[quote=@ERode]
Alright, iz time to cook.

[@Asuras] First off, gonna put forward an idea for worldbuilding, where the independent mages of the City, once they become capable enough not to be a complete liability to those around them, are invited to join a loose collective or union. Basically, my thought is that it'd serve as a body for the Houses to request third-party fixers to handle problems or issues that'd require plausible deniability, and it also serves as a way for independent mages not to get completely bullied into bad deals by Houses, in a kinda 'if you fuck with one of us, the rest of us will maybe possibly take action'.

Also should confirm: is this in the US????
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I think we'd need to come at this idea from a certain perspective:

For someone born to or married in a House, the underlying social binding there is blood. Being in a House means that your survival and success is, to some extent or another, beneficial to the others in your group -their legacy, and the strength of the group relies on at least some members being alive. For any one mage in a House, their cousin surviving means:

1) Your name persists that much more
2) Your blood can continue in some capacity
3) Maintenance of the group can lead to reciprocation

For an independent mage, #1 and #2 are non-starters. That sort of social structure doesn't exist in an independent group. Which leaves us with #3. Being in an independent union of mages is, at its core, about creating a protective sphere. But to maintain that protective sphere, everyone collectively has to agree on ensuring it. And there can be (I think) two reasons why one would feel compelled to maintain it, as opposed to simply leeching off of it:

1) An honor code is compelling enough to the mage
2) Money is involved

This leads me to believe that the most likely scenario is that there are TWO independent unions of mages, both working in very different ways. One invites mages with notably community-oriented dispositions, and is far more exclusive. Likely a smaller union made up of mages who are open to forging friendships with one another (but also no less willing to do dark deeds on a payer's behalf). Another union is for those who are desperate, and need the money. The threat of being kicked out by enforcers who notice your lack of reciprocation (and thus losing a cash flow) is enough of a reason to maintain the group protection personally.

And yes, we're in the US.

[quote=@ERode]
Also Asuras. There's a Dark City for every metropolitan area out there, yeah? Are there Houses that have like, national or global levels of influence? Or are all Houses, no matter how powerful, still mostly contained within their individual City?

If the former, may be useful to distinguish between levels of influence that player-made Houses have, and perhaps also have a list of, idk, the top 5 most infamous Houses nationally and internationally.
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There are Houses with global reach, yes, and would certainly be classified as the "largest". As might be expected, due to their longer histories, they do tend to favor their originating locations much more, and thus make their name (and population) biggest in countries/cities of origin. Not every Dark City necessarily has a House nearby, however. Some cities simply end up, by pure happenstance, without much of a Dark Sphere with it. They nevertheless experience arcane phenomena, and as such tend to have more of an air of "mystery" to them by the mundane population, as things like Manifestation incursions go unfixed for longer periods of time, for example.

I can throw up a top 5 list, certainly.