Houses

A house is an extended family bloodline; members can often track their ancestry back many generations. It includes all legitimately born members of the family— some houses recognize bastards as well, but this stance is far from universal—unless some family members have been deliberately cast out for serious transgressions. Usually, one can join a house only through adoption or marriage. Someone outside the family might become a servant or employee of the house—or even be favored as much as some true members—but he will never truly belong.

Houses carry the primary name of the family; for instance, House Ebonmar is the house representing the family tree of Duke Balthus Ebonmar. Since people can join the house through marriage and pass their own names along to their children, not every member of a house shares the family name. For example, if Duke Balthus’s sister marries a man named Randas Arran, his last name does not change; he simply becomes “Randas Arran of House Ebonmar.”

Most houses in a fantasy setting represent noble families. Because descent and purity of the blood are of vital social importance to most noble lines, they track their lineage with extreme care. The larger the noble house, the more power it likely has in the local government. If House Ebonmar is the largest noble house in the kingdom, it probably has more governmental positions than any other house, and thus it might be able to put pressure on the king or other nobles to make decisions in its favor. In most cases, no single house utterly dominates a kingdom or city, except perhaps the royal house from which the king descends. The political wrangling between houses can be fierce, especially in circumstances where the line of ascension to the throne is not clear. In most cases, this confl ict is limited to under-the-table deals, payoffs, favor-trading, blackmail, and other political maneuvers. On occasion, however, it can escalate into physical intimidation, kidnapping, assassination, and even civil war.

The leader of a house is usually its oldest living member. In some cultures where gender is an issue, the leader might need to be male, or female, depending on the particulars. If a younger member of a house holds an especially important position in society, he might also serve as house leader, but this situation is rare. A very few houses elect a leader from among their ranks, rather than declaring someone to be the newest ascender to the position.

Many noble houses are known for their skills or abilities at specific tasks. One house might produce famous warriors, while another might have a long history of artistry or craftsmanship in a particular medium, while a third might breed the best horses and train the best riders. Such an ability is usually secondary to a house’s political ambitions, but savvy house leaders build on their strengths (such as ensuring that the bulk of military officers in a region belong to their own bloodline).

A rarer but growing phenomenon is that of the merchant house, formed not of noble bloodlines but from families whose members have gained enough economic and mercantile infl uence to be powers in their own right. They often sit at the heart of merchant guilds or similar organizations. Many can shape the fi nances of entire markets by setting prices, intimidating rivals, and threatening to cut off the fl ow of certain goods. A few are powerful enough to infl uence governments or noble houses. Most merchant houses have infl uence over one or two kinds of commerce—such as textiles or shipping—but the largest might infl uence all markets in a given region. They, too, are normally led by their oldest living member.

Members of a house always belong to the upper class, whether the house is of the noble or the merchant variety. Houses are primarily found in cities where humans or elves predominate. Gnomes rarely trace their family lineage back far enough to create houses, while dwarves and halfl ings live in communities made up exclusively of blood relatives. Still, members of those last three races who have dwelt in a human city or an elf city for more than a generation or so might find themselves caught up in politics and could eventually be adopted into a house.