Three forces vie for the valleys of Vashrath: the Northern Warriors under Heidr, the People of the South under Marcus Villas, and the Wanderers under Serena. To choose among them is no trifle — without a declared creed, life in Cripta grows far harder. And so every newcomer, the moment their record in the Ingress Document is done, is brought to swear loyalty to one of the Three Forces. It is Cassius who warns the newcomer of this hard truth: in these lands, one must choose a side.
The Three Forces
- The Northern Warriors are born fighters of boundless vigor and passion, who settle everything by brute force. Where others plan, the North charges — and more often than the world would like to admit, the charge is enough.
- The People of the South gather the most brilliant minds of the realm. Their defenses are never breached, their cities prosper, their strategists are peerless. Where the North trusts in strength, the South trusts in the mind.
- The Wanderers live in the shadows and are the swiftest and most skilled souls of this world, wardens of every crossing. What the North takes by force and the South by cunning, the Wanderers take before anyone notices it was there.
The Three Great
Stranger still are the leaders themselves. Heidr, Marcus Villas and Serena — the Three Great — are held to be spiritual figures more than flesh and blood: they say no one has ever seen them. Of Heidr it is told that he once defeated an entire legion alone. Of Marcus Villas, called the Wise, that he strikes an arrow from miles away. Of Serena, whom many name the strongest of the three, comes the only account of a sighting — a soldier who swears he glimpsed her in the forest, near the wolves. True or legend, it is the closest anyone has come to proving the Three Great exist at all.
Perhaps that is the point. A leader of flesh can fall; a creed cannot.
Swearing the Oath
In the game, the Faction Oath is your choice of faction, made right after you formalize your hero's name. It is the last threshold of every hero's beginning, described in The Awakening Rite — the step that stands between the forward camp and the open gates of Cripta.
It is no mere formality. The creed you declare is the banner you carry through the valleys: it marks who you stand with, shapes how the realm sees you, and opens — or closes — doors along the journey. Fellow faithful are your natural allies; the other two creeds are your natural rivals. Whatever you build in Vashrath, you build it under the oath you swore at the gates.
A Creed, Not a Country
One thing every newcomer must understand: the Three Forces are not kingdoms with borders. They are creeds that cut across cities, trades and crowns. A soldier of any city, a merchant, a newly awakened — all may swear the North, the South or the Wanderers without changing address. To take the oath is to declare a faith, not to move house. Wherever you travel across the five cities, your creed travels with you.
Figures of the Oath
- Cassius — the scribe who announces the obligation to choose a side.
- Heidr, Marcus Villas, Serena — the Three Great, one at the head of each force.
- The Northern Warriors, the People of the South, the Wanderers — the three creeds of Vashrath.