Order of the White Staff

When the Dark Triumvirate was given power, and the Churches of Bane, Tiamat, and Asmodeus were endorsed by the Imperial Throne, the worship of the goodly gods suffered. By orders from Emperor Calligard and each of the Triumvirate, worshipers of the good gods were killed and their houses of worship destroyed.

But not all were killed and not all was destroyed. Many were able to steal away in the night and hide themselves and their devotions as to protect themselves. As the days grew into weeks and the weeks into months and years, these survivors found each other and began to plot on how to end this tyranny and bring freedom back to their people.

Chief among those plotters was Arturia Dean, a paladin of Pelor, and Sir Valas Brightsteel, a knight in service to Bahamut. The two of them, along with agents hidden in various major cities and throughout the countryside, determined a plan of action to fight back.

Their plan was simple. Using saboteurs in some of the larger Imperial cities, they would lure the bulk of the army out of the capital. Once the capital was clear, they would strike at the Emperor himself.

The first part of their plan worked perfectly. Attacks in Port Regal, Harrendel, and Zhun, along with strikes against military outposts in the Greenlands made the already jumpy Emperor Calligard react swiftly and without forethought.

However, when they moved against the capital, things went awry. The populace was hostile and they were quickly found out. Clergy from the Dark Triumvirate assailed them at every turn, and in days of entering the city, they were captured and put to death.

But their death inflamed many outside of the capital, and the sacrifice of Arturia and Valas paved the way for the collapse of the Empire and freedom for many.

The Order was not completely at an end. For years, a handful continued to meet in secret, and would train new members for the day when they would be needed again. That time came with Kul of the Black Night was seen traveling the lands as an emissary of Drakkatul, the Kingdom of Eternal Night.

Far to the north, on the Isle of Wight, many intelligent Undead had gathered and proclaimed themselves a legitimate kingdom. Those who kept the Order going for years could not allow such an abomination to pass without alarm, so they stepped out of the shadows and opening recruited for young and stalwart warriors.

They build an army that was tempered in radiance and devoted to that which was holy. Setting sail from Lioq, they arrived on the shores of the Isle of Wight to find themselves surrounded by thousands of mindless Undead and immense fortifications. This would not stop them. They charged forward and were slaughtered to a man, each dead reinforcing the very kingdom they sought to topple.

With this failure, the Order died out, but a few still keep hope that it will be called to arms once again.