The Order of Luminance

Once the most powerful organization in Orliüm, the Order of Luminance has become a symbol of corruption and evil across the world. They are responsible for two major historical events that caused sweeping changes worldwide: the end of the Crimson Wars, and the Brightening.
In the beginning, the Order was a conglomerate of the most powerful wizards on the planet. During the Crimson Wars, when five different nations were battling each other for dominance across Orliüm, these wizards refused to claim allegiance to any of their home nations. Instead, they continued their work, finding ways to amass more power through the sun’s magic, and no one had the strength or skill to force them to do otherwise. As the wars raged on, the Order quietly refined their abilities and gained followers.
Then, in a massive coup, the wizards and their followers took control of the ruling bodies of all five nations, declaring them unified under the Order of Luminance. Through intimidation and fear of utter destruction, the nations fell into line under their banner; resistances to the coup were quickly crushed. The Order declared them all “enlightened,” and ruled for nearly three centuries with an iron fist. While it ended the bloodshed, the Order’s society was one of oppression.
The upper echelon then began work in finding a more direct route to the source of their magical power: the sun itself. Through the use of a magical device called the Scepter of Stars, the leaders conducted a ritual that removed a magical barrier surrounding the world that, in their view, cut off much of the sun’s energy. What they didn’t know, is that there was more than power in the sun, and beings of pure sunlight came to the newly unprotected surface. The cataclysm that followed ravaged the world, killed millions, and ultimately destroyed the foundation of the Order.
Their members became known as evil wizards who brought this terror upon the world. Many of them destroyed themselves in further attempts to harvest the sun's power or control the sunbeasts. Others were murdered as punishment for what they’d brought into the world, as nobody cared who’s side they were on anymore and saw no reason they should live. Now, the ones who survive do so with their followers in isolated towns. They still fly the banner of the Order, but it is a shadow of its former self and is viewed as an evil organization rather than a country, even by many of the Brights.