Great House Mifi

*"We are first among equals, walking among those we lead. We see their faces as we watch their struggles, and join hands with them in their labour. I wonder what our creators would make of it, should they have been present to see us."*

*Kombuls' Musings*

Great House Mifi is one of the Great Houses within the Ulemedi-led Empire of Six.

## Description

House Mifi is the Great House most associated with those from outside the Empire, with a majority non-Ulemedi leadership. With a reputation as a xenophile house, many polities in the path of Ulemedi conquest elect to join Mifi to avoid enslavement by other houses. Non-Ulemedi under House Mifi are known as Hearthbonds. Mifi has a more loose social structure than the other Great Houses, with both Ulemedi and Hearthbonds sharing relatively similar positions. This extends to the structure of the House itself; unlike the other Great Houses, Mifi does not have Middle or Lesser Houses subordinate to itself.

Due to its xenophile nature and the social status of Hearthbonds, Mifi is held in deep suspicion by the other Great Houses. Unlike Nikti, whom are relatively explicit in their opposition to certain Ulemedi customs and laws, Mifi holds a more ambiguous position on such affairs than others as a result of said suspicion. Mifi continues its ambiguous stances in order to give itself leeway while avoiding provoking the ire of other Great Houses. Mifi doesn't dare outlaw certain Ulemedi practices but instead treats them as social taboos as way to dissuade said practices. An example of such being the topic of slavery; while not outright illegal, those who engage in the practice are socially shunned and ostracised as a form of discouragement while staying within the bounds of the Empire of Six's laws.

Due to their tenuous position within the Empire of Six, House Mifi's members place a high amount of value on cohesion and unity. As a result of the relative hostility of the other Great Houses Mifi goes out of its way to build camaraderie and bonds between its members; from cultural exchanges to mandates of cooperation between different species and beings within its ranks to easy travel and trade within its territory for members. Mifi's leadership brooks no division within itself for other houses to exploit, and while this helps the House to concentrate and direct its efforts it comes at the cost of assimilationist policies for some of its members. As a consequence its insecure position, Mifi is also the second most expansionist House in the Empire of SIx, aggressively claiming and occupying neighbouring regions to acquire resources and deny them to the other Great Houses. While Mifi is among the more diplomatically inclined Houses, its expansionist tendency hampers its dealings with powers outside the Empire.

Mifi itself is a melting pot of multiple flourishing cultures from countless Hearthbond species and beings. Realities held by Mifi are filled with unique megastructures from multiple Hearthbond cultures, with businesses and and stalls from different Hearthbond species and beings present on every one.

As a consquence of the wide range of Hearthbonds, Mifi is a well rounded house in its technology, economics and military. While not as rich as Uren, Mifi is fully self sufficient for its economic needs (out of necessity) and maintains a competitive edge in its trade products. While Ule eclipses the house in terms of military might, Mifi maintains a sufficiently strong force to present a credible deterrence to the former. Due to having a wide array of expertise, Mifi's technological prowess is comparable to that of Nikti; one of the areas that Mifi truly excels in. This technological expertise has not gone unnoticed by Nikti, and the two houses frequently collaborate in certain projects; among them the Sacred Vessels.

## History

The origins of Mifi come from one of the expeditionary armies led by Velit, one of the Firstborn Ulemedi from the first batch created by Ule. Velit was a more inquisitive Ulemedi who tempered his aggression and love of battle with a keen mind and a profound appreciation for art and culture, no matter the source. This lent Velit a more diplomatic touch to bringing species into the Kin's fold than the brute force approach favoured by Vala and her followers. Velit's penchant for exploration lead him to spend more time outside of Kin territory than within, often with prolonged periods of zero contact.

Velit's constant excursions lead to the creation of a power base outside that of his Ulemedi peers and Kin superiors, arousing no small amount of suspicion from both. Nevertheless, the other Firstborn would still shield him from inquiries and investigations; such was the close kinship Velit shared with his siblings. Velit's respect for those he met in his travels and their culture tempered the cruelty and aggression innate to the Ulemedi, enough so that slavery among his followers was more muted and not presented as a point of pride. Velit spent more time using trade and diplomacy, mostly resorting to coercion rather than outright violence when the former failed. The times when war was met, however, almost always resulted with the complete military annihilation of Velit's opponents followed by unconditional surrender. Over the centuries, Velit would personally ensure the complete integration of his non-Ulemedi followers to ensure the unity of his budding faction.

When the summons came to all the Ulemedi to celebrate the conquest of the Arish, Velit was one of the last Firstborn to arrive back in the Kin's capital. After Ule was forced to prematurely attempt his coup, Velit fought alongside the other Firstborn to bring an end to the Kin's empire. Velit refused to take in any Kin prisoners, instead leaving them to the other Firstborn to decide their former rulers' fates.

During the consolidation of the Ulemedi into Great Houses, Velit traveled beyond the edge of the former Kin territories to meet with allies and followers gathered through his expeditions. Having already established a faction before the fall of the Kin, Velit simply made his House official. Mifi became the second Great House established.

As the other Great Houses were formed, Velit prepared for the newly formed Parliament of the Six, where each of the House founders would state the vision for their house and establish new rules for the nascent Empire of Six. Velit, along with Vala, were among the first to arrive at the the site of the meeting, the former capital of the Kin's empire. As the meeting proceeded, Velit stated his vision, of a society where Ulemedi and Hearthbond could walk alongside each other and the former were completely free of the bonds that still persisted beyond the Kin. While the latter part of Velit's vision was universally agreed upon, the former drew fierce disagreements from the other Firstborn leaders (whom had spent more time within the Kin empire and the society therein). Velit was resolute, however, and made clear his intent to carry out his vision.

While personal bonds had kept the Firstborn friendly with each other, their respective visions for each of their followers and the Ulemedi as a whole placed an impasse between them; few more so than Velit and his siblings. Velit, while well respected for his martial prowess and sheer diplomatic ability, was held in controversy by the younger Ulemedi for his views. This discontent with Velit and House mifi solidified in calls for sanctions on the Great House by the other houses. Velit, constrained by his bonds with his siblings and the discontent expressed by the other houses, decided to officially take a more neutral and ambiguous stance on the social status of Hearthbonds, while still quietly acting to advance his vision.

First impressions, however made a deep mark on the other Ulemedi houses. Now seen as an 'outsider' house, greater scrutiny was applied to Mifi. As the Houses established trade with one another, spies hidden amongst traders and workers were sent into the House. It was during this initial wave of spies that Nikti's ambassadors had secret exchanges with their Mifi counterparts; intrigued by the technological offerings that the latter produced, Nikti was willing to provide some hidden backing in exchange for research and partnerships between the two. Seeing little reason to refuse support amidst a hostile political climate, Mifi accepted these secret agreements. Shortly after this opening of relations, Velit passed his position as head of the Great House to Multusi, one of his most trusted aides within the House. Velit had resigned alongside the other Firstborn (with the exception of Nekulo) to pursue the lost research used to create the Ulemedi, in order to finally remove the shackles of mortality placed upon them by the Kin.

During this period of relatively tenuous peace, Mifi kept a close eye on the other houses; with House Ule in particular holding the greatest amount of attention. Ule kept adding to its territory in wars of conquest, and it was these conflicts that Mifi closely observed. Its observations soon made clear that there was a clear gap in the military capability between Mifi and the other Great Houses. Lacking the numbers of Ulemedi compared to the other Houses, Mifi had a chronic shortage of those able to make full use of the Arish symbiotes it had in its possession. To address this shortage, Mifi embarked on multiple secret projects, with several converging into what would become the Sacred Vessels. This lack of military power did not go unnoticed, leading to several probes by House Ule and members of House Okt and Malor. Feeling the pressure, Mifi began to enact stopgap measures to bridge the gap in military strength.

While research was ongoing, Mifi began to secretly stockpile strategic superweapons as one such measure; a move that was quick to be noticed by the other Great Houses. Under great suspicion once again, House Mifi needed to play a balancing game in its interactions with and against the other Houses. Ule started calling for an official investigation, alongside sanctions and other punitive measures against Mifi's military sector. In order to counteract Ule's weight, Mifi began to entreat with the other houses to counter the former's influence. In order to influence the investigation's outcome, Multusi conducted secret negotations with Nikti's leader Kombul, bribing the latter's House with a few important blueprints and expertise for certain technologies to take their side during the trial. Mifi's leaders paid several members of House Okt to sabotage the investigation, making sure pieces of evidence went missing before they could be found. Multusi then made a case to Ingis, the leader of House Uren, arguing over the conditions of the trial and managing to have it conducted on terms that while not necessarily favourable to Mifi were at the very least not lopsided in favour of Ule.

When the investigation concluded, a trial was hosted by House Uren. During the trial, House Nikti took Mifi's side and helped defend the Great House, while Ule and Malor stood against the former. Okt by and large abstained from taking either side, instead preferring to see which side was more likely to win the case. Mifi took a strategy of prolonhing the trial on the bet that the sabotage of the evidence would lead to Ule and Malor running out of arguments. As the the trial dragged on over the course of months, the sabotage bore fruit, as Ule and Malor found it increasingly difficult to argue their case when the number of leads began dwindling. Seeing the unlikelihood of Ule and Malor winning the case, House Okt took the side of Mifi to break the deadlock. Thus the trial ended with Mifi not being found guilty of stockpiling stategic weapons on the grounds of inconclusive evidence.

House Ule seethed at this defeat, and began to make efforts elsewhere to hamper Mifi. Ule expanded their conquests in new directions, making sure that their new territories would be able to join together and encircle Mifi. Mifi realised House Ule's plan, and made their own rapid expansion in multiple directions.