Faction

A faction is a political organization in Middle-earth that controls settlements, sends players on quests, and engages in warfare and diplomacy with other factions. A faction must control at least one settlement. A faction has a number of attributes that determine their power in Middle-earth, the most important of which is authority. If a faction controls multiple settlements, the settlements are considered sub-factions, with which the player has independent reputation; a player's improved relationship with one settlement of a faction will not necessarily affect his reputation with another settlement under the same faction. Players with a high renown will find that their actions in one settlement will also affect on their reputation with settlements (either under the same faction, or those on good terms with) in close proximity to the target settlement. As a player completes quests, their renown will increase.

Sub-Factions
While a number of factions control numerous settlements in Middle-earth, as is especially evident for major factions, many factions in Middle-earth control only one settlement, particularly those that are procedurally generated. For those major factions, or for single-settlement factions that take control of a second settlement, each subordinate settlement still retains its own faction, now being denoted as a sub-faction.

Culture
Factions are comprised of NPCs that make up their population, each of which is a member of a specific culture. These cultures define the culture of the faction of which the NPCs are members. As each culture has perks, such as unique buildings, having a variety of cultures in one settlement is incentivized. However, many cultures' best perks have a percentage-of-population prerequisite, preventing access to the best perks of multiple cultures in one settlement. Additionally, the more cultures represented in a single settlement, the higher the settlement's discontent. Certain cultures are considered compatible and will not contribute to a settlement's discontent when represented together.

Settlements
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