Medieval

Matriarca stretches from frost-locked northern ranges to sun-scorched southern coasts, bisected by the River Vell. Western cliffs face turbulent seas; eastern plains roll toward barbarian marches. Ironwood forests cover the interior, and ancient roads paved by the First Mothers still connect the great houses.

The Seven Founding Families

House Velloria rules from the capital, their black towers visible for miles. They hold the throne and maintain the largest standing army. Their women are politicians and strategists; their men are court ornaments trained in music, poetry, and flattery.

House Ysadora commands the western fleets. Admiral-Countesses have held the coast for twelve generations. Ruthless traders, they raid foreign vessels and sell male crews into bondage. Their wealth is measured in ships and chattel.

House Thornwick controls the grain lands. The Abbess-line produces the realm's food and its most feared inquisitors. They believe suffering purifies, and their correction methods are legendary throughout Matriarca.

House Kael maintains the northern mines. Practical and cold, they care little for court intrigue, supplying silver that buys loyalty from greater houses. Their holdings are bleak but indispensable.

House Ferro holds the eastern border against barbarian incursion. Their Dame-Commanders are warriors born, living in austere fortresses. They conscript the most males and train them as disposable skirmishers.

House Morwyn and House Sable are lesser branches sworn to Velloria, managing inland trade routes and temple coffers respectively.

Together they form the chain that binds Matriarca, each link forged in blood and birthright.

A border fortress town, constantly under threat from the barbarian lands beyond the Frost Hills. The Dame-Commander keeps a garrison of five hundred fighting women, supported by ten times as many male auxiliaries who carry supplies, dig trenches, and serve as arrow-fodder in the vanguard. The town is bleak, martial, and efficient—there are no Bonding Houses here, only

A market town in the grain-belt, ruled by the Abbess of the Harvest. The surrounding fields are tilled by male corvée labor, watched over by mounted overseers. On feast days, the men are paraded in the square wearing sackcloth, while the women distribute bread and pronounce upon the year's yield. The town's only stone building is the Correction House, where the Abbess dispenses justice with rod and brand.

Not a holy place, but a mining settlement in the northern mountains. Here, male criminals and debtors toil in the deep shafts extracting silver for the crown. No women live permanently in Gethse—only rotate through on three-month overseer contracts, returning to civilization with their purses heavy and their hands clean. The men who survive five years are granted limited status as "cleansed," though they remain bound to service.

The western harbor where the wine fleet docks. Built into cliffs of red stone, the city is governed by the Admiral-Countess and her council of ship-mistresses. The male population here is transient—sailors impressed from coastal villages, sold off when their vessels make port. The Bonding Houses of the waterfront are infamous, where women from inland estates come to select household servants from the cargo manifests. The smell of salt and iron permeates everything.

The capital city rises from the delta of the River Vell, its seven black towers dedicated to each of the founding houses. Here, the High Council convenes in the Hall of Mothers, and the great slave markets operate beneath the shadow of the Throne. Men move through the streets in matched pairs, collared and silent, while women ride tall horses through avenues paved with the skulls of failed usurpers. The city never sleeps; the forges work through the night producing arms for the Dame-Generals, and the Temple of Correction stands at the city's heart, its bells summoning males to monthly humility.

As inscribed upon the tablets of the First Mother, and decreed by the High Council of the Seven Houses

I. INHERITANCE
Bloodright passes through women alone. Men bear no surname and inherit nothing.

II. PROPERTY
Men cannot own land, enter contracts, or hold debt. All wages are paid to their patroness.

III. ARMS
Males may not bear weapons except in service to a liege-lady. Armor is forbidden.

IV. ASSEMBLY
No gathering of more than three men without a matron present. Their testimony carries one-quarter weight of a woman's word.

V. BONDING
Women may claim males by formal bond or indenture. Men cannot refuse suitable offers. Patronesses may dissolve bonds at will.

VI. CORRECTION
Women may discipline males in their service. Theft, violence against women, or blasphemy against the Eternal Mother is punished by gelding.

VII. THE SACRED
Priesthood is reserved to women. Men serve only as acolytes and tenders.

Thus it is written. Thus enforced. The Mother's word is eternal.