# What happened to the Sisters of Silence?



## palefire (Jul 30, 2011)

In the Horus Heresy, they manned the Black Ships because they were blanks. I see no mention of them in the 40k universe. Battle Sisters now man the Black Ships. What happened to the Sisters of Silence?


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

No one knows.

Some believe they all died during the Emperor's Secret War (fighting off daemons in the webway), or that they still man some of the Black Ships or are scattered throughout various organizations of the Inquisition.


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## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

Perhaps they were subsumed into some other organization, perhaps the last sisters of Silence helped form the Adepta Sororitas when they went Millitant after the Vandire Heresy


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm pretty sure the formation of the SoB was completely independent of the Silent Sisterhood. 

They most likely went the same way as the custodes. That would be my guess at least.


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## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

Serpion5 said:


> I'm pretty sure the formation of the SoB was completely independent of the Silent Sisterhood.
> 
> They most likely went the same way as the custodes. That would be my guess at least.


I'm not saying one orginization flowed into the other like what happens when a chapter is too decimated to continue as a chapter and has to be integrated into a nother, I'm saying it's like the Grey Knights being formed from and taught by the loyalist Space Marines like Garro.

But it's just a off the top of the head theory


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

I have a vague recollection of there being a mention of them in the Eisenhorn books, when he creates his own army of blanks to assist in bringing down his enemies. They probably went the same route as Eisenhorn's army and got waxed when evil figured out how dangerous they can be for the Imperium.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Wouldn't be surprised if the Silent Sisterhood were the blue prints of the SoB. But I think the Silent Sisterhood probably died out. Probably in the Emperor's secret war.


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## SoulGazer (Jun 14, 2009)

Hah, I'd hate to be the Astropath or Navigator on a Black Ship. Just imagine how nutty those guys are normally, now throw them on a ship full of blanks and pariahs. They must have to chain them to their stations. :crazy:


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## Davidicus 40k (Jun 4, 2010)

The last I heard of them, they were pretty screwed trying to defend the Emperor's Palace, so I'd say they were all slain. It's a shame, too, as they seemed pretty potent. The idea of a female association of blanks is so good that Inquisitor Eisenhorn copied it millennia later .


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## Deadeye776 (May 26, 2011)

I agree. It was a pretty badasss organization. However I also agree that Magnus's misfortune became their ultimate fate holding the gate in the imperial dungeon. The artbook said thousands died in the fighting since it was pretty much the equivalent of a surprise attack. One image I remember was a sister battling a huge bloodthirster at the gates operning. Though the Custodes are some of the top warriors in the Imperium I really do believe that the bulk of combat would have had to have been shouldered by Sisters of Silence. If you think about it that's probably why they were so involved in that area from the beginning maybe because that was their ultimate duty.


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## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

I think they were all expended when the webway opened. They were very effective in fighting the demons, and one named character killed a bloodthirster before it entered the throne room. Pretty sure they all died.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Baltar said:


> I think they were all expended when the webway opened. They were very effective in fighting the demons, and one named character killed a bloodthirster before it entered the throne room. Pretty sure they all died.


I believe the sister you're thinking of was the lead SoS in Flight of the Eisenstein- bit of a name drop for her early on.


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## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

Yah, she was some badass.

Being fair, she probably is fairly pivotal in preventing Earth being overtaken by demons. I seem to recall a fairly crappy artwork of her standing in the webway entrance about to smash the bloodthirster. I seem to remember thinking it was amongst the worst GW artwork there has ever been.


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## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

Baltar said:


> Yah, she was some badass.
> 
> Being fair, she probably is fairly pivotal in preventing Earth being overtaken by demons. I seem to recall a fairly crappy artwork of her standing in the webway entrance about to smash the bloodthirster. I seem to remember thinking it was amongst the worst GW artwork there has ever been.


Orly? How bad is it, I don't recall that one.


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## Loli (Mar 26, 2009)

I love the SoS and imo anymore background on them will be welcome its why im hoping for cameos in more HH books. But i think like everyone else that they hit the wall during the secret war. I hooe that some might be arou.d somewhere but i kuch doubt it.

I wonder if it would be possibke to use the GK codex as a SoS list? Would be awesome conversion wise if someone tried that.


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## mob16151 (Oct 20, 2011)

Speaking of the Emperor's secret war, i've been kind of toying with the notion, that what if that war is still going on, today. Maybe the SoS is still around, but they have to keep feeding whatever new units they make into the webway to hold it closed.


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

mob16151 said:


> Speaking of the Emperor's secret war, i've been kind of toying with the notion, that what if that war is still going on, today. Maybe the SoS is still around, but they have to keep feeding whatever new units they make into the webway to hold it closed.


The Emperor keeps it closed, that's one of his main tasks on the Golden Throne.


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## mob16151 (Oct 20, 2011)

Baron Spikey said:


> The Emperor keeps it closed, that's one of his main tasks on the Golden Throne.



I am aware of that. But my random wild speculation, was what if the Emperor needs an assist. What if the pressure building up behind those doors reaches a certain level of magnitude, and needs to be defused. So to speak(Also I'm aware of the logisitical difficulties, of getting any presumed modern era SoS's past said doors. :mrgreen .) Im sure we'll find out the SoS was wiped out in the secret war, or during the battle of terra, or something mundane like that.

I just enjoy playing what if games.


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## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

I wouldn't be surprised if they were trapped just on the inside of the webway protecting the gate to Earth. That would make *some* sort of vague sense. Perhaps even if they, like the custodians, resided purely on Earth within the palace, that may make sense too. I imagine the webway is kept under constant guard (to say the least) and the SoS would be perfect for it.

Although I still imagine they all perished when it first opened. Not immediately, of course, but I also imagine that the tide of demons was probably near limitless. I think the only preventative was closing the gate.


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## D-A-C (Sep 21, 2010)

I like the idea that they have been absorbed by the Ecclecstacy into a kind of secret 'inner' order or secret subset of a particular branch. That's because I honestly wish they would reintroduce them, they could be the equivilent of psychic hoods for SM armies, rather than having Librarians running around with magic crystal helmets.

In saying that, my guess as to where they are at the moment in 40k is that they are still there and always have been. Its just a case of when someone asks "Where are all the Sister's of Silence?", they aren't allowed to reply "We're over here you big dumb Space Marine!"

Edit 

Also their was a blank in the first _Eisenhorn_ novel, so they do still exist in that sense, so why would the militrant order devoted specifically to them dissapear?


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## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

Blanks certainly still exist - but the sisters of silence are not *just* blanks in exactly the same way that grey knights are not *just* psykers...


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

SoS are pure pariahs.

Eisenhorn's blanks are different in the sense that some of them simply lessened the amount of warp energy in the air or severed the connection between psyker and warp.

If I am not mistaken, pariahs have no souls (while blanks potentially do I think) and have no control over their warp nullifying abilities. They just have one setting.

There was a detailed post about this very topic somewhere on here.

edit-



Jerushee said:


> Blanks/Pariahs come in varying grades just as psykers do.
> 
> What determines if a blank/pariah merely has no warp presence, or actuall inhibits, dulls, nullifies, or is able to rip the warp powers of a psyker for their own use, is decided by what grade they are.
> 
> Ranging all the way down to Negative Epsilon, black pariah levels etc.


All hail Lux.

I think overall nobody has any clue what the difference is given the lack of fluff on the subject. Abnett wanted something to help out Eisenhorn in his role as an inquisitor and since he couldn't add in a SoS, he created the whole 'blank' bit.


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## Baltar (Aug 16, 2008)

There is a fair amount of fluff on blanks in the Dark Heresy rpg. You can actually play as a blank, I believe, and thus loads of background material is provided.

Time and time again I seem to remember more fluff from the DH books than from any other sources... They really are a quality hive of stuff.


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## Deadeye776 (May 26, 2011)

Every human actually has a warp presence with the difference being that psykers shine brighter in the warp as they can channel power while normal humans can feel certain warp effects vaguely. The pariah's are the antithesis to the psykers as instead of a light they project darkness in the warp and are a void. A pariah I thought is someone who can drain that those powers (Culexus assassins) while the blanks simply negate ones powers. Same thing but different degrees.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

It is similar to the power levels of a psyker. 

All blanks and pariahs have souls, but their physiology channels the energy in a different way to normal mortals and psykers. This is harmful to normal warp presence.

The only entities to truly be soulless at this point are the necrons, but simply having no soul does not actively harm the presence of warp in itself the way a pariah or such can.


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## Nave Senrag (Jul 8, 2010)

Loli said:


> I love the SoS and imo anymore background on them will be welcome its why im hoping for cameos in more HH books. But i think like everyone else that they hit the wall during the secret war. I hooe that some might be arou.d somewhere but i kuch doubt it.
> 
> I wonder if it would be possibke to use the GK codex as a SoS list? Would be awesome conversion wise if someone tried that.


It would certainly be interesting to see someone try to run an army that has psychic power present in every unit as an army of blanks.


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## Emperors Mercy (Oct 31, 2011)

Well I'm pretty sure the SoS became at least the start of the SoB. In the short story 'The Voice' it gives us a possible route. But I maintain that the SoS became the SoB and just because they are not all natural blanks/pariahs, they pretty much make themselves stronger against daemons through faith. They are still effective at fighting Psykers as seen in Faith and Fire and still kick ass alongside Space Marines.


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## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

SoulGazer said:


> Hah, I'd hate to be the Astropath or Navigator on a Black Ship. Just imagine how nutty those guys are normally, now throw them on a ship full of blanks and pariahs. They must have to chain them to their stations. :crazy:


This is not unreasonable in 40k.

Also, apparently I've now got another fan-dex to work on... :crazy: who wants to collaborate with me on this one?


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