LaPointe House
Summary
The largest French House and the second largest House in Ecumene, the LaPointes are flower manufacturers. Their main cashcow are perfumes, but they are a primary flower exporter. They are very entrenched in the French side of Ecumene and sponsor much of the culture there. They are quite Catholic, but are part of the Catholics that remained loosely connected to panpsychism. They are NOT panpsychists, but are the closest to that belief. Their matriarch is maybe the scariest single person in terms of skill in the Major Houses.Business
- Perfumes
- Make-ups and Beauty Products
- Agriculture
- Arts and Antique Trade
- Assorted Trade and Manufacturing
Cultural Presence
- Sponsor of Catholic Church
- Patron of Arts and Culture
- Patron of Bailen University
- Patron of Le Jardin d'Iris
- Patron of L'Ecole d'Iris
French House
Primary Family Members
Margarite LaPointe - matriarch, widowedSilvaine LaPointe - aide and daughter of Margarite
Bénedict LaPointe - son of Margarite and operational head
Anais LaPointe - daughter of Margarite and perfumer
Claude LaPointe - university student, son of Silvaine
Sybille LaPointe - finishing school student, daughter of Silvaine
Pascal LaPointe - manager, son of Bénedict
Virginie LaPointe - student, daughter of Anais
Félix LaPointe - student, son of Anais
Key Staff
Simone Voclain - 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.
Disinterest
The Harrimans and the LaPointes connect in society, but that's about it. There's no hostility between them because they don't really compete over anything, and their trade is limited. The LaPointes accept the basic French opinion that the Americans are allowed to stay but can't eat at the big kid table yet, and the Harrimans have realized that the LaPointes don't see value in a deeper relationship and aren't trying. The younger generations are quite connected though, but purely as peers in social circles.
Mutual Respect
The Outterridges and the LaPointes are the two biggest Houses on the island, but their industries are almost entirely separate, and they have good relations on the one thing (the Canal) that would cause conflict. They both recognize the other's power, and they were both targets of upstarts in the last House conflict, so they have a healthy respect for each other that makes them friendly on the surface. As the top dogs, they aren't stupid enough to trust each other, but at least as they see it right now, they have no reason not to be civil when everyone wants to take both of them down.
Embers of Resentment
To say the LaPointes and Weekes dislike each other is an overstatement. Both sides remember they were fighting during the Guerre de la Lamproie, but the Weekes never hit the LaPointes very hard and the LaPointes saw the fight as with the Baudins really, so no one did anything that left a mark. The two families don't really connect over anything, but nothing beyond that is happening. If both sides don't escalate, this will likely simmer down to neutrality soon, but expect a snide remark if you mention one House to the other.
Rivalry
During the Guerre de la Lamproie, the Foracks aimed most of their aggression at the LaPointes, and that escalated quickly into a fairly nasty war of espionage. When the Guerre ended, both sides lost the cover to continue active hostilities, but neither side forgot what happened. The LePointes are suspicious of the Foracks and expect them to strike first in a new aggression at any moment. The Foracks think the LaPointes have been bullying other Houses with their power for the last generation and see themselves as simply responding to constant, background LaPointe oppression. Basically, they aren't at war right now, but each side just assumes that everything the other does is secretly done as an attack on their House.
Open Hostility
The LaPointes just crushed the Baudins in a war called the Guerre de la Lamproie, a war which began with Baudin aggression. The LaPointes already didn't like the Baudins, and then the Léandre lawsuit happened. The LaPointes are just short of openly declaring war on the Baudins, as they perceive the lawsuit as essentially a declaration of war on them. The only thing they are not doing is physically attacking each other at this point.
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