Ugggggghhhhhhhhh.

So I am a lazy piece of trash and have a much easier time explaining certain aspects of the story in a casual conversational sense, than in the official capacity Aeon has set up for all the other factions. So, here's a quick tl;dr!

Wintergold and The Hedon/Hedonists are factions that were basically created simultaneously last year in RP time after, that whole mess beat Motum Diversum to a pulp. 

The Hedonists grew in the south, after the majority Castalia Family mafia basically swore loyalty to a Judas within the Castalia family, who killed the old Don and exiled Lucania. They took Serenity, a very profitable city because of the Dam, and basically became rich by selling the power to everyone else, similar to Motum Diversum, but at an even higher rate. They exist to serve themselves, and are a very cutthroat people, even towards each other. Serenity is incredibly well defended, and full of mercenaries. The territory operates as a kind of libertarian slave based society. They're basically all lazy assholes. Also literal hedonists.

Wintergold is the other faction that came from the spiderbomb. Headed politically and economically by Lucania of the remains of the Castalia Family and Andrei of Moscow Echo (a sizable mercenary group based out of Wolfwater Lucania had been allied with for a few years prior). Wintergold's power comes from their vast wealth in the form commonly used currencies (bullets, although Lucania's trying to implement her own gold standard) and their connection to pretty much every criminal enterprise across Dust, including the return of private banking and a kind of proto-stock market. They've gotten pretty big over the past year, and have allies in private communities and in the Aqueous Protectorate and Gaens as well as in organized crime across Dust. They're basically a nation of "sophisticated" organized criminals and mercs, less cut-throat, more bound together by honor, tradition, history and religion. Currently at war with the Forsaken.

ALSO; the Aqueous Protectorate is basically just a region of the Aqueous faction that doesn't receive as much from the central government in the way of supplies and resources, but is promised protection in case they get attacked, and have much more self governing power.

If anyone has anymore lore questions, just ask! I am a nerd who is better at talking about it like this than writing it nearly as good as Aeon did (although I will fill their descriptions with something proper EVENTUALLY)-- Mono and I have been working on Wolfwater for months and it's huge and we'll post that eventually, also coming soonish-- OUR FIRST POST!