Factions
Cardania is inhabited by various lifeforms. Do they always get along? Nope! But there is a balance that seems to work, most of the time… Let’s meet the factions!
P.s. you can choose your faction in the Discord #get-roles channel – you get a new look and access to the faction chat channel
Custodians
The one constant in Cardania are the Custodians, an enigmatic hive of Artificial Intelligence that tirelessly builds, repairs, and makes habitable the megastructure. The musical Custodial Intelligence A.I. consider themselves the collective caretakers of Cardania. While perhaps well meaning, the quirks of their programming and innate capacity for creation and experimentation put them at odds with many lifeforms on the station.
Imperators
Imperator forces are humanity’s bulwark of civilization and prosperity in the cold and unforgiving reaches of space. While their methods may be harsh, their results speak for themselves.
Many citizens choose to live within the relatively orderly boundaries of Imperator control. While their laws can be stringent and punishments severe, it’s a small price to pay for not being consumed by Void Worms in the wastes. Imperators are motivated by ensuring humanity survives, no matter the sacrifices that requires.
The Fungus
Cardania is home to a diverse array of sentient mycelia known collectively as “The Fungus”. A species of intelligent fungal based lifeforms that dwell primarily under the surface of Cardania.
The Fungus is thought to be nearly as ancient as the Custodians. The Fungus enjoys a diverse evolutionary tree. Some are considered violent nuisances, while others engage with humanity as benevolent, spiritual guides. Through millennia of conflict and organic integration, the Fungus has grown mighty across the station.
Solar Barbarians
In the wilds of Cardania the last remnants of an ancient galactic empire maintain a strong culture of honor and martial prowess. “The Solar” are genetically gifted, physically massive specimens of humanity. A powerful tribe of sun worshipping humans once left Earth to colonize the stars. Their civilization stretched across all of Sol, or so the stories claim – The Solar are the descendants of this once powerful empire. They now carve a tribal life in the hinterlands, enjoying the fruits of conquest and building toward the day that the Solar Empire will rise again. While considered little more than savages by the Imperators, the Solar Barbarians have a deeply rooted tribal hierarchy and honor system.
Technomages
An ancient, misbegotten race of hybrid machine organics. The Guild of Technomages have endured for nearly a millennia of Cardania’s current age. Through generations of discovery and scientific inquiry, the Technomages have unlocked many ancient mysteries of Cardania and put their discoveries to good use. They are also responsible for a number of calamities and near extinction level events. With their use of bio-enhancements, cybernetic implants, nanite injections and neural stimulants, the Technomages are arguably more machine than man. Once cursed by a machine god and now shackled to the eternal servitude of a singular directive: Assimilate all organic life.
Void Priests
The enigmatic Void Priests are masters of psionic powers and manipulators of void energy. Legends hold that Cardania itself is a massive living entity of great spiritual power. For generations, the Void Priests have worshipped Cardania as nothing less than a deity. Through secretive traditions, the Priests harness raw psychic energy to create miracles and rain holy destruction upon their enemies. While reviled by their foes, they claim to serve our reality in an endless battle against unknown forces from the Void beyond…
Spacers
The unruly misfits and outcasts of Cardania’s human civilizations. Spacers eschew the gravity bound life and instead choose to build and run their own ships. While it is a difficult lifestyle, talented and adventurous citizens can make a good living through private trading or mining expeditions. Others earn their way through smuggling, piracy, and other such black-market work. Spacers tend to live fast and die young. Some successful spacers have managed to create their own orbital stations.
The Darkness
Paradoxically, the Summoning Pool that powers the very heart of Cardania also conjures all manner of chaotic creatures, plagues, and terrors from the Void. These creatures routinely wreak havoc across the world and have been responsible for countless calamities across time immemorial. Over time, Summoners have come to recognize a malign intelligence behind the creatures and that source is now collectively known as “The Darkness”.
