Golden Horde

The Golden Horde. Some conspiracy theorists insist that the Horde keeps a great secret from everyone else. For once, they are right. Others insist that the Horde is inherently untrustworthy and will stop at nothing to accomplish its goals. These people are half right. The third and final group insist that they are funding a maurading band of space-pirate squirrels in the Great Redstone Asteroid Belt in order to obtain a large standing army. These people are crazy and should not be trusted. *Glances nervously at the So-So Redstone Asteroid Belt*

The truth is that while the Horde has an almost maniacal curiosity about the past, and go to great-no, any lenghts to obtain ancient artifacts, lying, cheating, stealing and violence are last resorts for the Golden Horde. Most of the troops and citizens have no idea what the end goal is, but most trust at least one person who does.

The deserts of Verana appeared inhospitable, but around 3000 Before Jeb small tribes with vaguely similar cultures, known as the Amatuku people, began to find ways to survive in its vast expanses of sand. THey gradually coalesced into five kingdoms engaged in almost constant warfare. In 3 Before Jeb, one cactus farmer named Squirrelfriend rose to a position of power in one of the kingdoms and unexpectedly shattered all 5 nations into small tribes. He masterfully maneuvered them into a loose network using shared links of culture, ancient tribal debts and friendships, and resource distribution. After 6 months of this, he finally pulled the last string and the Horde fell together. THe Amatuku were one for the first time.

He called an election of a leader, then returned to his farm. Much to his honest suprise, a messenger arrived a month later to inform him of his election by tribal leaders. He reluctantly agreed, and was suprised when his counterintelligence failed to pick up any mutterings about this having been a grab for power. Relieved by this news, he set about transforming the backwards new nation into an advanced civilization.

Spies have spent entire careers probing for the secret of the Horde, but are thwarted every time by the Glimmering Shadow, an elite group of spies and geniuses bound by a strict code of honor. The exact code is unknown, but it seems to include no torture, threatening innocents, or unnecesary violence. Despite these restrictions, they seem nearly omniscent in matters regarding undercover spies, who often are allowed to continue thier work but are subtly given false trails. As for intelligence-gathering, the Glimmering Shadow prefers to play it safe, but is capable of recovering nearly anything important enough to warrant the risk. Among its many exploits was gathering the information that the Marxist Bastards were mobilizing. Once the Revanants responded, the Golden Horde prepared to enter the Beacon.