Editing Sisters Repentia (section)

== Sister Oblatia ==

A [[Dark Heresy|variant]] on the Penitent's oath; the Sister Oblatia seeks not to atone for her own misdeeds, but instead takes on the sins committed by another: Most commonly a blood relative or a respected colleague, but can also be a whole family line, a population center or an entire planet.
 
What makes them different from '''Sisters Repentia''' is that the accumulated sin needs a lot more work to atone for. So unlike with Sisters Repentia, merely dying in service isn't good enough. They must accumulate an equivalent level of redemptive deeds to wipe the slate clean. So while a glorious death is still the end goal, the Sister Oblatia needs to keep a conscious tally of what contributes to the overall redemption of their oath, so they will only throw their lives away if it is actually worth doing so. In many cases they will find that their task can never be completed given the magnitude of the original sin.

Because it's so uncommon and the magnitude of responsibility so great, Sisters who want to take the oath have to be vetted by their superiors to judge the validity and intention of the oath. Presumably to make certain that the Sister is not going to throw her life away in the first engagement and actually accomplish nothing, but also to ensure that the weight of sin is actually something worth atoning for and not just some imaginary or minor transgression ''(as with Repentia)''.

Sisters Oblatia swear similar oaths to Repentia, they undertake similar rites of self-mortification, <strike>fisting</strike> fasting and meditation. When they take up the mantle of penitent they are viewed as dead and gone by their former companions. However given the uniqueness of their oath, they are NOT stripped, shaved, bundled into Repentia squads, and whipped into glorious battle. Instead they are left to their own devices to determine how to pay the debt they have taken responsibility for.

Some end up in service to the [[Inquisition]], finding that the balance of repayments comes a lot quicker while hunting heretics, xenos or daemons directly. Though likely most just become wandering Sisters who attach themselves to warzones or crusades and help out where they can.