It's not about needing a mother, but about the mother's house retaining control of the children. (Where the mother was a patrician or a member of the father's house, the children could be expected to stay with the father; unfortunately, I didn't think to specify that during development.)

The Empress always assigned a garrison commander from a different house than the satrap and her garrison. This is covered in more detail in The Realm.

I believe that's the only place it's presented.

Kes has a full QC write-up in Chapter 10.

That's correct, though the Empress may also have included descendants of Nellens' siblings, cousins, etc.

House Nellens is descended from Nellens, but not from the relationship between Nellens and the Empress. This was meant to be explicit in the text; it seems to have fallen through the cracks. Apologies!

We're covering the Caul in The Realm.

I actually wrote a blog post about that a couple years back, intending to publish it when Dragon-Blooded was finally in print. I'll see about digging it up.

... somewhere down the line — and probably not far down the line, since Peleps Bob is going to need money to pay his troops and maintain his ships now that there's a war on — Peleps Bob needs another loan and goes to a non-Ragara lender, only to find that the terms are harsher than even the most cutthroat Ragara loan. This is because defaults aren't unilateral. "If you won't pay Ragara back," lenders think, "how can I be sure you'll pay me back?"

(Ragara's fiscal vulnerabilities are discussed in the economics section of The Realm.)

EDIT: Certainly, a situation like you propose can happen anyway. But it's risky. Those who agree to default with you might back out, leaving you stranded and financially floundering. Or if Ragara ends the war in a stable position vis-a-vis the new regime, the defaults will cripple you (or, if you didn't survive, your next of kin) and your allies.

If I recall correctly, warstriders are mentioned in The Realm.

Vance and I don't have any specific plans for Mount Namas at present.

Probably all over the place, much like the real world.

A satrap is not a sovereign. The satrap's job is to ensure that the satrapy sends the prescribed tribute to the Empress. So Cherak has local Ferem rulership overseen by a Great House satrap, much like any satrapy not ruled by a cadet house.

*deleted due to Vance-ninja*

It's not common in either case.

The Wyld Hunt has a lot more experience hunting Lunars than Solars, but Lunars typically have the advantage in escaping the Hunt due to shapeshifting and aid from Silver Pact elders.

We haven't had to work out the exact details of how Blood Zenith works, but it's likely a matter of absorbing the lower soul at the moment of death. It definitely doesn't imprison the Exaltation.

There's been some discussion of a revised core book somewhere down the line, but we'd like to work our way through the backlog of new books that need writing before we invest time in that.

Thank you!