Factions and Organizations

Many groups operate independently of the governments of the world or are portions of those governments that have gained the power to operate on their whims. Orders of knights and monks, trading guilds, underground thieves organizations, or simply a group of people bound by common cause can all bind themselves together under a single banner and become more powerful by their unity.

International Factions

The world is large, and travel is difficult, but a few groups take advantage of the few means of travel and communications that span the oceans between continents to establish global groups. Some of these groups are politically powerful and closely organized and controlled, others are loose and decentralized, not solely bound by an organization but by a shared set of beliefs or tradition that unifies them. These people hold pride in the path they’ve chosen and will mark themselves or carry tokens to signify their devotion.

Ge Daii

Before the breaking there was an ancient order of spiritualists and peacekeepers, the events of the breaking rent them apart. Many of their best were taken for the god's war, some of them split off, intending to use their powers to seize control of the fractured world which caused a civil war between the order’s membership. After this, there were painfully few left, they broke apart, each seeking to carry on the goals and ideals of the order alone.

The Ge Daii are dedicated to the understanding of the energies that suffuse existence and using that knowledge to improve themselves in the hopes of becoming one with that energy. The Ge Daii no longer have any sort of central authority or organization but are joined by their shared traditions and observances.

The Ge Daii follow the tenets of their code: Emotion, yet peace / Ignorance, yet knowledge / Passion, yet serenity. / Chaos, yet harmony. / Death, yet life. Outside of their code, Ge Daii must swear to wear no crowns, to offer their aid when they are able, to show mercy when possible, and to give respect to all life.

 Joining the ge daii requires being taken in by a master of the order and trained into the order’s secrets and mysticism.  The apprenticeship concludes by seeking out another master of the order, then both test the prospective apprentice.  Should the apprentice pass then they are accepted as a full member of the ge daii order.  Becoming a master requires further tests, though the exact nature of those tests are shrouded in the order’s secretive mysticism.

There are rumors of Ge Daii grandmasters, mysterious figures that act in authority of all the masters. But there has been no actual evidence outside of the Ge Daii that this is true.

The Honorable Four Winds Trading Company

One of the few organizations that reliably trade between continents the honorable four winds trading company has outposts along every major port to the oceans. The honorable four winds trading company hires executives that plan the routes and arrange the deals, captains that sail the ships, as well as crew, dockhands, harbor-men and dozens of other different positions that help the company to function.

The Honorable Four Winds Trading Company also hires a large number of agents to act outside of their traditional sailing operations and promote the company’s interests. This may range from guarding employees or cargo to industrial espionage or even assassination.

There is a dark underbelly of the HFWTC, a smuggling ring, groups of the company’s ship captains and company executives, along with a small cadre of dock employees that arrange the transport of illicit goods between the continents. Drugs, weapons, even slaves, as well as whatever else they may be paid to move to find themselves hidden in the holds of four winds ships.

The Iron Way

The iron way began with the legends of the iron scrolls, a massive library of text stored within the great halls of the battlefield, the warring place for the glorious dead where their souls defend the plane. These scrolls contain the legends of great heroes and their famed exploits. Everyone who achieved martial glory finds themselves written of in the iron scrolls. Adherents of the iron way seek to have their legends written down for eternity and so they seek out causes and challenges to prove themselves and their skills.

Followers of the Iron way set out to prove themselves always, they never turn down a challenge and will gladly rush into battle, what holds them together as a cohesive order is that an adherent of the iron way will always heed the call of another, coming to their aid without thought of reward. Adherents of the iron way will also target other followers to the exclusion of everything else should they meet on opposing sides of the battlefield.

There is no formal way to join the iron way, you are simply required to be strong and to wish to follow the ways tenets. However, if one who says they follow the way abandons it, they may face violent retribution from “true” followers, who despise such betrayal.

The Scriptures

An assortment of universities and centers of learning, both magical and mundane, the scriptures seek knowledge of all kinds and will send out their agents to carry texts between institutions and to seek out new or ancient knowledge. The scriptures are nearly always backers of expeditions into any ruins of the ancient world.

“The Magpies” are the lower members of the scriptures, they are the ones who travel the world, collecting scraps and pieces. Often they work as teachers, lecturing people on basic reading, writing, and arithmetic and sharing some of the knowledge they’ve collected. The magpies are not the best-funded of the scripture agents, so this teaching also serves as a way of making ends meet.

Membership of the scriptures is restricted to professors of institutes of learning, but they do employ numerous agents to secure their goals.

The Seven Stars

An adventuring guild that accepts only the best. This guild operates similarly to the way other guilds operate, taking in quests and requests and sending its members out to deal with the requests. However, the Seven Stars takes most of its jobs from other guilds, taking the most difficult tasks that other guilds simply cannot deal with. They accomplish their global reach through a network of portals that connects to their headquarters, exploiting the magic of Howl’s doorway to have several entry and exit points for travel across the world, this network is carefully protected. The stars also have an extensive support network and a small number of lesser members to help swell their ranks should they need it.

The Seven Stars has a brand, blessed by angelic servants of several gods that they use to mark their members, it is rumored that the act of being branded into the seven stars bestows strength by itself, though no members will say.

Joining the seven stars requires recruitment from one current member of the guild and approval from at least three other active members. There are only seven official, “branded,” members of the stars at any one time, if one should fall, an offer to attempt a trial for full membership will be extended to several candidates, each proposed by another member,

The Tranquil

Wild magic leaves a mess in its wake and some are dedicated very simply to the healing of the damage that an eruption of wild magic causes. The tranquil are people dedicated to finding a way to ease this disaster. They are skilled healers and curse-breakers and have found ways to smooth out the ruffled weaves of magic that can still cause troubles even after an eruption has passed.

Most of the tranquil felt called to join the cause after suffering the effects of a storm themselves, others joined through the church, coming together to try to serve the gods, especially Celeste, by healing the wound of wild magic. Others simply hope to restore the world to a peaceful state, dreaming of a vision of a world without the threat of wild magic.