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Alliances between Houses

Posted by Apostate on 10/19/19
Q:Are intra-house alliances thematically appropriate? The idea of secret alliances that could create WW1 style detentes seems like the ultimate result of alliances outside of fealties. What kind of wording would be appropriate to make sure that an alliance does not conflict with existing oaths of fealty? How are alliances like these enforced by Limerance's representatives? Are private alliances considered a Lycene only practice?

A: In short, yes. Massive chain-reaction wars start in the Compact, and even some of the most mild of brushfire conflicts in the past between two houses have spiraled into wars between entire great houses due to chains of alliances from marriage. This is a large reason why lieges often decline to involve themselves in the wars of their bannermen, due to the fear of it spreading to a far larger war. It's also a reason why many of the older, more powerful houses have been very difficult to dislodge- there's deep connections that stretch across fealties, and even a powerful ducal house won't try to overthrow a great house if that great house is linked by marriage to two other great houses, and could probably call on several times their immediate forces.