Highguard history

Seven centuries ago, the Highborn arrived on the Bay of Catazar. Seventeen great vessels carrying pure souls crossed the sea from the south looking for new lands. They left behind a land and people slowly being consumed by corruption and darkness. They were steered by the legendary Navigators, a pair of visionary twins named Atuman and Atun who were later acknowledged as an Exemplar of Ambition and a Paragon of Wisdom respectively.

Upon landing, Atuman founded the city of Pharos at the mouth of the river Couros. Atun – following a vision of her own – took only the flagship, bade her brother farewell and set sail, never to be seen again.

The navigators of the first vessels formed a council of Patricians to advise Atuman the Navigator. After his death his eldest daughter took the title of Navigator and ruled in his place while the Patricians also named heirs from amongst their offspring. The council ruled wisely for many years but as the generations passed the Navigator and the Patricians became more obsessed with preserving their power and their bloodlines and degenerated into self-interest and corruption.

During this time, trade with the Navarr introduced the Highborn to the drug liao, which was initially used medicinally and recreationally. However, the Scions of Atun, a group of ascetics and mystics, discovered a process of refinement that unlocked its full potential, not only in ceremonies of Virtue but in revealing other lives through the Labyrinth of Ages. This enlightenment, about the immortal nature of the human spirit and the power of virtue, sparked a period of time now referred to as The Revelation.

The Revelation stirred a spiritual yearning within the people and swept across the land, awakening many to a new and profound understanding of life. This awakening was further fuelled by widespread disillusionment with the venal ways of the Patricians. The Scions and other groups born of The Revelation left Pharos, sicked by the corruption that riddled the city. Along the borders of the nation they built their own communities, called chapters, each dedicated to teaching a profound way of living inspired by The Revelation and guarding against corruption.

As the chapters grew, the Patricians became jealous of their influence and passed laws to try to control them. Things came to a head in the time of the Navigator Permion, who later generations would call the Lawmaker – a Navigator who strove to serve the people rather than his own interest. Permion sought to reach out to the leaders of the chapters, starting with the most influential, Lepidus of the Seven Stars. Lepidus is now acknowledged as a Paragon of Pride. He taught Permion about the greatness of the Highborn, what they had been and could be again, and helped him find the will to oppose the wickedness of the Patricians.

Inspired by Lepidus, Permion the Lawmaker's judgements and actions brought the Patricians into conflict not only with him but with each other. Rather than allow the nation to fall into anarchy, Permion declared martial law and dissolved the Patrician Council. In its place, he invited the chapters to form an Assembly of the Virtuous to advise him.

The response of the Patrician Council was swift and bloody, and a bitter civil war ensued. Permion was assassinated, along with his wife and three of his four children. Various Patricians tried to claim the title of Navigator and the city of Pharos was burned to the ground by rival armies. Eventually the Assembly was forced to act, and after mobilizing the military strength of the chapterhouses it crushed the remaining Patrician forces. Today, the Lawmaker is recognised as an influential Exemplar of Courage.

The Assembly of the Virtuous elected to turn the ruins of Pharos into the Necropolis, a great mausoleum to house the bodies of all those slain in the war. They also ordered the construction of Bastion, a new city which would serve as a civic and religious centre for the Highborn thereafter and vowed that no Highborn would ever war with other Highborn again.

The First Empress was Highborn, and the last to ride a legendary Highborn steed. After taking liao, she revealed that all human souls are re-incarnated on the same wheel, regardless of whether they were Highborn. Therefore, to preserve the future of Highguard and enlighten all worthy human souls, it was essential to unite all of humanity under a single banner, such that Highborn reborn elsewhere would still come to know their heritage and the Way of Virtue. From Highborn faith, the Empire came into being, changing the face of the world forever.

The Horses of Highguard

The Highborn fleet carried with them a great herd of horses. These fabulous beasts embodied noble virtues of loyalty, strength and dignity. Mounted on their mighty warhorses, the Highborn were unbeaten in battle while swift messengers allowed distant settlements to remain in contact with one another and fostered a sense of community and unity. They were the emblem of the fiery spirit of adventure and strength that made the Highborn unconquerable – companions but never servants, allies but never subjects.

Such a great asset, however, commanded a tremendous price, and eventually the sacred bond of man and horse was corrupted by economics. A single gelded male traded to other human nations could sell for more than its weight in gold and gems, a market that was hard for the corrupted Patrician Council to refuse. Several Patrician families grew rich and powerful through trading horses, and through careful business practice and astute management of market forces created a near-monopoly on horse-trading within the kingdom.

Short-sighted self interest, and poor husbandry brought tragedy. Through over-selling and over-gelding, the population of Highborn steeds dwindled and their vigour and fiery spirit diminished through in-breeding. The orcs, perhaps sensing that their much feared enemies were mortal after all, embarked on a vicious raiding campaign to murder as many horses as possible, which exacerbated an already growing problem.

All of this might have been overcome, however, but the horses themselves were wasting away. Once comrades-in-arms and brother warriors, their status had been reduced to that of military assets and livestock, too much for their proud spirits to bear. Even after the power of the patricians was broken the damage was done and all attempts to restore them were in vain. The last horses perished in the early years of the Empire, the last few broken relics and curiosities of a once magnificent species. History tells that they died of grief, their spirits destroyed by the exploitation of greedy men and women who should have protected them as a sacred charge.

The loss of the horses during the early years of the Empire was a huge loss to Highguard, and one from which the Highborn took many years to recover. To this day the phrase “horse-trading” remains a powerful insult. In honour of their lost steeds, and as reminder of the lesson learned, they preserve the image of the horse as a powerful symbol of nobility and pride, and a sobering reminder of the perils of taking blessings for granted.