Following the invasion of the Horde which triggered the First War, Archbishop Alonsus Faol led the clerics into battle to aid the people of the kingdom. The clerics, although brave and powered by both healing and destructive powers of the Light, were unprepared for the dangers of war, and suffered heavy losses. This, following the end of the First War in orcish victory, prompted Faol, along with his apprentice, Uther Lightbringer, to found the paladin Order of the Silver Hand. The paladins, although possessing spirit of the clerics preceded them, were mighty knights talented in the arts of war.