History

The world does not know it, but we have always been its protectors. We have guided history from the first it was recorded - for what is writing without the light by which to read?

There have always been people who thought they knew who pulled the strings. The so-called Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Templars... We have lived among all these groups. We have been part of them, but they have never been part of us. We have been waiting for this Event, for it has brought the full brilliance of our Light back into the world.

The shadows have served us well. But now it is time we stepped into the fore. The world has need of us now, more than ever. More than its people can even know. But we have always known, and we will not fail in our charge. Let our foes be the ones to hide.

With their secrecy and influence, the Order of the First Light (usually shortened just to the Order of Light, or OFL) is a group nearly tailor-made for conspiracy theories, and so no small number of them have flown regarding the origins of the group. The true origins of the Order are secret to all but fully fledged mages, and even to them much is kept hidden. What is known, at least for them, is that the Order has existed for centuries, even during the magic-less times of the last age. Their records claim to date back thousands of years, and what is certain is that when the Resonance Event occurred, the Order was the first group to take advantage.

RECRUITMENT

They worked immediately to locate and bring those who had newly gained magic powers under their influence. Their first choices were family members - often distant - of the small group's members. Once they had secured their first mages, they used that small core to locate more, and spread out. Amongst the chaos this was difficult, but they had the initiative and the plan. Next, they reached out to the unaffiliated mages, selecting the best candidates they could find before spreading out again. Their first crop of mages was fewer than a thousand worldwide, and these men and women were trained as quickly as possible, given basic instruction before being thrown into battle against the horrors that had been unleashed on the world.

The attrition rate amongst these poorly trained magi was enormous, and more than two thirds of them would not survive their first months as warrior mages. Those who did, however, would prove to be some of the Order's greatest champions... and in at least one instance, its greatest disappointment.

ESTABLISHMENT

Once they had established some foothold, and gained a reputation as saviors, they had time to work. Their recruitment activities only sped up, their propaganda casting the Order as the great defenders of the Earth and the innocents against the new and confusing threats in the world. They cast themselves as the ones who understood, the ones who could teach and the ones who could protect... and in many cases they did exactly that. The Order found its strongest footholds in Rome and New York City, where it utilized powerful spells to drive the worst of the monsters from the cities and create areas of relative calm. Others would follow.

In every city they gained a foothold, however, the Order did one key thing: they would take the building they thought of the greatest import, for one reason or another, and seize it for their headquarters. In New York City, this was the Federal Reserve. In Rome, it was the Vatican. This pattern would be repeated across the globe... despite the more than occasional resistance, it was difficult for many of these places to resist one of the few organized groups who could help them.

Since then, the Order has pursued its goals as stated. Protecting and serving at times, while gathering the most powerful mages and artifacts they could manage, many of these disappearing for reasons unknown. For the next several years, this would go on, the greatest pushback coming from other groups who were formed later on - the Vanguard and its largely anti-magic stance prime among them.

This would go on until the rebellion.

REBELLION

For many groups, the greatest of threats always resides within, and for the Order, this was no exception. Their goals had always had a shadowy aspect, secret often even from its own people, including the Archs. One of these Archs, a man known to some as the White Knight of New York,  declared his rejection of the overall Order leadership. He claimed that their humanitarian goals were only a cover for a much darker purpose, that they believed it was their right and their destiny to rule over the world, and that they would take any path they needed to in order to make this the truth. He brought evidence and claims of magics the Order had outlawed being used within its halls, humans experimented on with demons, methods of mind control and the creation of soldiers without free will. Including experiments done on his own sister.

REFORMATION

And so the first sundering of the Order came to pass - the largest single branch office split away with nearly all hands, devoting itself fully to the protection of the populace and calling itself ARMA, while simultaneously promising to oppose the Order's darker plans.

The Order of course denies the accusations, and it has launched several attacks on ARMA to destroy the traitors to its cause. And so the war began.

Salvatore Avara was originally part of the Inquisition sent from Rome to purge New York of ARMA and any members of the Order with questionable loyalties. Descended from one of the Order's oldest families his own allegiance would never be doubted but over time he too began to doubt the wisdom of the Hight Arch Magus. in 2016 he became the self-appointed Chancellor of the Order, the acting 'Overseer' until the High Arches in Rome would officially appoint one. Namely himself, or so he believed.

In the beginning he delivered war to the ARMA rebels, but as time went on his focus changed. Salvatore began to develop his own agendas rather than those of an Inquisitor. He became indifferent to ARMA, concentrating on bolstering the Order's and strengthening government relations. Few knew better than he of the treachery that existed in Rome and their absolute power. It is utterly futile to resist their will but in the West, so far from the High Arches' shadow, he began to believe that maybe he could escape their control. That is until, in early 2019, fantasy was turned reality by the appointment of a new Overseer. As of January of 2019, Dacia Setgrave controlled the New York Chapter of the Order of Light and Chancellor Salvatore Avara was relegated to her number two.

But as the public image continues to be plagued with rumors of slaughtering magus and experimenting on the viruses, could it be that Salvatore opposed too much? Mid 2020 the Chancellor went missing and it is now rumored that Lucas Torrence has already been named his replacement.