So I'm just creating an official post for anyone who agrees that some cabals should be consolidated. There are likely people on either side of the debate. I personally am pro-consolidation. Here are my reasons why:

1. Certain cabals have enough similar ideals/enemies that outside of a few outliers they are practically one cabal already at times

2. Power swings would be less dramatic if there were fewer cabals because people would have more clear-cut choices and things (imho) would even out. In other words, power swings happen because some folks all join the same or similar cabals at the same time. Less dilution is basically what im getting at here. Having one or two people in scion, another two or three in scarab is nice for diversity but sucks in terms of promoting cabal warfare.

3. All those extra leftover cabal powers (if you consolidated things) could be used as rewards or integrated elsewhere somehow. As leader powers for example.

Here is my suggestion for consolidation:

A. Empire/Tribunal - this one has been suggested many times by many people for obvious reasons. It gives the Empire actual territory, actual enforcement mechansims within those territories and a real purpose.

B. Battle/Outlander - Though they have different causes it isnt a far leap to integrate those two causes. For one, most outlander powers are non-magical. This is why when a villager wants to fly he makes friendly with an outlander. Secondly the overall thematic backdrop of nature vs. magic is an easy one to make. Barbarians/Savages are what most folks call BOTH outlanders and villagers already. The main problem I see is the strong dwarvish influence within the village which would conflict with outlander dogma, but im sure that could be figured out somehow.

C. Scion/Scarab - end of the world cult seeking to purge the world of the profane and worships denizens of another plane.

D. Fortress/Heralds - With few exceptions most heralds are good/neutral anyways so not a huge leap. Preserving knowledge that would otherwise be destroyed by the Empire, etc. as theme. A beacon of safety and refuge in the dark days of Empire as theme.

And I'd just get rid of nexus altogether. So four cabals down from nine right now.Seriously, nine cabals in a game that on a really good day has about forty people on at once. That means if you had equal represenation on a really good day you would have roughly four to five people in each cabal right now and we won't even go into how that plays out by rank,etc.