Noble Houses

Nobility can only be attained when an asimar is born, having an angelkin child is proof of one's holy bloodline and elevates the family into the ranks of nobility. Being of a noble house affords many benefits, such as: A vote to elect a new king; the ability to attend the king's court; no one but the king himself may pass judgement on them. The noblemen and noblewomen are the only people who are allowed to have family names.   The Noble Houses exert a great deal of power and influence due to their stability, some say they hold more power than the king himself since they are the kingmakers. The noble familys are of holy descent and so the populace inherently give their actions the benefit of the doubt, they are often viewed as a great force for the good of the realm. The Noble Houses are allowed to have a standing army of their retainers and vassals and knights that they must be ready to muster to the king's banner in time of war.   In matters of succession and family duties, traditionally the 1st born (scion) is groomed to reign the house regardless of gender, the 2nd born is trained to contribute to the wealth of the House, and the 3rd born is given in thanks to the kingdom and becomes a Judge to contribute to the land of his House (by eventually becoming an Exarch). A patriarch or matriarch of a House are the heads of their family, they are the ones who make the decisions and give the orders, only they can vote on matters of state in the king's court.   There are 7 great Noble Houses, they are the blood of many kings, they are the oldest, the largest and the ones who have had the most angelic blood manifest itself. Then there are the great many lesser Houses, some that have recently risen (like House Airil), some that have recently fallen, some that have had only one angel blooded ancestor and so on. Lesser Houses will sometimes swear fealty to one of the 7 great Houses, they then become what is known as "Banner Lords". The lesser House gains advantages and safety from their allegiance but lose much of their autonomy in the process. "Calling the Banners" is when the great families call upon the oaths of their Bannerlords to amass a mighty fighting force.