Nobles and Marriage politics

[roguerouge]

I have a PC who's the only child, a daughter, of House Jhaltero. Due to player choices, the PC has allowed her father and mother to decide who to set her up with on blind dates, such as at the Ruby Masquerade. What Kintargan families would best advance their interests and thus guide their choices for blind dates for their heir? And what other houses would be trying to court Jarvis influence?

Reminder of the Houses:
AULAMAXA of Cypress Point and Dismal Nitch (Archbarony)
Interests: hunting, opera, fame

AULORIANs (County)
Interests: magic, salt, silver, politics

DELRONGE of Vyre and Deepmar (Archbarony)
Interests: horse breeding, falcons, hunting, mercantilism

JARVIS of ARGO isle (Kintargo) (Barony)
Interests: architecture, carpentry, city planning, stonemasonry

JHALTERO of Whiterock (Barony)
Interests: information, silver, stone quarries

SARINI, the Lap Dogs of Thrune (County)
Interests: diabolism, entertainment, Theater of the Real

TANESSEN (County)
Interests: armor and weapon crafting, city defense, military

VASHNARSTILL of Anchor’s End (Barony)
Interests: Arcadian trade, fishing, shipbuilding

I feel like the JARVIS HOUSE would be a top choice, given the synergies between JHALTERO and JARVIS interests in building. Maybe DELRONGE or AULORIAN for money?

[Uqbarian]

The Jarvises do seem like the most obvious pick. If you were at the start of the game, the Aulorians might also be interested in consolidating their silver interests. (This would be a good way to introduce Marquel Aulorian early on in a new game.) If you're already at the Masquerade, though, Marquel is presumably out of the picture one way or another, but if you gave him any siblings, his family might still be looking for a match.

(As a minor note, I think they wouldn't technically be blind dates, as a noble daughter would presumably already know any eligible suitors in Kintargo.)

There's also the political angle. If the Jhalteros are pro-Kintargo, one consideration from their side might be to gain influence over a weakly pro-Thrune house or bolster the support of a weakly pro-Kintargo house. (Pro-Thrune houses might on the other hand be seeking marriages elsewhere in Cheliax.) And from the other side, if another house perceives the Jhalteros as only weakly pro-Kintargo, they might want a marriage that pulls them closer to one camp or the other.

Depending how you've arranged the houses' lands, any house with estates adjacent to those of the Jhalteros might be interested in a match.

Then there's the issue of rank. The implication is, I think, that the nine (well, eight now) houses are of roughly equal power and status, so a Kintargo baron's daughter will generally be an acceptable match for a Kintargo count's son. But some of the house heads might be more particular, e.g. Countess Sarini might want her children to marry into other comital families at least, or even ducal families if she can arrange it. Along similar lines, you could also throw in some lower aristocratic families from rural Ravounel (e.g. the Aeldervenks who show up in Book 5) who might not aspire to catching a count's son but are prepared to pursue a baron's daughter.

It also depends somewhat on what marriage and inheritance laws you have in place, if you're interested in including that sort of thing. Say Jane is the only daughter of Lord and Lady Jhaltero, and she marries Count Tanessen's only son, Bob. If Jane and Bob then have children, does their first child (or first son) inherit everything, becoming a Tanessen and effectively ending house Jhaltero? In that case, the Jhalteros probably don't want Jane to marry an heir whose offspring would subsume their house. If, however, there are inheritance laws or other legal mechanisms that can keep both houses extant (e.g. if Bob and Jane's first child inherits the Tanessen title and estate, then their second child inherits the Jhaltero title and estate), their options are more open.

Character class could be a factor in some cases. For example, if Jane Jhaltero is a wizard, that might make her more interesting to the Tanessens.

One last thought is that some houses might simply not have an available child of the right age, and/or are already related to a degree that rules out marriage. I don't think there's much detail on the family trees, so as with most of the other stuff it's up to you.

[Kasoh]

The Jhalteros have a spy network that is good enough to be something they are noteworthy for. That's valuable to any family. The Tanessens though might be particularily interested given their interests in city defense, and the matter of the rebellion going on.

Also, there's the Mayhearts (On the board of governers which becomes plot relevant later) and the Aldervenks. They are noble houses and trying to marry up isn't out of the question, but it gets them and their rivalry introduced earlier.

[zimmerwald1915]

Kasoh wrote:

The Jhalteros have a spy network that is good enough to be something they are noteworthy for. That's valuable to any family. The Tanessens though might be particularily interested given their interests in city defense, and the matter of the rebellion going on.

Also, there's the Mayhearts (On the board of governers which becomes plot relevant later) and the Aldervenks. They are noble houses and trying to marry up isn't out of the question, but it gets them and their rivalry introduced earlier.

There are also the Solstines on the Board of Governors, who seem ripe for co-optation.

[Uqbarian]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

There are also the Solstines on the Board of Governors, who seem ripe for co-optation.

Of course, roguerouge isn't bound by the text, but according to Book 5, "the Solstines haven’t taken part in the aristocracy or politics for decades", which would seem to put them out of the running for marriage proposals.

EDIT: On the other hand, having some of them show up at the Masquerade, even if it's not for an arranged date, is a good way to introduce them so their involvement in the later plot isn't out of the blue.