Power moves in tens.Only one war is forever.

An ancient diplomatic court that wins through soft power and cultural influence. Highest composite power score on the continent — and most people don't realise it until it's too late.

Aurelius hosts the most expensive embassies and the longest-running treaties in the world. The Reach maintains positive relations with virtually everyone (its sole eternal enemy is the Obsidian Throne), mediates conflicts that would otherwise tip into total war, and runs a banking system old enough that some of its bonds have been valid for 1,200 years. Their professional army is good but small; their real weapon is the room.

Primary goal

Alliance Victory

Tax rate

16%

Power score

92 / 100

Traits

Diplomatic · Ancient · Cultural · Soft power

A martial federation of warrior clans bound by an honor code rather than blood or gold. Best weapons and armor in the world; rigid culture; finest infantry the continent has seen.

Ironhold sits in a mountain pass strategic enough to be both fortress and industrial centre. Clan Steelheart (human refugees), the Emberforge Dwarves (escaped from a collapsed underground city), and the Wandering Shields (a mercenary company that refused corrupt warlords) swore the First Covenant in Year 487 after surviving a three-day orc siege together. The federation has held ever since on the same principle: oaths bind tighter than blood, reputation tighter than walls.

Primary goal

Territorial Expansion

Tax rate

18%

Power score

88 / 100

Traits

Feudal · Master craftsmen · Limited defensive magic · High pop. growth

A magical research council headquartered in cities that literally float. Knowledge is currency; neutrality is policy; understanding the Sealing is the long game.

The Floating Spires hold the largest catalogued library of pre-Sealing texts in the world (most surviving documents are attributed to the Titan of Knowledge — disputed). The Assembly's official line is neutrality: they sell magical services to whoever pays. In practice they shelter advanced cultivators, monopolise scrying and divination, and are the only faction openly investigating the True Silence as a research subject.

Primary goal

Arcane Supremacy

Tax rate

20%

Power score

86 / 100

Traits

Magic · Ancient · Research-focused · Neutral by policy

Plutocratic coalition of trading families and guild masters. Power is bought, not inherited; votes scale to economic contribution; everyone owes someone money.

Goldport is the busiest port in the known world — hundreds of piers, climate-controlled warehouses, a Grand Exchange that runs futures contracts and derivatives. The Council seats are proportional to tax paid. Their fleet, banking network, and 200+ trade routes mean the Merchant Lords don't need to make most goods themselves — they control who does, and who can sell to whom.

Primary goal

Trade Network

Tax rate

12%

Power score

84 / 100

Traits

Trade-focused · Collective · Low tax · Master craftsmen

Necromantic dominion that believes the Titans are still alive and waiting. Slaves the living, raises the dead, and harvests Mortheus's essence from his battlefields.

Dreadspire is a literal obsidian fortress whose walls catalogue the dead inside. The Throne harvests essence from Titan battlefields and binds it into undead armies that never tire, never need rest, never desert. Most factions have at least one alliance with another faction; the Throne has none. They are eternal enemies with the Silver Hand, the Verdant Circle, and the Iron Covenant. They are the only faction researching how to undo the True Silence — by force.

Primary goal

Slavery / Domination

Tax rate

25%

Power score

82 / 100

Traits

Undead · Cursed · Self-sufficient · Cosmic ambition

The dwarves who happened to be above ground when Valdris sealed the gates. The last surface-dwelling Stone Brotherhood remains, preserving the culture, hammering the doors, waiting for the Foundation Stone to answer.

Irondeep is a mountain hold that hosts an absurd density of master smiths per square kilometre. The Brotherhood's stated goal is cultural assimilation — formally, a campaign to integrate dwarven traditions into other societies; informally, an open assignment to anyone who might be able to crack the sealed gates and recover the lost cities. They are bound to the Iron Covenant through the Pact of Steel and Stone — the strongest single alliance in the modern world.

Primary goal

Cultural Assimilation

Tax rate

14%

Power score

78 / 100

Traits

Dwarven surface clans · Underground · Honorbound · Master craftsmen

Zealous holy order that treats the True Silence as scripture. Paladins, healers, missionaries. The moral centre of the Light Coalition — and the spearhead of the eternal war against the Throne.

Lightspire is a temple-city carved from white stone, illuminated by perpetual essence-fire that the Hand insists is divine and the Arcane Assembly insists is just a well-shaped Light manifestation. Either way, the Hand's paladins are real, their healing arts are real, and their hatred of the Obsidian Throne is real. Their alliance with the Iron Covenant (the Pact of Steel and Stone is technically Iron + Stone; the Light Coalition is Hand + Covenant + Verdant) is the backbone of every anti-necromancy campaign.

Primary goal

Religious Dominance

Tax rate

10%

Power score

76 / 100

Traits

Theocratic · Holy · Healing · Popular support

Druidic survivalists who treat the world as wounded and themselves as its closest thing to a healer. Hermit realm by choice; guerrilla force by necessity.

Deeproot is hidden inside a living forest that responds to Circle commands — vines move, paths shift, intruders get lost. The Circle considers death-magic and corruption a violation of the natural cycle and treats the Obsidian Throne and Void Corruption as eternal enemies. They have the lowest tax rate in the world because most of their economy is subsistence and herb trade.

Primary goal

Survivalism

Tax rate

8%

Power score

72 / 100

Traits

Nature · Druidic · Guerrilla · Isolationist

Thief syndicate, smuggler ring, spy network. They have the world's best information, the lowest tax rate, and effectively no diplomatic standing.

Shadowfen is officially a marsh town. Unofficially it is the meeting house of the largest criminal enterprise on the continent — a council of guildmasters who own everything from waterfront thievery to forged-passport printing to high-end assassination. The Shadow Wars (Year 4,890-4,905) against the Merchant Lords established the boundaries that still hold: legitimate trade and illicit trade do not compete for the same goods.

Primary goal

Trade Network (Illicit)

Tax rate

5%

Power score

68 / 100

Traits

Criminal · Hidden · Information broker

Nomadic aerial clan bonded to enormous beasts. Skyreach is their meeting hall, not a home. They explore what no one else dares to map.

Most Riders spend more time in the air than on land. Their beasts — half-wild, partly bonded — refuse to serve anyone outside the clan, which has kept them independent for centuries. The Riders make alliances slowly and break them slower. They control the only routes through the Everstorm that consistently survive.

Primary goal

World Exploration

Tax rate

15%

Power score

65 / 100

Traits

Nomadic · Aerial · Beast-bonded · Wild