1. This information on the four (loyalist) major Houses is quoted directly from our internal wiki:
* Name:??
* Defining Trait: Trickery
* Heraldry: Grey dolphin on an indigo field
* Name:??
* Defining Trait: Diplomacy
* Heraldry: Silver heron on a blue field
* Name: House Tansse
* Defining Trait: Martial Prowess
* Heraldry: White swan on a red field
* Name: House Sieliu
* Defining Trait: Knowledge/Wisdom (old world); Magic (new world)
* Heraldry: Black narwhale on an orange field
As you can see, we haven't meaningfully developed the other Houses because, as it stands, there's currently no way to be from any House other than Tansse. Ideally, you'll be able to select which of the four Households your initial hero originally represented, changing heraldry, House name and some facets of gameplay. Unfortunately, that's not a reality yet, so we've just gone with the default House of Tansse.
House Suden is a Minor Household.
2. The city council and council are the same, just referred to in different ways (which, thank you for pointing out, should be normalized.) The council is comprised of the slotted hero characters, with single representatives from the Minor Houses and influential organizations having an opportunity to sit in and say their piece.
House Tannse (and any House, Major or Minor, for that matter) is comprised of a great deal more than just what's shown on the family tab, but those additional people are not generally seen as part of the Household. We assume that any House has a variety of guards, actuaries, scribes, retainers, merchants and others in their employ, but they're not influential enough to really affect the outcome of the game. If they should -become- influential enough, they'll generally end up on the family screen.
