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Four factions of mages rule the world of Arcana. Yet only one of these will be possible for you to join. Each faction has it's own form of magic, it's own ideology, it's own ultimate goal, and it's own missions. Yet you will quickly find that, while not on the 'best of terms' with each other, the factions have no trouble uniting to face a common threat or accomplish a common goal. You'll find that the Fae road has conveniently dropped you into the home base of the faction that most 'calls' to you, from there you will be greeted by members of that faction, and brought to their home territory to be 'indoctrinated' into it.
You may only join one faction, so choose wisely...
The Circle of Gaia. Under the shades of the great world tree Yggdrasil, the Circle of Gaia makes it's home. The mages of the Circle are known as "Druids" and they've been blessed with the gift of "Nature Magic". Druids can communicate with animals, heal grievous wounds, and use the power of Gaia herself to strike back against corruption and filth that dares to harm the natural world. The Circle of Gaia is very keen on a return to "The Old, Pure, Ways." Which means a great birth of forests and jungles throughout the earth, the return of extinct species, and in some extreme cases, even a return to tribalism. Many of the mages that ally themselves with the circle worship the Gods of the Celts or the Norse. You'll frequently find strange, Pagan rituals occurring in the nearby forests. As a result, many land spirits, Fae, and other mystical creatures aid the Druids in their time of need. Regardless of whether they consider themselves, Celt, Norse, or neither; the Druids are all united by their loyalty to their common leader: Gaia. The Goddess of the Earth, Nature, and Life. She sits on her throne in the great hollow of Yggdrasil, greeting new recruits and spreading life beyond Arcana to Earth. Almost all of the Druids' powers are linked directly to her.
The Remnant. "We will persevere. From the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, we will rise up and reclaim our glory!" Those are the words of The Remnant. Thousands of years ago, Atlantis came closer to 'ruling the world' than Rome ever did. Atlantis' Empire ruled most of Europe, all of Africa and the Americas. The Atlanteans, unlike most other mages, weren't exactly "human", at least not entirely. They were descended from divine beings that arrived on earth and met the various human tribes of the small Island Continent of Atlantis. After a few years of colonization and breeding with the human tribes, the great city of Atlantis was born. It was a place of culture, sciences, magic, art, and strength. Atlantis put even the greatest of modern cities to shame with it's glory... Yet even it wasn't able to fight the Reckoning. Atlantis was assaulted with storms and explosions. Ultimately, their fate became the "Legend" we all know today.
Some mages tried to fight off the disaster, yet they were dragged into the sea along with the rest. Only a small group, calling itself "The Council" was able to save Atlantis from total destruction. The council gathered everyone it could into the center of the city, and with all their powers they teleported themselves, their people, and the entire center of the city to Arcana. Though their city was in ruins, they were saved. For the past thousand years the people of Atlantis have tried to reclaim their vast empire and culture. Though many survivors fled to the safe human kingdoms of Earth and bred into the populous, many more stayed faithful to the council. They called themselves "The Remnant". Their dream is to raise Atlantis from the ocean, return magic to the world fully and completely, and (this is a major source of 'problems' with The Remnant and the other factions) Reclaim all of their lost land... Land that usually has other people and nations inhabiting them.
Atlantean mages have power over the Elements: Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. Though they always try to advance their knowledge into other fields of magic and study.
The Jingshen Brotherhood. "We live in a world that is unbalanced. A world where materialism, instability, chaos damages not only our bodies, but our very souls." That is from a scroll recovered in Tibet forty years ago, by a strange group of monks known as "The Jingshen Brotherhood". For thousands of years, the spirit monks of the Jingshen Brotherhood had wandered the earth. They are Martial Artists, they are Warriors, they are sources of wisdom, but most importantly, they are exorcists. Born in the mists of the far east it was the sacred duty of the monks, passed down from the Jade Emperor himself to help souls move on into the next world. They could call upon spiritual magic ("Qi" as they call it) along with their natural martial arts skills to protect humans from foul demons and evil spirits. Yet they have no easy task. A soul can be bound to the earth and corrupted by it's longing for material objects, some simple, some grand. Seeing this, the Brotherhood tried to teach an ideal of tolerance, patience, rejection of material joy in favor of natural joy. The more that accepted this philosophy, the easier it was to remove spirits from the world and send them to the afterlife... Yet, despite being equally reliant on their natural strengths as much as their mystical powers, the monks were harmed by the severing of magic from the world.
Entering the world of the spirits and exorcising them from the land became a task that was nigh impossible even for Veteran Monks. Seeing this, the Monks called upon the Celestial Bureaucracy for aid, and with the power of the Gods they were taken to a realm of Arcana they call "Tian". There they rebuilt their monastery in the mountains, and cultivated their powers. Building up the strength so they could make missions to Earth more easily. Their ultimate goal is to insure that the two worlds, the spiritual and the physical worlds, are in balance. They wander the earth, exorcising spirits and defeating demons, all the while attempting to teach people their philosophy of "Self Reliance" and rejection of materialism along the way.
The "Spirit Monks" are unique from most mages in that they mix their magic into melee combat. They don't fling around spells as a ranged weapon, instead they prefer to use a mixture of "Natural and Spiritual" strength. This has lead to several scenarios of these Mages literally wrestling powerful demons to the ground with fists alone.
The Nomads. The nomads are one of the easiest of the factions to describe. They're 50% Geniuses, 50% Thieves, and 100% Absolutely Mad. Nomads are those special mages who have managed to develop a new form of magic they simply call "Arcane Magic". Magic in it's purest, most undiluted form. Truly only powerful, ancient, and wise elder mages could master such magic, correct? Well in truth it was developed and mastered by the Magical Equivalent of a "Mad Scientist". Of all the factions, The Nomads are the most loosely organized, loosely united, and loosely sane. Most of The Nomads are great mages who made leaps and bounds in the study of virtually any field of science and magic they're associated with, yet they are almost all eccentrics or crazies. You'll find some Nomads solving advanced quantum equations "for fun"... Usually at the same time they're trying to create a Frankenstein-ish creature of some sorts.
The only thing uniting the Nomads are their lust for knowledge. Their realm of Arcana is simply known as "The Library". A large connection of mystical tomes from all corners of the multiverse for any to study (if they can even understand most of them). The Library also has many rooms for Nomads to rest and preform experiments in. The Nomads earned their name by the fact they have "no real home". Most of the time Nomads are so busy traveling around the universe they don't have any set home they stay at... Mostly because any potential neighbors would grow mad at the constant experiments or the robberies (nomads are known to steal knowledge they can't buy. Though they consider stealing the same as "finding".) Their "goal" (if it can even be called that) is simply to collect all the knowledge they can from every corner of the universe.
As a result of their powers, Nomads are generally "stronger" magic wise than most of the other mages... However their powers can grow random and uncontrollable, with time if they never learn to master their magic, they can grow more and more... Unhinged.
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