Okay, second part: gonna do some "life in the faction" stuff, and throw in some 'echoes' - subtle magical side effects that distinguish the mage.
I had fun looking up fitting dragons on wikipedia. The elemental correspondences are the traditional western ones. I tried to pull a dragon from the region of the world that corresponded to direction, rather than element.


~Order of the Hooded One ~
The Walker in the Void is referred to by its title 'the Hooded One' or just 'the One' when interacting with other mages, its more proper title rarely used outside the Order. The Order calls its mages 'the faithful', and may also refer to itself as 'the Outer Faith'.
Life in the Order is tricky, faithful having to learn countless rules of internal etiquette in dealing with their superiors. The Drioma (and indeed the Walker itself) delight in communication through mind-wracking nightmares, and the more exposure one gets to this, the better one can understand the will of the Walker, as one's sleep deprived and horror-jaded mind begins to open to his pure darkness. This also causes paranoia in the higher ups. It is joked by other mages that the Order's leadership must make their apprentices swear a quick oath before bringing them their slippers in the morning.
As a whole, the Order is run by no one else but the Walker. Those most attuned to its dark mind receive exactly the same visions, and understand them in the same way - a small blessing which allows the Order to know that the visions are real. Nothing else is known for sure about the One's intentions, origin, or methods, and the Order isn't saying a word.
Echoes:
Animator faithful seem to always have shadows cloaking their features as if hooded, unless in direct sunlight (which makes all faithful feel uncomfortable.)
Architect faithful manifest an eeriness in their eyes, which no longer reflect the true colors of electrical lights and illuminated displays, rather showing the shadowlight - a violet/black hue.


~Cult of the Crimson Skull~
The Cult has long since given up on maintaining a structured leadership. There are 'sorcerers', and there are 'acolytes'. An acolyte can graduate to sorcerer by proving that they are brave, strong, ruthless, and ready to die for his fellow cultists. Until that time, a sorcerer can treat an acolyte however they wish, and a third of them are killed by their mentor before ever making the cut.
Cultists live to break stuff, tearing into spirits and mages alike. These berserkers often compete with the Dragons for combat glory, and often select a personal 'worthy rival' from that faction.
They care less than most others about the Academies, siding first with the Cult. If they must do battle with a cultist of opposite academy, then they will respectfully acknowledge the other and identify themselves, seeing the encounter as a duel.
The Cult has no leader. There's always one trying to claim the title of Warlord, but they're usually murdered by another aspirant within the week. Most mages feel that if the Cult ever falls in behind a leader, a whole new level of destruction.
Echoes:
Animator cultists radiate disruption into a room. They are great intimidators, possessing a naturally threatening aura, and if the cultist becomes truly angry it is said that this aura can make water boil and small fires break out.
Architect cultists tend to cause power surges when angered, sometimes enough to short out all of the devices in a room (except for their own gear.) They love to operate vehicles, and anything with a combustion engine performs well beyond its specs when operated by these cultists.


~Mages of the Elemental Dragon~
The knights of the second plane are the (volunteer) general army of the magic world. They take the vanguard, crashing into a threat like a battering ram, and unleashing powerful targeted rituals.
Though the Cultists see it as a weakness, the other factions respect the Dragons' sense of honor and self-control. A Dragon will cut your soul to ribbons without blinking, but he'll have a good reason for doing it.
These mages also like ancient weaponry, and almost all will own a sword, axe, spear, or similar, if not several.
The four Elemental Dragons are very important to the faction, who have split almost every aspect of their philosophy into one of the four categories. They will often refer to them in speech. "By the scales, this line is too long." "What in Fafnir's name possessed you to be so greedy?"
A basic rundown is as such: To the north, the earth dragon Jormungandr. To the east, the air dragon Seiryuu. To the south, the fire dragon Fafnir, and to the west, the water dragon Kukulkan. Every virtue, vice, object and idea is assigned to one of these categories, and a large part of an initiate's training goes into learning how they do.
Echoes:
Animator Dragons tend to gain mass, and their bodies do not sense as much pain as normal. They have a tendency to affect others with confidence. Good if you need to make a speech, bad if you feel like you don't need to check your parachute before skydiving.
Architect Dragons are very good with ballistics and kinetics, starting with siege weaponry and moving on down to running a pool table or dart board. Their tech is almost always piecemeal and looks like Frankenstein's monster, but it runs well enough and will -not- break down.


~Army of the Swan Phantom~
If James Bond was a mage, he'd be in the Army. Everyone knows that they're spies and mercenaries, no one knows exactly who they're working for at the time, but they're generally just so likable that mages don't seem to care. Or is that part of their magic?
Life within the Army is fast-paced and complex, but there's a familial and binding understanding that if the rest of the mages knew what was REALLY going down, why the world would just fall apart, wouldn't it? The Army exchanges information freely within its ranks, each member profiting by the furthered success of the whole, and at times the Army can bring in more energy and mana than the Light of the North can even dream of.
Army mages have amazing access to information. Animator members master spells that give them a psychic connection to the Army's databanks, and will receive their info by simply beginning to write. Architects always have the coolest, thinnest, most beautiful tech, and can even surf the mundane web from any signal strength, at impossible connection speeds.
In battles, the Army changes gears, becoming an invaluable source of support for the more aggressive mages. This "info is just my day job" mentality belies a pervasive solidarity of cause among the Army, and reinforces other mages' trust of them by showing that they really do get what's at stake, and that it's not just all about the mana.
Echoes:
Animator mages are affected with a strange echo, referred to in slang as the "Mirror's Jinx". Reality twists itself a little to make the mage seem more alluring, but always with a catch. For example, their hair blows attractively around them, always complimenting their appearance, but it will blow towards the wind.
Architect mages sometimes get information bleed - stray, unbidden facts and personal data shining over the top of a person or object - or running across a pair of glasses like a heads-up display. Sometimes useful, often annoying.

This is absolutely amazing and I can't wait for more.
Could you make the backstorys behind sigils next?

ZOMG this is *brilliant*!!!! In all honesty, it really makes me want to choose a faction. Amazing work once again, Cin. You're quickly becoming one of my favorite Mages

Chad - get on it. Now. Stories like this will make you money

Okay, last one!


~Light of the North~
The Light would never publicly declare themselves the leaders of mage-kind. They would never openly call themselves nobility, or hold it over anyone's head that theirs were the shoulders which held up the sky. They would not overtly look down upon the other factions, or deny their envoys entry to their citadels. No, not in public.
As a member of the Light, you'll find yourself surrounded by words which have become capitalized. There are Expectations held of you. You'll have Duties, and Responsibilities. Yes, you are a Student, vying for the magical world's best Apprenticeships, but you are also a Beacon to all who are in peril. Let's face it - without the Skills, Wisdom, Knowledge, and Resources that only this faction has managed to scrape together, dating back to before the cataclysm, the planet would be Screwed.
There's probably more truth to this than any of the other faction would like to admit. As with any magnet school or elite organization, resentment abounds. The Light is the Cambridge of magic, they have the best toys, the most advanced members, and probably have the best idea of what happened 600 years ago.
Very rarely does the Light send any of its members out into the world until it feels they can hold their own against a charging Cultist. You will not see many with a rating below 'Awakened'. Their presence in the field is met with both the sigh of relief (that a competent mage has arrived) and the sigh of regret (that afterwards, they'll have to suffer said mage's competence.)
Mages of this faction naturally put faction above Academy, though it is often hilarious to other mages to watch an Animator and Architect from this faction attempting to show the other why they are dead wrong.
Well, hilarious for the first hour or so, anyway.
Echoes:
Animators from this faction drip magic. Things just happen around them. Occasionally, tiny gnomes may run across the kitchen floor and disappear into a cupboard. The cat may talk to you.
Architects from this faction have an innate understanding of design and structure. They know exactly where to tap or push or reinforce a structure to make it fall or save it. They are responsible for some of the most visually amazing works of architecture in human history. However, not everything is built well, and these mages can see every crack and cut corner, and might run trembling out of an older building.

Edited by Cinshadis (Oct. 15, 2011 03:20:51)

Wow. Just, wow!!! Blown away and speechless here.

Chad - toss the GA ideas away. This is a win!!!

Thanks for your confidence, but I'm really trying to not step on anyone's creative toes here!

Do feel free to take these ideas if you want, but I know my place. ^^

Actually....thinking about it...stories like this WOULD make them money - right now, I'm thinking about which faction to buy because I saved up my 50 pots to buy one. I started doing this because I went looking for the canon lore for them, and couldn't find any, so didn't know which emblem to pick. If there HAD been some, though, I probably would have put down the money to buy the pots instead of waiting. Heh.

Edit: ((update, made my choice, going with the Army. Hoo-ah. Or...cha-ching, one.))

Edited by Cinshadis (Oct. 15, 2011 13:57:40)

Very cool, Cin. I've been thinking about ideas for faction-specific missions - just as a fun way to give the sigils more meaning. Definitely going to incorporate your thoughts!

@Kieri - Thanks! I'd like to hear how that comes out! Feel free to send me a PM in-game and tell me what you decide to do.

So it seems like now I'm basically writing fan-fiction. If anyone has an idea for more, throw it at me!

If you liked what I've got here so far, tell your friends, put the URL in in-game status, etc.
Thanks already for mentioning it on the SC official facebook page!

Chad - if I'm in the wrong forum, please tell me. At this point I guess it's walking the edge between suggestion and wherever fanfics go. ^^;

Just reading over this again. Keep it up, Cin.