Imperial House
| Name:: - . |
| Alternate Names:: House Imperial (poetic), Imperial House (colloquial). |
| Major Aspect: -. |
| Status: (not a House). |
| Founder: (Scarlet Empress). |
| Founding: (RY0). |
| Dissolution: (not a House). |
| Leadership: -. |
| Colours: None, though Imperial progeny tend to favour scarlet at Court functions. |
| Words: - |
The Scarlet Empress claimed no line of descent, no heredity, no House or Clan or Gentes: her power and her position were entirely her own. Nor did she ever name heirs, or grant any state powers to those she bore: even 'Prince' and 'Princess' were colloquial expressions used amongst Dynasts, not official grants from the Throne.
And yet, each of the Scarlet Empress' children was a Dynast, even though they lacked a House until they were granted one or (more commonly) were married into the existing Great and Cadet Houses. The nature of the Dynasty, with rights and responsibilities, property ownership and institutional rank, even poetic turns of phrase all tied to mixtures class and House, meant that to many Dynasts of the Houses, Houseless Imperial progeny simply HAD to have a House tied to their names.
The satisfaction of this need came from reference to the House Imperial, to encompass the Empress' Houseless children. It referenced not only their place as Dynasts because they were descended from the Empress, but also the fact nearly all dwelt in various quarters of the Imperial Palace, the 'house' of the Empress.
The Scarlet Empress did not ban or censure the term amongst the poets of the Dynasty, but in the legal sphere it was unacceptable, and any reference to it in law or contract was sure to see it countermanded by the Throne. The Empress did not grant her children use of Her mon as do the Houses, causing a great deal of difficulty for the various Princes and Princesses, who had little ability to take advantage of their Dynastic rights and social power without legal signatures... requiring them to push for their own marriages into the Houses, or in a few cases to advance in the institutions of government so they might use organizational identities for their own ends.
