The Mark of Warding

“My family has the finest vaults you can imagine. They forge the locks that secure the jewels of kings and queens. And I learned to pick those locks when I was barely out of the crib.” — Cutter, burglar and Kundarak excoriate

The Mark of Warding helps its bearers protect things of value. Using the mark, a dwarf can weave wards and seal portals with mystic force. It also provides its bearer with an intuitive understanding of locks and mechanisms used to protect and seal. The decision each heir has to make is whether they’ll use this power to keep things safe, or whether they’re more interested in opening locks and taking what’s inside.

House Kundarak

If you want to keep something safe —jewels, secrets, prisoners—Kundarak is there to help. The Defenders Guild of House Kundarak trains locksmiths, security specialists, and more. It maintains the infamous prison of Dreadhold Prision, along with a number of smaller prisons. As useful as these services are, it’s the Banking Guild that truly defines the house. Kundarak's lands in the Mror Holds include deep veins of precious metals and stones, and the dwarves have used this wealth to establish the banking industry of Khorvaire. Anyone who makes a living from coin—from bankers to goldsmiths— likely learned their skills at House Kundarak.
The security of Kundarak banks is legendary. The house also provides a special service to those who can afford it: a system of extradimensional vaults, allowing a client to store their goods in one location and retrieve them at any other Kundarak enclave. House Kundarak has a close alliance with House Sivis. Like the House of Scribing, Kundarak has worked to earn the trust of its clients and to establish a reputation for unshakeable integrity. The house has no love of renegade dwarves using their marks to turn a profit, and such rogues will want to avoid the eye of Kundarak.

Dragonmarked Characters

Here are examples of characters with the Mark of Warding.

Artificer House Agent

Some people want to build a better mousetrap. Better isn’t enough for you—you want to build the best. Your basic job: go out in the world, find the finest and most unusual security systems, and see what you can learn from them. When you go into an ancient ruin, you’re hoping there are traps.

Criminal Rogue

It’s not that you’re a bad person. You’ve just never met a lock you didn’t want to open. It’s like they speak to you, whispering “Free me! Free me!” You’re not even in it for the gold; you’ve just fallen in with a bad crowd because most people who like opening locks are criminals. Perhaps it’s time to make some new friends.

Mark of Warding Traits

The Mark of Warding manifests exclusively on dwarves. If your character has the Mark of Warding, this is their dwarf subrace.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Intelligence scores increase by 1.
Master of Locks. When you make an Intelligence (History), Intelligence (Investigation), or Thieves’ Tools check involving lock and trap mechanisms, you can roll one Intuition die, a d4, and add the number rolled to the ability check.
Wards and Seals. You can use your mark to cast the alarm spell as a ritual. Starting at 3rd level you can cast arcane lock once with this trait and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.