Republic

Compromise and resolution litters the history of the Noble Houses. It would not be true to say that the Republic was quite as fair, good or beneficent as many outside the Nobility have chosen to see it. As the influence of the Princes waned, power turned instead to the Noble Houses. They officially ruled with the Master of the Nagrech as the ultimate arbitrator. The system of laws and even the Great Freedom were not so much a means to empower the peon and bring about some naïve golden age, but rather they formed a framework within which the naturally politically astute might thrive. The Republic in effect both limited the power of great individuals and elevated the concept of House.

The land was divided up amongst the Houses, although there was little change in that which they controlled. In declaring their responsibilities and oaths the Republic in effect left them to rule their lands as they saw fit, whilst vying for power within the formed Halls of the Nobility. Outwardly, if they seemingly cared for and protected their people, then no one could cast doubt on their fitness to rule. The Game of the Nobility flourished and cunning grew more important than ritual ability, skill in battle or even the ability to conceive further members of the House. That said, the system did allow many of the younger crop to rise to power; nobles who were genuinely good people, untainted by the past and filled with a belief in the Republic that never, in truth, was shared by the founders of that state.

During this time the Nobles even put together the system of Mourathal, then later formalised in the Empire as the Senate. It was however a time when quiet little wars were fought between Houses and for assassins it was a time of riches, status, and even glory.

Whilst those of older views increasingly played their games in Halgar and Ickybiggle, those more idealistic tended to their estates, established freedoms and spoke of a fine future. Without the dominance of the Princes, others rose to prominence and during the time of the Republic those of the Blood could no longer assume themselves to be the best ritualists and warmasters. Some of those who were once servants became more powerful than their social betters.

Society gradually crumbled. High ideals do not make for effective rulership over a land that was increasingly thickly populated, and more distantly led; and curiously, within the protection of laws and rights, there was nothing to restrict the rise of dark-hearted men and women. With the grander Nobles corrupted by their subtle power and the idealistic core made rotten by the cruelty and greed of people everywhere, the Republic fragmented, replaced by the Magiocracies.

For the Nobles and ultimately the Empire that was to come, the Republic did formalise House and Hall, lay the foundations for single rulership, and even for the Senate.