when the forces of the Sororitas spread amongst the stars, bringing with it the word of the Emperor. On Galara IV, a force of sisters from the Order of the Valorous Heart came across a neat of Nurgle cultists who had spread there vile beliefs across the planet. During the cleansing of the planet, the cultists brought forth a great plague of daemons, including a Daemon Prince of Nurgle, known as Buboe the Plaguebringer. The Daemon cut great swathes through the Imperial lines in an unstoppable rampage, trailing lesser daemons in his wake. All hope seemed lost as the cultists and daemons surged back across the surface of the planet. The forces of the imperium tried their hardest to protect the population, evacuating them from the approaching hordes. It was during this process that the miracle of the great gate happened. As the horde approached one of the final sanctuaries, one of the few ports on the planet and the only one still able to accommodate the ships used to evacuate the loyal population, all efforts when in to holding the walls. This effort proved lacking and the Great Gate was breached. At the news, a squad of Sisters rushed to plug the gap. Charging headlong into battle they ran straight in to the Plaguebringer, at the head of a mighty column of daemons. The sisters fought valiantly but could not hold back the tied, falling one by one, until only two stood. It was at this point that Sister Meshea, on her first mission as a fully fledged Sister stepped forward, brandishing the sister superior's power sword, and shouted a challenge to the Daemon Prince, stating that he would not pass until all were safe. The Daemon laughed and charged, swinging his great sword wildly as he did. What happened next has passed into legend, for Sister Meshea fought the Daemon, sword to sword, standing her ground against all the he could throw at her. She fought on long past the time that any mortal woman should have been able to, she was still standing, blooded and battered, when a voice, deep and resonant spoke behind her, stating simply that her duty was done and she may rest. As she dropped to her knees, a squad of Astartes, from the Brazen Hawks, stepped past and sent the foul beast back to the warp from where it came. Sister Meshea was recovered by her fellow sisters, every plate of armour buckled, every bone in her body broken and her skin broken, blistered and bloody. While many witnessed the dual, one account stood out more than most, that of the only surviving sister from the squad, Sister Chastity. Her account was the only full account of the dual, from start to finish and is backed up by the testimony of numerous other witnesses. When she watched the battle, she talked of a bright pure light emanating from Sister Meshea, of how she moved with a grace and speed that was beautiful to behold and how every blow she struck, no matter how slight, cause the beast to recoil as if struck by a battle cannon. It was not these facts that made her retelling of the event remarkable, it was the fact she survived, as she had been pulled from the melee by Sister Meshea before the dual had begun but because she had been blinded, eyes burned from their sockets by the Daemon Prince. 

Sister Meshea was laid to rest and her armour laid out in a small chapel near the Great Gate. In the years that followed many thousands of worshipers came to the chapel, which grew and grew, until it formed the largest building on Galara IV. During this time there were numerous "miracles" claimed by the various citizens that passed through, although none were ever authenticated by the Ecclesiarchy. The Chapel, now more a cathedral, also attracted a substantial population of its own, with various Imperial cults springing up, with priests, preachers, nuns and monks taking up residence within the building and surrounding area.

When the Sister went to leave, several requested permission to stay and guard the Chapel, claiming that they had had visions that required them to stay. With this, the sisters present petitioned the Canoness of the the Order of the Valorous Heart to form a new order, which was granted and so the Order of the Golden Orb was created. 

The Golden Orb, after which the order was named is a Globus Cruciger, which belonged to Sister Meshea and is the Orders most holy relic. It was also the only item on her that was untouched by the dual with the Daemon Prince. 

The Order still resides in the Chapel, which now takes over the whole of the Great Gate and the surrounding star port. It is the biggest single building and forms the biggest concentration of people on the whole planet by a considerable amount. The order itself is a minor order, with Galara IV and the Chapel being the only location that the order resides. It recruits from the surrounding systems, although the vast majority of recruits find their own way to the Chapel. The Order is large for a minor order, but is formed of only a few hundred fully trained battle sisters with over a thousand trainee's split between numerous ranks, with hopeful members moving through several stages from aspirant to initiate to novitiate to neophyte before graduating to battle sister. This is a process that takes longer than most other orders as many of those who come to the Chapel to join the ranks are afflicted with the various ailments and minor plagues that lurk within the system, even though millennia have passed since the Nurgle cultists spread their vile plagues across the lands. Healing these new aspirants can take time, and yet more time is needed for them to gain the health and strength they lack growing up in such an inhospitable environment. This not only means that there as a substantial number of aspirants but also a high number of losses or failures within those who try to become sisters. Many of these failures go on to become useful members of the wider order, joining the ranks of the orders Hospitaller and Dialogus, as well as a few joining the ranks of the Families, Primaris, Madriga, Fenetrus and Vespila orders. 

Galara IV itself is classed as a death world, for ever since the Nurgle cultists released there plagues across the world, the planet has gone from being a desert back water planet to a death world, with endless deserts broken only by disease ridden swamps, dank malformed forests or ground hugging fogs of plague ridden water. The locals have adapted and learnt to avoid these and many other dangers but the air and ground is unclean, despite the best efforts of the imperium. There are similar occurrences on many of the world's in nearby systems, and it is believed that there is still Nurgle cultists at work. As such the sisters of the order often set off on minor crusades to purge world or systems of any taint that can be found. 

The order does not rule the planet of Galara IV, but merely watches over it and advises the main nomadic tribe leaders, ensuring that the interests of the order are protected.  Canoness Regina leads the order ahead of her Palatines. As the order only contains a small number of battle sisters, there are only 5 Palatines, in charge of the five missionary forces, each up to 50 sisters strong, that the order can deploy. Usually 3 of these missionary forces will be active at one time, crusading around the surrounding region, chasing the enemies of the imperium. Of the other two, one will be tasked with protecting the Chapel and one will be recovering and rearming, ready to embark on a new crusade. 

One of the tasks that the sisters have to perform is the routine cleansing of the northern wastes. This is an area of dense mountainous terrain, criss-crossed with paths, tunnels, passes and valleys, and is known for its high levels of contamination. The sisters sweep the area on a yearly basis, destroying as many of the mutants and abominations that reside there. This is also where those in their latter stages of selection, the novitiate's and neophyte's, are trained and tested. There have been many attempts to cleanse the area completely, it has always proved impossible due to the labyrinthine nature of the region. These yearly purges however keep the numbers at a level where they cannot pose a threat to the wider populous. 

Colours of the Order