Order Church

"The Order is a trans-denominational religious group dedicated to the pursuit of natural balance led by the mysterious figure Her Holiness. They work toward personal fulfillment through non-material means and are very protective of the natural state of humankind and the environment. The group has spread worldwide since the Collapse, appealing to people by offering peace and solace from chaos. Every city is now represented by a shard of the church, led by a high official bearing the title Luminon."

- Description of the Order, 2072

The Order Church is a pandenominational religious movement with heavy influence after the Collapse.

History
After the Collapse, Chad Dumier and Nicolette DuClare decided to revive the Illuminati to its former glory. However, based on experience with the way the world operates, they concluded that the best way to control the world would be to pit people against one another while they manipulate them in the shadows. This was based on the premise that people will willingly do anything if they have an enemy to contend with.

The Illuminati's plan after the Collapse is to create a centralized government by first consolidating wealth through the WTO and religion through the Order separately, before finally joining the two apparently opposing factions together within a single world government.

For this reason, Chad Dumier became Chairman of the WTO, and Nicolette DuClare founded and became leader (a.k.a "Her Holiness") of the Order Church. She spread the ideals of her church, which are reminiscent of New Age culture, including reverence for nature and spiritual enlightenment and the Order Church appealed to those who had lost friends and faith during the Collapse. Due to the despair abounding after the Collapse, people eagerly took on these beliefs, and the movement spread (as DuClare predicted).

Dedicated to the pursuit of a concept called "natural balance", the Order is against nanotechnology and augmentation. It is also apparently against what it sees as the material greed and commercialism of its main "rival" within the game, the WTO (World Trade Organization). The Order Church also often comes into conflict with major corporations like Mako Ballistics and Panzerwerks (an industrial giant based in Trier, Germany).

Although the organization is ostensibly peaceful, it has mounted sometimes violent protests against those who it has seen as polluting the environment, the prime example of this being the Panzerverks factory in Trier, Germany. It also mentioned as having helped start a riot in Lower Seattle, against Upper Seattle becoming a WTO enclave in 2071. One year after, in its investigation of ApostleCorp, the Order Church led a raid against Seattle Tarsus Academy in Seattle for freeing the trainees.

In 2072, the Order Church has grown to the point where it has absorbed the followers of the world's other religions, as demonstrated by the fact that its headquarters in Cairo is actually a converted mosque.

Hierarchy
The Order Church adopted a hierarchial system, somewhat similar to the Roman Catholic Church. The ranks are:


 * Her Holiness - Leading the church and reciting the various verses.
 * High Augur - Right hand of Her Holiness and command the Luminon.
 * Luminon - Regional leader of the church.
 * Captain - Leader of a Shard, all are led by the Luminon.
 * Seeker - The disciples. All Seekers are members of smaller groups known as a Shard, which is in turn led by a Captain.

Interactions with the player character
In the start of the game, the Order Seekers invade the Tarsus facility in Upper Seattle to free the students (who are later revealed to be test subjects for biomodification.) These Seekers are enemies. As soon as the player leaves Tarsus, High Augur Lin-May Chen contacts and orders the player to investigate (and assassinate) ApostleCorp researcher, Leila Nassif, as well as investigate and halt Templar activity in Lower Seattle. She then orders the player to hire a pilot in Lower Seattle to go and investigate Mako Ballistics and its affiliation with the Templars. After this, she instructs Alex to investigate the Tarsus facility in the Cairo Arcology, as well as to fulfil his mission regarding Nassif.

If the player goes to the Order Church in the Medina, he/she encounters Saman (who is revealed to be the Luminon of the Trier Shard, along with Billie Adams, who joined the Knights Templar).

When the player discovers "Her Holiness" in the Black Gate Ruins in Trier, she reveals that the Order (as well as the WTO) is actually an arm of the Illuminati. Since then, the Order is no longer treated as a separate organization, but merely an arm of the Illuminati. If the player chooses to tell Lin-May Chen about the Illuminati conspiracy, she will openly chide the Order in the Cairo Arcology in the second Cairo level (this is the only time she is seen in person). If not, she will be found in the same area, but she will preach the Order's ideals.

Gallery
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