View source for Bloodhouse

A '''Bloodhouse''' - perhaps more formally called a '''Bloodname House''' - is the [[Clan]] term for the physical and political body representing warriors born to a given [[Bloodname]] lineage.<ref name=TC:WoKp57>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 57 - "Bloodname Houses"</ref><ref name=TC:WoKp116>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 116 - "Bloodname House"</ref>  

==History and Description==
Each of the original 800 warriors who followed [[Nicholas Kerensky]] on his [[Second Exodus]] and returned with him to the [[Pentagon Worlds]] in [[2821]] during [[Operation Klondike]] were immortalized as founders of their Bloodname House.  These progenitors formed the foundation of the Clans' eugenics program, and all warriors born to a given [[List_of_Bloodnames|Bloodname legacy]] since that time are considered to be part of their associated Bloodname House by virtue of relation to the progenitor.  Eligibility is determined by matrilineal descent; beyond the first generations to be decanted, no warrior may ever claim more than one Bloodhouse.<ref name=TC:WoKp57/><ref name=H:OKp33,34>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 33, 34 - "Founding Legacies"</ref>

The Bloodhouse acts as a loose governing body that often dictates the politics of its constituents, and can be a force to contend within any Clan's politics.  The Bloodhouse is also an extended family and support organization for its warriors, a place where younger warriors may seek older warriors of their lineage for advice or support in the Clan.  They may also provide for the recreation of their warriors.  For example, they have been depicted as possessing organized sports teams for intra-Clan competition, as was the case with [[Clan Wolf]].<ref name=TC:WoKp57/><ref>''Blood Legacy'', chapter 15</ref>  

A Bloodname House's leader wields considerable power within their Bloodhouse, and by extension, in their Clans in general.  Bloodhouse Leaders schedule [[Trial of Bloodright|Trials of Bloodright]], and can also help to arrange exchanges of genetic legacies with rival Bloodname Houses, in order to strengthen or revive certain genetic lines.<ref name=TC:WoKp57/><ref>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 92 - "Perigard Zalman"</ref>

The specifics of leadership, law and tradition within a Bloodhouse seem to differ from Clan to Clan.  Some, such as the Bloodhouses of [[Clan Coyote]], are said to elect their Bloodhouse leaders by vote,<ref>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 54 - "Nu Galaxy"</ref> while others - such as [[Clan Steel Viper]] - indicate more of a martial focus, with leadership often being decided by right of combat in a [[Circle of Equals]].<ref>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 98 - "Brett Andrews"</ref>  The [[Kindraa]] of [[Clan Fire Mandrill]] take this idea to its extreme; their Bloodhouse leaders tend to rival their [[Khan]]s for political power.<ref>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 77, 78 - "Clan Fire Mandrill"</ref>

Each Bloodhouse originally possessed a [[Blood Chapel]] on the traditional Clan capital world of [[Strana Mechty]], though certain Bloodnames also were known to have Blood Chapels on their respective Clan's homeworlds.   This was the case with the Osis and Howell Bloodhouses on [[Huntress]], whose Blood Chapels were located near [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]'s own [[Genetic Repository]] at Mt. Szabo.<ref name=H:OKp33,34/><ref>''Freebirth'', chapters 15 through 18</ref>

Whether the Bloodhouses of the [[Council of Six Clans]] continue to be structured in this manner, or not, remains to be seen as the [[Dark Age]] unfolds.

Despite not being full Clan, [[Wolf's Dragoons]] have their equivalent of Bloodhouses, focused in their [[Honorname]]s, though they appear to be a loosely association.<ref>''Wolf Pack'', ch. 1</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Blood Legacy]]'' (novel)
* ''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Freebirth (novel)|Freebirth]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''
* ''[[Wolf Pack]]'' (novel)

[[Category:Clan Culture]]