House Leader

In the Game of Tomes, a House Leader is the permanent leader of one of the Great Houses.

A House Leader is the person who rules or commands one of the Great Houses. They are considered to be Monarchs or equivalents, and they each rule one of the Protectorates, which are geographic regions of various sizes and populations they are charged to protect against the Undead Horde.

Qualifications

The Leader of a House must be a Literomancer. Often, they are also required to be a Werebeast of the sort that is associated with a House's totem animal.

Requirements

There are two ways to become a House Leader. One is to inherit the position, and the other is to convince enough people to follow you that you can either take charge of a House or establish your own. Once a House Leader is established within a House, however, to prevent constant warring and weakening the Houses against the Horde, they may not be usurped. Should anyone attempt to usurp the position, the other House Leaders will simply not acknowledge the usurper, and may even help to take up arms against them. Otherwise, a House Leader remains in control of the House until they abdicate, die, or dissolve the House.
Some Houses have individual laws about changes in House Leadership, but these vary broadly.

Game Mechanics:

To Form a House, you must have at least two other Tome Knights who agree to be part of your House at the time it is formed. See the linked article for more information.

Appointment

Most often, a House Leader, being a Monarch, is appointed through a Coronation Ceremony, conducted by the House Librarian. Less often, they are elected, or informally followed when they choose to form a House.

Duties

A House Leader is the heart of their House. They offer an example of leadership, courage, and hope to aspire to. They actively encourage and support the Tome Knights under their command. In a way, they are living banners, representing all that their House stands for.

Game Mechanics:

When a House Leader falls to the Undead Horde during a war, a House is considered to be destroyed.

Responsibilities

Strangely in the modern era, the position of House Leader is feudal. They are responsible for governing and guarding a Protectorate, like a medieval King or Queen. They command the troops of their House on the battlefield, making strategic decisions on their behalf and often taking the field of combat themselves.
Diplomatically, a House Leader is always the representative of their House, with the final authority to engage in alliances, trade agreements, treaties, and so forth.
They are the leaders of their nations, in wartime or peacetime.

Game Mechanics:

A House Leader's primary job is to be a shining light of encouragement in the Game of Tomes. They are also responsible for seeing all the jobs within a House get done, and for making strategic decisions (like which House they will support when their House falls, and who they will make alliances with.)

Benefits

As a Monarch (or effective one) benefits include political authority, wealthy and prestigious quarters and clothing, and food and healthcare provided by the state. They are almost always provided with Bodyguards for their personal protection.

Game Mechanics:

A House Leader may have up to FOUR of a House's permitted five bodyguards assigned to their protection vs. the Undead Horde.

Accoutrements & Equipment

House Leaders usually have some manner of "Royal Regalia" that they wear to signify their role. These may be traditional crowns, but often are not (for instance, House Lapin's official Royal Regalia is a pair of fluffy dollar store bunny ears on a headband, along with fluffy "bunny paw" gloves; while House Sauropoda's official regalia is a dinosaur hood.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

A House Leader remains in their role until they abdicate, die, or are formally removed. Coups are poorly received, since it makes Houses more vulnerable to the Undead with internal squabbling, and generally will be disregarded by the other Houses if one occurs without formal abdication.

Game Mechanics:

A House Leader is someone who has volunteered for the position and been vetted by the Organizers, because the leaders of Major Houses are Organizers by definition, and Minor Houses may be elevated to Major House status at any time. It is not elected, nor is it contested; it is volunteered and accepted. Therefore, ousting a House Leader within the Game is not possible without their willing consent.

This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.

This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.

Type

Royalty, Military

Status

Active

Form of Address

Usually Your Majesty or Your Royal Majesty; individual titles may vary by House

Alternative Naming

Monarch, King, Queen

Equates to

Ranks by which the House Leaders are known, or have been known, in various Houses include:

The Archon (House Ailurus )

The Queen Bee (House Apis )

The Big Birb (House Avis )

The Toast (House Ceapaire )

The Great Bat, Child of Callieach (House Chiroptera )

The Great Flame (House Incendium )

The Chief Rabbit (House Lapin

The Great Badger (House Meles )

The Cosmic Kraken (House Mollusca )

- The King Dino (House Sauropoda )

The Big Kahuna (House Tiki )

Source of Authority

The people of a Protectorate

Length of Term

Until death, abdication, or removal

Current Holders

• Darth Nikolas
• Mykola Lapin-Void
• RPGDinosaurBob
• Sable Aradia
• TaraFaeBelle

Past Holders

• Coffee Quills
• Cryssalia
• DaniAdventures
• DM Stretch
• Kahuna the Elder
• ShyRedFox
• Siobhan the Writer
• Tempest Kwake

Related Locations

• Ailurus Protectorate
• Chiroptera Protectorate
• Lapin Protectorate
• Meles Protectorate
• Sauropoda Protectorate

Related Organizations

• House Ailurus
• House Sauropoda
• House Lapin
• House Chiroptera
• House Meles