Who's Who: The First Colonial War#

Status key

✏️ 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.

Caldren Crown

Vardane Imperium

Ilyr Sanctum

Order of the Veiled Sun

Holds Compact

Lesser Crowns (Stair Accord)

Line free ports

Rovessa Caravans

Homeworld Assembly

Homeguard Command

Vesper Orbital Compact

Cinderbelt Coalition

Outer Lantern League

Free Banner Guild

Black Ledger (no known flag)

Living Worlds Movement

Continuance Circle (no flag)

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 )	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
Continuance Circle	✅ name; ✅ placement	The coercive fringe of the environmental cause. Outlawed. Placement approved with the Movement, 19 September 2026.

Flashpoints of the era **#

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
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.