Factions at War

Enough treachery had been wrought during the Great War, but as the world began to rebuild itself new powers also arose.  In a fight to reshape the world in their own image, factions of tremendous might wield their airship armadas and weapons against each other.

Can the Angleans unearth the secret of the Ancients from generations ago and restore the world to its glory days?  Will the Baronites reclaim their promised lands and rescue those who seek to escape persecution with both might and church?  Is the world ready for the Merchant's free trade networks and all the economic change it would bring?  Or will the world be given a chance to heal its wounds with the nurturing technologies of the Chaladonians?

In Guns of Icarus Alliance, it's up to you to pick a side to fight for.  Join a faction, coordinate with your leaders, and compete against others for precious resources.  Perhaps you will trigger a new war!  After a war is won or lost, your faction's deeds will be remembered forever in the annals of history.

Alliance Meta Game Features:

  • Join a faction and fight for your chance to shape the world as you see fit.
  • Conquer territories on a vast world map for precious resources.
  • Trigger seasonal wars by completing resources objectives and missions.
  • Be a part of an assigned alliance and engage in all out warfare across the map.
  • As an alliance, strategically vote for your war goals.
  • Data points will be collected to recognize individual player efforts and craft a unique story at the end of the war season.

Join us to build the lore and history of Guns of Icarus together!

Fjord Baronies

It wasn’t long ago that the commoners always had food on their tables.  Now the only thing that fills their bellies are the words written in The Creed.  Each small bite of bread is magnified a thousand times by a prayer of thanks.  Life in the Fjord Baronies was never easy, but the land is strained more than ever as countless refugees enter the fiefdom.  Surrounded by treacherous societies, the King’s Seat is kind to any who are willing to take The Creed to heart.  With nothing to lose, helpless refugees feel this is a small sacrifice, as The Creed truly inspires the soul to believe.

Commoners live a humble life under their barons and lords, but always find excuses to don their traditional gowns and suits for a taste of the old life.  Descendants of the old world’s military power, the lords often hold elaborate gatherings and prayer services for their vassals and neighboring powers.  These events remind everyone of The Creed, establish relations between the lords and the common folk, and show off their wardrobes.  Beneath the surface of daily life, everyone seeks affirmation of their standing in society.  The more aggressive try to rise, but all recognize that they must submit to the one who sits in the King’s Seat, the Baronites’ direct connection to the word of The Creed.

The Fjord Baronies has always preferred their large collection of old world armaments and their antiquated military customs.  Many consider them stubborn in this regard, but their armada is formidable.  Despite all this, the Baronites are reluctant to battle and prefer to focus on matters at home.  As the famine slowly creeps across their feudal territories, more Baronites dispel their reluctance in order to reclaim lands that are rightfully theirs.

Recently discovered chapters of The Creed indicate that the land divinely granted to the Baronites is much larger than originally thought.  They also prophesy the arrival of a Herald, a person of silver hair and golden eyes who will lead the people to reclaim these lands.  Rumor has it that a child with these features was spotted in the royal courts of the King’s Seat.  With a savior in their midst, the people are ready to take up arms.

Order of Chaladon

The delicate balance that encourages life on Earth is disturbed.  Dust storms ravage the midland plains, drought seasons never seem to end, and poisoned rain constantly infects the little arable land that’s left.  The Chaladonians fully understand that the old ways, the habits that led to the Fall of Man, are to blame for nature’s wayward course.  This is why the Chaladonians sequester themselves in the easterly isles, away from the rest of the world.  For generations, Chaladonians have been able to nurture their environment back to health only because they’ve had no interference from those who don’t understand or care for their ways.

Few have ever set foot on the Isles of Chaladon.  At first glance, one might think that the Chaladonians simply bask in their tropical paradise. In fact, their way of life is a direct consequence of their diligent pursuit of science, logic, and reverence for the natural.  Advanced agricultural techniques are used to grow foodstuffs in communal gardens.  There’s always more than enough to eat, despite the lack of acreage.  While not growing food, many Chaladonians participate in local universities to teach, discuss rhetoric, and prepare for the world’s ever-changing circumstances.

The islanders generally have no desire to venture far from the isles since everything they need is right at home.  Those who do travel are part of scientific expeditions to observe new biomes and research the wonders that live there.  They know that, with deliberation and careful experimentation, there’s always a way to elevate an ecosystem.  Recent expeditions, though, have revealed troubling findings.  In order to survive, the island dwellers changed their lives and habits to fit the land, but the mainlanders constantly force the land to change instead.  It’s clear to the Chaladonians that Man will always be on the losing side of this battle.

Many campaigns that the Chaladonians have conducted on the mainland haven’t produced the desired results.  Across the land, careless destruction still persists.  The islanders’ cordial approach has failed and the remaining options are dire.  To the islanders, it’s no longer about changing others’ ways.  The habits of their neighbors are arriving at Chaladonian shores, like a tsunami sparked by a faraway earthquake.  Soon, the tsunami will reach the shores of this paradise isle and destroy it.  The only logical solution is to eliminate the root of the problem and put an end to it all.

Mercantile Guild

Escaping destitution is a dream for many, a reality for only a few.  If you make the right trades and create a private empire for yourself, the Mercantile Guild might take notice and invite you to join their ranks.  The Guild is exclusively made up of the most powerful merchants and traders in the world.  Their experiences, travel knowledge, and broad view of the world are as valuable as their wares, but Merchants also possess a distasteful demeanor.  “Everything has a price,” they always say.

Merchants hail from territories across the world, but they say the first came from the formerly ashen town of Vyshtorg.  Now a bustling and opulent city where anything can be bought, Vyshtorg is a dangerous place for the inexperienced—completely unregulated, the city operates solely on the laissez-faire attitude of its inhabitants.  Pirates, marauders, and those looking to take advantage of an unsuspecting trader thrive in Vyshtorg.  Despite the dangers, many travellers make the journey to the southeastern city to buy.  It is a place where new treasures can be found, where the lost can be reclaimed, where vices can be satisfied, and where illegal activities are universally ignored with enough coin.

The ostentatious nature of Merchant-controlled cities attracts many, but their underbellies are seedy and teeming with oppression and disease.  No one chooses to stay long in a Merchant town, though it is possible to make an economic misstep and become the property of a local businessperson.  Some wealthy moguls suddenly find they have contracted a disease common to Merchant cities called the Blight.  A cure exists, but its seller is unwilling to accept any price offered, a sure way to make an enemy out of the Merchants.

A war-torn world drained of its resources puts the Merchant in a particularly powerful role.  A Merchant can choose which side to help or simply reap all the benefits and keep them to him or herself.  It’s an ideal time for the cunning businessperson who can simply buy their way to a clandestine getaway and escape the world’s problems—or punish those who have denied their price because, after all, everything has a price.

Arashi League

Many don’t think twice about the tiny grains of sand that make up the great deserts of the world, but each grain tells a story. A mountain may have once stood proudly, taller than the dunes that have taken its place. Wind slowly crumbles its face into stones and the stones are crushed into sand under the feet of migrating herds. That is the way of the desert, where time turns all things to sand. The Arashi way is to stand taller and prouder than any mountain and withstand time itself. With their fists, the Arashi have become the ones who turn stone into sand. In the desert, only the strongest survive.

The arid landscape used to be scattered with disorganized tribes that constantly squabbled and fought with each other. However, as the desert dictates, those with enough strength take what they want—among them, one warlord wanted all the tribes for her own. Trampling over lesser clans, the strongest formed the Arashi League. While the League still maintains the individuality of its many tribes, they all answer to the fiercest warrior among them: the one who snaps bones like twigs, snatches arrows out of mid-air with bare hands, and has completed all of the sacred rites of passage.

While infighting still occurs on occasion, they are quickly resolved by bouts of sparring or other challenges, many of which end in the death of one or more parties. Still, fights are carefully considered, as all Arashi are measured by the tales of their rites. Some spend months wandering the desert with no provisions, enduring the bites of dozens of venomous snakes. They are purposefully taunted, and they directly challenge and defeat other powerful members in duels. Collectively, though, the Arashi are tired of fighting their own.

The desert, a place that once dominated the lives of its inhabitants, has now been tamed by the Arashi League. With nothing but time on their hands and dust in their boots, the lands outside of their arid home now pose another way to prove their strength. With each savage League ruler, the Arashi are emboldened to take on this new challenge, a new way to prove that they are the fittest and the only ones worthy to survive.

Yesha Empire

Discord, disorder, and disarray have taken hold of the land for far too long. People wander in the wastelands without hope, without purpose. A life without meaning is unimaginable to those who live within the borders of the Yesha Empire. An aimless soul can once again find determination in one of the Empire’s great western cities, adorned with gardens of alabaster columns and surrounded by great stone walls. Whether standing guard at a palace, minding tables at a restaurant, or fighting fiercely on the battlefront, a Yeshan can lead a fulfilled life by following their ordained path.

Yeshan cities are well known. The Empire has a penchant for turning small settlements into grand urban centers bustling with markets and nightlife. This is only possible with the unyielding determination and dedication of Yeshan citizens who travel to these future city sites as master planners, builders, and evangelists of the Yeshan way. Dirt paths passing between mud-brick abodes are transformed into stonemason-built roads lined with basilicas and amphitheaters glazed with mica. With each new metropolis, the Yeshan’s hold expands beyond the Western Reach.

Many aspects of Yeshan life are already decided upon when one becomes a citizen. Clothing, a dwelling, work, and three square meals are provided upon attaining citizenship. Infants and young children are looked after and sent to school while their parents fulfill their duties to the mighty Triumvirate: the Ox, Tiger, and Deer. There is little time to dawdle and even less tolerance for laziness. Each citizen proves their worth with their contributions to society and their ability to fill the lifelong mold they have been given.

Seeing the desperation that surrounds their borders, the Yesha Empire strives to utilize righteousness and structure to tame the unending turmoil—to give form to those without it and shape them into dignified people. Few can ignore the glory of Yeshan cities and the prosperity they create. Some say it’s only a matter of time until the well-oiled designs of the Yesha Empire arrive at your doorstep.

Anglean Republic

The North is nothing but a frigid wasteland where few dare to venture. The ground is frozen solid and darkness blankets the tundra for months at a time. However, the Angleans have adapted to their glacial home and have become hardier because of it, as if ice runs through their veins.  Because of this intimate connection, they are the only ones who know of the secrets that hide beneath snow-covered lands.  The Angleans claim that the secrets beckon to them and demand that they be released.  The power of the Ancients is unquestionable.

The Ancients lived in a Golden Age where technology was at its peak and life was filled with wonder.  The ice fields are dotted with excavation sites where Angleans have unearthed forgotten cities.  Some communities even live in these ruins to be closer to the technological relics, making it easier to study them.  Their focus on uncovering the truth behind the Ancients is so singular that they rarely cultivate their own food.  Instead, they equip their airships with devastating weaponry they’ve discovered and pillage neighboring settlements.  With supplies in tow, the resurrection of the Golden Age continues.

Every new ruin reveals more information about the Ancient way of life.  Tinkering with their technology has brought about triumphant discoveries, like harnessing the power of lightning to create energy. The energy is used both to keep homes warm and unleash unparalleled destruction.  Some Anglean diviners claim to be able to use Golden Age artifacts to communicate with others who are miles away by way of “The Signal.”

The Golden Age was a glorious time, now long forgotten.  The Ancients were an advanced people who would laugh at the current state of the world, where no one acknowledges their accomplishments besides the Angleans.  With the powerful technology the Ancients left behind, the Angleans are now the harbingers of a second Golden Age.  They desperately yearn for the approval of this dead culture.  What better way to gain this approval than to revert to the old ways?