House Orien

The house of transport and transit, Orien is a name known across Khorvaire. No other house directly touches as many lives, whether through the lightning rail that once connected the great cities of the Five Nations, the caravans that traverse rural lands, or the couriers who deliver letters and packages virtually anywhere.

I specialize in fast, efficient delivery. I don't want or need to be told what I'm carrying—the fact that you've paid is all I need to know.

Rikard d'Orien, Couriers Guild

House Orien’s businesses have been pervasive (and profitable) since before the first appearance of the Mark of Passage. However, the Last War took a heavy toll on this house—one from which it has yet to recover. After decades of effort, House Orien had spanned the Five Nations with its lightning rail, but the war and the Day of Mourning shattered the house’s intercontinental links. Today, the organization is bent on recovery, but fresh competition from House Lyrandar and the instability of Khorvaire’s new age are challenges the house has yet to overcome.

Dragonmark

House Orien possesses the Mark of Passage. This dragonmark grants various magical benefits that allow its bearers to control travel and teleportation.

Services

House Orien has a large stake in the transportation business and a dominance over the postal business. It separates these two businesses into two guilds: the Couriers Guild and the Transportation Guild. The Couriers Guild hires independent messengers and couriers to deliver letters and small parcels, whilst the Transportation Guild prepares goods for shipment, runs the lightning rail, and maintains trade roads. The transportation guild is the largest dragonmarked guild and has tens of thousands of employees.
It is rare for one to hire an Orien caravan to travel to a location of their choice as the price is often too steep. It is far more common to find travelers paying a fee in order to accompany a caravan along its set route throughout a city or to a nearby settlement. House Orien often waves the fare for adventurers so long as they offer their services to protect the caravan. The house also runs a teleportation business, though due to its high fees it has yet to become a mainstream form of transportation.

Controlled Territories

• Journey's Home