May 23 recap, and The Secret Origin of Kaleb Buckanen d'Orien

The party arrives in Krona Peak (via Alyosha's discounted teleportation spell), does a little shopping for magic items (Laharal picking up a nice bag of holding, while Amahndar finds a superb shield), and picks up their train tickets to Vedykar. While boarding the train, Mika spots two dwarves loading a lockbox into the cargo hold and gets some ideas, while Amahndar sees a fresh young paladin of the Silver Flame who'll be riding in steerage, and they exchange hellos. Alyosha mocks the paladin's beliefs before slipping onto the train. Laharal is handed a pamphlet by a warforged, called The Machine Manifesto.

The train takes off once they're all aboard. Amahndar prays to the Silver Flame, Mevakri sleeps soundly, and Laharal reads the pamphlet, finding that he empathizes with the notion of "construct rights," so he goes into steerage to talk to the warforged more about it. The warforged says that their messiah, the Lord of Blades, will help them build a sovereign nation of their own, but Laharal says that they should use less aggressive, more diplomatic means to ensure their rights.

Mika sneaks into the cargo hold past the two dwarven guards and finds the lockbox. Inside is a very shiny ring, and she sneaks it back to her cabin. Laharal identifies it as being nonmagical, but it is made out of pure mithril, making it extremely valuable. Mika explores some more in steerage and ends up talking to a young noblewoman named Miss Nagel, who is traveling to "slum it" and visit Karrnath for the summer season.

Alyosha goes into steerage to see what's going on, and the young paladin is exhaustively preaching to the other passengers — mostly commoners — about the Silver Flame, despite his audience's indifference. Alyosha decides to put the paladin in his place and sends Yorick, his skull familiar, to claim to be an "evil spirit." The paladin draws his sword and destroys Yorick (though he emerges again a few minutes later in Alyosha's pack).

Mevakri also goes into steerage to see the other passengers, and also meets up with Miss Nagel. As they're both interested in what each other has to say, they end up having dinner together in Meva's quarters, where Miss Nagel shares nobles' gossip and fashion tips. Amahndar goes to steerage to talk to the paladin, who introduces himself as Zoder, who's on a crusade to evangelize to Karrnath. Noticing that Zoder's good-natured zeal is alienating him, Amahndar shares a parable about church bells; they're used as warnings for villages, but when they don't stop ringing, people learn to tune them out. Zoder takes this under advisement and thanks Amahndar for his counsel.

After dinner, a dwarf crewman and a warforged crewman go door to door in the cabins, asking about suspicious characters; they recognize Alyosha's dragonmark and tell him that a valuable ring has gone missing from the cargo hold. Alyosha agrees to help find the ring, and helps the crewmen interview the passengers. Laharal passes him the bag of holding (which contains the ring), and Alyosha "finds it" in the chamberpot. The ring is successfully returned to its place in the cargo hold, and Alyosha warns the rest of the party to watch itself, especially as the guards are suspicious now.

An hour later, Meva is keeping tabs on Mika, knowing that she took the ring, so she'll stay out of trouble. The conductor gets on the comm to tell everybody that the train will be stopping momentarily for repairs, but Amahndar and Alyosha are suspicious — the engine sounded fine. The conductor — a human with an Orien dragonmark, who Alyosha recognizes but can't place — the dwarf, and the warforged are heading toward the cargo hold, and now most everybody is suspicious — why go to the cargo hold if the engine is having trouble?

The party follows the crew to the cargo hold, and they notice there's an airship docked next to the stopped train. As the conductor tries to lock the door behind him, Amahndar sticks his foot in the door, and the crew draws weapons — the conductor a warhammer and the warforged a longsword. The dwarf grabs the lockbox. A combat breaks out, with Amahndar attempting to arrest the crew while the party provides support. When Mevakri reaches the hold, however, she calls for diplomacy — they don't have much of a quarrel with the crew except for them trying to steal the ring (which most of them can't feel too sorry about, since they tried to before anyway), and it's not really their fight. Amahndar, however, disagrees, because they're stealing something that's not theirs and they're bound by law.

The dwarf scrambles to the roof, but Alyosha's spells knock him out cold, and Mika scrambles to take out the newly arrived airship crew (an eladrin girl and a female archer are now on the open roof). The conductor parleys for him and his crew to leave the ring behind and just go on their way, but Amahndar's not having it, especially as he's got them on the ropes. Mevakri, however, doesn't want to fight (unless Amahndar gets more hurt — then she'll fight to defend him), but she will provide healing and support.

Finally, the conductor reveals himself, when Alyosha asks who he is — Kaleb Buckanen d'Orien, a House Orien traitor who blew up a train — and agrees to surrender, including the dwarf and the warforged. The eladrin and archer board their airship and take off. In steerage, Amahndar charges Zoder to guard the handcuffed Kaleb, and the ring is safely held onto. As the train needs someone with the Mark of Passage to pilot it, Alyosha drives it the rest of the way.

After the battle, Mika notices that her dagger is missing — it didn't fall off during combat, so where is it? She goes back to Miss Nagel, who is acting very suspiciously but won't give up the location. Finally, Mika notices extra pockets in her formal dress and realizes she's a pickpocket. Mika "seduces" Miss Nagel to come back to her room, then grabs the dagger (and the dress) and bodily hurls her off the train.

The Secret Origin of Kaleb Buckanen d'Orien

I meant to have a Streetwise check to know more details about who Kaleb is after his identity was revealed, but forgot to do so. Since Mevakri is so well-trained in Streetwise, I'll just reveal everything about him:

Kaleb Buckanen d'Orien was a smuggler for House Orien — officially, they don't exist, but they're an open secret in the house itself, because the Mark of Passage makes it easy to sneak things from one place to another (especially when you control most of the means of transportation). As such, he learned plenty of tricks of the trade and was a good and faithful member of House Orien during the Last War.

However, about 7 years ago, a train in Aundair on its way to Thaliost was derailed and most of the passengers aboard were killed, and Kaleb was identified as being responsible. The city of Thaliost used to belong to Aundair until being captured by Thrane about 70 years ago, and as such the native Aundairians, to this day, still resent Thrane taking over. The archbishop of Thaliost is known for using excessive force on the resistance movements there (which definitely doesn't help things). Kaleb's originally from Aundair — farm boy born and raised — and the train he destroyed had aboard a contingent of orcs, trolls, medusas, all kinds of monstrous mercenaries ordered up by the archbishop to help wipe out the rebels.

Kaleb was captured by House Orien, but escaped before he could be excoriated (a punishment for traitors to dragonmarked houses where the house will destroy the dragonmark by flaying the skin), and since then he's been on the run. Aundair, Thrane, and House Orien all have bounties posted for his arrest, but he's managed to avoid everyone who's come after him — mostly because of his in-depth knowledge of secret smuggling routes and underworld contacts.

May 16 recap

Having captured Kif, the changeling auctioneer, the party forces him to lead them to the ship they use to ship prisoners. Kif leads them to the ship, a small, inelegant cog meant for short trips. The captain and crew are not around, so the party decides to take the ship themselves. Deciding not to leave him behind, Meva and Mika tie him up to use as collateral (with Gunther, Mika's dog, guarding him).

As they sail toward the fog-shrouded island of Trebaz Sinara to find Nevitash, they are quickly disoriented by the thick cover and have a hard time plotting their course. Meva takes the helm, having captained her own ship before, but even she is having difficulty navigating when she can't see well. Amahndar wisely uses his sunblade to help illuminate the path, and Alyosha cheerleads the crew on, but the ship quickly finds itself lost with no clear direction to go.

As the party examines its options, Laharal and Meva spot another ship approaching, and the party decides to hide in the cabins (while Mika takes the crow's nest) so the ship appears abandoned (and the other ship won't fire on them right away). Sure enough, the other ship docks with the party's ship, and aboard comes a group of rotting zombies, two elf archers, and an elf in skull facepaint. Seeing the zombies, Amahndar immediately charges out of his hiding space and attacks the zombies, and the party soon joins in the attack: Mika hurls her shuriken from the crow's nest, Alyosha teleports around the ships to snipe at the attackers, and Laharal and Meva fight off a pair of ghouls that sneak around to flank the party and attempt to drag them underwater. The ghouls and zombies are destroyed and hurled overboard, the two elf archers are killed, and the elf in skull facepaint is knocked unconscious (as the party wants him alive to interrogate). On the deck of the attacking ship is an altar to the Blood of Vol, which Amahndar and Alyosha promptly hurl overboard, and the party divides up the loot.

Going below decks on the Bloodsail ship, they find six people in chains, most of whom have clearly not eaten or been taken care of in some time. Among them is Nevitash, who Amahndar and Meva nurse back to health; most of the others are dead, so Amahndar gives a quick prayer to the Silver Flame and gives them a burial at sea. Rather than take Kif and the unconscious elf back to Port Verge with them, the party decides to take the Bloodsail ship for themselves, leaving Kif and the elf on their old ship to find their way back (giving them at least a fighting chance, instead of outright killing them or turning them over to the authorities). Kif argues that this is tantamount to murder, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. The party changes out the sails — as the crimson red sails of the Bloodsail ship would not be welcome in port — and heads back to Port Verge, eventually navigating through the fog and arriving back in town.

Nevitash says he did win the journal at the auction, and it's back in his room at a dingy inn — he put there before he was waylaid. The party goes to his room, only to find it ransacked. Nevitash searches the room and finds the journal, but half the pages have been ripped out. When the party asks what was on those pages, Nevitash admits he doesn't know — he hadn't finished reading before going out that night. Meva asks around the inn patrons, and it turns out Nevitash's room was broken into a few days ago. The party asks the innkeeper, and he says there were two men nosing around the room after it was broken into — local minstrels, by the looks of it.

The party decides to sleep for the night before investigating the next day. Mika arranges for a House Phiarlan artist to provide a sketch of the suspects, while Meva asks around town about musicians. Most of the local musicians are involved in crime, as it pays pretty well, but there's two brothers by the docks who recently came into some money. Alyosha goes to the House Tharashk post to hire an inquisitive to find out about the minstrels for him. A world-weary half-orc agrees to take his case to find out who took the pages from the journal.

The party meets up again to go after the minstrels that Meva found, with Mika's sketches in hand. There they find the brother musicians, performing on lutes as their trained falcons do tricks. Mika starts polishing her shuriken (i.e. lifting up her skirt some) while Amahndar asks nicely where they got their recent good fortunes from. Entranced by the view under Mika's skirt, the musicians have no problem revealing they were hired by a middleman to steal the pages out of the journal and put them in a safe deposit box in the local House Kundarak bank. They even helpfully provide the number of the box.

At the bank, Amahndar uses his aura of authority to inquire to the teller about who owns that particular box (with Meva acting as his secretary, Laharal as his owned golem, Alyosha as his entourage, and Mika as his slave girl/bodyguard). The dwarf teller informs him it belongs to Jahanah Drocin, a noblewoman who lives in Karrlakton, Karrnath, but she's unable to say what, if anything, is still in the box (bank policy).

As Jahanah Drocin is their only lead, and at Professor Burch's behest, the party sells their Bloodsail ship for a hefty profit and uses a portion of the money to fund a House Orien teleportation spell (thankfully halved because of Alyosha's membership discount) to Krona Peak (the nearest House Orien station), from which they can take a lightning rail to Vedykar and from there catch a caravan to Karrlakton and continue their search.

DM's Notes:

•Next D&D game I'm in, I'm definitely playing a world-weary half-orc detective.

•Though he didn't do anything super-noteworthy, Yorick the bat-winged skull makes his hilarious debut as Max's familiar.

•I checked the map and my books again and the lightning rail will go as far as Vedykar, not Vulyar (which shaves a few days off the journey).

Primer: The Secret History of the Shardminds

Tim's character race, the Shardmind, is brand-new in the Player's Handbook 3, and was not around when the Eberron campaign setting was first created. As a race of sentient crystalline creatures held together by pure will, they're also something that doesn't fit easily into the Eberron setting (especially as their background in the PHB3 isn't compatible with the Eberron setting, and there's been no official material on how to work Shardminds into Eberron). I've written up a background for the Shardmind race in Eberron (I'll have one up soon for the kalashtar, just to clear up any discrepancies).

The information known here is not widely known in Eberron — it'd be about a DC 25 or 30 History check — but as Tim is a shardmind, I'm publishing it for the party's benefit.

Nineteen thousand years ago, long before humans set foot on Khorvaire, the Dhakaani Empire ruled the continent. A coalition of goblin and orc tribes, their domain stretched from the Shadow Marches all the way to what is now the Mror Holds. The Dhakaani Empire ruled for more than ten thousand years, and their strength of numbers protected them from external threats.

The Dhakaani Empire faced a serious threat about 9,000 years ago when Xoriat, the Plane of Madness, aligned with Eberron. Many portals opened in the Shadow Marches, and aberrations of a million varieties poured forth to invade Khorvaire. The goblin armies were no match for rampaging beholders, mind flayers, aboleths, and more.

The Gatekeepers, a sect of orc druids, used their primal powers to help the goblins hold their own, summoning animal and elemental reinforcements to help drive back the aberrations. Similarly, some goblins, exposed to the reality-warping powers of the Realm of Madness, developed a taint that turned their skin blue but unlocked their psionic potential, and these "blues" helped counter the mental powers of the minions of Xoriat.

Still, attrition took its toll, and soon the Gatekeepers and blues were reduced to a fraction of their strength and desperate to contain the encroaching madness. Desperate for new allies, the Gatekeepers used powerful nature magic to give life to their caches of dragonshards, and the blues bestowed the newborn shardminds with psionic resistances to better fight psychic attack. The shardminds displayed a natural affinity for psionic abilities, and they quickly joined their creators in repelling the aberrations. The rituals used to create the shardminds bound their spirits to Eberron itself; when one shardmind fell in battle, a new one was born somewhere in the Shadow Marches.

Finally, the aberration invasion was repelled when the Gatekeepers built dimensional seals around the Xoriat manifest zones — magically engraved monoliths that prevented teleportation and planar travel, and kept Xoriat permanently at bay. As long as the dimensional seals stood, the Realm of Madness would never again touch Eberron. The remaining aberrations retreated into the underground realm of Khyber. The Gatekeepers, recognizing the shardminds were effectively self-replenishing, charged them with defending the dimensional seals.

The Dhakaani never truly recovered from their war with Xoriat, and eventually they turned to infighting and fell into ruin. Through it all, the rather single-minded shardminds tirelessly guarded the seals and helped the Gatekeepers in seeking out lingering aberrations. Though the goblins and orcs devolved back into primitive tribes, the shardminds continued their eternal vigil.

In the modern day, the shardminds continue to guard the dimensional seals and seek out aberrations, but their numbers have dwindled. The Shadow Marches still bear the scars of war, and their sacred mission remains as important as ever. As the Gatekeepers have declined over the millennia, the rituals that give life to shardminds have been lost. Though the shardminds remain in the same perpetual cycle of death and rebirth, the centuries have shown that sufficiently powerful magic can permanently reduce their numbers, and their ranks have been reduced as aberrations grow bolder and attack the surface.

Shardminds live for about a human lifespan before the energy that binds them together weakens. When a shardmind dies, the new one that is created shares a sort of racial memory — they know their charge to defend the dimensional seals, and they all carry a natural deference to the Gatekeeper druids and hatred for aberrations — but has a new personality and no memories of its past life, making it a distinct individual. They still retain their psychic defenses and strength of will bestowed upon them during the Xoriat invasion.

Most shardminds stay in the Shadow Marches, and as such they are rarely seen elsewhere in Eberron — as dragonshards are useful for the creation of magic items, more than one artificer has killed a shardmind for the "spare parts." Still, some decide that the best way to protect the seals and fight aberrations is to venture forth and accumulate power in other ways.

Primer: Recent Timeline of Eberron

Here's a timeline of the recent history of Eberron, going back to within your lifetimes (or things that are common knowledge). I picked only the biggest events:

104 years ago

•King Jarot, last ruler of Galifar, dies. His five children disagree on the rite of succession; Mishann, queen of Cyre, is the oldest, but she is opposed by Thalin, Kaius I, and Wroann of Thrane, Karrnath, and Breland, respectively, while Wrogar of Aundair sides with Mishann. When Mishann arrives at Thronehold for her coronation, she finds the island blockaded by her siblings' navies. After a short battle, Mishann escapes. Diplomacy fails, and the siblings begin fighting amongst themselves over who should sit on the throne. The Last War begins.

84 years ago

•The Mror Holds split off from Karrnath.

•Thalin, king of Thrane, dies. The Church of the Silver Flame uses the opportunity to take control of the nation and depose the aristocracy.

42 years ago

•Elf mercenaries annex southeast Cyre and declare the sovereignty of the elf nation of Valenar.

40 years ago

•The Eldeen Reaches declares itself an independent nation from Aundair.

33 years ago

•House Cannith perfects the modern-era warforged and begins mass-producing them.

29 years ago

•Hobgoblin mercenaries annex southwest Cyre and create the goblinoid nation of Darguun.

26 years ago

•House Thuranni splits from House Phiarlan.

11 years ago

•A trio of hags called the Daughters of Sora Kell arrives in Droaam with an army of trolls, ogres, and gnolls. Breland pulls its forces back, and the Daughters declare the sovereignty of the monster nation of Droaam.

8 years ago

•House Lyrandar puts its first elemental airships into service.

5 years ago

•6-year-old Jaela Daran assumes the power of the Keeper of the Silver Flame, becoming the spiritual leader of the Church of the Silver Flame and the political leader of Thrane (though in practice, the Council of Cardinals oversees most affairs of church and state).

4 years ago

•In an unprecedented magical event called the Mourning, Cyre is destroyed. Survivors report seeing a flash of bright light in the city of Making, and a dead-grey mist spreads out from the city to encompass the nation's borders, killing everyone in its path. Compounding the tragedy, the hatreds of the Last War lead many of Cyre's neighbors to refuse aid to the refugees; the elves of Valenar and the goblins of Darguun treat the refugees as invaders, killing them as they ran.

2 years ago

•As the nations are too shaken by the events of the Mourning to continue fighting, the Treaty of Thronehold officially ends the Last War, though tensions from a hundred years of fighting remain.

•Cyre is no longer recognized as a sovereign nation; Breland grants the survivors a small patch of land called New Cyre.

•As part of the treaty, House Cannith is ordered to destroy all creation forges, and all warforged are emancipated and granted the rights of sentient beings.

Now

•The party is assembled by Professor Burch of Morgrave University to search for the Siberys Pandect.

Primer: Dragonmarks, the Draconic Prophecy, and the Houses

The dragons have always believed that at the dawn of time (yes, we're going back that far to explain dragonmarks), the world was ruled by the progenitor wyrms. The three most powerful — Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber — discovered or created the Draconic Prophecy. What the Prophecy is is a matter of great debate among dragons, though they can agree on one thing: it guides the destiny of the world. The three dragons fought, shattering the world into three parts and scattering the Prophecy across existence. In the end, Siberys became the sky that surrounds the world (the Dragon Above), Khyber was bound to the darkest depths (the Dragon Below), and Eberron healed the world between by becoming one with it. Siberys created the next generation of dragons, Khyber created the fiends, and Eberron created all other living things.

Over the following millenia, the dragons rediscovered the Prophecy and began collecting fragments to try to understand the world around them. Fragments of the Prophecy appear all across the world, in the skies, on the sides of mountains or the walls of caves, just about anywhere. Dragons learned to read the alignment of the moons and stars to try to find more of the Prophecy. There is no one source of the Prophecy; while several individual dragons may have amassed a wealth of Prophecy lore, they're not inclined to share it. Furthermore, nobody can agree on what the Prophecy is; does it portend doom for the world, or transformation, or what exactly?

For untold millenia, signs of the Prophecy only appeared on the earth or in the skies above, but three thousand years ago, the dragons were shocked to find it appearing on a new template: the lesser races. What this means for the Prophecy, the dragons can't decide, but for now, they are taking a "wait and see" approach. (It bears noting that dragons themselves never manifest dragonmarks, despite the name.)

The dragonmarks granted power over particular areas of magic above and beyond what simple spells were capable of. Over time, those who possessed dragonmarks founded dynasties and amassed power for themselves, particularly those who had the 12 most common dragonmarks. The 12 primary marks are particular to races and families and are mostly hereditary — Detection (half-elf), Finding (half-orc and human), Handling (human), Healing (halflings), Hospitality (halfling), Making (human), Passage (human), Scribing (gnome), Sentinel (human), Shadow (elf), Storm (half-elf), Warding (dwarf).

However, besides the primary 12 dragonmarks, there used to be many who carried "aberrant" marks that held unpredictable power. The aberrant marks have no clear lineage and can appear on members of any race. As their power is unknown, many of them are referred to as "children of Khyber" and thought of with superstition. 1,500 years ago, fear of aberrant marks grew so great that the dragonmarked houses launched a campaign, the War of the Mark, to eliminate aberrant marks from Eberron. While this sounds like a one-sided campaign, by this point aberrant marks had grown so powerful that some were able to create earthquakes or summon plagues by mere force of will, and so this was believed to be for the good of the world. Indeed, the final battle of the War of the Mark ended with the aberrants destroying Sharn.

The War of the Mark solidified the power of the dragonmarked houses and drove aberrant dragonmarks underground. Aberrant marks still exist to this day, but they are not as powerful as they once were, and most superstition about them has long since faded. However, still worried about aberrant marks, the dragonmarked houses have forbidden interbreeding between houses, as they fear creating new marks.

The dragonmarked houses are economic powerhouses built on the principle of magic as commerce. They set the prices on rituals and goods, and they can undersell the competition. They're the Microsofts of Eberron; sure, you can look elsewhere for goods, but with the dragonmarked houses, they're widespread and you know what you're getting. All the houses make their mark on daily life in Eberron, and they keep the world running. Also, the houses have jointly created a college of magic, called the Twelve, which furthers magical research and often acts as the center of dragonmarked intrigue as the houses vie for favor and control. The houses often overlap in services and compete for customers and influence.

Only about half at most of the members of a dragonmarked house actually bear a dragonmark. Most are related by blood or marriage or simply work for them in a professional capacity. Each has different rules about who they hire and how one can become a member.

It is important to note that when the kingdom of Galifar (which was splinted into the Five Nations in the Last War) was founded, the rulers took measures to ensure the dragonmarked houses did not take too much power for themselves; in exchange, the government would not interfere in dragonmarked affairs. The Korth Edicts prevent any member of a dragonmarked house from holding land (in fact, the house enclaves are rented, not owned); limits the size of house garrisons; and specifies that no member of the aristocracy can marry a member of a dragonmarked house without one giving up all heritage and rights. However, now that the country is splintered in the wake of the Last War, some ignore the Korth Edicts and would like to see one of the dragonmarked houses take the throne themselves.

House Cannith (the Mark of Making)

Members: Humans

Guilds: Fabricators (equipment producers), Tinkerers (repairmen)

Cannith is a house of artifice. They are responsible for many magic items in the world, and they are also responsible for many mundane items as well — the stamp of Cannith can be found on items as varied as horseshoes, longsword hilts, and watertight barrels. During the Last War, they acts as arms dealers to every faction, and they created the warforged as artificial mercenaries. However, they suffered greatly on the Day of Mourning; their headquarters was in Cyre, and their house baron died without an apparent heir. Cannith has since splintered into three factions that disagree on the future of the house. House Cannith was also hurt by the Treaty of Thronehold, which ended the Last War and emancipated the warforged (also banning House Cannith from forging new ones).

House Deneith (the Mark of Sentinel)

Members: Humans

Guilds: Blademarks (mercenaries), Protectors (bodyguards and garrisons), Sentinels (marshals, war crime investigations)

House Deneith is a house of soldiers and sentinels. Their bodyguard skills are sought across Eberron, and they are willing to hire any worthy candidate as a house-approved mercenary. During the Last War, they offered mercenaries to all sides but took measures to ensure that Deneith troops would never fight other Deneith. They usually avoid political maneuvering, though they consider Cannith's warforged direct competition. House Deneith also watches over Thronehold, the ancestral holdings of the King of Galifar, in case a new king or queen is chosen.

House Ghallanda (the Mark of Hospitality)

Members: Halflings

Guilds: Hostelers (inns and restaurants), Dragontail (food and shelter to soldiers in war), Dawn-Builders (building new hostels in new territory)

House Ghallanda provides food and shelter to whoever can pay for their services. They take their mandate of hospitality very seriously and do their best to attend to a customer's every need. Their hostels are also, legally, asylums from the law; while many criminals seek shelter there, Ghallanda is no fool and keeps a strong garrison at each of its enclaves, and they'll keep anybody in their hostels as long as the customers can continue paying and respect the rules against violence. During the Last War, House Ghallanda provided food and shelter on the battlefield, and they were generally noncombatants.

House Jorasco (the Mark of Healing)

Members: Halflings

Guilds: Healers (herbalists and hospitallers), Medics (combat healers)

House Jorasco is the primary source of healing in Khorvaire — as long as you can pay, of course. They are familiar with all manner of diseases and ailments, and they have access to some of the most potent sources of magical healings in Eberron; some of their enclaves even contain truly exotic methods of healing. During the Last War, Jorasco acted as medics for all sides, often acting as healers for both sides of a battle. Since the war's end, the house has been investigating ways to use healing magic to possibly cure the Mournland.

House Kundarak (the Mark of Warding)

Members: Dwarves

Guilds: Bankers (commerce and moneylending), Warding (locksmiths, security, magical wards)

House Kundarak is the universal bank. The house's mastery of security has made their vaults nearly impenetrable, and their amassed wealth has given them a significant hand in moneylending. They back the currency for every nation in Khorvaire and advise them in financial matters. Their vaults are magically linked; someone who rents a safe-deposit vault can access that vault at any Kundarak bank. House Kundarak was mostly uninvolved in the Last War, although their significant influence did allow them to help the Mror Holds, the dwarf homeland, secede from Karrnath.

House Lyrandar (the Mark of Storm)

Members: Half-elves

Guilds: Windwrights (seafaring and airborne ships), Raincallers (weather control, aqueduct engineers)

House Lyrandar has the power to control the weather. They sell their magic to farmers and soldiers to provide ideal weather conditions, and they build and sell ships for sea transport (as their weather magic lets them control the wind as well). They have also created the elemental airships (with the help of the gnomes of Zilargo), which can ferry well-paying passengers all across Eberron at high speeds. During the Last War, House Lyrandar provided beneficial rain or sun, but refused to use their magic to cause droughts, mud, or snow. Their elemental airships have put them in direct competition with House Orien for transportation.

House Medani (the Mark of Detection)

Members: Half-elves

Guilds: Warning (detectives, bodyguards, investigation), Thousand Yard Stare (Mournland early warning patrols), Basilisk's Gaze (tracking down war criminals)

One of the smaller dragonmarked houses, House Medani uses its powers for observation. It's said that when you want to be protected, you go to House Deneith, but when you want to know who's after you, turn to House Medani. Their powers are used to solve crimes and provide counterintelligence, often apprehending spies. While the Korth Edicts prohibit members of dragonmarked houses from serving in government, House Medani increasingly became the counterintelligence arm of the Breland government during the Last War (as they are based in Breland), and there is talk that the house is too close to the Brelish crown.

House Orien (the Mark of Passage)

Members: Humans

Guilds: Couriers (delivery of small goods), Transportation (lightning rail, cargo shipment)

House Orien created the lightning rail, the train which connected all of Khorvaire together. They also organize caravans and maintain trade routes between the nations, and they are the foremost experts on teleportation — they maintain the teleportation portal circles. However, they suffered greatly during the Last War; the Mourning cut off their train route through Cyre, and fighting destroyed the White Arch Bridge that links Aundair and Karrnath, severing the train lines in two. Orien is looking for sources of funding to rebuild the White Arch Bridge or plot a safe course through the Mournland. They are also increasingly looking at teleportation as a means of travel, but it is still an inexact and unsafe science.

House Phiarlan (the Mark of Shadow)

Members: Elves

Guilds: Entertainers and artisans

House Phiarlan is the house of entertainment, providing training for artists all across Khorvaire. Their dragonmark grants them powers of illusion that they use to entertain and enthrall; the Phiarlans run theaters, music halls and circuses, and their performers are among the finest in the world. They also have a fair amount of spies in their organization, using their positions to gather intelligence (although this is less well-known, I'm telling you because you're the heroes).

House Sivis (the Mark of Scribing)

Members: Gnomes

Guilds: Notaries (legal documents, bookkeeping, translation), Speakers (diplomats, long-distance communication)

House Sivis is the master of the written word. They hold a monopoly on speaking stones that allow messages to be conveyed at long distances, and they invented the Sending ritual. They are also record keepers and mediators, using their mastery of language to keep communication flowing. They mostly stayed out of the Last War.

House Tharashk (the Mark of Finding)

Members: Humans, half-orcs

Guilds: Finders (dragonshard prospecting, bounty hunting, investigation), Liondrake's Roar (monster mercenary brokers)

The humans and half-orcs of House Tharashk use their services to find things. They are among the foremost prospectors of dragonshards, and they are commonly involved in search-and-rescue missions. They also pursue wanted criminals and war criminals. Lately, they have turned to the new nation of Droaam, helping find work for monsters that they wouldn't have had access to before.

House Thuranni (also the Mark of Shadow)

Members: Elves

Guilds: Shadow Network (illusions, assassins)

During the Last War, a schism erupted in House Phiarlan; the house had tried to stay neutral in the war, but the house of spies invariably found itself at cross-purposes. The situation came to a head when the Thuranni family turned on another family line, the Paelions, and exterminated them. The Phiarlan baron called for their excoriation, but the Thurannis left and declared themselves a new house. While they also specialize in art and performance, they are also formidable assassins (again, also not well known, but I'm telling you because you're the heroes).

House Vadalis (the Mark of Handling)

Members: Humans

Guilds: Handlers (animal breeding, training)

House Vadalis makes its fortune on the breeding and sale of animals. They have developed the art of magebreeding — weaving magic into natural bloodlines and making mundane animals stronger. They've also managed to domesticate animals that unmarked trainers couldn't handle. Vadalis animals are the smartest and strongest in the world, and nearly all of them are for sale. The house has a bitter rivalry with the Valenar elves, who say their horse breeds are stronger than any magebred horse. House Vadalis is banned from Valenar on pain of death, as they were accused of trying to steal Valenar horses for their own studies.

The Mark of Death, the Lost House

There was a thirteenth dragonmark, the Mark of Death, but it no longer exists.