From the skimming I did, you can form Great Houses (think: realms without borders) if you have 6 or more nobles. Leaders are declared, laymen, etc. You can expand these Great Houses through other Houses joining, marriages, alliances, other political things, and can have them diminished to the point where they cease to be Great Houses. It'd make the political game more interesting for certain, if it caught on, since that's really where you'd get any benefit from this order. Think of a political party - if everyone tows the party line, you have a hefty chunk of people you can manage and manipulate to further your goals (and, by extension, their goals.)
