History of the Modern Order
"On this terrible day, in my final hour, I shall let truth triumph and declare, before heaven and all the saints, that I have committed the greatest of all crimes. But my crime is this: that I confessed to malicious charges made against an order that is innocent so that I could escape further torture. I shall not confirm a first lie with a second. I renounce life willingly. I have no use for days of sorrow earned only by lies."
Those were the defiant final words of Jacques de Molay, thought to be the last Master of the Knights Templar. For the past seven years, upwards of 5000 knights of the order had been arrested, all as part of a plan for King Philip the Fair to seize the Templars vast wealth. What the king, and the people of Paris did not know, was that many knights had gone into hiding once the persecution began. A handful of these survivors watched as Jacques de Molay and Geoffrey de Charney, old men who had long served the order, were burned at the stake. With their deaths, a secret only known to those within the order died. The secret? That certain members of the order had somehow been gifted with the ability to call upon the power of the divine. Those with the gift went into seclusion, taking with them what treasures had escaped from King Philip's grasp.
The next 700 years were spent trying to quietly rebuild the order. Much of those early decades were spent simply trying to restructure the order, to better hide the identities of the few members that remained, and to try to bring in fresh blood as quietly as possible. Safe-houses were established, a network of residences across Europe where members could carry out their work in secret. It wasn't until 1783 that the order found a new purpose, a new mission for its members: to protect the innocent from the dark workings of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. This shift in focus caused a split within the order, as some felt that their duty should only be to protect those of the Christian Faith. It is unclear what has happened to those that left, or if they continue to operate. Those that chose to stay became part of what is known to just a few in the supernatural community as the Modern Order of the Knights Templar.
From Orphan to Acolyte
Erin's parents died when she was barely a year old, and none of her extended family wanted to take on the burden of an additional mouth to feed. As a result, her early years were spent in a state run orphanage in Manila. She could have faced a long hard life, probably winding up on the street, were it not for the intervention of Monsignor Mendoza. To everyone else in the neighborhood, he was just a man of the church who was famed to be able to say a prayer over someone and their ailments would disappear. In reality, he was a member of the Modern Order. He was paying a visit to Erin's orphanage, and felt that the child was different. He always trusted his intuition, and it had never led him astray before. The Monsignor made a few calls, and soon the child was taken out of the orphanage and into the care of the Order. Monsignor Mendoza became her legal guardian, caretaker, and mentor.
Erin found herself whisked away to Banda Aceh, Indonesia not long after, when the Monsignor was posted there. The child soaked up everything her mentor taught to her, and not just the lessons in how to use the power of the divine. When she wasn't in regular school, or in a training session, she was working alongside the Monsignor doing acts of charity, helping her fellow man. The two were present in 2004 when Banda Aceh was struck by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Erin was separated from the Monsignor in all of the chaos, and barely managed to survive. It was days before the two were reunited. Aside from being scared out of her wits, Erin managed to only escape with minor injuries. The Monsignor, however, suffered quite a few injuries, and to this day carries a limp as a result.
The next six years were spent helping with the recovery efforts throughout the devastated regions in Indonesia, then after that another four years were spent in Sri Lanka, until finally the Monsignor recieved a posting in the US, in Vibora Bay. The next two years were spent in intense study and training, preparing for her 18th birthday, when she would be promoted from acolyte to a full fledged member. She was presented with a sword, which she named Gratia.
Normally, once an acolyte becomes a full fledged member of the Order, they would be trained in swordfighting, which would be done under the guidance of their mentor. Due to the Monsignor's physical condition, it was decided that Erin would be trained by another member of the Order. She was moved to Millennium City, where she met her new teacher, a brusque, opinionated woman named Jane Claymore. Currently, Erin is still under Claymore's tutelage, and enrolled in her senior year at Grace Memorial High School. She's taken to using the things she has learned in training, and applied it to hero work, registered under the name Faith.
