House Sheer

Leader: Win Sheer- A gaunt thun woman with a sharp wit and shaper scissors, She has a knack for sizing people up, both literally and figuratively

Great House: House Dinn

Province: Emburn

Economy: House Sheer thrives on textiles. Their famed giant spiders produce a silk that is strong enough for armor, light enough for gowns, and valuable enough to spark murder. They farm these beasts both in high-spun towers among the Goatspires and dank silk-vaults, harvesting webbing with specialized tools and expendable Serfs.

They also breed and herd Goatersnipes along side House Nin, those cantankerous goats of infamy, whose milk, hides, and fur provide both trade goods and a constant source of frustration. Their silk and leather dominate Emburn’s high fashion and field gear markets alike, and are especially favored by bounty hunters, Nobles, and mercenaries seeking gear that impresses and endures.

Sheer silk also is widely coveted in the ballroom. Many of their designs and dyes are commissioned by House Holbein, whose obsession with fashion, portraiture, and noble beauty makes them Sheer’s most valuable client. In exchange, Sheer gets exclusive rights to dress Holbein’s models, ensuring their designs are seen in the grandest portraits of the age.

Military: House Sheer has no standing army, but they field elite silk-clad enforcers known as the Looming. Silent, masked warriors who wield thread-whips, throwing needles, and net traps. In times of trouble, they often call upon House Nin for livestock-based transport or backup muscle, or hire thugs from House Do-Dis when discretion is less important.

Culture: Austere, secretive, and pragmatic, House Sheer values silence, precision, and presentation. Similar to House Holbien, they teach the importance of appearnaces, often leaving the "dirty" work of their house to serfs. Said serfs are also often mistreated and disrespected for their lower status and general "uglyness". When they find a serf that appears to rival their own beauty, they make use of their needles and quickly "fix the problem"

History:
House Sheer rose from a minor tailoring guild centuries ago, granted noble title after they saved a Dinn noble from an assassination via their oddly durable silks. Since then, they’ve woven themselves deeper into Emburn’s noble fabric. Over the centuries, their skill and resource control have woven them tightly into House Dinn’s infrastructure, particularly in outfitting noble courts and military elites.

Their alliance with House Nin came naturally, with their milks and fats being used to make fine soaps for Sheer's beauty needs, and they quickly came to co-habitate the Goaterspires.

Their silk has draped kings, armored assassins, and clothed brides whose veils whisper secrets. Some claim the eldest spiders of Sheer remember faces, and that the tapestries in the manor’s hall tell true futures—but only for those who know how to unweave them.

Their alliance with House Holbein began as fashion trade but grew into a mutual obsession. Holbein paints the beauty that Sheer constructs; Sheer dresses the models that Holbein immortalizes. Their partnership defines much of the noble aesthetic across the Oligarchy and ensures House Sheer’s silks are seen in every important portrait, wedding, and duel.

In Emburn, Sheer’s silks are power. To wear their threads is to claim a sliver of nobility—and risk being entangled in their designs, literally or politically.