羊飼いよ、歓迎する。
おめでとう。君は今や境界線イニシアチブ、羊飼い隊の正式なメンバーだ。付随する権利、栄誉、そして重荷の全てが今、君の肩にかかっている。君は異常存在 ─ それを知るには他の組織は私利私欲に塗れすぎている ─ に対する防衛の最前線に立つ。君は”律法学者”のために遺物を回収し、”狼”にターゲットを報告し、”参事会”そのものへと直に応えることになる。
だが、秘めたる問いに答える者は誰一人として存在しない。なにゆえ境界線イニシアチブは存在しているのか？地球上で最も分裂したグループ共を、神の旗の下にまとめ上げられるものとは一体なんだ？答えは問いより古い。
この数十年間、様々な組織が私欲のためにオブジェクトを手に入れようとしてきた。彼らの目的が何であれど、科学より生まれ、語る信仰も道徳も無いたった一つのグループが、現存する異常オブジェクトの最大の隠し場を抑えつけようなどとは無謀である。時そのものを数える前から、異端なるMEKHANEとヤルダバオートの教会共は彼らの不浄なる主への生贄を貯め込み、戦禍の中で人類をバラバラに引き裂いた。地球上の数多の国々は独自に抱え込んだグループを有していて、連中は祖国の名の下にオブジェクトを探し当てようと躍起になっている。科学の、異教の、軍隊の者たち。だが神の鉄槌の力を前にしては、何人たりとも打ち砕かれぬよう跪くしかないのだ。
イニシアチブは超常コミュニティの情勢への問いにして答えである。神の手は人類を導き、ありとあらゆる出来事を乗り越えさせてきた。世界は新時代の暁へと急速に進んでいて、我々は自らの未来が財団の虚構の上に築き上げられることを許容できない。神はいつだって、暗闇の中で輝く篝火を人にお与えになられてきた。その形が預言者であろうと伝道者であろうと、神の聖別を受けた者は軍隊を立ち上げ、純潔なる者を脅かす力たちと戦うものである。イニシアチブは主の軍隊の、唯一にして最新の形である。戦禍の中で信心深き者達を保護し、平和の中で恵まれぬ者達を抱き上げる軍隊だ。これが我々の義務であり、我々は先祖の重荷を受け止める。
かつてそうあったように、再びそうなるであろう。幾百のグループ、幾千の信心深き者たち、数多くの解釈。全ては我らが主の旗の下に。
遺物の一覧にアクセス中…
…
ファイルが準備できました。
寓話集にアクセス中…
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ファイルが準備できました。
ユニバーサルテキストアーカイブにアクセス中…
…
ファイルが準備できました。
The Horizon Initiative is an organization created in the late 1960s by various influential sects in the main three Abrahamic religions as a response to the growing number of anomalous activities and groups which they perceived as threats. The Initiative targets various anomalous objects for collection and/or destruction, depending on how the item fits into their belief system.
The Initiative is led by a tribunal composed of leaders from the three largest sects involved in its creation: the Sons of Shammai, Atibba al-Kitab, & the Ordinis Occulti Luminis. However, the inherent strife that comes from having so many differing beliefs means the Tribunal often don't have full control of the Initiative. Various other smaller religions also hold amounts of power in the Initiative.
The Initiative's relations with most other Groups of Interest and the Foundation are a constantly shifting web, with some constants. All of the Initiative are openly hostile to the various other religions in the Foundationverse, such as the Church of the Broken God and Sarkicism. Relations with the GOC and Foundation are dependent on which group has power within the Tribunal, but are usually a tense peace. However, this can all change at the drop of a hat.
The Tribunal
Samuel
The most radical of the Tribunal. Leader of the Sons of Shammai.
Adnan
The moderate member of the Tribunal. Leader of Atibba al-Kitab.
Bernard
The tie-breaker: often indecisive. Leader of the Ordinis Occulti Luminis.
Corps
The Scribe Corps - The Initiative’s librarians, researchers, archivists, and clerical staff. They work to compile and analyze the vast sources of religious text and documentation the Initiative holds in its possession. Their current project are the Universal Texts. Across the scores of religious groups involved with the Initiative, the Universal Texts form their overarching religious texts and belief system. They are formed from the pieces of major religious books of each sect, and several passages known only to the Initiative. The hope is that the Scribes will be able to bring the Initiative together with a connected belief system and a unified holy book.
The Shepherd Corps - An organization as wide-reaching as the Initiative needs good people in every part of it. These people are make up the Shepherds. They provide intelligence, facilitate relic recovery, and generally provide the influence of the Initiative. Shepherds operate in pairs, often living deep undercover as civilians. Otherwise, they operate as community leaders, study the Texts, establish relations with other groups, and rarely undertake combat missions against hostile forces.
Shepherds will generally receive their assignments from the District Head of the Corps, but may take special orders from the Tribunal, as they, unlike Project Malleus, are under Tribunal jurisdiction.
Most Shepherds will own one or two items of some minor anomalous property, most often acquired through contacts with friendly anartists or Serpent’s Hand cells. Veteran Shepherds will have more items on their person, sometimes upward of a dozen. The Initiative is much looser with the use of such objects, and will often take advantage of their unique properties in combat and research.
Project Malleus (“The Wolves”) - The Initiative’s combat forces, under the command of Henry DeMontfort. Project Malleus is made up of the most zealous and aggressive sects under the Initiative's umbrella. They will kill and die without question. A strong rivalry exists between Project Malleus and the Shepherd Corps, with the Shepherds referring to PM agents as “Wolves”, while being referred to themselves as “Sheep”. Project Malleus troops are generally regarded with mild apprehension by other groups in the Initiative, due to their intimidating nature. The Wolves welcome this, and exploit it to increase their influence in the leadership of the Initiative.
Demographics
• Christianity - Primarily a mixture of Roman and Orthodox Catholics, and mainstream protestants such as Lutherans, Anglicans, and Episcopalians. Representatives from evangelical and congregational sects, and the LDS Church, while present, are low in number.
• Judaism - A very heterogeneous mixture of sects and groups, without clear majority groups.
• Islam - Primarily Sunni, but with a significant number of practitioners of the Sufi mystic traditions.
• Eastern Religions - The Initiative employs a small number of consultants, but Eastern religion on the whole goes fairly unacknowledged within the Initiative.
• Other - The Initiative has absorbed numerous small-scale cults and organizations, such as the Cult of the Wordsmith, the Church of Purity, and the Australian Church of Australia, among many others.
The New Path - A philosophy and religion born within the Initiative itself, which emphasizes moving away from the ingrained shell of past ritual and ancient tradition and turning towards the "Truth of God”. It is generally frowned upon by the traditionalists, but the existence of the Universal Texts shows that it is gaining ground.
• Good Relations: The Initiative will occasionally sponsor the Manna Charitable Foundation. They also support most cells of the Serpent’s Hand and non-violent anartists, who often supply minor anomalous artifacts to the Initiative.
• Variable Relations: The Initiative officially has a truce with the Foundation and Global Occult Coalition, supplying research and provided with peace and sovereignty in turn. In reality, the treaty is constantly on the breaking point due to internal strife, most of it coming form the Initiative. They have some relations with Marshall, Carter & Dark, but keep them at arm’s reach at the best of times, regarding them as untrustworthy.
• Poor Relations: ORIA and the Initiative often come into conflict, due to ORIA being a Shia Muslim majority group, which contests with the Initiative's Sunni majority. The Chaos Insurgency also are on poor terms, as they seek to destroy life where the Initiative seeks to raise it. Anderson Robotics, Prometheus Labs, and various other paratech groups are not held in high regard due to their differing views on the relationship between use of anomalous features in human-created technology. Gamers Against Weed are frowned upon due to their whimsical attitude towards the anomalous, which the Initiative views as a source of power and control. AWCY? and Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting are held in equally low standing due to their typical lack of respect for human life, but are not pursued with the same prejudice.
• Open Combat: Church of the Broken God, the Fifthist Church, and the Sarkic cults are all held in low regard, due to the natural schism between their beliefs and the largely Abrahamic beliefs of the Initiative. The Initiative actively pursues means to eliminate them, and are willing to use the large quantity of relics at their disposal to achieve this goal.
• No notable relations: The Black Queen, Dr. Wondertainment, the Factory, Nobody, and the UIU hold no particular relations with the Initiative, and any interactions with them are entirely dependent on the beliefs of the agent in question. the Oneiroi Collective, GRU-P, the Chicago Spirit, and Alexylva University have no relations at all, due to being defunct or unreachable.
The Initiative has connections of various kinds with a great many minor religious organizations not mentioned here.
The Initiative's primary activities are the collection and storage of carious anomalous objects, relics, and artifacts. They typically employ Project Malleus troops to raid facilities where such objects might be stored, and remove them to their various storage facilities. There, they research and guard these objects, though not to the extent of the Foundation or GOC. The primary motivation for the collection of these objects is a focused desire to shape the world around the Initiative and their beliefs to fit each other. Their beliefs being able to coexist with the universe is the top priority of the Initiative.
The Universal Texts are the natural progression of this goal. The various holy books are disjointed, disconnected, and weaken in a world were miracles are the norm. The Universal Texts are a collection of the many holy texts, combined into a large work stored on Horizon Databases. They are constantly being updated with new findings and documents unearthed by the Shepherds. The Universal Texts are the secondary priority of the Initiative, reflecting the need for unification of the Abrahamic religions and their necessary adaption to anomalous phenomena. Thus, the seeking out and recovery of religious texts relevant to this goal remains high on the list of operations.
The third priority of the Initiative is a much longer term goal. The elimination of the religions that hold no place whatsoever in the Initiative's worldview. Namely, the Church of the Broken God, the Sarkic cults, Fifthism, the Church of the Second Hytoth. Of course, there are scores too small to name, but those primarily take the brunt of hostile activities on the part of the Initiative. Project Malleus troops are often assigned to raid havens and sanctuaries of these groups, confiscating objects along the way. Due to the nature of many of the seized objects, they are often destroyed and never make it to the archives. Since this is a long term goal (and a costly one at that), it is lower on the priority list than the Universal Texts and relic collections. However, it remains on the list, in no small part due to Project Malleus head Henry DeMontfort's campaigning.
Smaller Scale - The Initiative typically does not deal with anomalies on the scale of the Foundation. They are more focused on maintaining the peace, knowing that any rogue group with a small portion of their artifacts could cause massive damage. They do this by containing small, object based anomalies, rather than the world-enders the other groups dabble in. The actions of their Shepherds reflect this, and most are concerned with the now rather than the future.
Old vs New and the Truth - The Initiative is rife with internal issues. The old guard wants to hold on to the traditions of the past, maintaining the status quo or regaining lost position. Others, seek to mold the old traditions into something new, founded instead on newer and more accurate discoveries. Some will choose to try to destroy legitimate items because they clash with old beliefs, and others may come to crises of faith because of what is discovered. On the opposite side, people may come to various realizations and empowered belief by those same truths.
Reason in an Unreasonable World: - The simple existence of anomalous objects directly conflicts with many of the religious groups' beliefs. The Initiative is an answer to a question that conflicts with their very existence. What does a miracle matter if you see miracles every day? Does it mean anything at all? Regardless, the good people of the Initiative march forward, adapting their faiths around them. Of course, not everyone has that determination. Crises of faith are common. Expected, even. But one cannot exist in such a world and maintain that stubborn worldview. The Initiative must be constantly rethinking its beliefs to fit into a reality where anomalous objects are the norm.
The Horizon Initiative format is in the form of excerpts from the collected Universal Texts, the Initiative's religious texts. This means that their formats will be heavy on religious imagery, historical events, and generally more theology focused than other formats. Each starts with a query being entered into the Initiative's internal database, to pull up a passage of the Texts. It continues from there with each verse marked by a superscript, each chapter denoted by another superscript, and the title of the passage. Generally, HI formats will tell a religious story, exemplifying the tenets of the Initiative's beliefs.
Verifying Horizon Initiative credentials…
Accessing Universal Texts…
Querying "Example Format"…
2 texts found.
This Is An Example Of, Chapter 1;
An HI Format Introduction, Chapter 2;
A Format Of The Initiative
1 And so the good Saint made his way along the alley path 2 Lined by the beggars and the lepers. 3 And showered them in gold and in paper, for wealth was not in his nature4 Indeed, men of God have not want nor need for worldly pleasure 5 For the true pleasure lies in His kingdom.
