Morasapien Governance and Folklore

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The chief ruling powers dispersed across Moras III, the Scaled Houses are the most influential Morasapien families in the Galaxy. Said to have existed for thousands of generations, each House believes that their bloodline is a direct descendant of the Cold Ones, the first Morasapiens ever to exist. Additionally, most House names are literal, closely aligning with their families' distinct physical features or fighting styles. Though their sigils and symbology vary, each House's unique biological features, distinct bloodlines and complex histories are prominently featured in every aspect of their daily lives. Thus, the Scaled Houses carefully balance honor and familial integrity alongside subterfuge, warfare, marital ties, and manipulation to gain additional power. 

The following is a compiled list of each of these powerful families. The names, regions, and titles associated with these families are the rough translations taken from local Möragga (MOH-RAH-GAH) (the most prominent of Morasapien languages) dialects. Any mispronunciations or errors present are those made by the catalogues' compilers, and not of the native correspondents associated with this record.

The Highlands

Living amongst the tundra-like marshes and hot-springs of the Northern Highlands, these Houses are often associated with their atypical hide patterns and the ferocious aerial wildlife. Although few in number, these Houses typically garner much support and respect from their peers, for they are a force to be reckoned with.

HOUSE CENO-BRAND - Renowned for their skills in blacksmithing and metallurgy, House Ceno-Brand holds a practical monopoly on Morasapien forging. Combining animal hides and hammered metals with the scales of fallen Morasapien warriors, House Ceno-Brand's inventive armaments give a tactical edge to all who purchase them. Typically allying with House Flightfang or other militant families, most of House Ceno-Brand's territory lies within the winding valleys of the Highlands. As such, they are one of the most widespread Morasapien Houses, occupying areas across the entire planet. Despite this, House Ceno-Brand is the most influential of the Northern Houses, for they supply the arms and armor to many warriors across Moras III. 

HOUSE FLIGHTFANG - Located within the northernmost Highlands, members of this House pride themselves in their skillful hunting abilities and unmatched aerial prowess. Using the skull of the infamous Scorn Screamer as their sigil, House Flightfang invokes the raw predatory power of the aerial beast, striking fear into their enemies and allies. Typically, House Flightfang provides soldiers and skilled aerial hunters to any friendly military campaigns, loaning their armies for additional crops or promise of loot from defeated parties. Flightfang politicians prefer to be on the battlefield rather than the diplomatic theatre, but have historically requested a representative seat on the Council of Riven Root. 

HOUSE IRONHORN - Known for their athletic tenacity and stubborn pride, members of House Ironhorn display one of their species' more unique features; their large, knurled horns protruded from the front of their skulls. Often used to court attractive spouses, members of House Ironhorn also utilize these eponymous body parts as weapons of last resort. Periodically, they will hold grand tournaments where their greatest warriors and athletes will compete in games of strength, agility, and melee combat to test who is the most skilled among them. 

Though these games are strictly competitive and never considered gladiatorial, House Ironhorn rarely allows competitors from other Houses to participate in these tournaments. Believing that their powerful horns give their combatants an unfair advantage over other contestants, House Ironhorn prefers to test their warriors' mettle amongst themselves as opposed to spilling unnecessary outsider blood. As such, most members of other Houses view the Ironhorn Games as a source of entertainment, while House Ironhorn itself sees them as a source of immense pride and fame amongst their scaly brethren.

HOUSE SKYGLEANER - One of the largest Morasapien families, House Skygleaner prides themselves on their herding and gastronomical abilities. Living in their enormous towers fashioned from the ivory bones of fallen giants, House Skygleaner is the progenitor of hunters, handlers, and wranglers, gardeners and cooks of impeccable skill. Famous for their hearty feasts and vast herds and gardens of tenacious creatures, the cooks of House Skygleaner are often welcomed at parties and celebrations across the Galaxy. However, members of this house are not only chefs of galactic renown, but are masters of all manner of beast, predatory and prey. Home to the first riders of powerful aerial beasts like the Scorn Screamer and the drifting Indominor (IN-DOMM-IN-ORR), House Skygleaner births all who domesticate and train mighty mounts of burden and war. 

The Woody Swamplands

Located within the gigantic Immameroot forests, these Houses maintain close ties with the natural landscape. Like most of their scaled kin, these Morasapiens are fierce hunters and warriors in their own right. However, the majority of these Morasapien Houses are more theological than their brethren, preferring to seek guidance from their Gods over their allies. Nonetheless, the opinions of the Swampland Houses are never denounced nor ignored, for their influence on the common Morasapien hunter is great. To make an enemy of any of the Swampland Houses, is to make an enemy of the people.

HOUSE AMBERTAIL - One of the smaller Scaled Houses, Ambertail is home to explorers of high esteem. Categorized by their fiery colored tail and cranial scales, members of House Ambertail reportedly possess keener night vision than any other Morasapien family. Additionally, they have a knack for creating underground burrows, passages, and dwellings, and apparently use their superior sight to navigate their maze-like passageways with relative ease. Moreover, it is believed that due to their close proximity to the mystical Garden of Hearthflowers, members of House Ambertail are able to consciously shift the color of their scales. This allows them to be willfully bioluminescent, and make parts of their underbelly glow in whatever shade best suits them. 

Even so, the exact cause of their bioluminescence is unknown, for they are maintain that only those within their distinct bloodlines are capable of controlling one's own "light and heat." Few Morasapien scholars have challenged House Ambertail's conclusions on the matter, and fewer still choose to debate it, for their ability to light even the darkest of tunnels is seldom useless.

HOUSE BRACKENHEART - The main publicists of House White-Hide and all of their religious ordeals, House Brackenheart is a moderate, persuasive, and reclusive family that is utterly devoted to their paler peers. Commonly called "The Voice of the Gods," members of House Brackenheart traditionally train as warrior-like monks, dedicated to traveling across Moras III in search of new converts. 

Every orbital period, new Brackenheart pupils journey to every known Morasapien family, performing miracles and preaching the word of the Holy Priests of House White-Hide. If they are fortunate enough, they will attract interested followers, and will bring back to their ivory masters for further assessment. If deemed worthy, these new recruits will be formally inducted into House Brackenheart, where they will eventually be allowed to marry into the family and expand its borders of influence even further. However, if deemed unworthy, these despondent Morasapiens are sent back to their unworthy relatives in disgrace, or on rare occasion, are put to death. House Brackenheart trains their members in both clergy and combat for this very reason: to project and protect their master's interests against any spiteful attacks from dishonored kin.

HOUSE EVER-ROOT - Dwelling amongst the massive roots of the Blrugglasssilirr (BLURR-GLASS-SILL-ERR), members of House Ever-root are charged with protecting the noble priests, mavens, and mystics of House White-Hide. Cloaked in durable cloths and hides interwoven with heavy plates of metals and scales, the guards of House Ever-root are among their species' most zealous and proficient warriors. 

However, unlike their peers within other military families like Flightfang or Ironhorn, the soldiers of House Ever-root are holy knights, whose sole purpose is to protect House White-Hide as they decrypt the mysteries of the Gods. Trained from birth to protect their albino brethren, only their most tenacious and devout are conscripted as Divine Protectors. While the mavens and priests of House White-Hide are the Eyes of the Gods, the knights and templars of House Ever-root are the Arms of the Gods, and they bring wrath unto all who threaten their leader's sanctity and safety. 

HOUSE TIMBERHUSK - A small but tenacious family, members of House Timberhusk are championed arborists famous across the Galaxy. The Wardens of the Sacred Trees, House Timberhusk ferociously protects the Blrugglasssilirr and all its seedlings, nurturing and keeping them in excellent health at all times. Moreover, though most Timberhusks dedicate themselves to maintaining their homelands' strength and safety, some family members have adopted more militant tactics. Calling themselves the Grovegard, they vehemently defend the gigantic Blrugglasssilirr tree from anyone not a member of the Swampland Houses. As such, their unrelenting reverence and possessiveness has led to the violent engagements between the Grovegard and other Morasapiens, with the majority of the victims not belonging to Houses Timberhusk, White-Hide, and Ever-root. Despite this unmitigated animosity, other Swampland houses often recruit the Grovegard's guerilla warriors when in need. 

HOUSE WHITE-HIDE - Called the "Eye of the Gods" by their friends and the "Pale Shadows" by their foes, House White-Hide has long been the most powerful and devout of all Morasapien families. Easily recognizable by their thick silvery scales, scarlet eyes and pale beige underbellies and throats, members of House White-Hide claim to be direct descendants from the Gods. Living amongst the highest limbs of the Blrugglasssilirr (BLURR-GLASS-SILL-ERR), the White-Hides lead the worship of their ancient ancestors, and spread their teachings across the planet. 

Typically, House White-Hide spends most of its days pondering the mysteries of their folklore, poring over their ancient tomes documenting the creation stories of their species and their planet. Despite their reclusive nature, House White-Hide attracts many followers, for their mystic mavens and holy healers work miracles on those too sickly or unskilled to survive on the planet. Through careful manipulation of the minds and hearts of the common people, the White-Hides have established themselves as a powerful and influential family that demands respect across Moras III.

The Misty Marshlands

Near the fog-covered bogs and misty valleys of the South, these families are the most scientifically advanced of their kin. Sporting technologies that other Morasapiens rarely possess, they produce the highest amount of crops and medicines per planetary square kilometer. However, the Marshland Houses are not only agricultural and medical innovators, but are proud scholars of Galactic appraisal. Founders of the extensive Collections of Ancient Mysteries, these scaly scholars catalog and study the histories of Moras III and its peoples, examining the origin of their species and the reality that their people may not be the first sentient species born of Moras III's brackish waters. 

HOUSE LAMELLILY - The largest of the Marshland families, House Lamellily is home to agriculturalists without rivals. With territories extending across the drizzly moorlands and hazy mires of the southernmost regions, House Lamellily forgoes devout worship in favor of advanced irrigation and fertilization. This technological growth has propelled House Lamellily into the interstellar market, where they often export expensive cash crops like the eponymous stimulant Lamellily (LAH-mel-lil-EEE) and the narcotic Slümshrub (sl-OOOM-shruh-b) in exchange for other technologies. 

The results of their scientific and agroindustrial expansions are twofold. For one, House Lamellily is one of the largest and most influential Morasapien families to ever exist, growing the majority of cash and sustenance crops traded among other houses. For another, House Lamellily's disregard for religion and faith has made them many enemies among the planet's more devout families, chief among them House Ever-root and House Brackenheart. Though House White-Hide's higher clergy members understand the tactical value of maintaining peaceful (albeit terse) ties with this agricultural powerhouse, many of their militant subordinates do not. Thus, the warriors of Houses Ever-root and Brackenheart periodically raid the misty marshlands, harassing Lamellily merchant caravans and burning their most vulnerable crop fields. Despite their continual harassment, House Lamellily continues to economically thrive, and is one of the only houses that welcome outsiders in their territories, regardless of intention.

HOUSE SWALESONG - A reclusive group of secretive mystics, House Swalesong are the main curators of the Collections of Ancient Mysteries. Living in their fog-swept capital city of Blröggah (BLUR-AWG-GAH), members of House Swalesong ponder the wisdom of their long-dead ancestors while foretelling the future. Usually sequestered deep within their enormous libraries or observatory towers, the scholars of House Swalesong attempt to pierce the veil between all realms, physical or otherwise. 

Their insistence on examining history and arcane law often puts House Swalesong at odds with the clerical House White-Hide and their followers. Though House Swalesong openly denies the existence of omniscient, omnipresent Gods, they do not dismiss the possibility of otherworldly beings or magic. Often calling upon unimaginable powers to accomplish their goals, members of House Swalesong rarely attribute their actions to the whims of all-powerful deities. Instead, this scaled house prefers to peer into their Orbs of Fallen Stars, channelling the powers of unknown dimensions alongside scientific discovery to call upon the spirits of fallen ancestors and uncover the mysteries of their world. 

HOUSE THICKETTHROAT - Home to healers that rival even those within House White-Hide, House Thicketthroat garners much prestige and respect across Moras III. Hosting skilled physicians, patient herbalists and crafty druids, House Thicketthroat is a family whose history and traditions are entrenched in healing others. Living in small communes within their steamy mud-bogs, Thicketthroat naturalists carefully mix and match rare ingredients harvested from exotic creatures around the planet. It is believed that their uncanny ability for poultice and salve-making is due to their eponymous spike-lined necks, heads, tongues and throats.  

However, their healing expertise is not restricted towards medicine-making or healing practices. Thicketthroat botanists specialize in cultivating rare plants exclusively for medicinal uses, making their niche methods incredibly useful to the disenfranchised or religious skeptic. As such, although their respect for the natural world has granted House Thicketthroat many allies like House Lamellily, House Swalesong, and House Skygleaner, it has also created many enemies throughout the more religious families. In particular, despite White-Hide clerics regularly corresponding with their spine-throated counterparts, most of the White-Hide clergy hold only contempt for House Thicketthroat and their naturalistic practices. 

The Dark Rivers 

Located along the blackened waters of Moras III's whirling Ebostuary (EH-BOSS-STOO-ARY), these families are as ancient as their species itself. Believed to have formed during the twilight years of their planet's forming, the Houses of the Ebostuary are noble and sage folk who pride themselves on their excellence in all things aquatic and magical. Though they mostly keep to themselves, these Houses have worked alongside their fellow intellectuals and magicians of the Southern Misty Marshlands. Likewise, each of the Ebostuary Houses are united in their animosity of House White-Hide, dismissing their worship of a divine pantheon as corrupt and immoral. As such, these families have many powerful enemies across the other Morasapien Houses, for their refusal to assimilate to White-Hide custom labels them as primitive, heretical, and ridden with foul magic. Even so, few outsiders dare approach the riverlands without their explicit permission, lest they risk the wrath of dark magics most powerful.

HOUSE BLACKBLOOD - The most prestigious and influential of the Ebostuary families, House Blackblood leads the crusade against House White-Hide and its clergy. Featuring dark scales with colors that rival the void of outer space, House Blackblood gets its name from its lengthy history involving unknown magics. House Blackblood's very existence clashes with House White-Hide and their beliefs. Insisting that Moras III is a magical epicenter of many realms of reality, House Blackblood maintains that Moras III is not home to three sentient species but thousands, each inhabiting different planes of existence. Nonetheless, this mysterious family continues to garner support despite the best of White-Hide's attempts to defeat them.

House Blackblood also leads the Ebostuary families in their unique faith. Blackblood mystics preach that all life was formed out of three primordial elements—earth, wind, and water. Called the Triune, this belief system stipulates that every being is formed from combinations of these three things; every being's body is made from earth and water, their spirit of wind and water, and their mind of earth and wind. Similarly, inanimate objects do not escape this universal law of creation: fire, a necessary tool for survival, is born from earth and wind. Meanwhile, the powerful seasonal storms crossing Moras III's surface are simply mixtures of water and wind. Metals, one of many ingredients needed to survive on Moras III, are viewed as a child of earth and water, while all plants are a careful mixture of all three elements. Thus, the Blackblood and all of their allies center their lives around two universal truths—everything lives through the Triune, and every perceivable thing in existence, animate or otherwise, has its own life force. 

HOUSE EVERSHADE - Wielders of magic in their own right, members of House Evershade reportedly tap into the Triune to contact the dead. Like their contemporaries in House Nevermorn, the conjurers and spellbinders of House Evershade regularly pierce the veil between the lands of the living, the dead and those in between. However, unlike the Speakers, Evershade conjurers maintain exclusive contact with their dead ancestors. These practitioners of dark magic do not simply converse with the spirits of their fallen ancestors, but, through the careful construction and channeling of magical vessels, create a bridge to the living world. 

Though most Evershade vessels are enchanted ornaments or totems, which are crafted and inherited patrilineally by their finest jewelsmiths, the most proficient practitioners are able to host the spirits of the dead within their own bodies. Known as the Deathbound, these elite mystics become one with the departed, and harness incredible power as they do so. Additionally, their combination with departed spirits offers a type of clemency and closure that even the most skilled Evershade jewelsmiths cannot match, and thus, their services are viewed as incredibly valued across Moras III. 

Unfortunately, the Deathbound are also notorious for their instability and lust for power. Though some members of their order are able to maintain their rationality, few of the initiated remain the same afterward, as many become completely insane from their continued coalescence with the dead. This has forced other members of House Evershade to use the Deathbound as brutal enforcers. Routinely sent on suicidal missions, the other Evershade mystics secretly hope that eventually none of their psychotic brethren will return. It is said that a Deathbound's lust for power can only quenched by two things—the violent murder of the uninitiated, and the consumption of their spirits. 

HOUSE DEEPSHORE - A reclusive and secretive family even by Morasapien standards, House Deepshore rarely interacts with anyone outside of their Ebostuary allies. Sequestered deep beneath the black waves of the Ebostuary, House Deepshore dwells within their gigantic citadels settled amidst the dark sands, reeds, and algae of the riverbeds. Featuring towering minarets, arching palisades and kelp-entwined barricades, these submerged cities protect the members of House Deepshore from all threats, below and above the river's torrents.

Though much of Deepshore's politics and traditions are unknown to outsiders, two things are certain: their devout worship of the Triune, and their natural affinity with all things aquatic. Though most Morasapiens are naturally well-equipped for waterlogged conditions, the members of House Deepshore supersede all of their outsider brethren. Well-adapted to their underwater surroundings with extra-webbed hands and feet, bioluminescent skin and eyes, gills, and multi-layered eyelids, Deepshore warriors are second to none within watery warfare. While just these features would make Deepshore a formidable opponent, their mix of Triune magics and natural aquatic affinity allows them to manipulate the tides themselves. As such, Deepshore hydromancers are their House's pride and joy, and their first—and most formidable—line of defense against their enemies.

HOUSE NEVERMORN - Home to the legendary Speakers, House Nevermorn is a secretive family who specializes in communing with otherworldly beings. Devout believers of the Triune, the Speakers undergo a sacred ritual of black magics, granting them the ability to enter the "realm between realms". Though this allows the Speakers to directly contact the living spirits inhabiting everything, and perhaps even gaze upon the Triune in its purest form, these wieldy warlocks must be willing to sacrifice their normal sense of sight in order to pierce the veil and "gaze into creation". Thus, after completing their vows and completing the "Ritual of Realms," the Speakers pledge to hear the whispers of the spirits and "never again see the morning sun". 

Despite their blindness, the Speakers are far from defenseless. Besides being able to "see" virtually anything created by the Triune (which permits them to traverse Moras III relatively unscathed) the Speakers serve as a vessel for any and all spirits. This allows them to become an intermediary force between their scaly brethren and others, acting as the voices of their ancestors—or enemies. Likewise, their ability to understand the universal language of creation connects the Speakers with all manner of creature. This makes them superior to even the most skilled Skygleaner beastmasters, for the Speakers do not control the creatures they ally with; they simply allow their spirits to commingle and come to an agreement. As such, the eldest of the Nevermorn Speakers are said to have "crossed the bridge into the World of the Wild, and returned changed" for they pass on words of wisdom from Moras III's many creatures. 

Those Off World 

Though the influence of the Morasapien Houses rarely extends outside of their planet's borders, some groups of Morasapien colonists have formed their own unique Houses off-world. Although their opinions are usually given little consideration, and their influence on local politics is minimal, the members of the Council of the Riven Root still grant these far-flung Houses some representation during their meetings, and allow them to be involved within interplanetary affairs at a limited degree. 

House BrokenBlaze - To be Documented

House Dawnglade - To be Documented

House Ember-Eyes - To be Documented

House Frost-Fang - To be Documented

House Smolder-Scorned - To be Documented

House Star-Slain - To be Documented

House Widowwake - To be Documented

House Winterwail - To be Documented