For time immemorial, the Courts have been shaped
by a system of organization known as the Houses.
Even in those rare times when no Emperor sits on
the Throne, or in the ancient days before Emperor
Primus built Thelbane, there have always been
Houses. Legend has it that the first Houses were
created from the teeth of the Serpent. No matter
what their origin, they, rise and fall, and
sometimes rise yet again. Houses splinter off,
grow, and perhaps engender their own progeny, and
of course can die.
In the legal sense, a House is a political unit.
The succession to the Throne of Chaos is
determined in terms of Great Houses. Most of the
members of a House, excepting adoptions, have
blood in common. So, Houses are families as well.
Some Houses dominate certain professions or
fields. Therefore, Houses are socio-economic
units as well.
Houses, thus, are many things all at once.
The modern system of Houses defines two classes,
Major and Minor. There are always exactly
Thirteen Great Houses, and thus sometimes are
collectively known as the "13" or the "12 and 1"
(a holdover from the time where dodecadecimal
number systems were used by the Courts). The
number of Minor Houses usually numbers in the
several score. It can vary almost every turning.
Minor Houses are far more prone to merger,
fission and extinction than Great Houses.
The Top of the Courts is the Emperor, Merlin.
Below Merlin is the unicameral parlimentary like
body known as the Diet.
The Diet always has one representative from each
of the Thirteen, and 6 other slots rotated among
the Minor Houses, for a total of 19 persons. The
Diet fluctuates wildly in power, and has ranged
from the currently rather impotent and shadowy
body it is now, to, once, ruling the Courts
themselves during the brief Chaosian Republics
that have sprung up from time to time in the long
history of the Courts. The main reason for the
Diet is to provide a curb on the Emperor's
excesses of autocratic rule.
Perhaps, with a new young and relatively untried
Emperor, the Diet will try and wield more
influence in the matters of Chaos. Even more
powerful and tempting than being on the Diet, the
other major signature of a Great House is that
the Emperor is always chosen from their ranks.
To prevent the unusual series of assassinations
which did propel Merlin to the Throne from being
an exception rather than rule, the succession is
a complex and not very straightforward affair.
Considering Mandor has formally removed himself
from the succession both for the leadership of
Sawall and the Throne of Chaos, Merlin's brother
Despil is, in effect, the Crown Prince. He is not
much for the spotlight, and it is not clear how
exactly he feels about this, since there has not
been an official Heir in quite some time. After
Despil, the succession would go to Jurt, and then
Belissa Minobee, head of House Hendrake.
The order of succession goes circularly through
the Houses, and no more than 2 heirs in a row in
a single House...this is to prevent a single
House having a stranglehold on the succession,
and the temptation to simply destroy that House.
To move up the ladder, as it were, requires much
more work...
Dara, then, happens to be currently 27th in line
to the Throne...not that she seems interested in
such overt power. However, if she were to kill
her own children Despil and Jurt, she could
easily jump up the rankings and become Crown
Princess...since she would be the highest ranking
person in Sawall...and directly related to
Merlin.
Thus, the question turns to how does a House
become Great, or lose such status? It is
relatively straightforward. With a single
exception, the excommunication of Lessima, Great
Houses have always lost their status in conflict
with another House, usually the minor House
trying to ascend into the slot. Great Houses thus
jealously guard their status, and scheme and plot
the fall of their rivals. Minor Houses aspire to
become powerful enough to knock off one of the
Thirteen. The Courts may sometimes seem placid,
but they usually are not so peaceful...
The Youngest Great House is Baccaran, having
knocked off the tottering House Shaydacs a
century before the Patternfall War. Sawall,
Helgram, Ambelrash and Hendrake are the only four
Great Houses which predate Emperor Primus.