Organizations

Gaea is a world where factions and affiliations are a reality. However, listing each and every possible faction isn't entirely feasible and not fully in the spirit of things as we're not a game that enforces membership in factions. Being in a faction or part of an established group is still a very good thing and there are some groups and power structures that you should be aware of.

The Underworld

Alexandria has a thriving criminal underworld that may appeal to certain character types. Membership into these groups is not granted upon immediate approval but due to the sensitive nature of these orders, recruitment and raising in rank is handled almost strictly ICly and via roleplay. In recent years, the arrival of a faction known as The Ebon Syndicate caused a crime war that sent chaos rippling through the established under world factions of the city. At present the two most prominent groups are The Ebon Syndicate and a faction simply known as 'The Guild'.

The Guild was formerly known as the Guild of the Sly and was part of a group of multi-national thieves guild that were secretly a cult of Taara and Illotha, among others, behind the scenes. Previously led by a mysterious individual known as 'The Smiling Man', each individual chapter of the Guild of the Sly was unique in and of itself but still loyal to the head guild located in Tashraan in Veyshan. This changed in Alexandria with the toppling of previous guild heads and the establishing of a new order known as The Guild. Due to its darker nature, membership in The Guild is not open to player characters.

The arrival of the mysterious Ebon Syndicate was in part to blame for this. Their own motives are mysterious as is their leadership and their ultimate goals but they wasted no time in involving themselves in Alexandria's often dirty and convoluted underworld of smuggling, contrabands, drug trafficking and more.

Local Merchant Guilds

From the Teamsters Union to the Skyguild, there are a number of organizations that base themselves around mercantile transaction and activity in Alexandria and that also represent the local workforce. Most of these guilds deal in fairly mundane everyday things that are simply part of how the world works but a few are particularly powerful and influential economically. The City Council pulls some of its members from members of these guilds and trade and commerce is a very important part of the city.

Ygdrassil Union

Alexandros has a small but established sect of the continental druid circle known as the Ygdrassil Union. Precious little public information is known about this group save that there is said to be a grove deep in the Eldwyn Forest. The circle is small and fairly informal, mainly providing local forest dwellers and spiritually minded individuals with a group of like minded individuals for the sharing of information and the joining of forces when dealing with the many local threats to the region's natural balance.

Diplomatic Groups

Several of the western kingdoms and even Charn have embassies in Alexandria but not all do. Myrddion, Charn, Dragonier, Rune, Stormgarde, and Dun Mordren are the more prominent ones that have figured into recent historical events. Aids, agents and diplomats come and go related to these particular groups and others that pass through the city on behalf of their countries.

Temple Affiliations

Most of the major temples located in the city of Alexandria are a faction unto themselves. Players should feel free to make use of these for their roleplay and their backgrounds as members of the various religious orders or classes that help support such groups like clerics and paladins. All major gods maintain religious groups in accordance to their theme files and those should be referenced when seeking information about the religious groups of the world. A listing of all temple-affiliated groups can be found here.

Racial Affiliations

Pay close attention to the theme files on the races if you are thinking about focusing on a racial theme for your roleplay. Ideas for racial affiliations abound from the elves needing to send out a number of agents for their own purposes to a sith-makar seeking to make an alliance on behalf of his tribe. You have much freedom here and the data is there for you to use it.