Great House (Highborne)

Great Houses were noble houses within the Highborne Peerage who ruled over the regions of the Highborne Empire. In most cases, they ruled a number of smaller Highborne noble houses who swore fealty to to the Great House lording over their region, not dissimilar to the system of governance in modern Human monarchies.

Nearly all Great Houses were granted their land and titles by the House of Azshara, the house of noble Highborne elves who ruled the Highborne Empire for the complete duration of its history. The system was originally implemented within the Empire to manage its increasingly large dominion. As the borders of the ancient state continued to expand, so too did the number of Great Houses swell.

War of the Ancients
During the War of the Ancients, the Great Houses of the Highborne Empire ruled the majority of Kalimdor and the extent of the world, reaching from the northern mountains of Winterspring to the southern reaches of the Tanari Desert.

The Great Houses who ruled these territories during the final days of the Empire are as follows:
 * House of Ravencrest (Rulers of the Bay of Storms and the Black Islands)
 * House of Xavius (Keepers of the Secret Knowledge)
 * House of Thel'barim (Rulers of the Western Vale)
 * House of Ethel Rethor (Rulers of Desolace and the Deadland
 * House of Shalah'aman (Rulers of the Southern Reaches and the Tanari Desert)
 * House of Verdantfire (Rulers of Winterspring and Kel'Theril
 * House of Shar'adore (Rulers of the Eldre'thalassian Wild)
 * House of Duskglaive (Rulers of the Mistmarshes)
 * House of Tortheldrin (Rulers of Eldre'thalas)
 * House of Fallowmere (Rulers of the Stonetalon Mountains)