Being a brief description of various groups of note in the land of Britannia.

The Fellowship (evil)

The original Fellowship that built the Black Gate under the command of the Guardian was disbanded by Lord British after the Avatar destroyed it and revealed Batlin to be the Guardian's pawn. The Fellowship halls were all either closed down, destroyed or remade into other buildings.

One famous incident that briefly marked the return of the evil Fellowship was 12 years after their abandoning where one Hathan, a shapeshifter, assumed the forms of Shamino and Iolo to commit great crimes in their name in an attempt to have the real companions executed unjustly. However, his treachery was uncovered when Hathan and a group of Fellowship members were killed during the rescue of the real Shamino. The companions were pardoned. Hathan claimed to have been instructed to do these things by the restless spirit of Batlin, seeking revenge.

The Fellowship appear to have disappeared after that and have not been heard from since that day. Are they still around? Are they still serving the Guardian? These questions remain as empty as the Meditation Retreat, where their headquarters once were.

The Fellowship (good)

It is rumored that throughout Britannia exists a group of unknown persons who still follow the teachings of the Fellowship, yet unlike the original evil intent of Batlin under the Guardian, these peaceful folk have taken the Triad of Inner Strength and applied it's principles to their lives in a virtuous and correct manner, as opposed to the corrupt and perverted manner of the evil Fellowship. They hold no love of Batlin, the Guardian or any doings of the original Fellowship and in fact support Lord British, though cautiously and privately.

The Order of the Silver Serpent

The Order of the Silver Serpent were originally a small band of loyal knights who pledged their service to Lord British after he unified the warring states and created Britannia:

Sir Percy, the famous Dragonslayer had cleared the surrounding lands near the Isle of Deeds from all dragons and thus the Island near the Cape of Heroes was granted to him as land by Lord British and named "The Isle of Deeds." He then gave to Sir Percy and his ancestor's a huge castle named "Serpent's Hold."

Decades later, Lord British brought Sir Percy and his knights under the Royal banner and officially named them "The Order of the Silver Serpent." It was then the Knights pledged their Order to the service of Lord British ever after. Lord British then placed Sir Sentri, an old friend from Earth as the first Baron over Percy's knights and sons. As the decades passed many changes continued to shape the structure of the Order.

Throughout the centuries, whenever there has been conflict and war against the good people of Britannia, the Order was always there, ready to serve their king and country. If not for the Order's efforts during the Gargoyle Wars, Britannia may have been decimated by the Gargoyles long before the Avatar's arrival.

Shortly after the Black Gate's destruction, Lord British saw the need to require all guardsmen to become official members of the Order of the Silver Serpent who would learn, not only the art of fighting and protecting the innocent, but hopefully the true meaning of the Virtues so that the new guards would act with Justice and Compassion, not with anger and a heart for bribery and corruption.

The Britannian Wealth Consortium

After Magincia was decimated by the Imbalance Storms that swept across Britannia, a group of the wealthiest merchants and nobles throughout Britannia got together and formed the Britannian Wealth Consortium, a cabal of private merchants who have interests in nearly every type of trade throughout Britannia.

They offered to rebuild Magincia with their own gold but instead of the humble village that once existed there, the island is now adorned with mansions of marble and luxury, a testament to pride which was the downfall of the original city.

Rumors abound of the corruption of this organization, and possible agents scattered throughout the cities of Britannia. It is believed the consortium has agents with all aspects of the monarchic republic, from the Order, to the justice system to possibly even as high as Mayors. Recent events concluding in the assassination of the majority of the leadership of the Consortium by no lesser a personage than Sir Geoffrey revealed the suspicions to be accurate. The Britannian Wealth Consortium is now under the control of Sara, formerly one of Lord Parkes' assistants who appears to be working to remove the corruption from the organization.

The Black Circle

About a decade after the Black Gate was destroyed, reports of dark clad men leaving the scenes of gruesome murders began to pop up in various towns. The targets were usually merchants, nobles and farmers.

It became obvious that a deadly assassin's guild had risen to power. Their motives and their goals remained unclear and the few that have been captured would sooner commit suicide than give away any useful information.

Recent reports have linked the Black Circle to the Britannian Wealth Consortium.

Supposedly the Black Circle has been eliminated through the actions of Sir Geoffrey. Rumours persist of survivors however, and what goals any such may have are unknown...

The Artist's Guild

The Artist's guild dates back to when Minoc was founded as the city of Sacrifice. During the year of the Black Gate's destruction, it was used by the Fellowship to build their decorations and adornments.

After the fall of Fellowship, the guild was given to Julia the Tinker, the famous traveling companion of the Avatar, for her outstanding skills in artisanship.

Today the guild creates some of the finest items and metallics in the land. It is said the Artist's guild is working on several bizarre devices that may change the shape of Britannian history.

The guild has made many other advances in metalworks to improve the lifestyles of Britannians.

The Minoc Chamber of Commerce

A new group which has risen to prominance very rapidly in the last few months is the Minoc Chamber of Commerce. Founded by Lord Portiff, a former member of the Britannian Wealth Consortium, this group has thus far concentrated on mining concerns, reopening the mines near Trinsic which had been closed during the plague and gaining mining rights in other locations also.

The Britannian Mining Company has not taken kindly to this competion and each group claims the other to be using unethical means to do business.

The Order of Menton

Menton, brother to Mondain founded a group of warriors to act in Britannia's defence. They make their strongholds in isolated mountain areas, but have agents in the cities so that they may know when aid is needed. With Menton no longer in Britannia, command of the Order has devolved to Sir Temler.

While the Order's intentions seem fair, their insistance that the current government structure is not ideal makes them something of a worry for the rest of Britannia, especially since renegades from the Order of Menton have turned to brigandage.