The Codex

Factions

Three lore factions have a published standing in 4E 185, and none of them is the version you remember from the games. You may belong to one organisation at a time, and that is one per player, not one per character.

Lore factions: 3
Member cap: 25
Businesses each: 2
Headquarters each: 1

Under armsAn organisation caps at 25 members, and you may belong to one at a time. That is one per player, not one per character.

Business, done in personThere is no global out-of-character channel. To find something out, you go and ask somebody.

The Companions

up to 25 members

Jorrvaskr stands empty. The mantle of Harbinger is unclaimed, and has been for forty years.

Some sixty years ago, shield brother and shield sister took up arms against one another in vile disagreement over one question: who shall uphold the honour of the Companions and take up the mantle of Harbinger? It was decided that to claim Jorrvaskr was to prove the honour of one's claim, and from the division between Jorm Orc-born and Lok Merkiller came the twenty years of infighting known now as the Blood-Score.

It has been twice as long again since either would-be Harbinger died a gloriously bloody death, and yet the mighty hall remains unconquered. Some say it is fear of more bloodshed that prevents these so-called Companions from stepping forth; others believe the ancient warriors are no more.

What joining offers

The legacy is not gone, and the hall is not held. A band with the courage to stand again for the honour of Skyrim, of ancient Nord culture and of Ysgramor could put the Companions back in Jorrvaskr, which is a story with a beginning available to players right now.

The College of Winterhold

up to 25 members

Teaching three semesters, and the only place with reliable spellbook access.

The College traces its history to the Cleverfolk, the shamans and spellsingers of the ancient Nords, and the worship of the Nordic Owl Totem. Though now mistrusted by the denizens of Skyrim, a great many Nords still hone their Craft under the watchful gaze of Jhunal, and are more than willing to impart their history and knowledge upon the stranger and foreigner alike.

Many former Mage's Guild neophytes have been drawn to Winterhold out of curiosity, as the philosophies of spellwork found within, the perception of magicka as a force of nature, are vastly different from the more manufactured and Aetheric teachings of Vanus Galerion.

The true depth of this land's mystical history cannot be contained within a reliquary. It lives on in the wilds, continued by hedgewitches and Ternion monks and everything in between. The Clever Craft dies in name alone, for its lessons are evergreen.

What joining offers

Three semesters of formal instruction at rising prices: Novice, Apprentice, Adept. You must already know at least one spell to be admitted, so nearly everyone arrives via a Hold's Court Wizard first.
Past Adept you do not continue as a student. You stay on as a researcher or a professor's assistant, which is a role rather than a course.
Library access is effectively unlimited for students, which makes the College the one dependable source of spellbooks in the province.
The College itself was rebuilt in 0.71.0, as a working building with its own holdstone where the Shalidor statue used to stand. It is somewhere to go now rather than a name on a map, and past Adept it is the only route the rules recognise.

The Thieves' Guild

up to 25 members

Several clans trading under one name, rather than a single organisation.

Hidden in the shadows of betrayal and coin, the Thieves' Guild thrives buried under ice. Some say the Guild exists solely as an interloper of Imperial culture, that true Sons and Daughters of Kyne would never engage in such dishonourable criminality. Others argue this Guild shares only its name with the provincial counterparts: clans, both storied and new, trading alliances, services, agents and gold, all sharing the mask of the most notorious of collectives.

In the wake of the Great War the clans have enjoyed a berth of opportunity and profit. In harmony with its nature as a dark mirror to society, the Guild thrives on tragedy and must now prepare to face the hardships of peace: with the Concordat growing ever further behind, the threat of stability might mean a lack of desperation.

Furthermore, the machinations of individual clans are unending, and none can ever feel certain of the loyalty of thieves.

What joining offers

Theft between players is governed by the robbery rules rather than by opportunity: limits on what may be taken, cooldowns between jobs, and a requirement to roleplay the break-in rather than simply loot.
Storage theft is permitted but bounded. Three items and five hundred gold, never emptying a container, and never the same target twice inside forty eight hours.

How big an organisation may be

Caps exist so that no single group can absorb the server. They are reviewed as it grows.

Lore factions	25
Houses, Orc strongholds and clans	12
Mercenary guilds, organisations, knightly orders, bandit factions	10
Khajiit caravans	6

What an organisation may hold

Every organisation, of every type, is limited to two official businesses or operations.
Every organisation is limited to one official hideout or headquarters. A member's personal home may not be used for organisation activity unless it is the designated hideout.
Mercenary organisations, guilds and knightly orders are limited to one per hold, subject to change as the server grows.
Rosters must be kept up to date by the organisation's leader in their Mereth Discord.
Recruitment and out-of-character coordination happen in an official Mereth Discord. Lore factions have their own; everything else shares one with hidden categories per role.
You may belong to one organisation at a time. Not one per character, one full stop.

Faction stones

An organisation is no longer only a roster in Discord. Six of them now have a holdstone standing in the world, and a faction stone works the way a hold's does: you pledge to it, you hold a rank in it, and the organisation's parcels hang off it.

The Companions	Stone placed in the world in 0.70.21.
The Thieves' Guild	Stone placed in the world in 0.70.21.
The Vigilants of Stendarr	Stone placed in the world in 0.70.21.
The Volkihar	Given its own model, then placed, in 0.70.21.
The Thalmor	Given its own model, then placed, in 0.70.21.
The College of Winterhold	Its stone replaced the Shalidor statue, and the College itself was rebuilt in 0.71.0.

What pledging commits you to

One stone at a time. You cannot pledge to another until you leave the one you are in.
A day between stones. Switching carries a 24 hour cooldown, and so does being kicked out of one before you may join anywhere else.
Nothing stacks. Where two stones would give you the same benefit, only the higher applies.
A rank lifts you, it does not promote you. A stone's boost raises a skill up to a level and never past it, never above Expert, and never past level 60. It helps the under-tiered and does nothing for somebody already good.
A stone decides who may join it: open to anyone who pledges, invite only, or closed.
Faction armour is a perk of the stone. Since 0.72.34 the factions with stones can craft their own armour, and the recipe is awarded rather than bought.

The Dark Brotherhood

Whitelisted, and deliberately not listed above as something to join. A Brotherhood contract is the only sanctioned way for one player to permanently kill another player's character without their consent, which makes it a rules topic rather than a recruitment pitch. Every contract needs staff approval, in-character justification with clips, and it can be refused. The contract rules in full.