Angrea

The Eleven Great Houses

In the Neuranian Empire, political power flows not through bloodlines alone, but through the Great Houses - organizations that blur the lines between political parties, professional guilds, and workers’ unions. Each House represents a different path to power, a different vision for the Empire’s future, and a different way of life. Membership can be hereditary, earned, bought, or stolen - depending on the House.

The Ruling Elite

• House Neuros

  Focus: Aristocracy & Governance | Membership: Hereditary bloodlines, predominantly human The ruling house of the Empire, House Neuros maintains power through ancient bloodlines and careful political maneuvering. They control the Imperial Palace and most high governmental positions. While predominantly human, centuries of political marriages have woven other ancestries into their family lines - though these mixed-heritage members often find themselves passed over for the highest positions. This hereditary system grows increasingly anachronistic in an Empire where the other Houses select leaders by merit, skill, or cunning. Their brass and gold insignia marks government buildings throughout the realm.

• House Silvos

  Focus: Diplomacy & Negotiation | Membership: Open, heavy elven presence The Empire’s diplomatic corps, House Silvos handles negotiations both internal and external. With significant elven membership drawn to their patient, long-term approach, they maintain embassies and safe houses across the islands. Members learn multiple languages and the art of reading people like open books. Their silver tree emblem promises neutral ground.

Commerce and Craft

• House Carthas

  Focus: Trade & Mercantile | Membership: Open, many halflings and sea dwarves The merchant princes of the Empire, House Carthas controls much of the legitimate trade flowing between islands. Halfling caravans and Sea Dwarf merchant ships fly their golden anchor standard. They maintain the Empire’s banks, standardize currency, and ensure that coin flows as freely as water - for a modest percentage, of course.

• House Ilmath

  Focus: Craftsmanship & Industry | Membership: Open, strong dwarf/gnome presence From the finest jewelry to massive industrial machinery, House Ilmath represents all who create with their hands. Their guild halls serve as schools where masters pass ancient techniques to apprentices while embracing new steam-powered innovations. The house’s hammer-and-gear symbol marks quality throughout the Empire.

• House Argentus

  Focus: Alchemy & Brewing | Membership: Open to those who pass the trials Masters of liquid craft, House Argentus controls both the mystical and mundane arts of brewing. From healing potions to celebratory ales, from industrial chemicals to sacred elixirs, they guard their recipes zealously. Membership requires passing the Seven Trials of Taste - many have died attempting the fifth.

Shadow and Steel

• House Aeth

  Focus: Assassination & Thievery | Membership: By invitation only Officially illegal yet openly acknowledged, House Aeth provides “resolution services” for those who can afford them. Their members range from common pickpockets to legendary assassins. Despite their reputation, they follow a strict code - no children, no one who hasn’t been warned three times, and always leave a black rose. Zollo is their unofficial patron deity.

• House Drath

  Focus: Military & Security | Membership: Proven warriors The Empire’s professional soldiers, House Drath maintains the armies, trains guards, and provides military expertise. Unlike hereditary officers of old nobility, Drath promotes based on merit alone. Their barracks-schools teach both traditional swordplay and modern firearms tactics. Veterans often retire to work as bodyguards for other Houses.

• House Satariel

  Focus: Confidence Arts & Gambling | Membership: Those who can talk their way in Masters of the long con and the quick swindle, House Satariel operates in the grey areas of imperial law. They run the Empire’s casinos, organize “impossible” heists, and sell information to the highest bidder. The only way to join is to successfully con a current member - the more senior the mark, the higher your starting rank.

Arts and Pleasures

• House Brios

  Focus: Arts & Entertainment | Membership: By audition or portfolio From street musicians to opera divas, from painters to playwrights, House Brios champions all forms of artistic expression. They maintain theaters, galleries, and conservatories across the Empire. Members often invoke Karria’s blessing before performances. The house provides stipends to struggling artists and grand stages to the successful.

• House Lupanar

  Focus: Pleasure & Hospitality | Membership: By mutual consent Far more than simple hedonists, House Lupanar celebrates all forms of pleasure and consensual desire. They operate luxury establishments from bath houses to specialty restaurants, from dance halls to private clubs. Members are trained in arts ranging from massage to psychology, cooking to companionship. Their rose-and-chain symbol promises discretion and delight.

• House Canae

  Focus: Magical Study & Academia | Membership: Proven magical aptitude The Empire’s magical universities fall under House Canae’s purview. They research new spells, catalog magical phenomena, and train the next generation of wizards. The house maintains the Great Library in Chrysanth, where knowledge both mundane and mystical is preserved. Debates between traditionalists and those embracing techno-magical fusion regularly shake their hallowed halls.

The Lost House

• House Corvanimus

  Status: Overthrown 741 CR | Focus: Unknown Struck from official records, House Corvanimus was destroyed a few millenia ago in a purge that no one speaks of openly. Rumors persist of survivors hiding throughout the Empire, working toward unknown goals. Some say they trafficked with dark powers, others that they knew truths the Empire couldn’t allow to spread. Their symbol has been systematically destroyed, though whispers speak of a crowned raven.

The Houses shape every aspect of imperial life. Whether you’re born into power, earn your place through skill, or steal it through cunning, there’s a House that will claim you - or use you - in the great game of Empire.