Places

Where did the Horizon come from? Was it always here, or did we dream it into being? Like so many enigmas, that’s a matter of debate. Certain myths claim that all things were once One but got shattered by some monumental sin. Other theologies insist that the cosmos came about in a single, divine thunderbolt – a blast of God becoming Many and descending into fragments of Its Majestic Presence. We have Big Bangs both scientific and theological. What we don’t have are definitive answers… if such answers, in a subjective cosmos, are even possible at all.

There’s an old belief among certain mystic mages that Earth was once the center of the Universe. In those days, it’s said, the Horizon was either weak or nonexistent. The various planets

were just shadows in the sky – Shard and Shade Realms left over from a cosmic cataclysm. That myth still reverberates in the names Tradition mages use to describe the heavens. According to that belief, mages could pass from the Earth into outer space on huge Skyrigger ships, or they could grow wings and fly off to Mars or elsewhere. What we call space was limited, and it surrounded the Earth like a blanket or shell. And then, in the Renaissance, astronomers like Copernicus – who’s reputed to have been a mage – claimed that impression was backwards. We were just a speck in an endless Void, a fragile spot of light in a sea of eternal darkness. And that claim, it’s said, caused the Horizon to appear.

Personally, I think that’s nonsense. For starters, Copernicus and his peers did not change human belief with a few strokes of their pens. It took centuries for what we call “the scientific worldview” to spread across humanity… and in many places it’s still not the dominant belief. Secondly, the concept of the Earth in space has existed for thousands of years. The Maya, the Babylonians, the Classical Greeks, and other cultures speculated about the boundless reaches of space long before Copernicus ever wrote his theories down. Astronomy has generally looked outward, not inward, from Earth’s gravity. Still, something changed dramatically during the Renaissance. If nothing else, the growing voice of science shifted the balance of beliefs.

According to legends about that era, mages used to sail into the Void, breathing almost as easily as they could here on Earth. Now, of course, that’s supposed to be impossible. The Technocratic Void Engineers – named for that infinite space – dress up in bulky suits and armor. And yet, mad Marauders

Depending on the wishes of your troupe and Storyteller:

and Nephandic shock troops get spotted out in space wearing nothing more than body paint and crazy grins. Does their insanity protect them… or is it the space troopers who are the crazy ones? I haven’t been there yet, so I’m not sure. Again, though, our Horizon marks a point of departure. Once past it, the old rules no longer apply.

Tucked into the Horizon, carved out of its metaphysical shell, are the legendary Horizon Realms. Shaped by powerful magicks (or advanced technology – your call), these pocket worlds are designed, like C-Sectors, to suit specific desires. Horizon Realm creators reweave the Tapestry in fundamental ways, changing what is and is not possible until the local reality meets with their approval.

I couldn’t tell you when or how the first Horizon Realm was formed. No one really knows. I’ve heard theories that the cave complexes of Lascaux extended into the Otherworlds, shaping the original man-made Realm; I’ve also heard that the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Tower of Babel, Solomon’s Temple, and the Yellow Emperor’s Court were all either constructed within Horizon Realms or else extended into

them. The European catacombs certainly reach into Horizon Realms; the Vatican is attached to at least one of them too, as are the Taj Mahal, the Forbidden City, the Tower of London, and – so I’m told – Grand Central Station. The World Trade Center is said to have been tied to a Horizon Realm, which would explain the odd pattern of its collapse. Such Realms can even be connected to movable anchors back on Earth. I’ve heard of vans, trains, and one or two real-life magic buses that opened into pocket Realms built to their owners’ specifications.