Everybody knows that each faction on the planes has a primary plane of influence, where they feel their philosophy fits in best. What's less known is that each faction has a secondary plane of influence as well, which is often home to fractions and sects, and to those who don't toe the party line. This page illuminates this shady corner of planar intrigue.

The Athar: Although most Athar see the Astral as their natural home, as it houses only one active god, their secondary plane is much less power-free. Bytopia, the plane of diligent hard work, is their home-away-from-home, because their independent, we-need-no-rulers attitude fits in well with the egalitarian outlook of many Bytopians. The Athar maintain no centre of control there, but merely have a well-distributed presence.

The Believers of the Source: The Godsmen love the idea that anyone can succeed if she makes an effort. The plane of Ysgard, where heroism and charm bring fame and fortune, is a natural draw for them. In Nidavellir, the third layer, they maintain a training school called the Temple of the Rising Spirit, where initiates of the order come to hone skills of all kinds, and to travel the surrounding areas showing off. Nothing like worship for a berk who hopes to be a power.

The Bleak Cabal: The Grey Waste, with its air of hopelessness and depression, is a perfect home for those who see no meaning in their existence. How better to come to terms with the ultimate futility than by destroying your ability to care? The main reason the Bleakers have no base here is because they can't be bothered.

The Doomguard: The Doomies are most fond of their negative quasi-planes, but so little happens there that they also maintain an outpost on the Outlands. Castra Deposita, the Stricken Camp, roams around the Great Ring looking for places on the slide. The berks who run it believe that shifting terrain slowly pulls the Multiverse down.

The Dustmen: Surprisingly enough, the Dustmen's second plane isn't a Lower or Negative Plane: it's Mount Celestia. Most Dustmen stick passionately to the Negative Energy Plane, but the largest fraction, the Hopeful, believe in death as the ultimate fairness, and hope for life after True Death. Some of them claim that the archons are controlled by Azrael, the Angel of Death, who may or may not be the same figure as the Death worshipped by Oridi Malefin. The faithful of Azrael are called the Dark Angels, and their priests get spells up to fourth level. This, in addition to the reluctance of the archons to deny the claims of the Dark Angels suggest to dispassionate observers that they may be right. The Dark Angels maintain a small abbey, Umbropolis, the Cloister of Shadows, in Mercuria.

The Fated: The Takers officially claim Ysgard as their home territory, but they could (in accordance with their own philosophy) claim anywhere they liked. In fact, almost as many Heartless live and work in Gehenna as in Ysgard, although (in keeping with their selfishness) each carves out his or her own estate rather than having a centre for factional activity. Gehenna's survival-of-the-fittest ideology really suits the Takers, but many of them dislike being associated with a Lower Plane. Guilt, perhaps?

The Fraternity of Order: The Guvners can be found anywhere and everywhere, charting and compiling notes and so on. But after the rigid order of Mechanus, their favourite plane is the Outlands, which offers easy access to other locations in the Outer Planes. There is no major concentration of Guvners in the Land, but there is thought to be a plan to open a university near Thebestys.

The Free League: The Indeps aren't terribly comitted to such structures as planes of influence, but in practice a large number travel to the plane of Air, where solitude comes easily. Djinni merchants maintain a news network between these reclusive figures, and also use the knowledge thus gained to sell to their rulers who can make political use of such things. The Indeps know this and claim not to care, but some are offended by this association with something as factional as politics.

The Harmonium: The Harmonium did not until recently have a secondary plane of interest, but of late has been paying suspiciously close attention to Mechanus, and a few camps have been established there. Jaws are wagging in Sigil as to why this might be, but getting information out of the Hardheads is like trying to get sense out of a slaad.

The Mercykillers: Surprisingly for such a lawful faction, the Mercykillers' second-best plane is Carceri, because of its strong overtones of punishment and imprisonment. Some even say that as the cubes of Acheron shatter and more berks accept the inescapability of Carceri, the two planes will switch places on the Ring. Details of the Mercykiller base in Carceri, the Vault, can be found in Planes of Conflict.

The Revolutionary League: The Anarchists passionate desire for a better world leads many of their more benevolent members to Arborea, where such emotions run freely. They see the plane as being a little less awful than the rest of this tainted reality. Their burg, Hope of a Better Tomorrow, lies on a small island in Ossa/Aquallor.

The Sign of One: The Signers' secondary plane is diametrically opposed to its primary one. Gehenna represents a test of will, a test which every Signer (especially the good ones) vows to beat. The idea that strength of character is of overriding importance appeals to the ego of every one of the egotistical berks - except for the ones who claim I just dreamt up Gehenna and it isn't real. I think there's a Signer village called Force of Character in Mungoth.

The Society of Sensation: The Sensates aren't all as nice as Erin Montgomery. Many selfish pleasure-seekers are drawn to the manifold temptations and lures of the Abyss, where corrupt delights await those who embrace evil. It would be impossible to maintain a town or even a hut in the Abyss, but Sensates are found wherever perverse pleasures are to be found. Their favoured haunts are not for the prudish or faint-hearted.

The Transcendent Order: The Ciphers love Ysgard. The hurly-burly of the first layer especially attracts them, with the insitence on speed of thought and action. However, they also love Mechanus. Why think when you can obey? Besides which, where better for a faction that teaches we all fit into the universe as parts than a universe which is made from fitted parts?

The Xaositects: The Chaosmen have not one, but four additional planes of interest. They love the chaos embodied by fire, and so associate themselves with the plane of Fire and its accompanying planes, Smoke, Magma, Radiance and Ash. Five other planes. Smoke embodies chaos in gas, Magma chaos in liquids, Ash chaos in solids and Radiance chaos in space itself. Allegedly. It might just be that they like the pretty lights. Can't you smell them?