History
In the old days, magic was free. There was no such thing as Paradox, and Mages
were revered as leaders of their communities and speakers with the gods. At the same time, humanity lived in thrall of
these powerful Mages, unable to strike out for their own independence.
As time went on, more groups splintered off, and more kings
and lords began jealously striking out at the strongholds of these
willworkers. In 1100-1300, this culminated
in the Crusades, then the Inquisition, beginning a long, dark period for the
magical traditions in which they were hunted and killed for defying the local
religion and dealing with unnatural forces.
1330: The Horizon Chantry is built in
1450-1456: As a gesture of cooperation between the
Traditions, their leaders decide to move the Horizon Chantry into the spirit
worlds, forming its own world. For the
next six years, they visit Nodes and gather power, and on
1457-1466: The keepers of magic hold a conference known as
the Grand Convocation of Traditions, creating a Council of Nine Traditions: The
Akashic Brotherhood, Ahl-i-Batin, Chakravanti (Euthanatos), Celestial Chorus,
Dreamspeakers, Order of Hermes, Seers of Chronos (Cult of Ecstasy), Solificati
and Verbena.
1466-1470: The First Cabal, consisting of one member of each
Tradition, makes its way across the world to gain support for the Council of
Nine. They are betrayed by one of their
own, Heylel Teomim of the Solificati.
This begins a long period of distrust and conflict between the
Traditions, beginning with the Solificati leaving the Council of Nine.
1472: The War of Concordia, when the Order of Reason storms
the portals of Horizon. They ultimately
fail to take the central city of Concordia, and retreat after weakening the
Traditions.
1500 – 1850: The following 350 years are both a very
powerful time to be a Mage, and also very dangerous. But for the most part, magical society
remains fairly static, until the industrial revolution at the turn of the
century shakes things up, throwing off the balance between magic and
technology.
Late 1800’s: The Order of Reason reorganizes themselves,
changing their name to the Technocratic Union.
1872: Tradition Mages make contact with the Electrodyne
Engineers, and begin making efforts to encourage them to defect from the
Technocratic Union.
A World of Darkness
In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the Earth beneath
Horizon has become a different place.
For the Sleepers, this is the only reality they will ever know. The Earth in the game is much like the real
world, but with entropy and corruption running far deeper.
The World of Darkness is a reflection of our world, where
the hopes and dreams of humanity have been progressively stamped out. The masses live their lives without the
thought that there could be anything better, anything beyond their humdrum
existence. Little wonder why Mages refer
to them as Sleepers.
Horizon is a step away from this world – a realm of hope and
dreams, where Mages can convene to celebrate their magical potential and build
their vision of a perfect world.
However, Mages should never forget the world below. The Umbral realm of Horizon requires
Quintessence from the Nodes of Earth to sustain itself, and if those Nodes were
ever lost, the consequences would be dire.
For this reason, the Mages of Horizon are still very concerned with the
Ascension War, even though it may not effect them directly.
For the most part, this world is the same as our world – if
you look out the window, you’ll see the same things. The World of Darkness is more of a mindset
than a place, really - all the conspiracies are true, and all the hopes are
false. Only with the Awakening does a Mage realize he has a choice, that
there is more to life than living, working, and dying.
The Future
As Mage society enters the 20th
century, they enter a time of the greatest change the Council of Nine has ever
experienced. Traditions will come and
go, wavering between a Council of Eight and Nine, and increasing apathy makes
it difficult to get the nine Traditions to meet. When they do meet, the discussions tend to
devolve into bickering and petty warfare.
Many Traditions are wondering just how far they can allow themselves to
slide before the very fate of the future is threatened.
Here is where the differing beliefs of each Tradition shine
through – where they really put their philosophy on the line. Although the Traditions may agree that the
world is in decline, they disagree on when the end will come, and what we can
do to prevent it. What seems like the
only hope to one Tradition is the final nail in the coffin to another.
In the past, the Traditions have often worked together to
fight the Ascension War. But now the
stakes are even higher – whose philosophy can stop the end of the world? The bickering of the Traditions grows
increasingly louder each meeting, as it becomes increasingly clear that the
Traditions will never come to an agreement – and also increasingly clear that
unless one Tradition rises to lead the rest, all will be destroyed.