Open Factions
Open factions are those actively looking for new blood — IC recruits, including established characters who want to RP in. They are also groups whose membership is flexible, not automatic based upon some character trait or another; you can join and, in theory, you can later leave.
Mage Academy
The Academy is the only means for Istrian mages to learn about their power — including the very fact that they have it. The Academy runs tests each year for all children between 10 and 18. They train young mages, and some stay at the school after graduating; these mages perform a number of general tasks for the city and its government, as well as research and teaching.
Closed Factions
Closed factions are those not actively recruiting members, at least ICly. (They might be OOCly looking for interested players.) Many are groups in which membership is automatic; either you are or you are not, simply due to some inherent trait or status. Others just aren't recruiting, period.
Nobility
The nobles have both wealth and power in Maratha — the wealth to secure their personal safety with guards and to purchase the ever-scarcer necessities of life, as well as more than a few luxuries. They oversee many shipments and large-scale trade, and/or own the rooms and buildings that less well-off city dwellers rent, the land that farmers live on and work. For most Houses, members, retainers, and associates (for good or ill) are all welcome additions. The name of the House is added to the names of those directly connected with it, whether noble blood or permanent retainer.
House Handernesse
The House of Handernesse was once merely average; now, despite misfortune and lingering rumor, they are among the more powerful nobles.
Lord Rymark na'Verra Handernesse
Lady Verra na'Maris Handernesse
Lady Phaedra na'Verra Handernesse
Lord Russo na'Verra Handernesse
Fallen Nobility
A decade ago, the nobility who controlled Istria's fertile southern lands lost everything — their income, and with it, power and status alike. Some hang on at the edges of Court, seeking any advantage by which they can pry open the ranks of the nobility and slip back into the pack. Others wallow in self-indulgence and despair, made bitter by their loss. A few have actually resigned themselves to working for a living, though with much grumbling and complaint, even now.
House Dunamis
Once upon a time, Dunamis was the greatest of Houses. Now they search for a means by which to restore their power — and, as Dunamis is one of the few fallen Houses which retains any quantity of money, they have a better chance than most of actually finding one…
