Magic of Eberron

Magic infuses the world of Eberron. It rages high above in the Ring of Siberys that encircles the world. It binds things dark and foreboding in the deepest caverns of the underworld of Khyber. It seeps from the land itself, a source of energy as well as a means for bending the laws of reality.
Magic, and reliance upon magic, shapes and defines the societies of Eberron. For thousands of years, wizards, sorcerers, clerics, artificers, adepts, and magewrights have brought their magical talents to bear to solve the problems life poses. These solutions have helped humanoid society develop and thrive on every continent—particularly on Khorvaire. The result is a society suffused with magic. Skycoaches fly among the soaring towers of Sharn. Blacksmiths chant spells over forges to improve the way they work. Airships ferry passengers from Zilargo to Karrnath. Weavers draw threads of shadow into their fabrics. Streets are illuminated with continual flame spells, and arcane marks emblazon letters of credit and other important documents. Magic is in common use, and low-level spells are easily accessible, although high-level magic is rare and wondrous.

Spellcasters

Two broad categories of spellcasters work across Eberron: professional spellcasters and elite spellcasters. Each has a widely different impact on society.
Professional spellcasters include adepts, magewrights, and others who actually earn a relatively mundane living by casting spells. These working-class casters keep the wheels of industry turning—sometimes literally. Broadly, this category also includes most dragonmarked individuals; they put their inborn magical ability to economic use for their house or family. In fact, the dragonmarked houses of Khorvaire dominate the economic life of the continent through their near-absolute control over professional spellcasting. Many of the unmarked members of the houses are magewrights and adepts, and professional spellcasters who are not members of the families usually work for the guilds that the dragonmarked houses control.
Elite spellcasters include wizards, artificers, sorcerers, clerics, druids, bards, and members of other spellcasting classes. Elite spellcasters might sell their services, but they rarely rely on such activity as their sole occupation and source of income. Few people can afford to pay for a high-level spell, and the market for elite spellcasters is too small to support many of them through their spellcasting alone. Most elite spellcasters have other professions—they are sages, priests, advisors, or adventurers.

The Magical Economy

Most citizens of a Khorvairian city can’t afford to have even a low-level spell cast on their behalf. The 125 gp price for remove disease, for example, puts that spell out of reach of most citizens (even those with the House Jorasco discount) and practically guarantees that disease will never be eradicated from any of Khorvaire’s nations. On the other hand, most people can afford to hop on a skycoach to travel from one end of Sharn to the other, getting a firsthand experience of the incredible magic that keeps the City of Towers running. Even the poorest resident of a great city still benefits from the everbright lanterns found along major thoroughfares. As with any other services, some magical effects are easily affordable and widely available, and others are within the reach of only the wealthiest people.

Communication

Magical, long-distance communication is one of the services offered by House Sivis, which carries the Mark of Scribing. The dragonmarked members of this house have abilities such as whispering wind and sending, which they can enhance with certain dragonshard items. In addition, they can arrange for secure written communication with illusory script, translate documents with comprehend languages, and notarize documents with arcane mark. House Sivis may be one of the most important houses in Khorvaire, simply because it provides its services to customers off the street as well as to members of the other houses. Without Sivis notaries, for example, the banking industry would be seriously jeopardized.
House Sivis also operates message stations throughout central Khorvaire. For a fee, a person can send a short verbal or written message from one station to the other, where it can be picked up by, or otherwise delivered to, the recipient in a relatively timely manner.
Faster still, but more expensive, are the courier services offered by House Orien. For a hefty fee, a teleporter from the Couriers Guild can carry a document or small package from one location to another. Cheaper than both, though not as fast, is the mail service operated by House Orien and protected by the notarization processes of House Sivis.

Healing

House Jorasco carries the Mark of Healing. Because of the house’s efforts and the quality of its services, the people of Khorvaire visit Jorasco hospitals and not churches or temples when they need wounds healed or diseases removed. Though magical healing is prohibitively expensive for most people, House Jorasco’s Healers Guild employs many people trained in the mundane art of healing. These guild members use the Heal skill to treat disease and injuries effectively and even provide long-term care to sick or injured people. Churches and their clerics reserve their healing abilities for members of the faithful and the aristocracies of the nations who are in most need of them (and can be of the most benefit to the congregation in question).

Hopitality

House Ghallanda enjoys a secure economic position thanks to the Mark of Hospitality. Plenty of inns and taverns operate just fine without any magical support, but establishments affiliated with House Ghallanda’s Hostelers Guild can offer conveniences such as heroes’ feast meals, meals and water guaranteed pure, and even secure extradimensional shelters to those with the need and the ability to pay. The Hostelers Guild also inspects and, to some extent, regulates nonaffiliated businesses, improving the quality of accommodations throughout central Khorvaire. When the rich and influential want to throw a memorable party, they call upon the services of House Ghallanda to make the event come together.

Transportation

Magical transportation is available in a variety of forms and controlled by different dragonmarked houses. House Orien, which carries the Mark of Passage, controls the Couriers Guild and the Transportation Guild. Certain scions of House Orien can use teleport to travel limited distances, carrying passengers for a fee. However, far more people have access to (and can afford) the lightning rail. A sequence of magical carriages connected one to another, the lightning rail flies along a predetermined line that stretches between the major cities of Aundair, Breland, Thrane, and Zilargo. In association with House Vadalis, House Orien also operates caravan routes that use some combination of magical conveyance, magebred animals, and mundane draft animals to move goods and passengers throughout Khorvaire.
House Lyrandar, which carries the Mark of Storm, uses its mastery of winds to dominate sea travel and shipping, as well as to fly airships across Khorvaire. Since the destruction of lightning rail lines in the area now called the Mournland, which prevents House Orien’s lightning rail carriages from reaching between western Khorvaire and Karrnath, House Lyrandar has dominated trade and passenger service between the two sides of the continent.

Other Services

Wealthy neighborhoods in large cities boast everbright lanterns that amplify the light of continual flame spells to illuminate the streets. House Kundarak operates banks, using arcane marks provided by House Sivis to notarize letters of credit that allow the wealthy to access their resources anywhere in civilized Khorvaire. House Sivis also creates papers for those with a need to prove their identity, often used when traveling throughout the Five Nations and their neighboring countries. Tinkers (usually affiliated with House Cannith) use mending and repair moderate damage to repair household goods. Some cities and towns boast laundries and street cleaners who rely on prestidigitation for their work.

Goods

No less common than magical services are products made with the use of magic, whether or not they retain any lingering dweomer once the creation process has ended.
Magecraft Items: Every magewright worthy of the name knows the magecraft spell. Truly expert coopers recite the magecraft spell over their barrels, the best blacksmiths chant it as they hammer hot iron, and the finest potters cast it while they spin their clay. The spell’s effect is simple (it provides a competence bonus when crafting), but its ramifications are extensive. Using magecraft, an artisan can produce fine goods in as little as three-quarters of the time normally required, and an artisan who might otherwise find masterwork goods too challenging to produce can create them by using magecraft. As a result, Khorvaire has a larger supply of high-quality goods available, while magewright artisans make their goods faster and thus earn more money for their labor.
Magic Items: Magic items are no easier to create in Eberron, but there are more spellcasters making them. The industry of the world turns on the production and sale of magic items, which are created by everyone from common adepts and magewrights to artificers and other elite casters. In general, minor magic items are easier to find and purchase in Khorvaire.
Livestock:House Vadalis, which carries the Mark of Handling, controls much of the livestock breeding in Khorvaire. The breeders of House Vadalis use magical enhancements to produce magebred animals—creatures with enhanced ability scores that are fast, hardy, and more easily trained. A small number of magical beasts produced through House Vadalis breeding programs also exist, though in general these creatures have not yet become economically important or available to the general public.