Factions

Fictional factions used in various RP games, many inspired by other settings. 
==Fantasy Setting==
In the fantasy setting, most established factions are from the Daegonean empire. 
====Mercenary Guild====
The Guild where all legal mercenary companies sign up. Practice outside of a chartered company is illegal, unless one is an individual "sell-sword".  Mercenaries work primarily for merchants and landowners who do not have the right raise armies, or for lords who do not have the required number of men to fight their current war. Some companies sign permanent contracts with their liege lords. Especially in the Central Empire and in Retalia is it common practice to hire mercenaries in place of hiring and training men-at-arms. They are found as bodyguards, caravan guards, maritime security, bouncers, local protection details and as massive fighting forces. The life of a mercenary can often be a lot more glorious than that of a man-at-arms, but it can certainly also go the other way. Mercenaries are generally viewed with a measure of distrust in most of the empire, because after all, they kill for money and often don't ask too many questions, finding themelves willing to work for who ever is paying, but they are a necessary part of the military culture. 
====Mages Guild====
Mandatory registration of all magical practitioners. Anyone practicing outside are considered Apostates. Special dispensation is granted in many (but not all) provinces for members of the druidical society, which is unregistered, but it requires the witnessed and documented vouching of a recognized druid, or simply the acknowledgement of the local authority. Only priests within the official religion in the empire are excepted from this membership, including members of such religious orders. The "guild" as it's called is in many ways a prison camp where all people with magical abilities that appear naturally are taken for training, often when they are children. Mages who manage to show a modicum of control over their abilities are allowed back out in society, where they can serve as court-mages, battle-mages or set up a enchantment shop or what ever they want in reality. Mages are in short supply and in high demand, and only those who master the art to a certain degree are allowed their freedom. 
====Church of Cosmos====
The Empire allows several religions, but only because these religions are considered sub-religions of the "true faith". All citizens, regardless of religion, are required to be registered with the Chruch of Cosmos. The church of Cosmos owns several streches of land through out all the provinces, and it is entirely possible to join the the church as a citizen of the Church of Cosmos, thus living on holy ground instead of in one of the provinces. The Church also has it's own Knights, known as the Templars, as well as soldiers. 
=====Priesthood=====
Priests are found in every community, running their small churches as well as higher ranking officials. Priests share the common trait that they are educated to teach and instruct in the ways of the religion. Priests are trained in priories and Abbeys where they are schooled. Most of them were destined to become Monks or Nuns, but showed particular talent at an early age, or at least, that is how it was supposed to work. Mostly, priests are sons and daughters of wealthier families that are far down in line of heritage. Marrying a daughter away is an expense in most provinces, and as such, a better solution is to send her off into a monastary, as it's considered an honorable thing to do, and garners quite a bit of respect for the family. When it comes to sons, they often join at a later age, and quite often from noble families knowing they have great chances at rising because of their education and understanding of outside society prior to taking on a life of the cloth. Priests are revered in society as spiritual guides and pillars of the community, but are definately not all decent people. Some priests garner mystical powers known as the power of True Faith, but interestingly enough, this is not a unique ability found only in priests, it is rather found in many different people, most of whom claim to have been touched by angels in their dreams. Even law-breakers and people living on the low of society have been found possessing this ability. There are also some lesser positions filled by "priests", serving as deacons and such in larger churches, typically a young newly educated priest starts out under the guidance of an older and more experienced priest, and takes over after the latters passing. 
=====Monks and Nuns=====
Monks and Nuns serve the Church in many different ways. Most are former orhpans, the ones who are not suited for priesthood (showing great social strength and understanding) or for the gritty work as Templars (showing strong will and devotion as well as physical endurance), making up by far the majority of all orhpans infact. They are given a thorough and academical education, as well as practical. It's a hard life, with few personal rewards, but it's steady and secure, and many learn to appreciate academical and philosophical pursuits, or dedicate themselves to perfect a craft. Amongst the best craftsmen in the Empire, are the men of the cloth, and many are so learned that they eventually are hand picked to teach in universities (at least, until they have passed on what they know to someone else, who will then be their equal in knowledge). Monks and nuns are the authors of over 80% of all books published in the Empire, most of them being about various crafts and trades, others are history books or academical studies. Monks and nuns dedicate their lives to the church and are considered invaluable to society. 
=====Templars=====
The Templars are holy Knights, charged with protecting the church and fighting for Cosmos and the true faith. They have several bastions all over Daegone, and maintain the holy armies. Some Templars are temporarily charged as Templars, while others are permanently so, depending on the order they join, known in common tongue as black and white templars, respectively. The White Templars are the ones that are trained from childhood, the majority of them Orphans. It is possible to join the the White Templars at any age, but only people of considerable skill will pass the trials. The Templars are considered masters of everything martial in the Empire. They re-wrote every book on warfare and siege-engineering, as well as building fortresses to general fighting techniques, as well as having invented hundreds of new armors and weapons, as well as smithing techniques. Despite all their fancy knowledge, most templars use and wear the same kinds of armor, namely field-plates, and long-swords, but a few choose to specialize in other areas. Templars are especially known for their mastery of mounted combat, and their full-helmets, and of course their tabards from which their names are derived. The black templars are regular knights who decide to serve the church for a period of time, they are simply used as field commanders for the church armies, and are not members of an expansive orders, in the same way as the White Templars, and have no specific trademarks, other than their tabards from which their names are derived, and they do not enjoy the same social status. The White templars are stationed in various fortresses that their order owns, usually close to larger priories, abbeys and monastaries so that the various church communities might benefit from eachother. 
=====The Church of Helios=====
There is a relatively large portion of the Empire that worships Helios, not as a sub-diety, but as the only true diety. They do not deny the existence of other gods, but consider them lesser gods, and do not believe in Cosmos or Chaos at all. They generally live in their own neighbourhoods. The church dates back to the days of the Eldar, and while the Helios worshippers agree that the Eldar made a mistake in enslaving human kind, they believe it was the will of Helios that they created humans in the first place, and the wrath of Helios, being strong believers of vengence, that fell upon the Eldar, when the humans took up arms and became the masters. The Dawnguard and many of the Vigilants, Black Watch and Death Guards and so on are of this particular religion. The chruch of Helios has several temples all over the empire, and they are quite ancient, most of them dating back to Eldar times. They are NOT represented in every city or village, which is another reason the helios worshippers are centralized around their temples. They have no monks or nuns, rather their entire communities are extremely well educated and revered craftsmen and artisans. Many envy them, because of their strong and rich families. Normally, Helios is simply considered a god of the sun, but the helios worshippers consider him the god of power, magick, life and justice. The manmer are also stout worshippers of the sungod, but worship him in other ways than the human worshippers, but both are relatively tollerant groups, and have agreed to share the temples. 
=====The Church of Luna=====
The church of Luna is the church of beauty, impulsiveness and many other things. Practically no humans worship Luna as anything but a small sub-deity, but the Moon Elves worship Luna as their primary deity, but acknowledge the fact that she isn't the sole deity, but look to Gaia and Helios for anything they do not believe that Luna stands for. The moon-elves are part of the Empire, and as such, the religion was officially established in the empire. 
=====The Church of Gaia=====
While the Dalish and the druids worship Gaia as primary religion, Gaia is by most simply revered as the sub-deity of the earth, and often prayed to by farmers and hunters. As primary religion for some, Gaia is considered part of a trinity, the moon, sun and earth as gods all of equal importance if life is to be maintained. The church was established within the empire, when the druidical society was established. 
====Paladins====
Paladins are Templars dedicated to the fight against Chaos, who all possess the "true faith" ability. They fight possessed, demons and other Spawn of hell. They are considered a Tier 1 authority, meaning they can overwrite almost anyones authority, but are few in numbers. Paladins spend their lives travelling, often in pairs or with trusted sell-swords. There is a seperate human branch and a branch for Earthlings (dwarves specifically). A few manmer and orsimer have joined the human branch. With the exception of wearing a Cosmos Symbol, often brandished on their cloaks or tabards (Not see on the picture), they have no formal attire, but seeing as they are mostly former templars, most of them prefer heavy armor and swords. 
====Vigilants====
A specific branch of Templars dedicated to hunting down undead (though NOT vampires). Specifically dealing with necromancers undead threats. Dedicated to the Sun God, who is also a representative of "life", they are somewhat less trusted than, say, Paladins. Often associated witht he Wall in Nordmar, that seperates the great Unknown from the rest of Daegone. Humans have their own branch, as do the Earthlings (Dwarves specifically). Very few Manmer and Orsimer have joined the Human branch. They Work closely with the Inquisition, and the Wardens, because undead are often found in the same places as the corrupted, and undead are often found near black magic users and necromancers. Also a Tier 1 organization. Apart from carrying some sort of Idol representing the Sun God, they have no formal uniform. Vigilants, like Paladins, often travel in small parties consisting of trusted sell-swords and maybe one or two other vigilants at most, and stay on the road for months on end hunting undead where ever. 
Blackwatch
The specific name for the Vigilants stationed at the wall. The Vigilants stationed at the wall are all trained as legionaire officers and are in charge of the legionares stationed there. The Black Watch are known for their pitch-black Legion-Officer armors. 
=====Death Guard=====
A specific Branch of Vigilants dedicated to the Saint of Death, who specialize in Ghosts. They are regarded with some controversy, due to the fact that they do not consider Ghosts evil, and often work closely with ghosts. 
====Wardens====
An old organization of warriors dedicated to fighting the Corrupted races. Especially many Dwarves have joined. This organization is older than the Empire itself and is not concerned with religion, only the safety of all the non-corrupted races. Wardens are essentially just specially trained warriors, and not in any way uniformed or any such. They often work together in small war-bands and rely on their ability to sway local authorites to lend them military aid. 
====Inquisition====
The Inquisition is a holy organization that hunts down Apostates and Users of Black Magic. They Work closely with the Wardens, the Paladins and the Vigilants, because black Magic is typically the cause of many of the other threats. Seeing as earthlings are incapable of performing magic, all Earthlings who have joined decided to join are members of the only existing branch, which is human controlled. Inquisitors, or witch hunters as they are frequently referred to as, are private agents hired in, using the best technology available, and only identified by their badges and letters of authority. They pick their own men, and travel from city to city hunting apostates. Witch hunters take turns standing on ceremony as Templars, guarding the mage school in the Empire. 
====Dawnguard ====
Vampire hunters. A holy-take over has been attempted many times, and there are holy sub-factions within the organization. Vampires have existed since before humans came into creation, and so has the Dawnguard. An organization that has been destroyed and deserted more times than anyone can count. They are no in anyway trusted, and have even been outlawed from time to time. They are currently protected by the Church of Cosmos, specifically the believers of Helios. The Majority of the Dawnguard are former Vigilants. 
====Silver Hand====
The Silver Hand is an organization that hunts Lycanthropes. The Empire hasn't recognized Lycanthropes as criminals, there for, the Silver Hand operates in secercy mostly. Many consider them crazed fanatics, especially the Nordmarians who have a mythological relationship with lycanthropy, considering it a great gift. 
====Witchers====
Witchers are monster hunters for hire. It was originally an Eldar/Aldmar Profession, but now, it has evolved into an organization not unlike the Dawnguard or Silver hans, with the exception that they still hunt for money. The Law Declares that any local government must pay a witcher in full for every dead monster he can prove that he has slain on their lands. It is considered bad luck to deny a witcher his payment and also illegal. Witchers are considered mysterious, and are feared. 
====Brotherhood of the Hand====
A mysterious and secretive guild of assassins. Their purpose is unknown, but they are quite definately for hire, and represented in most of the Empire. It's theorized than many career assassins are members of the Brotherhood, but that the brotherhood itself has several layers and cells that work independantly of eachother, and that most members are members in secret and work alone as well. They were in their prime during the time of the Old Empire, and are quite easy to contact, operating relatively openly within the Empire. Everyone knows they exist and that they work for gold, silver or what ever else one might offer them. There are other smaller branches like them, but they tend to be wiped out. For some reason, the Brotherhood is considered a trusted guild of assassins, however insane that might sound, During the reign of the old empire, and even still in some parts of the new Empire, they're considered a necessary part of politics. 
====The Imperial Legion====
The Imperial Legion runs on both conscripts and contractors, and is the military force of the Empire, in defence of outside forces. It is supplied by all the provinces. It has a navy consisting of a marine-infantry force and sailors on various ships and an army consisting of archers, auxillery, artillery, cavalry and infantry as well as elite forces known as Praetorians. Roughly every black smith in the entire empire can forge weapons and armor used by the Legions, as it is a requirement to become a licensed blacksmith within the Empire. 
====Imperial Dragon Knights====
The most awed champions of the Empire, the Dragon Knights are Dragon Riders, a tradition that was carried on from the Eldar, when they ruled the cities that later formed the Empire. The first Dragons and Dragon Eggs to fall into human hands were infact previously Eldar property. The common masses are not educated enough to understand the difference between a Dragon and a Drake, but the Dragon riders do not actually ride Dragons, but Drakes, which are lesser Dragons, with only two legs and a set of bat-like wings that also function as front legs and hands. Dragons are fully sentient and sapient, where as Drakes are less self-aware, but still quite intelligent, and some even develop the ability to communicate. Actual Dragons are too large to ride, and would never accept a life in servitude. It is rumored that the Dragon Knights have arrangements with a few actual Dragons that they keep safe, how ever, and in return are supplied with eggs. Dragons come in a myriad of colours with slight cosmetic variants, but there is absoloutely no difference between them, the only difference is between male and female, females being much more common and generally more diplomatic and cunning, where as males  are very rare and quite a bit larger and more dangerous. Riders of Male Drakes are especially revered amongst the Dragon Riders. Dragon Knights gain magical powers through their bond with their drake, a bond that appears when Dragon and Rider are paired. it was originally believed that the bond was unique between a specific Drake and the rider, but the truth is, that the bond applies to all Drakes, or perhaps dragon-kind as a whole, how ever, most Dragon Knights feel a very strong connection to their personal mount, more experienced Knights, who might be responsible for the training of several younger Knights, and their respective mounts, may in turn lose this strong tie. Only a select few Drakes ever learn to tap into their magical abilities, but all Drakes have the withborn ability to work magic, and only a few humans do. The bond allows the Dragon Riders to learn magic effortlessly. There are at present no more than 27 Dragon Knights, in direct service to the emperor. The Emperor and his 3 children are considered honorary Dragon Knights, and have their own Drakes. There has never been more than 64 Dragon Knights since humans established their order, but the Dragon Stables are made to house hundreds of Drakes. Dragons, and Drakes are timeless creatures, and so are the Dragon Knights, most of whom end their careers by joining the Mages guild and leaving behind the Order of Dragon Knights, but retirements happen only rarely. Most Dragon Knights fall in battle, and a few have been know to simply fly off into the sunset with their Drake, never to be heard from again. Humans were never supposed to be undying creatures, and as such, some Dragon Knights lose the desire to live after having served for a century or so, and take their own lives, by renouncing the gift of immortality, through a ritual. This instantly kills them, but the ritual is quite secret and takes years to perform, as it is quite a difficult process to unravel the mystical magical energies that forms around Drakes and Riders. New Candidates are usually selected from amongst Noble families who wilingly offer up Toddlers and young children to the order. 
====Dragon Hunters====
Originally a Dwarven organization, the Dragon Hunters are a band of highly trained warriors who hunt dragons. They have an agreement with the Dragon Knights, to turn over any eggs or young dragons they capture, as this was the only way to avoid conflict between the two groups. Most human Dragon Hunters are former Witchers. 
====Druidical Society====
In no way a formally established organization, the Druids, some druids at least, have accepted the Empire's need to document and register everything, and are officially members of "The Imperial Druidical Society", despite this society serving no purpose or having no function. There is an official leader of the Druidical Society who hasn't been seen, or heard from in decades, but seeing as druids are rumored to be able to live for indefinately, no inquiries have been made into his well-being. Druids may or may not formally be members of the Druidical Society, but the majority of Druids are infact not even citizens of the Empire. They live and exist as part of Nature, with only a small portion of them (actually quite a large number of individuals) living close by, or in villages all over the Empire. Small in comparison, that is. 
====Crafters & Artisans guild====
A guild that all who practice a craft or any such trade must register with and pass trials with in order to become licenses. Less enforces in specific regions of the Empire, but generally respected and well regarded rule, as it helps ensure a certain level of quality among craftsmen. The Guild is divded into sub-sections for every individual craft and artisanship, meaning that the guild has had the chance to claim patency on certain methods of craftsmanship, that only memebers of the guild are allowed to teach to other members of the guild (or aspiring members), and only members are allowed to use. Membership costs are paid through taxes. 
====Merchants & traders guild====
A few centuries ago, only the nobility truly had money, wealth and influence, but with the rise of many city states in the past few centuries, and the with the empire offering stability again, after the period of great wars, merchants, and merchant families have in part risen to almost equal splendor of the noblity. Of course, there are also noble merchants, even royal merchants exist, but in recent time, most of noblity and royalty employ merchants that they have hired. So called merchant houses have arised, that are families that have made it their trade to be merchants, also sometimes alliances between many such families. The guild came to be about a century ago, and exists mostly to police the merchants, so they all have a fair chance and equal rights, ect., as well as making it easier to tax them properly. The merchants guild is the ranking authority on trade routes and markets. 
====Scholars & Academics guild====
A guild associated with the universities in the Empire, as well as the schooling system. They decide what is taught in schools, and universities, and approve books as being of quality or not so (works of fiction excepted). The leaders of the guild are the leaders of the various universities all over the Empire. Recieving a degree and becoming an academic requires that one has studied in a university, for no specified amount of time, and must be overheard in certain matters by professors of certain subjects. To become a recognized scholar, one must be an academic, and have also provided new, selv-made research which is considered valuable, by a university. The guild is the only existing authority that ensures that all academics live up to a certain standard, as well as the universities and common schools. All citizens of the Empire must attend normal school during their childhood, which the Deacons and priests are responsible for teaching in. Some people live far away from schools and they go to school for longer periods of the day, but only some parts of the year (about half of the year total, and are home for harvest and sowing seasons). 
====Imperial Militia====
The militia was established, so that there would be some benefit to the common people's defence from the mandatory conscription. That is the official truth, the real reason it was established, was because the empire needed to disarm several independant militias that existed all over the empire during the days of the corruption. Militias are an old tradition and exist everywhere that doesn't already have ample protection, indeed, some cities and towns that have plenty of armed forces around even still maintain militias, seeing as any citizen has the right to belong the the imperial militia, any nobleman is forced to support a militia if someone is around who wants to stand for it. Most noblemen prefer to pick their own militia commander however, as the law doesn't say anything about the common man getting to pick their own leader. Hunters become militia archers by default, and smiths anyone with ample riding skill becomes militia cavalry by default. Militia members keep a personal weapon of some sort (often a short sword or arming sword, but sometimes a battle-axe), a dagger, a club, a spear, a shield, a helmet and a padded leather tabard with a few protective metal rivets and a pair of very decent leather boots. A few crossbows are distributed amongst the best shots who aren't archers (archers use bows). Militia cavalry use their own horses, but recieve some better armor for their legs, militia archers use their own bows. 
====Imperial Guard====
The Imperial Guard are the enforcers of the law in the empire. They serve as police and city guards, and are employed by the local noblity, under a special agreement in the empire. They all use the same equipment, which is rather decent, full helmets or hats, depending on the situation, heavy armor as well as light padding with small and slight metal reinforcements, they carry halberds, crossbows, daggers, batons, arming swords, tower-shields, alarm flutes, hand-cuffs and much more equipments. They dress appropriately for their current task. For guard duty by the gate, they might wear full armor, halbards ect., while on wall duty, they carry crossbows, but only light armor. If on patrol during the day, they carry only daggers, batons and light armor, but during the night, they carry full armor instead. Imperial Guards are often former professional soldiers. One guard is employed, not as a guard, but as an executioner, torturer and interrogator who also serves as the Warden for the local prison. One, or more guards, are hired as investigators. Sometimes the only investigator is the captain of the guard. Larger rural areas are governed by sheriffs, who usually rely on the militia to help them enforce the law. 
====The Mage's college====
Nordmar was always an exception to every rule in the Empire, and of course, several mages decided to flee there, to be free. These mages started a college which was recently legalized. The college existed for centuries without being legal, but now it has become a legal institution, where people with magical aptitude can come to learn, without being controlled by the inquisition. many mages free from the abusive society of the empire to the college.The Nordmarian college of Magic is indeed the dawn of a new age for mages, but of course, with it's existence and legalization made life harder for the mages within the guild. Despite what one might think, there is no rivalry, not agression between the two factions, rather, they seem rather interested in learning from eachother. The college wants the resources that the guild has, and the guild wants the freedom of the college.  
====The Aldmeri Dominion====
A small faction of Aldmer and Altmer that have taken land for themselves and enslaved the local human population. The humans they enslaved, and the land they took was outside of the Empire, and as such, the empire has been forced to respect their authority as a sovereign nation. They are a magocracy, and have no official relationship with other Altmer and Aldmer societies around the world. They freely invite mages to join their society, believing the mer-blood to be alive within any human capable of magical use.