Order of the Coming Dawn

The Order of the Coming Dawn are a relatively recently founded Order Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. They have an unusual interpretation of their mandate as the Imperium's "witch hunters," to the point of seeming antithetical to it at first glance. They have taken it upon themselves to find, train, house, and protect the psykers of the Dark Imperium born on worlds cut off from the Black Ships by the Cicatrix Maledictum.

History
Before the formation of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Order of the Coming Dawn served as an assisting force for the Adeptus Astra Telepathica in the more remote sectors of the northeast Ultima Segmentum. They would travel from planet to planet, regularly collecting their psyker tithes in advance of the arrival of the infamous Black Ships. Once collected, these psykers would be housed on their convent world of Circulus until the Black Ships could collect them. Until those ships arrived, the Sisters would provide these psykers with whatever preliminary training they could to ensure they lived in as much comfort as possible, and help them to accept whatever their fate may be when the Black Ships arrived. Naturally the Sisters would also put down those whose were too uncontrollable and dangerous to wait for the Black Ships, but the Sisters of the Coming Dawn showed an unusual level of restraint in such matters, resorting only to executing the psyker once all other options were exhausted.

Recently, the world of Circulus has come to the brink of disaster, only to be delivered by an unexpected savior. A psyker trainee of particularly immense power suffered a devastating mental assault by Daemonic forces. This assault caused the trainee to uncontrollably flood the minds of the entire planet's population with debilitating, horrific visions that rendered the entire Order of the Coming Dawn unable to act. This was an attempt by the Daemonic forces to buy time to break through the unfortunate psyker's mind and manifest into the physical realm. The only individual on the entire planet coherent enough to act was, surprisingly, an Acolyte of the Ordo Theoreticus sent to observe the Order by the name of "Naerina." By some means she was able to restore the sanity of both the Sisters and the trainees present, and gave the uncontrolled psyker enough control of himself to prevent the impending Daemonic incursion by taking his own life. How she achieved this is unknown, as there is no physical evidence of what she did, nor were there any witnesses coherent enough to know the details at the time.

Shortly after the Acolyte's departure, the Order's leadership convened and unanimously declared the act a Miracle of the God-Emperor, and that Acolyte Naerina's actions could only have been possible if she was a Living Saint. As such, they have petitioned the Ecclesiarchy for Naerina's immediate beautification. Despite their petition still pending, they have already begun filing the necessary paperwork with the Administratum to have Saint Naerina registered as their official Patron Saint, as well as the world of Circulus declared a Shrine World and its name changed to "Naerina IV." In addition, they their officers have changed their color scheme to match the robes Saint Naerina was wearing when she performed her miracle, and begun dying their hair to match her's rather than the traditional white of most Sororitas orders. The Ordo Hereticus has declared such worship not to be heretical, as they believe the Ecclesiarchy is likely to approve their petition.

Homeworld
The world of Naerina IV is mostly desert, with a temperate zone near its north pole and a jungle near its south. The Tower of the Mind's Eye, the primary training and housing facility of the Order and thier psykers, is located in the northern temperate region. Both Sister and psyker learn the art of war and the tenets of the Imperial Cult in this facility. In addition, the Sisters are given thorough training in psychology, particularly in deescalation techniques and diplomacy, while the psykers learn how to control their power, find their limits, and stay within them.

In the southern jungle portion is the Dungeon of the Sewn Eyelid, where rebellious psykers who can be safely restrained are kept. Sanctioned psykers skilled in telepathy will regularly scan the minds of these prisoners to check for genuine repentance. Those who pass these checks are returned to the general population, while those who never do are likely to die in their cells.

Organisation
For the actual Sisters, the Order of the Coming Dawn's organization structure is identical to most other typical Convents. They differ in only two ways--the recent integration of their psyker charges into the Convent's power structure, and a unique type of military unit dedicated to protecting these psykers.

The psykers under their care, while not officially inducted into the actual Order, are considered for all practical purposes members of the Convent, and have been given a voice in the Order's decisions in the form of appointed representatives in the Order's leadership structure. The Order still hunts down and executes those psykers who pose a serious threat to themselves and others, but now do so with the assistance of their own sanctioned psykers. Circulus has now become one of the few Throne-loyal safe havens for the psychically gifted in all of the Dark Imperium, as well as one of its only dedicated psychic training facilities.

Whenever these psykers go into battle, they do so surrounded by units unique to the Coming Dawn known as the Caretakers. These Sisters go into battle wielding power swords and storm shields, and are wholly dedicated to acting as a nigh-impenetrable phalanx to protect their psyker charges while in battle. The Caretakers are also charged with executing a psyker if they lose control and become a significant danger, but they view this grim duty as the ultimate failure, and will only do so if absolutely necessary.

Doctrine
Today, their mandate has only changed slightly, but what has changed is significant. With the Great Rift now bisecting the galaxy, there are now thousands of worlds in the Dark Imperium that the Black Ships are entirely incapable of reaching. In an attempt to remedy this, the Order has shifted their focus to both collecting and defending the psyker populations of isolated worlds as they build up. They have changed their Convent from a temporary housing facility into a permanent dwelling for thier psyker charges, dramatically expanded their numbers and the size of their facilities on Circulus, and begun training many of their resident psykers for battle to deploy them alongside their Sororitas guardians. While the Order can't possibly reach every world in the Dark Imperium, that does not stop them from trying.

High Cannoness Beatrix
Mother Beatrix is the youngest High Cannoness the Order of the Coming Dawn has ever had. When Acolyte Naerina performed the miracle that redefined them as an Order, Beatrix was little more than an exemplary but newly inducted Battle Sister. However, through sheer coincidence, she looks almost exactly like their new Patron Saint, which caused her already stellar service to draw significantly more attention. She embraced her natural appearance as a sign of the Saint's and the Emperor's favor, and this devotion and confidence has led her to perform feats that would be considered nearly miraculous even if a member of the Adeptus Astartes had done them. It is said that her battlecry alone has been enough to cause even Khorne-aligned Heretic Astartes to flee in terror, and broken Astra Militarum Conscripts to immediately rally and form ranks, though the accuracy of these stories is unconfirmed. Once these deeds silenced any opposition to her quick rise, it wasn't long before she found herself elected to lead the entire Order.

Mother Gisele
Mother Gisele is one of the most experienced and battle-hardened Cannonesses in the entire Order, and before Acolyte Naerina's miracle she was considered the obvious choice for the Order's next leader. Afterwards, however, Gisele was the most outspoken supporter of Beatrix, to the point where some whisper that she may have even manipulated internal politics behind to scenes to ensure Beatrix was chosen over herself when the position of High Cannoness became vacant. Why she would do this is unknown, but her combination of strategic brilliance, political aptitude, and combat experience made her an almost painfully obvious choice for Beatrix's second-in-command. In her role as Beatrix's primary tactical advisor, she in practice ends up formulating the vast majority of the Order's battle plans, usually leading to Beatrix simply choosing between the various tactical options Gisele presents her with.

Archmage Viggo Torquatus
The currently elected representative of the Order of the Coming Dawn's psyker charges. While a powerful psyker he is certainly not the most powerful in the order, but he was not elected purely for his ability to manipulate the Warp. Rather, he became a prominent figure because the psyker Saint Naerina helped as she performed her miracle was his son. Following his son's death, Torquatus used his newfound spotlight to recommend many of the reforms the Order of the Coming Dawn underwent (with the notable exception of Naerina's beautification, though he did not oppose that either.) His suggestions led to both heightened security and restrictions for untrained psykers, yet greater freedom and prominence to those who showed exemplary control and discipline, as well as giving the the psykers themselves a more direct hand in the training process. It was even due to his suggestions that the psykers cared for by the Order began their intense combat training and started deploying on the front lines alongside the Sisters. This nuanced approach allowed Torquatus to gain favor with both the Sisters and the psykers, leading to his election to the newly created positon of Archmage (representative of the psykers in the Order's care) to be nearly unanimous. To this day he remains one of Beatrix's top advisors, working with both her and Gisele to deploy their combat psykers to the best possible effect while still keeping them as safe as can be realistically expected on the battlefield.

By the Order of the Coming Dawn
Feel free to add your own "My order is sworn to utterly destroy ANYTHING that threatens the psykers in our care... Our oaths, sworn both to Saint Naerina and the God-Emperor of Mankind, are very clear on the matter--if anyone even suggests something that would put our charges at significant, direct risk, we are obligated to utterly wipe them out."

- High Cannoness Beatrix

About the Order of the Coming Dawn
Feel free to add your own "Are you going to start glowing golden now, are you, Acolyte?... Sprout some nice big wings for your back?"

- Lord Inquisitor Remleiz of the Ordo Theoreticus

"Remleiz, you are NOT helping! Just--just stop that already! This i--this is--this is no laughing matter! What on Earth were you think--?! You did this on purpose, didn't you?! You did--you did this SO on purpose! This is ALL your fault..."

- Acolyte Naerina of the Ordo Theoreticus

Video
40K Theories Youtube channel featured the Order of the Coming Dawn as their Homebrew of the Week on their youtube channel. Enjoy!