House - Ophionic Empire

The Great Empire was driven, always, by the tension between the three Cults of the Three-Headed Serpent, and between the aristocratic houses of the Virin-yal.
The houses were aristocratic lineages of Virin-yal; Virinem and Aray and their ophinem kin. A house would be headed by its senior Aray, and standing was determined by blood status - an individual's degree of transformation - and kin status - proximity to the head of the house. The houses controlled land and wealth, and each gave their patronage to one of the cults.
The houses all represented the transformed aristocracy of the Empire, but were not equal in status. The power of a house was defined by a combination of the extent of its wealth and holdings and the strength and number of its Aray leaders. Lesser houses lacked both numbers and wealth. Rural houses had large estates, but fewer Aray than the urban houses. High houses had substantial holdings and divine favour demonstrated in the ranks of their Aray. The house that controlled - through a mixture of political and financial machinations, skulduggery, violence and cult favour - the Imperial Palace and the bulk of the army, was known as the Imperial House.