Well we say a fond/sad farewell to the Shadow Lodge and the Lantern Lodge.
<insert singing auld lang syne here>
While I agree with what they said on the Pod Cast that perhaps too many factions were causing a headache per say, I still think certain demoraphics are missing.
The Pathfinder Society has become more than just a group of explorers and Seekers of Secrets per say, I personally see it as having become a polictical machine spreading it's influence across the lands, not just the inner sea coastlines.
The society, if it can make friends out of local and regional adminstrative powers, then begins to wield an influence through said rulers to further the Society's aims and goals as a whole. Surely this goes on at the the higher levels. With that said, other powers surely have to note that the influence and globe spanning political power of the society can be utlized as well or duplicated either with their own organizations or as factions within the Society with the aims at protecting their own regional interests and power bases. Thats why the present factions exist, Taldor, Qadira etc etc.
The factions as is are very Human oriented. This was pointed out in the Podcast chat due to the inner sea region being so humanocentric. While I agree with this truth for the Inner Sea coastline, we all know the Pathfinder Society is by no means limited to inner sea coast.
And Humans, however dominate are not the only organized centric race on the face of Golarion that would seek to represent itself. There presently seems to be a hole within the society. Only individuals, by themselves, from other races are seen, representing not their own people or countries but just random adventurers. Are the humans are the only ones who wish to use the Society represent their own interests?
So I could see other "Major" races also wishing to utilize the slowly growing influence of the Society to further or protect their own interests just the same as Cheliax or Andoran.
The Kingdom of the Elves of Kyonin and the Dwarves of the 5 Kingdoms comes to mind.
Here we have 2 major races that each wield regional power similar or identicle to any country. And with the history of both, the worries of being pushed back by the hordes of humanity, or the protecting of their own incredibly ancient artifacts, lore and legends, I could see a real desire from the 2 racial regional powers to want to look after their own interests and use the Society as well to wield influence in addition to their more standard forms of politcal heirarchies.
These 2 races very much represent real large powers, they have real fears of the growing powers and expansion of humanity at their expense, they have legends, artifacts and secrets each older than mankind itself and would wish to protect them. Sure they would use standard political mechanisms of their governments, but I could see them each wanting to put their own people into this suddenly emerging political body that is the Pathfinder Society.
If not as individual factions, then perhaps a sort of alliance between the two and forming one. A sort of joint effort also designed to spearhead the effort to quell the ancient animosity between the two.
Now while I realise there are more races than just the elves and Dwarves, the other demi human races are rather scattered or absorbed into the nationalities of larger societies (countries) The Halflings dont have their own homelands, nor the gnomes etc etc. The lands of Kyonin and the 5 Kingdoms are different. Here they have each maintained a homeland specific to their people and race. Perhaps even those other demi human races, such as fey, or allies of the dwarves could as well be represented within this one or two faction idea.
Thoughts?
