Beads of St. Kira

[Azraea]

BEADS OF ST. KIRA IMPERIUM - EQUIPMENT » Name: Beads of St. Kira » Place of Manufacture: Eleusis, Jericho Reach » Commonly Used By: The Inquisition » Use Restrictions: Extremely rare; held by only the inquisition or some shrine worlds » Purpose: Prayer beads that belonged to St. Kira, said to keep daemonic influence at bay Noteworthy Features The Beads of St. Kira are prayer beads that belonged to an imperial saint, and live up to their reputation as holy objects that protect against daemonic presence. Even a single bead is sufficient to protect a small area, such as a basic domicile, against intrusion by the daemonic. A lesser denizen of the immaterium may find it harder to maintain integrity with one of the beads nearby, though it may require several to phase a more powerful one.  Aside from their ability to repel the daemonic, the Beads of St. Kira have been used on one or two occasions to bind and control a daemon as a daemonhost. Appearance Each of the Beads of St. Kira is pearlescent crimson sphere about an inch in diameter. They are typically found alone, but can be found in clusters, too. Each bead has a small bore through the center intended for a string or wire.  Historical Profile During the onset of the Age of Shadow in the Jericho Reach sometime during M37, what little Imperial presence remained at the time dwindled until the sector was all-but-abandoned. The shrine world of Eleusis, teeming with priests and priestesses, slowly began to lose it's faith and fell towards the twisted whims of the dark gods. However, there were those who resisted. Among them was a young priestess named Kira, who took shelter in a small shrine and held fast to her faith. While others around her perished or turned from the Emperor's light, Kira remained resolute and locked in unending prayer. She refused to yield when all else failed. In M41, the Imperium returned to Jericho Reach with the Achilus Crusade, they retook the world of Eleusis and ordered all the profane shrines to be cleansed in fire. They set about their work, but one shrine stood apart from the others. No corruption touched it's walls nor stained it's hallowed halls.  The cleansing teams entered the shrine and found it empty save for the body of a young woman, long dead, yet still bowed in prayer. Her vigil in life may have ended and her soul gone to the Emperor, but her faith lived on in the beads she held in her hands.  The one-hundred and fifty-nine beads of St. Kira's prayer string were disseminated to various shrines across the world and out into Jericho Reach where their influence cleansed the taint of Chaos. Most have been enshrined by the ecclesiarchy and are kept under guard, while a few have traded hands and found their way to the Inquisition. One or two have been seen in the collections of wealthy elites, but no matter where they are, they still radiate the powerful aura of faith that St. Kira maintained until her life faded away.