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Beginning in Winter[]

It occurred to me a few days ago that all three of the Great Houses of the Court of Winter are answers to the question that Cydan often poses to the Fateless One as they leave conversation: “What does one do in the face of certain death?” Do you succumb to and embrace the sorrow, build a monument to your pride, or fight for due vengeance?

The House of Sorrows is the peaceful answer: Embrace the inevitable. Let yourself feel the sorrow and the pain, but acknowledge that this isn’t something you can change. Note that the Sorrows answer isn’t the famed “death is just a new beginning” or any such; this is a complete acceptance of one’s end.

The House of Pride wants to outsmart death by leaving a testament to oneself. Its own preservation, or the preservation of its own memory, is why they always turn and join the winning side in a war; history is written by the victors, so who better to remember their great deeds? This is very much the House for those who really believe that dying "with the most toys" is ideal. 

The House of Vengeance is the famous animal in a corner. They’ll kick and scream, fighting tooth and nail against the end. This isn’t even necessarily an “I’d give anything for five more minutes” sort of fight; rather, this is the fight of “I refuse to let this cancer beat/define/stop me.”

Summer[]

I am having a hard time pinning down the inverse question for the Court of Summer, though it is certainly along these lines: What does one do in the face of certain death? Do you seek the wisdom of the changing seasons, celebrate life in all its forms with joyful ballads, or struggle to prove your valor?

The House of Seasons is difficult to pin down, largely because we know so little about it but that makes explaining it almost impossible. Certainly, though, it is a place of learning, of wisdom, and the name implies that it is a place embracing the changing seasons, that despite the fact that nothing is new under the sun none of this will ever be seen again. Thus, this House is essentially the Court of Summer’s Scholia Arcana, a place to learn about nature and its power and to share that knowledge with any and all who desire it.

The House of Ballads has the most awkwardly-phrased answer to the question, but it is fully encapsulated in The Song of Sir Sagrell: Both heroics and joys are greatly respected, as Sagrell is honored for both his feats against the Grave Thresh and for his epic partying. The ballads, then, express everything beloved about Summer as a whole, but this House’s primary theme is that of joy, of revelry. Very few of their songs are anything short of mirthful.

The House of Valor mirrors the House of Seasons along these lines: Eternity becomes an opportunity for self-perfection, whether mentally in Seasons or physically in Valor. The only way to improve yourself in combat once you have learned all the techniques is simply to throw yourself into combat repeatedly to train, honing reflexes and learning reactions based entirely on what the enemy actually throws at you, forcing you to develop theory and practice simultaneously.

Conclusion[]

Now, why even bring this concept up? It’s a nifty bit of fluff, aye, but there’s something more to it.

When humans write fantasy and sci-fi, other races tend to be what I refer to as “human-plus”: The Dokkalfar, for example, are humans plus duplicity and indirect strength (such as diplomatic skills) in all their forms. The Fae, then, are humans plus a nature-focus and immortality. The Houses then become expressions of human nature, and while all that sounds grand and meta and philosophical, it brings the question down to a personal level, providing example answers to the question invariably facing all of us who are human and thus mortal:

What does one do in the face of certain death?
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