Nomads

The Outsiders are groups of clans loosely bound together by a common ideology. They draw their membership from all the major powers. Notoriety and performing deeds that reflect the faction's ideology can net the adventurous with greater influence and responsibilities.

Outsiders can be joined by purchasing the “Flying their Flag” trait at character creation, or through appropriate in-game actions.

Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.

The Wildborne is a term use to describe those clans that, for one reason or another, have rejected the new technologies that emerged from the Archipelago. They choose to live in the wilder fragments, whose territory is forbidding and unaccomodating.

Rumoured to be exceptionally skilled at magic, they are often sought out for particularly esoteric cures or magic remedies. Wildborne medicine-men and shamans are widely recognized for their expertise, and the rough terrains they make their homes in make Wildborne soldiers particularly competent and adaptable.

Lately, there have been cases of Wildborne becoming more agressive, attacking trespassers on sight and sometimes raiding outposts and towns. Additionally, the rise to prominence in Wildborne society of a figure known as the Green Mother has those living near Wildborne settlements preoccupied, especially as rumours abound that she is building an army.

• Wildborne Sorcery: Wildborne magic-users are among the best around, and their assistance is highly valued.
• Luddite: Lack of familiarity with complex machinery means you incurr a penalty when using them.

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love”

The Knights of the Rose is a militant order dedicated to bringing about peace by any means necessary. The Knights open their ranks to all who are dedicated to the pursuit of peace. Their membership is among the most varied of any organization. Serving the Rose are diplomats, assassins, warlords and merchants.

The history of the Knights has seen them start revolutions, depose tyrants, execute lawbreakers. Some of their less publicised exploits involve the acquisition of resources that would have been destined for war.

The Knight's Creed holds that as a rite of initiation, any willing member must make a pilgrimage to the Rose Garden, to receive the blessing of the Rose Lord and knowledge of the part they are to play in his plan.

A Knight's Rank is a measure of the ammount by which he has furthered the causes of the Order. A higher standing leads a Knight to be trusted with more of the Order's resources and means.

Their large membership means they have an expansive information network.

Recently, Knights have become hunted by a mysterious organization. Several skilled agents have been found murdered and the higher-ranking members have gone into hiding to protect themselves. Tensions are running high, made all the more so by the lack of clues as to who is hunting them.

• Knights of the Rose: Knights of the Rose tend to support one other making it easier to perform actions with their help.
• Suspicious: Some think of them as no better than those they fight against, making it harder to get things done in certain circles.

It is common knowledge that Amethyst is a purifier. Correct application of the stone will remove even the fiercest toxins from the body. Like the stone, we seek to heal the sick. Like most medicine, it is best spread throughout the areas of infection. Thus we seek to spread our aide.

The Order is an unconventional group in that, like the world itself, it is fragmented. They are nomads traveling alone or in very small groups.

What binds the Order is not geography or family, but a philosophy. The Order is concerned with preserving the knowledge of how to heal the sick and injured, and to extend this understanding.

To this aim, the members travel the fragments meeting and living with other clans. They make their living as itinerant physicians, helping where they can. They also look to gather knowledge from the other clans, and recruit people to the Order, often by marriage.

As members of the Order can travel as they see fit, no-one knows what the size of the Order is, or where its members have traveled to. However, they must be widespread, as most clans will have had some contact with someone claiming allegiance to the Order.

Members of the Order are most commonly doctors, healers, with many specialising in other areas as well, such as mechanics, magic, cartography or anything else that involves the collection and preservation of knowledge. There is no heirarchy.

Recently, some of the Members of the Order have heard rumours of a preserved store of knowledge unlike anything seen before, containing tomes and scrolls that had long been thought lost. They have decided to turn their attention to finding this cache of knowledge and unearthing it for the good of all.

• Amethyst: Members of the Order are said to be able to cure most, if not all, maladies.
• Scattered: Members of the Order have fleeting contact with each other at best. This makes the preservation and sharing of knowledge a difficult task.

We are rats scurrying among the rubble and you speak of 'law and order'? I for one will not see my swansong rationed. What I can take is mine, and I'll kill you if you stand in my way. Our world is Dead anyway. - “One Tooth” McGee, follower of the 'Pirate King'

Don't suffer the tales of Bards and Poets; There is no such thing as a Sky Pirate. Their 'Pirate King' is nothing more than propaganda and poster child for leaderless scum. To glorify the antics of murderers and thieves is to offer your own neck for the noose! - Karla, Leader of the SkyWatch

When meetings with other clans are 'geographically brief', some are led to believe their actions are without consequence. Raider clans are common, and have no compunction for mercy.

The Union quickly put paid to the common bandit, its citizens enjoying a peace of sorts. Now the raiders are back, and more organized under the banner of the Pirate King.

Pirates rely on a settled clan to act as informants. The clan tells them where they might find a soft target, and in exchange sees a share of the loot. Other clans willingly surrender a portions of their wealth to avoid being raided.

Pirates crews comprise individuals with a wide range of skills, most notably soldiers and men-at-arms, tacticians, navigators, spies and informants.

Lately, there are rumours of conflict between pirates, between those who follow the old codes of the Pirate King and a new breed, not content to merely prey on traders but also other pirates.

• Under the Table: Convenient access to fences and safe harbours makes moving stolen goods easier.
• Outlaw: All that piracy makes for a pretty hefty bounty in the more restricted ports of call.

Trade is not something imaginary or descriptive, but something real and profitable.

A lot of fragments in floating between the mists and the storms have unique or peculiar resources on them. The Traders Renaisse have a long history of turning a high profit by trading in these commodities. Most larger settlements have a history of trading with the Renaisse, in order to acquire goods not typically available on their fragments.

The Traders trace their origins back to an adventurous clan, forced to abandon their home fragment on flying contraptions. During their exodus, they encountered a tribe particularly interested in a herb that was assumed almost valueless. They quickly realised a fortune could be made by trading rare commodities between fragments, and their makeshift fleet transformed over time into an imposing merchant navy with wide-ranging connections. They also maintain a number of Trade Houses around the broken World where thier services can be bartered.

Diversification has also proven profitable for the Traders, now also making substantial profits from the ferrying of passengers and basic trade goods as well as valuable commodities. It is widly rumoured that you should contact the Traders for items of an illicit nature, although this is never publically confirmed.

The Traders employ a vast number of technologists, scholars, mapmakers, accountants, traders and sailors.

The core of the traders are the Amalfi and Po, the groups who made up the traders when the Union began, however as the demand for the traders far outstriped the manpower they had, the traders welcomed new clans into the organisation to further thier enterprise.

The Traders have recently been preyed on by the pirates more often of late, word is they're no longer content to cut their losses and avoid stirring up too much trouble. There has been a rise in the number of mercenaries hired by the Traders to guard their cargo.

• Diverse Markets: With contacts over a large area of the broken world, you have access to mant exotic goods.
• Shadow Dealings: A reputation for trading in outlawed goods means your cargo is more likely to be subject to inspections.