Noble House

The Kingdom of The North is divided between many hundreds of noble houses of various sizes. In the Kingdom ultimate power derives from the King on the Bear Throne and descends through the Great Houses that rule the constituent regions of the realm to their vassals.
There are five Great Houses, and each of them have a number of vassal houses in their liege. The most powerful vassal houses may themselves field armies of a few thousand and control large regions, while the smallest houses may be little more than impoverished landholders with only a few men to their name.
Some of the most powerful noble houses rival the smaller Great Houses in terms of wealth and the size of the armies they can field, e.g. House Durham rules Arkridge, one of the largest cities in the Kingdom, and possesses large armies and wealth of its own. Other noble houses, while technically holding this rank, are relatively poor.
A typical noble house is seated at a castle and controls the land around it, collecting tithes and taxes from farmers, lesser landholders and commonfolk. In times of war, they are expected to recruit and maintain a number of soldiers for their lieges. In the Kingdom, only men can become ruling lords, and women can only rule if the rest of the male line has been extinguished or if they are acting as regents for their sons until they have reached the age of maturity.
 
Category:Houses by type