House Jupiter

The unbroken northern superpower of the king-god, its triple-walled mountain castle taken by Darrow while its main army was stranded besieging Mars.

Story so far

House Jupiter, named for the king of the gods, was one of the two great powers of the North alongside Mars, warring across the frozen Argos all winter. Its Proctor, Jupiter, is with Apollo a guard-dog of the Jackal, which makes it Darrow's next target after Apollo. Marching south-to-north through a Proctor-conjured blizzard and sudden spring, Darrow besieges its triple-walled castle set between two cliffs, taking the outer works with wooden ramps while its main army sits stranded across the thawed Argos besieging Mars.

After three days its few starving defenders — all Housemembers, their weak left behind while their slaves were kept at the front — surrender under a white flag borne by the meek "Lucian," begging only not to be enslaved. Darrow takes the fortress and, within it, springs his true trap: the surrender is the cover for unmasking the disguised Jackal himself.

Appearance

A triple-walled, cliff-sandwiched mountain castle on high rocky ground, its bowed tiers and angular keep built into the rock of a low pass.

Role

The northern king-god House, conquered by Darrow as cover to trap the Jackal.

Relationships

the-houses — One of the twelve Institute Houses, a great power of the North.

Darrow — The Reaper who takes its castle and uses the siege to trap the Jackal.

house-mars — Its winter-long rival across the Argos, besieged by its stranded army.

the-jackal — Whose disguised infiltration the fall of this House enables.

Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 41

The unbroken northern superpower of the king-god, its triple-walled mountain castle taken by Darrow while its main army was stranded besieging Mars.