Family Factions

The wall-keeping house of the Mute Lands, who for generations have guarded the Mutewall on behalf of all the world. Guardianship and sacrifice are their values; being ignored too long by the South is where their other thoughts began.

The royal house of the Ironcastle realm, holding the Throne, the household army, the coronation rite, and the right to mint coin. They believe ritual can overrule truth — which is both their strength and their blind spot.

The banker syndicate of the desert realm, holding the world's exchange, credit, and cross-border transfers — yet without the right to mint coin. They believe: any disaster can be bought.

The church that holds the oracles, the holy knights, and the faith of the common people, claiming one seat among The Seven Great Houses for itself. It presides over coronations, and it also guards a position growing ever harder to hold: keeping everyone believing the gods are still listening.

The three great houses that, for the dynasty, keep the royal tombs, the funerary texts, and the examination of the dead: Greyquill, Silverhall, and the Third House. The corridor of the royal tombs should bear bronze statues of all three — yet the row of the Third House, all 12 of them, stands empty.