Fould House
Summary
The Foulds are the second largest House on the French side, and compete with the Foracks for third largest. The Foulds are bankers and lenders who basically fueled the investment wave that made Ecumene what it is. They are a Jewish family, which puts them a little outside of the accepted French social scene, but again, we are not at the point in history where they are ostracized. Mostly, they have so much money that it doesn't matter. They are less directly involved in the games of the major houses and tend to support things more than act, but they are way too powerful to ignore.Business
- Banking and Loans
- Venture Financing
- Assorted Trade and Manufacturing
Cultural Presence
- Primary Patron of Ecumene Temple
- Patron of Various Arts Initiatives
French House
Primary Family Members
Neville Fould - patriachSalene Fould - matriach
Samuel Fould - middle son of Neville
Key Staff
Pauline Diamont - seneschal
Type
Political, Family
Cordial Neutrality
The Fould and the LaPointe don't really have much to compete over, being in very different industries, and so they often end up doing mutually beneficial business together. They aren't friendly exactly, largely due to general House suspicion and major cultural differences (the LaPointes being dedicatedly Catholic and the Foulds being Jewish), but they tend to stick together socially and while the Foulds remain as neutral as they can in larger conflicts, they do show a small amount of deference to LaPointe interests if there's no cost.
Peaceful Co-existence
The Foulds and the Foracks do business together in the form of loans, contracts, and service relationships. Given that the Foulds remain at least overtly neutral in House conflicts, the Foracks and Foulds get along fine. There's no love or loyalty there, but business wants consistency, so everyone is playing the game fairly and has normal friendly competitive relationships.
Deep Ties
The Weekes are the family that is most in bed with the Foulds in terms of investment. This has been very profitable for the Foulds, and the Foulds would be very hurt if the Weekes fell apart or became antagonistic. Basically, Fould money fuels Weekes growth when the occupation picks up. This makes a good relationship necessary for both parties. They don't really like each other that much -- the families are very different and they are often at odds about what they want to happen in Ecumene politically or culturally -- but at their base, they have long-standing contracts and debt obligations that keep them from ever separating. In the last House war, the Foulds in part stayed out of it so as to not have to get too nasty with the Weekes. Both sides would prefer not to have this co-dependency, but there's no easy way to separate, so they all play nicely.
Cautious Curiosity
The Foulds and the Harrimans are beginning a very careful courtship. The Harrimans in particular are interested in getting closer with the Foulds because their infrastructure plays could repeat the last generation of development in Ecumene with the Outterridges and the Weekes (i.e. the Canal), and so the Harrimans have been playing very nicely with the Foulds. The Foulds are more coy; they know the Harrimans are trying to get around the Canal taxes and they don't want to be too eager at the risk of upsetting other Houses. That said, if the Harrimans remain a major House, the Foulds would like the same banking relationships with them as with the other Houses. Right now, the Foulds are waiting, but it looks likely these two families will have a better relationship in the future.
Grudging Co-Existence
The Foulds and the Outterridges were the key partners on the Canal and have a long history together. Objective observers could argue that the Outterridge House only got its current status with Fould support. This perspective makes the Outterridges annoyed. While the two sides still do business regularly, and the Foulds for their part have no opinion of the Outterridges beyond their current business associations, the Outterridges have an inclination to act against the Foulds in minor ways when they can. Nothing here is escalating, and no one expects it to -- the two Houses are way too intwined to have relations get much worse without a major issue. Of course, none of this is helped by the Outterridge family's pretty overt anti-semitism.
Impatience
The Baudins don't have any particular grudge against the Foulds. They see the Foulds as a necessary independent entity and leave them alone aside from longstanding business relationships. The Foulds however are getting very tired of Baudin antics. The Foulds have been actively setting up defenses against potential Baudin attacks that have yet to have actualized and, since the beginning of the Guerre de la Lamproie, have helped anyone attempting to contain Baudin aggression. The Baudins have soured on the Foulds because of these actions, but there's no direct hostility between the two sides yet. Whether that remains true for the Fould House is an open question.
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