On Loria Broadly:
The Great Houses
Loria is not ruled by kings, but by dynasties.
The Great Houses dominate every corner of life, each holding land, armies, scholars, and relics that make them sovereign in all but name.
They cooperate when they must, but rivalry, suspicion, and double-dealing are constants. Around them orbit the Lesser Houses—ambitious factions tolerated but rarely respected.
At the heart of their rivalry stands Tolmir, the crucible city where every House maintains halls. It is here that Loria is governed, not by crown or council, but by endless negotiation, compromise, and betrayal.
House Eldrath — The Colossus
House Eldrath is the largest and most entrenched of the Houses, controlling the greatest share of land, mines, agriculture, and trade. Most importantly, they hold dominion over the Labyrinth of Loria itself.
Their banners fly over the richest grain fields of the Valemire, over the stone-quarries that supply Tolmir’s walls, and over caravans carrying salt, spice, and glass across the continent. Every expedition into the Labyrinth passes through their oversight, and every artifact brought back is first weighed in their halls.
Politically, Eldrath acts with pragmatism and cold patience. They rarely posture, but their bureaucracy is immense, their wealth unassailable, and their grip on resources unmatched. To the common folk, they are both guardians and hoarders. To rival Houses, they are the gatekeepers of fortune itself.
House Caelith — The Old Line
Caelith is the smallest of the Great Houses, but its name is the oldest. They claim unbroken descent from the first stewards of Loria, those who ruled in the shadow of the Old Masters. Whether this lineage is true or not, scholars quietly acknowledge its likelihood, and the Labyrinth itself seems to respond strangely to Caelith blood.
Their holdings are modest: a scattering of vineyards, hill-forts, and libraries in the northern Valemire. Their armies are smaller than those of their rivals, but fiercely loyal. What gives Caelith weight is not wealth but reputation: they are seen as arbiters of honor, often called to mediate disputes when bloodshed threatens stability.
Yet even within Caelith, ambition festers. Though their public image is one of restraint, the House hides schisms—between traditionalists who cling to old rites and pragmatists who seek survival through alliances. For now, their name still commands respect in Tolmir, even as their power dwindles.
House Veynar — The Tideborn
Veynar dominates the seas. Their fleets are unmatched, their shipyards busiest, and their mastery of coastal lands secure. Born from fishing clans and island traders who bound themselves into a republic centuries ago, they now control most of Loria’s maritime commerce.
They own the great harbors along the Valemire’s eastern coast and levy taxes on nearly every ship that sails. Their wealth comes not only from trade but from the speed and precision of their fleets: when conflict brews, a blockade of Veynar sails can starve an enemy faster than any army.
Politically, they are sharp and mercantile. Veynar thrives on treaties, tariffs, and contracts as much as on cannon and spear. Their captains hold seats in their councils, and their admirals often rival generals of land in prestige. Inland Houses deride them as “fishmongers made rich,” but no one laughs when Veynar banners appear on the horizon.
House Korrath — The Iron Host
No House commands the land like Korrath. They rose from mercenary bands who fought for coin, eventually consolidating into a dynasty of fortress-lords. Their lands cover the central marches of the Valemire, dotted with keeps, training yards, and roads designed for war.
Every House fields armies, but Korrath’s discipline is legendary. Their infantry is drilled to perfection, their cavalry swift, and their scouts and assassins feared in every city. They maintain deep spy networks and are rumored to employ double agents within the other Houses—a claim none can disprove.
Korrath politics are blunt and militarized. Generals and captains sit alongside elders in their councils, and every decision is weighed in terms of its strategic advantage. They are respected for their strength and feared for their relentlessness. Allies find them useful; enemies find them unavoidable.
House Veythar — The Sanctum
Veythar is less a dynasty than a coalition. Formed from sects, mystics, and learned families who bound themselves together centuries ago, they have become the spiritual and intellectual axis of Loria. Their influence stems from control of shrines, ancient libraries, and the rituals tied to the Myrrhn, the energy threaded through the Underroot.
Veythar scholars are often the ones who first decipher relics, and their artisans are masters of forging Underroot energy into objects of power. Some Houses scoff at their faith, but even Eldrath cannot move relics from the Labyrinth without Veythar scribes and artificers.
Politically, they are fractious: a dozen sects within one banner. Yet their unity endures, for they know their control of knowledge is their greatest strength. In Tolmir, their halls double as both temples and archives, and their debates can sway the tide of alliances as surely as fleets or armies.
The Lesser Houses
Beyond the Five, there are others. These lesser Houses are ambitious, eccentric, or simply too small to be treated as equals. They maintain their halls in Tolmir but are rarely granted the same respect:
- House Branthir — master builders and stonemasons, pragmatic but politically sidelined.
- House Odran — merchant-traders with a slippery reputation for profiteering.
- House Sevrane — eccentric lore-keepers, often distrusted for delving into forbidden texts.
- House Drosvek — land-poor but cunning, notorious for diplomacy and quiet intrigue.
Though they lack the armies and relics of the Five, they complicate the political board with marriages, spies, and sudden alliances.
Tolmir, the Crucible
Tolmir is the beating heart of Loria’s politics. All Houses maintain halls here—fortresses, embassies, temples, and markets that form a city-within-a-city.
There is no true council; gatherings are ceremonial at best. Real politics unfold in private chambers, gambling dens, shrine-halls, and merchant courts. In Tolmir, no oath is eternal, no treaty unbreakable. Yet without it, the Houses would descend into ruinous war.
For outsiders, Tolmir appears unified: banners of all Houses fluttering side by side. But those who live within know better—it is a city of whispers, where ten truths and a hundred lies pass through every tavern each night.