Revision as of 08:07, 5 April 2010

The Iron Horses

Being a Meditation on the Motives and Means of the Iron Horses.

The Iron Horses were first introduced in Aspect Book Earth, and were given only a minor degree of coverage therein. In deference to the inspiration I got from that bit, I'll try expanding on them here.

Firstly, definitions. The Iron Horses are a recognized 'secret' society within the Immaculate Order, composed of monks thereof. It recruits specifically from the Cloister of Wisdom, and would-be-members must overcome a test - facing an impossible situation or task with grace and calm - before being initiated. All Iron Horse members become monks, infallibly, and this is considered one of the finer benefits of membership - few of the dour and devoted Horses could stand the disgrace of being turned down by the Paragon of Sextes Jylis. In order to avoid the appearance of favoritism (even when it is clearly present), all Horses wait at least two weeks, and often more, before being called to present themselves. This 'postulant endurance period' is seen as necessary to clear the Horse of hubris (and Horses often are proud - they number the best and brightest of the Cloister's students) in order to better perform his duties.

Those duties are that of a watchful group inside a watchful group. Each Horse is approached, apparently as a unique individual, and indoctrinated into a vigil that applies to heresy and corruption inside the Order and Realm high society. Most Horses never realize that the 'agency' that they work for is an extension of the small club they were in as students, and this myth of being selected for individual merit is enforced regularly. This both makes the monks pleased with themselves and motivated to perform their tasks, and keeps them from asking questions, which suits the Order as a whole just fine.

The Horses are predominately composed of Earth Aspects, who have proved over time to be the most susceptible to the concept of an orderly vigilance to steward the order, as well as, due to their Aspect, performing well as both watchers and monks. Their tasks are twofold - firstly, the task of internal review. Horses are stationed across various Immaculate temples to observe and report on the actions of their peers, as well as imposing social control on lower-Coil monks.

They ensure the nonviolence of Immaculate protest, and track the tone of philosophy espoused by temple leaders. Should they find their peers lacking, a subtle missive is dispatched to the current head of the 'observation group' - a senior Horse - for review. Should the temple be found lacking, it will receive unusual boons in coming days - repeat surprise visits from superiors, new copies of Immaculate texts with certain, more acceptable passages made note of, and its lower-Coil monks will be called to new, exciting duties (closer to the supervision of the Order). Should these measures fail, a preselected passage of Immaculate teachings is quoted in a letter to the Horse operative, and the Temple's senior monk soon suffers an unfortunate accident or simply disappears on a pilgrimage. The Bronze Faction is well aware of this 'secret' inside the Order, and actively promotes it - up to and including layering hostile astrology on the targeted senior monk to ensure his removal. The stability of the Order is good for the Realm, it is agreed.

Secondly, the Horses sniff out heresy amidst Dragon-Bloods in high social positions. Normally proof against such review due to sizable piety (read: donations to the Order), these targets are selected by the central Horse authorities, who gently assign a monk to the 'pious' Dynast to better foster the religious understanding of the noble Dynast's children and servants. Once there, the Horse is authorized to use his abilities to monitor the comings and goings, as well as expressed thoughts, and send the information to his 'superior' for review. The procedure in case of heresy is, as is appropriate, less subtle than internal issues - the Dynast is disgraced and often imprisoned or even executed, as the Order cannot afford to let heresy disappear in the night. Public displays are an instructive and often faith-inspiring show of the Order's authority.

There is a problem in the current situation of the Horses, however. The Bronze Faction has lost track of the current master, and this is merely a symptom of the greater disease. The undisputed leader of the Horses' central authority has fallen to the Yozis - she is corrupt, akuma, and in a position to manipulate the social policy of one of the most powerful social institutions in the Realm and beyond. A servant of She Who Lives in Her Name, this akuma is slowly and patiently remolding interpretations of various scriptures to enforce a far stricter hierarchy among the Philosophy, enforced by punishing of trumped-up heresies applied to forward-thinking or socially open Dynasts.

Comments

Comments in italics are my additions - the initiation and recruitment stuff is a restatement of canonical information in AB: Earth. ~ BerserkSeraph