"Sleep well tonight. Dream the sweetest of dreams and remember their careless touch. For it will be the last peaceful sleep you will ever have."
- —Address to newly inducted Wardens by Senior Arbiter Kae Drusil
Icon of the Adeptus Arbites
The Divisio Immoralis is a special task force of the Adeptus Arbites created to combat the the groundswell of recidivists, Chaos Cultists and degenerates of the Calixis Sector. With the approval of the Lord Sector Marius Hax, the Divisio Immoralis was founded.
To some, this force is just another brutal tool of oppression built to placate the paranoia of Governor Hax and his inner circle, but to its veteran commander, Kae Drusil, and those who follow her, they see themselves as nothing less than guardians of civilisation and order in the sector, although in practical terms this force is limited largely to the sector capital world of Scintilla and its primary hive city, Hive Sibellus.
History[]
Wardens of a Divisio Immoralis squad performing a routine sweep for recidivists and heretics on Scintilla.
Something festers in the fabric of the Calixis Sector, something that eats away at its foundations, deceives its people and gnaws at its sanctity. While some in high authority scorn such melodramatic conclusions, there are others who have the foresight and the will to confront this parasite of heresy and rip it out of the body of the population. This is a disease of deviant faith, a worship of false gods, corrupt ideologies and moral bankruptcy. It is spawning an epidemic of deluded citizens in its wake. It is these citizens who are the malignant flesh of this disease and it is this flesh that must be cut out. Such is the thesis of Senior Arbiter Kae Drusil. With the approval of the Lord Sector himself, the Divisio Immoralis was founded.
The Divisio is the child of Drusil's vision and obsession, and this task force of the Calixian Adeptus Arbites all look to the grey-haired veteran as their mentor and leader. Drusil believes with total conviction that the rise in cult activity and the numbers of those turning against the Imperial Creed and Imperial law in recent years is no accident; somewhere behind the scenes a dread purpose pulls the strings to propel the sector towards some terrible, dark future. Authorised and smiled on by Lord Marshal Luthir Veremonn Goreman of the Calixian Great Precinct it might be, but the Divisio has its opponents, and they are powerful.
Some Arbites within the sector see the Divisio Immoralis as a needless eccentricity at best and a product of the burnt-out veteran Drusil's paranoia at worst. A few see it as a deliberate overstepping of concerns that rightfully are the sole province of the Ordo Hereticus and the Adeptus Ministorum -- just one more avenue by which Marius Hax hopes to consolidate his power over the sector. As a result, many shield their most capable and talented officers from transfer to the task force and Drusil must make do with what she can get: eccentrics, burn-outs and the occasional promising novice. The Inquisition for their part have indulged the Diviso's existence, at least for now.
That the Divisio Immoralis is comparably small and its senior officer is held in barely veiled contempt by the Adeptus Arbites across the Calixis Sector does not detract from their remit or their fierce dedication to their appointed task. In the absence of the best-trained staff, Drusil has selected those who share her obsession. Though they may not be the toughest or most promising arbitrators, most of her "wardens" fully believe in their commander and are incredibly dedicated to the task that has fallen to them.
Many have also come to believe some great and overarching moral threat seeks to envelop the sector, and they have dedicated their efforts to combating the rot they see festering at the heart of Hive Sibellus on Scintilla in particular. They are undoubtedly dedicated, but few are prepared for the things they must encounter, lacking the esoteric learning or defences the Inquisition enjoys.
In an echo of their mistress, many wardens are strained and brittle men and women. Hard-drinking is a common, if hidden, vice in the Divisio Immoralis. Trauma-fatigue and psychological burn-outs are not uncommon in those called to serve in this specialised taskforce.
Work of the Divisio Immoralis[]
The Divisio Immoralis' purpose is to collect intelligence on Chaos Cult and xenophile cult activities across the Calixis Sector and explain a recent rise in unrest and acts of terrorism by fringe cults. The Divisio Immoralis numbers only a few arbitrators led by the veteran, and rather burned-out, Senior Arbitrator Kae Drusil, but they have considerable leeway for their investigations granted by the Calixian Great Precinct and may turn up anywhere in the sector.
With authorisation to pursue their investigations throughout the sector, the Divisio Immoralis' wardens operate alone or in pairs beyond Hive Sibellus, and pursue their own leads, sifting data and lines of inquiry. Such autonomy is the cause for some contention within the Calixian branch of the Adeptus Arbites, but it is not due to laxness on Drusil's part -- as she has explained repeatedly and at length to her contemporaries -- but because with so few wardens and a sector to guard, she cannot be everywhere and sign every carta personally.
Likewise, their roving and ill-defined remit and poor reputation is the cause of a frequent lack of cooperation by local planetary Enforcers and even other members of the Adeptus Arbites. The wardens are often made painfully aware of the limits of their authority. This friction can manifest in ways ranging from a simple denial of resources or by hamstringing the wardens with red tape, to the recent unfortunate disappearance of several wardens looking into the affairs of the Sollex Tech sect. Though the wardens may not be well-respected, they have been proved right on several occasions; certainly their presence has prevented several atrocities and revolts from occurring in the past.
Notable Wardens of the Divisio Immoralis[]
"They're all around us, they number more than us. They don't understand how this Imperium works, or they don't care, or they do understand and they've made a conscious decision to turn around and start fighting against the order of things. Our work is unending. And it gets more unending every day. What? Shut up, you know what I meant."
- —Attributed to Senior Arbitrator Kae Drusil
Senior Arbitrator and Marshal-in-Chief Kae Drusil
- Senior Arbitrator Kae Drusil - Kae Drusil is marshal-in-chief of the Divisio Immoralis within the Calixis Sector. She was recruited into the Adeptus Arbites following the assassination of her great-aunt and the rest of her noble household at the Universitariate she was attending at the age of fifteen standard years. She remembered the Universitariate Enforcers and the interrogation by an unknown Arbites Judge. The Judge, whose name she never learned (and never sought), saw Kae's faith in the Imperial law, and her anger. He believed that these two traits would make her a fine recruit for the Arbites, and he was correct. As far as Kae Drusil could tell, the interrogation was her recruitment examination. Yet her belief in the incorruptibility of the Arbites and the inevitability of a future rule of perfect law had been demolished beyond repair by the things she was forced to do during a mission that was conducted under the auspices of the Inquisition. Approached by Lord Marshal Goreman, Drusil agreed to command the Divisio Immoralis, the Lord Marshal's new experiment in Imperial law enforcement.
Sources[]
- Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 311
- Dark Heresy: Book of Judgement (RPG), pp. 14-15, 22
- Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pp. 84-85