The humiliation faced by the Phrygian army in their aborted invasion of Athens led to turmoil on the steppe and the rise in strength of two main factions opposing the Basileus, Arsakês II.

• The Circle Clan. This secret society has existed in Phrygia since the earliest years of its migration into the Northern Steppe ; it is an ultra-conservative, ultra-reactionary, and fanatical force of Eastern Hellenic bigots who want to see the destruction of the West and the reunification of the Hellenic Empire under an Atreid Crown. Their loyalty is to the (Eastern) House of Atreus, to God, and to Megara.

• The Croats. This slavic people roams the Northern Steppe and forms an ever-larger portion of the Hypsianistarian realm. They are not fundamentally opposed to the Basileus, or to any other state for that matter ; but they wish to expand their domains and perhaps even create their own Croatian independent state. The Croats act more and more as a unified force, although the most ancient of their clans, Clan Khrobatoi, is a close ally of the Clan Gordias. The Croats do not speak Megaran for the most part, but they worship Helios Aniketos.

The third major faction in Phrygia is that supporting Arsakês II, consisting mostly of the Hypsianistarian nobility that can trace its origins back to before the great migration. However, the defeat of the army disproportionately impacts this loyalist group : thus it seems that the fate of Phrygia lies in the hands of the Croats and the Circle Clan.