Before factions is the cohort system. Cohorts can be ancient Nordic clans, great Imperial houses, Orc warbands, Khajiit caravans or Argonian broods. Cohorts can be close families, extended tribes, companies, guilds, warbands, covens or any sort of fellowship. Anyone can create a cohort with a group of 3+ individuals and there will be tiers of cohort recognition based on membership count. Factions will consist of multiple cohorts and faction leadership will only be considered on a cohort basis, individuals are not expected to apply.
We will be allowing groups to establish themselves as lore friendly or previously existing cohorts in our growing world. These established artifacts will have to post a public application with their foundational lore and be explicit about their goals and role in Skyrim on Aurbis so it can be easily referenced by others that wish to orient themselves in our lore.
How it works
A cohort begins with three people. One of you starts the founding request with a type and a name, the other two join that request as founding members, and the cohort exists.
The type is what the group calls itself: clan, house, warband, brood, crew, caravan. Recognition tiers follow active membership, so a family that grows into a house is recognized as one.
From there the leadership invites members or answers the requests of people asking to join, sets the public charter that says what the cohort is for, and gives members their titles. The roster is public, so anyone can read who is in a cohort before they deal with it.
Succession is the cohort's own. The leadership sets the rule, names an heir where the rule allows one, and opens a case when the seat needs settling. Candidates accept or decline and members vote where the rule calls for a vote. They are the same five rules the factions use (see Faction Succession Laws).
Faction standing is built from cohorts rather than from individuals.
Commands (/help cohort)
/cohort list browses public cohorts./cohort create <type> <name> starts a cohort founding request./cohort found accept <request-id> joins a founding request as a founding member./cohort join <cohort-id> requests membership of an existing cohort./cohort info <cohort-id> inspects a cohort's status, members, succession and charter./cohort members <cohort-id> lists members and titles./cohort requests <cohort-id> reviews open membership requests./cohort accept [number] accepts a pending invite or request./cohort decline [number] declines one./cohort title <cohort-id> <text> sets your cohort title./cohort invite <cohort-id> <name or #id> [note] invites a member./cohort remove <cohort-id> <name or #id> [reason] removes a member from a cohort you manage./cohort charter <cohort-id> <text> sets the public charter./cohort leave <cohort-id> leaves a cohort./cohort disband <cohort-id> disbands a cohort you lead.
Succession (/help cohort succession)
/cohort succession status <cohort-id> shows the succession state./cohort succession rule <cohort-id> <rule> sets the succession rule./cohort succession heir <cohort-id> <name or #id> names or changes a designated heir./cohort succession start <cohort-id> [reason] opens a succession case./cohort succession candidate <case-id> <accept|decline> answers a candidacy./cohort succession vote <case-id> <candidate-id-prefix> casts a succession vote.
The older /cohort create <name> and /cohort found-accept spellings are gone. Founding now takes a type as well as a name, and the founding accept is two words.
