The Great Houses are organizations of prominent families in the Klingon Empire. Representatives of the most powerful of the Great Houses serve on the High Council of the Klingon Empire, the ruling body of the Klingon Empire.
The Houses are generally named after the leader of the House, however it is the decision of the leader of a Great House under which name his House would be known by. Ja'rod, for example, decided not to rename his House from the House of Duras to the House of Ja'rod, as his son Duras, Son of Ja'rod would most likely rename it back to the House of Duras upon assuming leadership of the house. (TLE novel The Art of the Impossible).
Lines
- In the novel The Final Reflection and FASA's sourcebook The Klingons, the great family/clans of the Empire were called Lines, and the concept was used in a number of works until developments in TNG and DS9 established the term "House". Due to the considerable overlap of these institutions, the pages are combined here and material specific to Lines is presented below.
Klingon Lines are more than just families, less than the great dynasties of Earth's history. They are perhaps best thought of as networks of mutual obligation and support. Klingon society is not easy to survive in, and loners stand very little chance.
Lines do not normally feud, though it is not unheard of, but a war between lines usually weakens both to the point of destruction. Rather, they act to secure positive advantages for their members, within the (shifty and unpredictable) limits set by Klingon society as a whole.
Lines tend to expand, through births and occasional adoptions. There is a point at which the line is so large that one's obligations bring a diminished return - especially if one's parent had many offspring with more-or-less equal claim on his favors. At such a time, one or more members will become line-founders, changing their lincnames and striking out on their own. Many, perhaps most, founders fail, because one's first act is usually something foolishly bold to establish the name in the Empire's eye. Still, the potential founder is respected, even by the line he leaves.
Lines vary in size and power, and the two are not necessarily correlated; some lines can be large (membership in the hundreds of thousands), yet weak politically, if its assets are not suited toward swaying others and gaining support. The reverse can also be true: some small lines can hold considerable influence.
Lines could be "open" -- accepting Klingon genetic fusions as well as Klingons of the Imperial race -- or "closed" (limiting membership to only one racial type).
Linename Honorifics
The linenames bear a prefix indicating personal status. In ascending order these are:
- NO PREFIX - A youth who has yet to do anything noteworthy.
- tai
- vestai
- sutai
- zantai
- epetai
Any serving ship's officer would be tai, or perhaps vestai if highly placed. A captain would be sutai, possibly zantai if he had done something very famous or distinguished. An admiral would be zantai certainly. Epetai is very rare, and would never be applied (except as mockery) to anyone under the age of 50. (An exception to this is the head of a line, which is also referred to as the epetai. Within the line or where the individual is acting as linehead, use of epetai is appropriate, even if the same individual uses a lower honorific in more general circumstances.) The full name is thus written as "Kang zantai-Dvistrill", or as "Loanth Lassenti" in childhood.
Lineless children have the number of their House (orphanage) as a surname until maturity. After that they have no surname.
