The City Factions

Vikaastea Settlers

In short
When, more than 80 years ago, Sergey the Schemer gathered men around him to form a small army, he had a dream. He was to found a major capital in the world, and to call it Vikaastea "The Autumn Leaf". 78 years ago, he marched on the Marsh of Tun, fight the bandits and built the first wall of his new city himself. That is when he call all those who fought with him "The Vikaastea Settlers".
As the city grew and new groups were formed, the Settlers role got more precise: they were the armed arm of the City-State, and were to focus on expending its territory as well as exploring the many unknown things in that region.

Nowadays, under the rain of Sergey's rightful heir Serrok, most of the forces are thrown into the Cleansing Wars, that have been going on for 10 years.

Opinions on the others
Tridana
They talk too much and act too little
They are stingy with the army
There's no one from the Settlers in there
The Oak Shield
They protect the people, and our back as we look outward
They never face real threats like we do
The Silver Hand
They provide healing on the field
They have boring, abstract concepts that get in the way of getting things done
The Flaming Tree Trading Consortium
They benefit from our work but never help in any way

Tridana

In short
The Tridana —composed of no more than three Tridanâd (plural, Tridanarr singular)— simply is the High Council of the City, head advisors of King Serrok himself. They are the ones that gather, process, and convey the information from and to the King.

They are not volunteers, nor are they selected by the King or even (gods no!) elected by the people. They are chosen by the factions themselves that need to be represented as per Sergey's dream:
* one from the Silver Hand to represent the gods
* one from the Shield to represent the realm
* one from the Trading Consortium to represent the people

The Tridana isn't by itself a faction, but there are so many people working for, around or to please them that they are about as numerous and powerful as any of other faction. They lack any sort of proper organization or inner hierarchy, though, that it is a nest of snakes.

Opinions on the others
Vikaastea Settlers
They are a bunch of army brutes with no education
The Oak Shield
They protect the people and don't complain too much
The Silver Hand
They are imbued with divine power
They explain the gods expectations so that Oakfall can flourish
They are clean and ethical
The Flaming Tree Trading Consortium
They provide most of the money
They are mostly interested in money

The Oak Shield

In short
They are responsible for two vital things: maintaining peace in the realm, and represent the Law.
Entering in the Shield is no easy task, as you have to go through a very long training to forge both you arm and you mind to one very specific task: ensure the stability of the Realm.
They work with the clerics to help those in need, control what business are run, collect taxes, arrest lawbreakers and help setting seasonal feasts up. Yes, that too.

Opinions on the others
Vikaastea Settlers
They are a bunch of uneducated brutes
Tridana
They provide money and laws to the realm
The Silver Hand
They provide divine law
They help the people
They educate the masses, which brings stability
The Flaming Tree Trading Consortium
Everyone knows the Thieves and Assassins guides are somewhere in there
They import undesirable goods into the realm
They provide work and occupation to the people
They represent the people

The Silver Hand

In short
Masters of the Tri-God Pantheon, they are composed of various religious bodies that worship one of the three gods of The Triad: Tyr the Maimed God, god of justice; Ilmater the Broken God, god of suffering and compassion; and Torm the True, god of duty.
They carry the voice of the gods and their power, which de facto puts them in an undiscussable position of power.
They are responsible for disseminating information to the general public, educating those who want to learn, an helping those in need.
They have money, power, and... values. This is what sets them apart from any other faction, and what makes them as reliable as it makes them predictable.

Opinions on the others
Vikaastea Settlers
They civilize the outer world...
... using questionable methods
Tridana
They make too much compromise
The Oak Shield
They protect the people
They enforce the city and gods laws
They are reliables
The Flaming Tree Trading Consortium
They are too complicated and messy to even bother looking into: they'll end up breaking into more identifiable groups

The Flaming Tree Trading Consortium

In short
An assembly of merchants, peasants and all kind of laborers. It is a massive, messy, tentacular thing with many, many sub-factions.
They represent the masses, assemble the peasants, the fishermen and the whores and defend their best interests. They manage most business-related stuff in the city, in fact.
The authorities know that there are a Thieves and an Assassins guilds somewhere in that. They put a lot of pressure to make them disappear, but never manage to take them down or find proofs that the Consortium knew about this kind of activities.
"Chaos" is the best word to define this consortium.

Opinions on the others
Vikaastea Settlers
They provide new lands and resources to exploit
They are expensive to bribe
Tridana
They don't mess with us, we don't mess with them
The Oak Shield
They protect the people
They remain within the limits of the law
They are reliably and anticipable
The Silver Hand
Their always have something against our methods or goals
They have no inner strength but are strong because of their gods' powers
They pay well, and have a lot of ressources

Inter-Faction relations

Opinions