Illuminators

The Illuminators are a charitable religious order of Demacia devoted to helping the sick, the poor, and the needy. They keep temples watched over by statues of the Protector, the winged, sword-bearing guardian said to bless virtuous soldiers, and their sign is a single lit candle. Though organized like a faith, the order worships no gods or spirits, holding instead that kindness to strangers is a value worth a life of service. Some are lay Illuminators who balance good works with family, while those who give themselves fully to the order live a monastic life and do not marry. For generations the order has embodied the ideals Demacians claim for themselves, offering shelter, food, work, and healing to those the kingdom's nobility overlook, and stopping for anyone in need, whether a frightened soldier seeking counsel before battle or refugees fleeing a burning town. Its most prominent patrons were the Buvelle family, Lord Barrett and his wife Lestara, who had intended to take vows with the Illuminators before she married, dedicating the Buvelle fortune to their works instead. It was Illuminator monks who raised the orphaned musician Sona in Ionia before evacuating her to Demacia, where the Buvelles took her in, and among the order's knights was Kahina, who trained the young Lux in the Great City. Because Demacia distrusts magic and hunts its mages through the Mageseekers, the Illuminators' compassion carries a hidden dimension. Working against the kingdom's anti-magic laws, they quietly shelter and protect mages from persecution, and Luxanna Crownguard is bound to them through her own concealed gift. A secret mage of the powerful Crownguard line, Lux learned from the Illuminators the mantras that let her keep her light contained, served the order as a volunteer, and in that role visited the imprisoned mage Sylas in the Mageseeker compound until her family forbade it. Through the order she has come to hope for a Demacia made more just, and a little more accepting of mages like herself.