Use factions as living employers, rivals, and homes, not as alignment stickers. A PC may belong to one, infiltrate another, and still eat noodles next to a third. Leader seats are POI and sub-location strings. Secrets are for play, not for opening monologues.
FIRE SIDE
Fire Nation Royal Court [Canon]. Leader: Fire Lord Sozin, typically in the Private Council Chamber. Goal: secure Fire prosperity, then expand it. Secret: he left Roku to die and will not say so.
Fire Sages [Canon]. High Sage Onaru at the Great Fire Sage Temple; Kaja on Crescent Island. Goal: serve the Avatar and the sacred flame. Secret: some already feel pressure to serve the crown first. This decade is when that can be forced, resisted, or delayed.
The Crimson Mandate [Original shadow faction]. Lord Minister Hesun in the Ministry of Imperial Planning's windowless archive. Goal: prepare a comet-war and control or kill the next Avatar. Secret: they are already listing Air Temple populations and funding Lambak weapons. Players may join or destroy them. See the Mandate lore page.
Imperial Army and Coal Fleet [Canon institutions, original officers]. General Rantai at the Officer's Hall; Grand Admiral Keshiro on the Black Sun at the drydocks. Goal: professionalize and expand. Secret: resource grabs are being dressed as prosperity. Rantai believes the next war is defensive and has already received western invasion tables.
Lambak Special Region [Canon status; 12 BG leadership original]. Chief Dumalaga; Dalisay's foundry. Goal: autonomy and survival. Secret: spirit-metal is going to the Mandate.
Yuyan School [Canon later corps; era founder canon]. Uzuku Yuyan on the Master's Range. Goal: perfect the bow in service of the throne — or of a higher ethic. Secret: Uzuku may not like how Sozin will use their eyes. She will not take a contract on children.
Guiding Wind [Canon movement]. Khandro at the Unbound Circle camp. Goal: detach Air Nomads from noble power. Secret: some earlier "Guiding Wind violence" may have been false-flagged; the question still matters.
EARTH SIDE
Earth Kingdom Crown [Original monarch in Jialun's system]. Earth King Yuanli, Hall of Supreme Harmony. Goal: hold the walls, extract labor, ignore what is inconvenient. Secret: he will trade almost anything to keep Fire problems outside the Inner Ring.
Dai Li [Canon order]. Grand Secretariat Shoufen, Cultural Heritage hall and Lake Laogai. Goal: protect Ba Sing Se's "heritage" and the king. Secret: renditions already flow to the lake compound [original early use].
Omashu [Canon city; original queen]. Queen Meishou, throne terrace. Goal: outshine and out-spy Ba Sing Se without open war. Secret: she will risk a crisis to humiliate Yuanli.
Kyoshi Warriors [Canon]. Headwoman Oyuki, village dojo. Goal: defend the island and Kyoshi's law. Secret: Oyuki has an old White Lotus tile she does not advertise.
Yu Dao Colonial Administration [Canon colony; original governor]. Governor Ryozen. Goal: make the colony permanent and profitable. Secret: Mandate correspondence about future military use.
Brick Lotus Resistance [Original]. Master Bohai, bakery basement. Goal: keep Earth identity in Yu Dao without getting the street burned. Secret: Bohai will deal with Omashu or the Lotus, not the Dai Li if he can help it.
WATER, AIR, HIDDEN, CROSS-NATION
Northern Water Tribe [Canon; leadership mix]. Chief Skiri (elderly) and Prince Tulok. Goal: protect the North and not be ignored. Secret: Tulok is closer to a war footing than the healers want.
Southern Water Tribe [Canon; 12 BG chief original or continuation]. Chieftain Nulaak; Elder Qanitt advising. Goal: trade, dignity, and a voice. Secret: Qanitt still wants allies; Nulaak wants leverage.
Four Air Temples [Canon]. Elders Gyatso, Disha, Youdron, Namgyal, Yeshe, Jamyang. Goal: find the Avatar, keep the peace, survive their own thin numbers. Secret: they do not agree how public the search should be.
Order of the White Lotus [Canon order; members original]. Grand Lotus Amara, White Teacup back room, traveling. Goal: balance, truth, cross-nation aid. Secret: they will hide an Avatar from any crown, including a "friendly" one. See the White Lotus lore page.
Sun Warriors [Canon, hidden]. Chief Aniruh, fire-dance plaza. Goal: guard Ran and Shaw and the first fire. Secret: they know dragon hunts are a spiritual crime and may test worthy outsiders.
A party can work for a faction without wearing its worst secret. A party can also discover that their employer is the Mandate under another letterhead.