What Fire Has Wrought: The Realm
The Great Houses of the Scarlet Dynasty are members of the Empresses extended family, heirs to the greatest empire creation has ever seen. Dynasts form the aristocracy of the Realm, born to lives of unimaginable privilege and partaking in the spoils of empire. Though possessing wealth and power beyond mortal ken the scions of the Dynasty are possessed with a powerful ambition that sees them strive to ever greater heights, in service of Self and Empress. This large and unruly family has produced 23 lineages that have deserved the moniker of Great House, 11 of which survive to the present day.
House Ledaal
Knowledge is Power
This House is a House of Sorcerers and Scholars without equal, as they posses both the will and power to slake their arcane desires. The scions of this House prefer death to boredom and can often be found on expeditions in the Threshold, uncovering first age artifacts and exploring ruins on the edges of the world. The House possesses a small number of satrapies from which it draws most of its funds, and possesses significant investments in the Realm's educational infrastructure and tech sectors.
House Tepet
None So Bright
House Tepet stands as the premier military House in the Realm. It provides more officers and commanders to the Imperial Military than any two Houses combined. Its scions are renowned for their intellect, discretion, and tactical abilities and many Houses find possessing a Tepet spouse extremely desirable. Because of the House's reliance on the military its finances are dependent upon the tribute it receives from its satrapies along with subsidies received from the Scarlet Throne. The House also possesses significant investments in the military industrial complex of the Realm, possessing a near monopoly on aerospace production.
House Mnemon
Diligence through Mastery, Mastery through Rigor
House Mnemon stands as a monument to the ambitions of its founder, the oldest daughter of the Empress still active in Realm politics. Mnemon, truly the master of the house, chooses the education and career paths for all of her descendants. Honing them all into weapons in her centuries long quest for power. She has committed to memory, their strengths, weaknesses, and secrets and has no compunctions about leveraging these to her advantage. Those who comply with the demands of their ancestor liege are rewarded handsomely, those that do not are scarcely seen again. Mnemon has encouraged several of her descendants to join the immaculate order, this plan is in equal parts piety and politics. She wishes to give back to the Immaculate Philosophy which has placed her so highly in the world, but also seeks influence in the Church to cement her position in politics. That the current Mouth of Peace is a descendant of hers that ignores her orders causes no small amount of consternation. The House possesses significant investments in the Realm's construction industry, telecommunications and machine manufacturing, to better observe what the other Houses are up to.
House Ragara
Fortune Favors Us
What Ragara could not take by force of arms he plans to take by sheer inevitability. Knowing that he could not conquer the Realm and seize the Throne that is his birthright by being the Empress' first born he seeks to make himself the only choice his mother has for a successor. He has built a proud lineage that serves as the mortar of the Dynasty. It is at Ragara parties that most of the important political decisions of the Empire are made, and it is with Ragara money that many Dynasts live the lifestyle that they are accustomed to. The scions of this House deal in capital social, political, and financial providing it as loans to other Houses and charging reasonable interest rates for their services. No House holds Ragara in high regards, but none can afford to anger or alienate him as he holds a near monopoly on the financial markets.
House Cathak
Faith, Honor, Duty
House Cathak is the largest and most pious House in the Dynasty, being the size of the next two Houses combined. This advantage in numbers has not translated into much political power as the lives of its scions are short, with many dying before their 50th birthday in service to the Dragons and the Empire. The House takes its duties, as proscribed by the Immaculate Texts, seriously. Believing in a Divine Mandate to produce capable Princes of the Earth to defeat the evils that plague Creation and rule its mortal population with wisdom. The House produces the least corrupt officials to serve the Empire, and they are the first to volunteer at the sign of crisis or a coming conflict as their strict moral upbringing leaves them unable to stand by as others come to harm. The House receives most of its funds from the high tribute it extracts from satrapies, its justification being the level of services provided to tributary states and lack of corruption compared to other Houses. As well as significant investments in defense contracting managed by the Masamune Household.
House Sesus
We Do Not Sow
Sesus loved War, he loved blitzes and encirclement. He loved sieges, sallies, and routs. When it came to conflict he preferred to be in the thick of it and his descendants shared his blood lust. House Sesus stands as the most brutal House in the Scarlet Dynasty, the vicious dogs of war that the Empress unleashes on unruly states in the Threshold. Great pains are taken by Realm censors to manage the media image of the House and prevent the public from learning of the full scale of the atrocities committed in the name of Dragon and Empress. The House makes the entirety of its funds from Imperial subsidies as the Empress, rightly, did not trust them to manage a satrapy effectively and kept the House on a short leash to savage her foes. The scions of this House cared not, as long as they were allowed to indulge their appetites upon the Threshold.
House Peleps
Stasis is Death
House Peleps is a House of liars, cheats, and snake oil salesman and its Elders would prefer it no other way. The House extols the virtues of realpolitik, the need to be ambitions, and getting ahead no matter the means. The only things the Elders of the House discourage are being caught and engaging in criminal activity in the Blessed Isle as that can distract attention away from the House's political endeavors. While the Empress approved of these shenanigans the other Great Houses did not, culling a great number of Peleps Households over the years for excessive conspiring. The House maintains its position in the Realm by controlling a large segment of the Judiciary, its influence in the Deliberative, as well as several important commands within the Imperial Navy. While none like House Peleps no one can afford to ignore them.
House Iselsi
Ever Vigilant
House Iselsi is a disgraced House that may not be long for this world. Nearly a century ago a contingent of young members of the House had an idea to assassinate the Empress and seize the Throne in order to improve the power of the House within the Realm. This assassination attempt had the opposite effect and resulted in their execution, as well as the stripping of status and assets from the House as punishment for not stopping the plot in time. The Empress has seen fit to strip the House of its independence, and it is now entirely dependent upon her good will for day to day functioning. She has placed its members in sensitive areas across Creation to do her bidding, hoping to restore the honor of their House and knowing that if they fail in their tasks that they draw their final breaths. House Iselsi controls no investments but many of its members are well positioned in the security apparatus of the Realm.
House Cynis
Only the Dragons Can Judge Us
House Cynis views it as their sacred duty to bring peace, refinement and relaxation to the Realm and all of the lands that it rules. This is a duty that they embrace and embody in their lives. The parties that this House throws are legendary for the quality of their entertainment as well as stories of their debauchery, and vain socialites would kill to get an invite to one. This social clout has translated to a political tool that the House uses to gain advantage in the Deliberative, as well as secure a long lasting alliance with House Sesus. The scions of this House are the greatest patrons of art and culture in Creation, spending lavishly to support museums, art galleries and other cultural enterprises. The House also maintains significant investments in the Sex, Alcohol and Entertainment industries which have reaped windfall profits making Cynis the second wealthiest of the Great Houses.
House V'neef
Our Roots Go Deep
The youngest and smallest of the Great Houses. Founded only 20 years ago by V'Neef. While young the founder of this House is an incredibly intelligent and resourceful woman. Having wrangled control of the Realms Merchant Marine and its associated "management fees" away from House Peleps. V'Neef has recently embarked upon an adoption campaign, inducting several high profile outcastes and patricians into her House. Because of this many members of the House are older than V'Neef and come in a variety of elemental aspects. This does not concern the Mistress of the House as she has forged this ragtag group into a capable team that has grown greatly in wealth and influence in just the two decades of its existence. The House manages significant investment in Wine, Weapons, Luxury Goods, International Shipping, and Fuel productions.
House Nellens
Come Try Me
The unloved bastards of the Scarlet Dynasty. House Nellens is a House of Mortals in a world controlled by demigods. The scions of this House are all descendant from Nellens, the only mortal to ever share a bed with the Empress. None knew what she saw in a mere mortal that made him so attractive besides his money, ambition, political acumen, and fetching looks. She loved him deeply and upon his death she elevated his children to the status of Great House. The other Houses detest their presence, for their mostly mortal blood leads to few dragonblooded exaltations within the house. So they have had to fight for everything they have attained. This has cultivated a strong family ethic, and a will to succeed no matter the opposition. The scions of this House have cultivated strong ties to the patricians and commoners of the Realm, gaining discounts on goods and obtaining free favors from them for serving as their advocates and windows into the halls of power. This connection, in addition to their great wealth and control of the Realm's media, gives the House an additional layer of protection as if any House made serious moves against Nellens they would face an instant revolt of the mortals within their domain.
The Other Houses
It is by the inheritable nature of the Dragon Blooded Exaltation that certain families are destined for greatness and this fact is plainly understood though not all families are as equally mighty. There are a large number of other Houses in the Realm that have yet to receive the recognition(and tax benefits) of a Great House. These families were founded by some of the Empresses earliest courtiers, partisans, less accomplished children, and notable outcastes. These families may be lacking in political clout, resources, troops or some other quality and have not been elevated to the high station they feel they deserve.
The Patricians
Though the Dynasty is the ruling class it is not the governing class of the Realm. The Realm is a large empire with a byzantine bureaucracy and economic system. Millions of bureaucrats and functionaries are in the direct employ of the state making sure streets are cleaned, traffic tickets are served, and divorce cases settled. In come the patricians, distant cousins, close friends, or rich bastards they are the CEOs, Judges, Ministers and other high ranking personnel that keep the Empire moving.
The Commoners
The citizens of the Realm possess a standard of living without equal in Creation. Every good produced in the world can be found in the markets of the Realm, and even the poorest citizen can afford entertainment and luxury goods. The government has invested heavily in infrastructure and housing so that travel and housing are cheap and of high quality. Citizens are entitled to old age pensions, free healthcare, free primary and secondary education, one month of paid vacation, as well as cash assistance in times of unemployment. Most people are inattentive to politics, taking the prosperity of the Realm as evidence of the righteousness of the Empress' rule.
House Ledaal
Knowledge is Power
This House is a House of Sorcerers and Scholars without equal, as they posses both the will and power to slake their arcane desires. The scions of this House prefer death to boredom and can often be found on expeditions in the Threshold, uncovering first age artifacts and exploring ruins on the edges of the world. The House possesses a small number of satrapies from which it draws most of its funds, and possesses significant investments in the Realm's educational infrastructure and tech sectors.
House Tepet
None So Bright
House Tepet stands as the premier military House in the Realm. It provides more officers and commanders to the Imperial Military than any two Houses combined. Its scions are renowned for their intellect, discretion, and tactical abilities and many Houses find possessing a Tepet spouse extremely desirable. Because of the House's reliance on the military its finances are dependent upon the tribute it receives from its satrapies along with subsidies received from the Scarlet Throne. The House also possesses significant investments in the military industrial complex of the Realm, possessing a near monopoly on aerospace production.
House Mnemon
Diligence through Mastery, Mastery through Rigor
House Mnemon stands as a monument to the ambitions of its founder, the oldest daughter of the Empress still active in Realm politics. Mnemon, truly the master of the house, chooses the education and career paths for all of her descendants. Honing them all into weapons in her centuries long quest for power. She has committed to memory, their strengths, weaknesses, and secrets and has no compunctions about leveraging these to her advantage. Those who comply with the demands of their ancestor liege are rewarded handsomely, those that do not are scarcely seen again. Mnemon has encouraged several of her descendants to join the immaculate order, this plan is in equal parts piety and politics. She wishes to give back to the Immaculate Philosophy which has placed her so highly in the world, but also seeks influence in the Church to cement her position in politics. That the current Mouth of Peace is a descendant of hers that ignores her orders causes no small amount of consternation. The House possesses significant investments in the Realm's construction industry, telecommunications and machine manufacturing, to better observe what the other Houses are up to.
House Ragara
Fortune Favors Us
What Ragara could not take by force of arms he plans to take by sheer inevitability. Knowing that he could not conquer the Realm and seize the Throne that is his birthright by being the Empress' first born he seeks to make himself the only choice his mother has for a successor. He has built a proud lineage that serves as the mortar of the Dynasty. It is at Ragara parties that most of the important political decisions of the Empire are made, and it is with Ragara money that many Dynasts live the lifestyle that they are accustomed to. The scions of this House deal in capital social, political, and financial providing it as loans to other Houses and charging reasonable interest rates for their services. No House holds Ragara in high regards, but none can afford to anger or alienate him as he holds a near monopoly on the financial markets.
House Cathak
Faith, Honor, Duty
House Cathak is the largest and most pious House in the Dynasty, being the size of the next two Houses combined. This advantage in numbers has not translated into much political power as the lives of its scions are short, with many dying before their 50th birthday in service to the Dragons and the Empire. The House takes its duties, as proscribed by the Immaculate Texts, seriously. Believing in a Divine Mandate to produce capable Princes of the Earth to defeat the evils that plague Creation and rule its mortal population with wisdom. The House produces the least corrupt officials to serve the Empire, and they are the first to volunteer at the sign of crisis or a coming conflict as their strict moral upbringing leaves them unable to stand by as others come to harm. The House receives most of its funds from the high tribute it extracts from satrapies, its justification being the level of services provided to tributary states and lack of corruption compared to other Houses. As well as significant investments in defense contracting managed by the Masamune Household.
House Sesus
We Do Not Sow
Sesus loved War, he loved blitzes and encirclement. He loved sieges, sallies, and routs. When it came to conflict he preferred to be in the thick of it and his descendants shared his blood lust. House Sesus stands as the most brutal House in the Scarlet Dynasty, the vicious dogs of war that the Empress unleashes on unruly states in the Threshold. Great pains are taken by Realm censors to manage the media image of the House and prevent the public from learning of the full scale of the atrocities committed in the name of Dragon and Empress. The House makes the entirety of its funds from Imperial subsidies as the Empress, rightly, did not trust them to manage a satrapy effectively and kept the House on a short leash to savage her foes. The scions of this House cared not, as long as they were allowed to indulge their appetites upon the Threshold.
House Peleps
Stasis is Death
House Peleps is a House of liars, cheats, and snake oil salesman and its Elders would prefer it no other way. The House extols the virtues of realpolitik, the need to be ambitions, and getting ahead no matter the means. The only things the Elders of the House discourage are being caught and engaging in criminal activity in the Blessed Isle as that can distract attention away from the House's political endeavors. While the Empress approved of these shenanigans the other Great Houses did not, culling a great number of Peleps Households over the years for excessive conspiring. The House maintains its position in the Realm by controlling a large segment of the Judiciary, its influence in the Deliberative, as well as several important commands within the Imperial Navy. While none like House Peleps no one can afford to ignore them.
House Iselsi
Ever Vigilant
House Iselsi is a disgraced House that may not be long for this world. Nearly a century ago a contingent of young members of the House had an idea to assassinate the Empress and seize the Throne in order to improve the power of the House within the Realm. This assassination attempt had the opposite effect and resulted in their execution, as well as the stripping of status and assets from the House as punishment for not stopping the plot in time. The Empress has seen fit to strip the House of its independence, and it is now entirely dependent upon her good will for day to day functioning. She has placed its members in sensitive areas across Creation to do her bidding, hoping to restore the honor of their House and knowing that if they fail in their tasks that they draw their final breaths. House Iselsi controls no investments but many of its members are well positioned in the security apparatus of the Realm.
House Cynis
Only the Dragons Can Judge Us
House Cynis views it as their sacred duty to bring peace, refinement and relaxation to the Realm and all of the lands that it rules. This is a duty that they embrace and embody in their lives. The parties that this House throws are legendary for the quality of their entertainment as well as stories of their debauchery, and vain socialites would kill to get an invite to one. This social clout has translated to a political tool that the House uses to gain advantage in the Deliberative, as well as secure a long lasting alliance with House Sesus. The scions of this House are the greatest patrons of art and culture in Creation, spending lavishly to support museums, art galleries and other cultural enterprises. The House also maintains significant investments in the Sex, Alcohol and Entertainment industries which have reaped windfall profits making Cynis the second wealthiest of the Great Houses.
House V'neef
Our Roots Go Deep
The youngest and smallest of the Great Houses. Founded only 20 years ago by V'Neef. While young the founder of this House is an incredibly intelligent and resourceful woman. Having wrangled control of the Realms Merchant Marine and its associated "management fees" away from House Peleps. V'Neef has recently embarked upon an adoption campaign, inducting several high profile outcastes and patricians into her House. Because of this many members of the House are older than V'Neef and come in a variety of elemental aspects. This does not concern the Mistress of the House as she has forged this ragtag group into a capable team that has grown greatly in wealth and influence in just the two decades of its existence. The House manages significant investment in Wine, Weapons, Luxury Goods, International Shipping, and Fuel productions.
House Nellens
Come Try Me
The unloved bastards of the Scarlet Dynasty. House Nellens is a House of Mortals in a world controlled by demigods. The scions of this House are all descendant from Nellens, the only mortal to ever share a bed with the Empress. None knew what she saw in a mere mortal that made him so attractive besides his money, ambition, political acumen, and fetching looks. She loved him deeply and upon his death she elevated his children to the status of Great House. The other Houses detest their presence, for their mostly mortal blood leads to few dragonblooded exaltations within the house. So they have had to fight for everything they have attained. This has cultivated a strong family ethic, and a will to succeed no matter the opposition. The scions of this House have cultivated strong ties to the patricians and commoners of the Realm, gaining discounts on goods and obtaining free favors from them for serving as their advocates and windows into the halls of power. This connection, in addition to their great wealth and control of the Realm's media, gives the House an additional layer of protection as if any House made serious moves against Nellens they would face an instant revolt of the mortals within their domain.
The Other Houses
It is by the inheritable nature of the Dragon Blooded Exaltation that certain families are destined for greatness and this fact is plainly understood though not all families are as equally mighty. There are a large number of other Houses in the Realm that have yet to receive the recognition(and tax benefits) of a Great House. These families were founded by some of the Empresses earliest courtiers, partisans, less accomplished children, and notable outcastes. These families may be lacking in political clout, resources, troops or some other quality and have not been elevated to the high station they feel they deserve.
The Patricians
Though the Dynasty is the ruling class it is not the governing class of the Realm. The Realm is a large empire with a byzantine bureaucracy and economic system. Millions of bureaucrats and functionaries are in the direct employ of the state making sure streets are cleaned, traffic tickets are served, and divorce cases settled. In come the patricians, distant cousins, close friends, or rich bastards they are the CEOs, Judges, Ministers and other high ranking personnel that keep the Empire moving.
The Commoners
The citizens of the Realm possess a standard of living without equal in Creation. Every good produced in the world can be found in the markets of the Realm, and even the poorest citizen can afford entertainment and luxury goods. The government has invested heavily in infrastructure and housing so that travel and housing are cheap and of high quality. Citizens are entitled to old age pensions, free healthcare, free primary and secondary education, one month of paid vacation, as well as cash assistance in times of unemployment. Most people are inattentive to politics, taking the prosperity of the Realm as evidence of the righteousness of the Empress' rule.
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