Houses of blood

(...) Then the King, called his council, and, as usual, the peers of the Kingdom and the members of the Houses of Blood attended, to deliberate on whether a war in the East was beneficial to the kingdom. (...).

— Extract from the Chronicle of Johan of Defield.

With the establishment of the Kingdom of Wesdaland under the Mithridatid Dynasty the Seris nobles that form part of the mercenary band of Mithradates I carved out fiefdoms for themselves. Some of this new feudal lords were the sons of the King who established cadet branches of the Mithridatid Dynasty, this cadet branches were known as the Houses of Blood (because of their blood ties with the main line of the Mithridatid Dynasty). Some Seris nobles who had being the companions of the first king of the Wesdalandia whose families married into the Royal family were also allowed to be incorporated into this selective group amongst Wesdalandian nobility.
Many of the members of these cadet branches of the Royal family occupied the highest positions in the Kingdom, for example as members of the Royal Council, or as chamberlain or chancelors of the Kingdom, and also as commanders of the royal armies. Their fiefdoms were considerably large and prosperous, and usually other houses of seris origin are also their vassals.
Like the main line of the Mithridatids, the nobles of the Houses of Blood quickly asimilated into Wesdalandian society, especially adopting Wesdalandian names (without forgetting their Seris roots) and dressing codes as well as the chivalrous culture of the region, which was similar to their native Namru culture back in Seria. The houses of blood as follows:

Main Houses of Blood of the Kingdom of Wesdaland

House of Montreil

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Truth and loyalty are my most powerful weapon"
Its founder was Étoile, the youngest son of Mithradates I, who upon his coming of age, was given the Duchy of Montreil, which is the duchy closest to the royal capital. His son, Roderic was twice appointed as chancelor of the realm, who until nowadays, is the highest honor ever bestowed to a person from this house. Its current family head is Stephen III of Montreil.
The members of this house are famous as being some of the most gallant knights of the kingdom, as well as some of the bravest. Quite a few members of this family had suffered heroic deaths fighting both rebellious Radali and nomads alike.

House of Ambras

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Nobility in blood, nobility in deeds"
Its founder was Johan, the second son of Mithradates I and Queen Anne. Ambras was, and still famous for its vinyards and the sophistication of its rulers. Johan was appointed Steward of the Realm by his father and also by his elder brother King Barzanes I.
His descendants would have very successful political and religious carreers. Not in vain, on of Johan's sons, Guid was appointed as High priest of the Yemmuist religion in Wesdaland. The House of Ambras is one of the families that later on, via the female line, would give birth to the House of Tapuy. Emilie of Ambras, great granddaughter of Johan would marry prince Stephen of Wesdaland who would found the house of Tapuy. Its current head is Gilbert of Ambras.

House of Tapuy

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Shield of the Helpless, sword of the faithful"
Its one of the youngest cadet branches of the Mithradatid dynasty. Its founder was prince Stephen of Wesdaland, son of Torin III, who married Emilie of Ambras. The young prince was given the fiefdom of Tapuy, a very humble town, but thanks to his skills and those of his descendants, Tapuy grew up to be one of the wealthiest cities in the Kingdom.
To those already familiar with the Order of the Knights of Light, its current Grand Master, the young Almaric of Tapuy, is also the head of this family. Its motto is: . As an interesting note, the coat of arms of the Tapuy family is the only one who preserved the Lion Rampant, which was the first coat of arms of the Royal Family of Wesdaland.

---

House of Storhorn

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Valour and Honour"
William of Storhorn, the founder of this house, was the youngest son of King Thorin I, and thus wasn't expected to rule. He was given this fiefdom in the northern regions of the Kingdom of Wesdaland, bordering the kingdom of Witharfia.
The Marquisate of Storhorn has seen a lot of battles during the last two centuries between both kingdoms but overall the Wesdalandians have prevailed. And from their stronghold at Whitepeak Castle, and under its current leader, Richard II of Storhorn, the House of Storhorn rule and protects the lands.

House Lions

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Honesty, valour and faith are my guides"
House Lions is a very peculiar one among the Houses of Blood, because its origins are traced to Richard of Milmare, the legitimized bastard son of king Johan I, and half brother of king Torin II "the fat". Richard was also known as the "Young Lion" and became the regent of king Torin III after Torin II death fighting the Elvish-Oronai coalition.
The members of this house were given the surname Lions because of their two lions on their coat of arms. To denote the fact that they were bastards the colours of their coat of arms are inverted from the royal coat of arms. Many members of this house have been brave knight and commanders. Robert Lions is the current head of the family and its current holder of Silver River Castle and is the Lord of the city of Torinburg and its surrounding territory.

House of Cragrade

by Callyxtus with Armoria

Motto: "Van might guide us"
The house of Cragrade has its origins in the eldest son of Prince Barzanes, the youngest son of Barzanes I of Wesdaland, Robert, also called Robert "the Admiral" because he was the responsible of building the Wesdalandian fleet in order to challenge the kingdom of Stormitia for the dominance of the Storm Sea. The ship on their coat of arms is a reminder of their position as literally the ones who control the Wesdalandian fleet and the two shells on top of it symbolise the two great victories that the family obtained commanding the fleet. One at Cape Mykas (661 AP) and the other at the battle of White Masts (714 AP) while retaining the blue of the coat of arms of the Mithridatids. This coat of arms is also the coat of arms of the city of Cragrade itself.
Its current head is Almaric "The Elder" of Cragrade. House Cragrade was the first of the Houses of Blood to marry with the native Wesdalandian nobility, not only with the nobility of Seris descent. This house is also related by marriage to the House of Castlefield, another wesdalandian house of mixed Seris-Wesdalandian descent. House of Cragrade is also famous for its patronage of Yemmuism, one of its members, Jean of Cragrade is reviered as a Yemmuist Saint for having converted the northern Radali to the faith.