To unite all of Mankind.

And this involves many different operations, called 'operari' internally by the Luminari. Originally, it was all 'Dark' Operaris. But, more recently after Trajan Meng's experience in the Pandemonium Crisis, he introduced the idea of 'Light' Operaris as well.

A Dark Operari might be:

• Raids on purely xeno targets for financing
• Reprisals against xenos for attacking humans and human settlements
• Recruiting drives in Vel Anir (appealing to xenophobic humans)
• Attempts to coerce wealthy and influential (but unwilling) humans into serving the cause
• Undermining and sabotaging xenos in positions of power in mostly human settlements
• Undermining and sabotaging sympathizing/traitorous humans, especially those in positions of power

Light Operari might be:

• Defending a human settlement against some manner of threat (undead, beast, monster, etc.)
• Performing mercenary work for human clients free of charge (provided the work is in line with Luminari ideology)
• Recruiting drives in Alliria (targeted towards the poor and destitute)
• Community service in poor villages, towns, and areas of cities (except Elbion)
• Propaganda campaigns, extolling the virtues of service and kinship
• Attempts to indoctrinate/sway wealthy and influential humans to joining or supporting the cause

Dark Operaris are performed with as much stealth and secrecy as possible, and are the reason for the cell-based structure of the Luminari. This is done to prevent alarm and backlash from xenos, but also from sympathizers and traitorous humans.

Light Operari are the opposite. Meant to spread the name of the Luminari in a positive light. During a Light Operari, honor and service and kinship and charity to Mankind is stressed. Dislike of xenos is suppressed, though perhaps implicit. If an accusation is leveled during a Light Operari, it is simply and flatly denied as a lie.

Currently, the major on-going Operari of the Luminari is directed at the College of Elbion. Whether by sedition or usurping or a gradual change in attitude, the Luminari seeks to make the College a human-only institution, and for it to allow the practice and teaching of dark magic. The second point certainly being contentious, it is nevertheless the view of the Luminari that dark magic is a weapon. A dangerous weapon that needs to be respected and carefully used, but a weapon, and one xenos might gladly use to further their own goals, so humanity must not deny itself the same. Lest Mankind willingly put itself at a disadvantage.

Of course, this second point is one disaster away from changing. After all, human-only control of the College is the primary concern.

The Starred Sun. An ornate sun, overlaid by a four-pointed star. Silently representing the Light and Dark of the Luminari's Holy Cause.

Adopted more recently for Light Operaris. Surcoats and letters and such may be adorned with the symbol during a Light Operari, as it is meant to be displayed prominently for promotional and propagandist purposes.

The Symbol is not used or shown or worn in any manner or capacity during a Dark Operari.

Greetings/Salute: When one Luminari member meets another, or as a gesture of respect, the member may perform the following. He or she may make a fist with the right hand and snap it to the heart, the back of the hand facing up and the clenched fingers facing down.

The greeter will say, "For Mankind." To which the greeted will perform the same salute and reply, "For Mankind."

Congratulations/Honoring/Supporting/Encouraging: When a Luminari member wishes to show any of these to a fellow Luminari member, a small ritual is done. For example, say Trajan wishes to encourage Khadija. The ritual is done like this:

Trajan will approach Khadija and either place a hand on her shoulder or embrace her.

He will then say, "Khadija, you are my sister."

And she will reply, "Trajan, you are my brother."

And both will say, together, "And we are kin."

Farewells: When business is concluded between two Luminari members and they must part ways, a simple exchange may take place.

The member initiating the farewell will say, "Never given."

To which the other member will reply, "Always earned."

Small cells, operating mostly independently of one another. Sometimes the leaders of cells will converge to tackle a particular large operari that requires a lot of manpower. Trajan encourages and supports leadership, though he knows that not all are willing or otherwise up to the task, and would prefer to simply be followers. Those who do show the capacity and will for leadership are quickly given their own cells, if so desired, or are made 'lieutenants' of a sort in existing cells if that is preferred instead.

Some centralized coordination for the Luminari is done by Trajan's family back in Vel Anir. The Meng estate is where the spoils of raids and other means is collected and distributed out to the far-flung cells, and also it serves a central hub of communication such that the cells can keep in contact.

The cells don't have impressive names, or much in the way of names at all. Trajan's kin, Khadija's cell, and Clarissa's spies are a few examples. It's not the cells that are important, but the Luminari as a whole and the cause they all serve. The names for the cells are for clarification purposes only.

• Trajan Meng
• Khadija Han
• ???
• ???
• ???

Formed in the Year 360 with only a few members, the Founding Five as they are sometimes called, with the mission of uniting the whole of Mankind. Trajan Meng, a Vel Anirian and veteran of the Anirian Guard, originally formed the idea after his ten-year service and his twelve-year travels about the cities, towns, and lands owned primarily by humans. The camaraderie and kinship he experienced while serving in the Guard was mostly lacking abroad. And he, along with the four other Founders, sought to rectify this.

They understood that they would not live to see their dream come to light. That the task they had taken on would be the continuing work of generations, accomplished over decades, possibly even centuries.

So in the beginning years they started small. Taking time to recruit single, extremely dedicated men and women to the cause. Leveraging the Meng family's wealth to hire mercenaries and bribe bandits and raiders to sack tiny xeno settlements and trading caravans and similarly weak targets. Quiet and infrequent operaris. Not much to distinguish the works of the Luminari from other 'random' misfortunes of the world.

As the years went on, the Luminari's membership steadily grew. More brothers and sisters seeing the light and coming into the fold. And their operaris became increasingly ambitious. Bigger targets, with higher reward and higher risk. More operaris completed and on-going, as the initial Founding Five split off into cells filled with the more recent recruits to the cause.

They are still relatively few in number due to the careful and extensive vetting and recruiting process. Only those showing the utmost dedication to the cause are allowed in. However, this high standard is by necessity being slowly relaxed in more recent years. Even a fanatical half-elf was allowed membership in one cell, setting a precedent for other half-humans with the proper conviction and attitude to join.

In the Year 368, with the numbers and means exceeding their meager beginning, the Luminari set its sights on the College of Elbion, and began to plot to bring it under human-only control.

A schism has occurred within the Luminari. Where once the organization was undivided, united in their cause, it comes with no small amount of irony that a divide has weakened them.

On the question of half-humans, there are those who take a hard-line stance. NO CLEMENCY, NO ACCEPTANCE.

And these Purists, having seen Trajan Meng himself accept a half-human, felt betrayed. Felt that he was weak, and unfit to lead, and thus the seeds of the schism were planted.

Luminari Purists are far more radical and violent than standard Luminari members. They believe wholeheartedly in human supremacy, and are actively aggressive toward non-humans ("xenos"). They are fanatic in their beliefs, and will never trust a non-human, nor any human who supports or shows sympathy for them.

Where standard Luminari doctrine calls for cautious distancing and separation from the xeno, the Luminari Purists call for annihilation.

• Supersledge
• The Vicar of Suffering
• Those Beyond
• In the Service of Mankind
• For Mankind
• Oops
• Fires in Elbion
• And Sorrow Sang Softly
• Hellsfeld
• The Burning of Elbion
• Deposing the Warlord Gromagg Ur (Inciting event of Luminari Purists schism)