Six factions · per region · drift over time
The system that quietly gates everything else.
Loyalty unlocks buildings, shrines, recruits, and district happiness. Earn it on purpose — losing it is a one-week dig out of.
Six patron faiths compete for every region. Loyalty is per-region — each region holds its own 6-vector of loyalty scores, one per faith, and the Wardens' standing in the Forest is independent of theirs in the Plains. Every faith starts dominant in a home region and drifts back toward that baseline over time, nudged daily by your buildings, decisions in the Heartbeat feed, and which patron you've consecrated. Decisive events jolt the meter by a larger one-time amount. Whichever faith holds the highest loyalty is the region's dominant patron.
Sources of drift
- Buildings: each constructed building tilts loyalty toward 1-2 favored factions.
- Heartbeat decisions: accept/decline answers tilt the originating faction directly.
- Patron consecration: aligns the temple faction, cools the others.
- Climate / district events: regional shocks generate small daily ticks.
Loyalty tiers
- Hostile — building unlocks blocked, quest cooldowns extended.
- Cold — neutral. No bonuses, no penalties.
- Friendly — tier-2 buildings unlock, occasional gifts.
- Loyal — tier-3 unlocks, named-member recruitment opens.
- Devoted — capstone buildings + unique faction quests.
The six patron faiths
Greenwood Wardens
Root and canopy. The forest remembers.
- Cares about
- Their home Forest, grove buildings, the long vigil, growth and patient tending.
- Hates
- Apostasy from the grove, defaced boughs, rival-patron rites on consecrated ground.
- Unlocks
- Warden patronage bonus, grove-shrine doctrine tiers, Warden-gated relic recipes.
Sunlit Riders
Saddle and psalm. You ride with the sun's permission.
- Cares about
- Their home Plains (and the Coast), travel and light, banners, horse and horizon.
- Hates
- Closed gates, broken covenants, riding beyond the herd's mercy.
- Unlocks
- Rider patronage bonus, wayshrine doctrine tiers, Rider-gated relic recipes.
Ironpeak Conclave
The anvil remembers each blow. The stone has measured you.
- Cares about
- Their home Mountains (and Highlands), the forge, endurance, iron and stonework.
- Hates
- Apostasy, soft work, rival faiths claiming the deep stone.
- Unlocks
- Conclave patronage bonus, stonecut-shrine doctrine tiers, Conclave-gated relic recipes.
Bleakfen Coven
Bone and reed answer. The marsh keeps your shadow.
- Cares about
- Their home Swamp (and Jungle, Shadowlands), hexes and wards, patience, the deep mire.
- Hates
- Defaced relics, reckless use of the coven's whisper, rival-patron festivals.
- Unlocks
- Coven patronage bonus, mire-shrine doctrine tiers, Coven-gated relic recipes.
Ashwalker Seers
The dune that does not move. The buried Titans hear your vigil.
- Cares about
- Their home Desert (and Volcano), sight and stillness, ash and echo, the buried Titans.
- Hates
- Rousing what should stay buried, broken vigils, speaking when the wind does not bid.
- Unlocks
- Seer patronage bonus, dune-shrine doctrine tiers, Seer-gated relic recipes.
Tide Mother
Wave and shore in one breath. The deep has accepted your vigil.
- Cares about
- Her home Sundered Coast (Far Reaches), the deep and its cycles, pearl and brine.
- Hates
- Defaced tideshrines, faith offered to the deep without patience, apostasy.
- Unlocks
- Tide patronage bonus, tideshrine doctrine tiers, Tide-gated relic recipes. Arrives with the Far Reaches expansion.
The five rival factions
Separate from the patron faiths are the NPC rival factions — hostile AI powers you don't court. They raid, pilfer, and mount incursions rather than grant patronage, each operating from its own home region.
Shadow Cartel
ShadowlandsSmugglers and assassins who profit from chaos and run the black markets.
Iron Dominion
MountainsA militaristic empire conquering by force of arms; its war machines threaten every border.
Void Cult
CavernsFanatics of the Void Titan tearing rifts between realms.
Gilded Merchants
CoastA wealthy guild that buys loyalty and silence, manipulating markets and politics.
Thornwatch
JungleRogue rangers and druids who sabotage any who encroach on their sacred groves.
See also: Heartbeat feed for jolt events, Patron shrines for temple-faction alignment, and the per-region pages for current loyalty snapshots.