Editing Order of the Blinded Martyr (section)

==Origins==
[[Image:BlindedMartyrSister.png|thumb|right|350px|A [[Celestians|Celestian]] of the Blinded Martyr]]
The warlike sisters of the Blinded Martyr paradoxically hail from Lycia, one of the most peaceful planets in the Imperium. A garden world on the eastern fringe, Lycia is a cultural epicenter, producing a seemingly endless tide of great artists, philosophers, and poets. The planet has been a popular location for Adeptus Ministorum retreats since it was brought into the Imperial fold, and has born witness to some of the greatest religious debates of the past few centuries.

However, the lush exterior of Lycia conceals many dark truths. Corruption festers within its magnificent temples and art houses. The openness of Lycian culture frequently leads to the formation of heretical schools of thought, such as freedom of information. Occasionally, this decadent culture even gives rise to deviant cults devoted to the dark gods, as philosophers and artists are seduced by false promises of free thought and liberation from the Imperial yoke.

These issues came to a head in M38.481, when a deviant pleasure cult known as the Consummate Mass attempted to seize control the of the planet on the feast of the Emperor's Ascension. Although the philosophers and poets who fought for the cult were not particularly astute fighters, they were led by a fearsome Keeper of Secrets, Bar'zol, which had been blessed with such perfect beauty that any who gazed upon it who had not been blessed with the cults profane rituals went mad. As the cult swept through the capital of Lycia, they found their progress impeded by sisters of the Order of the Valorous Heart, who were present to safeguard a relic that had been brought to the planet for the feast day; the blessed scythe of Saint Thanatos. As the planetary defense forces crumbled around them, the sisters held fast, vigorously defending the cathedral of Saint Erato with bolt and blade.

This changed when Bar'zol joined the fray. Although their faith allowed them a degree of protection from it's unholy presence, the battle sisters were still no match for the daemon, and it cut a bloody swathe through the Sororitas defenses, leaving scores of sisters dead or driven insane in it's wake. Seeing the effect the daemon was having on her fellow sisters, one Sister Superior by the name of Melinoe realized the terrible cost that would be required to fell the unholy creature. Seizing the relic scythe, she gouged her eyes out, relying on the God-Emperor to guide her as she went out to face Bar'zol.

With the scythe in hand and a prayer on her lips, Melinoe emerged from the cathedral to face the daemon. Striding through the bodies and wreckage of the Sororitas defense lines, the Keeper of Secrets smirked, pleased with the opportunity to seize and defile the holy relic wielded by the small battle sister who was methodically approaching the daemon. With sickening speed, the daemon lept at Melinoe,
and the duel was joined.

Stabbing at her with pincers and clawed hands, Bar'zol assailed the blinded sister. Relying solely on her hearing and her faith, Melinoe continued to quietly pray the Litany of Saint Lucia as she parried blow after blow from the greater daemon. For hour upon hour, the daemon assaulted the lone battle sister, but no matter what it did, she continued to calmly dodge and parry it's blows. In a snake-like motion, Bar'zol lunged at Melinoe with it's enormous maw, hoping to consume her and end this distraction once and for all.

As she felt the warm moist air of the daemon's breath on her face, Melinoe went on the offensive. Quickly sidestepping the daemon's head, she spun around and brought the scythe down, the holy weapon biting deep into one of the daemon's perfect eyes. Screaming in agony, Bar'zol stumbled back. Filled with righteous fury, Melinoe struck again and again with the holy weapon, lopping off limbs and talons, and covering the daemon's infallible visage with deep scars. Realizing it was beaten, Bar'zol opened a warp gate, and fled through it. Unwilling to allow the daemon to escape so easily, Melinoe followed, leaping through the warp gate as it closed.

In the aftermath of the battle, Melinoe was declared a saint. The Ecclesiarch also decreed that the surviving battle sisters of the war would form a new order to safeguard Lycia from threats both without and within. The sisters of the newly-christened Order of the Blinded Martyr quickly devoted themselves to following Saint Melinoe's example.

Despite Saint Melinoe officially being regarded as KIA, there are many in the order who believe she lives still. In the centuries since her death, there have been multiple reported sightings of a woman wielding scythe on battlefields where the sisters of the Blinded Martyr are active. Although attempts to verify these sightings have always met with failure, the sisters of the Blinded Martyr regard this figure as saint Melinoe herself, returned to aid the order of her namesake in their darkest hour.