Who's Who: The First Colonial War#
Kethra Almanac • Approved 19 September 2026 • drafted 18 September 2026 • A one-page reference to keep open while building
Status: approved. Briana approved the whole almanac on 19 September 2026 (the Almanac Approval Decision). Where this file calls something a proposal, read it as approved, except the open points that decision lists.
Status key
- ✅ Canon: the name is approved (faction roster, 15 September), or Briana decided the point today.
- ✏️ Proposal: invented in the almanac. Approved with the whole almanac on 19 September 2026, so every ✏️ point is now approved too.
- Placement on Kethra is approved throughout, with the whole almanac (19 September 2026).
The era. AL 2314 stands at the opening of the first era: the colonial wars ("Crowns and Contested Worlds"). Human nations and their colonies are about to fight among themselves. Alien contact has not happened yet. The colonies of this era are the frontier holds of Eldvang, the orbital habitats and the Cinderbelt.
Flags of the era#
All flags are approved with the whole almanac (19 September 2026). Motifs follow the naming principles: a design never comes from the same source as its faction's name.
See every faction's cities, bases and stations on the interactive Atlas.
At a glance: who holds the three things everyone needs#
| Scarcity | Where it comes from | Who holds it |
|---|---|---|
| Food (phosphate) | The interior basins of Oreth | Vardane Imperium |
| Power (fusion fuel) | The moons of Kronos | Vardane Imperium, since it seized them from the Coalition ✅ |
| Metal (belt ores) | The Cinderbelt | Cinderbelt Coalition, with the Imperium second and rising |
| Signals (every message off-world) | Relay chains | Vesper Orbital Compact |
The Crowns: states on Kethra#
| Faction | Seat | Holds | Wants | Fears | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldren Crown | ✅ | Aletheia, southern Calathe | The capital, finance, frames, Pharos Isle spaceport, the Crown Holds in Eldvang | Guaranteed phosphate and fuel; keep the Crown Holds; charter reform on its own terms | Encirclement: the Imperium controlling its food and its power |
| Vardane Imperium | ✅ | Vardenhold, Oreth | Oreth phosphate, the Kronos moons ✅, Castellan Rock and about 60 belt concessions, the Imperial Holds in Eldvang | Assured transit without a Caldren veto; imperial standing | Dependence on routes held by rivals |
| Ilyr Sanctum | ✅ | Ilyrion, Aelos | The Founders' archive, technology licences, thorium; Deepwell on Hera; the Farlight observatory | Control over the spread of dangerous technology | Its discoveries being turned into weapons |
| ↳ Order of the Veiled Sun | ✅ | Aelos | Elite frames; a detachment guarding Deepwell | Clear mandates | Being ordered to abandon the people it protects |
| The Lesser Crowns | ✏️ | North-west Calathe | Seven small states: Arvenne, Cordale, Pellmoor, Hastholm, Sallow, Ormsby and Brightwick (proposal; see the Lesser Crowns almanac) | Safety behind the Crown | Being the battlefield |
| Free Oreth coast states | ✏️ | The Oreth coast | Ports | Independence from the Imperium | Annexation |
| Line free ports (Saltline and eleven others) | ✏️ | The equatorial isles | Neutral ports, spaceports, finance | Neutrality that pays | Being forced to choose a side |
The colonies#
| Faction | Where | Holds | Wants | Fears | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Holds / Holds Compact | ✏️ | Eldvang, south of the Line; seat Eldhaven | Tens of thousands of frontier holds: some chartered to the Crown, some to the Imperium, some free | Self-government; charters rewritten or abolished | Northern rent, northern soldiers, ember storms |
| Cinderbelt Coalition | ✅ | Cinder Hollow, the Cinderbelt | The largest belt holdings. The Anvil and the yards. One Kronos holdout (Holdfast). | Hearthport returned; representation; limits on requisition | Requisition becoming annexation, as happened at Kronos |
| Outer Lantern League | ✅ | The Wick and the Lamps, the Cinderbelt; Dimlight at Kronos | About 0.5 million people, scattered | Accountable services; freedom from coercive rule | Debt and seizure turning its settlements into dependants |
| Vesper Orbital Compact | ✅ | Kethra's orbit and moons; Vesper Prime | Docks, traffic control, all relays (the Belt Line and Echo at Kronos) | Shared infrastructure and authority over orbital traffic | Infrastructure failure; settlements refusing common obligations |
Planet-wide bodies#
| Faction | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Homeworld Assembly | ✅ | A loose union of 15 states, seated in Aletheia. Monitors the fuel clauses of the Armistice. True unification comes later (era 3). |
| Homeguard Command | ✅ | The Assembly's joint defence command, built from national contingents |
Groups that aren't states#
| Faction | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Rovessa Caravans | ✅ | Trading families living aboard sea-carriers. They carry about 70% of cargo across the Line. Their neutrality is their life. |
| Free Banner Guild | ✅ | Licensed mercenary frame companies: Banner Yard in the belt, Muster at Kronos. They work for whoever pays. |
| Black Ledger | ✅ | Assassins and deniable operators, rumoured at Unlisted (Kronos XV) and Ledger's Reach in the belt |
| Living Worlds Movement | ✅ name; ✅ placement | An environmental movement preparing for the hot era. Its Crown political arm is the Tideward League. The register placed it in the later colonial-fracture era. Placement on Kethra approved by Briana, 19 September 2026 (the Living Worlds Placement Decision; earlier: "❓ placement", "Briana to confirm"). |
| Continuance Circle | ✅ name; ✅ placement | The coercive fringe of the environmental cause. Outlawed. Placement approved with the Movement, 19 September 2026. |
Flashpoints of the era (proposals)#
- The Seam. An asteroid cluster rich in platinum-group metals, claimed by both the Coalition and the Imperium. Skirmishes every season.
- Hearthport. The Coalition wants it back. Its occupied crews want it back. The Crown wants its fuel back.
- The fuel and phosphate clauses of the Armistice of Saltline. Every delivery is a political act.
- The Eldvang charters. Crown and Imperial rents on frontier holds. The Charter Reform Bill is before the Hall.
- Deepwell. Ilyr's research enclave on Hera, surrounded by Vardane-held moons.
- The Line corridors. Pharos Isle and the Girdle Sea routes: the cause of the last war.
Not in play yet#
| Era | Factions |
|---|---|
| 2. Alien contact | The Concord Fleet (formed when contact comes); the alien empire (which one is open. Whisperling, please make a determination and bring Briana the result for approval.); Orravan-related services (casting open): Farwatch Service, Orravan Void Fleet, Noetic Directorate, Crossgate Exchange, Hollow Compact, Wayfarer Exchange |
| 5. Colonial fracture (likely) | Helion Systems Authority, Helion Defence Command, Distant Systems Confederacy, Frontier Defence Fleet, Trailward Lancers, Farreach Survey Corps, Ormath Industries, Executive Conclave, Horizon Free Company |
| 6. The Reckoning | Varkhesh Sovereignty |
| Removed | Zhorak Dominion |
Detail on the off-world holdings: Kronos and the Cinderbelt.
Prepared by Claude.