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Even among other mages, the Ôrdô-Hêrôfen are viewed as esoteric. Their philosophical pursuits revolve around the unspoken, yet tangible power that emanates from the citizenship of a civilization. This power runs like lifeblood through the corridors of every civilization, pooling at places of public importance, and charging the edifices a culture builds to celebrate its existence. The leaders and other important civic leaders of a culture can focus this power to fuel their agendas and shape the minds and opinions of the citizenry.
The Ôrdô-Hêrôfen has been aware of this power for centuries and itself has its roots in the beginning of the Red Empire. Some of the scrolls that detail the history of the Empire actually credit the Order with its foundation and development into the heart of the Duar civilization.
The order maintains a rather Byzantine internal hierarchy based on experience, mystical knowledge, and one's experience with workings. These hierarchical levels cut across all the sub-societies and disciplines that have developed within the order. Each Mont has it's own instance of the order, with each instance coordinating with one another where their civilizations intersect. The prominence of any particular instance is dependant on the power and influence of the Mont supported by them. The most powerful instance is, of course, the one at the Imperial Seat in the Homestead mountains of Great Anár.
The Ôrdô-Hêrôfen's magicks manifest themselves in the ceremonies, religious practices, architecture, and city-planning activities of a civilization. It's through the manipulation and careful placement of these elements that mages of the order affect the minds and spirits of the citizenry. Their workings are of two calibers: long-term, highly ritualistic workings that have profound, wide-spread effects and more localized, utility workings that work in service to the larger effects.
Members of the order must purchase the following game elements:
| Game Element | Cost |
|---|---|
| Power Skill: Magecraft (Int) | 3 pts |
| Bureaucratics | 3 pts |
| High Society | 3 pts |
| KS: Ôrdô-Hêrôfen societies, practices, and magicks | 2 pts |
| AK: Duar Monts and Important Edifaces | 2 pts |
| Oratory | 3 pts |
| Survival (Urban) | 2 pts |
| Perk: Order Membership; varies depending on rank | 1-5 pts |
The principle workings of the Ôrdô-Hêrôfen utilize the Mythic Force, delving into the contextual meaning and archetypes of the Duar civilization to manifest that meaning within its architecture and structures and its civil and religious ceremonies. Through this, they are able to affect the hearts, minds, and spirits of a citizenry. All members, no matter their specific sub-society, manipulate the arcane energies of the Mythic Force and Celestia, and tend toward the use of these energies in the pursuit of positivity and extropy.
Throughout the order's long history, many societies within it have developed, reached maturity, and disintegrated into antiquity. At present, there are some 100 fully developed societies, all of which revolve around a central philosophy espoused by its members. These philosophies flavor the mystical workings employed by its members and dictate the common game limitations which must be applied to their spells.
The Patrons are the kingmakers of Duar civilization, and tend to operate in the highest levels of Duar society, grooming candidates for Jarldom and generally keeping abreast of the Duar political scene. They are information brokers and manipulators of public thought, grouping together to perform complicated rituals that can affect the minds and hearts of entire monts at a time. The Patrons take the long view and the grand view over the short and the small, and often their goals take years or decades to reach. There are schools of thought among the Patrons that the action of civilization itself is a single, protracted rite designed to bring about well-being and prosperity to a nation.
The magick of The Patrons are complicated rituals that require more than one participant to enact. Some take only two persons, while others take the entire assemblage of the order to perform. The larger and more permanent the scope of the working, the more persons it requires. The magicsk of this society focus on the Mythic Force and Celestia, and trend toward effects that sponsor positivity and extropy.
The following game elements are requirements for belonging to this society:
| Game Element | Cost |
|---|---|
| Statesman: +2 with High Society, Conversation, Oratory | 3 pts |
| CuK: Home Mont Political Environment | 2 pts |
| Contacts: A member of The Patrons must be well connected in his/her home Mont, thus a character must spent at least 5 pts on contacts | 5 pts |
Required Limitations: Requires Skill Roll: Magecraft (-½); Extra Time: 1 Minutes (-1½); OAF: Ritual Items, Difficult to Obtain (-1¼); Incantations, Throughout (-½); Gestures, Throughout (-½) = Total of -4¼
The Edificiers are the architects of the Duar, as they take the power and grandeur they perceive as evident in the Duar race and caste it into stone. More than the creation of monuments, the Edificiers understand the value of public and private spaces and how they enhance, contain, and channel the energies of the people for the common good. They work on both a grand level, building public squares and palaces, and a private level, consulting on space planning and home design.
The Edificiers' magicks have two modes: the long-term, ritualistic creation of spaces and monuments, and the immediate manipulation of stone and metal for utility purposes. In both modes, the society takes pride in its work and plans extensively on the shape and artistic design of the spaces they create or the effects they enact. Preparation and planning are their watchwords, and their magicks employ the forces of Stone, Mythic Force, and Celestia. While most Edificiers concentrate on the construction of spaces, thereby working toward positivity and extropy, there are some who concentrate on destructive magicks meant to tear down the edifices of the enemy, thereby working toward negativity or entropy.
The belong to this society, the following requirements must be purchased:
| Game Element | Cost |
|---|---|
| PS: Architecture | 2 pts |
| PS: Stoneworking | 2 pts |
| PS: Construction | 2 pts |
Each mode of the Edificer's magick has a different set of required limitations. The following is for the creation of major spaces.
Required Limitations: Required Skill Roll: Magecraft (-½); Extra Time: 1 Hour (-3); OAF: Ritual Items and Stone Carvings; Arrangement, Immobile, Very Difficult to Obtain (-2¾); Gradual Effect: 1 Hour (-1¼) = Total of -7½
The required limitations for the utility mode of Edificier magicks are:
Required Limitations:: Requires Skill Roll: Magecraft (-½); OAF: Ritually Charged Stones, Difficult to Obtain (-1¼); Gestures (-¼) = Total of -2
Original milieu material is © 2004-2006 Robert C. Fontenot. All Rights Reserved The HERO System and all associated games, game products, terms, and images are copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004 by DOJ, Inc. This website includes copyrighted material, which is used by permission of DOJ, Inc. All rights reserved.