Iron Empire
The Iron Empire is a powerful government that sits in the land of Iron. Iron covers the base of the Virnach Mountains, and everything contained within it. Iron is an advanced culture filled with rivalling Houses of rich nobles and proud Highlanders forced into submission. The land itself is rich and vibrant, filled with bright green foliage and towering mountains peaked with white.
There are the traditional four seasons within the Empire. Winter is a dangerous time, especially for the Highlanders, but the People of Iron have grown accustomed to the freezing temperature over time.
The Iron Empire is easily able to stay in power and control over such a large area because it controls all the major resources for the area (minerals and wood) and is the center of the country, controlling communication and travel. It is the wealthiest and the population find themselves wanting to progress in the Empire instead of overthrow it. People stay within the Empire because each major town and city in Ember or the Highlands is under the Empire’s protection, with a Lord assigned to oversee each, and they will usually have a small group of soldiers to help protect the town from Lost. It is not attractive to live in the Empire, but it is worse to live without.
In The Burning War, Iron conquered the lands with overwhelming military might through their highly trained mounted knights and most notably their full sets of plate armor of glistening iron. But what helped them control their seized provinces was their support of the first Soulomancer and their spell: “Animal Messenger”, which lets them create a magical bird to send messages to direct locations at the speed of a flying bird, this has revolutionized communication. However, the outer skirts of the Iron Empire have been growing in strength, reducing the importance of Hero’s Rest. The government is inefficient because all the leadership is in Hero’s Rest and from the emperor himself.
Iron Houses. The remaining nobles make up the Iron Houses, or the nobility of the Empire. A House traditionally rules over a town and the people inside, and have bannermen that are ready to be called upon by the Emperor.
Knight Warfare
Knightly Virtues
Orders of Knighthood
Godsmiths are even rarer, and their have only be two in the history of the Empire. They possess the ability to weave souls into physical objects, and create fantastical works of beauty or destruction.
In Iron, the infrastructure of the Empire is made up of noble Houses often competing for power with one another. Each of these Houses has a banner relating somewhat to their bloodline, which is often a single word surname and corresponding animal. The People of Iron are very proud and believe themselves above others. They have the most advanced technology and thus culture (as they believe) and were able to conquer the Highlands and Ember Dominance relatively easily. Now they value how educated and proper they are compared to the others within the Empire, but also compared to the Soleri, who are viewed as ‘Savages’. The Highlanders and the Soleri savages seem very focused on animal imagery and worship, so Iron strays away from it.
In recent years, Iron has become a fount of new and creative arts. The people within, especially the wealthy, create paintings mainly, but also tapestries and glass mosaics found in Necrosects too.
The cities of Iron are dirty and compact, but also vivid with life and color through the people, despite the drab grey surroundings. Brothels are very commonplace for both men and women.
Only the noblemen of Iron have access to formal education in the form of schools and tutors, which is only a recent advancement. Magic is rampant in this world, and one school, the first magic school, has just been established to train Soulomancers. For the past 500 years, all who were found to be able to expel and manipulate souls were slaughtered because they were too dangerous. Now Iron wants to train them to be valuable assets.
To avoid absorbing souls, the squads of Iron soldiers all have an assigned ‘Executioner’ who deals with finishing off their foes, either with a crossbow or through melee (as they are expendable). Executioners are the least trained member of the squad or the one who can hold souls the best. Many Iron soldiers still cling to the sword, which has been the weapon of choice for generations. However, with the advancement of plate armor, more and more are starting to wield long weapons like poleaxes and halberds – which also double as being good at dismembering foes without killing them. Daggers are also much less common. Scythes and weapons that disembowel are good because they take the opponent out of the fight permanently, but they take a few seconds to die.
Iron soldiers are best known for their knights. The colorful warriors wearing glorious suits of plate armor astride a gallant warhorse with a flapping banner behind them. Lesser soldiers wear discarded pieces of old suits of armor, such as halfplate. Others will then wear chain mail, or people avoiding any iron would wear boiled leather. Most Iron soldiers are gallant knights in plate armor.
Most Iron Houses possess Old Iron names referring to their noble lineage. House names with a unique name such as Carantus, Glore, and Sentel are from the Blood Age and the name has been carried over. Other House names are new and notably different. These usually are newer Houses founded during the Storm or Ivory Age and are related to a significant event or person. For example, the Blackblade House was started by The Black Blade. Lancer was formed from being so famous with a Lance. House Courage was started by a Knight's title and House Ghostwood was started by a children's tale.
Before The Burning War, the Highlands were populated by Highland Clans. Instead of being families, these were kinship groups of Highlanders with a sense of shared identity and proximity. Iron Houses are nobles, with noble blood, whereas the people not a part of an Iron House are commonfolk. All Highlanders are part of a Highland clan, no matter their ‘nobleness’, and the only ones not are outlawed for crimes, and instead roam the Highlands as outlaws. Most Iron nobles consider representing their House with an animal crest as ‘barbaric’ and something that the Highlanders would do, so tend towards objects such as skulls or weapons, while old Highland clans were represented by wolves, bears, etc.
After The Burning War, the Iron Houses outlawed all Clan crests so that they did not threaten the Iron House banners. Now, the clans hold to their lineage through tartan patterns alone. The Ember Dominance do not bother with Houses and Clans, instead tending toward just where they are from.
Great Houses tend to ‘own’ their primary color and have cloaks, surcoats and banners that can be identified by the single color. Smaller Houses tend towards several colors to stand out. Each House has their own ‘banner’, then knights from that House have individual coat of arms which take the banner and often change slightly or add elements to for individuality as a knight while still representing their House banner.
Any family that holds considerate land is considered a House, usually established at the end of the Blood Age during the creation of the Iron Kingdom, or at the end of The Burning War. Members of a House are Lords and Ladies, who serve as Vassals for the King, who ‘gave’ them their land (lets them keep their land) in return for military following when requested. It is a House’s responsibility to hold men-at-arms in an amount equivalent to land held (to protect their own land and for the King’s sake). These soldiers are called a House’s bannermen. Houses can also have Knights, advanced military with a chivalric code that can also recruit bannermen and are given a small part of the House’s land. A knight can hold land even though they are not of the Houses blood, for the land is technically still belonging to the Iron House. An Iron House must possess land within Iron, but often Lords also rule Highlander towns. This task is usually done by cousins and distant relatives of the main Houses family which reside in their town or city.
There are the traditional four seasons within the Empire. Winter is a dangerous time, especially for the Highlanders, but the People of Iron have grown accustomed to the freezing temperature over time.
The Iron Empire is easily able to stay in power and control over such a large area because it controls all the major resources for the area (minerals and wood) and is the center of the country, controlling communication and travel. It is the wealthiest and the population find themselves wanting to progress in the Empire instead of overthrow it. People stay within the Empire because each major town and city in Ember or the Highlands is under the Empire’s protection, with a Lord assigned to oversee each, and they will usually have a small group of soldiers to help protect the town from Lost. It is not attractive to live in the Empire, but it is worse to live without.
In The Burning War, Iron conquered the lands with overwhelming military might through their highly trained mounted knights and most notably their full sets of plate armor of glistening iron. But what helped them control their seized provinces was their support of the first Soulomancer and their spell: “Animal Messenger”, which lets them create a magical bird to send messages to direct locations at the speed of a flying bird, this has revolutionized communication. However, the outer skirts of the Iron Empire have been growing in strength, reducing the importance of Hero’s Rest. The government is inefficient because all the leadership is in Hero’s Rest and from the emperor himself.
OVERVIEW
The Iron Empire broken up into its individual parts in as simple a format as possible. The Empire is complex and constantly evolving, with many small intricacies that would result in House Glore and the Emperor. House Glore is the ruling noble House of the Empire, descendants of the great Glorius. Members of House Glore are the most important people in Vaskeer. Below them or intrinsically linked to Glore are:- The Soulsworn. Founded by Sir Vesuvius Glore to protect the Burnt Emperor, the Soulsworn are the sworn protectors of the Emperor and his family, protecting them from any threat. They also act as the Emperor's justiciars, traveling the Empire to carry out his will.
- The Emperor's Council. The Emperor's governing council that aid him in ruling the big-picture Empire. Made up of members of the Great Five.
- Praesitors. A Praesitor is the title given to a defender of a province, which has always been linked to Dukedom. For example, the Duke of Stone Labyrinth has been the Praesitor of the Shield, and the Duke of Radiant Lance has always been the Praesitor of the Lance.
Iron Houses. The remaining nobles make up the Iron Houses, or the nobility of the Empire. A House traditionally rules over a town and the people inside, and have bannermen that are ready to be called upon by the Emperor.
- The King's Council. Rule over Hero's Rest in the Emperor's name (the name of this council refers to the old Iron Kingdom, when Hero's Rest was the center of a mere Kingdom).
- Lord. Each Iron House has a ruling Lord who rules the town they occupy.
- Knights. Esteemed warriors that hail from an Iron House and train under the chivalrous code.
- The Highlands are ruled by the High King from Chillhold, but each town within has a ruling Lord from an Iron House.
- The Ember Dominance was ruled by a King from Dragonsbreath, but is now ruled by a council.
POPULATION
2 million concurrently in Iron. 0.6 million in the Highlands. 0.4 million in the Ember Dominance. 3 million in the Empire total. Used to be equal between the three until The Burning War. Compared to real life, there is a large number of nobles in Iron. They make up close to 6% (120,000) of the Iron population, members of Great Houses and Knights bestowed with land. There are no nobles in the Highland and Dominance, only those garrisoned there to rule the towns. Roughly 3% (60,000) of these nobles are knights due to the dependence on Knights in Iron culture, the other 3% (60,000) aristocratic nobles. Then, another 2% (40,000) are Creedmen and Alchemists, sworn into the Creed as a Witness, Templar, or servant, or a part of the Blue Aetheneum as a scholar of Vodinero.SIZE
The entirety of the Iron Empire (including conquered provinces) can be approximated in a rough rectangle with the Soleri to the south, the Ivory Wall to the north, and seas to either side. This is roughly 300 miles wide and 600 miles long. For travel, there are many obstacles that can increase time taken such as the Virnach mountains, the Lance, or simply the Lost. Meanwhile, traveling down the coast via ship is the fastest method, despite its high risk due to sea-Burnstorms.EMPIRE-WIDE CULTURE
Since the conquering The Burning War, Iron has pushed to inject their culture into the others as much as possible and made it their true beliefs as well. This hasn’t worked in some regards, relating to the truth of the war, but it has worked for religion.MYTH OF THE Dragon RIDERS –
A myth told within is about the Dragon Riders. Dragon Riders are said to be the ultimate protectors of Vaskeer who fight off the evil from outside. They are spoken of as fairy tales to kids, saying that if they are super good, when they die, they might be selected by Ethos to become a Dragon Rider. In truth, none know of the origin of the Dragon Riders.The Iron Creed Religion –
The main religion of Iron, followed dutifully by all within. The Creed worships the God of the Dead, Ethos. He is the one who raised The Ivory Wall to protect the people of Vaskeer from the apocalypse outside. This religion follows the belief that the outside world has been destroyed by abominations caused by Ydall, God of Creation (and Ethos’ brother) and that Ethos has created a weapon to try and save the world. Ydall and Ethos fought, and Ethos managed to defeat his brother and stop the spread of his creations, but Ethos was left mortally wounded which is why he must rely on the souls of the dead. The weapon needs to be fuelled for such a task and requires the souls of the dead. The Burn is this weapon. The People of Iron believe that when they die, their soul rises into The Burn to later be used to vanquish the evil outside the wall. It is bad to have your soul taken or to not reach The Burn, for you would be cursed for all eternity or until someone frees your soul. If your soul were not to be absorbed into The Burn, then it would lost in space forever, suffering for eternity. Witnesses believe that when lightning strikes, it is Veler trying to tell them something from Ethos’ side. The Iron CreedFESTIVALS –
There are many festivals celebrated in the Empire throughout the year. These are all Feasts. Feasts are celebrations that originated from the Highlands that started by getting everyone together to brave the harsh winters of the mountains. Since then, the festival has spread throughout the Empire due to its genuineness. The Feast of Summer Solstice, Feast of Winter Solstice, Feast of the Emperor, Feast of Brews.WARFARE –
Iron stands in stark contrast in regard to warfare because they developed heavy suits of plate armor and long blades for their Titans to fight with. Making them immune to ranged attacks and designed to get more powerful as they kill more and more. Each squad has an ‘Executor’ within them. Someone who’s whole goal is to finish off their foes so the others don’t absorb souls unwillingly. The soldiers are taught to maim and knock out, to break bones and dismember without killing their foes. Knight WarfareCURRENCY –
Iron has standardized three types of currency throughout. Bronze, silver, and gold coins. They consider Iron to be too holy of a resource to make a currency out of, like the Iron Kingdom used to when they dwelt on Old Iron. Now, the metal currencies of the Empire have developed strange nicknames that have seemed to stick:- Gold Pieces: Known as Aurs and sometimes Auries. The top currency and sign of wealth.
- Silver Pieces: Known as Argies. Eleven Argies equals one Aur.
- Copper Pieces: Known as Cups. Eleven Cups equals one Argie.
- Lead Pieces: Known as Plums. Eleven Plums equals one Cup.
- Tin Pieces: Known as Stans. Eleven Stans equals one Plum.
VIEW OF OTHERS –
Iron often views the Soleri as savages. There are many scary tales about their ‘Witches’, evil Soulomancers that eat human flesh and can look through animals' eyes, watch kids to scare them. Myths pervade of Werewolves and the like amongst the Soleri, which is actually old encounters with the Soleri tribe using Bezoar magic. The Creed views Soleri as scattered offspring of the Dark Father, tainted by evil innately.TITLES –
Throughout the Empire there are a few titles.- Emperor - The top is the Iron Emperor : the ultimate monarch. The emperor holds the ‘Iron Crown’, symbolizing kingship of the Iron province, but also wears a relic of power from the past embedded in the simple iron crown. The jewel itself is a shimmering amber and is the most sought-after item in the empire. (It is actually a Dragon Bezoar from Veler’s Dragon?) It is called the Mythoclast. The mythoclast is an item that is later used to destroy the myth of Veler and who he truly was. It reveals the truth, that he was a Dragon Rider stranded in Vaskeer. OR the emperor holds the Iron Spear, fashioned out of a likeness of Veler’s Windspear in honor. Iron sees using a spear as holy and is completely outlawed in warfare. The Soleri’s that use it are sacrilegious. Example: Leocius Glore, King of Iron, Wielder of the Iron Spear, Blood of the Burning, Seen by the First Witness, Leocius the Ivory. (Is emperor of the entirety of the empire, but also holds the Iron province as King). Addressed as ‘his most eminent highness’.
- King - Then there are Kings: rulers of their own lands. Divided up into Iron, Highlands, and Ember Dominance. The Iron Emperor is also the King of Iron. Each King wears a crown of some kind to denote their station. Example: Three Kings in the Empire. Emperor King Leocius Glore of Iron. High King Godbane of the Highlands. The King of Ember. Kings subserve only to the Emperor or his Council. Otherwise they rule over their own kingdom as long as it is along the Iron laws of the Empire. In truth, their power is equal to that of a Duke of Iron. Addressed as ‘Your Royal Highness’.
- Duke/Duchess - The highest ranking one of not royal blood can achieve. A Duke is the leaders of a Great Houses in Iron, of which there are only five. Beneath only emperors and kings, Dukes rule areas of high value to the Empire, deemed as Dukedoms/Duchies. These have traditionally been the large cities of the Empire, such as the Stone Labyrinth and Radiant Lance. The land of that city is a Dukedom, ruled by a Duke, which sit above a Lord, and a Dukedom can contain different areas ruled by different Lords. The title of Duke is the ultimate hereditary title that can be earned. Any Duke or Duchess of the empire is given a seat on the Emperor’s Council to serve as his hands and mouth as they are seen as the emperor’s will. The title for a Duke goes: Duke of Stone Labyrinth/Duke Sentel. Also the lordships of House Skelsmith and Isdemor are within the Dukedom of House Glore. Addressed as ‘Your Grace’.
- Praesitor - This is a small subsidiary title that only a few possess. Until recently, it was lumped together with Duke/Duchess, but with the rise of House Morgault, and more specifically Guele Morgault, the distinction has been made bigger. It had worked out in the past that each Dukedom had an assigned province, but with the Empire in turmoil, that may change. A Praesitor is an 'earned' title unlike the hereditary Duke. However, over the years it has easily passed to the Duke of the provinces capital city. A Praesitor rules over an entire province in Iron, instead of just their Dukedom or Lordship, but in the form of their warden. They serve as protectors of that entire province as an extension of the emperor. Provinces included in this are Virnach, the Shield, the Lance, the Heartlands, and the Thundering Flats. Traditionally the Duke of Stone Labyrinth has been the Praesitor of the Shield, the Duke or King of Hero's Rest the Praesitor of Virnach, the Duke of Emerald Falls the Praesitor of the Heartlands, and so on. Unlike the other titles of the Iron Empire, this is one that has been used since the early days of the Triumvirate Era, and means a mixture of protector, shield and fortification.
- Lord/Lady - Then there are Lords and Ladies, the people of the Empire which possess land, wealth, and are of noble blood. A Lord or Lady within the Empire is a vassal, and owns land and men-at-arms to govern as they see fit. They are required to pay a capital tax and be ready to be called upon if the crown needs it, but they otherwise left to rule their land as they want. There are five Great Houses in Iron, determined by their rulers Dukedom, and the other Houses are thought of as just 'Houses' or 'Iron Houses'. Nobles are oft sent to Highland or Ember towns to rule over them when they are not wanted in Iron itself. By decree of the emperor, all towns under him must be overseen by an Iron official to make sure tax is collected and the law is upheld, meaning the outer towns of the Empire are always in need if an Iron nobleman. To exist, a House must have been acknowledged by the emperor, or Iron King centuries ago, which shows they have noble blood, and they rule over a town or parcel of land. Over the Storm Age, the Houses have spread out and traditionally rule over one town/city each. Recently, some of the Houses have divided up into smaller subsects created by its own members, as knights slightly alter their coat of arms while keeping their heraldry to create individuality. A noble House usually descends in some way from the Glore family, but mainly tie their heritage back to a certain individual (or group of individuals) of great valor or important event to which their blood makes them better than the commonfolk. In rare occasions, lowborn folk are raised to nobility through the acquisition of power, wealth, ownerships, or royal favor, the membership granted by the ruling monarch or government. A Lord or Lady, as a noble title, is the most common in the Empire and can be used to refer to anyone from a noble House. Referred to as: ‘My Lord/Lady’ or ‘Your Lordship/Ladyship’.
- Knight - Then, there is the title of Knight. A Knight is a special man of noble blood that undertook an accolade. it is a prestigious title for a warrior of unmatched skill with lance and sword, and cavalry master. They trained, usually for their whole lives, specifically for this great honor. Within the Empire's towns, nobles would progress through many stages, such as Page, Squire, then Knight, dedicating their life to becoming a chivalrous Iron Knight, the true strength of the Empire, before being knighted by the Iron Creed or monarch themselves. Some very few would be knighted in exceptional ways, on the battlefield or as a reward for exemplary service to the crown. Knights gained the honorific 'Sir'. E.g- Sir Avelyn, or Sir Leandros. A Knight is a master with all weapons, a master rider, and chivalrous to the core. Knightly Virtues and Knight Warfare. In even fewer cases, a lowborn has been knighted and given land as a vassal, forming a new noble House. See House Blackblade.
- Bannermen - A bannerman is a vassal who owes military service to his Lord and carries his banner. This includes any of fighting capacity that live under an Iron House’s Keep or within their land. For example, the men, mercenaries and even farmers that live in the Emerald Falls are bannermen of House Vaele. Whereas the citizens of Stag Harbor are bannermen to House Fenn, but Fenn is a Principal House of Vaele and thus they are also bannermen to House Vaele. All in the Empire are bannermen to House Glore, the ruling House. To this effect, House Vaele and its Principals are vassals to House Glore. A farmer in Stag Harbor must take up arms if requested to by House Fenn, House Vaele, or House Glore.
IRON KNIGHTS
Knights are the most notable people in Iron, known for their great, gleaming Iron armor that covers them as a full suit. Astride their great warhorses and wearing their colorful surcoats and banners, and trained with lance and sword, in cavalry and tactics and strategy, to read and write, Knights make great foes. Knights make up the main fighting force of any Imperial Army, being well-trained and well-equipped, they can best almost any foe that is placed before them. A small banner of knights can defeat a much larger host of enemies, especially if they have their noble steeds under them.COUNCILS
The Iron Empire is ruled first and foremost by the Emperor. But, through delegation, there are also two Councils that make up the rulership. The first and highest council is the Council of the Emperor. Below the emperors’ council is the king’s council, usually occurring directly afterwards. There are king’s councils in all three of the provinces that make up the Iron Empire.SOULSWORN
Small sect sworn loyalty to the wielder of the Iron Spear that acts as the emperor’s personal guard, and his justiciars. Travel throughout Iron delivering the emperor’s justice. A Soulsworn is identified by their full sets of black plate armor and dark green tabards/surcoats, the two colors matching a soul. They are sworn not to a House, but to the Iron Spear itself and must act as Justiciars with none who can give them orders save the Emperor and his council. A Soulsworn can only swear fealty to the Iron Emperor himself, and not an individual House. The SoulswornSOULSMITHS AND GODSMITHS
A soulsmith makes armor and weapons infused with true elements for Soulomancers to expel with. A Soulsmith is very new and rare because the smithing process is near impossible to do correctly, usually it destroys the component and makes it unusable, or in the best case is a one-use item since the component is burned up in its first use. There is one soulsmith in the Thorn (the secret is closely guarded) and he grants them one request upon completing a successful test as a reward.Godsmiths are even rarer, and their have only be two in the history of the Empire. They possess the ability to weave souls into physical objects, and create fantastical works of beauty or destruction.
ALCHEMIST
The blue-robed scholars of Iron. They study everything, specifically souls and metals, historians, and metallurgists. Alchemists.IRONSMITHS VS GOLDSMITHS
An Ironsmith is also known as a blacksmith in the Empire. They are the crux of the culture and highly revered for their skill in creating full suits of armor and weapons. Goldsmiths are more niche, creating jewelry for nobility out of gold and decorated them with gems.IRON CULTURE
The People of Iron are light skinned, usually with fair hair and light eyes. They are generally taller than the other Northerners, more slim and less hairy. Nobles wear elegant suits and gowns, tapered and kept clean for balls and court. Iron jeweler is also quite prominent amongst Iron wealth. The poor wear more classic tunics and clothes that imitate the nobles but at a much lower quality.In Iron, the infrastructure of the Empire is made up of noble Houses often competing for power with one another. Each of these Houses has a banner relating somewhat to their bloodline, which is often a single word surname and corresponding animal. The People of Iron are very proud and believe themselves above others. They have the most advanced technology and thus culture (as they believe) and were able to conquer the Highlands and Ember Dominance relatively easily. Now they value how educated and proper they are compared to the others within the Empire, but also compared to the Soleri, who are viewed as ‘Savages’. The Highlanders and the Soleri savages seem very focused on animal imagery and worship, so Iron strays away from it.
In recent years, Iron has become a fount of new and creative arts. The people within, especially the wealthy, create paintings mainly, but also tapestries and glass mosaics found in Necrosects too.
The cities of Iron are dirty and compact, but also vivid with life and color through the people, despite the drab grey surroundings. Brothels are very commonplace for both men and women.
Only the noblemen of Iron have access to formal education in the form of schools and tutors, which is only a recent advancement. Magic is rampant in this world, and one school, the first magic school, has just been established to train Soulomancers. For the past 500 years, all who were found to be able to expel and manipulate souls were slaughtered because they were too dangerous. Now Iron wants to train them to be valuable assets.
To avoid absorbing souls, the squads of Iron soldiers all have an assigned ‘Executioner’ who deals with finishing off their foes, either with a crossbow or through melee (as they are expendable). Executioners are the least trained member of the squad or the one who can hold souls the best. Many Iron soldiers still cling to the sword, which has been the weapon of choice for generations. However, with the advancement of plate armor, more and more are starting to wield long weapons like poleaxes and halberds – which also double as being good at dismembering foes without killing them. Daggers are also much less common. Scythes and weapons that disembowel are good because they take the opponent out of the fight permanently, but they take a few seconds to die.
Iron soldiers are best known for their knights. The colorful warriors wearing glorious suits of plate armor astride a gallant warhorse with a flapping banner behind them. Lesser soldiers wear discarded pieces of old suits of armor, such as halfplate. Others will then wear chain mail, or people avoiding any iron would wear boiled leather. Most Iron soldiers are gallant knights in plate armor.
Houses and Clans
The factions that make up the Empire are called Houses. These are separated by familial ties with roots going back to the original families that founded the Iron Kingdom. A House is a powerful family of noble blood (ties to the founding fathers or Veler himself), that rules over land in the Empire. There are five Great Houses in the Empire, made up of the Houses with the most power, whose leader is a Duke. A Duke is a higher title bestowed by the Emperor.Most Iron Houses possess Old Iron names referring to their noble lineage. House names with a unique name such as Carantus, Glore, and Sentel are from the Blood Age and the name has been carried over. Other House names are new and notably different. These usually are newer Houses founded during the Storm or Ivory Age and are related to a significant event or person. For example, the Blackblade House was started by The Black Blade. Lancer was formed from being so famous with a Lance. House Courage was started by a Knight's title and House Ghostwood was started by a children's tale.
Before The Burning War, the Highlands were populated by Highland Clans. Instead of being families, these were kinship groups of Highlanders with a sense of shared identity and proximity. Iron Houses are nobles, with noble blood, whereas the people not a part of an Iron House are commonfolk. All Highlanders are part of a Highland clan, no matter their ‘nobleness’, and the only ones not are outlawed for crimes, and instead roam the Highlands as outlaws. Most Iron nobles consider representing their House with an animal crest as ‘barbaric’ and something that the Highlanders would do, so tend towards objects such as skulls or weapons, while old Highland clans were represented by wolves, bears, etc.
After The Burning War, the Iron Houses outlawed all Clan crests so that they did not threaten the Iron House banners. Now, the clans hold to their lineage through tartan patterns alone. The Ember Dominance do not bother with Houses and Clans, instead tending toward just where they are from.
Great Houses tend to ‘own’ their primary color and have cloaks, surcoats and banners that can be identified by the single color. Smaller Houses tend towards several colors to stand out. Each House has their own ‘banner’, then knights from that House have individual coat of arms which take the banner and often change slightly or add elements to for individuality as a knight while still representing their House banner.
Any family that holds considerate land is considered a House, usually established at the end of the Blood Age during the creation of the Iron Kingdom, or at the end of The Burning War. Members of a House are Lords and Ladies, who serve as Vassals for the King, who ‘gave’ them their land (lets them keep their land) in return for military following when requested. It is a House’s responsibility to hold men-at-arms in an amount equivalent to land held (to protect their own land and for the King’s sake). These soldiers are called a House’s bannermen. Houses can also have Knights, advanced military with a chivalric code that can also recruit bannermen and are given a small part of the House’s land. A knight can hold land even though they are not of the Houses blood, for the land is technically still belonging to the Iron House. An Iron House must possess land within Iron, but often Lords also rule Highlander towns. This task is usually done by cousins and distant relatives of the main Houses family which reside in their town or city.
The Five Great Houses
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Demonym
Ironers
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Subsidiary Organizations
- Ember Dominance
- House Aegis
- House Beautero
- House Blackblade
- House Blackthall
- House Bluestone
- House Carantus
- House Cortys
- House Courage
- House Drakis
- House Edricson
- House Fenn
- House Ghostwood
- House Glore
- House Isdemor
- House Kilrich
- House Lancer
- House Mallus
- House Morgault
- House Othall
- House Paratus
- House Rangor
- House Rottcolt
- House Sentel
- House Skelsmith
- House Stawnesh
- House Tarbor
- House Vaele
- House Valtoria
- House Vanth
- House Walmar
Controlled Territories
Related Ethnicities
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