Fealty

In theory, everyone in Arvum from the high lords that control the great houses from a penniless beggar in the streets of Arx, owes their ultimate loyalty to the Crown- the current King or Queen of the Compact. In practice, the feudal system throughout the continent of Arvum is much more localized- commoners of a small town swear fealty to a local baron, the baron owes his fealty to a count or earl or marquis of a larger house that has control of a region, and that house in turn owes their fealty to one of the high lords of the great houses. For purposes of character creation, a character should mark their fealty as the great house that would claim their loyalty short of the crown- Grayson, Thrax, Valardin, Redrain, or Velenosa (the house paramount of the Lyceum). In many ways, it's analogous to the citizenship for a character, particularly since most characters will be natives of the lands under control of a great house. Some characters won't have any fealty to a great house and have no loyalty short of the crown. These exceptions are called 'Crownsworn' and select that as their fealty. Such characters could be foreigners from a different continent, houseless commoners that have lived in Arx their entire lives with no lord, or members of an order such as the Templars, the Knights of Solace, or the King's Own that expects its members to have no loyalties aside from their order and the crown. The lordless for any reason are all considered Crownsworn since as far as the Compact is concerned, if you are standing in Arvum you owe the crown your loyalty.