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Can anyone in the know go into a little more detail on these Factions? At first I thought the characters would essentially qualify as Space Nomads (and may still do)... though re-reading the intro it seems there are other parties they could be associated with. Now I'm thinking something along the lines of Romani, Lohar, Beja and such but this time with a group of spacecraft?

And who are these secretive Draconites?

And while on the subject... The Sacrifice of Nazareem was what? A faction within the Third Horizon that stood with the First/Second Horizon in The Portal Wars or a faction from the First/Second Horizon itself?

I'm afraid we have finally depleted our Swedish co-aficionados' willingness to translate fluff chunks for us. 

Three months to go!

This was posted in the Google+ group last Monday. Might be of some small satiation in lieu of an actual meal.

A small bit on Factions taken from the Swedish-language section of Fria Ligan's forum...

This was translated from Swedish into English by a Norwegian friend of mine and then edited for clarity by me. Any mistakes are solely my responsibility. I'm also guessing (based on original posting date) this is based on the previous, non-FL-edition of Coriolis, so do not take it as Horizon Gospel!

[editorial commentary in brackets]

On Tue 08 May 2012 @ 19:22, Mithridates offered:

I thought to summarize Factions here ... based on my knowledge and thoughts about the Factions. Feel free to point out my incorrect comments or points I have missed.

The Consortium: A group of companies trying to get more power and wealth through trade and production, Factions Bulletin [informational media], foundation and Colonial Agency are what some really big companies in the consortium are aiming for; the same goal but different approaches. Bulletin is the media which tries to influence the individual with advertising and propaganda; the Foundation's scientists as they try to come up with new things that can increase production or similar (excavations [mining?], they are very fond of as well). The Colonial Agency assists with the establishment of colonies which then can grow so that the other companies the consortium can move into them.

Free League [yay!]: This union is small, and they ensure that the Consortium does not treat their workers badly. They have also begun to launch some of their own [smaller/local?] businesses.

Legion: A large group of mercenaries who—for the most part—work for the Consortium (when they have the most birr [$/£/€/Sk]) but can take jobs from others if payment is sufficient. They also appear to have an interest in old spacecraft and weapons[!].

The Syndicate: Coriolis mafia; organized crime hates when business is disrupted. For the most part their business is racketeering, smuggling of illegal goods, and so on. Most Factions dislike them (although the Free League is rumored to cooperate with them).

Zenithian Hegemony: Nazis! ... They think that Zenithians are a superior race and that they should rule over everyone. However, there are those in the Zenithian Hegemony who think they should change their attitude: they call themselves the "New Zenithians." The Consortium and Draconites are considered traitors because their founders did not listen to Abarren Quassar [* = see below]...[the latter half of this sentence I left out because I couldn't make sense of the context]. They control the planet Kua and conduct much trade with the goods they extract from the planet (e.g. plantation crop production, timber, etc.).
[* = Governor of the Akhandar-O-Sharif, Yasul and Merkate Metropol on Algol.]

Ahlam's Temple: courtesans, explorers of the mind, their philosophy has characterized the Horizon a lot, for example, their philosophy received several judicial systems to start with a more interview-based interrogation techniques rather than more heavy-handed versions.
[My personal take on this Faction, having little in English to go on, is that is has elements similar to RAH's philosophies inStranger in a Strange Land;but that's me guessing, not Michael Valentine Smith grokking.]

Draconites: The most mysterious Faction. On the surface, it seems that they are trying to increase their members' powers, but rumors say they have a hidden agenda. Hierarchical structure of religious rites centers on the Icon Executioner (a fundamentalist variant of the Lady of Tears).

Church of the Icons: A church trying to get their version of the Icons throughout the Third Horizon. According to them, the Icons cannot be capricious, the only evil that exists is the darkness in people, and the darkness between the stars.

Order of the Pariah: Dismissed by most other Factions and there are rumors that the Order did many gruesome things in the portal wars [the equivalent of "crimes against humanity"?]. The Samaritans' medical academy on Coriolis is their beautiful face (in a sense). They are deeply religious, ascetic and worship the Martyr (a fundamentalist variant of the Judge). At times, it actually seems like they are trying to prevent various disasters, trying to protect the Horizon against the Darkness.

"Arbiters Circle" [perhaps this Faction was altered to be the Nomad Federation?]: Buddhists type ... A vast network of circles, they have enormous trust among the common people and gladly offered to take part in negotiations [on the "council for peace and trade"]. It is said that their spiritual training can provide the "side effects" that can be likened to the mystical powers ...

Ok, you may have a few more quick notes then!

Most factions are described much the same in the new and old version of Coriolis. The description of the Draconites In Umbertos post I think sums them up well!
Changes:
The Arbiters Circle ("Circle of the searchers"?) are now a part of Church of the Icons.
The nomads faction consist of several families, clans, etc. They got a seat on the council at Coriolis (there are some history with the Free League faction and a period of "political wildlings" leading up to this seat..)

Ok, you may have a few more quick notes then!

The Arbiters Circle ("Circle of the searchers"?) are now a part of Church of the Icons.
The nomads faction consist of several families, clans, etc. They got a seat on the council at Coriolis (there are some history with the Free League faction and a period of "political wildlings" leading up to this seat..)

Thanks! I couldn't figure out what to do with the Circle. Didn't sound very Nomad-y, but I couldn't fit them in anywhere else based on information at hand.
(Love finding tasty morsels behind the curtain in the Swedish section. Like the HBTQ discussion; insightful, rational, and filled with cultural awsomosity. Wish I could read the language better.)