The Order of the Elucidation proudly boasts (in the quiet circles in which it can safely do so) that it is the only surviving Order whose founder worked directly with my namesake, Alistair Whistlewind, to found the Congregation of Motive Knights. Said founder, the dalkas woman best known to history as The Lady Quay, was a brilliant sorcerer who developed techniques to focus Powers through crystals. She pioneered these techniques in the earliest days of the Congregation as a way to bridge the gap between mortal and demon capacities of the Soul.

During the invasion Lady Quay shared these techniques widely, but following the fall of the Motive Bastion, and the subsequent fracturing of the Congregation, that knowledge was quickly lost to all but those still in direct contact with the Lady Quay herself. However, in the many years since Lady Quay's death, these crystal techniques have gone from an incidentally kept secret to a quite intentionally kept one - and the method of her demise is rather central to the reason why.

Lady Quay died in the Era of the Adversary, year 77, when she was betrayed by a fellow Motive Knight who had been possessed by the demon assassin known as Yilgex. Considering her age, Lady Quay was likely not long for the world regardless, but never-the-less in the wake of her assassination, the Elucidation underwent a bloody civil-war. The most senior members of the order turned on each other, and began to zealously purge any knight, aspirant, or associate whom they had even the slightest or most spurious of evidence to suggest may be corrupted. Evidence used for such accusations ranged from - in one recorded case - the possession of a corrupted artifact capable of summoning demons, to mere histories of tardiness in another.

Dozens of Motive Knights died by the hands of their former mentors in summary executions, while dozens more lost their lives either defending the wrongfully accused or being killed in self-defense amidst unsuccessful attempts to carry out an execution order. This conflict tore the Elucidation in two, striking a massive blow for the forces of the Adversary against what was - at that time - easily the largest and best resourced of the Orders of Motive Knights. Though it is not often spoken of anymore among their ranks, the Order of the Elucidation refers to this event as "the Betrayal" - whereas a more objective term would be "civil war" or "coup".

Now, more than two centuries since that conflict, the Order of the Elucidation has become the most stringent and vigilant Order in regards to attempting to prevent the corruption of its Motive Knights. And while it remains one of the larger Orders, the Elucidation today still pales in comparison to its former glory in terms of membership and influence.

Aspirants

In addition to learning the extensive history of the Order, an aspirant to the Order of the Elucidation must memorize, and demonstrate that they are willing to live by, the Nine Tenant Oath. This demonstration requires living by the tenants in service to the order for at least 1 year, and swearing the tenants before at least three Knight witnesses. Only once an aspirant has taken these steps are they allowed to begin learning the order’s closely guarded Crystal Implementations.