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An in-depth look at the smaller factions in Shaola

Previously, we have described 7 elite mainland’s kingdoms and 2 kingdoms in the Far East (Everland).

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the 25 smaller factions in the world of Shaola, including 10 political factions and 15 nonpolitical ones.

oOo

POLITICAL FACTIONS

Sahara Tribe:


Sahara Tribe is a nomadic clan that can be considered a group of bandits. They are wandering around the Great Desert on their camels and lurking, robbing, kidnapping and killing merchants and traders. They also raid the villages near the Long Wall south of the Desert.

They have tried to raid the outpost and the cities north of the Desert, but being chased away by Aquilonian soldiers with guns.

They are led by a Khan. The Khan may not be the best manager or the best leader, but must be the best fighter. The Khan isn’t necessary the wisest man, but definitely is the strongest, fastest and quickest men.

The Saharan does not choose their Khan by hereditary or voting, but rather by a series of 1-on-1 battle, sometimes 1-on-2 or even 1-on-5 battle. The tribe is led by Sebasten Khan. The Saharan is considered "savages" among the mainlanders because they still don't have any family name (last name). They can’t even read or write.

Mad Sharks:

Mad Sharks is a group of pirates who terrorized the east coast for years. They raid fishing villages and robbed merchant ships. Their victims are usually traders between the mainland and the islands.

The Mad Sharks used to be just one of the groups out of many other groups of pirates. A couple of hundred years ago, they became the strongest of all and went on a campaign to unite all groups. They conquered and took over many groups. They slaughtered the rest of the groups that disobey.

They are currently led by Captain Cassel, one of the top fighters in the land, and by far the best fighter on the sea.

They have been buying guns from the Republic of Aquilon and have developed some of the finest gunners. The Aquilonian wants to use the pirates to create disorder and chaos on the other side of the desert. The Mad Sharks was making a great profit on trades with Zokang Kingdom. They sell used guns to the Zokang for twice the gold they spend to bring new guns from the Aquilonian. With guns, the Mad Sharks now are more dangerous than ever.

House MacArthur:

This clan is led by the MacArthurs, one of the most powerful families in Shaola. They owned 4 cities and have their own army. Only family members can command the soldiers.

House Lagidis:

This clan is led by the Lagidises, one of the richest families in the land. They owned 2 cities and 6 castles. They don't have a formal army. However, they bought slave-soldiers and hired mercenaries to defend their territory. Their army is a collective bunch of slaves and mercenary groups.

Altadon Independent City:

This is one of the largest, most crowded and most popular city in the world. This is the greatest place for slave owners, slave traders, and millionaires. Rich people come here looking for top quality slaves and mercenaries. The city is using an army of slaves and mercenaries for defense.

Here are some of the notable group of armed slaves and mercenaries in the city: The Army of Darkness, The Hounds, The Ultimate Soldiers, The Cavemen, The Men of Westside, The Hunters of the West, Instinctive Killers, The Wars’ Brothers, and the most expensive of all: The Sinners.

The Sinners is one of the best teams of mercenaries in the land. They claimed that they would commit any sin and any crime to complete the assigned missions from their employers. Billionaires have been hiring them, but no one has enough gold to buy the team. Their service is the most expensive in the land.

The Sinners led by Charley Zunich and Chesley Zunich, they are brothers and led the team together. Chesley has great arm strength. He used a broadsword in his convenient hand and a falchion in his off hand.

Charley is bigger, taller, stronger but slower than his younger brother. He fights with two heavy axes. Sometimes, he used the ax in one hand and a heavy shield on the other hand, depends on whom the opponent is and what type of weapons they are using.

The Sinners has some of the most elite bowmen, spearmen and pikemen in western provinces.

Altadon City is led by House Incognito. The family is led by Jewell Incognito, who is one of the richest and most powerful landlords. He is a worthless fighter, but is a great businessman. This family has ties and close relationships with many nobles and royal families.

Fabiano Independent City:

This city is led by a warlord called himself "Lord Celaenus". This independent city once ruled collectively by six wealthy families. Lord Celaenus and his bloodthirsty group of bandits launch an attack, slaughtered all 6 families and took control of the city. Lord Celaenus is one of the strongest fighters in the land.

Shula Independent Castle: The residence of Lord Shula, former general and politician.

Bursino Independent Castle: The home of Bursino family.

Gladle Independent Castle: The residence of billionaire Donald Gladle, one of the richest, most successful and most powerful businessman in the land.

Lenvale Independent Castle (Steel Castle): The home of Luther Barsi, former criminal leaders.


NONPOLITICAL FACTIONS

The Wolves Gang
consists of peasants who are being oppressed by the local governments, slaves who killed their owners, free themselves and ran away, and some criminals. This is the largest gang and one of the largest secret societies in the mainland.

The Luxia: An international underground business organization that has numerous branches and locations worldwide. They have ties to other criminal organizations. Everyone knows they are doing many illegal operations as well as criminal activities, including prostitutions, money laundering, dominate and manipulate the black market. They never get caught. No local authorities seem to have any witness or evidence to do anything about it.

Many of the authorities have been under the Luxia's payroll. They are sending people to work as their inside man to many local governments and even Imperial Courts.

The Luxia is led by "The Boss". Everyone called him "The Boss", including his own children. No one seems to remember his real name. Even he himself probably doesn't remember his real name.

He was an orphan. When he was a teenager, he formed a gang in the street and conduct robberies as well as fighting against both the local soldiers and other gangs. They robbed the riches and gave some spoils to the poor.

From that point on, he uses numerous aliases. People said that he had forgotten his real name, but no one can be sure.

The Luxia, and their leader, The Boss, can be complicated to interpret. Like his gang from the old days, The Boss's organization can be both good and evil. Sometimes they are wonderful heroes, some days they are evil and bloodthirsty villains. If someone treats them with respects, they will treat him with brotherly love. If someone disrespects them, then they can be very brutal.

No one wants to mess with the Luxia. Their retaliation can be very painful. They have slaughtered many families, houses, castles, palaces, destroyed all living things and hunted down the family bloodlines. That is why The Boss has one other nickname: "Smiling Monster".

There are so many rumors, chronicles, stories, tales and legends about The Boss. Composers even wrote songs, novels and poems about him.

The Boss probably has done more charities than any other people. The Luxia regularly send representatives to charity events and help contribute to the victims of natural disasters and starvation. Sometimes The Boss went to the events himself.

Years ago, during one of the charity meetings, a powerful official from the Zenman Empire had been rude to The Boss, calling him "a bastard". The Boss laughed it off with the same old friendly smile in his face, a face that seems to have never shown any negative emotion.

The next day, the Zenman's official, his bodyguards and all companions found dead near the Keas Mountain. The local authorities concluded that on the way home, the victims was ambushed by bandits and perished. A lot of bandits, robbers and thieves were caught and accused of committing the crime. All of them were beheaded. The case is closed. However, everyone knows who is behinds all that.

That is why The Boss is one of the most respected and feared dwarves in Shaola. He, in essence, is a powerful emperor without a formal title, and his Luxia, in essence, is an underground empire without national borders.


"The Boss", the great leader of The Luxia, the world's largest international underground criminal organization. He is also a leader of the Dwarves community. Everyone called him "The Boss" out of fears and respects.

The Jokers: While "The Boss" is the most feared person in the land, The Jokers actually is the most feared organization in the world.

The underground powers within the Great Desert are divided like this: The north is under heavy influences from The Boss and his Luxia, while other criminal powerhouses fighting for influences in the south, they are battling and overthrows each other.

The Jokers? They influence both the north and south. People suspect that they have the ambition to take over all underground societies.

They are the most dangerous of all because they have never shown their faces. No one knows who are they, who are the founders, who are their leaders. Everything is a mystery. They secretly slaughtered some of the most powerful leaders. They are killing fast and retreat quickly.

They are the Luxia's greatest rival.

The Boss had been sending many of his assassins and some of the finest private detectives to find out about The Jokers. None of them has returned. It's like all of them have vanished into thin air.

This mysterious organization used to be nameless and faceless. The only information that The Boss managed to find out through contacts with the Iron Eagle is the name "The Jokers", and The Jokers has 52 branches in 52 different locations, so, they are naming each branch based on a playing card. For examples: A branch in location A would be The Queen of Heart. A branch in location Z would be The King of Diamond, etc.

No one knows who the members are. Their members can be anybody, even the ones who are serving the real kings and queens.

What about the fearsome Iron Eagle, by far the best agency in the land, did they know something that others don't? No one can be sure.

Red Dragon Palace is located on Red Dragon Island, a very small island that is close to the Everland. It is one of the most terrified locations in the world. People knew where it is, but no one ever knows anything inside it. There have been some thieves, bandits, scouts and agents trying to break in, but no one has come out. It's like everyone just vanished into thin air.

Lufeng Island is even smaller than Red Dragon Island. It consists of a few fishing villages. The islanders on Lufeng and Red Dragon Island basically are Zokangese who are fleeing to other islands to get away from the war.

Lufeng Island is the home of "The Hero of the East", Hiro Terakado, one of the top five fighters in Shaola. Lately, Lufeng Island has resided much more people. Hiro and his sidekicks have invited many heroes and heroines to come live on the island. Who knows what are they up to.

Snow Palace is located on the Snow Mountain, a mysterious place that have never been discovered. The Dwarves have tried to find it for hundreds of years. According to legends in the Dwarves community, Snow Palace led by Snow White, the legendary princess from folktales, and people from the palace always wearing white uniforms.

The Panthers is claimed that they are the Snow Palace's worst enemy. The reason is unknown. They have been trying to find the Snow Mountain by lurking and following the Dwarves around. They also steal many of the Dwarves' new weapons. Therefore, there are many conflicts between them. It is an understatement to say that they dislike each other. The Panthers' members always wear black uniforms. They absorb the panthers fighting styles to their own fighting system.

Sons of the Tigers is a religious cult that operates in cold and rainy areas. Some of its members also are a cannibal who enjoys eating men and other humanoid creatures. However, their main source of food is lion's meat. They believe that tiger is the "true king of the jungle" and lions are just wannabe impostor. Therefore, they worship tigers and hunting down lions. They are using lions’ skins for clothing. They absorb the tigers fighting techniques to their own fighting styles. Their martial skills are somewhat similar to The Panthers.

Zormanist is a religious cult that worships fires. They are using fires as a weapon both in melee combat and battle from a distance. They are excelling in using flame arrows and burned down opponent's food and horses. They always wear red, orange or yellow clothes. They are also operated mainly in rainy and cold areas. That is why the Zormanist and Sons of the Tiger have been fighting over the years to scramble for territories.

Sceletusist is a semi-religious cult and a team of bandits that worship skeletons and using skeletons as weapons and armors. They operate in areas that have a lot of battles between factions, lurking for dead bodies and skeletons. They ambush and robbed rich people for a living. Sometimes they ambush the damaged winner. They even kidnap nobles and royals and demand ransom.

Sexy Foxes is a team of female-only mercenaries that consists of many female soldiers and swordswomen. Their strategic intent is to utilize their beauty and sex appeal to seduced and tempted opponents (especially males) out of their comfort zone and concentration. There are gossips that they also offer "other special services" to the kings, royals, and nobles, as well as other powerful lords. They wear revealing clothes and mastered the art of seduction.

The Sexy Foxes resides in Kazen Kingdom, but also has branches in other kingdoms. Since they are almost always fighting for the interests of Kazen Kingdom, people suspect that they actually are the unofficial army under the leadership of the Queen. Others suspect that they are human disciples of the succubus.

The Bat Guards is guarding the Bat Island (commonly called Batland) on the Western Sea for years. While being reclusive and rarely went to the mainland, they have been living off the pirates' spoils. They make a living by robbing pirates. Even the fearsome Mad Sharks doesn't want to be on their bad side. The Bat Guards are secretive and no one really knows much about them.

The Sunmoonist is a semi-religious group and gang that worship both the sun and the moon. They know for using weapons with moon-shape and having a lot of tattoos.

The Avisist is a religious group in Greendom. They worship and idolize birds. They attached themselves to birds. Their traditional goal for hundreds of years is to learn the art of flying. They spend hundreds of years to find a magic that can make human fly. The Zokangese and the mainlanders have been laughing at them for years.

The Avisist is a natural alliance of the Greenese and the Wood Elves in their effort to fight off the Zokangese expansion in Everland.

The only ones who are named after a bird can become a full member of the Avisist.

Human Supremacy Alliance (HSA): A worldwide network of extremists who believe that human should be the only superior race. They believe that the Orcs and the Dwarves are much stronger than Human, and the Elves are much faster and quicker than Human. Therefore, in order to "protect" the Human from those "humanoid monsters" and "save the world", they must annihilate the Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves.

The HSA determines to exterminate all humanoids, demons, monsters and "the devils" until they are extinct. That is why the HSA always have been a common enemy to all kinds of humanoid creatures, especially the Orcs.

The HSA have always been getting plenty of support from the monarchs (unofficially), the nationalists, the racists and other extremists in the land. However, many common people think (privately) that the HSA is just a bunch of moronic gangsters, criminals or psychopaths.

oOo

Shaola is a series of heavily plots and story driven games. Guilds and factions are one of the core elements of each game, it being closely linked with the characters, plots and storylines. Although sometime the characters are not required to join a faction, it adds value to the story.

That's all for now. Thank you for reading. I hope you’re having a good time with the two projects in the Shaola series thus far.