A Wyvern from the 2014 Monster Manual, art by Brynn Metheney.
When time permits, I like to answer questions posed by my Patreonsupporters. Questions like…
What are wyverns in Droaam like?
This article talks about wyverns in Thrane, saying…
Wyverns are to Thrane as dragonhawks are to Aundair. For tens of thousands of years, the cliffs around Flamekeep have been home to wyverns. The least of these are typical wyverns as presented in the 5E Monster Manual… generally Large in size and incapable of speech. But there is an exceptional strain of wyverns—typically known as elder wyverns, regardless of their age—that are both more intelligent than their cousins and grow to far greater sizes; as presented in the 3.5 Monster Manual, these wyverns can grow to Gargantuan size. While they are on average less intelligent than humans, elder wyverns are capable of speech. The early settlers of Daskara made peace with the elder wyverns and the rulers of Daskara always had wyvern “advisors.” During the Year of Blood and Fire the wyverns were also threatened by the forces of Bel Shalor, and Tira Miron rallied the elders to her cause; the wyvern Ashtarax carried her in her final confrontation with the forces of Bel Shalor. Following Tira’s sacrifice, the wyverns themselves adopted the faith of the Silver Flame; they consider the defense of Flamekeep to be a sacred duty. The wyverns have relatively little concept of the wider Five Nations and don’t care to know; they serve the church because they believe it serves the Voice of the Flame, and they say that Tira continues to guide them. So, Thrane can field lesser wyverns in battle, but it is the gargantuan elders who spread terror. An elder wyvern can can carry a crew into battle, and early in the war Thrane pioneered new techniques of aerial combat; their trademark was the use of vast bags of holding to drop massive rocks and divinely-infused explosives on their enemies. While the great wyverns lack the powers of dragons, some of the elders have such deep faith that they can channel the power of the Silver Flame; a wyvern might strike at enemies with sacred flame, or even greater powers.
The key part of this sentence is The least of these are typical wyverns as presented in the 5E Monster Manual… generally Large in size and incapable of speech. This is the TYPICAL wyvern found elsewhere in Khorvaire. In the heart of the Five Nations, wyverns were killed off long ago; but they still flourish in the Graywall and Byeshk Mountains, and other parts of the region that is now known as Droaam. These wyverns are carnivorous creatures that don’t have the equivalent of human consciousness and don’t possess a language; they are purely dangerous predators, who will often target goblins or kobolds traveling across the Barrens. Because of this, the Daughters of Sora Kell have placed a bounty on wyverns. The four primary fangs of a wyvern are worth 50 gp each in Droaam; its 46 smaller teeth are worth 10 gp each.
A Manticore from the 2014 Monster Manual, illustrated by Zack Stella
What about the Mror manticores?
Manticores are intelligent and can speak. However, it’s a mistake to think that this means that they think like humans. Manticores are carnivorous creatures. They don’t have hands and typically don’t use tools. Because of this, they typically live alone or in small family groups. When the population grows too large for the region to support it, the youngest manticores will leave the clan to establish themselves elsewhere. While manticores can learn to speak humanoid languages, their own form of communication is song. Manticore song has similarities to whalesong and human throat-singing, reaching into ranges beyond human hearing; manticores can hear the songs of distant relatives as far as a hundred miles away. While this is their primary form of communication, manticore song isn’t comprised of individual words and statements; instead, it conveys mood and experience.… A mighty battle, sorrow of pain. Most manticores have no desire to interact with humanoid creatures; they recognize that intelligent foes are dangerous prey, and beyond that, most manticores find humanoid creatures deeply disturbing—monsters with the heads of manticores poised on horrible soft spindly bodies. So most manticores keep to the highest peaks, places inaccessible save by flight, and prey upon beasts. You may hear their songs echoing across the valley, but they want nothing fo do with you.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. On the whole, manticores aren’t religious. For a Mror manticore, singing is a meditative act, something that connects them to distant family; most don’t feel a need to connect to a higher power. But a few do. Manticores are intelligent, and as such the seeds of a Cult of the Dragon Below can take root in their minds. The most pernicious and lasting cult seen among the manticores of the Mror Holds is that of the Wild Heart. Those manticores who hear the song of the Wild Heart feel a call to prove themselves to be apex predators, to seek ever more challenging prey—a desire that drives them to hunt humanoids. These Hunters of the Heart are cruel and clever, delighting in sowing terror and toying with their prey. This is the source of the common myth of the manticore as evil and cruel. These manticores often learn Common or Dwarvish through their ties to the fiend, the better to taunt and terrify their prey. Hunters of the Heart often have the ability to cast Hunter’s Mark; they can only do this once per day and it requires concentration, but they can maintain it for up to 24 hours. These manticores will often start an attack with a strafing run, wounding landbound enemies with their spikes and marking a foe… and then withdraw, only to attack and retreat again and again, using the mark to track their prey.
The Hunters of the Heart have risen and fallen many times over the centuries, but there’s a younger Manticore cult that has only appeared in the last century. In 943 YK, the illithid Dyrrashar broadcast the message known as Dyrrn’s Promise in Lorran’s Gate. There were five manticores in the mountains who received this telepathic message… and it changed them. Scholars would identify them as following the cultic path knows as The Transcendent Flesh. Three of the five have been slain over the course of the century, but two remain at large, and in the past these “Apostles” have corrupted other manticore clans to their cause. “Transcendent” manticores lose their hair and eyes. They receive a +2 bonus to their natural armor class and have Blindsight with a range of 300 feet, and can spit acid. This has a range of 100 feet and inflicts 2d8 acid damage, with the same attack and damage modifier as their Tail Spike attack; this may be done once per round in place of a Rend or Tail Spike attack. The two Apostles of Dyrrn are especially strong and fast; the DM can increase their stats as appropriate to threaten the adventurers facing them. In addition, the apostles regenerate. A Manticore Apostle of Dyrrn regains 10 hit points at the start of each of its turns. This is negated for one turn if the manticore takes damage from a byeshk weapon; an Apostle can only die if it starts its turn at zero hit points and doesn’t regenerate.
There’s one final group of Mror manticores that break all of these traditions. The Harshaak Clan are a family of manticores that dwell in the mountains of Kundarakhold. Long ago, Dolon d’Kundarak climbed the high peaks and bargained with the clan elder. It’s said that Dolon sung the manticore song, though this should be impossible for a humanoid throat. Whatever the truth of it, Dolon forged an alliance between Kundarak and Harshaak. The Harshaak manticores descended to the lower peaks, and through their interactions with the dwarves they were able to increase their numbers far beyond what the natural environment would support in their high aeries. Now Harshaak manticores form bonds with Kundarak riders, working together to patrol over Kundarak vaults; there is a squad of Harshaak manticores stationed at Dreadhold. Having worked with humanoids for centuries, the Harshaak manticores primarily communicate using humanoid languages, and most speak Common and Dwarvish. They usually wear barding to improve their armor class, and some learn to cast Mage Hand to facilitate their lives in humanoid settlements. While the Harshaak still think humanoids are creepy, they’ve grown used to these spindly half-manticores.
It should be noted that the Dark Lantern Thorn reported an encounter with an unusual creature. While she described the creature as a manticore, the analyst Steel noted that the creature possessed a scorpion’s tail and a number of other remarkable qualities; Steel theorized that the creature might have actually been an unusual sphinx or lamassu.
That’s all for now! If you want to see more articles like this one—or to ask your own questions—check out my Patreon!
The seal of the Transportation Guild, as depicted by Matthew Johnson!
Over the course of this year I’m delving deeper into the Dragonmarked House. Each month I’m writing an article for my Patreonsupporters that explores the dragonmark, history, structure, and families of each house, along with story hooks for players and DMs to use. You can find my article about the Mark of Passage here, and if you’re a Patreon supporter, you can find the full article here—and read about the Mark of Detection on Patreon!
THE HISTORY OF HOUSE ORIEN
Most people of the present day know the names of the nations that preceded Galifar—Daskara, Metrol, Thaliost, Wroat, and of course Karrnath. But these names give the deceptive impression that the basic structure of the present day—the cultural dominance of five nations—has always been the case. When the Mark of Passage first appeared, the northwest was a patchwork of lords and leagues. People prospered based on their ability to harness the supernatural resources of the land, and on the bargains they made with fey and other forces. There were a host of freeholds, farm lords, and self-declared kings, and all of them needed something. And in this age, there were those who realized that their path to prosperity lay not in standing still—in tilling the soil or mining for ore—but rather in travel, carrying goods and news between communities. Nineteen hundred years ago, the Mark of Passage bloomed along the roads of this region, taking root in those families that traveled for a living. By this time, people knew what dragonmarks were; the deeds of the House of Cannith and the Sentinel Lords of the north were known far and wide. The new bearers of the Mark of Passage celebrated their good fortune and carried on with their work. Over the course of the next two centuries, most of the marked coalesced around three forces. The Thorn Post was the most reliable system of communication in the region. The Baynes were the most successful merchants in the northwest, while Cordamar caravans were renowned for their reach and safety. While these forces prospered on their own, the example of the House of Cannith inspired Orien Bayne to build something similar. He found a valuable ally in the Nhuli, a family known both for its missionaries and bards; Afki Nhuli declared that Orien was the vessel of Kol Korran, and the Nhuli used their persuasive voices to promote Bayne’s cause. With both gold and his golden tongue, Orien Bayne wooed the Thorns and the Cordamars to his endeavor, promising prosperity for all. It says something of talent that the alliance came to carry his name—not that of Bayne, for no one family was to be placed above another, but of Orien, whose vision paved the way.
The Orien Alliance grew and prospered over the next two centuries. Soon the Unicorn Post was known across Khorvaire, and Orien caravans pressed further east with every year. While Hadran Vown Cannith and Lyosa Lyrriman Sivis devised the concept of the Twelve, it was unicorn riders who spread the word of it far and wide, and the Orien Alliance embraced the proposed traditions and became House Orien. Five hundred years later, House Orien supported Galifar Wynarn, providing invaluable logistical support to his campaign of unification. And as that united kingdom took shape, Baron Agate Bayne d’Orien presented the grateful Galifar I with a vision of a system of roads that would help to maintain communication and commerce throughout the new kingdom. So Orien established the great trade roads with the blessing and financial support of Galifar. These roads were indeed a boon for Galifar, and even moreso for House Orien. As noted in Frontiers of Eberron:
The even, well-maintained surface of the road helps travelers maintain a swift pace—while traveling exclusively on Orien trade roads, travelers gain a 10% bonus to their travel pace. A vehicle or mount carrying a passenger with the Dragonmark of Passage can add an additional 10% to its pace; the passive enchantments worked into the road are triggered by the Mark of Passage, enhancing the momentum of the Orien heir and their mount.
Throughout the history of Galifar, House Orien has been a reliable part of everyday life. Every house and nation relies on Orien shipping, and the Unicorn Post allowed people across Khorvaire to stay in touch even during the worst days of the Last War. The Passage Ring provided the invaluable (albeit very limited) service of teleportation to the rulers of Galifar. The greatest leap in the history of the house came in the Ninth Century, when Cannith and Orien unveiled the Lightning Rail. Over the course of the next century, Orien’s star grew ever brighter. And then the Last War came and shook the house to its core. On the one hand, every nation depended on House Orien to help maintain supply lines—and recognizing this invaluable service, leaders initially pledged not to target Orien infrastructure in the war. But a century of war knows no promises. Some roads and rails were intentionally targeted; others were unintended collateral damage. The rise of Darguun devastated Orien’s operations in the region, but this was merely a precursor to the horror of the Mourning. Orien is still reeling from the loss of its Cyran routes. The house is negotiating with Thrane and Karrnath in the hopes of rebuilding the White Arch Bridge. For now it is relying on temporary solutions—but the humiliating truth is that Orien usually has to rely on Lyrandar services to cross from east to west. This tension is exacerbated by the emergence of the Lyrandar airship, a development that threatens to completely upend travel and shipping. For a thousand years, Orien has been a stable foundation of life in Khorvaire. But this last decade has left it shaken, and leadership is desperately searching for a path forward.
What Happens Next? House Orien continues to play a crucial role in the daily life of the Five Nations. Thunder coaches and the Unicorn Post rumble along the trade roads. Orien crews work at all hours repairing the damage that lingers from the Last War. But this isn’t enough. Orien leadership believes they need something to counter the rise of House Lyrandar. These are a few of their prominent projects.
The Passage Ring. House Orien believes that teleportation is the future of the house. Who needs to fly if you can get to your destination in the blink of an eye? However, as discussed earlier in this article this is limited by the number of heirs with the Greater Mark of Passage and the fact that most such heirs can only cast Teleportation Circle once per day. The Passage Ring is working to develop a more affordable form of the Helm of Teleportation; to find a way to maintain a Teleportation Circle for an extended period of time, so more passengers could cross in a single casting; and to create a form of Teleportation Circle that draws from an independent power source. This work is dangerous. Orien heirs could easily be lost in this research; in a serious mishap a chunk of Passage itself could be teleported across the world. Adventurers could be assigned to “test drive” experimental gates, or to help acquire exotic components that could be the key to an extended gate.
Shortcuts. Khyber demiplanes often have entry points at multiple locations in Eberron, but the space within the demiplane itself doesn’t match the geography of the Material Plane. You can enter the Ironlands in the Demon Wastes, walk three miles, and emerge in Darguun. Baron Kwanti is fascinated by this phenomenon and dreams of finding a way to take advantage of it for commercial purposes—to bore passages into a demiplane, run a lightning rail through it, and be able to cross Khorvaire in under an hour. The nature of an adventure depends on how far along Orien is with their work. If they’re brought in early, adventurers could be scouts hired to investigate a newly discovered demiplane entrance—entering the demiplane, identifying its dangers, trying to locate other exits, and determining their locations in the Material Plane. Alternately, adventurers could be hired as guardians to protect the Orien team that’s establishing transit operations within a demiplane—fighting fiends or aberrations as workers place a warded line of conductor stones. Or, it could be that adventurers are brought in after the maiden voyage of the first demiplane train—because someone needs to enter the train and wipe out whatever’s now on board before it reaches Sharn.
The Mourning Rail. Baron Kwanti yearns to establish a rail line across the Mournland. He believes that if the conductor stones were laid, the coaches’ speed would protect them from the effects of the Mourning. The consensus of the Twelve is that this is a foolish idea; even if the train itself wasn’t destroyed by the Mourning, odds are good that the new conductor stones would be corrupted or destroyed. Despite these expert opinions, Kwanti is determined to proceed with this project. Adventurers could be tasked with protecting the team laying the conductor stones as they move deeper into the Mournland; with recovering resources within the Mournland that could be repurposed for this cause (notably, wrecks of lightning rails caught in the Mourning itself). Another possibility is that they could be sent to investigate rumors of ANOTHER ’Mourning Rail” that has been sited traveling across ruined rails: Cyre 1313.
THE SHAPE OF THE HOUSE
House Orien is the most widespread of all of the Dragonmarked Houses. It has outposts in virtually every significant town in the Five Nations, as well as most of the Thronehold nations. However, most of these outposts are extremely small—they are designed to support the Unicorn Post and to offer relief or maintenance to Thunder Coaches and caravans passing through the area. Such a post might have a single bunk, a space for storing goods and sorting mail, and a trunk of holding with supplies needed to repair damaged vehicles. The most basic outposts are typically maintained by local, unmarked employees. The Mark of Passage helps people move between towns; in a small town, they don’t need an actual heir to deliver the mail to the door. Larger outposts will have a marked courier ready to run goods to their final destination as soon as they come off the coach. A large outpost will often incorporate a Sivis Speaking Stone, with a courier ready to deliver messages to their intended recipients; they may also have a Vadalis farrier in residence to care for the beasts used by the coaches and caravans.
So House Orien has small outposts all across Khorvaire. It has major enclaves in Sharn, Wroat, Varna, Flamekeep, Korth, Trolanport, Fairhaven, and Krona Peak. The Baron’s seat is the enclave of Journey’s End in the Aundairian town of Passage; House Orien employs nearly half the adult population of Passage. In addition, House Orien has three mobile enclaves—custom lighting rails coaches—that travel along the conductor stones, allowing the house to focus its resources on critical projects (usually, negotiations involving the expansion of the lightning rail). While Journey’s End is the heart of the house, Baron Kwanti d’Orien has the wanderlust that drives everyone who carries the Mark of Passage, and he spends much of his time on his own enclave-train—the Free Passage. Luxuriously appointed, Free Passage contains a Speaking Stone (with a Sivis operator) that allows Kwanti to conduct business wherever he may be. Recently he’s installed a Teleportation Circle in the train itself. Some house artificers fear that invoking the circle while the train is in motion carries risks, but it’s functioning normally… so far.
The Courier’s Guild
Before the Mark of Passage appeared, the Thorn Post served people in what is now Aundair, Thrane, and northern Breland. The Thorn Post was the most reliable delivery service of its age. Its riders were renowned for their determination and their honesty, and they overcame brigands, weather, and countless other challenges in the course of their duties. The Courier’s Guild grew from this seed. While initially there was tension when House Sivis developed the Speaking Stone, today Orien and Sivis are strong allies that work closely together. When you send a message with a Speaking Stone you pay by the word, and even though Sivis has earned broad trust for keeping the contents of its messages confidential, the sender still has to dictate their message and be willing to have it be read by the clerks on both ends. Which means that it’s not the ideal medium for a 25 page love letter or the details of a plan to blow up the Brelish parliament. Beyond this, you can only send messages from one stone to another. If you’re in Clifftop in Sharn, you can use a Speaking Stone to send a message to Ardev, but you can’t send a message to Quickstone; the town doesn’t have a working stone. Beyond that, you can send a message to Ardev, but unless your intended recipient knows to go to the station to pick up the message, how will it get to them? This is where the Sivis-Orien alliance comes in. The Courier’s Guild maintains corps of runners who handle local deliveries within towns; add one gold piece to the cost and your message will be carried from the stone station to its final destination.
With this in mind, the Courier’s Guild has two distinct divisions. The Unicorn Post is the largest component of the guild. This is the postal service of Khorvaire, delivering messages and packages to any community on its service map. While the popular image is of a unicorn rider racing along the road with a bag of mail, guild operations use many different systems to move massive quantities of mail. The enclaves mentioned earlier are major hubs with ties to the Kundarak Vault Network. This allows bags of mail to be passed from one hub to another. From these hubs, bags of mail will be transferred to a lightning rail or Thunder Coach; street runners or unicorn riders will carry the mail to its final destination. While unicorn riders are always marked, street runners usually aren’t. What’s most important for a street runner is knowledge of the town and reliability. As such, Orien prefers to work with families that have proven themselves to be trustworthy and reliable; in many towns, there’s a family or two that has no blood connection to the house, but has worked with the Courier’s Guild for generations.
The Unicorn Post is the main business of the Courier’s Guild, but there is a second branch: the Outriders. These rugged individuals are House Orien’s answer to the Sentinel Marshals. They are the most capable and respected scions of the house, trusted to deliver messages or packages of utmost importance. The Unicorn Post only delivers to Thronehold Nations and only to relatively civilized areas. The Post runs to the Rukhaan Draal, but if you need to deliver a message to a dangerous part of Darguun, or to Blood Crescent in the Demon Wastes, or to someone last seen in Stormreach, you need an Outrider. Outriders will subcontract with scions of other houses as necessary to accomplish their missions; notably, if the target of the delivery is in motion, an Outrider will hire a Tharashk tracker to help locate them, and if the region is dangerous they may employ a Denieth bodyguard. This can be an interesting option for a one shot or even a campaign: the player characters are an Outrider team tasked to deliver messages to some of the most dangerous places across Khorvaire. There is no standard rate for an Outrider delivery; the costs will be set on a case by case basis, reflecting the supplies, staff, and dangers of the mission.
The Transportation Guild
While the Unicorn Post is an iconic aspect of House Orien, the Transportation Guild is far larger and more crucial to the ongoing stability of the house. The guild has a number of major branches; ask a Scion what they do and they’ll say “I work for the Road.” These are the most important branches of the Transportation Guild.
The ROAD runs the caravans and Thunder Coaches, managing the transportation of goods along roads.
The RAIL operates the Lightning Rail. Agents of the Rail like to cast themselves as the heart of the house; they see the Road as outdated and the Portal as too small to be relevant.
The PORTAL oversees the teleportation circles. It is the smallest arm of the Guild, but because the house charges such a high price for its services, the Portal is quite profitable, and many believe it is the future of Orien. The Passage Ring is a separate entity focused on research and development; it works with the Portal, but the Portal deals with the practical business of teleportation services.
CONTINUANCE maintainsthe infrastructure that makes transportation possible. The Road and Rail repair their own vehicles, but it is Continuance that maintains the roads, rails, and circles themselves. This requires close interaction with the nations through which the services run, though negotiations are typically handled by the Purse.
The INITIATIVE develops new rail lines and expands and improves roads. As with Continuance, the Initiative works with local authorities to improve infrastructure and split costs.
The PURSE manages negotiation and finance. House Orien transports freight for other people, but through the Purse it also engages in simple speculation, buying bulk goods it can resell at a profit elsewhere in Khorvaire. In addition to overseeing these operations, the Purse handles negotiations on behalf of the other branches of the Guild—working with Continuance and the Initiative to secure the rights to build and convince the resident nation to fund the construction (as Orien’s roads and other infrastructure benefit the citizens of the nations). Orien had a long-standing relationship with the united Galifar that covered this, but now the house is having to renegotiate these agreements. Darguun and Valenar have proven especially difficult to negotiate with. While the Five Nations haven’t recognized Droaam, House Orien has been working with the Daughters of Sora Kell—an agreement whose fruits can be seen in the trade road that runs to Graywall and the lightning rail line heading in that direction.
Guild Employees
As the most widespread of the dragonmarked houses, it’s no surprise that House Orien has one of the largest workforces of the houses. However, the vast majority of Orien employees aren’t part of the house or bloodline. The House needs its dragonmarked scions to move things; it needs them on the roads and rails. But this requires a massive support staff—the people who work the warehouses, sort the mail, lay conductor stones, and much more—and these people don’t have to have dragonmarks to do their jobs. As noted earlier, in cities with Orien enclaves there are many families that have served with one of the Orien guilds for generations. While they aren’t part of the dragonmarked bloodlines, these are effectively a secondary layer of the house; as they work closely with the scions, it’s not unusual for members of these families to marry into the house itself. Unmarked Orien heirs often serve in leadership positions in the Guild arms, especially the Purse. But if the task doesn’t require movement, talent and motivation are more important than a dragonmarked bloodline. You need a dragonmark to pilot a lightning rail, but the regional director who makes sure the trains are on schedule could be a shifter or a dwarf with no blood tie to the house. There’s even some outer families that have gained special recognition within the house itself. Here’s a few examples.
The Roof Runners. The Grigoras are a family of shifters in Sharn that have long served as street runners for the Courier’s Guild, delivering messages and packages within the city. Most Grigora shifters have Swiftstride traits, and they are experts in swift and acrobatic movement, leaping across roofs and bridges.
The Khaar’paal. While expanding the lightning rail into western Breland, House Orien formed an alliance with a clan of kobolds who dwell in the Graywall Mountains. These Khaar’paal (Spellblood) kobolds have an affinity for electrical energy that helps them set and activate conductor stones. Currently, Orien is employing the Khaar’paal as it extends the lightning rail into Breland, but the House is seeking to hire more Khaar’paal to work across Khorvaire.
Orlo Matayne. The Mataynes are a family of Aundairan dwarves with deep ties to the Transportation Guild. In particular, Orlo Matayne has been serving with the Initiative for over two hundred years. Tunnels are his specialty. He has helped the house drive passages through hill and mountain, and he has overseen the construction of subterranean facilities such as the supposed location of Shadowstep (see below!). When Orien needs to shift a lot of earth, you can bet they’ll get Orlo Matayne on the next train.
The Baron’s Council
In principle, the Baron is the ultimate authority within a dragonmarked house. Within House Orien, leaders have always sought consensus. The Baron’s Council is composed of nine people: three from the Courier’s Guild, three from the Transportation Guild, and three chosen by the Baron to represent the interests of the house itself—traditionally one from each of the three great families aside from that of the Baron. While in theory this is an advisory council, in practice Kwanti won’t move forward on a project without the support of two-thirds of the members of the council. While the three Councilors appointed by the Baron are always members of the dragonmarked bloodlines, the other six councilors are appointed from within the Guilds themselves; at the moment, there are two councilors who aren’t directly tied to a house bloodline.
That’s all for now, and it’s my final post on House Orien. If you want to know about families, customs, and story hooks you can find the full article here, and you can read about the Mark of Detection on Patreon! Patron support is what determines how much time I can spend on articles like this, so if you want to see more, check it ou.
In Eberron, House Orien maintains a network of teleportation circles that allow heirs to move between the enclaves of the house. This provides a quick—but expensive—way to get from Sharn to Flamekeep in the blink of an eye. But what happens when a player character learns the Teleportation Circle spell? Can they piggyback on the Orien system? If not, what can they do with Teleportation Circle?
As always, the most important question is what’s the story you’re telling in your campaign? Adventurers with free access to the Orien network can jump between the main cities of Khorvaire and Stormreach whenever they feel like it; the world’s suddenly a much smaller place. Is that something you want for your story, or do you want long distances to pose a challenge? I discuss this in more detail in this article, but the short version is that adventurers who want to use the Orien network will need to have some sort of connection to the house—by blood, by joining the Transportation Guild, or by forging an alliance with an Orien patron. If that’s the story you want, those are all options. But in my opinion, Teleportation Circle can be a more interesting spell if you DON’T have access to the Orien circles. Let’s look at the spell itself.
When you first gain the ability to cast (Teleportation Circle) you learn the sigil sequences for two destinations on the Material Plane, determined by the DM. You might learn additional sigil sequences during your adventures.
The base version of the spell gives the adventurer two destinations—with the possibility of learning more, but no assurance of it. The DM chooses those initial locations, not the player. How should they choose? Well, let’s set aside mechanics for a moment and look at the story. HOW is the adventurer learning the spell, and what does this suggest about their destinations? As a DM, the first location I’d give an adventurer is their current home base. Whether this is their bastion or the room they’re renting at an inn, the idea is that they’ve stumbled onto the principles of teleportation as a fluke and made a circle of their very own. Among other things, this is practical. The adventurers may not be able to cross the world whenever they feel like it, but they can always use the spell to go home. But what about that second location? In MY campaign, there are a number of different established networks of teleportation circles across the world. These networks are not connected to one another. They operate on entirely different principles; the Orien network draws on the Mark of Passage, while the Riedran network uses psionic power and basically turns you into an idea for an instant. So when a player character learns Teleportation Circle, my MY campaign what they have done is stumbled across one form of the principles of teleportation and established a connection to one of these existing networks. So they have a connection to the circle they’ve made in their home base, and then they have a connection to a circle they’ve discovered through mystic experimentation—with, potentially, no idea who made that circle, or where other circles might be. My choice of that circle will very much depend on the direction of the campaign. If I want to get the players to Q’barra to deal with the Poison Dusk, then congratulations, you’ve discovered a forgotten circle made by the fallen Dragonborn empire; it takes you to the jungles near Ka’rashan. If I want things to shift to Xen’drik, then you’ve found a Cul’sir circle in a ruined corner of Stormreach. If I WANT to connect you to Orien, great, your second circle is the circle in Journey’s End—and when you accidentally appear there, Baron Kwanti is going to offer you a job.
The point of this is that the first circle is a safe haven, and the second circle is an invitation to adventure. The spellcaster will probably want to learn more about the network they’ve stumbled into. And part of this is that I would allow the adventurer to memorize and connect to new circles that they discover—but only within the network they are familiar with. Again, different networks work on entirely different principles. A wizard who’s learned to connect to the ancient Dragonborn network can connect to other Trothlorsvek circles (if they can find them) but they can’t just casually connect to an Orien circle. It’s possible that a remarkable individual (like an adventurer) could make a breakthrough that would allow them to bridge the gap and forge a connection to a new circle, but that would be an adventure and might require help from an expert on the target network, some sort of magic item, and other obstacles that would make it a challenging adventure. Initially, however, the spellcaster can only expand their repertoire by finding other circles within their own network.
With that in mind, let’s consider some teleportation circle networks… and the roles they could play in a campaign.
House Orien. The House of Passage maintains circles in enclaves and outposts in major cities across the Five Nations, as well as in Stormreach. Orien circles are grounded in arcane science, but specifically draw on the energy of the Mark of Passage. It should be impossible for someone to use an Orien circle unless they have the Mark of Passage. In spite of this, Orien circle chambers are heavily fortified, and are usually sealed from the outside with an Arcane Lock when not in use. Even though it supposedly takes a dragonmark to use the circle, that still leaves the potential of excoriates or foundlings using a circle.
The Guild of Endless Doors. As described in this article, the Guild of Endless Doors is an Aundairian wizard circle devoted to the study of teleportation; it pioneered the form of Misty Step taught at Arcanix. The Guild has constructed a handful of teleportation circles, but these circles aren’t as widespread as the Orien network and the Guild only has two or three members capable of using them. An adventurer tied to the Endless Door network (a connection that could be established after accidentally stumbling into their network) could work with the Guild to actively expand their network of circles.
The Court of Shadows. The overlord Sul Khatesh has a Court of Shadows scattered across Khorvaire, warlocks and wizards who pledge their loyalty to their sinister queen in exchange for arcane secrets. Those who hold high rank within the Court gain access to a network of shadow gates, mostly hidden in desolate but public places—ruins, condemned buildings, back alleys. This allows agents of the Court to slip across the world without drawing attention. Many members of the Court don’t have the ability to cast Teleportation Circle themselves, but they are often given amulets or tokens that allow them to use the gates a limited number of times, though there might be an additional cost to using a gate in this way; Sul Khatesh might demand that the user uncover a secret before they can use the gate again, or she might steal memories from the mind of the traveler; if they use the gates too often, they’ll lose their identity.
The shadow gates are invisible to anyone who’s not part of the Court, but can be seen by anyone using See Invisibility or Truesight. An adventurer could gain access to this network by serving as a warlock of Sul Khatesh… but it’s possible that they could stumble onto it without knowing its origin. The Court of Shadows doesn’t have many members, and the gates are protected by their invisibility; as such, the gates typically aren’t secured or watched, making it possible for adventurers to use them. Of course in doing so, they may be unwittingly sharing their secrets with Sul Khatesh…
Fey Circles. Teleportation circles are sometimes found in Thelanian manifest zones, connecting to one another. These circles can often be used without actually the need to cast Teleportation Circle, but only under very specific circumstances. A Fey circle might only activate under the light of a particular set of full moons, or when watered by heartfelt tears or the blood of an innocent. Most likely, locals in the area will know a story about the circle that hints at the activation ritual. Of course, the circles it connects to have their own entirely different rituals, so the common story is Go into Willoughby Grove when five moons are shining down and you’ll never be seen again. These restrictions only apply to using the circle WITHOUT casting the spell. If you can cast Teleportation Circle and have a connection to the network, you can activate a circle whenever you want. Fey circles are typically used by Greensingers and by Archfey warlocks, but it’s possible a wizard could forge a connection to a Thelanian gate by accident.
The Ossaluri. Long ago, the dragonborn challenged the Dhakaani goblins for control of eastern Khorvaire. Ruins and relics of this civilization can still be found in Q’barra, the Talenta Plains, the Blade Desert, and even parts of the Lhazaar Principalities. These include the teleportation circles they called the Ossaluri Saryn, “travel stones.” The Trothslorvek shun their old holdings and haven’t used these circles in thousands of years, but they function on principles of arcane science and a modern wizard could stumble upon them. Of course, the Dragonborn learned magic from the dragons of Argonnessen, and it’s possible that a wizard who begins using the Ossaluri could end up connecting to a wider network of circles being used by the Chamber!
These are just a few examples. The Chamber certainly has circles hidden around, allowing quick transit from Argonnessen to Khorvaire and elsewhere in the world. The Lords of Dust aren’t a monolithic organization and wouldn’t have one circle network that all members use, but many of the individual prakhutus might have their own small networks for their agents. The Cul’sir Dominion built teleportation circles in Xen’drik—the question there is whether the Curse of the Traveler has destabilized these circles! The Inspired have their own network, but the circles are primarily located in Riedra, and as they are based on the psionic power of the Inspired and charged by the Hanbalani monoliths, connecting them to an arcane network would be a remarkable feat. The wizards of Aerenal also have the power to create teleportation circles; the question is whether they’ve actually established any beyond their island, or if they rely on the Undying Court to maintain them. One question that’s come up with whether the Aurum or the governments of the Five Nations have their own teleportation circle networks. In my campaign, none of the Thronehold nations have teleportation circle networks, just as none of them have Speaking Stone networks, fleets of airships, or medical facilities on par with House Jorasco. Teleportation is not part of everyday life in the Five Nations. It is a rare and expensive service that isn’t always available even to those who have the gold to pay for it. If the King’s Dark Lanterns want to teleport somewhere, they need to use an Orien circle—whether by paying for it or by hijacking one, as seen in my novel The Fading Dream. This ties to the basic point that the nations rely on the Dragonmarked houses for many important services. Aundair is the closest to developing an alternative to the Orien network thanks to the Guild of Endless Doors, but the Guild’s program is supposed to be an early, struggling effort that has only a handful of circles… and if it starts to spread, there’s the very real risk that the Twelve will seek to sabotage it.
A final point to consider: at the start of all of this I suggested that the adventurer begins with a permanent circle in their base of operations. Given that, can they make new permanent circles and establish their own network? For me the idea is that the adventurer creating a permanent circle is either a culmination of long effort or a complete fluke (such as a gift from a warlock’s patron)—and that in either case, it’s not something that can be easily replicated. If an adventurer wanted to create a new circle, I’d establish a process. An arcane circle would require exotic materials—I’m thinking Khyber shards, as they are binding space together—and a significant amount of time. A fey circle could be much simpler—maybe you actually paint a door, or even draw it in chalk—but would then require a more abstract personal sacrifice to imbue it with power, likely involving a bargain with an Archfey. So in my campaign it would be possible to establish new circles, but it wouldn’t be a trivial thing. What about the method suggested in the spell itself—casting the spell in the same place for 365 consecutive days? In my campaign, this isn’t the normal way to make a circle, but I might allow it if a player character somehow actually has the opportunity to do it, based on the concept that they are ripping apart the fabric of space. But it’s not how House Orien makes their circles; they construct them like magic items, working with specialists from Orien and Cannith, using Siberys shards to draw on the Mark of Passage and Eberron shards to pay for the focusing rituals.
Ultimately, it’s up to the DM to decide who has teleportation networks and how actively they’re used. The Chamber COULD have a comprehensive network with more circles in Khorvaire than Orien—or they could have just a handful at key locations. There could be lots of Fey circles, or just a few—and those ones in dangerous locations. Consider what works best for your story!
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
The nature of teleportation circles is especially critical if you have or are a player whose character is about to learn the spell. What can you expect to get out of it? The one thing you’ll always get in my campaign is the ability to retreat to your safe haven. Beyond that, you will get access to something that could be practical and useful (Orien or the Guild of Endless Doors), mysterious and dangerous (A Cul’sir circle deep in Xen’drik) or something in between (the Court of Shadows, which is useful until they find out you’re using it). But even if you’re in a low-level campaign where adventurers don’t have access to the spell, the fact that it exists is something that can play an important role in a campaign. Consider the following…
Legitimate Service. House Orien provides teleportation between major cities as a legitimate service for those who can afford it. However, as discussed in this article, an enclave might only be able to activate the circle a limited number of times each day; if there’s no Greater heir in residence, you’ll have to wait. This is a way to allow a villain who’s a few steps ahead of the adventurers to beat a hasty retreat, taking the last Orien heir out of Sharn…
Nefarious Mystery. Anyone could be a member of the Court of Shadows, and their hidden network of gates lets them slip across Khorvaire. This is a way to give a relatively minor villain an escape and to hint at a greater mystery or threat; this alley is a dead end, where did they go? Because it’s unguarded, the Shadow network is also a good one for adventurers to use themselves. It’s also up to the DM to decide what it takes for the cultists to establish a new gate. The answer is probably unpleasant (A sacrifice? A soul?) but this is a case where a gate could be established somewhere unexpected, like the cellar of the adventurer’s favorite inn.
One-Way Trip. If adventurers can’t cast the spell themselves, they could be surprised when they unexpectedly trigger the activation conditions of a Fey circle and find themselves in another part of the world—potentially, a dangerous one. What will it take to get home?
Practical Infrastructure. The Riedran network of teleportation circles plays a vital role in daily life. The Inspired use the gates to transport troops and supplies across the length of their domain. Sabotaging this network would temporarily throw Riedra into chaos; while piggybacking on a cargo shipment could be a way for adventurers in Sarlona to reach an important destination.
As always, thanks to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible. I’ll be holding a live Q&A on Saturday, April 26 at 10 AM Pacific Time answering questions posed by patrons!
A Deneith heir using the Mark of Sentinel, by Matthew Johnson
Over the course of the next year I’m writing a series of articles about the Dragonmarked Houses. The point of these articles is to provide my take on the houses—their culture, history, and hooks for characters or NPCs from those houses. As always, this work is kanon—it’s how I use the houses in MY campaign and may contradict or ignore elements of canon lore. I’ve already written one of these articles, about House Orien. I’ve also written an article that considers various aspects of dragonmarks and how they work. But that’s a long, speculative article, and I want to call out a specific element that I will be using as kanon in all of the articles I’m writing from this point on… and that concerns Lesser and Greater Dragonmarks.
When Eberron was originally released, Dragonmarks were a chain of three feats. The first feat gave you the Least Mark, which gave you access to 1st or 2nd level spell effects. Lesser Dragonmark was a second feat that gave you access to a 3rd or 4th level spell. Greater Dragonmark was the final link in the chain, providing access to a spell of 5th level or more. In addition, the Dragonmarked Heir prestige class gave a character with a Dragonmark greater use of its powers; and the Dragonmarked sourcebook provided a host of additional feats that enhanced marks. Fourth and Fifth Edition abandoned this approach. Instead, the basic Dragonmark feat provides access to “Spells of the Mark”, a set of spells that are added to the class list of any spellcasting character who carries a mark. These mirror the original spell lists of the 3.5 Dragonmarks, but are inaccessible unless the bearer can cast spells. The Potent Dragonmark feat offers a way around this. Instead of just adding the Spells of the Mark to the list of spells a marked character can prepare, it says that the character always has those spells prepared… and grants the bearer a spell slot of up to 5th level that can be used to cast Spells of the Mark, which they regain after a short rest. Finally, the Unearthed Arcana article presents a set of “Greater Dragonmark” feats. But these don’t provide access to new spells; they simply enhance the effects of a dragonmark, and are more like the mark-enhancing feats in Dragonmarked than the original Greater Dragonmarks.
With this in mind, here is how I am dealing with dragonmarks going forward.
The size and designation of a Dragonmark—Least, Lesser, Greater—is determined by the highest level Spell of the Mark the bearer is capable of casting, whether through Spellcasting or the Potent Dragonmark feat. Anyone who possesses a Dragonmark begins with the Least Mark. When they gain the ability to cast a 3rd level Spell of the Mark their mark increases in size, becoming a Lesser Mark. When they gain the ability to cast a 5th level Spell of the Mark, the mark grows again, and is recognized as a Greater Dragonmark.
Dragonmarked NPCs who are spellcasters can add their Spells of the Mark to the list of spells they can cast. If they aren’t spellcasters, my default approach would be to follow the example of the 3.5 Mark, and to give the ability to cast a spell from each level of their Dragonmark (Least, Lesser, Greater) once per day.
While this is a good general model for NPCs, specific NPCs could squeeze more out of their marks—just as the Dragonmarked Heir prestige class and Dragonmarked feats allowed in 3.5. They could also have one of the Dragonmark Focus Items presented in Exploring Eberron. A second point is that while a player character would have to be 9th level to get access to 5th level spell slots and thus, a Greater Dragonmark, an NPC could have a Greater Dragonmark without having the power of a 9th level adventurer. The heir who activates the Orien Teleportation Circle for you may have a Greater Dragonmark, but aside from their Dragonmark they could have the stat block of a Scout.
So in my Dragonmark articles, when I refer to a character as having a Greater Dragonmark, I mean that they have the ability to cast 5th level spells of the Mark. I am not addressing Siberys Marks at the moment. In 3.5 they were an entirely separate thing from the Dragonmark feat chain, and so rare that they weren’t a standard part of the services offered by the houses… so I’m not worrying about them here.
That’s all for now! Thanks to my Patreonsupporters for making these articles possible. And it’s my Patreon supporters who have chosen House Medani as the topic of my next article, and who will get to see pieces of that article as I develop it.
The seal of the Transportation Guild, as depicted by Matthew Johnson!
You’ve got roots, my friend. You’re Aundairian, through and through. Not I. Orien? We’re everywhere. We deliver your mail. We transport your goods. We bring Aundairian wines to Wroat and Nightwood Ale to Flamekeep. Today we’re dining in Fairhaven, but tomorrow I’ll eat dinner in Thaliost. I may have been born in Passage, but the road is my home.
One of the key aspects of a dragonmark is often described as intuition—a natural talent for a particular set of skills. An heir to the Mark of Making is comfortable using any sort of artisan’s tools, while someone who carries the Mark of Detection has sharp senses and a knack for reading nonverbal cues. Consider then the gifts of the Mark of Passage. At its most basic level, it makes its bearer faster—able to run with remarkable speed, with an intuitive talent for athletics and acrobatics. The mark compels its bearer to move, and to do so with grace and precision. Heirs of the Mark of Passage are infamous for fidgeting and pacing, finding it almost unbearable to stand still. Many struggle with an insatiable wanderlust, an urge to move across the world. This is especially strong when the mark first manifests, and because of this Orien has a tradition called The Wander. When an Orien heir completes the Test of Siberys and develops the Mark of Passage, they undergo a month of intensive training, learning to harness their dragonmark’s gifts and brushing up on geography and customs. Once this is complete, the heir is given a set of traveling clothes, a good cloak, a backpack, a bedroll, and nine platinum pieces—a coin for each of the Sovereigns—and sent out into the world. They may travel for as long as they wish, whether that’s days, weeks, or years. But when they next set foot in an Orien enclave, their Wander is over, and it’s time to join a guild and get to work.
So when considering the heirs of House Orien, remember that raw physical energy—the speed coiled within them, waiting to be unleashed. Consider the base gift of the Dragonmark, Misty Step. This is a manifestation of that same energy, that drive to move and be unbound, so strong that it can tear through space itself. In any encounter with an Orien heir, consider if there’s a way that they could be moving instead of standing still. And if you’re playing a scion of House Orien, don’t just think about where you’re going now; consider where you’ve been, how far you’ve traveled, the things you’ve seen and the people you’ve met. Discuss this with your DM: how long did you wander, and where did you go? How do you feel about the path that you’re on today? Or are you still on your Wander—technically an heir of the house, but still refusing to enter an enclave and join a guild?
The House of the Unicorn. For many of the Dragonmarked Houses, the beast in the house sigil is merely a symbol. Few members of House Thuranni have actually seen a displacer beast, and House Sivis doesn’t cultivate cockatrices. House Orien is a special case… because every dragonmarked heir has their own unicorn! For over a thousand years, House Orien has carried goods and messages across Khorvaire. The most basic gift of the Least Mark of Passage is Expeditious Retreat; while this burst of speed is useful, it’s not going to help you travel a hundred miles. But an heir who unlocks the full potential of the Least Mark—whether on their own or by using a focus item—gains the ability to cast Find Steed. Which is to say, they gain the ability to summon their unicorn. When an Orien heir casts Find Steed through their Dragonmark, the creature emerges from the dragonmark itself, a tangle of blue and purple energy that solidifies into a mount. For at least 99.9% of heirs, this steed takes the shape of a unicorn. Orien lore maintains that the mount is the bearer’s mark made manifest—a reflection of their personality, their potential, and their destiny. While the overwhelming majority of Orien steeds appear as unicorns, the precise details can vary tremendously from heir to heir. As an Orien heir, consider the form of your unicorn. Is it lithe and graceful, or does it have the build of a draft horse? What is the shape, length, and material of your unicorn’s horn? Does it have a lion’s tail or a beard? Is its mane made from horsehair or from sparkling dragonmark energy? If you possess the Lesser Mark and can summon your unicorn using a 4th level spell slot, it gains the ability to fly. Does it simply run on the air—which is the most common manifestation of this within the house—or does your unicorn have wings? While it is manifested, your unicorn can communicate with you telepathically. While it has its own personality and identity, its memories are drawn from yours; it only knows what you know. It is a part of you—the manifestation of your Dragonmark.
Find Steed conjures a creature with the Fey, Fiend, or Celestial creature type. This reflects the abilities, demeanor, and appearance of the unicorn, but it doesn’t imply any sort of extraplanar connection; an Orien steed is tied only to its Dragonmark, and if banished it returns to it. The vast majority of Orien heirs manifest Fey steeds; this fits with the fact that the Fey gift of teleportation echoes the power of the Mark of Passage. The Celestial steed has the power to heal, while the Fiend steed instills fear. If an Orien heir manifests such a steed, it is a reflection of their own nature. An heir with a Fiend unicorn is likely to be ruthless and cruel, dominating the people around them; while an heir with a Celestial unicorn is more likely to be kind and empathetic. Beyond creature type, while 99.9% of heirs conjure unicorns, that still leaves a rare few who manifest steeds of other shapes. Often this is seen as an ill omen, but there have been a few Orien heirs in history who have earned fame due to their unusual mounts. Iliana d’Orien, better known as the White Hart, accompanied Galifar I into battle while riding her celestial stag; in the Sixth Century, Castal d’Orien hunted brigands astride his Fiend tiger. If you are playing a character with the Mark of Passage, consider the shape and creature type of your steed. Even if you can’t cast spells and don’t have the Potent Dragonmark feat, a Channeling Rod or Dragonmark Reservoir from Exploring Eberron can give you access to Find Steed. Even if you don’t have such an item yet, some day you may summon your steed—what form will it take? Once “found,” an Orien steed is tied to you for the rest of your life. Its appearance is a reflection of your Dragonmark and your own subconscious mind. Generally, its appearance or creature type shouldn’t change unless you yourself go through a dramatic shift in personality, or if something alters your destiny.
Phantom Steeds. Bearers of the Lesser Mark of Passage can cast Phantom Steed, but this is quite different from Find Mount. Once summoned, a Phantom Steed only remains for an hour. The summoned steed is faster than the standard Orien steed, but has no ability to fly and doesn’t communicate telepathically. Most heirs only use Phantom Steed when they need a short, intense burst of speed—or to provide an ally with a mount, while the Orien heir rides their unicorn. Phantom Steeds can manifest as unicorns, but they can take other forms. The summoning heir can’t precisely shape the steed, but they can give a general direction—unicorn, horse, tribex.
All Orien Heirs With Dragonmarks Have Unicorns? Why Haven’t I Heard About This? This aspect of the Mark of Passage isn’t new; the original powers of the Mark of Passage as presented in the 3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting include the ability to cast Mount (3.5’s version of Find Steed) and Phantom Steed. It’s just not something that was explored in canon. And part of the reason for that is that many Orien heirs don’t NEED a unicorn in their everyday life. There’s no room for a unicorn on a lightning rail or in the cabin of a thunder coach. An Orien negotiator hiring crews to lay conductor stones doesn’t need her unicorn crowding her office. Even a courier carrying messages through Sharn might find a mount to be more trouble than it’s worth in the crowded streets. Beyond this, while anyone with the Least Mark of Passage potentially could summon a unicorn, many can’t do it without a Channeling Rod or Dragonmark Reservoir. So Orien heirs can summon unicorns, and most have at some point in their life; they know the shape of their unicorn and it means something to them. But even those who can summon a steed at will rarely do unless they actually need its speed.
Other Spells of the Mark. Most of the spells associated with the Mark of Passage are straightforward. Expeditious Retreat and Jump enhance the speed of the heir. Blink and Dimension Door expand their iconic power of teleportation. Freedom of Movement highlights the idea that an Orien Heir (at least, one with the Lesser Mark) cannot be restrained. And Pass Without Trace reflects the idea that in addition to moving swiftly, they can move lightly, dancing through the world without making sound or leaving tracks. All of these are well known and long-established. With that said, there are other spells that make sense for the Mark of Passage. Expeditious Retreat is great for a burst of speed, but Longstrider makes sense for someone who’s regularly traveling long distances on foot. The Blades of Orien (from the 3.5 Dragonmarked sourcebook) possess an ability similar to the Vortex Warp spell. This is why we’ve called out the idea that a spellcasting character with a Dragonmark could describe any logical spell as being drawn from their Mark; a talented wizard with the Mark of Passage could say that they are using their Dragonmark to teleport in a Cloud of Daggers, propelled by the kinetic energy of the Mark.
HOUSE ORIEN TELEPORTATION CIRCLES
Under the original third edition rules, the Greater Mark of Passage provided a single daily use of the 5th level spell teleport. Under fifth edition rules, teleport is a 7th level spell, and the Greater Mark (as I described in this article, if you can cast a 5th level Spell of the Mark, I say you have the Greater Mark) provides access to teleportation circle. Eberron Rising From The Last War says “For those with no time to spare and plenty of money to spend, House Orien also has teleportation circles in each of its enclaves in cities across Khorvaire. At significant cost, a member of the house will transport passengers instantaneously from one enclave to another.”
To understand the limitations on teleportation in the Five Nations, it’s vital to remember that a teleportation circle has no power of its own. The circle is a destination. But the power comes from the Passage-marked heir who actually casts the spell… and heirs that possess the Greater Dragonmark are few in number. A major enclave that serves as a hub for teleportation might have two or three Greater heirs. An enclave in a large town may have a single heir, and typically they can only cast the spell once per day. In a smaller town, it’s possible that there is a circle in the enclave but that there’s no one at the enclave who can cast the spell; they are a viable destination, but once you’re there you can’t teleport out… though if you have both time and money, the enclave can use a message station to call in an heir from another town, who will be able to teleport you out after they rest to restore their power; in this case, you’ll be charged twice the price, as they’ll charge you for the heir’s trip to your location. So the point is that teleportation exists, but it is an exotic, expensive service—not a standard option or something used every day for freight. Orien enclaves have teleportation circles, but unless you book in advance, there’s no assurance that the service will be available on any given day, even in a major city.
So, how do we reconcile the shifting mechanics of editions with the lore? The simplest answer is simply to ignore them, especially if you’ve only played in fifth edition. However, this is an opportunity to explore the idea that Teleportation Circles are a recent development. The Greater Mark of Passage has always allowed teleportation, but before the development of the Teleportation Circle, it was extremely unsafe and unreliable. If I decided to embrace this, I’d introduce a spell called wild teleport—a bonus Orien spell of the Mark available at 5th level. This is identical to teleport, but it uses a 5th level spell slot; it can only be attempted if the caster is very familiar with their destination; and the DM uses the following table to determine success.
d100
Destination
01-49
Mishap
50-59
Similar Destination
60-79
Off Target
80-00
On Target
These have the same effects that are described in Teleport, but a Mishap inflicts 5d10 force damage. A Mishap requires the DM to roll again, which could produce another Mishap and inflict more damage; if the caster drops to zero hit points then they and their fellow travelers are lost forever. So the point is that Orien could teleport long distances, but it was very dangerous. They worked on focus items to improve this, and this allowed them to produce the first Helms of Teleportation seen in the Five Nations. But these helms are expensive and fragile (and only someone with the Greater Mark of Passage can attune to one of them); the House continued to search for a better solution. Working with House Cannith and the Twelve, they eventually developed the Teleportation Circle, creating a safe anchor any Greater Heir can use to reach their destination.
My personal inclination is to say that the circles have been in use for a little over a century. As a result, most Orien heirs only know how to cast Teleportation Circle; they were never taught the techniques to perform the risky Wild Teleport. Meanwhile, a foundling would have access to Wild Teleport instead of Teleportation Circle, because they’ve never been trained to use the circles. An Orien adventurer could potentially learn to cast Wild Teleport—perhaps by working with a foundling—and a foundling taken into the house could learn to cast Teleportation Circle. But in either case, it would be a story.
Another point on Teleportation Circle. In THEORY, the spell allows you to travel to “any destination you know the sigil sequence for.” In MY campaign, teleportation circles created by different cultures and especially different styles of magic are not instantly interchangeable. The giants of Xen’drik used teleportation circles. Riedra uses teleportation circles created using psionic disciplines. Learning to connect to one of these isn’t as simple as memorizing a phone number. For most people it simply isn’t possible; a typical Orien heir can only connect to Orien circles. A remarkable individual—such as a player character—could learn how to bridge the gap. So it’s possible that an Orien adventurer (or a nefarious villain) could figure out how to use Teleportation Circle to reach a circle in Riedra. But this would be an ADVENTURE. It would require the sigil code, certainly. But it would also require the would-be teleporter to have a significant amount of time studying a circle of the type they are hoping to travel to, and I would likely also require them to either work with a mentor from the discipline in question (so, working with a Kalashtar psion to learn to hack a psionic circle) and/or to possess a focusing item that allows them to bridge the gap. The point being that a typical Orien heir can’t just hop into Riedra—and that likewise, under normal circumstances the Inspired can’t use their gates to suddenly teleport into Orien enclaves. On the other hand, if a clever Kalaraq Mind Seeded a prominent Orien heir and gained extended access to an enclave, maybe they COULD develop a way to connect the two networks…
What does this mean for you?
House Orien has been providing teleportation for approximately a century. This service only allows teleportation to Orien enclaves. Only large enclaves will have a teleporter in residence, and unless you reserve a jaunt in advance, there’s no way to know if the service will be available on any particular day. In particular, if a villain escapes from the adventurers, reaches an Orien enclave, and teleports away, the adventurers will likely have to wait a day before they can pursue them, because the local heir’s just cast their only use of the spell! House Orien is actively trying to improve their teleportation services—this is discussed in the What The Future May Hold section of the full article.
What about the Kundarak Vault Network?
The House Kundarak Vault Network allows people to create an extradimensional safety deposit box that can be opened from any Vault outpost. This operates on the principle of Leomund’s Secret Chest; notably, it cannot contain living material, and any attempt to place a living creature in the chest results in it being spat back out. The first thing to understand about the Kundarak Vault Network is that while it’s operated by House Kundarak, it’s created and maintained by Kundarak, Cannith, and Orien. It was exactly the sort of breakthrough that the Twelve exists to facilitate—using the combined abilities of the marks to create things no house could create alone. So a Vault station is operated by an heir with the Mark of Warding, but maintaining the system requires the efforts of both Cannith and Orien, and the network has become an integral part of the Unicorn Post, allowing the house to pass bags of mail through from one hub point to another.
What happens when a PC caster chooses to learn Teleportation Circle? Does Orien charge the PC for usage of circles?
In my campaign teleportation circles aren’t universally accessible. Orien circles are designed to interact with the Mark of Passage, while Riedran circles tap psionic energies; an Orien heir couldn’t just beam into a Riedran citadel. Likewise, an unmarked wizard who knows Teleporation Circle can’t automatically use either Riedran or Orien circles. However, an exceptional mage could essentially hack the system. This is something we specifically see in my novel The Fading Dream, where one of the protagonists does just that—noting that the Circle network is designed to interact with the Dragonmark, but that he can essentially “pick the lock” by manipulating arcane energy. The point here is that it’s something that takes time and access to an Orien circle, and that it’s NOT supported by the house. Just like House Lyrandar won’t invite your druid to steer the airship, House Orien won’t be happy about your wizard using their teleportation circles. Consider that there’s very few people actually capable of doing this in the Five Nations, so again, it’s not like it’s a big market they’d want to cater to. If your wizard pops up in an Orien circle you’d likely have to do some very fast talking to keep from being charged with trespassing.
That’s my default position: Orien won’t share access to its circles with people who aren’t part of the house, and would treat anyone who accessed the circles without permission as a criminal. But perhaps you WANT your PCs to have access to the Orien circle network. There’s three easy ways you could make this happen.
One of the adventurers is an heir of the house in good standing. If they at least vouch for the teleporting wizard, I’d probably allow it.
The adventuring party has a Orien patron or ally with significant influence (such as a viceroy) who authorizes their use of the circles, giving them ID papers they could show on arrival.
The teleporter joins the Transportation Guild as a licensed independent operative of the Portal. This would allow them to use the circles when on their own time, but it would mean that during downtime the Guild would expect them to put in some hours providing services through the guild. Which could be a hook for an adventure, if the teleporter is paid to teleport someone interesting to a specific location, and the adventuring party wants to follow after them!
So in short, in my campaign House Orien doesn’t provide access to its circles to members of the general public, but an adventurer could gain access by having a connection to the house—whether that’s through blood, friendship, or employment.
FRONTIERS OF EBERRON AND UNEARTHED ARCANA
In Frontiers of Eberron we introduced a set of backgrounds and feats that provide a form of Dragonmark that works with the 2024 rules. Since then, Wizards of the Coast has released an Unearthed Arcana article with a different approach to Dragonmark feats. The biggest difference between the two is the approach to Spells of the Mark. The official UA approach follows the model of Rising From The Last War, meaning that a Dragonmarked character needs to have a Spellcasting class feature or the Potent Dragonmark feat to cast any Spells of the Mark; the version in Frontiers of Eberron provides access to lower level spells, but lets the bearer of the mark use them regardless of class.
Personally, I’d allow a player in my campaign to choose either form of the Mark, though it would have to be one or the other. However, the UA/FotA version is what will be officially supported going forward and for that reason, it’s like the best choice. With that in mind, I did want to share two things. Exploring Eberron introduces a few magic items that allow a Dragonmarked character to make use of Spells of the Mark; I’m sharing two of these here. If you’ve got a Dragonmarked Reservoir, at least you can summon your unicorn!
I also want to share the Orien Step cantrip we introduced in Frontiers of Eberron. The point of this cantrip is to give an Orien heir a limited ability to teleport all the time. In my campaign, I’d make this an additional Spell of the Mark for the Mark of Passage: if you can cast spells, you can add this to the list of cantrips you can choose. So not every heir can do it, but it’s a talent you can develop. When used in this way, I would expand it in the following ways.
It doesn’t allow the caster to escape from manacles or bonds, but it will allow them to escape from a grapple.
The caster can’t go through solid objects, but I’d allow them to pass through any barrier that has some form of opening (similar to an amorphous creature). So you can’t pass through a solid wall, but you could pass through a portcullis or the bars of a prison cell.
However, as always this is Kanon material and a DM may choose not to allow this cantrip in their campaign.
Excerpted from Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone
That’s all for now! However, this is just part of the full House Orien article available to my Patreon supporters. The full article is three times the length of this one, and includes the history and structure of the house, details on its four founding families, story ideas and more. Patreon support is what allows me to spend time working on Eberron, so if you want to see more content like this—and to help choose the next house I write about—check it out!
Former Sentinel Marshal Rolan Harn by Matthew Johnson
Over the course of this year, I’m going to be writing about a Dragonmarked House each month. I’ll be posting bonus content on my Patreon, including character options and focus items associated with each house. Currently, I’m working on an article about House Orien. But before diving into the individual houses and Dragonmarks, I want to discuss some basic details about dragonmarks themselves—both in broad concept and specifically in how they function in Fifth Edition in 2025, especially considering the recent Unearthed Arcana.
THE DRAGONMARKED EXPERIENCE
Much has been written about what Dragonmarks DO — about the powers they manifest and the focus items that work with them. But little has been written about how it FEELS to have a Dragonmark. One of the key aspects of a dragonmark is often described as intuition—a natural talent for a particular set of skills or tools.This is a crucial element of how the houses achieved their early dominance in their fields; aside from its spell-like abilities, a Dragonmark makes its bearer better at their speciality. An heir to the Mark of Making has a bonus when using Artisan’s Tools. The Mark of Sentinel enhances Perception and Insight. The Mark of Passage provides a bonus to Athletics and Acrobatics. Set aside the mechanical effect of this for a moment and just think about what it means for the person who bears the mark. When a Cannith heir picks up a tool, they have a sense of what to do with it, even if they’ve never seen it before. The Sentinel heir is always on alert, sensitive to the tics and tells of people around them. The Passage scion yearns to move. When playing an adventurer with a Dragonmark, consider the effect of your mark’s Intuition ability and how your character experiences it. The same holds true for the spell-like abilities of your mark. As an heir to the Mark of Passage, the ability to Misty Step is bound up within you, waiting to be unleashed. With a thought and a word, you can tear through space. What does that feel like?
A second aspect of the Dragonmarked experience is the question of how your lineage affected your childhood. Were you born in a Dragonmarked house and raised in an enclave? If so, you’ve been surrounded by fellow heirs through most of your life, and you had a clear path for your future—an expectation that you would eventually join one of the house guilds or arms. What was that like? How did it affect you? Are you a devoted member of your house, or have you always harbored a rebellious streak and yearned to escape the path laid out for you? Conversely, if you’re a foundling, what were the circumstances of your childhood? What was the event that triggered the appearance of your Dragonmark in lieu of the Test of Siberys? How did you feel when the Dragonmark first appeared—were you excited to join a house, or did the idea repel you? How were you eventually approached by the house, and did you embrace the offer or refuse it? Or have you yet to be noticed by the house that carries your mark?
A final point to consider is how the Last War affected you. The houses are neutral forces, and if you were raised in a house enclave you were encouraged to embrace that — to view the warring nations as clients and nothing more. Most scions who served in the war did so in a purely mercenary capacity. Did you embrace this, and if so, is it a viewpoint you maintain today—seeing the houses as a force that stands apart from and above the concerns of the nations? Or did you develop an attachment to the country in which you lived, or another nation? Did you give up your birthright to fight for one of the nations?
SPELLS OF THE MARK
Magical power has always been a core element of the Dragonmarks. In Fifth Edition, this is represented by Spells of the Mark, a set of spells added to the lists of any Dragonmarked character capable of performing magic. Despite the name, these aren’t supposed to be actual SPELLS; the character is channeling power through their mark in a way that replicates the effects of a spell. When a Cleric with the Mark of Passage uses a spell slot to cast Misty Step, they aren’t doing it in the same way as the prayer to Olladra that produces Cure Wounds. MECHANICALLY it’s just like casting a spell, but it should look and feel different from whatever spellcasting is normally associated with the scion’s class. Consider the following.
A character’s Dragonmark glows and becomes warm to the touch they cast a Spell of the Mark. This isn’t dramatic—it doesn’t serve as a source of illumination—but it is noticeable to people in the area.
Somatic components—gestures—often involve slapping the mark or running a finger along its lines, or if it’s on a hand, presenting it clearly. However, some marked heirs trace the shape of their mark in the heir, or simply make a dramatic gesture; a Denieth heir using the Mark of Sentinel to cast Shield might raise a palm, fingers spread wide. The point is that the character needs a free hand and it’s clear to observers that the action is associated with the magical effect, but it shouldn’t look like Arcanix wizardry or a divine invocation.
Likewise, verbal components require the character to be able to speak and are clearly associated with the magical effect, but they don’t have to be traditional arcane words of power. Often a scion will give a deep grunt or sharp shout; this sound reflects the focusing and release of energy. However, some heirs devise their own unique words of channeling. Phiarlan bards often sing a note when releasing their power.
Material components can feel strange when associated with a dragonmarked “spell.” However, refined Eberron dragonshards can take the place of any material component, and in the case of a Dragonmark ability I’d just make those the default component for the spell; the character needs the surge of energy from the dragonshards to produce the effect.
When playing a dragonmarked character, think about how you manifest your power. Where is your mark located? What sort of sounds and gestures do you use to focus its energy?
LEAST, LESSER, AND GREATER DRAGONMARKS
In the original Eberron Campaign Setting book, Dragonmarks were represented by a chain of feats. Each feat allowed you to cast a particular spell once per day, and each level—Least, Lesser, Greater—gave you access to an additional spell-like ability of higher level (in addition to a bonus to a skill check—Intuition!). The idea is that as you improve your feats, the physical dragonmark on your skin grows in size and complexity, and that this is something recognized within the world. People KNOW that someone with the Greater Mark of Passage can teleport, and within the house a larger mark carries some prestige—though not necessarily rank, and there are many unmarked adinistrators! This idea has evolved in later editions. One of the key concepts is that rather than having feats that concretely give you access to more powerful spells, we’ve said that Dragonmarked characters could and should describe class features and spells as coming from their mark. This is the same concept I discussed earlier with Spells of the Mark—it’s about how you describe the spell. So a Lyrandar Storm Sorcerer could describe their lightning and wind spells as being drawn from their Mark, while describing their fire spells as being more traditional arcane magic, even though all of those spells are coming from their Sorcerer class. But in introducing this idea—beginning in Fourth Edition—we dropped the feat chains and the idea of a clear distinction between Least, Lesser, and Greater Marks.
The latest Unearthed Arcana has a set of Greater Dragonmark feats. However, the EFFECTS of those feats don’t match up to the effects of the Greater Dragonmarks of Third Edition. In the ECS, a Greater Dragonmark allowed you to cast a 5th level spell; the Greater Mark of Passage allowed you to cast teleport. Under the Unearthed Arcana rules, the Greater Dragonmark of Passage lets you take one other person along with you when you cast Misty Step, once per day. It’s a neat trick, but it’s not teleporting your entire party across the world.
I like the concept of the different levels of Dragonmark. I like it having a meaning in the world, and I like players having a sense of what an NPC is capable of based on the size of their Dragonmark. I think the Unearthed Arcana feats are fine, but I’m not going to call them “Greater Dragonmarks” in my campaign; I’ll call them “Passage Expertise” or “Making Expertise.” Instead, I think the simplest way to handle the idea of a dragonmark evolving through the three basic sizes is to base it on the level of the most powerful spell the character can cast because of the Dragonmark. So a 1st level character or a character with no ability to perform cast Spells of the Mark will have a Least Dragonmark. Once they are capable of casting a 3rd level Spell of the Mark—whether by having the Spellcasting feature or using the Potent Dragonmark feat—their mark grows and they have a Lesser Dragonmark. When they have access to 5th level Spells of the Mark, they possess a Greater Dragonmark. Siberys Dragonmarks remain their own separate thing; by the original Third Edition Rules you couldn’t advance a normal mark to become a Siberys Mark. So it would look like this:
Dragonmark
Spells of the Mark
Least
1st or 2nd
Lesser
3rd or 4th
Greater
5th
NPCS AND DRAGONMARKS
By default, Spells of the Mark are only available to characters that have levels in a spellcasting class. However, there are other ways to access this power.
The Potent Dragonmark feat presented in the recent Unearthed Arcana gives a Dragonmarked character a single spell slot that can be used to cast a Spell of the Mark, with a slot level equal to half the character’s level (to a maximum of 5). They regain this slot after completing a short or long rest.
Exploring Eberron includes a number of items that allow an heir to cast the Spells of their Mark. The Dragonmark Channel allows a single use of a 1st level Spell of the Mark, once per long rest; this is a common item, often worn as a symbol of house membership. The Dragonmark Reservoir provides access to a 1st or 2nd level Spell of the Mark; the Channeling Rod provides access to any of the spells of the Mark.
Potent Dragonmark is a feat designed for player characters. It’s flexible—allowing a character to access any spell on the Spells of the Mark list—and recharges after a short rest. But it sets the precedent that there are people in the world who have no spellcasting ability but who can still produce spell-like effects with Dragonmarks. With that in mind, I’d generally give dragonmarked NPCs a form of this, mirroring the original ECS marks. An NPC with a Least Dragonmark would be able to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell from their Dragonmark’s Spell of the Mark list, once per day. An NPC with the Lesser Mark would get a single use of a 3rd or 4th level spell, in addition to the Least Mark. And an NPC with a Greater Dragonmark would gain a single use of a 5th level Spell. Exceptional scions might have a choice of more than one spell at each level, just like a player character with Potent Dragonmark. Dragonmarked NPCs could also carry any of the items presented in Exploring Eberron.
Keep in mind that these once-per-day spell-like abilities have never been a critical part of the power of the houses. Overall, the most important aspect of possessing a Dragonmark is the ability to use Dragonmark Focus Items, from Channeling Rods to Creation Forges. For a Lyrandar heir, being able to cast Feather Fall once per day is a useful safety net—but it’s the ability to pilot an airship or elemental galleon that drives the industry of the house.
UNEARTHED ARCANA: DRAGONMARKS AND SPECIES
Traditionally, Dragonmarks have been associated with specific family lines and species. Only humans can carry the Mark of Making; only Khoravar possess the Mark of Storm. The latest Unearthed Arcana presents a new set of Dragonmark Origin Feats that aren’t limited by species. What does this mean?
First of all, this isn’t new. Fourth Edition did the same thing. The point is that this exists as an option for PLAYER CHARACTERS, who are innately supposed to be remarkable individuals. The lore and history of the Dragonmarked Houses isn’t going to change. Again, look at Fourth Edition, which allowed player characters to have unusual Dragonmarks but kept all the lore of the Houses intact. The fact that your halfling rogue can have the Mark of Storm doesn’t mean that there are hundreds of halflings who have it; it means that you are special. Dragonmarks are themselves manifestations of the Prophecy. Player characters are prime candidates for being focal points for the Prophecy, and having an unusual Dragonmark would just be a clear sign of that. Personally, I’d be inclined to say that it’s happened before throughout history, and that the people who have had unusual marks have often been remarkable people who have done great things… But they didn’t pass their marks onto their offspring and so they were blips in history. The point is that with the Houses, it is the FAMILIES that have a role to play in the Prophecy and as such it’s the FAMILIES that carry the Dragonmarks. If you are an INDIVIDUAL who has a role to play in the Prophecy, you might have a mark as a sign of that… but you won’t pass it on.
Which comes to the question: Will the houses care? Let’s imagine you’re playing a Talenta halfling with the Mark of Storm. Does Lyrandar care? The answer is ultimately up to you and the DM, based on the story you want to experience. But let’s consider the options.
Honestly, it’s reasonable to say that they just don’t care at all. A single halfling with the Mark of Storm poses no threat to Lyrandar’s airship business. Especially if this HAS happened before and the marked individuals didn’t pass on the mark, your character is a curiosity but not a threat that has to be dealt with.
On the other hand, if it’s a story you like, the Houses could be delighted and celebrate your character as a miracle. They could be eager to recruit you, and if you accepted, to make you a poster child and a special envoy for the house, sending you out to promote Lyrandar interests in the Talenta Plains. Consider the story of Ashi in The Legacy of Dhakaan novels. She’s a foundling with a Siberys Mark of Sentinel, not a halfling with the Mark of Storm, but the point is that Deneith takes her in and makes a big deal about her; they could do the same thing with your halfling.
Or, if it’s a story you really want to tell, the houses could see you as an abomination that has to be eradicated and you could have to hide your mark. I find this reaction a little hard to justify; if I was determined to tell this story I’d probably say that it’s a thing that’s happened throughout history and Lyrandar believes that if you have children the Khoravar will lose the Mark and it will be passed on to your offspring. THAT would make it dramatic; you actually do pose an existential threat to their house. But if you’re just one random halfling, I don’t see it as being that big a deal.
So the main point is that yes, this makes it possible for player characters to have any Dragonmark they want. Because player characters are exceptional. But it doesn’t negate or change the existing lore of the Dragonmarked Houses, and it’s something you can ignore if you choose. In this way, it’s exactly like Rising From The Last War providing an option for there to be contact between Eberron and the rest of the Multiverse if that’s the story you want to tell. But that change in Rising still maintained that until this moment, Eberron has been shielded from the Multiverse by the Ring of Siberys. It presented a new option for DMs who wanted it, as something that could be actively evolving in 998 YK; but it didn’t demolish all preexisting lore. Same thing here. You can be that remarkable halfling with the Mark of Storm; but House Lyrandar is still a Khoravar house.
WHAT ABOUT FRONTIERS OF EBERRON?
In Frontiers of Eberron I presented my own ideas for Dragonmark origin feats. I like my design, but the short answer is that the Unearthed Arcana content is the CANON content. Because it provides a unique feat for each Dragonmark, it also has the ability to provide more unique benefits, like the Mark of Passage granting +5 movement speed. Personally, I’d allow players to use either one (though not both at once!) in my campaign; it’s up to you to decide what works best for you.
That’s all for now! House Orien will be coming in the future. Thanks to my Patreonsupporters for making these articles possible. I’m holding two live Q&As this month for Patrons, and will also be posting further polls and previews about the next Eberron book I’m working on. If you’d like to know more, follow the link!
Eston was the site of countless wonders this last weekend, as the city celebrated the opening of the House of Cannith. This pavilion is the work of an alliance of families from across Metrol, all of whom carry the remarkable Dragon Mark of Making. The festival displayed creations of each of these families, but the most remarkable of all was crafted by the greatest artisans of the families working together—the Grand Gorgon, a massive bull formed of steel and bronze that moves as if it were a creature of flesh and blood, belching gouts of green steam. While each family played their part, all agreed that Castal Harn was the innovator whose vision brought the Gorgon to life. Castal was unable to appear at the festival, but his contributions were commemorated with a wondrously detailed statue. It seems these Cannith artisans are as adept at shaping stone as they are at working steel!
From The Korranberg Chronicle article “A Festival of Steel”
The gorgon has been with D&D since the first Monster Manual, one of the examples of a creature that draws on the name of a mythological creature from our world without making much effort to accurately reflect the source material. Rather than being relatives of Medusa, D&D’s gorgons were bulls with steel scales that breathed petrifying fumes. In Eberron, House Cannith used the gorgon as its symbol, because steel bull, but there was never any actual connection between the creature and the house. Enter the 2025 Monster Manual. A number of old monsters received small but significant changes in the new edition, and the gorgon is one of them. It now has the construct creature type; gorgons aren’t found in nature, but are “created by magic-users to serve as guardians.” There’s been a number of changes to creature types that I’m definitely going to ignore in my campaigns, but I love this particular change for Eberron. It’s an opportunity to tie the gorgon closely to House Cannith and the industry of artifice, rather than just being a random monstrosity. So here’smystory for the revised construct gorgon.
The Gorgon of Eston
When dragonmarks first manifested in Khorvaire, each one appeared in a particular region… but they weren’t limited to a single bloodline. The Mark of Making appeared on multiple families in the realm then known as Metrol. The Vowns were based in Eston; the Harns in what is now Making; the Jurans were a nomadic clan. Along with the other Making bloodlines, these families slowly discovered the powers of their mark as the numbers of marked heirs grew. Most of these families were already known for some form of craftwork, and the mark enhanced their gifts with artifice and industry. Over time, the leaders of these families debated whether they should join together. As part of this process, artisans from each house came together to work on a number of projects, seeing what they could accomplish when they combined their skills. The Gorgon of Eston was the a dramatic result of this process: the most sophisticated construct ever constructed by humans of Khorvaire. Previous human artificers had worked with homunculi, but such constructs required an ongoing bond to their creator. The Gorgon is self-sustaining and independent, even capable of making simple decisions in pursuit of the directions given by its creators. To the houses, it was the first child of their union. The Gorgon led the parade in the festivals in Eston, and stood in the square outside Cannith Hall bellowing the hour. The Gorgon was considered a wonder of the age, and the allied families took it as the sigil of their new house; when the Twelve came together, House Sivis suggested that all of the Dragonmarked Houses follow this example. But for Cannith, the gorgon isn’t just a beast; it’s a symbol of their house and its power.
Over the course of centuries, Cannith made many gorgons. As the house spread, most forgeholds had a gorgon standing in their atrium, serving both as a symbol of the house and a guardian of the forge. But while they were once found across Khorvaire, the gorgons were the first constructs made by House Cannith and had many flaws. Those old models slowly leak petrifying gas, which can build up to dangerous concentrations if the construct is kept in an enclosed space. The rudimentary sentience of the gorgon had flaws; random individuals could be identified as threats, and a handful of gorgons went berserk. They were occasionally sold as weapons of war, but while a gorgon is a terrifying spectacle, they aren’t especially practical as war machines. And the process of creating a gorgon was time consuming, expensive, and dangerous. Today, there are still a few gorgons on active duty, but most have been mothballed or set guarding obscure vaults; while the original Grand Gorgon can be seen in the Clockwork Menagerie of Eston, what stands outside the Cannith Enclave today is a SCULPTURE of a gorgon… while the Cannith enclave in Korth has a BRAZEN GORGON, described later in this article.
Why petrification? Why did the creators choose to imbue the gorgon with petrification? Why didn’t they have it breathe fire, or emit busts of force? In my Eberron, the petrifying breath of the gorgon was an unexpected benefit. Gorgons were developed over a thousand years ago, before the rise of House Tharashk and modern techniques for finding and refining dragonshards. The arcane power source of the gorgon slowly produces a substance called stone mist. Normally this is produced in trace quantities that harmlessly disperse in the air—much like the poisonous fumes produced by the combustion engines of automobiles. But like carbon monoxide, in an sealed space stone mist can build up over time—and once it reaches a high level of concentration, it petrifies organic creatures. After an unexpected accident revealed the danger posed by the stone mist, the Jurans came up with a solution. Instead of continuously releasing low levels of gas, the gorgon would build up containment in a chamber within its body—and when the chamber reached capacity, expel it in a direction where no one would be harmed, usually venting it toward the sky. It was later in the process that the Vown magewrights suggested that this venting could be used as an offensive weapon. While they COULD have equipped it with the ability to breathe fire, the Vowns observed that the petrifying breath only affected organic creatures and carried no risk of collateral property damage. On top of that, it was technically nonlethal… although Greater Restoration isn’t a trivial thing in 998 YK and was surely even harder to come by in the days before Galifar. So the Gorgon engineers didn’t originally intend to build a creature with petrifying breath; they meant to build an imposing iron bull, and it was only over the course of development that they discovered its potential for petrification.
Stone Mist? If you embrace this story, it means that House Cannith has had the ability to produce a petrifying mist for centuries. To which I say… why not? Among other things, canonically House Kundarak uses petrification as a form of imprisonment in Dreadhold. The Mror Holds aren’t known for their arcanists (though the present warden of Dreadhold IS a legendary abjurer) so… who petrifies these people? Why, stone mist provided by House Cannith! The thing about stone mist is that it’s not a very practical tool in most cases. The mist produced by the arcane process is thin and diffuse—generally harmless. The engine that allows a gorgon to concentrate the mist into a weapon is a large component within its body; it’s not like a small bottle of mist would accomplish the task. So looking to Dreadhold—and other prisons in Khorvaire that maintain stone wards—petrification is actually accomplished using a Mist Chamber. The victim is placed in a sealed room and held until the mist builds up to a sufficient level to cause petrification. This is a slow process, and typically the victim is rendered unconscious so they don’t have to experience the unbearable tension of waiting for the mist to reach effective concentration, then slowly feeling your flesh transform.
So, Cannith has long had the ability to induce petrification. Aside from serving as a form of imprisonment, it is also something that’s been used throughout the history of the house to preserve individuals. A number of Cannith forgeholds have their own stone wards containing such “sleeper statues.” Some of the people in these wards resorted to petrification in the hopes that the future will have a way to cure an affliction that couldn’t be countered in their own time. Others nearing the end of life hope that the future will have a way to defeat death itself; “Restore me when you can transfer my consciousness into a construct body.” A few remarkable individuals chose to be petrified in the belief that their knowledge or skills could play a critical role in the future. And just in the last century, a number of wealthy individuals chose to “sit out” the Last War, and a few of them are now being restored; consider Today in Eberron’s story of Hale Davon, the Pastry King of Wroat.
Today in Eberron, 12/18/998: Aurum concordian Hale Davon, the “Pastry King of Wroat,” was voluntarily petrified in 900 YK to wait out the Last War. Today Davon was restored, and he’s seeking a group of capable adventurers to find his missing possessions and help reestablish his connections.
Throughout history, Cannith has experimented with other ways of weaponizing stone mist. They’ve experimented with devices that are essentially small bags of holding filled with concentrated mist. In general, these haven’t proven to be effective on a large scale. The gas disperses quickly and as a gas, it can also blow in the wrong direction based on wind. So it hasn’t played a major role in warfare, but there are still a few sites where mist weapons were deployed—battlefields with dozens or even hundreds of soldiers trapped in stone.
The Brazen Gorgon from the 2025 Monster Manual
What about the BRAZEN GORGON?
Throughout much of the Last War, Karrnath was the nation that was least dependent on House Cannith for its weaponry. Karrnath had its own strong tradition of forging weapons of war, and its use of undead soldiers meant it had little need of Cannith warforged. When Zorlan d’Cannith became Lord Seneschal of Cannith operations in Karrnath, he was determined to shift that balance—to show Regent Moranna that cooperation between Karrnath and Cannith could produce deadly wonders. Moranna was receptive to the idea, as she was actively seeking to reduce her army’s dependence on the undead. As his proof of concept, Zorlan presented Moranna with the first brazen gorgon. More durable and deadly than the stone mist gorgon, the brazen gorgon—which soon became known as “The Zorlon”—radiates deadly heat and can overrun squads of infantry with ease. Moranna was impressed, and over the next decade Zorlan led the development of many weapons for Karrnath. The brazen gorgon was never widespread, but a few score were spread out among Karrnathi forces, and Cannith enclaves in Karrnath often have a brazen gorgon as a symbol and guardian. Zorlan himself uses a brazen gorgon as his personal crest—a gorgon’s head wreathed in flames.
The “Zorlon” brazen gorgons have a few features that are worth noting. The Zorlon can activate or deactivate its flame aura as a bonus action; when a Zorlon is stationed in the lobby of a Cannith enclave, they don’t want it incinerating the customers. In addition, the so called “flame aura” of the Zorlan isn’t actually mundane fire. The rules for the Flame Aura say that it damages each CREATURE within 5 feet of the gorgon, but make no mention of igniting flammable objects, as many fire spells do; again, this is important for a construct that may be stationed in a forgehold! The Zorlon radiates a field of energy that causes fire damage to creatures, but doesn’t set buildings on fire. The Zorlon grapples using two prehensile tentacles that it can extend from its lower neck; it can also use the tentacles to manipulate objects. However, brazen gorgons only possess limited sentience, similar to warforged titans; they can follow orders and make simple decisions, but they don’t have the intelligence and personality of a warforged.
What does this mean for you?
Gorgons are typically tied to House Cannith. The base design is somewhat obsolete today; they aren’t as reliable as warforged or warforged titans. But a Cannith enclave may still have a guardian gorgon. In general, however, they are obsolete—but still durable. So gorgons can be found guarding abandoned forgeholds, isolated Cannith vaults, and hidden enclaves long forgotten by the modern Cannith heirs. They can also potentially be found as surplus—a gorgon that was thrown on the scrap heap centuries ago, only to be recovered and reactivated by the villains of your story. In these cases I would be sure to emphasize that the gorgon is OLD and decrepit. This doesn’t have to affect its statistics, but it should feel like something that ought to be in a museum. And speaking of museums, the original Great Gorgon is still there in the Clockwork Menagerie of Eston; there could be some sort of National Treasure story where the original founders of the house hid a vital clue in the heart of the first gorgon!
Aside from gorgons themselves, stone mist provides possibilities for a number of interesting stories. In addition to explaining how Kundarak petrifies the prisoners at Dreadhold, it introduces the potential for Cannith to have vaults of people who chose voluntary petrification—people like Hale Davon. Perhaps a Cannith heir wants to send adventurers into the Mournland to recover statues from a stone ward in the Mournland; could Starrin d’Cannith have petrified himself before the Mourning struck? Beyond this, having adventurers find a statue in a ruin—perhaps with a note promising a reward if they restore the figure to flesh—can have all sorts of outcomes. Is this a good person who will indeed reward them and serve as a valuable patron going forward? Or were they a terrible villain who chose to throw themselves into the future in order to enact a grand scheme? Beyond this, Cannith could still be working at weaponizing the mist to create weapons of mass petrification; the house could send a team into Cazhaak Draal to try to steal secrets of the medusas or an artifact tied to Orlassk!
Meanwhile, brazen gorgons can be found in Karrnath. In addition to be used as weapons of war, many city watches in Karrnathi cities have a brazen gorgon in reserve for deadly crowd control duty. They can be found guarding Cannith enclaves and vaults, and it’s also possible someone could get control of one as a surplus weapon.
But wait, why do gorgons contain actual bull skeletons?
So, the default lore in the new Monster Manual says “The process for creating a gorgon is labor intensive and dangerous, with one method requiring the skeleton of a bull, the blood of a medusa, and the brain of a basilisk fused into a frame of ensorcelled iron.” First of all, the lore in the Monster Manuals is always a foundation that can and should be altered to fit a particular setting or story. But beyond that, even in this default lore, it says that this is ONE POSSIBLE WAY to create a gorgon. In the example I’ve given here, the gorgon is made from inorganic material; the original Cannith founders didn’t use ANY of those components to create it. With that said, I think it could be very interesting if Zorlan d’Cannith trying to build a better version of the original gorgon fueled by medusa blood—and meanwhile, a truly half-steel half-organic gorgon sounds like something you might find in Mordain’s Forest of Flesh!.
That’s all for now. Thanks as always to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible! If you’ve been considering becoming a patron, now is a good time: for the next few days, patrons are helping me finalize the topics of my next Eberron book. Follow the link if you’d like to take part!
The poll is running for the next few days on Patreon!
Nowadays, Cyrans don’t do the Tago the old way, not when so much Cyran blood has already been shed. And how could we celebrate so, with our memories of the Day of Mourning and all those we have lost? But do you remember the way the Tago once was danced, wild and fierce?
To perform the Tago in the old style, as they did here at Princess Marhya’s ball, the lead would take off their left glove, and their partner their right. But no Cyran would ever clasp naked hands in public; each ungloved hand held a Taga dagger, a poniard joined to your partner’s by a short chain. As the music played, the dancers would keep the Tagas together as tightly as a kiss, lest you miss a cue from your partner and be cut by a Taga’s edge. And people of the other nations wondered why we danced the Tago so perfectly!
Of course, a daring dancer could drop their guard for a moment and perhaps feel the touch of their partner’s hand against their own, or brush their fingers against their partner’s lips; and occasionally, the dance floor would erupt in laughter and scandal, as two dancer’s hands would meet in passion as their daggers clattered against the floor, abandoned. But even when the dance was performed properly, there are moves where a Taga strokes a neck or slides across an ear, whispering your secret wish to your partner, whether you desire them or only want to see them bleed.
Tago’s reward could be a bloody hand, or worse, for your insolence or recklessness; or your partner’s glove, tucked in your belt, to be exchanged for later in private. And from that custom, the Cyran saying, “bringing a third glove”, for a lover or rake who is well prepared for a secret tryst.
From “The Fall of Cyre” by Dan Garrison
The Day of Mourning occurred on 20 Olarune 994. We’ve always called out that the anniversary of this tragedy is a time when Cyrans seek to celebrate their fallen nation, sharing their stories and traditions with the people around them, keeping Cyre alive in their memories. But what are these customs and stories? Exploring Eberron provides thoughts about Cyran cuisine and fashion. As for stories, if you’re playing a Cyran adventurer take a moment to thing about what that means for your character, and the story they would tell. It could be a favorite story about the nation, perhaps a tale of King Cyre. It might be a memory from childhood, something that made the community they grew up in unique. Or perhaps it was an experience from the war, something tied to the Cyran spirit and the sacrifices made by friends and family.
If you want a more concrete way to remember Cyre, consider dancing the Tago. This is a dance beloved by the people of Cyre, and it can make for a wonderful opening for an evening of romance and intrigue; who will cut and who will touch? The rules that follow were created by my friend Dan Garrison, the co-designer of Phoenix Dawn Command. He developed these for “The Fall of Cyre”, an Eberron campaign I had the good fortune to play in; unfortunately, the scenario itself has never been published. But we hope you enjoy this little taste of Cyran culture, and take a moment to remember the Jewel of Galifar.
Image by Alice Noir via Noun Project
Dancing the Tago
The first step in the Tago is to determine the couple that will be dancing. If there are only two dancers, this problem solves itself. At a larger gathering, have each PC choose a partner for their dance, and have them state whether they sought out their partner, were chosen by their partner, or if the pair was thrown together by chance.
Each PC’s dance has three choruses: for each one, have each character secretly choose Guard or Touch, and then reveal their choice. One way to play this bluffing game is to give each dancer two playing cards, a heart and a spade, and have them show hearts to Touch and spades to Guard. If a PC asks, they can look at their partner’s choice with a Wisdom (Insight) check DC 20, and change their own choice before they are revealed.
If both dancers choose Guard, nothing happens, as the Tago is performed properly.
If one dancer choose Guard and the other Touch, the Touching dancer loses 1 HP. Have the Guarding dancer describe the location and degree of their partner’s cut. If the Guarding dancer wants to severely hurt their partner, have them make an attack roll with advantage, treating the Taga knife as a regular dagger.
If both dancers Touch, than each dancer without Inspiration gains Inspiration. Ask any dancer that receives Inspiration what detail of the dance, or their partner, particularly excites or interests them.
After the three choruses, a dancer may make a Charisma check (Performance) DC 15, to have danced at a level of excellence that attracts the applause of those around them; their partner may impose advantage or disadvantage to this check as they wish.
While the Tago is properly danced with knives, it can be danced using training rods, light wands connected by a chain. The principle is the same, but a guard/touch combination causes no loss of hit points—though it is still a source of embarrassment.
Thanks as always to my Patreonsupporters, who make these articles possible. I’m currently conducting a series of polls on Patreon to finalize the topics for my next Eberron book, and I’m holding a live Q&A for Patrons this Saturday (the 22nd)! If this sounds interesting, follow the link to check it out.
When time permits, I like to pose interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Questions like…
Whats a storybeat you’d like to play with Thrane? You ran your Siberspace campaign based in Aundair, Skeleton Crew was set in Karrnath, Quickstone was Breland. What about Thrane?
This is a reference to the liveplay campaigns I’ve run for my patrons on Patreon. Siberspace was a four-episode Spelljammer campaign that followed the idea of a space race in the Five Nations. Quickstone was a campaign tied to Frontiers of Eberron that had over twenty sessions, while Skeleton Crew was a one shot set in Karrnath. If any of these sound interesting, you can watch or listen to the recorded episodes on Patreon! But, the question remains what’s a story I’d tell in Thrane? Rather than just limit this to what is a story I’d tell as a live play on my website, I’d make this a broader question—what are ideas I’d use if I decided to base a campaign in Thrane? Here’s some ideas.
The Queen’s Musketeers. From the very beginning, I have always felt that if I was going to run a story inspired by The Three Musketeers in Eberron, I would place it in Thrane and have the adventurers play Knights of Thrane. From the original ECS:
The Crown Knights, also known as the Knights of Thrane, pledged to defend crown and country when the order was established during the time of Prince Thrane, son of King Galifar I. Over the centuries, this order of knights has served the regent of Thrane faithfully. When the Church of the Silver Flame refused to acknowledge the authority of the crown and turned the nation into a theocracy, the Knights of Thrane were ready to battle on behalf of the crown. The heir apparent defused the situation by bowing to the Keeper of the Flame, realizing that Thrane would be destroyed if it succumbed to internal strife while the Last War raged on. Today, the Knights of Thrane continue to work for the nation, serving Queen Diani in name but answering to the Council of Cardinals in practice.
Overall, the Knights of Thrane are an elite force used both for special missions in times of war and for troubleshooting in times of peace. They aren’t SPIES, but they are capable individuals who might be involved in missions that require a dash of finesse and intrigue. While they have the title of “knight” they possess a wide range of skills, ensuring that they can deal with diplomatic situations as well as bloodshed. A squad of knights could include fighters, paladins, rangers, clerics, divine soul sorcerers, or even a bard or wizard—in other words, a party of adventurers. Many Knights of Thrane are devout followers of the Flame, allowing for Divine Soul Sorcerers, Silver Pyromancers, or their equivalent in bard or Eldritch Knight; but but you could also have the pure fighter who doesn’t draw on the Flame in any way. The Knights of Thrane are an arm of the government, not the Church—but now the government is the theocracy, that line has blurred. So devotion to the Silver Flame isn’t REQUIRED among the Knights of Thrane, but it’s still the norm in Thrane generally. Keep in mind that there are people devoted to the Flame who feel that the theocracy is a mistake—that involving the Church in secular affairs distracts it from its spiritual mission and invites corruption. I think this is a strong path for a Crown Knight; they may be devoted to the Flame and to the Church, but they question the Theocracy—and as such, have little love for Cardinal Krozen.
In digging deeper into the Knights of Thrane for my campaign, I would say that the order is divided into two battalions, known among the order as the Crown Knights and the Flame Knights. The Crown Knights are charged with the personal defense of Queen Diani, while the Flame Knights are charged with the personal defense of the Council of Cardinals. The Crown Knights are largely devoted to the Queen, while the Flame Knights revere Cardinal Krozen above all others; in addition to serving as bodyguards, they often engage on personal missions or intrigues on behalf of Queen or Cardinal. Again, they are all unified within the order and both devoted to THRANE, and therefore shouldn’t be FIGHTING one another… and yet, the Crown and Flame have different opinions about what’s good for the Church and for Thrane. Duels of honor are a regular thing, and Crown Knights and Flame Knights often find themselves on the opposite sides of intrigue. With that in mind, I would straight up lift ideas from Dumas, as well as Stephen Brust’s Phoenix Guards novels. You’re a squad of Crown Knights, devoted to the Queen, trying to help her navigate her way through a dangerous world and ultimately to do what’s best for Queen and Church, regularly clashing with the Cardinal’s knights along the way. Your knights could uncover Whispering Flame conspiracies, engage in political negotiations on behalf of the Queen, and surely get involved in duels of honor and affairs of the heart—trying to walk the line between devotion to the Flame (for those who are) and devotion to the Queen. You could even be drawn in a popular movement to abolish the rule of the theocracy and return authority to Diani… but is it a popular movement, or is it a scheme of Krozen’s trying to draw Diani into open treason against the state? One for all, and all for Thrane!
The Argentum. The Church of the Silver Flame is dedicated to defending the innocent from supernatural threats. The Argentum began as an arm of the Church dedicated to finding and either destroying or containing cursed objects or exceptionally dangerous magic items. This was always a duty the Argentum carried out in the shadows; even if an item deemed to be a threat was in a dragonmarked enclave or in the possession of a noble, the Argentum would find a way to get their job done. This made the Argentum the most experienced covert operatives of the Church (with the exception of Miron’s Tears, who are SO covert that the Council of Cardinals has no oversight over them). With the shift to theocratic power and the evolution of the Last War, the Argentum was charged with additional tasks—namely, sabotaging powerful magical assets of enemy nations and acquiring arcane tools that could prove valuable to Thrane.
An Argentum campaign is part Leverage, part Warehouse 13. On the one hand, the Argentum continues to serve its original purpose: finding dangerous artifacts, and containing those that can’t be destroying. If the Hand of Vecna (Lhazaar), Wand of Orcus (Katashka) and Book of Vile Darkness are in your Eberron and aren’t currently in the hands of an evil mastermind, there’s a decent chance they’re locked away in the deep vaults of the Argentum. So a basic Argentum story is about finding and containing the effects of a dangerous item, artifact, or Eldritch Machine. This can bring them into conflict with Cults of the Dragon Below, Aurum hoarders, or total innocents who have acquired a dangerous object that has taken control of them or otherwise made them a threat; in such a case, can you neutralize the object without killing the innocent? Alternatively, you can deal with the more covert and political side of the Argentum, and carry out missions to sabotage an Aundairian weapons program, break into a Cannith forgehold, or rob a Kundarak vault — all without causing an international incident! A third option as the campaign goes on is to deal with internal politics, with cardinals seeking to make use of items in the Argentum vault—all in the interests of Thrane, surely, but there are things in those vaults that will never produce a good outcome—or Whispering Flame cultists seeking to infiltrate the Argentum itself. Perhaps you’re on vault duty when a prakhutu of the Lords of Dust stages a raid on the vault; it’s Die Hard in Thrane!
The Templars. The Argentum deals with artifacts and espionage. But the templars work every day to fight supernatural evil, and part of the point of Eberron is that supernatural evil is a part of life. Every day there could be threats from native fiends, spontaneous undead, aberrations from Khyber, dangerous conjunctions or manifest zones, Cults of the Dragon Below—and someone’s got to face them. The point of a Templar campaign would be intense action, not unlike Phoenix Dawn Command. Every adventure you are being dropped into a supernatural hotspot and trying to contain a threat before innocents are harmed. I’ve pointed out that the new rules for lycanthropy can easily trigger a scenario like a zombie apocalypse. Guess what—there’s a werewolf outbreak in a village in Thrane and you’re the only ones who have a chance to contain it before it spreads. Some adventures would be pure, intense action; others would require you to investigate and understand a threat before you have any chance of stopping it. Remember also, MORTAL evil is supposed to be countered with compassion, not steel. After battling aberrations and fiends, your adventurers could be placed in a situation where violence is not the answer—where they must counter the influence of a cult with words instead of swords.
Miron’s Tears. There was a time when the templars of the Silver Flame had the trust and respect of all citizens of Galifar, regardless of home or faith. Today, people outsiders speak more of the corruption in our ranks than the sanctity of our mission. Tira weeps, but our course is clear: we must be the cleansing flame that burns away this infection.
If the Argentum isn’t secret enough for you, you might be interested in Miron’s Tears. Founded by the Avenger Samyr Kes, a companion of Tira Miron, Miron’s Tears is a deeply secret order within the Church that polices the Church itself. As agents of Miron’s Tears you will be hunting both Whispering Flame cultists and hidden fiends, but also dealing with human corruption—people turned from Tira’s path by greed or a thirst for power. Part of the challenge is that not every problem can be solved with violence; the Tears need to consider how to handle a particular point of corruption, considering the impact of removing the corrupt individual and if there is a way to bring them back into the fold. This would be a subtle and philosophical campaign, which would likely involve a lot of how can we be certain Bishop X is a fiend or what to do about Dariznu in Thaliost. A key point is that while most people in Thrane ARE followers of the Silver Flame, it’s not a requirement for Crown Knights. The Argentum and the templars are both arm of the Church itself; it’s possible a character could be someone outside the Church and faith brought in purely because of their exceptional skills, but it would definitely be rare. With Miron’s Tears, faith would be an unnegotiable prerequisite. As one of Miron’s Tears you seek to uphold the pure ideals of Tira Miron, to set the example others should follow. This doesn’t mean you have to wield divine magic; but you would need to have faith in the Flame. It could be interesting to have an agent of the Tears who QUESTIONS their faith over the course of the campaign because of the things they see and do. But you would never be recruited into the Tears unless you had strong faith and Samyr considered you to be incorruptible.
Rellekor. I enjoy running campaigns that are tied to a particular town—where the adventurers are denizens of the town who end up working together for the good of their community. This was the foundation of my Quickstone campaign. You could do this in Thrane with any small village… but I’d be tempted to run it in RELLEKOR. This town is a haven for tieflings, a place where people touched by the malefic influence of the planes can learn to control their powers and work for the greater good. The image at the start of this article is Epitaph, a Dolurrhi tiefling who was raised in Rellekor. Most likely, most of the adventurers would be tieflings, and this would be an opportunity to explore the different sorts of tieflings you can find in Khorvaire. As with Quickstone, I’d play up the idea that most of the player characters don’t start out as professional adventurers. They are inhabitants of Rellekor who happen to have remarkable gifts. Perhaps there’s a Shavaran tiefling who served in the Last War, but who’s retired to farm and hopes never to draw a sword again. Perhaps there is a devout cleric—though maybe they’re struggling with especially strong fiendish influence, relying on the strength of their connection to the Flame to protect them from evil. There could be an entertainer, an arcane researcher, a scholar studying planar influence… but when trouble comes to Rellekor, they’ll have to learn to work together.
These are just the ideas I came up in a few hours thinking about it; it’s only a beginning! Meanwhile, I am starting work on a new Eberron book and am giving my Patreon supporters an opportunity to help me decide what topics it covers. There’s going to be a series of polls over the course of the month. If you’d like to be a part of that conversation, follow the link and check out my Patreon!
Unlock with Patreon
