The Updates

The End of the Last War and the Post-War Mayors of Horizon

By the autumn of 3964 HR, the city of Horizon was in a horrific state of affairs. The orders issuing forth from the Imperial Palace were inconsistent and bordered on incoherent, and the war was going badly in the extreme. In late 3960, the pre-war Mayor of Horizon, Michael Balenaedas, died suddenly - poisoned (so many said) by Imperial assassins in the wake of the Great Strike. Following a "khaki election" that was tainted by electoral fraud on the part of the Imperial Authorities, he was replaced by Nailan King, a recently discharged officer who was all too obviously a pawn of the Imperial Army. King was deeply unpopular with the people of Horizon, but the totalitarian war drive of the Imperial authorities made criticism impossible - and indeed redundant, as the city was run by the army during this period. However, as the situation in the Last War became ever worse, the streets of Horizon began to fill with refugees from the lands conquered by the Four Nations - and worse yet, by deserters from the Imperial Legions. The refugees begged for alms; the deserters took what they saw fit. And as the Four nations took steadily more land, the food shortages began; at first, the vast Imperial bureaucracies constructed efficient rationing programmes; then, the insanity of the highest authority of all began to infect even these departments, and people started to starve. The slums were, as always, the first; public disorder in early 3964HR ended with the "Burning of the Slums", as numerous slum residents were put to the sword or made homeless in a punitive campaign of state terrorism. But the food shortages did not stop, nor did the incoherent orders of the Emperor; and soon food riots and Anarchism became common grounds for terrorism, with the increasingly impoverished and confused authorities helpless to prevent them. From about 3963 onwards, Imperial troops were permanently stationed in Horizon with the express purpose of keeping the population passive (rather than any supposed connection with the war effort); these tended to turn a blind eye to the activities of army deserters, and the influence of Nailan King helped ensure that the Watchdogs were effectively sidelined during this period. Most of the Imperial armies had been decimated, to the point that a rearguard action was being fought by two armies constructed of the scraps of multiple units; these were commanded by Marshall Blachard and Marshall Caline. But these were armies of survivors, and by late 3964 lacked the manpower to hold back the combined might of the Alliance of the Four Nations. As the armies of the four nations approached Horizon, events overtook the Imperial Government, who finally forced the Emperor to the realisation that he was in deep trouble. The result was one of his most coherent edicts in years:

3964 HR

8th of Autumn's Dusk: The "Childrens' Army" arrives at the Front. Marshall Blanchard laughs, and orders that they be sent home to their parents. In response, an order is received direct from the Emperor that he stand firm and make use of the shield given to him in the coming battle.

9th of Autumn's Dusk: Marshall Blanchard, disgusted by months and years of malicious evil in the Emperor's commands, breaks his sword and refuses to take further orders from the Imperial High Command.

14th of Autumn's Dusk: The Imperial High Command declares Marshall Blanchard a traitor and mutineer. Marshall Caline leads his army to arrest Blanchard; Blanchards' forces remain loyal to their commander. The Battle of the Imperial Revolt breaks out. The (by now vast) army of the Four Nations Alliance advances on what they suppose to be Marshall Blanchard's position.

15h of Autumn's Dusk: The Battle of the Imperial Revolt is joined by the Alliance armies. Marshall Caline's forces are routed; Blanchard is able to withdraw. He falls back towards Horizon. Caline escapes the destruction of his army.

19th of Autumn's Dusk: News of the Children's Army and the subsequent division and defeat of Imperial forces makes it back to the ministers who nominally make up the Imperial Government. At the same time, the news makes it back to the populace of Horizon, and fresh riots break out.

23rd of Autumn's Dusk: The Imperial soldiers supposedly keeping order in Horizon join the food/Anarchist/anti-Imperial rioters. The city as a whole begins to collapse into anarchy.

25th of Autumn's Dusk: The Imperial Chancellor, Davrim Maellor, is persuaded to make a public speech declaring that the Emperor has failed in his duty to his people and must submit to closer scrutiny of his decrees and public control of thr Imperial Legions. This rather mild set of proposals is utterly unprecedented and triggers a fresh set of riots both for and against them.

1st of Winter's Dawn: Imperial Army units in Horizon are ordered to arrest Maellor by the Emperor himself. The very small number still listening to orders comply; however Lady Christina Ferrars, another minister, goes above Nailand King's head to persuade the Watchdogs to protect Maellor.

2nd of Winter's Dawn: Maellor, Ferrars and others declare themselves a "provisional government", sworn to provide "governance for the Empire" for "the Duration of the War, in Consideration of His Imperial Majesty's Indisposition." Most surviving government departments readily agree to obey the Provisional Government, which is obviously completely independent of the Emperor and his madness. A few ministers and departments, calling themselves "Loyalists", swear themselves to obeying the Emperor's orders. Horizon continues to descend into anarchy.

5th of Winter's Dawn: Marshall Blanchard's troops arrive at the fortifications at the edge of the city. Blanchard sends word into the city that he is willing to negotiate with the Provisional Government, but regards the Loyalists - and, by implication, the Emperor - as beyond the pale.

7th of Winter's Dawm: The armies of the Four Nations Alliance arrive outside Horizon. Dissension between the various nationalities and the sheer size of Horizon leads to them halting and digging in instead of directly confronting Blanchard's men and/or the city itself. The Siege of Horizon begins. In the city, in addition to riots and rampant crime, violence begins to break out between the supporters of the Loyalist and Provisional Governments.

8th of Winter's Dawn onwards: food shortages continue to grow worse. Marshall Blanchard and the remains of the Imperial legions continue to protect Horizon from the Four Nations Alliance; Blanchard declares himself to be in temporary alliance with the Provisional Government, for the common cause of keeping the Alliance armies out of Horizon. With the Imperial authority that supported him crumbling, Nailan King is increasingly sidelined in the city. Instead Lady Christina Ferrars uses her position in the government to take control of the city authorities; she rapidly remobilises the Watchdogs, who are in general pleased to be restored to their policing duties. Ferrars succeeds in restoring a certain amount of civil order, and in largely isolating the Loyalists in the Imperial Palace; indeed, Ferrars increasingly comes to dominate the Provisional Government. However, food riots, Anarchism and the depredations of the Imperial Army deserters continue to eat at the city. The Loyalist government increasingly sinks into inactivity as its head, the Emperor, does little in these days beyond dribbling, crying, and shouting incoherently. The armies of the Four Nations Alliance bicker between themselves as to when they should launch an attack on the city and who should do what.

20th of Winter's Rise: Nailan King, enraged and humiliated by his loss of power, makes an emotionally charged speech denouncing the Provisional government as traitors and profiteers, and unambiguously aligning himself with the Loyalists. This is brave but politically very, very stupid. He is pursued by a howling mob to the Imperial Palace, where he is given refuge by the Loyalists and the Imperial Guards, the Emperor's bodyguard. Upon being told that the Mayor of Horizon is in the palace, the Emperor rouses himself, to the secret surprise of most of the Loyalists. He asks that the custodian of his beloved city be brought before him. Nailan King has an audience with the Emperor; for the most part the Emperor rambles, recounts incoherent anecdotes, and directs questions to former Mayors who have been dead for centuries. In the end he gets round to asking King about the state of the modern city. King responds with a maliciously distorted account, full of self-justification, which slanders and demonises the Provisional Government, the Watchdogs, the nobles, the merchants, Marshall Blanchard, and any other group that he can feasibly blame his woes on. At the conclusion of this account, the Emperor apparently falls into deep thought, a grim expression on his face. King is lead from his presence and joins the Loyalist government, such as it is.

22nd of Winter's Rise: Horizon has often been referred to in the Fourth Age as the "City of Traitors". Few people realise who they're quoting when they say this. On the 22nd day of Winter's Rise, the Emperor rouses himself a second time, and calls together the Loyalist government, and the commander of the Imperial Guards. With a shaking hand he writes out and seals his Last Order. The Order is much more coherent than anything he has written in the last few years, and has a definite purpose.

To you, those last few of Our subjects that remain loyal to Us, is this order given as a panacea against the malaise into which Our beloved realm is fallen. That the City of Horizon has become a nest of serpents that strike at Our bosom, We hear accounts that remove all doubt. Let the loyal captain of Our bodyguards call together those of Our soldiers that still bear the love of Us in their hearts. We hereby declare anathema on the City of Horizon, which is become abominable to Our sight. Let this city of traitors be put to fire and the sword, and the ground where it stood sown with salt. By Our gratitude in the Intercession, Amen.

23rd of Winter's Rise: It becomes fully apparent to the Provisional Government that the Emperor, in his madness, is now directly trying to destroy Horizon. They send a message to the Loyalists begging them to reconsider their blind loyalty, but receive no response. The Watchdogs try to hold back the Imperial Guard, but the Imperial Guard are much better trained, organised, fed, and armed.

24th of Winter's Rise: A message to Marshall Blanchard begging him for help receives the response that he would love to, but then the Four Nations Alliance would walk in and do much what the Imperial Guard are trying to do, only more efficiently. Throughout the day, various mobs and nobles make disconnected attempts to stop the rampage of the Imperial Guard. These do little more than delay the highly skilled Imperial Guard.

Horizon's Day: Clearly missing several days of sleep, the Provisional government appear in public. Against the backdrop of smoke rising from the burning city, Lady Christina Ferrars announces that the Emperor has declared war upon Horizon, and the city must now unite against him and those who seek to perpetuate his rule. She modestly proposes herself as the leader of the city's struggle against the Emperor and the Four Nations. It is a rousing speech, and following an impromptu public election, she is declared Mayor of Horizon (King's theoretical incumbency is ignored). The Seats of Summer are filled on a necessarily ad hoc basis; one is assigned to Marshall Blanchard, but the actual voting is done by his representative, a young captain called Andrew Zero.

Ferrars immediately begins calling together everyone with the ability to fight the Imperial Guard. Captain Zero represents Blanchard at these discussions.

In the night, an entire unit of Imperialists (as forces still loyal to the Emperor become known) disappear.

3965 HR

2nd of Winter's Glory: Under an agreement reached with Ferrars, Marshall Blanchard leads a substantial part of his forces into the city, joining the Horizon Alliance. The Imperialists, spread out across the city, are captured, routed, and killed in small groups.

3rd of Winter's Glory: Imperialist forces are largely defeated. The departure of the Imperial Guard has left the Imperial Palace undefended, and the Horizon forces march in and arrest the Loyalist government - the storming of the palace is not without casualties on both sides. The Emperor is apparently not among those in the Palace, and is missing from this time onwards.

Towards evening, the Four Nations Alliance commanders realise that the forces defending the city have gone, and give the order to invade.

4th to 6th of Winter's Glory: As they had previously agreed, the Horizon Alliance turn on the invading Four Nations Alliance forces in the streets of the city. Expecting little resistance and unfamiliar with the city, the invading forces suffer heavy losses and fall back in disarray. The commanders fall to bickering among themselves.

7th of Winter's Glory: With the confusion and disunity of the invading forces at a maximum, they are surprised by an offer of a ceasefire, which purports to come jointly from Provisional Government of the Empire and the City of Horizon. Blanchard, following discussions with Mayor Ferrars, adds his signature to the list for the City of Horizon, aligning himself with the new order.

8th of Winter's Glory: An armistice is signed between the Four Nations, the Provisional Government of the Empire and the City of Horizon, effectively ending the Last War. Under this agreement the Loyalist ministers, including Nailan King, are paraded through the streets of Horizon, where they are pelted with excrement and hard objects, and handed over at the city gates to the generals of the Four Nations, who promptly have them publicly beheaded. Citizens of Horizon who are watching from the walls cheer. Immediately afterwards, food carts begin to roll into the city.

Negotiations for the Last Treaty begin, with Captain Andrew Zero playing a prominent part in Horizon's negotiating team.

15th of Spring's Dawn: On a small hill outside the gates of Horizon, the Last Treaty is signed by the King of Irgar, the Caliph of Jurica, the Governor of Lasinia, the Vegdarbarran Captain Leonard Qveton, and for the City of Horizon by Mayor Christina Ferrars. Davrim Maellor and Lord Betram Lanthor represent the Provisional Government of the Empire, signing themselves and the entire Empire out of existence. Maellor's hand visibly shakes as he signs; he travels directly back to his house in the city, locks himself in his study, and shoots himself; by way of a suicide note he leaves a minature portrait of the Emperor.

The Governor of Lasinia gives a speech in which he speculates on the dawn of a "Fourth Age"; this is widely derided at the time, but the idea of the Fourth Age soon gains wide currency. On the day, the historic import of the speech is mildly spoiled by the King of Irgar snoring.

Meanwhile, although the arrival of food following the armistice has helped, the city of Horizon still faces vast problems, with streets choked with dispossessed refugees, rampant crime, appalling poverty, unapprehended Imperialists, and a thousand dreams for new orders to be raised on the ashes of the old. Each of the Four Nations, mistrusting the others, hopes to secretly (or openly) run the city for their advantage, and intends to put the terms of the Last Treaty to work in this with immediate effect.

After the War

10th of Spring Dusk: Imperial Marshall Percival Caline reappears, walking into the Riverview Inn where Marshall Blanchard is drinking, during the Moon Truce. He publicly calls Blanchard a traitor and assassin, and challenges him to a duel. The two duel and kill each other in the Inn courtyard. It is thought by some that Caline has spent the intervening time founding the Emperor's Front, but this has yet to be proved.

24th of Spring Dusk: While making a speech, Mayor Ferrars is suddenly seized by one of her own bodyguards and stabbed fatally. The young man screams out a brief statement declaring that the Emperor's Front will henceforth deal out the same treatment to all traitors to His Imperial Majesty; he is then cut down by the mayor's other bodyguards. This marks the beginning of the campaign by the Emperor's Front against the City of Horizon, the Rebellious Provinces, and more or less everybody else.

During this period, the need for a leader for the city and political manoveuring by the Embassies made common the practice of appointing "acting Mayors" immediately after the removal of the previous Mayor, the incumbency being ratified on Horizon's Day (if the acting Mayor survived that long). As will be seen, these often rushed decisions lead to some ill-considered candidates leading the city. The practice was made illegal under Colonel Zero; in modern times, the privy council will lead the city until Horizon's Day if a mayor is removed or resigns.

Following the death of Ferrars, the Four Nations leap into action to seize the city for themselves. The election of the new mayor is pulled around by the Embassies like a scrap of meat by street dogs. The result is the election of a compromise candidate, Thomas Selwin (Spring Dusk, 3965 HR, to Winter's Glory, 3966 HR), a former Imperial civil servant who had retired years before the outbreak of the Last War. Selwin is a deeply tired old man who regrets that he lived to see these grim latter days. He moves from doing very little to complete inactivity while the situation in the city deteriorates. He finds that young fellow Zero too energetic, and has him sent back to the Mayoral Legion. By midwinter, the Four Nations are having to support Horizon with charitable donations of food, and the city is again experiencing riots. Irgar proposes to handle the situation by sending in its army to take over the city. Lasinia and Jurica propose to invade Irgar, and another solution is sought. In the end, a combination of diplomatic pressure from the embassies and gentle advice from friends persuades Mayor Selwin to stand down. His only achievement is the rewriting of the Emperor's old agreement with the Ghouls as the Mayor's Compact. He dies in 3969.

Fast talking, immense charm and embassy connections get former arms dealer Anthony Shon (Winter's Glory, 3966 HR, to Winter's Dusk, 3967 HR) elected in the midst of the Hungry Winter. Mayor Shon begins to set the city back on its feet, improving the food supply and restoring some measure of civil order; but he does so by playing off the city's many small mobs against each other and cutting corrupt deals with the leaders of the larger mobs that emerge from these struggles. Huge proportions of the city's assets and trade are bargained away to ever growing mobs in return for their cooperation, with Mayor Shon and his cronies taking a cut for themselves on every transaction. As the mobs grow in power, Shon pushes them into ever more bloody conflict with each other, or pays them off, to distract them. In order to acquire the necessary funds (and enable him and his cronies to extract ever larger rewards), Shon tricks first one and eventually all of the Embassies into supplying him with funding to hand the city over to them. Towards the end of his incumbency, he is acting as an Unofficial Spy for Lasinia, Jurica, and Irgar simultaneously. Eventually, realising that both the mobs and the Embassies are on the verge of finding him out, Shon embezzles a mind boggling amount of money from the Treasury and flees the city, disappearing soon after. (The government still offers a Major reward for any information leading to the discovery of his fate and the missing riches).

Following his sudden exit, many of Shon's misdemeanours come to light, and several of his lackeys and cronies are murdered by the mobs or Embassy staff. In addition, the house of cards he had constructed in Horizon's gangland collapses, and a gang war breaks out on the streets. At the same time, the Emperor's Front launch their first (and to date last) open revolt and attempt to seize the Imperial Palace. Brigadier Henric Smythe of the Mayoral Legion takes decisive and unilateral action to crush the Imperialists and force the gangs back underground. Both the populace and the Embassies are alarmed by the violence, and Brigadier Henric Smythe (Winter's Dusk, 3967 HR, to Spring's Rise, 3968 HR) is rapidly appointed Acting Mayor on a public order platform.

This proves to be a poor choice. Smythe has been described by contemporaries as "a bushy moustache with a sociopath at the back". He sets out to solve Horizon's many problems (real and as perceived by him) through his favoured method, this being extreme violence. The Watchdogs are once again sidelined, and "action squads" of serving and former legionnaires are set up, operating outside the law and answering only to the mayor, to murder or torture various groups. Imperialists, revolutionaries, pacifists, collaborators (with the embassies), cultists, liberals, fraudsters, dissenters, intellectuals, the undeserving poor, "useless" nobles, and anyone else Smythe perceives as a wrong'un, are subject to brutal persecution. Unfortunately, the violence is poorly directed, and the well off and high ranking mob members escape trouble with generous payments to heads of the death squads. Public order improves if you don't count random acts of murder and mutilation carried out by Smythe's goons. Eventually the Slums, the Steam and the Docks rise against the Mayorality and the upper city in general. Smythe leads out a troop of the Legion to put them down. But this is no undirected mob; the rebellion is part organised by the Horizon People's Liberation Front, an organisation that has soldified in response to Smythe's tyranny. Smythe is deserted by most of his men in the face of the mob, and subsequently dies with his back to a wall, hacked down by the HPLF. Elated by this victory, the HPLF immediately fall to bickering, and fail to capitalise on their brief popularity. Further Mayoral Legion forces turn up shortly afterwards and restore order.

Taken by surprise, the Embassies do nothing while the young and ambitious Lord Luke Harman (Spring's Rise, 3968 HR) is appointed Acting Mayor. The incumbency of the "seven days mayor" is widely seen as a nadir of post-war Horizon. While the lower city remains in a state of borderline chaos and Smythe's now undirected death squads run amock, Harman allows the power to go directly to his head. Seven days after his election he makes a speech to the Goodly chamber, with Registered Spies of all four Embassies in attendance. Harman gives a fiery speech in which he blames Horizon's problems on the concessions made in the Last Treaty and manipulations by the Embassies. He exhorts his fellow nobles to support him in raising a grand army to throw off the shackles of foreign tyranny and crusade for a bigger part for Horizon on the world stage. The Goodly Chamber's response is swift and unanimous. The Spies are restrained in their seats while several other nobles draw their swords and hack the Mayor to death, throwing the pieces of his corpse into the street. The Spies are then released and, shaken, report back to their superiors that the new mayor presented a few problems, but the city seems to have dealt with those problems of its own accord.

The Embassies put much more thought and influence into the appointment of the next acting mayor, Lady Jennifer Eslam (Spring's Rise, 3968 HR, to Summer's Glory, 3969 HR). Negotiations lead to a Mayor who is thought to be intelligent, able, and not too unpopular, and also unopposed to Four Nations occupation, while not supporting any one Nation too much. All of which just shows how wrong you can be, because Eslam is an unregistered spy for Lasinia. Horizon is swiftly but quietly converted into a dairy cow, being milked by Lasinia's ruling classes. Civil order does in fact improve and the last of the death squads are killed or imprisoned. Prosperity stays low, as resources are funnelled off into Lasinia. Eventually the Senate gets too greedy, and a trade treaty giving massively preferential terms to Lasinian interests raises the suspiscions of the other nations. Eslam is kidnapped by the agents of Jurica, and swiftly confesses the whole scheme. Certain documents are exchanged between Irgar and Jurica, and Eslam has her throat cut while Jurican and Irgarim forces mass on Lasinia's borders. Within days, Lasinia issues a sulky apology, cancels the treaty, and withdraws its many unofficial spies that were ensconced in Horizon's government.

With the treachery of Lady Eslam an open secret in Horizon, General Charles Hooke of the Mayoral Legion takes a nationalist platform in his bid to be mayor. The prospect of having an old crony of Smythe's at the top loses him much support on all sides, and leads to the election of another compromise candidate: Gerrard Copely (Summer's Glory, 3969 HR, to Summer's Dusk, 3970 HR), a senior member of the Loyal Order of Hounds and deeply religious. Copely is chosen for his respectability and is well intentioned, but in securing his election (which he knows is best for the city) is forced to make a number of unwise promises to the Embassies, each of whom are eager to have an Eslam-style pet mayor. His situation is complicated when shortly after his election he receives a note from General Hooke informing him that, no offence, but for the good of the city he will shortly be removed in a military coup. Terrified, Copely takes advice from colleagues in the Loyal Order of Hounds. In response to this advice, he appoints a sensible, loyal Legionnaire - Colonel Andrew Zero - as Quartermaster-General, and starts channelling all the Legions' funds through the Quartermaster's office. Colonel Zero is both loyal to the city and is quietly but strongly opposed to Hooke, and influences matters so that Hooke never has quite enough munitions or loyal units to launch the coup.

This precarious state of affairs persists until General Hooke gets hold of documents showing that Copely has been making promises of aid to all four Embassies. Enraged, he makes a speech denouncing Copely, declares the city under his authority and martial law, and leads the forces he has towards the Imperial Palace. The coup is doomed from the start; other generals, tired of his bluster and irresponsible antics, readily accept Colonel Zero's plan to break up Hook's forces and arrest him. He is court-martialled and executed. Meanwhile, Mayor Copely makes a speech to the Goodly Chamber in which he makes a clean breast of his dealing with the Embassies, thereby proving that he has not acted treacherously; he acknowledges that his position is now untenable, and resigns. The Embassies, annoyed and disgusted, let him go unmolested. He retires to an estate in Horizon's rural territories, where he lives at the present day, though he is now in his mid-seventies.

Copely's distraction with the embassies and the military coup allowed the already powerful underworld of Horizon to swell once more, and corruption and organised crime run rampant by the end of his incumbency, with various revolutionary groups carrying off "spectaculars" on a monthly basis. The Embassies and the people of Horizon are united in looking for a candidate who will increase stability without selling out to any one particular Embassy and without unleashing a reign of terror. The field is surprisingly thin, and Colonel Andrew Zero (3970 HR onwards) is elected unopposed, then ratified on Horizon's Day.

One of the Seats of Spring is occupied by Raymond Daynann, an up and coming merchant. Shortly after his election (3971), Colonel Zero cements his position by crushing a gang war between the powerful Three Families, from which these gangs never quite recover.