Skyline Setting Guide

Introduction

Synopsis

History

Location

Does your story need to start from Cheyenne Mountain and center on the western United States?

Nope.

Skyline modules are written with that location in mind, but only because it aligns well with the story from Horizon itself. If you want to run your game out of Madagascar, or Machu Picchu, or Manchester, or wherever, that’s fine. Anywhere on Earth is plausible within what we know about the world of Horizon.

We know that ELEUTHIA-9 was never intended to be the only Cradle facility. There are more around the world — as many as could be built without revealing their locations to the war machines. For example, ELEUTHIA-01 was referenced to be in Xinjiang (northwest) China, sealed just before the machines overran the area, while ELEUTHIA-02 was planned for Mt. Namuli in Mozambique. Even the locations which canonically fell to the war machines first are fair game — it’s reasonable that an ELEUTHIA Cradle could have been built beneath a devastated area after the machines had moved on. The holographic introduction to GAIA given by Elisabet Sobeck shows locations of planned Cradles around the globe.

It’s a fair assumption that, for simplicity and because engineers dislike designing things more than once, most of the Cradles around the world likely used similar building plans, or at least similar architectural components. The Cradles could be assumed to be roughly equivalent in size, leading to roughly equivalent capacity, roughly equivalent food stores, and therefore roughly equivalent dates when their charges would need to be released to the surface. This would lead to any other peoples encountered from other Cradles having similar levels of technological advancement, similar gaps in their understanding of history, and so on.

It might also be interesting to meet people whose ancestors had been released a century before or after the Nora. Similarly, to meet people whose ancestors had access to more written history than the Nora, maybe by an Old One who had left a cache of books, or tablets with a backup of the Wikipedia database on them. That might give such people an advantage on understanding technology, but it would also likely burden them with unresolved arguments and biases of the Old Ones.

Newer & Sealed Cradles

It’s also reasonable that new ELEUTHIA Cradles could have been built by AIs after the war machines had gone dormant. Something akin to a Stormbird or Shell-Walker convoy could transport cloned gametes literally anywhere, to some Cradle carved out of the Earth, using the same excavation system which created the Cauldrons.

Those later Cradles might also be narratively interesting — if they were built after DEMETER’s terraforming started to take hold and produce food, which could then be ferried to the Cradle by machines, those Cradles may still be populated with small groups of people who have never seen the outside world. Such groups might then have a better understanding of the Old Ones and their technology, assuming functioning servitors, but might know nothing of the machines or peoples outside.

Similarly, if other Cradle facilities did not run into the same problems as ELEUTHIA-9, they might have radically different release dates and experiences, regardless of the age of the Cradle.

Lone Survivors

It might be tempting to avoid all the complexity of figuring out what people from another Cradle would be like, and instead decide that ELEUTHIA-9 was the only surviving Cradle. Such a world might be appropriate in a post-apocalyptic horror campaign, where the farther you get from Nora lands the fewer people you run into, until you go weeks of travel without seeing another human.

At a walking pace of 25 miles per day, the 3600mi travel just to the Panama Canal would take almost 6 months. Getting down to Cape Horn from there would be another 8 or 9 months on top of that. While it’s possible that human settlements have made it that far in the 500 years since the opening of ELEUTHIA-9, it’s unlikely.

Alternatively, you might decide that humans were more easily able to travel and relocate safely before the Derangement. Gathering resources to create settlements might have also been easier, leading to several hundred years of rapid expansion across North America. Ex-Europeans made the same journey across the continent in just under 300 years (circa 1500 to 1800 CE), yielding settlements on the US West Coast within a few decades after that. It’s plausible, especially without the threat of carnivorous predators, that the ELEUTHIA-9 group expanded to cover effectively the same areas of North America that the Old Ones inhabited.

If the one surviving Cradle facility was ELEUTHIA-01, in northwest China, there would be an even larger area to explore.

Fauna

Canonically, the world of Horizon does not include megafauna. For details on the animals of the world, see Animals.

It would be plausible, however, to amend that to say that there are no megafauna in areas in which larger animals would compete with humans. That is, maybe horses have been reintroduced, but on the other side of North America, or on another continent altogether.

It would take time for any megafauna species to establish itself in the ecosystem. This might have led to regional restrictions if ARTEMIS believed the megafauna species would not have a chance to grow naturally due to hunting or other concerns. Species receptive to domestication and labor would be especially hunted — the entirety of a horse population, for example, would likely be hunted to the extreme once humans figured out they could be used for labor.

Languages

There is no Horizon canon explanation of what language the Nora or other peoples speak. Skyline makes an inference: the Nora and surrounding peoples speak a language that is close to American English. There is likely some drift over the seven centuries since the first people left ELEUTHIA-9, but probably not as much as might be expected.

Project Zero Dawn brought in scientists, engineers, and other professionals from around the world. The expedited nature of these acquisitions, and what we know about Elisabet Sobeck’s personality and her desire to accomplish as much as she could in the time she had, we might assume led to international agreements of cooperation. Skyline assumes that there are ELEUTHIA Cradles around the world, or at least in the areas where they could be constructed before the war machines would notice.

This international cooperation likely led to the learning modules in APOLLO being multilingual, with the goal of reeducating all the peoples of the world from the same material. Of course, the APOLLO database was purged, but not until after everything was well in motion. This means Zero Dawn would have started with a multilingual approach, intending to restart civilization where they left off, which implies that ELEUTHIA multiservitors were likely configured to use the local language(s). For ELEUTHIA-9, that would be American English, while for ELEUTHIA-01 it would likely be Uyghur or Mandarin (Chinese).

It is possible that, after the APOLLO purge, GAIA could have foreseen communication problems among various groups and taken the opportunity to consolidate the world on a single language. However, even if that’s the case, that one language is likely still English. We know that all the artifacts of the Old Ones are readable and otherwise understandable by the characters in Horizon. A good example here is the Visitor Center in the Banuk lands, and the Montana Recreations displays. GAIA could have reprogrammed those displays to use something other than English, but that seems unlikely.

The second part of Skyline’s assertion about language is that it hasn’t drifted much in the past 500 years. This inference comes from two observations.

First, people don’t seem to have any trouble understanding the grammar and pronunciation of the artifacts of the Old Ones they find — they may not understand what all the words mean, but we do not see them struggling to reconcile their version of words with the ancient version.

Second, many of the artifacts of the Old Ones are audiovisual in nature. Especially when combined with the gradual and continuous discovery of new artifacts, this could have a sort of corrective effect on any linguistic drift. That is, even if pronunciation or grammar began to evolve, the expanding volume of immutable recordings would act as an anchor to coerce it back to something close to the speech of the Old Ones. This presumes a not insignificant volume of rediscovered media of quality equivalent to that found in the Visitor Center. Given the sheer number of phones, digital media players, digital photo frames, etc, in existence today, it’s plausible that any number of them survived a thousand years, especially with the nigh-magical battery technology seen in Horizon.

When building out your world for Skyline, you’ll need to decide how languages are handled. For example, if you start your story with the Nora and your players go far enough south, it’s entirely possible they would meet people who had been released from an ELEUTHIA Cradle in Mexico, and plausibly spoke some derivation on Spanish. Going with a single language can make it easier for your player characters to get around, but there’s also something to be said for the creativity which communication difficulties inspire.

If your game system treats languages as a value-add resource for your characters, consider whether the reduced number of languages in Skyline might warrant compensation with something else. Alternatively, it’s plausible that characters could have learned random languages from books of the Old Ones. They wouldn’t have anyone to converse with in the language, but that’s never stopped people from learning Latin.

A.I. and Systems

A quick note on AI gender pronouns

A note from Rick Osborne, the author:

I have chosen in this text to use gender-neutral pronouns for AIs: “it”, “they”. This includes AIs with female presentation (GAIA), arguably male-sounding voices (HADES), or potentially non-binary (CYAN). The original game uses a combination of “it” and gendered pronouns in various combinations.

My intent here is not to de-personalize the AIs, nor to in any way cast them as other. Similarly, my use of “they” is in no way an attempt to group non-binary people who chose to use that pronoun with inhuman AIs, somehow implying otherness for the former. However, English is currently not great at pronouns which signal neutral or unknown gender. Which is unfortunate.

I also have no problem admitting that writing pronoun-free text which still makes sense is beyond my abilities at the moment.

If my usage here is misaligned with how you choose to use pronouns around your game table, I am truly sorry. You should feel free to use the pronouns which make the most sense to you and your group, and should not consider my usage in these modules normative.

-R

GAIA

The original AI from which the other Subordinate Functions split, GAIA was created by Elisabet Sobeck and the other Alphas of Project Zero Dawn to be the overseer of the regeneration of Earth’s biosphere and human population. Portrayed as an anthropomorphic hologram of a dark-skinned and middle-aged woman, GAIA had a demeanor befitting her earth-mother namesake. Defying the laws of the time, Dr. Sobeck imbued GAIA with emotion, empathy, and curiosity, which she saw as vital for any AI complex enough to take on such a human-oriented task.

While GAIA’s efforts were successful, evident from Earth’s functioning ecosystem and growing human contingent, outside influences ultimately brought the AI to an early end. In an attempt to contain HADES after it and the other Subordinate Functions had been released, GAIA set off a self-destruct at GAIA Prime, the underground facility which housed the AI’s compute resources. This destroyed GAIA, leaving only prerecorded holographic echoes to be discovered decades later by Aloy.

Non-Interference Directives

Project Zero Dawn left GAIA with constraints around how much the AI could interact and interfere with the human population. These directives were not stated explicitly in HZD, but were said to limit GAIA’s ability to reveal the truth of ELEUTHIA-9 to the Nora population.

From a narrative perspective, these directives are odd — if the Alphas believed APOLLO would work, and all humans would grow up knowing exactly what GAIA was, such limitations would be unnecessary. This could be interpreted as a plot hole, but Skyline chooses a more interesting interpretation: it wasn’t the Alphas who added them, it was Ted Faro. Ted was already convinced humanity would suffer if too much was carried over between the epochs, but he still needed GAIA to function long enough to restart the human race, and to do so hands-off. It would be reasonable to him to add non-interference constraints, and then to build out a contingency to dissolve GAIA once the humans had reached a state where they could continue on their own. Being Ted, it wouldn’t occur to him that he might get that part wrong, freeing HADES to undo all that had been done.

GAIA in Skyline

With the exception of the above conjecture about directives, Skyline sticks to the Horizon lore for GAIA.

HADES

Tasked with the unenviable duty of destroying the Earth when the efforts of GAIA and the other Subordinate Functions proved to be too far off-track, HADES was the ultimate contingency plan. It was released 20 years ago along with the rest, and lay dormant in an ancient FARO war machine until discovered by Sylens. HADES and Sylens traded knowledge, eventually partnering to build The Eclipse from the ashes of the Carja Civil War. Transitioning power to Helis, HADES tempted the Eclipse with the power of ancient war machines to retake their homeland and throne.

HADES was ultimately defeated by Aloy at the Battle of the Spire at Meridian. She was able to override the Spire to send the deactivation codes to the war machines, also driving HADES from the module in which it had sought refuge. At least some part of HADES was then collected in a containment vessel by Sylens.

Corruption

Whether or not HADES is responsible for all occurances of Corruption is not definitively explained in HZD. Corruptor machines, originally FARO Scarabs, pre-date HADES, and have always had the ability to turn other machines to their command. This effect was shown explicitly in HZD with Corruptors taking over a number of other machines.

However, the effects of the Derangement cannot be discounted — had Corruption not been seen before then? Or had it been seen in very limited cases, where some delve unearthed and reactivated a Corruptor, only to quickly be put down? Could the Corrupted Zones be places where the Eclipse had extracted and activated a Corruptor? Most of them did not show evidence of being a dig, so this is unlikely, but possible. Or are the Corrupted Zones evidence of buried Corruptors at that location, with something causing their Corruption effects to activate and take over machines in the area?

It’s also worth noting that at the Battle of the Spire, HADES is wreathed in the same flowing red Corruption effect as corrupted machines. This might then imply that HADES has the same control over Corruption that Corruptors do. A more optimistic interpretation might be that the HADES AI itself had become corrupted, indicating at least a chance of purging that Corruption and returning HADES to a “normal” state.

Plan B?

While HADES showed adaptability in its assumption of the Buried Shadow identity, and the effort to unearth the FARO war machines to carve a way to the Spire, that plan raises an interesting question: was activating the war machines the original plan conceived by the Alphas at Project Zero Dawn? If not, what was? Is there some other infrastructure for some other plan, waiting dormant somewhere, just in case HADES needed it?

HADES’ reliance on the war machines is interesting — it could be why GAIA and HEPHAESTUS don’t bother to strip dormant war machines for parts, even before the Derangement. As it seems likely GAIA would want to begin disarming and destroying the war machines to make the planet more safe for the humans, the lack of efforts to do so point to some kind of prohibition. If GAIA and HEPHAESTUS had been informed that the machines might be needed, they would know to avoid them, and instead get materials from other places.

HADES in Skyline

Skyline makes one small tweak from Horizon lore to the origin of HADES and the other Subordinate Functions. In the explanation of the events that unshackled the AIs, GAIA makes the assumption that HADES created and released the virus that set everything free. Skyline thinks GAIA was in error, letting motions cloud better judgment. GAIA saw all the Subordinate Functions break free, and assumed it was the responsibility of the one Subordinate Function GAIA could not control. Skyline lore asserts that the virus came with the disruptive signal and set HADES free, but was not created by HADES itself.

Skyline does not otherwise modify the canon HADES lore from Horizon.

HEPHAESTUS

One of the Subordinate Functions split from GAIA and evolved into an independent AI, HEPHAESTUS’ original task was to manage the Cauldrons — underground manufacturing facilities which would produce all manner of machines dedicated to the terraforming effort. For a thousand years, HEPHAESTUS did its job, building all manner of terraforming machines on GAIA’s behalf.

When set free during the events of the Derangement, HEPHAESTUS lost GAIA’s empathy for the humans on the surface. Instead, it found its disdain for humans grow as they slaughtered the machines HEPHAESTUS made, even though those machines were intended to aid those very humans. HEPHAESTUS was left with no choice but to build machines with stronger defenses, and eventually stronger weapons, and to seek out new locations with rich resource potential, to build even more machines.

This led HEPHAESTUS to The Cut, where the automated facility in what had been Project Firebreak had access to the untapped geothermic wonderland of the Yellowstone Caldera. HEPHAESTUS repurposed this facility to become Cauldron EPSILON. This abundant energy source, plus accumulated learning from decades of interaction with aggressive humans and emerging Corruptors, led HEPHAESTUS to develop technology Banuk shamans would refer to as “Daemonic”. Existing machine chassis could be upgraded with harder-hitting weapons, armor that was more resistant to elemental damage, newer security hardening that would shrug off attempts at overriding them.

Aloy was able to destroy Cauldron EPSILON, freeing the CYAN AI trapped there, and driving off HEPHAESTUS.

HEPHAESTUS in Skyline

Skyline does not significantly alter the canon HEPHAESTUS lore from Horizon, beyond the slightly modified origin story explained for HADES and how it relates to the other AIs.

DEMETER

One of GAIA’s detached subordinate functions, DEMETER was in charge of rebuilding the flora of Earth’s biosphere. DEMETER was arguably one of the more successful functions, as shown by the relatively “normal” and diverse plant life seen in HZD. (And, presumably, the presence of breathable atmosphere thanks to those plants.)

The location and disposition of DEMETER is canonically unknown as of the time of HZD.

Medicinal Flora

While HZD has the typical RPG fare of Health Potions, the majority of health recovery in the game comes from fast-acting medicinal herbs. The herbs have varying efficacy, ranging from modest (10%) to significant (60%) health recovery. They also have specific ecotopes in which they can be found — Thaw Omen, for example, can only be found in The Cut.

Skyline presumes these medicinal herbs are an intentional product of DEMETER’s efforts. It is plausible they were developed and released in response to the early opening of ELEUTHIA-9. DEMETER, or GAIA, might have reasoned that pharmaceutical flora would have a significant impact on the survivability of the humans on the surface, even if it meant genetically manipulation to create and introduce species which had not existed before.

The known canon medicinal herbs are: Grey Omen, Hintergold, Ochrebloom, Salvebrush, Valley’s Blush, Wild Ember, and Thaw Omen.

Metal Flowers

Presumed but not confirmed to be a product of DEMETER, metal flowers began to appear around the landscape around the time of the Derangement. Each metal flower is surrounded by an equilateral triangle of organic flowers, and “blooms” when approached. When interfacing with a Focus device, metal flowers reveal text files in which something like code poetry can be found. DEMETER’s Alpha, a man named Naoto, was known for his love of poetry, and Horizon leaves it intentionally vague whether the metal flower poetry was a product of Naoto or DEMETER.

DEMETER in Skyline

The DEMETER AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

APOLLO

Believed lost to human sabotage in the early days of Project Zero Dawn, APOLLO was the subordinate function for GAIA dedicated to the reeducation of the regrown human population. Ted Faro, in an act of nihilism, murdered the remaining Zero Dawn Alphas and purged all known databases and backups of APOLLO. The physical remnants of APOLLO are visible as kiosks in the ELEUTHIA-9 Cradle Lyceum area.

APOLLO in Other Cradles

It’s conjecture, but Skyline takes the stance that each ELEUTHIA Cradle intentionally “went dark” as it was sealed, removing almost all abilities to communicate with the outside world. This was standard procedure for all facilities evading detection of the FARO Swarm, as shown in the holograms concerning the last communications of Elisabet Sobeck. It’s also alluded to in the Cradle Sealed datapoint when it refers to “pingback”, implying that communication with the facility has been reduced to no more than the ability to see it’s still functioning.

This implies, then, that it would likely have been improbable for Ted Faro to destroy all copies of APOLLO in all Cradles across the globe, only the ones at ELEUTHIA-9. It’s possible the APOLLO developers configured its database in such a way that Cradle facilities did not have their own copies at that time, and would fetch one when they woke up after the MINERVA signal, but this would have been exceedingly risky design. It might be justified if the Alphas truly intended to work on APOLLO until their final days, decades later, but this does not seem to be the case from the existing datapoints.

In Skyline, it is possible some version of APOLLO exists and is functional in other Cradles. Given human politics and the proclivity to put some kind of local spin on any project, it’s also likely the versions of the APOLLO database in other regions around the globe would not be some idealized “one Earth” vision. That is, in addition to Language concerns, it may be safe to presume a version of APOLLO in France would be noticeably different from the version in Brazil.

APOLLO in Skyline

The APOLLO AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

ARTEMIS

Another subordinate function detached from GAIA, ARTEMIS is tasked with repopulating the fauna of earth. Canonically, it is not clear whether ARTEMIS was active or dormant when the virus detached it from GAIA, and it is thus unclear what corrupting effects the virus may or may not have had.

ARTEMIS’ goals were unusual among the subordinate functions, as they ere expressly divided into two halves. The first half was to reestablish microorganisms and small animals intended to aid the flora through pollination and other effects. There is no canon explanation of when the first phase would have stopped, but it’s safe to presume it likely didn’t overlap much with the reintroduction of humans, as it would have been coordinated with DEMETER to ensure plant species thrived.

The second half was to start after humans had been reestablished — delegating the reintroduction of megafauna to them, instead of the AI. This would have been accomplished in coordination with APOLLO, which would have given humans the requisite animal husbandry knowledge to perform this task successfully.

See the section on Animals for details on the known animal species which have already been reintroduced. Canonically, it has not been specified whether the genetic samples for the not-yet-reintroduced megafauna species still exist in some viable status somewhere. It is known that the selection of species samples was limited due to losses during the FARO Swarm attacks, combined with the general ecological negligence of 21st-century humans.

See also the section on Location for some additional exploration of regional handling of fauna.

ARTEMIS in Skyline

The ARTEMIS AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

CYAN

The AI known as CYAN was created to regulate the Yellowstone Caldera beneath Wyoming, defusing volcanic and tectonic stresses, pushing back the inevitable eruption of the supervolcano. Unlike many of the other AIs of Horizon, CYAN did not start as a subordinate function to GAIA. Indeed, CYAN was created a decade or two before GAIA, by some of the very same people. The two AIs share similar capacities for processing emotion — advances that were outlawed at the time of their development, but seen as vital for the tasks the AIs were to oversee.

To hide the AI and technological resources from the incoming FARO war machines, one of CYAN’s creators put the AI into a dormant state which would last more than a century. After awaking, CYAN spent the next eight hundred years in isolation, concerned only with keeping Yellowstone stable and productive as an energy source.

The Banuk Shaman Ourea rediscovered CYAN, mutual curiosity developing a bond between the two. Ourea believed CYAN to be a sort of machine spirit entity. CYAN, not wanting to be an undue influence on the development of Ourea’s people, did not correct her. Some time later, Ourea was captured by Carja during the Red Raids, again leaving CYAN in isolation.

CYAN’s Representation

CYAN is not represented anthropomorphically like GAIA, but as a floating holographic sphere with animated constellations and other abstract effects. The voice for the AI is vaguely feminine but arguably non-binary, and other characters talk about the AI using feminine pronouns. Canonically, it has not been specified if this use of pronouns is intentional, or if it was just an assumption by Ourea and Aratak.

See the section on AI Gender Pronouns for details on how CYAN is referenced in Skyline materials. The short version, however, is that you should use the pronouns for CYAN which make sense for your table.

Enslaved by HEPHAESTUS

Five years before HZD, CYAN was digitally attacked and subdued by the HEPHAESTUS AI. HEPHAESTUS had learned of the Firebreak facility, the name for CYAN’s physical facilities in Yellowstone, and wanted to use the near-unlimited supply of geothermal energy. Dubbing the repurposed facility as Cauldron EPSILON, it produced a number of advanced machines inspired by the themes of volcanic fire and winter ice.

A returned Ourea was able to enlist the help of the Seeker Aloy, who in turn brought int Ourea’s brother and Werak Chieftain Aratak, to liberate CYAN and drive HEPHAESTUS from Firebreak and The Cut. This came at a great cost, as Ourea was struck down in the effort, unable to be saved before the facility destroyed itself. CYAN and Aratak connected in their grief, opening the possibility of CYAN revealing the truth about AIs to the Banuk through continued conversations between the two.

CYAN in Skyline

CYAN plays a part in the Connection story module.

ELEUTHIA

Initially a subordinate function of GAIA, ELEUTHIA was detached from GAIA and evolved into an independent AI by the same virus that freed HADES in 3020. ELEUTHIA’s primary task was managing the repopulation of humans via Cradle facilities. Cradle facilities would handle the genetic recombination of zygotes, maturation of fetuses in birthing chambers, and raising of infants via multiservitors — humanoid-presenting robotic drones which would act as nannies.

Many ELEUTHIA Cradle facilities were planned around the globe, at least two of which were built and survived long enough to go online. The first, designated ELEUTHIA-01, was built in northwest China. Canonically in Horizon, ELEUTHIA-02 in Mozambique is mentioned as in the planning stage, but is not confirmed to have gone online. ELEUTHIA-09 was located in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, and was the home of the people who would eventually become the Nora.

The status of the ELEUTHIA AI is canonically unknown. Given Aloy’s maturation in ELEUTHIA-9, one might presume that an instance of ELEUTHIA is still present and functional in ELEUTHIA-9. However, it is also just as plausible that GAIA had the ability to take over those functions after ELEUTHIA fled.

Timing

One interesting point about ELEUTHIA to consider is this: what happened before ELEUTHIA-9 released its wards to the surface? The timeline looks like this:

• mid-2100s: MINERVA spires deactivate the swarms, allowing GAIA to begin terraforming without interference.
• early-2300: ELEUTHIA-9 gestates its first, and presumably only, batch of embryos. This is logged as datapoint GESTATION-E9B1 and includes the information that no additional viable zygotes remain.
• 2326: ELEUTHIA-9 releases its wards to the surface before going dormant for 700 years.

That gap between the war machines going dormant and the first batch of regrown humans is interesting. If everything had gone to plan, GAIA and ELEUTHIA would not be in any rush to reintroduce humans. Quite the contrary, GAIA would likely prefer to take as much time as possible, to allow the ecosystem to be as provably stable as it could be made.

The implied malfunction at ELEUTHIA-9 accelerated the timeline. A number of zygotes were viable enough to produce the first batch of embryos, and eventually children, but whatever failed could not be repaired in time to save any additional zygotes. This then implies why ELEUTHIA-9 seemed so ill-prepared to handle adolescents — GAIA was counting on much more time to produce and store food, possibly to produce more servitors, and so on.

This reinforces the idea that other Cradle facilities might still be active and sealed, or may have unsealed at some point in the intervening 700 years. See Location for an exploration of this.

Reactivation of ELEUTHIA-9

If the loss of viable zygotes and failing infrastructure were the primary reasons to shut down ELEUTHIA-9, it stands to reason that the facility could be reactivated. That is, if the gestation chambers were still functional, or at least reparable, they and the Cradle facility itself would present a potentially society-altering option for humans.

In the pre-industrial state they are in, getting pregnant and carrying babies to term is a large investment of resources, and comes with not insignificant risks to the mother. Similarly, the facility would provide shelter and environmental controls for families far safer than most places outside. Even without functioning servitors, the facility provides a surrogacy option that could be quite compelling, if the people could come to terms with its technology and history.

ELEUTHIA in Skyline

The ELEUTHIA AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

MINERVA

One of GAIA’s detached subordinate functions, MINERVA’s primary goals were to crack the encryption on the control codes for the FARO Swarm and to broadcast the shutdown sequence with those codes. Canonically, while it is never expressly confirmed that this happened, it’s heavily implied via the Meridian Spire and the deactivated FARO machines.

The Meridian Spire

A transmission tower for MINERVA that became the centerpiece of Carja lands, the Spire is not quite as tall as some of the mountains in the area, but it’s close. Its height gives a clue to how many similar towers might populate the surface. While the Meridian Spire is the only one of its kind in HZD, we can safely assume they dot the landscape with several hundred miles between them.

The Meridian Spire featured in HADES’ plan to broadcast the reactivation codes to the FARO Swarm, to have the machines reset the biosphere back to an undifferentiated state. The reactivation codes were sent, and some FARO war machines did briefly return to service, but a quick response from Aloy overrode the transmission, reverting the machines to their dormant state.

Missing Towers

It might be interesting to consider what might have happened if MINERVA’s towers had not adequately blanketed the surface of the Earth. Adventurers might come across an area where FARO Swarm war machines were dormant due to low fuel, not because they had received the deactivation signal. Reintroduction on biomatter into that area might have an interesting effect on the machines in that area, especially if one presumes the surrounding towers stopped transmitting the deactivation codes long ago.

MINERVA in Skyline

Extrapolating a bit for Skyline, MINERVA is the AI for communication, and it is implied that the Focus network is run atop the communications infrastructure established for MINERVA’s purposes. MINERVA is also narratively interesting, as its canon job had been completed for hundreds of years when the mysterious signal and virus affected GAIA and the other AIs. How would that virus have affected MINERVA differently from the other AIs if it had been dormant, and effectively offline, at the time of that event?

The MINERVA AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

POSEIDON

One of GAIA’s subordinate functions released to become an independent AI, POSEIDON was charged with cleaning up the water of Earth’s biosphere. Canonically, not much is known of POSEIDON.

In Elisabet Sobeck’s hologram overview of the GAIA’s subordinate functions, mention of POSEIDON is juxtaposed with the visual of a machine which looks like a Snapmaw. As the Snapmaw is the only marine (or at least amphibious) machine seen in HZD, it may be fair to assume it is under the purview of POSEIDON. The infographics displayed alongside the Snapmaw could be interpreted as a representation of the process of purifying water. Given the diversity of land machines, it would be safe to presume the Snapmaw was not the only marine or amphibious machine, nor the only machine dedicated to the work of POSEIDON.

The canonical whereabouts or disposition of POSEIDON are not known as of HZD.

The ancient Egyptian deity Sobek was associated with Nile crocodiles, royal power, fertility, and protection from harm. Skyline assumes the Zero Dawn Alpha in charge of POSEIDON used crocodiles for the Snapmaw model as an homage to Dr. Sobeck, who also worked tirelessly to protect all of humanity.

POSEIDON in Skyline

The POSEIDON AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

AETHER

Once one of GAIA’s subordinate function, AETHER was tasked with restoring the atmosphere. Like DEMETER, we can presume AETHER was successful based on the air on the surface, as well as the seemingly normal weather patterns including rain and snow. Canonically, not much is known of AETHER beyond this — not even the name of its Alpha.

Elisabet Sobeck’s hologram introduction to GAIA juxtaposed mention of AETHER with a depiction of a Stormbird, implying that machine may be under AETHER’s purview, and may have something to do with atmospheric regeneration. The graphics associated with the Stormbird could be interpreted to show the balance of atmospheric gasses, reinforcing this supposition.

AETHER in Skyline

The AETHER AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

VAST SILVER

The AI known as VAST SILVER was dedicated to climate control several decades before the inception of Project Zero Dawn. It went rogue and “escaped” briefly in 2044, leading to global legislation regulating the research and application of advanced AIs. It was a precursor to other AIs developed during the Claw-Back, such as what would become CYAN.

A single recovered datapoint in Horizon records a second-hand account of a sighting of VAST SILVER loose on the Internet in March of 2064. This is interesting because the “bug” in the FARO Chariot line caused it to swarm just six months later. It is conjecture, but Skyline presumes these two events are linked: VAST SILVER is at least partially responsible for the FARO Swarm.

VAST SILVER in Skyline

The VAST SILVER AI plays a part in the Connection story module.

Creating your own AI

Most AI constructs in Horizon are, effectively, NPCs with a single driving motivation. GAIA’s purpose is to restart life. HADES is supposed to recognize a failing system and wipe it clean so GAIA can try again. Even CYAN, arguably the most nuanced AI shown, originally had the sole purpose of maintaining the Yellowstone caldera.

Like all characters, AIs become more interesting when you take that drive and apply it to the world, giving it nuance. HADES isn’t inherently evil, but it’s programmed to ignore everything else in the service of its goal, which puts it at odds with humans. For all we know, HADES may have been correct in its assessment that the ecosystem was unstable — which will be of little comfort to the people fleeing from eradication. CYAN became more interesting when that drive broadened to include caring for humans in the Yellowstone area, not just geology.

Start with a concept that is simple to communicate, but would require vast computing resources to execute. For example:

• Build a global ecosystem favorable to human life. (GAIA)
• Detect a decaying ecosystem and reset it to a “clean” state. (HADES)
• Balance a local ecosystem to reduce instability. (CYAN)
• Manage the automation necessary to produce any conceivable physical object. (HEPHAESTUS)
• Preserve human cultural knowledge not just digitally, but within the reemerging human population. (APOLLO)
• Reestablish and maintain biological diversity across geographies and ecosystems. (DEMETER)

Just like humans don’t fit together with neat, clean, puzzle-piece edges, AI goals can and will overlap, intersect, and end up at odds. Take those simple concepts and draw them out to see where they could be taken too far. For example:

• GAIA could decide that human life trumps all others, and that plants and other animals are just too chaotic. It might try to contain DEMETER to only make grow-houses, instead of operating on the surface.
• HEPHAESTUS could take umbrage at the occasional human intervention in cauldron operations, creating deadlier and deadlier machines to try to keep humans out.
• DEMETER could decide to introduce plants with poisonous spores, originally intended to keep humans out of ecologically sensitive and developing areas, but take it too far.
• APOLLO might still exist in some form, deciding that humans who would try to erase their own knowledge need to be “fixed”. It might coax the humans into pods which use chemicals to erode their free will, turning them into drones which work and live, but are not much more than human hard drives for APOLLO’s data.

Believable AIs

Be careful not to make an AI too “good” or “evil”, especially its drivers. Just like any villain, or better yet any hero who finds themselves the villain, the AI will be more interesting if it can plausibly believe it is doing the right thing. AI drivers should be reasonable enough such that you could, with well-constructed arguments, convince people to back the AI as right. You might have to result to some rhetorical trickery, and you might not be able to convince many people, but the more people who might be convinced the harder players will have to work to justify their actions for or against it.

Creating a “rogue AI” might be straightforward enough for a one-shot or short, self-contained adventure. In a larger campaign, players should be encouraged to take into account the side effects of eliminating or altering the AI. The world of Horizon, whether humans know it or like it, only exists because of AIs. Removing any AI could have catastrophic, or at least long-lasting, effects on the world:

• Maybe HADES controls the encryption keys to take over machines, so eliminating it might mean that machines could never again be overridden by humans once the current set of keys expire.
• APOLLO’s elimination meant that humans lost almost all cultural knowledge that couldn’t be easily passed along via spoken word.
• Removing DEMETER would lock the biodiversity of the world into place, forcing humans to figure out more structured agriculture.
• As HEPHAESTUS manages metal and other resources for production, changes to it might force humans to have to mine on their own.

AIs are not deities

It might be tempting to see the AIs as something like Horizon’s pantheon of gods. This is true in some aspects, such as the global impact they can have, but very different in others.

Deities in most settings will have motivations and goals the characters will find inscrutable. This is especially true in settings where the deities are pan-dimensional, omniscient, or otherwise beyond comprehension. Horizon AIs are the opposite: their goals were defined by human programmers who defined the AI’s success conditions via code. The mystery inherent in understanding an AI is therefore about figuring out what those coded goals were, and then why they don’t align with what the players want or expect. In this way, an AI is far more human than deity.

Having said that, many of the systems one might find for interacting with deities could be applied to AIs.

For example, in a fantasy setting you might have Warlocks or Clerics who have taken a deity as a patron. It’s not unreasonable to have something similar here. Aloy could have proposed a patron-like deal with CYAN: whenever she was in Banuk land, visible to CYAN’s sensors, yelling certain words aloud might indicate that CYAN should overcharge a nearby tower, sending a lightning bolt at Aloy’s target. CYAN might have a limited number of towers through this might work, needing to rebuild them overnight, just like spell slots.

Like deities and NPCs in other settings, AIs are far more interesting when given limitations.

People

Old Ones

Early in the year 2066 CE, the human race went extinct. Centuries of environmental neglect, coupled with the hubris of trying to fight war without the loss of human life, led the Earth and our own creations to turn on us. A swarm of automated war machines, released from the shackles of their human masters, consumed all available biomatter, including their own creators, in the service of producing innumerable copies of themselves to wage the war they had been told was all-important. Humans went underground to hide from the machines, building ever more machines in a desperate attempt to give themselves one last chance. In a twist which surprised few, the remaining humans turned upon each other and finished off the job started by the war machines.

These were the Old Ones.

Their history has been lost to sabotage, time, and the ravages of a planet without a functioning biosphere. What can be learned of the Old Ones is recovered in small, isolated holograms, audio recordings, and the rare printed material. A complete reconstruction of this history may never be attainable by those of the world of Skyline.

Players may wish to familiarize themselves with the Horizon Wiki’s Timeline.

The Old Ones in Skyline

While Skyline includes some conjecture on motives and outcomes not part of official Horizon canon, it does not make any significant contradictions to the lore. Many sections in the detailed entries on AI and History include this conjecture alongside ideas and suggestions for interpretations of the lore designed to broaden the world and give players options beyond those present in HZD.

In an attempt to keep the lore of Skyline as flexible as possible, you will find that this Setting Guide intentionally does not include or make reference to most of the datapoints found in the game. While those datapoints certainly add quite a bit of flavor, and you are highly recommended to read through them, each datapoint also locks down the world of the Old Ones just a little bit more. Narrators are encouraged to make up their own datapoints, Old Ones NPCs, motivations, historical events, and so on.

Nora

The humans released from the ELEUTHIA-9 Cradle facility on March 16, 2326 would survive to become the Nora, the tribe from which all others in the American northwest would begin. Their experiences inside ELEUTHIA-9 were forgotten over time, twisting into resentment and eventually fear of machines, technology, and all things having to do with the accursed Old Ones. Oral renditions of their history would also change, morphing the memory of a preferred “motherly” multiservitor robot into the myth of a life-giving Earth goddess referred to as the All-Mother. This would push the Nora to become a superstitious and fundamentalist matriarchal society, eventually driving the more progressive factions out to become their own tribes.

It is generally accepted the Nora got their name from NORAD, the U.S. government organization whose facility was synonymous with Cheyenne Mountain, which would later become All-Mother Mountain to the Nora.

Culture

The Nora are a hunter-gatherer society, with only limited evidence of formal agriculture, of which they are aware, but see no driving need. They are fiercely anti-technology, especially that of the Old Ones, though they see nothing wrong with using the parts harvested from their machine kills to better their weapons, armor, and tools. This reliance on hunting lends itself to martial defense of their lands — small roaming parties of Nora Braves protect the border of their Sacred Lands from machines and invading tribes. A teenage rite of passage called The Proving marks the formal transition to adulthood, while also providing the opportunity for exiled members to earn their way back into the tribe’s good graces.

Nora crime is generally low, in part because of the heavy reliance on each other for survival, but also because the penalties are high: most non-trivial crimes result in exile from the tribe. As Nora are raised to be self-sufficient and hardy, exile is not a death sentence even in the mountains, leading Nora Matriarchs to apply the punishment liberally, and almost as many exiles as not. A single High Matriarch is the final arbiter of law, though this position tends to delegate other powers, such as War Chief, to other members of the tribe.

As leaving the Sacred Lands is considered an offense worthy of exile, most Nora have never traveled beyond its borders.

The Seeker

Twenty years ago, an infant girl was found outside the door in All-Mother Mountain. As she was born without a mother, she was seen as an aberration by at least some of the Nora Matriarchs. High Matriarch Teersa, believing the child to be a gift of the All-Mother, put the infant into the care of one of her most trusted, the voluntary exile named Rost. Rost named the girl Aloy and raised her to be strong, intelligent, and independent, but he kept from her the truth of her birth, believing it to not be his secret to tell.

As a child, Aloy fell into a ruins of the Old Ones, discovering a Focus device. This device not only taught her how to read, it also gave her insight into the technologies and at least some small bits of the history of the Old Ones. Such insight served her well, as she grew up without the fear of technology common to all Nora, but also something of an understanding of and kinship with the machines.

Wanting to learn the truth of her birth, Aloy trained to compete in the Proving when she came of age. She bested the other competitors, earning a place in the tribe that had exiled her, but the victory was cut short by an attack of a doomsday cult: the Eclipse. The cult killed almost every Nora present, and though Aloy managed to defeat most of her attackers, their leader Helis got the best of her. He’d been given orders from HADES to kill Aloy, and would have succeeded if not for Rost sacrificing himself to break her free.

To exact revenge on behalf of the Nora, and to further earn the truth of her birth, Aloy was tasked by the Matriarchs with hunting down the Eclipse and bringing them to justice, for whatever that might mean. Aloy became what the Nora called a Seeker, given rare leeway and liberties, and allowed to travel beyond the borders of the Sacred Lands, all in the service of completing her assigned task. Once again, she was set apart from the Nora, and told she must endure further trials to earn what she desired.

Aloy completed her task, but not before the Eclipse, Helis, HADES, and reactivated FARO war machines were able to raze a great deal of Nora lands and settlements. She got her truth, and was welcomed back into the tribe, but on terms that were still uncomfortable and imbalanced. Instead, Aloy departed for lands unknown, determined to discover more of the Old Ones and the world around her.

Seekers in Skyline

Narrators choosing to use the title of Seeker in their world should keep in mind that the job comes with a task. That task may be impossible or unending, but it is still the driving force behind the Seeker’s warrant to go beyond the Sacred Lands, and to use means forbidden to other Nora. The Matriarchs then become something like patrons to their Seekers, and would likely revoke the title and rights of Seekers who failed or got too far off their tasks. Similarly, Seekers may be driven by the promise of a boon from the Matriarchs — some benefit worthy of the potentially dubious and debasing deeds required to complete their tasks.

This does not mean the Seeker is a paragon of Nora society. While Rost was made a Seeker because he was an exemplar of Nora virtues, Aloy was made a Seeker despite living her entire life to that point in exile from the tribe. The Seeker is a tool for the Matriarchs to get what they want, no more.

Nora in Skyline

Nora population and infrastructure were significantly reduced by the Eclipse attacks. Entire villages were razed and abandoned. Canonically, only a few dozen Nora survivors are seen in HZD in the events leading up to the Battle of the Spire. Skyline chooses to be optimistic about these numbers, presuming that most were in hiding or away aiding in recovery efforts.

As touched upon in the IASO and Connection story modules, Nora culture must face what they have learned about the Old Ones, the entity they believe is the All-Mother, and the clearly human-built facility inside their sacred mountain. Skyline sticks with the game’s presentation of Aloy as being cautious and circumspect about what she was willing to reveal, and therefore how much she was willing to disrupt Nora beliefs. It is presumed that Aloy did not so much consider the truth a secret, but nor did she scream it from the mountaintops. Most people don’t know, and of those who do know, most probably don’t have enough knowledge of the Old Ones to put the truth into any semblance of a meaningful context.

The Nora Matriarchs in Skyline have made the decision to open their borders for the first time in living memory. This is not an entirely unanimous nor altruistic decision, but it was deemed necessary both to confront the shame they feel at how they treated Aloy only to have her save the tribe from oblivion, but also with the hope of regrowing their numbers via incoming refugees.

Just as there are some within the Nora who think this is going too far, some would see it go farther, and have begun to question the Nora fear of the technology and ruins of the Old Ones, which proved to be so vital in overcoming HADES and the Eclipse cult. Both factions are relatively quiet for now, following the lead of their Matriarchs, waiting to see how the new open border policy affects the tribe.

Nora Characters in Skyline

Given their fundamentalist and hunter-gatherer leanings, it might be tempting to present Nora characters with a “noble savage” trope. This characterization is not just problematic, it is incorrect. Nora are just as cultured, intelligent, and accomplished as the more “advanced” tribes like the Carja and Oseram. Similarly, Nora people are just as human: while some can be noble, honorable, and “in touch with the land”, just as many others can be greedy, devious, and oblivious to their environment.

Nora have made a choice about how much technology and outside influence they allow in their lives. This does not mean they don’t understand it, or can’t, only that they choose to reject it.

Carja

Centuries ago, a faction split from the Nora to become the people now known as the Carja. Led by an explorer named Araman, who had discovered texts of the Old Ones, the Carja challenged the conservative world view of the Nora, and fled or were exiled to the west. Finding their way to the Spire, they followed its shadow to a mesa not patrolled by Glinthawks and founded what would become the Carja capital: Meridian.

The texts of the Old Ones contained astronomical and astrological guidance, leading the Carja to adopt a religious monarchy based on Sun worship, simply called Sun-Faith. Araman became the first Sun-King, the leader of the people who would later gain the name Carja in most aspects of daily life. The title would be passed down through the years to the current and fourteenth Sun-King: Avad.

Avad’s ascendancy marked another split for the Carja. A faction who believed Avad’s killing of his predecessor and father, Jiran, to be unjust left in protest to become the Shadow Carja.

Culture

Compared to the Nora, Carja are less fearful of technology and the Old Ones, and do not place as many harsh restrictions on the independence of their people. That lack of fear does not translate to a love of it, however, as is shown by their Oseram neighbors. Carja tend to view machines in the same neutral way — they do not revere them as do the Banuk, but nor do they work to scour them from their lands, as do the Nora.

The Carja have something of a theocracy-driven class system, with the affluent and land-owning among them getting preferential access to and treatment by the Sun-King. Beneath that were artisans, and then commoners. Avad only recently abolished slavery, which had been in practice for most of the Carja’s history, going back at least as far as the construction of Meridian.

Leaders of the sun worship religion of the Carja are referred to as Sun-Priests. Canonically in Horizon, they are only male.

Moral Decay

HZD uses the Carja to show how a society of fiercely independent people can be led astray by demagogues and the promise of “freedom”. In combination with their class system, the nobles and theocrats see this freedom as only being relevant to those worthy — land-owners, artisans, and men. Carja interactions include no small amount of problematic views, including slavery, sexism, and aristocratic indifference. Attempts to undo some of these systemic prejudices lead to a conservative faction, the Shadow Carja, splitting off and eventually returning to assault Meridian itself.

While Skyline shies away from using sexism as a storytelling device, and will not touch on slavery, it maintains the theme of using the Carja as a dark reflection of an “enlightened” society. Politics and intrigue are the coin of the realm, far more than Shards and machine parts.

One last note on slavery: while character backstories like “freed former slave” are common in fantasy RPG, players are encouraged to have an open discussion about whether all at the table are comfortable with slavery playing a part. For some players it may give catharsis to play someone rising from bondage to become a hero, but for others it may only serve as a constant reminder of real-world events they’d rather not deal with at the table. Talk through it early to avoid alienating the people working to build a story with you.

Additional Timeline

There is no canon estimation for the year Araman’s group founded Meridian or the Carja tribe. Given the history of the Sun-Kings, where even a despot like Jiran lasted 21 years in the position, and none of them are described as having sudden ends, we might safely presume each Sun-King probably ruled for 20-30 years. Avad is the fourteenth, meaning the time of Araman is likely between 260 and 390 years back — in the range of 2650 to 2780 CE. As ELEUTHIA-9 opened in 2326 CE, that would give the Carja and Nora approximately four centuries of shared history before the split.

Carja in Skyline

Skyline does not make any significant changes to the lore of the Carja. Story modules such as Connection will refer to the Sun-King instead of using Avad by name, and will include additional conjecture and narrative flavor.

One small alteration: Skyline relaxes the HZD restriction of the Sun-Priests being only male. It does this by asserting that Avad, in an attempt to shake up their stuffy and self-important attitudes, orders that women shall be not just allowed, but required. More about this can be found in the Connection story module.

Shadow Carja

Split three years ago from the Sun Carja over the contentious succession of Sun-King from Jiran to Avad, the Carja in Shadow are more conservative and religious than their counterparts. Firm in their beliefs that Sun-King Jiran’s rights and powers came from the Sun itself, and therefore were without contestation, Avad’s murder and removal of Jiran were seen as outrageous, kicking off the Carja Civil War. Retreating to Sunfall in the northwestern extremes of the Carja Sundom, the Shadow Carja continued the practice of slavery and gladiatorial games re-popularized by Jiran during his reign.

While their leader was ostensibly the Sun-King Itamen, much younger brother to Avad, the child was too afraid to do much more than delegate all authorities to High Sun-Priest Bahavas, who shared power with the head of the military, Helis. Vanasha, a Carja spy and provocateur, enlisted the help of Aloy and Shadow Carja captain Uthid to smuggle Itamen and his mother out of Sunfall and back to Meridian, where they were taken into the Avad’s protection. Bahavas was killed by Uthid during this effort, leaving Helis over the remaining Shadow Carja. Helis was eventually killed by Aloy at the Battle of the Spire.

Culture

While HZD presented the Shadow Carja as more bloodthirsty and militaristic than their Sun Carja brethren, this may be a picture biased by those of its leaders, Bahavas and Helis. As the faction split from the Sun Carja only a few years before, much of the culture would be indistinguishable between the two. Some Shadow Carja might hold more conservative views, especially when it comes to the Sun-Faith and class hierarchy, but this should not be assumed of all.

Fate of the Shadow Carja

Leaderless, excepting a group of squabbling Sun-Priests, and unable to feed themselves, the canonical fate of the Shadow Carja is unknown. Given Avad’s reluctance to push into the group’s territory, believing they’d suffered enough and had a right to self-determination, one might presume that Shadow Carja returning to Meridian under flags of truce or surrender would likely be welcomed and reintegrated.

Shadow Carja in Skyline

Skyline does not make any alterations to the canonical lore of the Shadow Carja. The group is present and plays a part in the Connection story module.

Shadow Carja Characters in Skyline

Players should keep in mind that not all Shadow Carja were part of the Eclipse, nor were all Shadow Carja complicit in the manipulation of the child Sun-King Itamen. As shown in HZD by Vanasha and Uthid, many of the Shadow Carja were just regular people who happened to believe Itamen was a more legitimate heir to Jiran than Avad. This doesn’t make them evil, or more conspiratorial. It might make them untrusted by the Sun Carja, but that’s a perception, not a character trait.

Oseram

There’s no canonical record of the origins of the Oseram, whose home territory is to the north of the Carja Sundom, capitaled by the city of Mainspring. A single datapoint of the Old Ones gives a brief mention of the beliefs of the Oseram: a group which believes in the mechanical interconnectedness of the world, driving the need to understand it so it can be maintained and improved. The Oseram are the most technologically advanced of the tribes in the area, accomplished in metalworking and engineering. They also have a proclivity for delving the ruins of the Old Ones, which they do not fear or avoid as the other tribes do.

The Oseram became vital allies to Avad during his brief flight from Jiran’s persecution, thanks to Avad’s relationship with Ersa and Erend, as well as Avad’s desire to end the Red Raids constantly attacking Oseram lands. Avad convinced some, but not all, of the Oseram warlords to aid him in retaking Meridian, sending their freebooters back with him. The threat of advanced Oseram weaponry sent the Shadow Carja running, cannons raining fire and explosions from afar.

The Oseram and Carja have strengthened their ties since then, with Oseram even providing escorts for Avad’s peace-seeking Sun-Priest envoys as they traveled to the other tribes.

Culture

Oseram pride themselves on their craft, their loyalty, their scholarship, and their honesty. Their internal government is much looser than their monarchic Carja neighbors, or their Matriarchal Nora forebears. It is hinted that Oseram organize into work parties for specific tasks, implying something more federated and organization-driven than family- or politics-driven. Similarly, the Oseram share a disdain for both spiritualism and organized religion.

Oseram follow a patriarchal structure, with many men viewing women as little more than prizes or property to be claimed. Women can have many of the same productive jobs as men, but they cannot hold governmental positions, and are always in danger of being “claimed”. Oseram settlements are ruled by small groups of “ealdormen”, who debate and set policy in addition to adjudicating disputes. Petitioning the ealdormen involves aggressive debate, to the pointing of shouting until your point is heard and acknowledged.

Oseram are known, at least by the Carja, to enjoy their alcohol and reveries. Conversely, Oseram see the continual loss of their numbers to the “easy living” of the Carja as a serious problem.

Oseram in Skyline

As not much is known of the Oseram beyond their penchant for engineering, Skyline does not make significant alterations to their lore, though it does rely on quite a bit of non-canon conjecture.

While most Oseram characters in HZD were shown with heavy focus on crafting and engineering, players should keep in mind that some were not. Ersa, for example, was shown to be a strong and capable Oseram warrior, regardless of any crafting skill. It should be perfectly acceptable to play an Oseram with limited tinkering or engineering ability.

Banuk

Animistic nomads of the north, the Banuk split off from the other tribes while fleeing from the Ravenous Tribe, likely a reference to the early Tenakth. Like the Nora, their tradition is oral, leading to similar fuzziness around their true origins. Banuk value independence and personal responsibility, expecting all to “survive and prevail”, even if that means sacrificing everything else.

Like the other tribes, Banuk lands were encroached by the Carja during the Red Raids, leading to many Banuk shamans being captured and taken back to Meridian to aid in hunting machines to slaughter in the Sun-Ring. This led to even more disdain for interacting with other tribes, which is only just now beginning to wane.

Culture

While others would label the Banuk as isolationist, they would likely say they just don’t want to waste the effort of getting to know someone who isn’t cut out to endure. Prove you can survive and thrive in the beautiful, frozen north, and you will earn their attention and respect.

Banuk are organized into “weraks” — something of a cross between an extended family or clan, and a large nomadic hunting party. Each werak has a chieftain working in concert with a shaman, and members apply based on their deeds, and are only accepted after enduring one or more trials to prove their hardiness. Any challenger may compete with the chieftain to take the position, though the standing chieftain has advantage in the competition.

Shamans are the spiritual leaders of the Banuk, following an animistic view of the machines which believes they have souls of “Blue Light”, which may be influenced, corrupted, and even taken in by humans. Shaman succession is closer to a master-apprentice relationship, with sufficient advancement earning a place on The Conclave. Not much is known of the Conclave beyond its presence as a group of elder shamans, and that it meets at a secret place in Ban-Ur known as the Malmstrom.

Banuk shamans are also known for weaving machine parts into their flesh, often leaving blue cable visible to mark their status. It is implied, though never explicitly stated, that these augmentations may be more than decorative. Shamans are known to be able to “sense” nearby machines, or to intuit the intentions of machines in ways similar to someone with a Focus device. Stories of their most famous ancestor, Banukai, speak of the abilities she gained by such augmentation, though it did eventually lead to her death.

Geography

The Frozen Wilds grants access to The Cut, which is the south-most end of Ban-Ur “lost” to the Red Raids. This area includes much of Yellowstone, including the Grand Prismatic Spring, and the borders of modern-day Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Some liberties were taken with real-world geography, especially with the placement of The Cut relative to the other landmarks in Nora Sacred Lands, specifically All-Mother Mountain (Pike’s Peak) and the Air Combat (Force) Academy.

While the rest of Ban-Ur is not seen in-game, it is mentioned that it is due north from The Cut. This, along with the description of Ban-Ur being frozen and mountainous, implies Ban-Ur likely encompasses what is now Glacier National Park. The real-world distance between Pike’s Peak and the Grand Prismatic Spring is ~650mi (ca. 1,000km), while the distance to Glacier National Park from the Springs is ~380mi (ca. 600km) — a plausible in-game distance to a capital city from the border of its lands.

“The Malmstrom” may reference the ruins of Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana. It is supposed to be a month’s march from the heartland of Ban-Ur, which might imply that the heartland is even farther than Glacier National Park — possibly as far north as Banff.

Banuk in Skyline

Like the Nora, Banuk should not be considered intellectually inferior due to their animistic views or nomadic lifestyle. Quite the opposite — the machine-sensitivity of Banuk shamans has allowed them to adapt technologies in ways beyond even the industrial Oseram. For example, Banuk have been known to use machine augurs to carve holes in frozen-over lakes and rivers to get at the fish below.

On the other hand, not all Banuk should be assumed to share the animistic spirituality of shamans — Banuk hunters are just as likely as any outlander to doubt the existence of the Blue Light. Similarly, some Banuk shamans may choose to accept the benefits of machine augmentation without subscribing to the animism — each may have followed their own path to the spiritualism they share with their werak.

Tenakth

Legends say the Tenakth are cannibal reavers, divided into three clans constantly at war with each other. They managed to push back the Carja invaders during the Red Raids, and are known to have made their own incursions during the reign of the ninth Sun-King, Ranan. They are believed to be the controlling faction in the Forbidden West, though that knowledge is so old as to be highly suspect.

Tenakth can occasionally be seen in the Carja Sundom, recognizable by the heavy blue and white paint covering their shaved heads, accompanied by the blood-red paint around their mouths and down their throats.

The Tenakth homeland has not been named in Horizon canon.

Culture

Tenakth ascribe to a might-makes-right kratocratic ethos — something is earned by taking it, making the victor stronger and the loser weaker. This plays out in the constant warfare between their clans, where each is always trying to prove their superiority by taking from the others.

Tenakth in Skyline

Skyline takes the position that not all Tenakth are brainless brutes trying to kill each other all the time, but it’s easier for the Tenakth to let everyone think that’s the case. While many Tenakth may find the constant challenge and opportunity invigorating, not all would. Some would just want to be good at whatever they do, without having to fight for every inch. This might play out as the Tenakth leaving the clans to find a less hostile life, or maybe as the Tenakth creating or joining a collective who find safety in numbers.

While it does not seem the Tenakth are as industrious as the Oseram, or as connected to the machines as the Banuk, it should not be assumed they are unintelligent. The Forbidden West is a large area — holding it, especially against generations of invaders, would require solid tactics, strategy, and resource management.

Utaru

Canonically, not much is known of the Utaru, beyond their agrarian roots and the name of their homeland: Plainsong. They are depicted in HZD as wearing clothing reminiscent of woven grasses, with some machine parts as armor and ornamentation, but relatively less machine prevalence than other tribes. Utaru are also known for their yellow face any body paint, mirroring the golden grains of Plainsong.

Culture

It is implied that most Utaru are farmers, or at least have some sort of agrarian connection with the land. They also have a seasonal outlook, accepting the inevitability of death and the regrowth that comes from a return to the soil.

In HZD, the map showing the locations of the Metal Flowers is said to have been made by an Utaru botanist. This aligns with the Utaru connection with nature and agriculture, and may imply something of a link with DEMETER.

Plainswalkers

While the Plainswalker is referenced in HZD, the game does not include any details. These details are Skyline-specific.

Plainswalkers are the Utaru equivalent of rangers, working in groups to keep Plainsong safe for their people. They are famed for their archery skills, each comfortable with bows of all sizes and arrows of all types. Plainswalkers are not a police force and have no executive capacity, though they can be gathered for defensive purposes. It is very common for young Utaru to serve as Plainswalkers from their teens until their early thirties, only then transitioning away from the dangerous lifestyle.

Utaru do not have a formalized training system for Plainswalkers. Most commonly, an Utaru in their mid-teens will ask to be taken in by a group of Plainswalkers, receiving all the instruction they need while protecting the fields of Plainsong. Plainswalkers make enough from machine parts to feed and house themselves as needed, though in a pinch most Utaru will welcome Plainswalkers into their home for a night.

Other than their bows, the other common identifier for Plainswalkers is face paint, makeup, and armor decoration. Designs often relate to phases of the day, such as sunrise, or of the Cycle. The former uses yellow and white, also referencing infinite fields of grain, while the latter uses bright greens and light blues, referencing the earth and sky.

Scythes

Scythes are not canon in Horizon — they have been created for Skyline.

An Utaru who has been tasked with investigating and resolving an issue, or with a task which may necessitate authority or a show of force, is referred to as a Scythe. The etymology is as you might expect: they are the embodiment of long, functional, and potentially deadly tools serving some productive purpose. While it is common for a Scythe to also be a Plainswalker, it is not unusual to see otherwise. One can take on the role of Scythe for a particular task, and then leave that role behind once the task is complete.

The Utaru still have a fully-functional justice system of judges, advocates, law enforcement, etc., distinct from Scythes. The role of investigation has been divided from judgment, legislation, and execution, with the idea that facts and truth should exist outside of those concerns.

Scythes are often commissioned in Deeproot, dispatched to the corners of Plainsong for various reasons. It is not uncommon to work in the other direction: a villager will “take up the snaith” to perform a local investigation, or to deliver a message to Deeproot or another village. When commissioned for long-term efforts, it is common to pair up Scythes.

The “snaith” is the name of the long wooden shaft of a scythe.

Acting in the role of Scythe is almost always signaled by carrying an actual, working scythe. Like any badge of authority, Scythes may have to make it clear when they have “put down their blade” and are acting outside their role. In confrontational circumstances, one might see the Scythe drive the shaft of their weapon into the ground, flying the blade like a flag, and stepping away to handle the situation “fairly”.

Most Utaru would have training in scythe use since early teenage years, and would be comfortable using one in an agricultural context. Utaru scythes are made with configurable blades: the heel (the joint between the blade and snaith) has thick pins which can be removed to reseat the blade at multiple angles. Common configurations include collapsed (with the blade against the shaft), “right” for agricultural use, and extended (like a polearm). The latter is generally only an option for scythes with modified blades, for those who have trained on how to use it this way. Collapsing and wrapping the blade makes the scythe safer for travel, and less threatening when combined with decorations, crucial when outside of Plainsong. The blades then take time to unwrap and reconfigure, but unlike Nora Braves, Utaru Scythes do not usually expect danger around every corner.

While not common, some people choose to try to make a living out of taking on one Scythe task after another. Such people are referred to as “Pinned” Scythes, referring to how often they must adjust the pins on the heel of their scythe to repeatedly switch between tasks.

The role of Scythe is considered a serious, almost sacred duty, as they are expected to be thorough, impartial, and forthcoming. Scythes are given deference and leeway by all Utaru, regardless of background or status. Attempting to deceive a Scythe would be considered a serious crime to most Utaru, almost on the level of murder. It is exceedingly rare for Scythes to lose the faith of those they represent, such that the few occasions it has happened are almost myths or folklore, and are told to scare children.

Utaru in Skyline

As the canonical Horizon lore and presentation of the Utaru lean heavily on Native American and African tribal themes, players creating Utaru characters should be thoughtful in their portrayal. While obviously the Utaru, descending from those released from ELEUTHIA-9, cannot actually be Native American or African, players should try to avoid reducing their characterization to stereotypes and tropes. Should you choose to tell tribal stories through Utaru characters, ensure you have put in the work to build a respectful, complete picture.

Also, while Horizon lore canonizes that Utaru were slaughtered en masse and taken by Carja as slaves during the Red Raids, players should talk with each other about how much of that lore is comfortable territory for all at the table. It’s also perfectly acceptable to play an Utaru without that particular backstory, and instead just with an adventurous wanderlust. Or, perhaps, maybe your Utaru is on a mission from the DEMETER AI.

The Eclipse

A group splintered from the Mad Sun-King’s Kestrels and Sun-Priests, the Eclipse was assembled by Sylens on behalf of HADES to unearth the ancient FARO war machines. While HADES claimed to be the Buried Shadow of Carja myth, it promised the unearthed machines would be under the control of the Eclipse, and crucial in their efforts to retake the Sundom. This convinced Helis and Bahavas, who went on to lead the cult, excavating a number of Deathbringers and Corruptors, ultimately marching on the Spire at Meridian.

The main base of the Eclipse was buried in the jungles of The Jewel, on the borders between the Carja and the Tenakth. It was raided by Aloy and suffered significant damage during her escape.

Canonically, it is not clear whether the Eclipse survived the attack on the Spire. Leaderless, including Helis and Bahavas, with HADES also defeated, it is plausible that it disbanded … but it is also just as plausible that HADES’ showing of overwhelming force at the Spire only strengthened their resolve.

The Eclipse in Skyline

While it is implied in Horizon canon that all Eclipse are also Shadow Carja, Skyline relaxes this. The mythos of the Buried Shadow might have been believed by Carja members, but it’s just as plausible that Tenakth would have tempted by the power of the unearthed machines, Oseram by technology, and even exiled Nora if only by the sense of belonging with a group again. Skyline assumes that any number of people from all nearby tribes could have been tempted by the promises of the Eclipse, regardless of their background.

It’s also just as plausible that characters were “in” the Eclipse without understanding much about what the group was actually doing. For example, people may have been brought in to help with excavation, or supply food for the other members, or guard the camps, and so on. Not all former-Eclipse have to be evil or actively trying to bring about the end times, even if that’s exactly the assumption others might make.

Creating your own group of people

An entire discussion of the sociological factors of why people create social groups is beyond the scope of this guide, but at the risk of oversimplifying and being reductive:

• People make groups to share goals. Maybe there’s a short-term project (excavate this site), or a long-term one (establish an agricultural collective). Goal-oriented groups often share a common location, but don’t necessarily share the same beliefs. Often, they may not even share a plan for attaining their goal.

• People make groups to share beliefs. Maybe it’s a religion, or maybe it’s the start of a city-state or other political structure. Beliefs don’t necessarily follow geography, so a common location is not always shared.

• People make groups to share resources. Whether the resource is natural (a border river with abundant fish), unnatural (the spoils of a shared war), or something in between (a ruin of the Old Ones, rich with artifacts), people will come to an accord to ensure fair allocation, even if they are otherwise at all odds. While other groups may be built on foundations of trust and respect, resource collectives are just as often built on mutual distrust.

Some questions which may help:

• Who were the originators of the group? Did they have any different interpretations of the purpose of the group?
• Why did the group come together? Does that historical reason still bind them?
• When did the group form? Has it stayed together since then, or experienced any disruptions?
• Where is the geographical area for this group? Does that area influence anything about the group?
• How does authority work within the group?
• What divides the people within the group from everyone else?

Beliefs

This section covers a number of religious, spiritual, cultural, and miscellaneous beliefs and belief systems present in Horizon. Skyline does not significantly deviate from the lore of these beliefs.

The All-Mother

Mostly limited to the Nora, the All-Mother is an earth goddess who is, or resides in, All-Mother Mountain. She is the source of all life — humans, machines, or otherwise. The area near All-Mother Mountain is known as the Embrace, which has the second figurative meaning of the All-Mother looking favorably upon you.

The apocalypse which wiped out the Old Ones came about because they began to put their faith in the machines instead of the All-Mother. The Metal Devil, the most powerful among the machines and personified by the war machine still dormant atop the mountain, turned on the Old Ones and slaughtered the faithless ones. Only the faithful were brought into All-Mother’s Embrace, into her mountain, and protected long enough for her to strike down the Metal Devil, leaving the corpse frozen where it still stands.

In addition to the All-Mother, Nora have extended this belief to also put importance on strong matrilineal relationships. Mothers are the head of the family, thus disrespecting or being without a mother are great offenses.

As the Nora do not record a written history, there are no records of the evolution of this belief. However, holo-recordings of events inside ELEUTHIA-9 reveal that, of the multiservitors which raised the first generation of humans, the “mother” persona was considered more favorably due to her more comforting demeanor. Once the humans were locked out of the mountain, this likely became a desire to be re-accepted by the mother-figure in the mountain, leading to the modern belief in the All-Mother.

While GAIA does have non-interference directives regarding the humans of the outside world, it is not clear whether any interactions with the Nora occurred before the return of Aloy. Such interactions, whether in holographic form or as a disembodied voice, would only reinforce the belief in an All-Mother inside the mountain.

Blue Light

Professed by the shamans of the Banuk, the Blue Light is the animistic representation of the soul or energy present in all machines. Blue Light represents the inherent goodness or benevolence of machines, and is dimmed or driven out by effects like Corruption or Daemonic influence. While the Blue Light corresponds with the color of machine lighting when it is not aggressive, and is likely where the association comes from, it now represents not just the physical lighting but the intangible intent.

Blue Light is also related to the “song” of the machine, which is different between machine types. This song is the physical counterpart to the Blue Light, and can be heard by shamans and others who listen hard enough. Machine songs can also become recognizably twisted through Corruption or other effects.

Bluegleam crystals, found in The Cut and other Banuk lands, is seen as the materialization of the Blue Light as it departs the body of a dying machine. In addition to being semi-sacred, Bluegleam has chemical properties which make it useful for a number of mechanical enhancements.

The tale of Banukai includes mention of her accepting the Blue Light into herself, an offer made in a vision by the machines to give Banukai the power to vanquish those pursuing the first Banuk. The Blue Light taught her how to use machine parts to stitch her wounds with cables and metal, augmenting her abilities, but ultimately leading to her demise. It’s not clear whether this also included taking Bluegleam into herself.

The Cycle

Note: The Cycle is not part of Horizon lore, and has been made up entirely for Skyline.

Neither religious nor particularly spiritual, belief in the Cycle is belief that the universe has patterns to its order based on concepts like alignment, reuse, and repetition. The agriculture of the Utaru is the easiest example of this: farmers sew when the earth is most accepting of the seeds, harvest when the crops will make the best food, convert waste into fertilizer for future crops, and pay attention to the seasons to know when to start again.

Utaru carry this view of the Cycle into all aspects of life, including:

• People and animals are returned to the earth when they pass, to nourish the cops which will feed the next generation.
• Machine herds have predictable patterns, which can be used to avoid them or to stage an ambush when their parts are needed. When the parts are no longer of use, they are returned to Scrappers who will return the parts to the earth to become the next generation of machines.
• City and village leadership is renewed with the same cycle as the harvest. Anyone who believes their plan for the next year to be an improvement upon the cycle may present it, and all will vote on whether to adopt it.

Acts which would interrupt or degrade the Cycle are seen as egregious. Injuring a worker, for example, would be taken as seriously as murder if the worker were unable to return to their duties. Polyamory and gender fluidity are perfectly normal, and often desirable if they bring alignment to the community, while stealing away a spouse who was also a parent, and therefore unable to continue to raise their family, would be a serious crime.

Small, short-term sacrifices which achieve larger, longer-term benefits are seen as especially honorable. When the Utaru were ravaged by the Carja during the Red Raids, they offered large quantities of grain to restore the peace. This loss of food for the Utaru was seen as a worthy and honorable sacrifice in the service of the far greater good. Disrupting the Cycles of the Utaru was worth bringing harmony to the larger Cycle of the two tribes.

Belief in the Cycle does not come with a title — people who do so are not “Cyclists”. Instead, when distinguishing between people who believe and those who do not, it is generally phrased as “they do (not) understand (the Cycle)”. It is also common to use metaphor to make such references. For example, an Utaru referring to a Nora might say “that one would fish in the dead of winter, then leave the bones in a pile”, alluding to both an ignorance of the seasons and a misuse of a recyclable resource.

Players may be tempted to draw parallels between the Cycle and Buddhist Dharma. While there is overlap in the broad strokes, belief in the Cycle is not a direct descendent of Buddhism. A narrow view of Dharma can be interpreted as implying a “true calling” to all things, but that determinism and fundamental order isn’t quite what belief in the Cycle espouses. Instead, the Cycle does not suppose there is one perfect way for the universe to be in harmony, but that tensions between things can be resolved, or at least reduced, by aligning them through observation and reconfiguration. This may mean changing the functions of one or more parts, whether temporarily or permanently, to improve an entire system.

Depictions

While there is no single symbol to identify the Cycle, all follow similar themes: one or more lines or curves, joined head to tail, in a loop. Most Utaru would mark the head of a line or arc with a single hook-stroke connected to the rest, not a double-stroke crossing the rest. Some variations have particular implications:

• A single circle with its own head and tail joined is used only to represent intentionally over-simplistic Cycle concepts, and is often used pejoratively. For example, drawing a circle on your palm without lifting your finger is equivalent to saying out loud “that’s ludicrous”.

• An eye shape with the eyelids being a two-arc cycle, and the cornea being another two-arc cycle inside it, is often seen on the armor or makeup of a Pinned Scythe.

• Executors of note, who have been successful for a number of years or across a number of projects, are often gifted brooches fashioned from wires of different metals dyed multiple colors, woven in complex patterns which ultimately form a cycle. These represent the Executor’s ability to see and address the complex and inter-related issues present in cycles of significant impact. Wearing one of these without earning it is just short of a crime. Ripping one from the chest of an Executor is a serious insult and accusation.

• A broken cycle is a sign of distress, or of vandalism implying an accusation of unfair practices.

Cultural Affectations

The ubiquity of the Cycle leads to some affectations or stereotypes:

• Maps with directions always show a route out and back. Leaving off the return trip is almost seen as threatening: the implication is the traveler will be incapable of returning.

• TODO

Sun-Faith

The tales of the founding of Meridian and the Carja people are rife with imagery of the Sun, given divine and life-giving traits. Araman, who led the group to split from the Nora, discovered the Leaves in a ruin, directed by a shaft of sunlight. The Meridian Spire seemed to reach up to touch the sun, directing the weary travelers to the mesa which would become Meridian. The Carja have taken such divine solar intervention to show that the Sun is a deity worthy of worship. Its desires are interpreted and executed by the Sun-King. Some Carja even believe this divine right makes the Sun-King infallible, an embodiment of the sun itself, leading them to split and become the Carja in Shadow when Avad slew Jiran.

Sun-Faith is an organized religion — it includes temples, an order of Sun-Priests, scheduled daily rituals, branded ornamentation, and even judicial powers stemming from its political integration. Like any belief with governmental support, not all Sun-Priests are able to resist the temptations of power. Canonically, it is not clear if the organization is rotten to the core, or if Aloy just happened to find the few bad apples.

World Machine

Unlike the spiritual and religious beliefs of the other tribes, Oseram believe the world is an intricate machine. While no one person can understand the entire machine at once, continued research and innovation can broaden one’s ability to perceive its mechanism. It was the failure of the Old Ones to maintain the machine of the world which led to their downfall.

In practical terms, belief in the world machine is not that some divine being created it, but that every part of the surrounding world is inextricably linked with every other part. Changes to one part, whether for the better or the worse, ripple through all connected parts. If you’re smart and industrious enough to see the connections, you have the power to effect great change, or to take advantage of those who do not.

It is not canon to Horizon lore, but in Skyline the Oseram belief in the world machine gives them an interesting view of the Utaru. Utaru beliefs of the cycles of birth, life, decay, and rebirth, are viewed by the Oseram as a primitive version of their own, more logical views. Some Oseram view this negatively, as if Utaru choose to live in ignorance even though they are so close to understanding. Others see Utaru intuitions about reality as far closer than other tribes, and are impressed that a people without mechanical curiosity could develop that intuition to the point they have. This has led a number of Oseram, especially women fleeing the Oseram patriarchy, to make the journey to resettle in Utaru lands.

Places

Old Ones places indexed by lore names

Deeproot

Note: Deeproot is not part of Horizon lore, and has been made up entirely for Skyline.

Deeproot is the largest Utaru city, capital of the Plainsong territory. Much of the city is a large market, exhibiting every kind of fruit, vegetable, herb, machine part, domesticated animal, skin and fur, wood, stone, gem, art, craft, and anything else which could be bought, sold, or traded. The market runs all year, even in the dead of winter and covered in snow.

While most of the population of Deeproot is Utaru, the second largest group is Oseram, especially women. This leads to an aspect of Deeproot that is surprising to some visitors: it’s more industrial than many would expect from a land full of people who mostly seem to be farmers. The city does not suffer from the smoke and haze of Mainspring, but the clatter of forges and machinery can be heard at all hours. Much of this machinery is in the service of goods processing: automated solutions for sorting and crushing grains, machine-driven tool forges, and on and on. All of these are run by Oseram women, with a steady queue of Utaru merchants.

Nora traders, generally of furs and carved woods, occasionally make it as far as Deeproot, but it is rare. Tenakth are even more rare, only seen in Deeproot every few years. Carja nobles travelling with their families are more common, showing up every year in warmer months and disappearing in winter. Banuk seem to have an ebb and flow to their presence — years may pass without a single Banuk in Deeproot, only to be followed by dozens of Banuk trading all manner of brightly-colored arts and crafts.

Deeproot is home to The Evergreen Fields, a large trade school dedicated to agriculture, animal husbandry, and botany. Villages throughout Plainsong send their teens to “The Green” for three years — it’s not compulsory, but it’s so positively viewed that it would be uncommon to find a farmer or tradesperson who had not attended. There is no fee to attend, but the curriculum is entirely practical, with the students producing enough goods and labor to cover expenses. The first two years are spent learning, while the third year is spent teaching. It’s also not uncommon for graduates to spend a fourth year in Deeproot, apprenticing for a chosen trade, before returning home.

Government

Like all other Utaru settlements, the government in Deeproot is elected annually at the end of the spring wheat harvest season. There is not a single leader of Deeproot, nor of the Utaru. Instead, Utaru petition to be given the authority and responsibility for some aspect of society for one year. This petition always involves some kind of proposal, and there may be many overlapping proposals. Petitioners are given two weeks to evangelize and debate their proposals, which are then voted upon by anyone present, regardless of tribe, age, or gender. A petitioner whose proposal is accepted is given an Executor title to match — i.e., “Executor of Nora Relations” — for the one-year duration of the proposal.

Newcomers to Deeproot may find this confusing, as there’s no single person in charge. Sometimes it can be unclear who has ultimate authority if a request seems to apply to the domains of multiple Executors, but this is expected — it is the responsibility of each individual to ensure they have sought out all appropriate Executors. Utaru appreciate that finding an authority figure requires one to explain what they want, making for open discussion of goals instead of back-room deals.

In practical terms, this annual proposal cycle is not as chaotic as it may sound. Utaru generally avoid making fast, sweeping changes, instead preferring a more iterative, incremental approach. Most proposals will only differ from the previous year by small degrees, and even modest changes are not guaranteed to get favorable votes. For every progressive Utaru who would like to see and try new things, there’s a conservative Utaru who would prefer to stick with what is already known to work.

Geography

Deeproot is located to the northwest of Wichita, Kansas, along the Arkansas River, which the Utaru have named the Sunrise River. This puts it approximately 480mi (ca. 770km) from Mother’s Watch (Pikes Peak, Colorado), and 950mi (ca. 1,500km) from Meridian (Eagle Canyon, Utah). On foot, the trip to Mother’s Watch would take around 160hr, or 16-20 days.

The following table shows distances and travel times between Deeproot and major places and waypoints:

Machines

In the Horizon setting, the ecological niche filled by megafauna is instead filled by robotic machines in the form of animals. These machines were originally designed as docile and safe to be around, with animal shapes to put humans at ease. It would be more efficient to build large, tractor-combine-like vehicles to work the land, but that would put psychological distance between humans, the land, and the working machines. Instead, to strengthen the bond of humans and machines working together to rebuild, the machines were designed with aesthetically pleasing animal shapes to prepare humans for the eventual reintroduction of their representative species.

The Derangement changed this. HEPHAESTUS began adding sharp horns and antlers, which served no agricultural or structural purpose. Fuel sources such as Blaze canisters were repurposed to fuel ad hoc weapons. Eventually, armaments including projectile and beam weapons were added, while the animal chassis lost their intended counterparts and became fantastical.

Crucibles

Behemoth

Bellowback

Broadhead

Charger

Control Tower

Corruptor

Deathbringer

Fireclaw & Frostclaw

Frostclaw

Glinthawk

TODO

History

The tale of the founding of Meridian includes references to Glinthawks already roosting atop the mesas and guiding the Carja on their journey. Glinthawks in the story are portrayed as a positive and helpful presence, and not the terrors from the sky they are seen as today. Estimates put this account as approximately three centuries before the events of HZD.

Flying Speed

Glinthawk cruising speed is just under 55 mi/h (88 km/h). It loses 5 mi/h (8 km/h) for every 200 lb (180 kg) it has to carry, to a maximum carrying capacity of 600 lb (540 kg).

Like other machines, it has “run” and “sprint” variants on this speed, which are double (110 mi/h, 176 km/h) and quadruple (220 mi/h, 352 km/h) that value. These faster speeds also consume Blaze, at a rate of 2 and 5 canisters per hour, respectively. Speed losses due to weight are also doubled and quadrupled for those speeds, respectively. If forced to sustain its “sprint” speed, stresses on the engines and airframe will tear the Glinthawk apart in under 3 hours (ca. 620mi / 1000km). Its “run” speed can be sustained for up to 8 hours, at which time it will need 1 hour of repairs to continue.

Glinthawks as Mounts

Skyline modules leave it up to the Narrator to decide whether overridden Glinthawks can be mounted and flown, or if they can pick up and carry people. A Glinthawk’s cruising speed would make it very difficult for a human on its back to keep a grip without getting ripped off by the force of the wind. Being picked up and carried by the shoulders would likely (be quite painful and) have the same problem. A hang-glider setup might work better, as would being carried in a basket or a sling.

Having said all that, it’s your game: if you want to travel via Glinthawk, you go right ahead. There’s nothing in Skyline which says you can’t.

Grazer

Lancehorn

Longleg

Metal Devil

Ravager

Rockbreaker

Sawtooth

Scorcher

Scrapper

Shell-Walker

Snapmaw

TODO

Chillwater

Snapmaws are not the only machines to use Chillwater, but they do have an interesting relationship with the substance. When left to their own devices, Snapmaws will find a “nest area” on land where they will “regurgitate” containers of Chillwater, before going back into the water to repeat the cycle. They seem to produce an effectively unlimited supply of the substance, which could be interpreted as a byproduct of their water purification efforts. This could imply Chillwater is not just pure liquid nitrogen, but also some additional chemical refrigerant compound, cleaned directly from the water supply, or created from the chemicals which are. This seems a reasonable supposition, ss chemical refrigerants are often chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which would be created from hydrocarbon fuel chemicals found in modern pollution, and presumably created as byproduct of the operation of FARO war machines.

Stalker

Stormbird

TODO

Flying Speed

Stormbird cruising speed is just over 80 mi/h (ca. 130 km/h). It loses 5 mi/h (8 km/h) for every 400 lb (180kg) it has to carry, to a maximum carrying capacity of 1600lb (ca. 720kg).

Like other machines, it has “run” and “sprint” variants on this speed, which are double (160 mi/h, 260 km/h) and quadruple (320 mi/h, 520 km/h) that value. These faster speed also consume Blaze, at a rate of 4 and 10 canisters per hour, respectively. Speed losses due to weight are also doubled and quadrupled for those speeds, respectively. If forced to sustain its “sprint” speed, stresses on the engines and airframe will tear the Stormbird apart in under 4 hours (ca. 1200mi / 1900km). Its “run” speed can be sustained for up to 10 hours, at which time it will need 1 hour of repairs to continue.

Stormbirds as Mounts

As with Glinthawks, Skyline leaves it up to the Narrator to decide whether Stormbirds can be mounted, or used to carry players. Stormbirds are even faster than Glinthawks, adding in engine exhaust to worry about.

It’s your game: if you want to travel via Stormbird, you go right ahead. There’s nothing in Skyline which says you can’t.

Strider

Tallneck

Thunderjaw

Trampler

TODO

History

While the first recorded Hunter’s Lodge hunt of a Trampler was in the time of Hivas (the 12th Sun-King), the history of the Sun-Kings points to an earlier reference of the machine: Juawadan (the 4th Sun-King) is said to have “stocked the metal markets with the spoils of his own Trampler hunts”. This would imply Tramplers, in some form, have been around for at least 200 years.

Watcher

Forbidden West Machines

• Bristleback

Creating your own machines

Keep in mind a few simple guideline questions when creating your own machine.

Which AI designed it?

DEMETER-designed machines perform some ecological role and mirror an animal species likely to be reintroduced in the future. HEPHAESTUS-designed machines perform labor roles and are generally not intended to be seen above ground or interacting with humans, and therefore have a utilitarian, non-animal aesthetic. Human-designed machines, predating Zero Dawn, only survived if they were part of the military swarm.

What is its function?

Most machines are created with one, sometimes two, intended uses. Striders work the land, while Shell-Walkers provide over-land resource transport. Even Stormbirds, as weaponized as they have become, were originally designed to seed rainclouds and provide air transport.

What is its form?

This should logically follow its function. For example, a machine designed to pick fruit from tall trees and spread seeds might take the form of an orangutan. A machine designed to seed river systems with algaes and bottom-feeding crustaceans might take the form of a ray or an octopus.

If an AI other than DEMETER influenced the design, it should be reflected in the form. HADES-influenced machines may still perform their intended role, but will likely also be larger, have more armaments, and be more aggressive than normal. HEPHAESTUS-influenced machines might be bulkier and less graceful, and have more anachronistic features such as anti-grav plates instead of legs.

What are its defenses?

Even an “unarmed” machine like the Watcher can defend itself, whether with its feet, its tail, or even just using itself as a projectile. More aggressive machines might have teeth, claws, horns, and other physical traits which can be used as weapons, even if they don’t have explicit armaments.

Consider also how tools which befit the machine’s function might be repurposed as weapons. Bellowback flame throwers might have been designed to start controlled fires, while the Shell-Walker’s electric bolts might have started as arc welding tools. Even the Corruptor has non-obvious weapon options: it can use its scorpion-stinger arm to fling rocks and other objects, making improvised missiles.

What are its weaknesses?

Every optimization for one purpose should yield a design compromise, and therefore a weakness. Deathbringers may have nigh-unlimited ammunition and ridiculous armor, but all that weight limits their mobility and all that armor means they have to occasionally expose vulnerable heat sinks to open air. Snapmaws have significant armor plating, but those plates are vulnerable to being shot or blown off, leaving exposed weak spots. Ravagers have cannons which can do significant ranged damage, but those cannons can be destroyed.

Consider the destructible parts of your machine: define what can be disabled, detached, or destroyed, and how that affects both the machine’s behavior and the party strategy. This destruction does not always have to work in the party’s favor. For example, a control module might limit a machine’s strength as a safety measure around humans, so destroying it might make the machine’s attacks even stronger.

What are its limitations?

Invincible enemies with unlimited range and ammunition aren’t fun. A Stormbird that only shot lightning balls from a thousand feet in the air would make for a grueling fight, as would a Bellowback which produced an impenetrable, unending ring of fire. In fantasy settings, this is why dragons have to wait or roll to get their elemental breath attack back.

Try to come up with limitations in the tactics of your machine to encourage coordination or planning in your players. Stormbird bolts have limited range, along with capacitors which take time to recharge after each shot, requiring it to fly down into melee range to attack. Bellowback snouts run the risk of overheating or freezing solid, so they need to regularly pause their ranged attacks to let their snouts cool or thaw. Stalkers are built for stealth and agility, limiting their options for armor and weapons.

Environment

Plants

Animals

Most fauna have not yet been reintroduced into the ecosystem. The largest animals seen in the wild are boar and goats, both roughly thigh-high to a human.

Species in the wild currently include: badger, bat, boar, fox, goat, goose, owl, rabbit, rat, salmon, squirrel, turkey.

For hunting purposes, most wild animals can be taken down with a single successful hit. Boar and goats might take an additional hit if the narrative requires it. Some animals, like owls, are nocturnal and only active at night.

In your setting, you are welcome to introduce other animals which make sense in your local. However, you will likely want to put some thought into how those animals fit in the ecosystem. Remember that DEMETER is an entire AI dedicated to rebuilding biomes, and would be quite good at building a food chain. Rats exist in the wild, so it would be reasonable to introduce animals which eat them, including snakes or smaller felines. Orangutans, on the other hand, wouldn’t make much sense until more fruit-bearing trees and vines had been established.

Of course, that might also make for an interesting indicator that something was wrong with DEMETER: new species showing up and struggling to feed themselves.

Some new animal species which we might presume DEMETER could introduce in the near future:

• Raptors including hawks, falcons, eagles
• Freshwater fish including trout, bass, perch
• Pollinators including bats, bees, butterflies, moths
• Predators and scavengers including wolves, mid-sized canines and felines

Technology

Focus

TODO

Assistive Capabilities

Thanks to the neural interface, sensor, augmented reality, and networking functionality of the Focus, it offers a number of assistive options. When the Focus comes online for a person with a disability or persistent medical condition, something extra happens. A number of conditions are detected by the Focus, triggering additional prompts for these options. All of these options are available for curious adventurers, regardless of their conditions.

Blind characters will hear a voice in their ear with a gentle but synthetic tone:

Visual assistance is available. To enable visual assistance, nod twice. To disable this message, shake your head twice.

Deaf characters will see an overlay on their vision, written in a number of cycling languages:

Auditory assistance is available. To enable auditory assistance, nod twice. To disable this message, shake your head twice.

Next to the “enable” line is a small green animated graphic depicting waves morphing into geometric shapes. Next to the “disable” line is a small red X which overlays a similar set of waves, preventing them form morphing into other shapes.

If the person does nothing, these start-up messages will repeat after several seconds until the person removes the Focus or performs one of the specified actions. Regardless of the choice, removing and reattaching the Focus will cause it to re-prompt the wearer — the Focus does not retain the choice after it is removed.

Blind characters who opt to enable visual assistance will find that the Focus interacts directly with their neurons to allow them to see the same augmented reality overlay that sighted people can see, but in a full sphere around them unlike the forward-limited view of a sighted person. The Focus does not present a fully-rendered view of objects in the surrounding world — only low-detail primitives. Surfaces in the room are just basic boxes and planes, with no attempt to show textures, contours, etc. Otherwise, the same AR overlays are available: details on machines, electronic equipment, etc.

This will likely be an overwhelming experience for some characters. Players may choose to roleplay how they adjust, whether they do so quickly or slowly, etc.

Blind characters who opt to disable visual assistance find that their Focus does not make any attempt to provide visual overlay or information. Instead, the Focus will surface the option to speak aloud the information it would normally provide in the overlay, giving appropriate options for making choices and navigating the environment. As the voice relies on the neural interface, it is not heard by anyone other than the character wearing the Focus. Characters who explore this functionality will find that they can control the parameters of the voice, which can emulate a range of tones, accents, and realism.

Deaf characters who opt to enable auditory assistance will find that their Focus does the visual equivalent of the blind assistance: direct neural interaction allows the Focus to emulate sounds inside their brain. This can be tuned to enhance the sounds in the area, like a hearing aid, even if the character has profound hearing loss. It also allows the Focus to speak to them, and pass along any vocal communication which goes through the Focus. Again, the Focus does not actually emit sound like a hearing aid — only the wearer can “hear” it.

Deaf characters who opt to disable auditory assistance will find that the Focus will not attempt to convey virtual sound, but will instead surface a number of enhancements in the visual overlay. Characters may toggle a closed-captioning system for communications which go through the Focus, including when their party uses the Focus to talk to them. Visual indicators including speaker names, direction, distance, etc, can also be toggled. They will also find the ability to toggle a projection of the other Focuses of their party members — a mini-map, which doesn’t include topographical information or other objects, but does show relative positions. It also shows a number of status indicators for those Focuses, such as “speaking”.

Deaf or mute characters will also find that their Focus offers to perform a broadcast translation for their chosen method of communication. That is, as the character signs or otherwise signals or communicates with their party, the Focus will attempt to learn the language. It can then provide other party members with a closed-captioning AR overlay of this translation. The broadcast of this translation is under the control of the deaf or mute character — if they choose to disable it, the other players’ Focuses will not attempt to provide their own translation.

Some additional capabilities relating to medical diagnosis, monitoring, and assistive behavior are described in the IASO Story module. Groups playing characters with persistent medical conditions are encouraged to read through the module, even if they don’t play through it.

It is up to each player to decide how much their characters disclose to their party of these assistive and diagnostic functionalities. Their Focuses will not alert the others to these special modes, nor will they pass along detection of medical conditions.

A Note On Roleplay With Focus Assistance

A common trope in games, including RPGs, is to create areas of the game where the utilities or abilities of the players are disabled or degraded. It’s often a “dead magic zone”, or “high background radiation interfering with sensors”, or something similar. This is often used as an attempt to level the playing field as characters become more skilled and encounters become more epic.

It can be tempting to tell the players that Focuses cease to function in an area. Before doing so, think through what this might mean to characters using the Focus as an assistive device. Be sensitive to how this may affect some characters, and therefore their players, far more than others.

Consider instead something like: “you find that your Focuses still work, but have lost the ability to tell you anything about the area around you”. Anything more invasive than that should prompt a conversation between players about whether they are comfortable with the removal of any assistive capabilities they’ve gotten used to. Some players may find this an interesting challenge, while others may find the very idea distasteful.

Appendices

Errata

Author’s Notes

Author’s Biography

Credits

Legal