The Guardians

The Guardian faction harks back to the original Treaty of Light signed by the very first Council. Those who signed the Treaty swore to protect all humans both from monstrous creatures and from the Dark, and the Guardians carry on that legacy to this day. They believe that the highest calling of mages is to protect the human race from supernatural threats.

Originally the Guardian faction was one of the most numerous factions on any Light Council, however as magical creatures waned and Dark mages were protected under the Concords, they lost a lot of their political clout. All Councils gradually lost interest in the Guardians and has since seen them as archaic at best and militant at worst, this happened everywhere... Everywhere except in North America, here the Guardians are still the single biggest faction of them all, this is however only if you include the Crusaders in this counting, no other two factions could gather half the number of members that the Guardians do and still the Guardians don't seem to hold any more political clout than the other factions.

The Guardian faction is currently in strong opposition to the Harmony Caucus, as the latter is lobbying for the recognition of the Convention of Five, this has caused a political stalemate between the two factions, one which the Traditionalists and the Prince faction abuse to their advantage.

The Crusaders
While not an actual political faction, the Crusaders still count enough mages as like minded individuals that the rest of magical society has labelled them Crusaders. The Crusaders are actually the more militant and proactive arm of the Guardian faction, they are convinced that Dark mages are evil and seek actively to stymie and destroy any and all of their operations.

Their extremist views have not netted them any friends, however many American mages seem to flock to their Zeal. Lately the Crusaders have concentrated their efforts on fighting the Convention of Five, leaving them politically exposed. This, rumor has it, was the reason for the resignation of two of the three Crusader-leaning Councilors.