- History
- Creation to War
- War to Chaos
- Chaos to Now - Nations
- Irgar
- Jurica
- Lasinia
- Vegdarbarra
HORIZON IS OVER!
The webpage remains up as a permanent archive of game material, mainly for the benefit of nostalgic players - although if you'd like to run a Horizon-inspired game for your friends, that's wonderful too. Horizon will be succeeded by Legacyin Trinity term of 2006.If you like you can look at the (sketchy, incomplete) GM notes as well.
The Grey Order
In the esoteric gap between the sledgehammer of steam and the screwdriver of clockwork stand the Grey Order. They are an organisation that appear, at first glance, to have achieved the impossible: they have fused the two opposing technologies of clockwork and steam without breaking them in the effort.The Order were founded at the end of the Third Age, at a time when the Clockwork Guild and Steam Union were at the height of their power and jealously protective of their secrets. The fledgeling Order thus had a great need to stay hidden in the shadows, adopting codenames, meeting in secret and wearing face-concealing cowls.
They were young. They were desperate, rebellious and unpredictable, consisting of an eclectic mix of outcasts from the Guild and Union, crazed hedge-sorcerors and (so the rumour goes) a clique of worshippers of Arikel the Toolmaker. They were led by the ruthless Bjorn Jeffers and united by a dream: to somehow combine clockwork and steampower into a new form of technology.
Against all established knowledge, they succeeded. Somehow they developed an interface capable of counteracting the opposing influences from the two technologies. Making a deal with the then-king of Irgar Wolfson IV, they constructed their base of operations, the mechanical Citadel of Steam, all pulleys and valves and polished brass. From there they proceeded to make marvels.
Alongside the unusual gadgets their technology provided, something else was created within the Citadel of Steam: Grey Magic. By drawing the correct runes, a member of the Order can produce a range of startling effects that it's hard to attribute to any regular Powers or Gods. Despite probing claims from interested sorcerers, none of the Grey Order's agents are prepared to admit to knowing why exactly this power works; the secret is protected by the very highest-ranking members of their organisation.
In recent years, the Order have moved from strength to strength. After the Last War, they provided Grey Technology taxis for Horizon and the Irgarim capital of Uthelm, as well as opening a fairly profitable business selling Greywriters and Greyhounds. During the Year of Chaos, as the result of a bet with the Clockworkers' Guild, they gained the freedom to practice clockworking within the city of Horizon and changed from a covert clique of engineers to an open, public-spirited organisation, complete with a corps of Grey Salesmen to act as the public face of the Order. Thanks to the work of Grey Engineer Danny Trevithick, the Order were able to perfect a flying taxi and build a second Citadel of Steam; this one in the newly-built Treacherous Colonies.
Since then, the Grey Order have retreated a little. Most of their public work is done through the Grey Salesmen, while their agents remain lurking in the shadows and their commanders lurking in the two Citadels.
Major Developments of 4021 HR
The Grey Order have begun to take a place in world affairs after beginning sales of a Grey Technology weapon of war: the Grey Gun, a Gatling-type affair powered by a steam engine worn as a backpack. The Grey Gun spits out bullets at a pace that not even automatic clockwork guns can achieve; it is also horrendously heavy, and leaves its bearer a huge target. It is of most use in urban combat, when it allows heavy firepower to be brought to bear in situations where a Steam Cannon could not be manouevred into place. Its use has been condemned by Jurica and Lasinia, though Irgar and Vegdarbarra have been quick to snap up supplies.On the 1st of Autumn's Glory, the Grey Order issued a press release revealing some of its innermost secrets. Most critically, they announced that they had long ago discovered a way to bind a God and to force it to do their will. Justifying their actions as a form of sorcery, they also confessed that through sabotage, the captive god, Arikel, was beginning to escape his bounds, and that they were working with the Imperial University, the government of Horizon, and the ghoulish Headman Sternos to destroy the escaping god.
Rumours about the Grey Order
The Grey Order aren't capable of controlling the power behind their magic. Bit by bit it's bringing them under control.The Grey Order were founded by Arikel the Toolmaker as an attempt to grab more power for himself, but they rebelled against him and kept it for themselves.
Grey Magic is all just smoke and mirrors. The Order are faking it to fleece wannabe mages out of their money.
The only people in the Order who know how to run the Citadels of Steam are dead; if the Citadels breaks down, they're finished.