Hornbuckle is the mysterious leader of the even more ambiguous group of Holy People to the long since deceased Dragon King… Onaga. Being a loyal servant to the former Emperor, pledging his services ever since the Dragon King seized control of Outworld to assert himself as the first ever Emperor of the entire realm. Hornbuckle did so initially as an act of self preservation, he had been one of two Warlords for a former ruler who passed from illness and his son, the other Warlord, took his place… and the Dragon King's quest for full control of the realm led to the son's demise as well. Hornbuckle had no choice but to pledge his desirable services to the new ruler of Outworld, but soon found himself fascinated with the efficient ways the Dragon King would handle things and command order. Hornbuckle believed that this new ruler, while terrifying even to him, was the one who would truly create the perfect realm which in the Emperor's mind was… the One Realm.
This alignment was the beginning of a group that became one of the Dragon King's most crucial and loyal allies; the Lava Shrine Priests. This name was gained after a man named Saishi, who later joined their ranks for this act, aided the group in finding a suitable location to hide the last Great Dragon Egg, the tool needed to resurrect the Dragon King himself paired with a suitable host. Before that though, the group was simply the Holy Men, the Holy People once more women began joining the ranks as Onaga had begun opening the group up to more allies that he saw as trustworthy during his rule. This group was relied upon with handling confidential matters relevant to the Dragon King, which were all tracked and handled accordingly thanks to the leadership skills of Hornbuckle and another man who went by the title of "The Sage" because of his profound wisdom. They would take orders that the Dragon King only trusted the Holy People to handle, and they would do so willingly and without question. Now they are seemingly all that remains of the original empire of the true ruler of Outworld… but they've schemed with the Dragon King from beyond the grave to aid in his inevitable return…