Okay, I've had the most probably with the rebellion and people's backgrounds getting mixed up in it. So! Here's what I've decided to do. Hopefully none of your backgrounds have gotten messed up by this (indeed I tried my best to integrate player ideas), but I think I've ironed everything out, and what hasn't been can easily be adjusted.
Three years ago, not long after the great city of Shelladon fell, a strong rebellion rose up to try overthrowing the Magic Empire. They trained several special warriors to become Mage Knights, who could be every bit as adept in magic as with their swords. However, somehow, information leaked up about where the rebellion's most important bases were. In a surprise attack six months later, the Empire made a swift strike against all the locations at once. The Mage Knights were all that kept the resistance from completely being annihilated. However, all the key members of the rebellion died in those attacks. Without them, the resistance slowly crumbled and fell apart.
The following years were bleak and gray, but these past few months have brought whispered rumors of hope again. It is said that the resistance has finally recovered and is getting organized again. However, some surviving members of the previous rebellion find that odd because they have not been notified about a new regrouping of their remaining forces.
Update as of Session #12: The reason behind the confusion about the new rebellion is due to the fact that the driving force behind the new rebels is House Magus. According to Lady Mileria, over 90% of the resistance are commoners. But very few of them know who the true leaders of the resistance are. House Magus communicates with the "lower" rebellion members through adopted emissaries like Par who were originally commoners themselves.