The War of the Mark

Military action

Wielders of Aberrant marks are eliminated in the shadows of the kingdom of Galifar.

Aberrant dragonmarks appeared to have come into existence at the same time as the true dragonmarks some two thousand years before the present time. The first records of the aberrant marks referred only to individuals as opposed to their appearance among families. Historians now believe that aberrant dragonmarks appeared sporadically and were only rarely passed on to their bearers’ children. Fragmentary histories of this period paint a grim picture of the “children of Khyber,” attributing all manner of depravity to the bearers of aberrant marks. Of course, these tales also attribute astonishing powers to the early aberrants, such as the story of one who burned down an entire thorp with a wave of his hand because he “desired warmth.” Whether these stories have any grain of truth or not, tales of aberrant activity grew more frequent over the centuries. Approximately fifteen hundred years ago, the appearance of aberrants reached an apex—and the bearers of the true marks decided that it was time to act.   The War of the Mark transformed the dragonmarked houses into their present-day forms and solidified their places within Khorvarien society as the most important players in the Five Nations’ economies. It also solidified the early influences of House Cannith and House Deneith among the other dragonmarked houses, since both were able to bring significant military force to bear in the struggle. Dragonmarked house lore presents the war as a bold struggle to eliminate the deadly threat posed by those bearing aberrant dragonmarks. A close study of historical documents from this period suggests that aberrant dragonmarks began to appear in far greater numbers in the century just prior to the outbreak of the war and that many of these marks carried great destructive power. However, revisionist scholars now claim that the so-called war was largely fought to secure the power and prominence of the true dragonmarked bloodlines and to eliminate a possible source of economic competition for their services. The truth is probably somewhere in between, as it often proves to be in such cases.   Whatever the true reason for the outbreak of the conflict, its first few years were very onesided. Spread across the Five Nations, the aberrants were hunted down and exterminated one-by-one by their better-organized and well-disciplined foes in the dragonmarked houses. The war might have ended then if not for the aberrant-marked nobleman Lord Halas Tarkanan. Tarkanan organized the surviving aberrants into an army in the third year of the dragonmarked houses’ inquisition against his people. Under Lord Tarkanan’s leadership, the aberrants proved a surprisingly resilient enemy against the far more numerous and better-equipped troops (most of them House Deneith mercenaries) of the dragonmarked houses.   Halas Tarkanan, a powerful aberrant heir known as “The Earthshaker,” possessed an aberrant mark which gave him great control over natural forces, but his strategic brilliance often played a greater role in winning victories in battle. His consort, an enigmatic woman known only as the Lady of the Plague, was considered an even greater threat. Though she is commonly depicted as a monster in folktales, many scholars have observed that she seems only to have used her aberrant mark’s powers over disease when forced to and might even have despised her gift—facts carefully omitted from the official histories of the War of the Mark prepared by the gnome scribes of House Sivis.   Tarkanan, a brilliant tactician, used his military skills and the sheer magical power provided by the aberrant marks to turn the tide of battle against the dragonmarked armies. Tarkanan and his queen, the Lady of the Plague, seized control of Sharn, the great mercantile city growing above the bluffs of the Dagger River, and turned it into the primary bastion of the aberrant army. In the end, though Lord Tarkanan’s efforts extended the conflict for a further four years against the might of the dragonmarked houses, he simply lacked the necessary numbers to secure a victory. Tarkanan and his aberrant forces were slowly beaten back to the walls of Sharn by the armies of the dragonmarked. Tarkanan himself was trapped in the final siege of the city of Sharn alongside his consort, where the last of his troops had taken refuge from the massing forces of pre-Galifar Breland, House Deneith, and House Cannith. When it became clear during the dragonmarked houses’ siege of the city that he and his followers were doomed, Lord Tarkanan, the Lady of the Plague, and his other lieutenants unleashed the full horrific magic of their aberrant dragonmarks—arcane power sufficient to destroy the entire city. Earthquakes shattered its towers, rivers of lava flowed up from the fiery lake deep beneath the city, hordes of vermin rose from the depths and terrible plagues ravaged those who ventured too close to the ruins. Many think even in the present day that the Lady of the Plague’s death-curse still lingers in the depths of Sharn, the source of creatures such as the feral spirit, the roach thrall, and the rancid beetle swarm (see the Sharn: City of Towers supplement). Those members of the besieging armies who escaped the flames of Sharn’s fall were devoured by swarms of vermin or stricken down by deadly plagues. The War of the Mark was over—but Sharn had suffered greatly and was abandoned once more.   Despite the horrific conclusion of the War of the Mark, the dragonmarked houses had eliminated the only true potential rivals to their economic hold over Khorvaire and they began to assume the forms they hold at the present time. At the end of the conflict, Lord Hadran d’Cannith suggested that the dragonmarked houses formally cement their alliance by creating an arcane citadel—a center for research and the study of both arcane magic and the potential powers of the dragonmarked heirs. Though there were only ten dragonmarked houses in existence at this time, the architect and artificer Alder d’Cannith convinced the committee to follow through on Hadran Cannith’s idea to name the new institute the Twelve, based on his belief that there were twelve true dragonmarks in addition to the lost Mark of Death. Alder was a brilliant man whose works had played a critical role in the War of the Mark and the members of the committee humored him— though few expected the remaining two marks to eventually appear (the remaining two marks, Warding and Finding, were not “discovered” until after the formation of the Kingdom of Galifar). The new institute was constructed as a ziggurat that mystically floated above the city of Korth in Karrnath.   In the beginning of its existence, the Twelve played a critical role in shaping the dragonmarked houses’ development, but as the houses grew in power and spread across the continent, its influence diminished. Nonetheless, the Twelve remains one of the premier centers for arcane magical research in Khorvaire. By combining the skills and mystical talents of the different dragonmarks, the wizards and artificers of the Twelve have created remarkable items. It took the combined skills of House Orien, House Cannith, and House Kundarak to create the magical safe deposit vaults that allow House Kundarak’s customers to deposit goods at one bank and withdraw them across the continent. Airships, the lightning rail, even the warforged—these marvels could not have come into being without the spirit of cooperation and discovery found among the Twelve.