Houses and Lines

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    • Houses and Lines

      Reaper Wolf's post about the PCs setting up a house for their mistress reminded me that I have some questions about how Houses work. Let's say I'm a noble connected to a large House -- do I have my own residence in town, separate from the House's main palace? Or do I have rooms in the palace? In "The Accursed Well", several of the characters are said to be part of House Ayrram. I'm sure that palace covers a lot of space and has a lot of buildings, but I wonder if all the Sunborn connected to it live there.

      Also, when the head of the House dies, I guess the House gets retitled to the heir, right? Again, going by "The Accursed Well", Ayrram's son is Márüh. If he inherits the House after his father dies, would it then be House Márüh? Seems like it might cause a bit of confusion, but I guess that's how scribes earn their living, making sense of this stuff!

      Diane
    • RE: Houses and Lines

      That's essentially correct. A Line has many Houses spread throughout a nation (or even several nations). Each House is ruled over by an aryah, a lord. Think of it in terms of a daimyo in feudal Japan. They rule the palace/estate granted to the aryah by the Great Aryah of the Line (or bequeathed to the aryah via inheritance). There are no aryahs who do not run a House, although there can be those whose Houses have been destroyed by rivals and they keep their title until such time as they can rebuild their House (new estate) or the Great Aryah decides to remove their status as aryah.

      A House is usually a palace of some sort with the surrounding lands (an estate) but it can also have lands that extend beyond that where peasants live and work the fields and such. The House is named after the aryah, so in the case of Arryam, it is the House of Arryam. When Arryam dies (or chooses to step down and name his successor) the House would go to whatever child he/she chooses to succeed him (it can be either male or female and does not have to be the firstborn although it often is). If it was his son Márüh, then the House would become known as the House of Márüh.

      Being Sunborn is a class thing. They are considered "noble" but they do not own land. If they do and run a House, they are aryahs.

      Hope that helps.

      -Aaron
    • RE: Houses and Lines

      Thank you! That does help. Especially the "if they own land and run a House, they are aryahs." That's a great way to distinguish between your standard noble and a more powerful lord.

      There are maps for all kinds of things in the RPG world, why aren't there maps of Indian palaces, I'd like to know? That would be really helpful!

      Thanks again Aaron!

      -Diane
    • RE: Houses and Lines

      Originally posted by Ednoria There are maps for all kinds of things in the RPG world, why aren't there maps of Indian palaces, I'd like to know? That would be really helpful!


      It would indeed. Sadly, I've yet to find a good source of Indian architectural drawings of any scale. Generally I just look at images online for ideas and sketch out the rough outline then just wing it.

      Specific inch by inch maps aren't generally need for Shard but they do add a lot to a game. Generally I get by with just simple diagrams of each chamber/room represented by a box linked by lines indicating doors/passages.

      I have a working map of the House of Whispering Jade I'll post once I render it in CC3.

      >>ReaperWolf