{"id":4869,"date":"2026-10-19T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scaldcrow.com\/?p=4869"},"modified":"2026-10-19T00:33:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:33:00","slug":"klossus-oaths-omens-part-4-of-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scaldcrow.com\/?p=4869","title":{"rendered":"Klossus: Oaths & Omens, part 4 of 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Klossus Key Factions<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Well, worldbuilders of wayward and war-torn wastes, we gather again around the fire. This is Part 4 of 5<\/strong> in our Klossus series, and today we tackle three questions at once: who \u2014 or what \u2014 are the key factions, what is the economic system holding this shattered island together, and what myths and legends shape the souls of its people. There is a great deal to cover, brave record-keepers and lore-masters, so let us jump right into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A faction is not a coat of arms on a wall. It is a living engine of choice. Each group below carries a desire, a fear, a method, and a crack running through its middle.<\/strong> That crack is where your knights can push, pry, and change the course of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The laws of Klossus apply to every faction: nothing is inherited, Helot Hamlets and free Hamlets are the scoreboard, and the Regent’s arrival ends the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Knightly Resistance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Order of the Broken Horn<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Type:<\/strong> Knightly resistance order<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Named for the consecration horns the conquerors smashed on day one of the occupation. The Order formed on day two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Desire:<\/strong> Drive the Overlord out before the Regent’s sails appear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fear:<\/strong> Becoming what they fight \u2014 knights who seize Hamlets “for protection” look like warlords to frightened farmers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Method:<\/strong> Raids from sea coves and mountain passes. Every freed Helot Hamlet gets a broken horn carved into its well-stone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Hold or strike.<\/strong> The Wardens want to defend freed Hamlets and slowly tighten the ring around the capital. The Spearhead faction wants one bold strike at the city. Your players will be asked to choose \u2014 and return to ashes if they choose wrong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Collides with:<\/strong> The Last Oath, the Saltking’s Coves, and the Hill Lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    The Last Oath<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Type:<\/strong> Old-world loyalist knights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The surviving guardsmen of the fallen king. Brave and splendidly armored \u2014 and the living memory of everything that failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Desire:<\/strong> Restore the old throne with a “rightful” heir.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Fear:<\/strong> A Klossus where crowns are earned, not inherited.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Method:<\/strong> Court networks, hidden treasuries, and titles offered to those who swear to the vanished bloodline.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Blood or deed.<\/strong> The elder Oathsworn insist on the king’s frightened grandnephew, hidden in the mountains. Younger knights whisper the crown should go to whoever liberates the capital. If the players find the boy, they decide what he becomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Collides with:<\/strong> The Order of the Broken Horn \u2014 the setting’s “old world failed ideas” conflict given armor and a banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      The Occupiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The Iron Tithe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Type:<\/strong> Occupying military command<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Not a horde but a machine: tax-collectors in mail, garrison captains, road-wardens, and informants paid in bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Desire:<\/strong> Total pacification before the Regent arrives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Fear:<\/strong> The Regent’s judgment. An Overlord who delivers a burning island loses everything \u2014 and in Klossus, nothing is inherited, not even his rank.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Method:<\/strong> Hostage-taking, grain tithes, informant networks, and public punishments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> The whip or the bridle.<\/strong> Hardliners want more executions. Pragmatists want bribed headmen and lighter tithes. Knights who tip this balance shape the war’s cruelty \u2014 but a softer Iron Tithe also hands the Regent a quieter island.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \n\n\n\n

        The Regent’s Heralds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        Type:<\/strong> Advance agents of the coming ruler<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Surveyors, scribes, and spies who arrived on merchant ships after the city fell. On paper, they prepare the island for the Regent. In practice, they watch the Overlord and write down his mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Desire:<\/strong> High positions in the new court.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Fear:<\/strong> Being blamed for a ruined island \u2014 or being overshadowed by the Overlord’s successes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Method:<\/strong> Ledgers, maps, and coded letters. They decide what the Regent hears.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Hasten or delay.<\/strong> Some want the Regent now. Others prefer to let the Overlord drown in rebellion first. A clever knight can feed false reports through a sympathetic Herald and buy the resistance more time \u2014 but every lie is a debt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          \n\n\n\n

          Cults of Despair<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          The Children of the Hollow Bull<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

          Type:<\/strong> Chthonic cult<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Something breathes in the old labyrinth beneath Klossus. The Children insist it is the Bull Below, the island’s true king, waiting for the people’s suffering to reach its limit. They may not be entirely wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          • Desire:<\/strong> Wake the Bull Below and scour away every ruler who failed the common folk \u2014 including the old king’s heirs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Fear:<\/strong> Hope coming from anywhere else. Every free Hamlet weakens their sermons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Method:<\/strong> Feeding the starving in Helot Hamlets, offering forbidden funeral rites, practicing slow and costly Soulcraft.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Sacrifice or patience.<\/strong> Elder priests say the Bull wakes on its own. Younger radicals want to hurry the suffering along. If the knights stop a sacrifice, they save lives while proving the radicals right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n\n\n\n

            Criminal and Warlord Powers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            The Saltking’s Coves<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

            Type:<\/strong> Bandit kingdom and smuggling empire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            He earned his crown by taking it, and in the rocky outer ring, nobody argues. His low black boats run grain, weapons, refugees, and secrets between the island and the archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            • Desire:<\/strong> A permanent kingdom of coves, answerable to no capital.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Fear:<\/strong> Order \u2014 any strong government will eventually hang him.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Method:<\/strong> Smuggling, protection rackets, and selling to whichever side pays best.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Some of his best captains were fishermen before the conquest and have begun refusing Iron Tithe contracts. If the knights court these captains, they gain a resistance navy. But doing so could split the coves into civil war, and the Saltking does not forgive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \n\n\n\n

              The Hill Lords of the Meadow Ring<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

              Type:<\/strong> Rising warlords<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              When the king fell, the breadbasket went to whoever had the most spears. Three or four strongmen now call themselves “Protectors.” The strongest is Old Varka of the Red Terraces<\/strong>, a former sergeant who decided he deserved a better title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n
              • Desire:<\/strong> Recognition as true lords of the land.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Fear:<\/strong> Being crushed between the Iron Tithe and the knights before they choose a side.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Method:<\/strong> Grain and sons in exchange for “protection.” Technically free Hamlets. In practice, Helot Hamlets with a local face.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Some Hill Lords want to earn knighthood through the resistance. Others are negotiating quietly with the Overlord. Knights who offer honor may gain hundreds of spears \u2014 and also risk letting tyrants into the Order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                Scoreboard note:<\/strong> Mark Hamlet held by a Hill Lord as contested.<\/strong> Let players decide whether liberating it from a fellow islander is justice or civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n\n\n\n

                Guilds and Trade Survivors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                The Pithos Guild<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

                Type:<\/strong> Merchant and storehouse guild<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Klossus runs on its towering clay pithoi<\/em> full of oil, grain, and seed. The Guild kept its ledgers balanced through the conquest and intends to outlast whatever comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  \n
                • Desire:<\/strong> Survival of the storehouses, no matter who rules.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Fear:<\/strong> Famine and confiscation. A starving army empties every jar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Method:<\/strong> Hoarding, quiet loans, and knowing exactly how much food remains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Younger guild-mistresses secretly ship grain to free Hamlets. Elder masters want neutrality and have threatened to expose them. Knights who back the young faction gain a supply line \u2014 and access to ledgers showing which Iron Tithe officers have been skimming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                  \n\n\n\n

                  The River Wardens of the Northern Run<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

                  Type:<\/strong> Ferry and barge guild<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  The barge-families of the northern river know every shoal, lock, and patrol schedule. They have survived by being necessary \u2014 but the Overlord has plans to build bridges and roads that would make them irrelevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    \n
                  • Desire:<\/strong> Control of the river trade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Fear:<\/strong> Being made obsolete.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Method:<\/strong> Toll-keeping and selectively “losing” barges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Internal Disagreement:<\/strong> Sink barges to starve the capital, or keep the river open and keep everyone alive? The knights can help answer that question \u2014 and live with the consequences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    \n\n\n\n

                    Magical and Mystical Orders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                    The Sisters of the Drowned Spring<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

                    Type:<\/strong> Seers and keepers of sacred sites (Dreamcraft and Landcraft)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    Older than the palace, the Sisters read omens from rainfall and stone at the sacred spring where the northern river pools. Their prophecies reveal paths, never answers \u2014 and they charge accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n