Five banners in the hall of echoes — chosen by lantern-light in your first term.
Every student belongs to one of the five houses and orders. The sorting happens at the Sorting Lantern ceremony on the first full moon of the autumn term: each new student lights a paper lantern, and the lantern drifts — by old magic and older tradition — to the banner of their house. Students may petition to change houses once, in their second year; about one in twenty does.
(The distinction between “house” and “order” is historical: the stag, rose, and root began as residential houses; the nightingale and frostmoth began as scholarly orders. The names stuck. Nobody is expected to explain it.)
house
the house of the silver stag
emblem: a stag beneath a crescent moon · colors: silver and midnight blue · tower: the weavery's east wing
The stags are the school's spellweavers and its natural leaders — student council presidents have come from this house in eleven of the last fifteen cycles. Their creed: "the light is given; the shaping is earned." Famous alumni include the weather-mage Thessaly Bright (before the schism) and three headmistresses.
Rivalry: a friendly, centuries-old contest with the frostmoths over who truly understands the moon.
order
the order of the nightingale
emblem: a songbird on a flowering branch · colors: dusk violet and gold · tower: the hall of echoes' gallery
The nightingales keep the school's memory: music, the old tongues, history, and the archive choir that sings the founders' names every lantern festival. Their creed: "what is sung is not lost." If you want the true story of anything, ask a nightingale — and bring tea.
Tradition: every nightingale learns one song in the old tongue well enough to sing it alone, in the dark, without faltering. It is considered the hardest exam at the school.
house
the house of the thorned rose
emblem: a rose ringed with thorns · colors: deep green and rose-red · tower: the herbarium terraces
The roses are the healers and herbcraft masters — and, the other houses joke, the best cooks, since the herbarium grows everything. Their creed: "tend gently; the thorns are earned." They run the infirmary, the kitchens' herb gardens, and the school's famous midwinter rose tea.
Reputation: the kindest house and, in dueling, the most underestimated.
order
the order of the frostmoth
emblem: a moth with moonlit wings · colors: ice-white and silver · tower: the starspire's upper rings
The frostmoths are the starlore scholars and diviners — nocturnal even by elf standards, most comfortable at 3 a.m. on the starspire with a blanket and a chart. Their creed: "the sky remembers; we only read." They maintain the moon count calendar and predict the falling-star season.
Quirk: frostmoth students nap through afternoon classes with total institutional approval; their professors schedule around it.
house
the house of the deep root
emblem: roots beneath a great tree · colors: bark-brown and moss-green · tower: the menagerie's lower hall
The roots are the beast-tenders and ward-keepers — practical, patient, and the only students trusted alone in the deep wood fringe after dark. Their creed: "hold fast; grow slow." They maintain the school's wards, befriend its creatures, and produce the groundskeepers, the bestiary's authors, and Tunnels' favorite humans.
Tradition: every root carves a small wooden animal in their first year and leaves it in the founders' grove.
Between the houses
The houses compete all year for the moon cup — points for scholarship, dueling, festival craft, and kindness (the kindness points are the roses’ doing, and everyone pretends to resent them). The cup is awarded at the lantern festival. The stags have won it most often; the nightingales won it in cycle 1443 with a single perfect song, and nobody has stopped talking about it since.
Inter-house friendships are the norm, inter-house rivalries are ritual, and inter-house romance is the subject of roughly half the songs the nightingales sing.
