- 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.
History: Chaos to Now
This is the history of the most recent events. Just about every player character (anyone of 25 years old or older) will have lived through these events and remember them well, and even the youngsters will be more than familiar with these events, since they have become the subject of song and play, poem and novel, dry academic treatise and fierce coffee-house debate. If the events immediately following the Last War set the stage for the Fourth Age, it is in the Year of Chaos and its aftermath that the Fourth Age really got moving.
The Year of Chaos
4000 HR is known to Horizoners as the Year of Chaos - the year when a number of tensions which had been bubbling under the surface erupted into violence, bloodshed, and murder. So great was the disruption that the government was forced to declare martial law twice - and of course, the climax of the year was the beginning of the Prime Emergency. Here's a rundown of the major events of the year...The Vegdarbarran Crisis
Ever since the Last War, it was generally assumed that the warlord Captain Qveton was undisputed ruler of Vegdarbarra - he was, at any rate, the most powerful Vegdarbarran warlord known to the international community. In 4000 HR, however, two additional forces made themselves known in Vegdarbarra - a remnant of the Imperial Army bent on restoring the Empire, and the expansionist Baron Yuri von Litkinstien, a warlord from deep within Vegdarbarra whose forces proved to be far stronger than Qveton's. Both Qveton and von Litkinstien tried to suppress the Imperial remnants by themselves, hoping to keep it an internal Vegdarbarran matter, but the outside world soon discovered the truth and a joint force from Horizon and Jurica entered Vegdarbarra to crush the Imperial zealots. This freed von Litkinstien to continue his expansionist aggression, and soon the Baron conquered all of Vegdarbarra, the defeated Captain Qveton seeking sanctuary in Horizon.The Fallen Star
At the beginning of the year, a Star died and fell in the Vegdarbarran wilderness. An expedition from Horizon, led by the famous adventurer Baron Montague, went to the crater known as Starfall and discovered the corpse of the silver, feathered dragon-daimon that carried the Star through the Heavens in its heart. The Star was removed from the dragon's chest and was taken back to the University. Little more was heard of it - aside from a rumour that it had been stolen - until the very end of the year, when a tower of starlight appeared in the Docks, piercing the Sky and allowing daimons of the Stars to come down from the heavens and invade the city - it appears that the alchemist Roberta Petrel had been extracting Pure Star Essence from the Star when a clumsy bodyguard (provided by the Columna family) knocked over the sample, releasing the purified Essence and summoning the tower. A struggle ensued between the city's forces and the Star daimons, and eventually flying taxi driver Danny Trevithick was able to alert and ask the aid of the Sky. This resulted in the Sun - apparently a powerful daimon of the Sky - diverting from its accustomed course to smash into and shatter the Tower of the Stars, and then returning to its usual circuit of the Sky.During the fight against the Star Tower, a group of Kraelings who had somehow infiltrated Horizon from the Treacherous Lands joined the fight on the side of Horizon, and a grateful government granted them an amnesty and allowed them to settle - for more details on the Kraeling community within Horizon, see here.
Scandal In the Watchdogs
The authority of the Watchdogs was severely undermined in the Year of Chaos by a series of internal crises. Not only was convincing proof uncovered that Randall Bryant, Commissioner for Illegal Organisations, was in the pocket of the Cartel, but it emerged that he had asked Captain Animo - much-respected leader of the Flying Squad - to assassinate a fellow Watchdog in order to hamper the investigation. Animo achieved this by slipping Battle Alpha into the mess hall wine, causing a riot which was only put down with the intervention of the Mayoral Legions. During the same twomonth, an unknown sniper - many suspect it was master assassin Janus Voorash - killed the High Commissioner of the Watchdogs, plunging the upper ranks into chaos. Colonel Zero was forced to impose limited martial law until the Watchdogs could get on their feet again - whilst they managed this, their reputation took a further blow when it emerged that Sam Perez, a low-ranking Watchdog, was a leader of the Emperor's Front.The Loveday Affair
Lucas Loveday, an up-and-coming factory owner, should have become a power in the city in 4000 HR - his factories were making vast profits, his business empire was growing swiftly, and everything seemed to be going well for him. Then one of his factories exploded... and the government inspectors began breathing down his neck... and then he died mysteriously at sea, his body never being recovered.That on its own would be suspicious enough. Later, however, Liberator journalist Thomas Blint published an article alleging that Lucas Loveday's downfall was contributed to by a clique of industrialists that, between them, controlled the factories of the Steam and mercilessly crushed any independent entrepreneurs who tried to force their way into their ranks. Blint was later assassinated before he could reveal more about the so-called "international industrialists", but his murder convinced his colleagues at the Liberator to follow up the story. This would eventually lead to the exposure of the Merchant's Arm.
The New Theatre
4000 HR is a year which will be remembered with sorrow by many - but with fond memories by afficionados of the threatre, for it is in 4000 HR that Crown of Steel, starring Jurican actor (and alleged Cartel member) Joakhim al-Bahrad and Lasinian starlet Clia Rosto (who would later become the Minister of Revolutionary Culture in the LPP-ruled Lasinia), hit the stage. Crown of Steel was a revelation, mainly because the lead actors decided to act rather than strut around the stage and shout a lot - their realistic performances, miles away from the usual melodramatic fare, prompted a revolution in the Horizon theatre.The Attack On the Cartel
During 4000 HR, the Cartel found itself at war on several fronts. First, the Three Families, morally opposed to the Cartel's narcotic smuggling activities, attempted to stamp them out through direct violence. This tactic failed, mainly due to the Cartel winning support from the Watchdogs, and the Three Families lost their will to fight after the assassination of Raymond Daynann. However, the Dockyard Rats - the Cartel's main competitor in the drug trade - began disrupting the Cartel's supplies, winning the monopoly on good Vegdar-dust through a deal with Baron Litkinstien and making deals with the fae in return for supplies of strange Treacherous drugs. Furthermore, once Dockyard Rat Penelope "Bob" Weiss became Commissioner for Illegal Organisations, the Cartel lost their Watchdog backing, and indeed faced a police crackdown on their activities. At this point, the Cartel were crippled by a disasterous internal civil war, in which Eric Tuco briefly wrested control of the organisation from its leader Haythim Marid. Marid succeeded in regaining control of the Cartel, but was shot to death by Eric Tuco at the Riverview Inn - Tuco was then quietly killed and dumped in the river for breaching the Moon Truce. The Cartel ended the Year of Chaos severely weakened, and would never recover.Colonisation of the Treacherous Lands
With the weakening of certain wards the Emperor had placed on the Gate, the way through to the Treacherous Lands became available to the government of Horizon, which invoked its age-old right (enshrined in the Last Treaty) to control passage to and from the Treacherous Lands and established a number of Trans-Wall colonies. The first governor of the colonies, Lady Blaze, vanished mysteriously and left the Colonies facing an attack of wild Kraelings; fortunately, the adventurer Frost arrived to fight back the Kraelings, eventually winning a peace with the Kraelings and becoming governor of the Colonies (initiating diplomatic contact with the Fairy Kingdom in the process). A series of terrorist attacks, however, towards the end of the year hampered the Colonies' progress towards self-sufficiency, and Frost vanished at the end of the year having become caught up in the Prime Emergency in some way.The Death of Versinya
Early on in the year, cultists of the goddess Versinya rioted in the Slums, and avatars of hers were reported to be at work secretly in the city. Baron Montague, Rosie del Orto, and the sorcerer Sylvester Latchkins would, over the course of the year, become determined to eliminate the goddess of corruption, and to this end lured her to Horizon via sorcerous means and struck her down. Her filthy corpse was consumed by a horde of rats, and by Horizon's Day the first few victims were falling to the Versinya Plague...The Destruction of the Three Families
It began with the assassination of Raymond Daynann, and the accusations of incest, rape, and Ghoul-murder levied at Count Alric Columna which would lead to Alric becoming a fugitive - with two of the Three Families losing their leaders, the crimelords of the Slums found themselves in crisis before the year was half through. For a time, it looked like stability would return: Moebius Columna, Alric's brother (and alleged betrayer) and the pragmatic Stuart Daynann took control of their respective families, and brokered a marriage between Philip Daynann and Crace Columna - a marriage that left the Kellor feeling excluded. Things soon went south, though; Alric eventually managed to clear his name and get his revenge upon Moebius, and Stuart Daynann was assassinated, leaving the more idealistic and fiery Johanna Daynann to lead the family. The final disaster struck when Crace Columna and Philip Daynann attempted to assassinate Johanna Daynann, giving her the Twin Silvers and then killing her without giving her the customary day to prepare. Philip Daynann and several of Johanna's bodyguards died in the attack, but one of Johanna's bodyguards escaped to tell the story, and Crace's disregard for an important underworld tradition shocked the Kellor and the Daynanns' now-leaderless underlings. The Three Families Truce was shattered, and the brief arrest - followed by a swift release - of Alric and Crace Columna on Horizon's Day merely added insult to injury, for the true damage was already done: the Columnas found themselves facing all-out war with the Kellor, a Slum-based conflict that would leave only one family standing.Revolution In Lasinia
At this point in history, Lasinia was ostensibly a democracy; however, it was obvious that the aristocratic classes were the true powers in the nation, and the power of democratic bodies to effect genuine change was decidedly limited. Halfway through the year, the populace of Lasinia revolted, plunging the country into civil war. (It is alleged that the major revolutionary faction, the Lasinian People's Liberation Front, received arms from sympathisers within Horizon's HPLF.) Atrocities were committed by both sides; the aristocratic old regime crushed the pacifist Lasinian Democratic Assembly with brutal and excessive force, whilst the LPLF engaged in violent "redistribution" (read: looting) of the wealth of the upper classes, put the upper classes to the sword, and were merciless with anyone they suspected of collaborating with the old authorities.Eventually, the authorities in Irgar, Jurica and Horizon saw fit to intervene. Whilst their forces attempted to impose peace, however, convulsions were occuring within both sides of the conflict. The LPLF, influenced in part by the rhetoric of Horizon Post journalist and pro-democracy advocate James Ridgway, was taken over by a faction of so-called "Democratic Eventualists", who at least paid lip service to the idea of democracy, whilst Governor Avarius, leader of the old regime, stood down and went into exile under international pressure, and a group of moderates replaced him. Both the LPLF and the old regime now realised that if they did not reach some sort of peace Lasinia would be consumed entirely by Irgar, Jurica, and Horizon, and thus they went to the negotiating table. It soon became apparent, however, that the new leaders of the old regime were easily manipulable at best, LPLF sympathisers at worst - the result of the peace talks was almost total victory for the LPLF, which made only small concessions (such as changing its name to the Lasinian People's Party). Irgar, Jurica, and Horizon came away from the war with expanded territories, their control of their respective occupied zones being enshrined in the peace treaty, and peace reigned in Lasinia. Meanwhile, Daniel Priestly was being honoured by the LPP for his sterling service during the revolution...
Rise of the Under-Chamber
The Year of Chaos saw the creation of the Under-Chamber - an initiative of Moebius Columna's, which hoped to unite the criminal underworld in a manner which would limit chaos and carnage on the streets. The influence of the Under-Chamber was slight during the Year of Chaos, but grew in the intervening years as people tired of the bloodshed.The Grey Order's Advance
4000 HR was a bad year for many, but a good year for the Grey Order - with the invention of the flying taxi, the success of the Great Guild Bet (see the Engineering section for more details), and a deal with the Trans-Wall Colonies that would lead to the construction of the second Citadel of Steam, the Grey Order's fortunes seemed to be only on the increase during the Year of Chaos.The Beggar Crisis
Towards the end of the Year of Chaos, a terrible mystery was exposed: the Beggar King was a minion of the Mutilated One, and the Beggar organisation contained a cult in that dread god's service. The Ghouls attacked the cult ferociously on discovering this, and the Mutilated One - possessing the Beggar King Lazarus Womble - disrupted the Moon Truce gathering at the Riverview on Horizon's Day, and was slain by the gathered individuals. This seemed to be the end of the Mutilated One; certainly, it was the end of the superstitious mystique surrounding the Beggars.The Prime Emergency
At the end of the Year of Chaos, the Imperial Palace was demolished by an explosion, following a riot involving rowdy steamworking elements, a group of Versinya cultists, and the walking, rotting corpse of Moebius Columna. Faced with this crisis, and the Star Tower, and the Versinya Plague, the government was forced to impose full martial law, going so far as to raid the Riverview Inn on the night of the Moon Truce. Whilst martial law has been lifted, certain emergency measures pertaining to the Prime Emergency - whatever that is - remain in force.The Aftermath
The intervening decades proved to be a quieter, more peaceful time, but not thanks to the efforts of anyone in particular: peace was imposed on Horizon (and the rest of the world) by the Versinya Plague, the dread vengeance of Versinya from beyond the grave. Carried by rats, the Plague soon ran riot in the Slums, decimating the local populace (immigrants from other nations would take their place, strengthening the position of the Kellor). Whilst the Horizon authorities did all they could to contain the Plague, and did succeed in closing the border, ships had already departed Horizon for ports around the Four Nations. The navies of the world struggled to stop the ships with their unintended cargo of Plague-bearing rats from reaching their destinations; many ships willingly turned back, but a few (mainly those with something to hide from the authorities) evaded the navies and brought the Plague to Irgar and Jurica.No nation of the True Lands escaped the Plague's touch, although some suffered more than others; fortunately, stringent quarantine procedures prevented the Plague reaching the Trans-Wall Colonies. The first and worst outbreak of the Plague lasted until the autumn of 4001 HR; isolated outbreaks occurred here and there for another decade, but there has been no known case of the Versinya Plague since 4010 HR.
In the meantime, changes were coming to the gangs of Horizon. The Beggars had, of course, been eliminated by the end of the Year of Chaos. The Three Families were now Two, and soon only One, the Kellor achieving victory over the Columna, and they and their subordinates are now known simply as the Family. The Cartel were doomed by Eric Tuco's rebellion and its repercussions - smelling weakness, the other gangs came in for the kill, and although the Cartel put up a long and valiant fight it was all over; in 4009 HR their Jurican suppliers began trading with Jude's Concern (the Dockyard Rats' smuggling branch), and in 4011 HR the last Cartel dealers jumped ship to Jude's Concern.
The end of the Rumblers, meanwhile, proved more unexpected. The investigations of Liberator journalists had forced the Merchant's Arm to reveal their existance, and the evidence suggested that the Merchant's Arm controlled the Rumblers and used them as a private army of strikebreakers. Naturally, a law-abiding association of like-minded industrialists (as the Merchant's Arm claims to be) has no place maintaining such a group, and the Merchant's Arm severed its ties with the Rumblers (see the section on the Steam for more about the Merchant's Arm). Meanwhile, the rank-and-file Rumblers quit the gang in disgust, unhappy about being manipulated; those who wanted to keep busting strikers' heads joined the Watchdogs, those who wanted to stay true to their working class roots became friendly with the Family. The Steam Union also came under the influence of the Family, to an extent; meanwhile the Clockwork Guild was divided into the Broader Guild (which accepts Grey Order members and is funded by the Grey Order) and the Strict Clockworkers (who do not admit Grey Order members and self-fund their own projects), and the Grey Order quietly continued their expansion, and completed a second Citadel of Steam in the Treacherous Lands. The Colonies expanded, the Lasinian democratic experiment stagnated and fell under the sway of Daniel Priestly, Baron von Litkinstien spread his factories over Vegdarbarra, and in life moved on as it always does.
And now it's 4021 HR, and an election's coming...