Holy Order of Light

Iconography of Christ himself. Preserved from before the Denouement Crisis.

The **Holy Order of Light** was one of the first main religious factions to come into existence following the fall of humanity after the Denouement Crisis. The Order is one of the many factions partaking in the seemingly endless conflict known as the War of Reclamation.

## History

When humanity first started to withdraw from hiding after the initial damaged caused by the Denouement Crisis, there was a large collection of people who flocked to the ruins of the Vatican Palace seeking sanctuary from the horrors of the new world. A large reconstruction effort was put into effect soon after the discovery that the former pope was slain during the destruction of the Denouement Crisis. On top of the still smoldering ruins of the holy setting, former Cardinal and Denouement Crisis survivor Gabriel Franz pledged an oath to the large gathering of demoralized wanderers to begin the reconstruction of a new age society in the eyes of god.

This new society would prepare a defensive fortress around the former palace and see to the establishment of a new aged variant of the Catholic Church with Franz as the new Pope. And with the raising of the holy banner and several group prayers, he Holy Order of Light was born. Franz and his small council would see to it that any and all survivors of the surrounding areas would seek refuge in the new kingdom and follow in the ideas produced by the Order.

## Beliefs

Following the formal establishment of the Holy Order of Light, Franz and his council quickly began the formal drafting of the official text of the Order known as 'The Text of Light'. The teachings of this text quickly became the main focus of the Order and the agenda in which it followed. Members of the Order saw the events of the Denouement Crisis as a variant of the Rapture that drafted all of humanity as warriors of God that now existed with the goal of triumphing over the evil that plagued their world and to rejoin the Kingdom of Heaven in their Crusading efforts. They view the Entity as a challenger of Faith that worked in conjunction with Lucifer to test the devotion of Christians in an attempt to make them stray from the path of God and fall into darkness. Only though the Order can doubt and misery be destroyed as the Warriors of Light band together to crush those who appose the power of God and earn their right to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Holy Order of Light have an emphasis on military strength and faith as they attempt to not only survive against the seemingly endless waves of Entity Fragments that test the strength of their walls, but also the alternative collections of people such as the Cultist that wish to see to the end of their existence. To the Order, there is no other correct way of existence accept duty through sacrifice. Those who stand idle or fall prey to inaction during times of hardship are those that have fallen victim to the Entity and have lost they way of salvation.

The ultimate goal of the Order is to see to the unification of Earth and the destruction of the Entity. It is believed that those responsible for achieving this goal will be recognized as gods themselves upon the day of victory. This goal is to be achieved by adhering to the strict alignment of power established by the Pope himself. The Pope is the supreme point of command for the entire Order. The Pope works in conjunction with a small council that assists in the process of controlling and ordering the Army of Light. The Army of Light itself also has a great deal of authority as far as ordering non-combat related assets of the Order of Light. This includes manufacturing and agriculture efforts that all exists with the goal of keeping the military aspects of the Order ready and able at all times.