Noble Houses

Noble Houses are an integral part of Duilintinn's government structure, serving as both regional governments on the political level and cultural labels on the social level. There are five Noble Houses in total:

* House Jackie (Novel: House Will)
* House Marvin (Novel: House Mórail)
* House Schneeplestein (Novel: House Varras)
* House Brody (Novel: House Bromden)
* House Jameson (Novel: House Partch)

There is also a social state called Houselessness, where a person does not pledge to a Noble House.

## Lords and Governments

Each house is led and named after a Noble Lord.

* Lord Jackie
* Lord Marvin
* Lord Schneeplestein
* Lord Brody
* Lord Jameson

In theory, each Noble House is led by the Noble Lord for which it was named. However, all five of the Noble Lords have taken significant steps back from their leadership roles in the last decade, serving more as founders and cultural figureheads than actual authorities.

Functionally, the true governing body of each Noble House is the regional bureaucracy, which has been running the day-to-day administrative elements of the regional governments since since day one. As such, when the lords disappeared, very little about the actual functioning of the government changed. Instead, the bureaucracy strives to carry on the legacy and aims of their missing lord.

Each Noble House also has an embassy in Cordoire and the capitals of the other noble houses. These embassies are staffed with representatives from each Noble House that speak on behalf of their people in other regions, allowing the Noble Houses to provide resources to people who are a part of their house, but living in other houses.

## Responsibilities

Duilintinn’s domestic and economic policies are handled by the five regional Noble Houses. Duilintinn has government-funded social services (education, medical care, etc.) in an attempt to give everyone an equal chance to find their “place,” since that’s such a big deal in Duil culture.

While the costs of providing such services would probably be covered by taxes on the inter-house trade facilitated by Duilintinn’s government and the Merchants’ Guild, the responsibility to distribute and create access to these services falls to the regional governments of each Noble House.
All records of a citizen’s existence are kept and maintained by their Noble House. As a result, without a house, you’re effectively invisible to Duilintinn’s government. The kingdom would have no record of you within their census, welfare programs, education system, tax collection, voting registration (since public officials within the administrative bureaucracy of each house are chosen by their communities), or other government-funded social services.

## Choosing a House

Most people will switch houses in their teens (at the youngest) as they decide what they want to study. This is certainly not a rule; many will stick with their house at first and switch at a later age, or switch multiple times in adulthood. However, moving houses for the first time in one’s teens is a common enough practice to warrant a mention here. Traditionally, these shifts occur during the summer, around the June Holidays.

Each noble house ruling the region is simply the governing body over it; if you think you will find more opportunities and likeminded people in another house, you just move! Sometimes people will move but still place their allegiance in the house of their old home, while others will pledge to the new house upon arrival. Both are acceptable practices, and mingling between houses is encouraged in order to foster unity within the kingdom as a whole.

### Combined Noble House and Watch Membership

You can even technically pledge your services to more than one noble house! You have to pick one or the other to write on your paperwork for taxes and employment, especially if you are volunteering for The Watch. It’s mostly a formality for administrative and organizational purposes; you don’t want a mix-up to result in you getting paid twice or your contingency leaving without you!

Once you’ve actually joined The Watch, however, house distinctions aren’t strictly enforced in any way. Watchers will often help with tasks unrelated to their house. You’ll often see members of House Schneeplestein in a group with House Marvin hunting for signs of The Enemy, while members of House Jameson will sometimes put down their instruments or pens to do weapon drills with House Jackie. Obviously, members of a certain house will incline themselves towards tasks that best suit their skills and interests, but no one is limited in what they can help with. Heaven knows, The Watch needs all the help it can get in this fight.

### Cultural and Occupational Preferences

Outside of the Watch, being in a certain house doesn’t limit what jobs you can have or your social class; this isn’t a caste system! Rather, different houses will offer you different opportunities. To use a modern day example, it’s like how you can get a degree in engineering at most liberal arts colleges, but only get a PhD in engineering in tech colleges. You can study magic in House Schneeplestein, but there aren’t as many magical experts and experimenters there as there are in House Marvin. Or, you can study medicine and be a local doctor in House Jameson, but the best medical training and services will be found in House Schneeplestein. Etc. etc. etc.

Everyone is super accepting of different careers and skillsets, so you won’t be frowned upon as a wizard in House Schneeplestein or a bard in House Jackie. The opportunities each house offers have more to do with the aims and methods of each person, rather than their actual skills. If you are a brave-ass bard, you’ll fit right in at House Jackie; just because House Jackie provides weapons and guards for the rest of the land doesn’t mean that they don’t also enjoy music! Similarly, everyone needs magical services, even if you’re living in House Schneeplestein. Just try not to blow stuff up. Positivity is needed and found all over the kingdom, not just in House Jameson, and heaven knows that members of House Jameson can’t survive by eating their artwork, so they’ll need farmers and blacksmiths too!

## Benefits

All records of a citizen's existence are kept and maintained by their Noble House.

Duilintinn has government-funded social services (education, medical care, etc.) in an attempt to give everyone an equal chance to find their “place,” since that’s such a big deal in Duil culture. The costs of providing such services would probably be covered by taxes on the inter-house trade facilitated by Duilintinn's government and the Merchants' Guild.

Without a house, you're effectively invisible to Duilintinn's government. The kingdom would have no record of you within their census, welfare programs, education system, tax collection, voting registration (since public officials within the administrative bureaucracy of each house are chosen by their communities), or other government-funded social services.

## Censuses

A census is taken on a regular basis in Duilintinn, administered by each house to take note of newcomers (births, immigrants, people who switched houses, etc.) and mark down any changes in the needs of the populace. These censuses both determine which House keeps records of you and your family and updates those records accordingly. Every citizen who is of age (15 years or older) fills out their own census and marks down what house they are/will be aligned with and if they have any dependents.

In a way, these censuses are comparable to a combination of real world birth certificates, censuses, tax forms, and insurance paperwork.

### Filling out Censuses

Everyone fills out their own census and marks down what house they are aligned with. If someone pledged to House Jameson is currently living in House Marvin, they'd fill out the paperwork in House Marvin, but mark that they belong to House Jameson. Their paperwork would then be sent by messenger to Noefrach, rather than being filed in Monacoil. The same is for people living in the capital city of Cordoire, which is neutral and unaffiliated with any one house. Similarly, if you wanted to switch Noble Houses, doing so is as easy as updating your census paperwork to reflect that change; you don’t need to move immediately or travel to the region to make it official.

However, since not everyone is literate, you can’t just pass out a form and have them return it in the mail. In order to complete it, you have to travel to a specific spot within your region of residence (like voting irl) and answer the questions with a local official as a witness. These are the same officials who will help you switch houses or work on a houseless gap year program. If you show up to fill out your first census and answer yes when they ask you if this is your first time doing so, they’ll pull you aside, make sure you understand what the house system is and how it works, and help you to make an educated decision for what your chosen house will be for the time being for official administrative purposes. These officials will also help you switch houses, work on a houseless gap year program, and authorize any additional paperwork as needed (i.e. in the case of adoptions or familiar registration).

### Family Registration

These censuses determine which House keeps records of you and your family. Whenever there's a new addition to the family, you'd register the child under your own name as a dependant in the following census. This means the child is, by default, a member of their parent's Noble House (if parents are in two different houses, the parents can register the child under one or both).

In the case of adoptions, if the child has existing papers registered under a different family name, proof would have to be given that the other family members are out of the picture (deceased, missing, etc.) or these family members would have to be present at the census location to approve the switch in paperwork.

In addition, familiars are also marked as family members in the censuses. This legal recognition is one of the factors that differentiates a familiar from an ordinary pet. Similar to an adoption, registering a familiar on a census requires a signed statement from the mage with animal communication abilities who witnessed both parties consenting to the partnership.

### Houseless Poor

Technically all anyone who is in a slum and houseless will have to do is go to one of these places, fill out the paperwork, and receive the benefits of a Noble House. Unfortunately, many people in really terrible situations don’t have the energy, opportunity, awareness, or even desire to take steps to fix their situation. Someone who has to work constantly to feed their kids might not be able to take a day off to travel for some silly paperwork. Some people within the slums, so isolated from the center of the city, might not even realize that it’s time for a census or how it could help them. Others might not even see the point or want a house. Cultural conditioning, especially in relation to poverty, is a difficult thing to overcome with simple policy-making.

Hence why the efforts to help the houseless people in the slums outside the capital have all largely fell flat; there’s only so much that the government can do about this sort of thing without a larger, community-led effort. In recent years, King Sean has begun attempting to use the various holiday celebrations throughout the year to spread the word and encourage people to do their part towards fixing this problem. This new direction has made an enormous impact towards aiding the poverty-stricken people living in the slums, but the problem is so massive, it’s unlikely to ever be completely solved.