In the year of our Lord Emperor 999.M41, in service to the Ecclesiarchy and the Adepta Sororitas, I, Sister Dialogous Welminah Maeyer, an attache to the Minoris Order of the Shining Beacon, do herewith commence this sacred transcription.
Let it be known that these words are set down in utmost fidelity to truth and doctrine, preserved in the blessed tongue of High Gothic and rendered with due reverence in Low Gothic for the edification of the faithful. By the flame of our conviction and the authority vested in me through holy ordination, with the blessings of Canoness Diadinah Grace, I commit these records to the archives of the Sanctum Lexiconum so that the Imperium of Man may know and remember.
This document shall chronicle the deeds, visions, proclamations, and divine occurrences as they were revealed to the servants of the God-Emperor of Mankind. May His Light illuminate the truth herein, and may heresy shrivel beneath its scrutiny. Let no blasphemer distort this account, and let no soul forget that the God-Emperor protects.
Thus do I set my seal and my soul upon what follows.
For in those latter days of the Nine Hundred and Ninety-Ninth Year of the Forty-First Millennium, when this Imperial world, Planet Nusquam, once steadfast in tithes and prayer, was riven by schism and civil war, the Emperor in His ineffable mercy saw fit to answer an ancient promise.
The prophecy, inscribed a thousand years prior in the cracked margins of the Canticles of the Beaconed Dawn, spoke of a Daughter of Mankind made holy by miracles and grace. For a thousand years while many recited those verses as comfort, few believed they would live to see them fulfilled, yet fulfilled they were. At the height of the greatest civil conflagration Nusquam has ever seen, when hundreds of thousands of loyalists were tricked into open conflict with one another, goaded by hidden cultists in the shadows pushing the world to damnation, she arrived unannounced onboard of a Mechanicus ship.
After a fated meeting with the Sororitas Order, just when the world itself was teetering into the abyss and ruination, the Holy Daughter stepped forth as the final battle that would decide the fate of the planet commenced. But the whole civil conflict was revealed by the Holy Inquisition to be a ploy all along, for it was through this sacrificial bloodshed that enabled the heretics to complete their blasphemous rituals to achieve their devious plan.
With no command save her voice, the Holy Daughter sang, not as a singer, nor as a preacher, but as a vessel through which the God-Emperor's own will seemed to pass. Her song was neither High nor Low Gothic, yet all who heard it understood the message. Hatred faltered, blades lowered and many guns fell silent on that day. A catastrophic loss of lives for many loyal souls was averted, and by the accounts of the Holy Inquisition, possibly thwarted a major foul ritual of the thrice damned heretics. It was a feat now officially recognised as her first miracle.
Yet the heretics' depravity knew no bounds. Even with their principal design undone, they nevertheless succeeded in tearing open the veil between realities, permitting a Greater Daemon of the Ruinous Powers to manifest upon the mortal plane. Towering above the battlefield upon vast wings and wreathed in the abhorrent energies of the warp, the profane entity proved all but invulnerable to the arms of mortal men and women.
With the fate of the planet on the line, the Holy Daughter did not retreat before the abomination, she instead advanced to meet it on a muddy, raining battlefield. What transpired thereafter was spoken of only in fragments by those few who bear witness, for the duel that unfolded was said to be one never meant for mortal sight. In the end, through trial and suffering beyond common reckoning, the Holy Daughter cast the warp-spawn back into the abyss from which it had emerged. This deed was thereafter recognised by the Holy Inquisition as the second miracle formally attributed to her.
During the banishment of the Greater Daemon, the Holy Daughter was severely wounded. By the grace and blessings of the God-Emperor, she endured after surviving a week-long coma, but the ordeal had rendered her an amnesiac. This unfortunate development meant that her life before setting foot upon this world remained a complete mystery, even at the time this record was compiled. All this had occurred in the absence of His Eminence the Cardinal Paudinith IV, who at that time prosecuted religious affairs at the blessed Shrine World of Sanctitas Primus.
With the cardinal returned, the eyes of the faithful turned toward an inevitable convergence. The Living Saint to be and the Master of the Church. Living Miracle and Keeper of Orthodoxy. What words shall pass between them, none yet know. Whether this meeting shall bind the world in unassailable unity or test it with fire yet again lies only within the Emperor's design.
I record only what was, and what now approaches. May this account stand inviolate. May doubt be purged by truth.
-Preface and excerpt from "Miracles of the Holy Daughter"
* * *
Paudinith and the assembled crowd, particularly those beholding me in person for the first time, fell into near-euphoric awe the moment I revealed my halo. Even Canoness Domitira, who had seemed as immovable as a mountain only moments before, could not mask her astonishment with widened eyes.
As if in a daze, the cardinal shakily came down from his dais. The balloon of a man loomed over with his levitating bulk, flooding me with the scent of premium silk soaked with high quality incense. He then grabbed onto my shoulders, treating me like a prize item before starting to praise the Emperor like a drunk buffoon. His over enthusiastic action earned him hushed gasps from the crowd, and I sensed dissatisfactions rising from my retinue, and a flash of anger from Welminah.
Awkwardness aside, this was an opportunity too good to be passed and I tried peeking into his mind. Paudinith's will was surprisingly formidable, hardened by decades of remaining at the pinnacle of religious power. His mental guard, however, was at a low point due to the unusual elated state. With the extra physical connectivity provided by his hands on my shoulders, my consciousness successfully seeped in and I viewed the world through his eyes.
I expected it to be bad but it felt worse, his mind was a swamp of crude appetites with immense gluttony, almost gravitational in its pull for more power and grandeur, always more. The main anchor to his motive was the dream of building up Nusquam as a Shrine World with him at its apex.
A Shrine World is a planet where the Church—or the Ecclesiarchy—effectively became the government. Civil authority being totally superseded by religion, laws are sermons, officials are clergy, and dissent isn't just unlawful, they are heretical. Governance becomes less about administration and more about enforcing the orthodoxy. A place where devotion outweighed comfort, reasons, or even basic quality of life. It's less a place people live, and more a place they endure in the name of belief.
'My precious child, you are to immediately move to reside here by my side, so our true grand work can begin!' As Paudinith spoke those words, his emotions spiked and I saw the vision he eagerly wanted to actualise. I caught glimpses of Sanctitas Primus, the Shrine World that served as the basis of his vision. It was a planet packed with numberless grand cathedrals, giant statues of saints and an unending line of pilgrims. A tide of humanity convinced they're a step closer to salvation and divinity just by being there. The air had that ever present hint of burned incense, a constant blaring of prayers in the background and an atmosphere that was oppressingly depressive.
It was beyond suffocating, and my existence was to be the catalyst of that reality. Paudinith already envisioned a titanic statue of me serving as the landmark of the capital city, its size dwarfing the Statue of Liberty of old Earth.
Now that does it—
'No. I must disagree.' Before I realised it, those words came out from me and the hall fell silent.
'What, what did you say?' Paudinith asked in shock.
An openly rebellious display at this time could result in more than a mere inconvenience, so I quickly came up with an excuse. 'Your Eminence, I beg your understanding. I am unable to comply with your orders due to my training and other duties.'
'Training?'
'The Sororitas are teaching me the martial ways, a necessity with the uncertain times ahead,' I said.
'My child, the Ecclesiarchy requires your complete compliance, you are to drop everything and come to my side,' Paudinith said with an undertone of displeasure, not used to being refused.
I was still connected to his mind and saw how he ticked, this was a person too used to the world revolving around him. Most people were little more than tools in his egoistic view, and I was to be the crowning piece of instrument in his quest for personal glory.
That rapacious vantage point rubbed me the wrong way. Disgusted and feeling the need to put distance between us, I easily removed myself from his pudgy fingers and took a step back before turning off my halo.
Paudinith looked startled, and the abrupt cut-off of "divinity on display" conjured a wave of disappointment from the crowd. The cardinal's expression changed, reminding me of a child who had his new favourite toy taken away. He pointed at me and demanded, 'the matter is not negotiable…'
I felt my own anger surge. Time slowed as the sudden temptation to swat away this overfed human aside with a swift backhand crept up my mind. At this distance, I could splatter his brain matter across the floor in less than—
Hold on.
Did I just contemplate murder?
No… not murder. This came with the indifference of brushing aside something insignificant, something beneath—
Wait.
Isn't that even worse?
Thaberus' words came rushing back to me: whatever happens later, do not kill Paudinith.
As I stood still processing my thoughts, Paudinith continued to speak with his condescending posture, 'you will remain and answer for—' that pushed my annoyance to a dangerous new level, fortunately a monotone vox-grilled voice interrupted.
'Be advised, Your Eminence,' said Balpradus, cutting off Paudinith mid-sentence with his own amplified words, 'the individual you are addressing is under the direct protection and patronage of the Cult Mechanicus. Your action has been logged, assessed, and deemed inadvisable.'
Alerted by the statement, Paudinith turned to the tech-priest. 'You presume much, priest of Mars. Introduce and explain yourself.'
Balpradus took a step forward and spoke up. 'I am Magos Balpradus Aukank, currently serving under the holy expedition led by Arch Dominus Kryptorer Cykell.' He continued flatly, 'I do not presume. I state a fact, Lady Syrine possesses the full backing of the Omnissiah's servants on this world. Your stated demand has been interpreted as interference by the Mechanicus cause.'
'Surely you jest, magos?' Paudinith almost snorted at the statement. 'And do you have any proof for such a bold claim?'
Balpradus did not reply, he instead floated one of his servo-skulls before him. The floating skull linked up with something before its eyes lit up, projecting a huge hologram. A figure shimmered into existence, hooded with a smooth chrome mask. It was Magos Callina, the ranking tech-priest of the planet. The hologram's quality was excellent, so much so a distorted reflection of the hall could be seen on the smooth chrome on her mask. Callina's appearance surprised the crowd, the Adeptus Mechanicus seldom if ever directly dip their toes into the Church's business.
'Fabricator-Praefectus Magos Callina,' Paudinith greeted the magos with her full title and a cautious tone, 'it has been a while.' The cardinal knew he was dealing with the top Mechanicus representative of the planet.
'Indeed, Your Eminence.' Callina's mechanical yet cultured voice came through. 'I see you have returned safely and in good health. And greetings to you, Lady Governor Khatalina.'
'Good to see you again, Magos Callina,' Khatalina greeted back.
'We are all here today thanks to the God-Emperor's blessings and good graces,' Paudinith said, 'now if you don't mind, could you please clarify your colleague's statement?'
'A moment please, allow me to review the records… I see now. Since we are clarifying this matter, Your Eminence, let me be clear that Magos Balpradus has my full backing.'
Callina's statement caused a small uproar in the hall, but she ignored those and continued speaking. 'If Lady Syrine is inconvenienced in any way or form, I may be forced to initiate a temporary suspension of many services in protest.' While her tone remained polite, a knife's edge was showing.
'Suspension of services? What sort of services?' Paudinith asked in disbelief.
The infamous internal bickering of the Imperium. Witnessing one happening today was unexpected, much less that I was the cause of it.
Callina tilted her head slightly before answering. 'While the list is not comprehensive, the services mentioned include routine Manufactorum output, vehicle maintenance, reactor oversight, vox-relay calibration but to name a few. Nothing catastrophic. Merely… the mechanical functions that's keeping the planet running smoothly.'
'Magos Callina, I would appreciate you not to drag the routine operation of my planet into your arguments with the Church,' Lady Khatalina chipped in worriedly, the Planetary Governor looking strangely sidelined in this argument.
Paudinith voiced his outrage. 'You forget yourself, magos, the Ecclesiarchy commands this world!'
'Negative,' Balpradus refuted. 'Your Eminence has authority over matters of imperial faith over this world, whereas authority over machines that run this world is vested in the Cult Mechanicus.'
'You dare issue orders to a cardinal of the Imperium?' Paudinith snarled, yet a hint of desperation was showing.
'I merely issued a warning on behalf of the followers of Machine God, servants of the Omnissiah do not tolerate the obstruction of His works.' Said Balpradus, his tone flat as ever.
Callina reiterated her support. 'Your Eminence, I stand by my colleague's statement.' The combined hardline stance made Paudinith's expression turn sour. As he struggled for a comeback, another voice joined the conversation.
'Pray tell,' asked High Deacon Malthea, speaking for the first time, 'what is this important work the Lady Syrine has to perform?'
Both magos turned their heads to Malthea but none answered her question, probably calculating how much information they could give out without giving away anything.
'Allow me to answer that, it is related to the psychic beacon.' I provided a half truth without any further context, but it was enough and the two tech-priests picked up the rest.
'It is as Lady Syrine said,' Balpradus backed me up, 'the task concerns the integrity of the entire sub-sector. It is doubly critical since we are currently cut off from the rest of the Imperium.'
'Suffice to say, we prefer no interference with the current delicate arrangement. I repeat our request, that Lady Syrine is not to be inconvenienced in any way,' Callina added.
'Beside her training, what is the duty she mentioned?' Paudinith asked in a softened stance.
'Unfortunately, the nature of this holy work is classified,' Balpradus replied. 'Your Eminence could, of course, apply for a clearance request with the Inquisition.' Speaking of the Inquisition, Herlindya took the chance to step forward, immediately becoming the centre of attention.
She nodded to Paudinith before introducing herself. 'Your Eminence, I am an agent of the Throne, Herlindya Winsen, acting under the authority of Inquisitor Thaberus Thorn of the Holy Ordos. With respect, the Sororitas fortress monastery is currently providing Lady Syrine with the best training and optimum security. I strongly advise against relocating her.'
Paudinith's expression subtly shifted in a few quick successions, the combined objections and pressure from both the Mechanicus and the Inquisition meant even he had to backtrack his demands. His ego seemingly deflated and he eventually looked at me before conceding. 'It would seem my decision was rushed without careful consideration. Very well, my child, you may keep your current living arrangement.'
'Thank you, Your Eminence,' I said, relieved that his scheme of keeping me by his side was over, for now.
'I am delighted this matter was resolved amicably,' Callina said in her flickering hologram, 'Your Eminence, the servants of the Machine God are grateful for your understanding and benevolentness. I am signing off. '
Paudinith nodded, turned around and climbed back up his dais as Callina's hologram fizzled and disappeared. He let a moment of silence pass before speaking to the hall again. 'Now then, all of us here, including myself as the Voice of the Emperor, have borne witness to the mark of divinity bestowed by our eternal liege with our own eyes.'
The cardinal raised his right hand, voice amplified to a new height by the floating cherub. 'With her undeniable deeds and marvelous feats in mind, I, Paudinith IV, Cardinal of this blessed world of Nusquam, hereby formally propose Lady Syrine to be officially recognised as a Living Saint in waiting. Any who are present wishing to object, please state your case and do so now.'
None came forth. Paudinith nodded to the hall again before looking straight at me. 'Today is a momentous day, my child. Your miraculous deeds, your heroic feats will now be formally recognised by the Church and be made known to the populace…'
The man was speaking like an overzealous boss prep talking to a rising star employee, promising the stars and the moon. All I heard was the incoming headaches of becoming an ultra-recognisable public figure and could not help but cringe inside.
'...today is the day Nusquam will know you as the blessed individual you are. May the light bestowed to you by our God-Emperor shine a path forward in these uncertain times.'
The cardinal finished and the hall erupted into a rare open display of applause. A few extra prearranged cherubs were even released into the hall, dropping confetti in the shapes of various imperial iconography.
'Come, my child.' Paudinith extended a hand to me. 'Let us share this joy with the world. In the courtyard now are the faithful from all walks of people. Let us show them, let them see that the living light of the God-Emperor has reached their world, their home. That they have little to fear despite the troubling times ahead.'
I saw that scheme in his head just moments before, he wanted to make a mark, hands on me as if saying "I made this" in my debut.
'As you wish, Your Eminence.' I smiled, stepped forward and accepted his hand. Considering I just warded off his hostile acquisition without blowing my cover, I counted today as a win.
* * *
By the decree of His Most Holy Eminence, and under the vigilant custody of the Ecclesiarchy, the faithful were gathered in solemn procession at the courtyard of the Grand Basilica Imperialis of Unyielding Faith.
They came not as common pilgrims nor idle spectators, but as the chosen devout, men and women of proven piety, consisting individuals such as war veterans with proven valor, widowed mothers who had surrendered sons to the Astra Militarum, cloistered adepts who had spent entire lifetimes illuminating sacred scripture by candlelight. Every soul present had been examined, vouched for, and deemed worthy to witness a very, very rare occasion.
The courtyard itself had been transformed into a monument of anticipation. Incense smoke drifted in silent silver rivers through shafts of stained light while thousands waited in silence. None dared disturb the sacred atmosphere. Then came the tolling of the bells as the vast main door to the courtyard groaned open. At the head of the procession floated the Cardinal of Nusquam, and beside him walked the saviour of the planet whom the Ecclesiarchy had, after much deliberation and meticulous verification, proclaimed a true Living Saint in waiting for the God-Emperor.
Accounts differ on her exact appearance in person that day, for many if not most of those who witnessed the moment were overcome by tears and emotions. Yet all testimonies agreed upon two truths, that her goddess-like appearance was impossibly divine and her halo was real. Not a crafted piece of metal crown nor mere refracted light, but a radiant circlet suspended behind her head like a miniature sun rendered gentle enough for mortal eyes. Gold-white brilliance spilled from it in radiant waves, illuminating with an almost dreamlike purity that reflected in polished marble floors as if liquid dawn.
The congregation did not cheer. They wept.
Hardened veterans collapsed to their knees, while jaded Administratum scribes openly sobbed with shaking hands. Priests who had spent decades preaching of the Emperor's divinity found themselves unable to utter coherent prayers now that they were presented with a living example. The sound that filled the courtyard was not celebration but raw religious ecstasy—the agonised, joyous vibrations of believing mortals confronted with undeniable sanctity.
And then came the birds of light.
Without warning, luminous shapes descended from heights, emerging from nowhere. Their appearance was so sudden, a few black-clad Sororitas almost drew their weapons before recognising these as higher manifestations of divinity. The birds resembled ancient Terran avians wrought from starlight itself, their translucent feathers trailing streams of radiant particles that dissolved into the air like drifting embers. Some circled lazily around the cherubs in the air, one landed on the saint's hand before flying off again while others glided over the congregation, close enough for trembling hands to nearly touch.
Witnesses reported sensations of overwhelming sense of calm and serenity in their passing. One confessor claimed the ache in his ancient bones vanished entirely after a bird landed on his shoulder. Another swore he no longer hears the strange noises within his own mind after touching one that flew too close. Some swore even the cardinal himself looked utterly stunned at the appearance of these miraculous birds.
The saint-to-be herself neither basked in the adoration nor acknowledged the spectacle. She walked with lowered gaze beside the cardinal, serene and distant in her simple off-white robes, as though the miracles surrounding her were merely the natural consequence of divine proximity. By the conclusion of the procession, many among the gathered faithful had prostrated themselves fully upon the floor. Several reportedly entered ecstatic trances with three attending members of the clergy fainting outright from being spiritually overwhelmed.
Thus was recorded the first public revelation of the Lady Syrine before the eyes of the faithful, a moment by which all present would forever draw strength for their faith, and by which doubters elsewhere in the Imperium would find themselves shamed before the manifest glory of Him on Terra.
-Excerpt from "Miracles of the Holy Daughter"