The Order

Founded as a religious group who served a force known as "The Light", they began to expand their reach over the continent as their numbers grew. At first, many welcomed the change The Order brought to the land. They helped establish infrastructure, economy and agriculture in the lands they held power. Peace and prosperity were brought to small towns as cruel lords were removed from power, monsters were driven from the land and bandit camps were uprooted and destroyed. Things were good in the world. But as their reach grew, so did the shadows of despair. Whispers were coming in from the farthest reaches of their territory of uprisings and war. Though none of this could be confirmed at the time, the leader of The Order, Arch-Bishop Gelasius the Third, ordered martial law.

The Order had been stable for three centuries at this time and Gelasius was old and rumored to be senile. At first, a few members of the council spoke out against the executive order but soon found their calls for sanity drowned out by accusations of betrayal. The Three Houses of The Order carried out his laws with a vengeance at first and many towns felt the wrath of the misled soldiers. It started with the furthest towns. Any one suspect of being in bad standing with The Order were labeled as "Possessed" and forced out of their houses and into exile while those who objected or resisted were cut down. Even traveling merchants and adventurers were hounded by the changes. If they so much as questioned why the guards were stopping them and rummaging through their belongings, they were lucky to be thrown in prison.

As the towns numbers dwindled and production of food and other resources fell, The Order turned their attention to the remaining villagers. Taxes soared and any produce was taken by force, leaving the towns with very little to survive on. Famine began to run rampant on the outskirt towns and people resorted to unthinkable acts to try and stay alive. Many of the troops upon seeing these acts began branding those who were caught doing so as "Infected" and accused the "Possessed" of causing these things to happen. Far too often those accused of being Possessed or infected were of non-human races. A slaughter soon followed as the troops lead a crusade to kill those they feared were compromised to preserve themselves. This event was known as The Purge and lasted for several months. When it concluded, the towns under their rule had suffered greatly and many townships ceased to exist, becoming ruins and ghost towns. Those who survived lived in the shadows and actively avoided contact with The Order members.

After a year of these conditions, The Order's troops were pulled back deeper into their territory, abandoning the furthest towns to their own fates. For many of the townships left behind, this turned out to be a blessing as they were able to resume their day-to-day lives and not worry about soldiers patrolling the streets and threatening to cut them down. Towns like Eurosia and Honeywood returned to normal and thrived once more as adventurers and traders began to start traveling through their territories again. Other towns such as Salmon Ridge, The Silvered Pines and some others did not fair as well however as their weakened state left them vulnerable to the many threats that lurked the land. Even with their own issues, these towns still faired better than those who still suffered under The Order's misguided judgement. It was around this time that certain members of The Order, such as Strun , began to push back against their superiors orders. The Order's governing bodies were shaken one evening when they found Arch-Bishop Gelasius dead in his personal garden within the company of Strun. Though it was clearly evident that the old man had fallen and cracked his head on a rock, they accused Strun and his company of murder and chased them from the land. For some time after the death, a veil of secrecies fell upon The Order's lands. No one who ventured into them came back and no one had heard from any of the townships within the territory for years. Only recently have scouting parties of Order Troops been spotted in the surrounding countryside.