Faction Wars in the Skies

Faction Wars in the Skies

October 3, 2025

Playing Politics Between the Cities in Aether Skies

The skies of Aether Skies are vast, but they are far from free. Every floating city survives not just on the strength of its Aether engines, but on the ambitions, secrets, and schemes of the factions that hold it aloft.

Some fight in the open. Most fight in the shadows. And when Haven returned from the Curtain, those shadow-wars burst into open conflict.

For players and GMs alike, factional intrigue is the bloodstream of Aether Skies. To thrive, you need to understand who pulls the strings, how they clash, and what it means to get caught between them.

🕰️ Why Factions Matter in Aether Skies

They make the world feel alive. Each city is more than buildings—it’s a living organism with competing interests.
They give characters leverage. A spy’s blackmail, a Beastkin’s prejudice, an inventor’s stolen patent—these are all weapons.
They create dynamic conflict. Combat is one thing, but politics that can topple cities is the true battlefield.

Whether your crew is loyal agents, double-dealers, or independents trying to dodge recruitment, factions will shape their story.

⚙️ Key Factions in the Skies

Here are a few examples of the movers and shakers in Aether Skies.

The Aethernati – The Shadow Watch

Espionage and counterintelligence agents working across all the cities.

Methods: Surveillance, infiltration, quiet disappearances.
Goal: Keep the skies “safe” from eldritch threats… though their definition of safe is increasingly authoritarian.
Hooks for Players: Be recruited as operatives—or hunted as liabilities.

Piatracas Guilds – Industrial Syndicates

Industrial houses of Piatracas, where soot and steam rule.

Methods: Mercenary contracts, industrial espionage, Aether-tech theft.
Goal: Corner the market on Haven relics and surface salvage.
Hooks for Players: Hired as smugglers or saboteurs; targeted for carrying something valuable.

Theopholis Hierophants – The Holy Mantle

Clergy and inquisitors who claim moral authority over Aether itself.

Methods: Trials, excommunication, public spectacle.
Goal: Purify the skies of corruption, even if it means burning whole districts.
Hooks for Players: Seek sanctuary, debate dogma, or get caught in religious purges.

Kerfluffle’s Underground – Art as Resistance

A coalition of kobold artists, performers, and rebels.

Methods: Satire, graffiti, coded songs, riots disguised as festivals.
Goal: Tear down oppressive systems through culture and chaos.
Hooks for Players: Protect a performance, smuggle art, or survive a crackdown.

Granglehold Syndicates – Survival Cartels

Loose coalitions of gangs and inventors in the city that refuses to die.

Methods: Bribes, sabotage, black-market medicine, desperate innovation.
Goal: Survival—profit comes second.
Hooks for Players: Bargain for supplies, get dragged into turf wars, or deal with a “favor” that doesn’t come cheap.

🧠 How to Run Faction Conflict in Play

🎭 1. Make It Personal

Faction wars aren’t abstract—they’re felt. NPCs should carry the scars of political struggle: burned-out teachers, jailed inventors, defectors on the run.

⚖️ 2. Don’t Make Them Purely Evil

Every faction believes they’re saving the skies. Even the harshest enforcer has a reason. That ambiguity makes alliances—and betrayals—richer.

🎲 3. Give Players Choices

In a mission, present multiple ways forward tied to different factions. Example:

Do you deliver the Haven relic to Piatracas for coin, or to Theopholis for absolution, or to Kerfluffle for revolution?

🔥 4. Consequences Echo

Once a choice is made, let factions react long-term. A favor owed, a reputation earned, an enemy made—these ripple through the campaign.

🎮 Example Scenarios

The Haven Auction: Competing factions bid for a single recovered Haven artifact. Players must choose who wins—or steal it for themselves.
The Aetherball Uprising: A match becomes a proxy war between Kerfluffle rebels and Theopholis inquisitors. Which team do the players support?
The Silent Defector: An Aethernati operative wants out—but carries secrets that could collapse two cities. Who will shelter them?

✨ Final Thought: The Sky is a Chessboard

In Aether Skies, every faction is both ally and enemy, every deal carries rot beneath its brass surface, and every choice reshapes the world.

For players, factions are more than quest-givers—they are temptations, mirrors, and enemies in equal measure.

For GMs, factions are how you turn an adventure into a war—one fought in shadows, courtrooms, marketplaces, and sometimes, on the deck of a burning skyship.

Because in the end, the greatest danger isn’t what lurks beneath the clouds.
It’s the people pulling strings in the skies above.

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!!