Dynasty Codex

The dynasty's highest-tier directive, jointly authenticated by the wax seals of three houses layered one over another on a single document. Once the seals are complete, it becomes a command that cannot be defied.

In this dynasty, stripping away a surname is a punishment. Those so stripped, together with their entire branch, are called the 'Eighth Branch'—ranked outside, after, and beneath the Seven Great Houses.

The rite for newly enrolled students. Each heir receives a house registry tablet, engraved with their branch, status, and allotment. But the disinherited descendants of the Eighth Branch receive a blank tablet.

The school where the heirs of the Seven Great Houses study together. On the surface an educational institution; in truth, the densest concentration of hostages, betrothals, and assassinations in the capital. Its crest bears seven rings—the topmost one empty.

The seven noble houses that monopolize Bloodcurse, each wielding one power and bearing one price: House Hourcarve bends time, House Whitescript holds memory, House Dirgecandle nears death, House Starcrown reads the stars, House Mirrorhall makes doubles, House Oathkey binds contracts, House Bloodflame kindles fire with blood.

The magic of the Seven Great Houses. Not a gift, not a blessing, but something that flows in the bloodline and can be inherited. To invoke it requires a medium, and it always exacts a price.