Order of the Ebon Circle

After the chaos of the Burning Legion and Scourge, the armies of the Alliance were badly depleted, leaving resources stretched thin across Azeroth. Conflicts arose pitting the outer territories against the politically privileged inner counties, the commoners against the royalty, and ultimately the needs of the populace against the designs of the bureaucracy. Those in power chose poorly, and there has ever been a cool burning strife within the kingdoms. 
In response to the unrest, a secret organization known as the "Ebon Circle" was founded by various nobles, magistrates, and key political figures among the kingdoms who opposed the Alliance's meandering aims and continued hostilities with the new Horde. Most members of the nascent knighthood hoped to leverage the other members into backing a mercenary army they wanted for a series of coups and to force the Alliance into a new direction (focusing on the defense of the homeland and territories equally and redirecting resources against the Scourge and the Burning Legion). After some very heated infighting, cooler heads prevailed, and the Ebon Circle became politically active as a functional opposition party. 
While the "Ebon Circle" had largely given up its aspirations of open rebellion, it still needed a little more than words to make them a viable political force, so the militant "Order of the Ebon Circle" was founded. Instead of a mercenary army, the members of the Ebon Circle started to find like minded knights and retired soldiers to fill the ranks of their newly chartered knighthood. Many knights joined the Order from various factions within the Alliance to lend their strength to the goals of the Order. Recently, the close knit knighthood has been given charter for soldiery, and the number of soldiers has allowed the knighthood to expand its influence in territories where it once struggled to provide support. (by Arianwynn)