The Order of Light

=History=

Founding and early history
The Order of Light (TOOL) was founded by grahamkeatley back in January. Along with a number of other signatures, the first charter was drafted and ratified. Founding signatures were from Skary Guy, alexthegreat, sul-master-sul and foxyiam. That alliance grew to 25 members and proceeded to build up their NS Strength before getting anymore new nations. Time was spent primarily on creating a core membership and strength which would serve for the future. A number of members from this time still appear on the current TOOL Roster. Without this old guard what TOOL is now may never have been.

TOOL-UPF Merger
Like many young/small Alliances merging seems to be a hotly debated issue. Seen as a great way to grow quickly and set a base, most if not all Alliance starting from scratch in terms of members will normally turn to merging. TOOL were no different. With an almost successful merger with CSR who would end up merging to become FEAR, TOOL found themselves talking with Unified Protection Federation.

After some consultation between TOOL and UPF, they decided to merge. The name was to remain The Order of Light but using the UPF forums. Splitting the government 50-50, grahamkeatley and Italyfan were the Lord Captains, Skary Guy and Jeff16185 were Hands of the Light, and the Council was split so 3 were from each alliance. Not long after the merger, TOOL breached the 50-55 member mark but ironically, activity went out the door. ItalyFan ended up leaving with Jeff16185 alongside other members (like Maxen von Bismarck).

Middle Ages
In TOOL's history this brought about the period noted as the Middle Ages. Numbers remained static while time was focused on NS growing. It was firmly believed that if any substantial growth was to occur then a substantial core needed to be set in place. Through this small yet tight knit group that is what they set out upon. It was an active decision to remain below the radar at this point. In no position to either successfully defend itself from a larger foe or attack likewise; TOOL would lay low and work on internal growth.

This is the stage where most Alliance make their first mistake. They continue to force growth on cracked foundations and then stumble forward. Activity, or lack there of, will kill an Alliance without a core. With this core in place though TOOL had a platform for significant growth.

Recruiting
TOOL had proved its capabilities of surviving the toughest of times as an Alliance. This now set in stone saw the returning of a few significant names to TOOL. Italyfan rejoined along with Jeff16185; both of whom coming out of a War fought in NPO. With all the pieces seemingly in place now. TOOL stepped out of the darkness. Recruitment was for the first time turn up to 11. Full throttle. TOOL saw its membership grow 10 fold. Starting with around 50 members, TOOL had increased its member size to 550 within a short period. Some days showing up to 30 new applicants.

TOOL acquired almost as many, if not more, members then sanctioned alliances. On August 5th, TOOL ceased recruiting operations so that its existing nations could be built up and its inactives could be deleted. TOOL intended to begin recruiting in late August or early September, but the closing of registration for CyberNations, and the onset of the Fourth Great War, would put recruiting on hold.

Fourth Great War/The Unjust War
For a while, TOOL built up its member nations and solidified its position in global politics. Many new treaties were signed, including TOOL's first MDP. The "GOONS with SPOONS" treaty would ultimately bring TOOL into the Fourth Great War. GW4 began 4 days after the treaty was signed. At midnight on September 11th, TOOL declared war on IRON and joined in the Patriot Day Blitz. Despite only getting 4 hours notice before declaring, Kill Joy prepared the military so well that IRON members congratulated TOOL on being so well prepared, and applauded their blitzing techniques. TOOL enjoyed much success early on, and did much damage to the lower half of IRON. But as IRON's other adversaries, GOONS and \m/, concentrated more on other fronts, IRON was able to devote more nations to attacking TOOL. On September 18th, 7 days after declaring war, TOOL surrendered to IRON. The terms were relatively light. TOOL is now focusing on rebuilding from the war, and getting everything back together in general.

=The Order Of Light Charter=

I. Preamble

We, the nations of The Order Of Light join together to form an alliance. We stand together in times of war and leave no one behind. The council makes all our decisions and we follow their commands. We establish justice and form a brotherhood of nations so that we may enjoy, grow, and protect our friends in The Order Of Light.

'''II. Membership'''

To be a member of The Order Of Light, you must follow the following rules:

A. - No nation who is in The Order Of Light may be a part of another alliance during their time in TOOL. B. - Every nation must register and sign up on the The Order Of Light forums. C. - All nations must have their alliance affliction set to "The Order Of Light" D. - If you decide to resign from The Order Of Light, post in the appropriate section, or make a new thread, on the forums.

'''III. Membership Rights'''

A. - Every nation in The Order Of Light has a right of free speech. All nations can speak freely about what they think is right and what they think is wrong. The only people that can stop this is the Council of TOOL. They have the right to edit any posts or tell people not to post in certain sections. Other than that, every nation has the ability to speak their mind on both the CN forum and the The Order Of Light forum. B. - Any nation can leave at any time they wish. To leave, a nation must post in the appropriate section of the forums and change their alliance affliction to not have "The Order Of Light". C. - If a nation that has left, wants to rejoin, the Council will vote on whether this nation will be able to come back or not. If the nation has been there once, they will need 51% majority. If they have left two times, they will need a 76% majority to join back in. Any other times, they will need all but one member of the Council to let them in.

'''IV. Government'''

A. The government will consist of the following:

1. Lord Captain - Responsible for running the alliance. He/she will be in charge of reviewing applicants as well as signing everything that happens(i.e. DoW or treaties). They will be also responsible for making sure the other ministers are doing their jobs. The Lord Captain will appoint the hands, as many as he/she sees fit. 2. Hand of the Light - The Hand is the Second-in command and will serve as long as he/she or the Lord Captain sees fit. The Lord Captain will appoint hands, as many as up to three. The Hands can be demoted at any time and do not require an election, but the Lord Captain can make an election if he/she sees fit. The Hands will help with the overall running of TOOL and hold authority over the rest of the council except the Lord Captain. 3. Inquisitors – There will always be 3 Inquisitors within TOOL. These are hand picked by the Lord Captain and shall act with his voice and hand in aspects of renegade wars, emergency diplomatic action and the policing of TOOL members internally. Inquisitors due to their intimate knowledge of workings of TOOL will hold a seat in Council. They will be in charge of getting the troops ready in time of war as well as sending diplomats across the world. 4. Diplomatic Corps General – Hand chosen by the Lord Captain. The DC General shall conduct the foreign relations aspect of The Order Of Light. He/she will be responsible for making all members aware of everything going on. 5. Council - The Council will be made up of six publicly elected members who will be elected once a month. Further to this, Inquisitors, Hand(s) of Light and the DC General will sit in on council. The Council will vote on all wars, treaties and any other matter of interest. - 5.1 All publicly elected councilors will hold office for a month. There will be an election at the end of each month for all of these office members.

B. The Lord Captain will serve for life. This can be changed if the Lord Captain decides to step down. If so, the previous Lord Captain can appoint someone else into his/her spot or can call for an election for the next Lord Captain.

C. If someone is put up for impeachment, they will have to have a majority of 75% +1 of all TOOL members to impeach them from office. An immediate election will follow for that position. The next person will only hold office the rest of the time that the other councilor had left.

V. Expulsion

Any nation of TOOL that is breaking the charter can be held for expulsion. The nation will undergo a trial and the Council will collect information. The Council will then need a 75% +1 to remove the nation from TOOL.

'''VI. War'''

A Declaration of War (DoW) will be decided by a majority of 50% +1 vote of the Council. If the Council decides to declare war, every member should help out. There will be orders given out over what to do. If a nation of The Order Of Light is attacked by another nation, they are free to defend themselves. If the nation attacking the TOOL member is in an alliance, we will talk to that other alliance immediately and work out the situation. If the nation attacking is not aligned, they will be punished for attacking us. The Council has the decision over what to do with the nation attacked. This can be anywhere from Zero Infrastructure(ZI), demanding reparations or attacking until the nation surrenders. No nation in TOOL may attack another nation without approval from a Council member.

'''VII. Amendments to the Charter'''

This charter is subject to change at any time. This will happen with a 75% +1 vote from the Council.