Adoption to the Household

The city of Bajapur is controlled by a number of Houses, led by a smaller number of Great Houses, themselves led by the Great Tycoon. If an individual provides some exceptionally sterling service of great importance to a House, he or she may be offered the ceremony of Adoption to the Household. This formally announces that the individual so honoured has been adopted to become part of the ruling family of the House, able to speak on its behalf and draw on its funds, resources, and soldiers at will. This tradition is vanishingly rare, and only offered to truly exceptional individual who have gained something truly remarkable for the House.
Houses have different focuses, ranging from the smaller ones which may be focused on a particular trade such as weaving silk, controlling a fleet of fishing vessels, or offering mercenary fighters, to the larger Houses with varied interests in many different trades and a far greater degree of wealth and independence.
The entire House is assembled to witness the ritual, with the family at the head of the group. It is usually held in the formal gardens of the House, amid the raked white gravel, carefully-pruned and shaped bushes, and flowing streams, as ornamental red and gold carp flicker through the cool, shallow pools. Everyone wears fine silk robes in the colours of the House, embroidered with the House's symbol.
The Mogul leading the House takes the adoptee through the formal vows to serve the house's interests, to always protect the family of the house, and to obey the Mogul of the house, before turning to the assembled household, both family and retainers, to introduce the new member of the House and command them to serve the new family member according to the new rank they have been granted,
Typically, new adoptees are not eligible for succession in the House unless its fortunes have suffered a dramatic downturn, and are ranked behind all other adult members of the family. This has been changed on occasion when sufficiently great services have been rendered, such as saving a House from extinction.