The Government is run in name by the National Republic House, which consists of five representatives from each District (Anarchist or otherwise). In reality, it is ruled by the Council of Thirteen, never seen but always felt. The Council influences everything though Cerberus, the heads of The National Bureau of Propaganda and Domestic Security (NB-PDS), The National Bureau of Intelligence, Investigation, and Assessment (NB-IIA), The National Bureau of Paranormal Research and Containment (NB-PRC). The Government fights against disorder, watches the Mages, chains the Mancers, and makes sure the nightmares of the world remain at its fringes.
When the twin Martyrs gave their lives for Unity no one thought The Church of the Twin Gods would be the result. However, hundreds of years later, the followers of Nyx, Bringer of Chaos, and Darium, Steward of Order, find themselves sharing the same roof. The unified Church dominates the Central Districts, but extremist Darium and Nyxian cults can be found on the fringes preaching radical beliefs. On the whole, The Church values balance of person, where both Nyx and Darium have equal influence. Therefore, many within The Church try to make themselves more androgynous, bisexuality is promoted, and hermaphrodites are valued and groomed with care by the clergy.
A lineage born out of pragmatism, the Greys are a family who have become the leaders in industry, science, medicine, philosophy, art, and more. Grey’s try to breed with whoever is a protege in their field, no matter what that field is. For this reason, the Grey family is highly mixed in race and social origin. Even Darkleechers and Exalted have made their way into the family. Pragmatic, brilliant, odd, eccentric, dedicated. All these words can be used to describe the Greys. Brutal, absentminded, and unethical are also words that describe many in the family.
An old family, so ancient in origin their history has been lost even to themselves. Ellsons own the majority of the banks in all Districts. This gives them the finances to stay in power, even in places where they’re unwanted. Generationally minded, they’ve invested in mining precious stones and metals, acquiring art and artifacts, and most recently historical research. They enact their power through their banks, schools of Mathematics, and Tax Collectors - persons trained since childhood to calculate risk and reward on a deadly level and see that debts are paid in gold or blood.
The Freemen fought long and hard for their place in the world. Darkleechers who unified after several wars with the Ellsons and then The Government, the Freemen hold the major crop producing Districts in Acheron. With permission from the Government of course. They value their space, preferring to live a more rural lifestyle. Art, history, and a varied culture are important to the Freemen who feel they have been suppressed for generations. Freemen live their lives outside the Central Districts farming, fishing, shipping, and more. This, and their innate connection to the supernatural, makes them more likely to partake in magical rituals, spirit healing, and other customs many Humans don’t believe in.
An ancient cult of Historians and Researchers. They are perhaps the only group as Dogmatic about studying ancient artifacts and technology as the Greys. While the study of history was banned for generations, the Historians of Galilee disobeyed, researched, discovered, and were executed for it. Now that the Reclamation Act has passed and History is open to study once more, many have joined the ranks of the Historians. Universities of all types employ their members as professors and researchers. Their dogmatism is feared by many who think history should be laid to rest, and The Church of the Twin Gods see them as a religious cult. On an individual level however, the Historians seem to hunt one thing above all else, truth.
Hunters dedicate themselves to the study and extermination of all kinds of dangerous beasts. People from all walks of life become Hunters. Many affluent Greys and Ellsons have walked the same halls as nameless servants, and farmers. Together they have hunted the same game, fought the good fight, all without care for their previous station. Hunters keep the world safe in a way the Government tries, but often fails to do. They mostly operate within the law but will do whatever is necessary if a Beast needs to be slain.
A relatively new faction on the playing field. The Wexler Investigation Agency gives smaller factions and individuals the strong-arm the big players have always enjoyed. For a price of course. Their ranks include ex-cops, private investigators, magicians, Mancers, and even Exalted. The pay is good and morals loose. While they would never admit it, the Wexlers deal in death just as much as security and investigation.
