Aberrant Dragonmarks
These mysterious marks have long been an enigma in the history of Khorvaire. So little is known in their history, but there are at the very least theories. They are rumored to have emerged between 650 - 550 BK, and while it is far from clear, the leading theory is that it resulted in inter-breeding between individuals with dragonmarks. This theory is not supported with any evidence, but with common sense probability.
The abilities associated with the mark are as enigmatic as their origin. Some could cast random spells, some claimed to hear voices, some could even heal wounds at will. A negative connotation began to associate with the mark, to the point where in 500 BK, a campaign was launched to exterminate those with the marks, said to have been led by the most prominent paladins of the Sovereign Host - a blemish on the religion's history. It took only a year before each person with the mark was said to have been slaughtered.
Party's Perspective
While the party was clearing out Shiksu's Mansion, there were several individuals found in her basement, where the ritual was completed. Most of the individuals were already dead, but each of them had the same strange mark. However, the party did encounter a human mother, Lasha, and her child, who managed to survive. With the help of Theobald and Torfe, the party brought the emaciated individuals back to the Loft, and helped rehabilitate them. After they were in a suitable condition, Lasha told them the following:- Since the War of the Mark - an extermination that supposedly wiped out everyone with an aberrant dragonmark - the survivors had been living in the shadows, far from the notice of the public.
- Just in the past weeks, they’ve been rounded up all over Sharn, just weeks before Viscount Okeanos Tsitak publicly announced he had developed an aberrant dragonmark, and his campaign to learn about the mysterious mark.
- There’s something not right about his dragonmark. Since the War, the marks have almost exclusively been hereditary - a mother or father with a mark giving birth to a child with a mark. The only other supposedly known way is through inter-breeding of house marks, but he’s said nothing about his parents having been members of a Dragonmarked House.
- Most importantly, developing an aberrant dragonmark makes your life a living hell. Your body is wracked with pain, and your mind forms unintelligible thoughts that are agonizing to even try and comprehend. Developing one is not cause for pomp and circumstance.
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