Illustratum

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'Working in the shadows to bring light to the world'

— Illustratum motto

Background

The Illustratum is a name given to a group dating back to the Early Age Of Enlightenment. The society's goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power. They were created during a time of great prosperity and advancement but also rife with corruption, political control and injustice. Naturally this bred people who would rise up against such abuses of power, so this order was formed in secret by many of the more enlightened and educated people of the time.
Despite their best intentions their numbers were small, so they had trouble achieving their vision and goals. What they really wanted was to make the whole world a better place by promoting good moral values, philanthropy and charity. Yet they were far too few and outmatched by the selfishness of those in power to really do anything. Although at least the desire and the drive was there and in some cases they did make a real difference. Unfortunately so much of the world had become so corrupt that this was just a mere drop in the ocean. Perhaps their greatest achievement, however, was to be remembered even to this day. Many think them just a myth but there are some, more knowledgable, people that knew the truth about the Illustratum.

Present Day

Despite having been a existing organisation trying to do good, in current times they are shrouded in mystery and seen as an old secretive group believed only by the eccentric. Many conspiratorial theories exist about who the Illustratum really were, the majority of which would vary from entirely foreign to anything the order understood, to the point of just ludicrous.
They do however still operate in a somewhat reduced capacity, working to feed the poor and help the needy as well as hidden machinations in political circles too. Wherever there is a corrupt, powerful individual, there is a member fighting secretly to right their wrongs, expose them and bring them down.

Zenith

At the Illustratum's height they numbered approximately 250,000 members. Many of these worked to help the needy. These being the many homeless, sick and poor wherever they could.

Kirileth    Organisations      Illustratum

Type

Secret, Brotherhood