History*PART 1*
In 1190, Richard Coeur de Lyon answered Pope Gregory the Eighth's call for a Third Crusade and set sail with Philip of France toward The Holy Lands. The key to the campaign was the recovery of Acre, north of Jerusalem. After a long and tiring siege, Richard and Philip took the walled city and held its inhabitants ransom. In return for the lives of around 3,000 prisoners Richard demanded that King Saladin pay a ransom of 200,000 gold pieces, release some 1500 Christian prisoners and return the Holy Cross.Saladin could not meet Richard's random in time and Richard declared the lives of the Muslim defenders of Acre forfeit and set August 20 as the date for their execution.
Beha-ed-Din was a member of Saladin's court and (along with much of the Saracen army who watched from a distance) witnessed the massacre of 2,700 of his comrades:
"In the afternoon of Tuesday, 27 Rajab, [August 20] about four o'clock, he came out on horseback with all the Frankish army, knights, footmen, Turcoples, and advanced to the pits at the foot of the hill of Al 'Ayadiyeh, to which place be had already sent on his tents.
"The Franks, on reaching the middle of the plain that stretches between this hill and that of Keisan, close to which place the sultan's advanced guard had drawn back, ordered all the Musulman prisoners, whose martyrdom God had decreed for this day, to be brought before him. They numbered more than three thousand and were all bound with ropes. The Franks then flung themselves upon them all at once and massacred them with sword and lance in cold blood. Our advanced guard had already told the Sultan of the enemy's movements and he sent it some reinforcements, but only after the massacre. The Musulmans, seeing what was being done to the prisoners, rushed against the Franks and in the combat, which lasted till nightfall, several were slain and wounded on either side.
"On the morrow morning our people saw a black, ominous cloud had stretched out over the hill of Al `Ayadiyah and all the Frankish army had disappeared. The cloud spread throughout the day and rained down blood and bits of bone. The Sultan ordered the army to retreat to Arsuf."
This event, called the Second Sundering, made the fabric of reality bend and rip as spirits and primal energy flooded the area. Throughout Europe, the Middle East, India, and North Africa visions of death and destruction assaulted mages attuned to the future. A powerful group of Ali-Batin met in Constantinople and mobilized for the coming darkness. The cloud eventually spread throughout the Holy Lands from Damascus to the Dead Sea bringing with it plague and death.
Then, in the spring of 1192, hordes of demons and other powerful being sprang up in the almost barren streets of Damascus, Jerusalem, Acre, Tyre, Arsuf, Jaffa, and Ascalon. Though prepared, thousands of Ali-Batin died that day as their magics were twisted and used against them. The group retreated and began desperately contacting leaders of other Paradigms throughout the world. Another meeting was held in Constantinople, this time with the emissaries of all the Paradigms present, and the Union was created.
For the next 23 years, the Union fought against the Horde until they killed enough of the demon spawn to strengthen reality to the point that they could close the portal entirely. Afterwards, the Union signed a document called the Accord. The Accord codified rules between the Paradigms, stated their philosophy for the masses, and created the Guardians, which became the Knights Templar.