The Houses

(I'll create a list of all the houses here... eventually...)

A gold vs silver noble: A gold noble is someone born to the nobility. So they are born directly under a house. Gold nobles are born with a last name. Commoners do not have a last name. They are 'of hometown'. A silver noble is a commoner who has done something so great that the king/queen offered them the chance to start a house. Either the commoner creates the last name and submits it to the house list or the royal who offered hands them a name.

All houses are considered equal. Although there is no true hierarchy, a house that has more interconnections with other houses or has been around longer or contains a recent royal would be treated better than others.

This means... Technically all land is owned by the king/queen. The houses are there taking care of domains/ lorddoms for the sake of the king/queen.

The head of the house uses the last name of the house. So they would be Lord/Lady House-Name. Everyone else who is part of the house uses Lord/Lady First-Name. If they wish to state which house they belong to, they still offer their first name and then their house name.

Nobles do not need to leave their house if they truly wish, but there is no guarantee their children would be given the house name if they are born. It would depend on if the head of house "adopts" them to the main line.

At any point the king/queen is allowed to remove house titles if they desire. So the nobles are required to give time and consideration to the king/queen. It is unlikely, but the way it is set up can be easily switched to full dictatorship. That is one of the reasons they prefer offering blessings to the royals at birth. If they give the right blessing and word it to sound like a blessing, they will deny any chance of the next ruler being a dictator. That's the nobles goals when offering blessings at birth.

It is also the reason why many of the houses will aim to have a child close in age to the crown prince/princess. If the crown becomes friends with their child, then the house should be fine surviving the next generation. 

As much as the king/queen technically own the entire country and give/take as they wish, much of the area they cover is not stable enough. Teleportation ended up being one of the most important skills because transport is very difficult for most. The monsters are dangerous. The land is unstable. The knights normal missions include clearing areas to make sure the land is safe enough for the population (such as the Telligence Harvest Mission). The houses are required to handle quite a bit without royal input.

If you have any questions about the political set up, please ask them here. I did not plan this set up. It just happened. But as questions are asked, I can review based on the circumstances what the answer should be. It would help me advance and fill out the world faster.