Powers of the Great Houses

The Circulions of Hatlynshire share many traits that seperate them from Man. And among those traits the most prominent is of course the average Circulion's ability to control and direct matter without ever touching it or without ever having the physical strength to lift it. But the Eight Great Houses of the Circle, despite being similar to their Circulion kin in almost every way, have an extra ability that acts alongside the common power. These unique abilities are distinct for each house, they are hereditary and tend to become more powerful as their users age, being passed down through the male line.

These additional abilities have been thought by many as a key factor in understanding the success of the Great Houses in the fields of business and politics. They have been painted by some as an unfair advantage used by the Houses in order to establish themselves as the heads of the Circle and leaders of Hatlynshire's industries.

Though the method in which these powers manifested in the Great Houses is unknown even by the highest Scribes of the Order of the Intelligencia, their uses and capabilities have been thoroughly studied throughout the centuries and therefore, the distinct powers of each House has been clearly identified.

House Demon: The members of the Great House of Demon have the ability to bend and reshape any material into whatever form they desire. This is seen as a far more powerful version of the common power shared by all Circulions. Whereas Circulion Common Folk can only move objects or break them, the Demons possess the ability to put them back together in different shape or state of matter. They have the ability to liquefy wood, to melt iron and to carve sculptures out of stone without ever using any tool or external object. Hence their position in Hatlynshire's Iron manufacturing industry is very advantageous due to this ability.

House Bernstein: The Bernsteins of Bernsberry have the ability to converse with fauna. The family mainly uses this ability in order to converse with ravens, the bird that makes their family symbol. The family uses the ravens in order to act as spies or deliver messages under the Great House Confidentiality Act. And while it is not unheard of for members of the family to use this power to converse with other species it is often very rare due to the lack of wildlife in the industrial streets of the City of Hatlynshire.

House Hatly: The members of House Hatly have the ability to read minds. An ability considered quite fitting for a family based around banking and finance. Although it has been noted that this ability can be limited due to the members who possess it being unable to read the minds of their fellow mind-readers. It has also been speculated that this ability can be thwarted by non-members through intense training and awareness of when their minds are being read. However, the methods of training used in order to achieve this are not known by the Common Folk and are kept secret by the Hatles' themselves. But aside from such rare instances, the effectiveness of this ability seems to depend on the skill of the user and the thoughts of the subject with the most skilled mind-reader having the ability to pry open even a subject's most closely guarded secrets just by setting their sights upon them. But at its most fundamental level, a Hatly can sense person's loudest and most prevalent emotions and thoughts even through obstructions such as door and walls.

House Venshire: House Venshire possesses the ability to heal wounds. The House came to prominence during the late 100s AF due to their ability to seemingly cure any disease. However, the limits of this ability were first discovered by Mr. Vincent Venshire, a Scribe in the Order of Intellegencia (see:Organization of the Circle), who discovered that the family's ability couldn't cure certain hereditary diseases or the late stages of severe diseases. But in the end, Venshire concluded that the Venshire's ability was only rendered ineffective under very rare cases.

House Everton: The House of Everton is widely regarded to have the most illusive ability among the Great Houses. Their ability consists of the power to make illusions. The effectiveness Everton's power is also observed to be heavily skill based, with the most learned masters having the ability to affect both themselves and their entire surroundings, creating entire spaces that do not exist while less skilled members could only affect either singular objects or their own physical form. But despite this, the Evertons have on numerous occasions used this ability to aid the Circle with many members serving as spies or members of secretive orders like the Gratousy. This power is also attributed to Everton's rise in the field of theater and entertainment in the early days of the Circle.

House Morrow: The Morrows of Morrowyn are possess perhaps the most powerful yet complex ability out of all the Houses. Their ability to see the future is seen as the most important tool in the Circle. The complexity of this ability stems from the fact that Morrows can observe different possibilities of events yet cannot tell which ones come to fruition, resorting to judging based on simple probability. They can also sense sudden changes in the future and cannot see the futures directly involving others who share their power. And though it has been long speculated that the futures seen by the Morrows are affected by their own knowledge and biases such a variable is considered a non-factor and hence ignored. This ability to view the future with a certain level of accuracy is what allowed the Morrows to become formidable tradesman in the speculative markets of Hatlynshire.

House Angelmore: The Angelmores have the unique ability of enhanced hearing. This ability grants them the power to sense lies and deceit when hearing others speak. While the exact distance in which an Angelmore can hear clearly if often decided by skill or experience it is estimated that even the most novice amongst the family can hear whispering up to thirty feet away if unobstructed. More refined users, such as the famous Baron Mortimer Angelmore, could allegedly hear through even the thick walls stone walls of Hatlyshire City Hall while strolling through the park across the street. Such a power has made certain members of the family incredibly influential members of orders just as the Gratousy and has given the family the ability to excel in the fields of journalism and news.

House Morning: The Mornings of Morning Borough possess the ability to manifest and control fire at will. Scribes have noted that this ability may have a connection with the Flame, the blue fire that courses through Circulion blood. This ability is considered by many to be rather straightforward, giving Mornings the ability to summon fire without a source and control it. This ability also makes them impervious to burning by regular fire. The ability to create fire at will enabled the Mornings to compete in many industries, with their main one being railways that run on steam engines. 

 

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For more see:

• Genetics of the Great Houses
• Introduction I: The Circle
• The Monetary System of the Circle
• The Organizational Structure of the Circle
• The Red Century and the War of the Banners 
• The Demons of Allison Street