The Emergence of House Deneith and the Destruction of House Vol

Military action

House Deneith is established and House Vol falls.

The Mark of Sentinel was first bestowed among the humans of the region of Khorvaire that became the nation of Karrnath twenty-six hundred years ago. These people eventually coalesced into House Deneith several centuries before the War of the Mark, one of the largest and most influential of the godmarked houses because of the maintenance of their own standing force of godmarked mercenary troops. House Deneith was based in the city of Karrlakton in Karrnath and its roots were set deep in Karrnathi soil. The features and militaristic temperament of the Karrns could be found at all levels of House Deneith throughout its history and the heirs of Deneith were very proud of their rKarrnathi heritage. House Deneith controlled the Blademarks Guild, the primary source of mercenaries on Khorvaire as well as the elite Defenders Guild whose members served as bodyguards for prominent people. Because of its control over a standing and powerful military force, House Deneith became one of the most powerful of the godmarked houses alongside House Cannith and House Sivis.
Matters were proceeding less well for the elven godmarked houses of Aerenal. The Mark of Death was first gifted to the elven families of the line of Vol, a group of elves involved in secret necromantic studies, which took to calling itself House Vol after the appearance of the material god. The Mark of Death provided its heirs with control over necromantic magic, from the lesser ability to keep dead bodies from decomposing all the way up to the ability to control and create undead. Since undead creatures were viewed as utter abominations by the Aereni elves because of their faith in the Undying Court, the elves of House Vol were viewed with suspicion at best and downright hostility by the other Aereni.

Over the centuries, the Sibling Kings of Aerenal had established their own security forces and relied on the Cairdal Blades, a small, elite force of lightly-armed warriors and assassins and the Deathguard, an equally formidable order of knights and priests of the Undying Court, to keep the peace. The rivalry between the Priests of Transition who served the Undying Court and the followers of Vol had been building for thousands of years, and the appearance of the Mark of Death had only made matters worse. House Vol used its abilities to serve as Aerenal’s undertakers and did not display the other uses imparted by the Mark of Death, though the house was riddled with elven necromancers who explored the full use of the inherent necromantic abilities of their mark in private.

Eventually, the leaders of House Vol secretly made contact with a flight of green dragons from Argonessen led by the great wyrm named the Emerald Claw. The dragons traveled to Aerenal and took up residence with the Vol nobles, magically disguising themselves in the humanoid form of elves. Historians still debate whether the dragons forged this alliance with the Vol elves as part of a broader peace initiative to end the Elf-Dragon Wars or because the dragons actually believed that they might be able to incorporate the powers of the godmarks into the dragon race through the birth of half-dragon children and so gain ascendancy over their brethren in Argonessen. Whatever their original intentions, in time the alliance between the green dragons and House Vol became so strong that the Emerald Claw actually fell deeply in love with and married the house’s elven matriarch, a powerful necromancer named Minara d’Vol, and produced an elven half-dragon child with her named Erandis d’Vol (named after Minara’s grandmother), whose draconic blood gave her godmark enhanced abilities. Erandis was raised in secret while both House Vol and the Emerald Claw (his Draconic name is now known only to his daughter) tried to secure a peaceful end to the conflict between the elves and the dragons of Argonessen.

But the birth of Erandis d’Vol, intended to forge a physical link between dragon and elf, was a secret that caused nothing but horror in both races. The secret of Erandis’ existence was made known to the Undying Court and the Conclave of Argonessen after being ferreted out from a traitorous member of House Vol by agents of the Cairdal Blades. The extent and purpose of this alliance between elf and dragon was never revealed to the public, but the Undying Court launched a full-scale assault on the line of Vol. The Sibling Kings declared that the blood of Vol was to be completely destroyed since even a drop could destroy all living things as the carrier of the Mark of Death. It was the first war between elves—and the first time that dragons and elves sided against a common foe, as the draconic forces of Argonnessen joined the Undying Court to destroy House Vol and its allies.

The leaders of both races made rare common cause and formed a temporary alliance to wipe House Vol from the face of Eberron, as they believed the mixing of their species to create elven half-dragons was an abomination. Despite unleashing every necromantic secret they had discovered upon the joint attack force of one thousand Valaes Tairn warriors, Aereni mages and dragons that carried out the massive assault on House Vol’s home region, the elven rebels had no chance of survival. The end for the heirs of the Mark of Death came when the Emerald Claw was defeated in battle with several of the dragons’ Eyes of Chronepsis who had been specially sent from Argonessen to lead the draconic assault force. This force was composed of militant dragons from Argonessen’s army, the Light of Siberys. The Eyes had been ordered by their superiors to kill or capture the Emerald Clawfor his heresy, though some legends maintain that the great emerald-colored wyrm survived but withdrew from the world in shame over what his hubris had wrought. Realizing that House Vol was doomed, Minara d’Vol used the powers of her greater Mark of Death to transform the young half-dragon Erandis into an undead lich and managed to teleport her safely away from Aerenal, even as Erandis watched her mother die in a fiery blast from the mouth of the red dragon Avothirax. The great red wyrm was leading the draconic component of the joint assault force. Every single heir of the Mark of Death was killed in battle with the combined elven-dragon force or became undead like Erandis d’Vol, and the magic of dragonmarks no longer functioned for undead creatures. All of the surviving unmarked heirs of Vol and its elven allies were allowed to live but exiled from Aerenal to Khorvaire forever by the Sibling Kings. The thirteenth godmark, the Mark of Death, was effectively erased from the face of Eberron, and the fate of the material god Vol is still unknown. Some think he yet lives in hiding from a world that fears his power.

With House Vol and its potential threat to the purity of both elven and draconic bloodlines extinguished, the dragons returned to Argonessen. Within only a few centuries, the brief alliance between Aerenal and Argonessen was forgotten and the Elf-Dragon Wars resumed with their regular and destructive consistency, shattering the dream of the line of Vol and the Emerald Claw.

But Erandis d’Vol had escaped and in time made her way to the Lhazaar Principalities, the island kingdoms ruled by pirate kings that made up the extreme eastern edge of Khorvaire. Erandis, who now called herself simply Vol, the Lich Queen of the Dead, constructed her Illmarrow Castle among the ice-topped peaks of the Fingerbone Mountains of Farlnen, the largest island in the Lhazaar chain. At Illmarrow, Vol nursed her grievances against both the Aereni and the Argonessen dragons who had killed her parents and wiped her house from the face of the world, forcing her to take on her foul undead state. Vol, who was an immensely powerful wizard because of her special heritage, became determined to gain some measure of secular power that then could be used to unearth the necessary magical might required to destroy both the elves and the dragons of Eberron just as they had destroyed her family. Over the centuries, Vol gathered followers—both living and undead alike—to her side and began to explore the ancient necromantic arts and the religious faith of the lost Qabalrin elves of Xen’drik. Vol used her knowledge of the Qabalrin to establish a new religion known as the Blood of Vol, which was largely based on the ancient Qabalrin’s own spiritual beliefs concerning necromancy and the undead. Cultists loyal to Vol spread word of her religion throughout the Lhazaar islands, and a handful of people among the Principalities and across Khorvaire consider it their primary religion, though the faith eventually gained its most loyal following among the people of Karrnath. Most followers of the faith knew nothing of Vol the lich or her history and plans for conquest and genocide. Instead, they worshipped the idea that blood was life and that death provided a better life beyond death than eternity in Dolurrh, as well as a path to divinity. Vol uses her highly placed loyalists to gather information and issue suggestions to the Lhazaar sea princes and their advisers. In many cases, the Lich Queen became the power behind the throne—both in the Principalities and in unexpected places on the mainland of Khorvaire.

The destruction of House Vol did not bode well for the other group of elven godmarked heirs who possessed the Mark of Shadow, House Phiarlan. The House of Shadow could trace its roots back to the Elven Uprising, the ancient war between the giants of Xen’drik and the ancestors of the Aereni elves described above. Many assume that this was a conflict between two monolithic entities, but neither elves nor giants were unified forces. Many different giant nations existed on Xen’drik, and there were dozens of tribes of elves, ranging from former slaves to guerillas who had fought the titan overlords for millennia. Over the course of the uprising, some elves served as liaisons between the many different tribes. These travelers saw their role in the war as being more spiritual than physical: their task was to uphold morale and maintain the alliances between the scattered elven soldiers. They called themselves phiarlans, or “spirit keepers” in Elven. These phiarlans learned the traditions and customs of all the elven sects, and a phiarlan bard could inspire warriors from any tribe. The phiarlans were not generals or military strategists, but their motivational work and the intelligence they carried from place to place was an invaluable part of the military effort.

In the end, pride, Dragonfire and twisted magic brought doom to Xen’drik. In the last days of the war against the giants, the visionary leader Aeren gathered elves from across the continent and arranged an exodus to search for a sanctuary across the water of the Thunder Sea. Many of the phiarlans joined her cause, and their diplomatic skills and knowledge of the scattered tribes played a crucial role in the exodus. The journey was a long one, but the songs of the past and tales of glory helped soothe the fears of the travelers. Eventually, the elves found a new home on the island-continent of Aerenal, and they slowly claimed the land as their own.

But in the time before the Undying Court, Aerenal was a very different realm from the ordered nation seen today. Most of the elves remained isolated in tribal communities, which ultimately evolved into the modern elven bloodlines. The phiarlans continued to serve as liaisons, working to strengthen the bonds between the bloodlines. Phiarlans would travel from court to court, performing the traditional arts of fallen Xen’drik and sharing news from other parts of the land. They also made an effort to look below the surface—to seek out rivalries and schemes that might threaten the peace and balance between the family lines. Typically a mediator would seek to settle disputes openly, but sometimes a phiarlan would quietly pass information to the parties that needed to know. This aspect of the phiarlan was well known, but accepted and even respected; a phiarlan might spy on your family’s court, but he would only use that information for the good of the growing nation. If you had nothing to hide, you had nothing to fear; conversely, anyone who refused hospitality to a phiarlan clearly had something to hide. The reputation of the phiarlans was their shield, and their remarkable skill with song, dance, and other arts was the coin with which they paid their hosts.

Death has always been an obsession of the Aereni. Millions of elves died in the fall ofXen’drik, and the elves swore that they would never lose their heroes again. But different lines followed different paths toward this goal. The Priests of Transition studied ways to preserve the spirit beyond the death of the body. The family line of Vol dabbled in blood magic and dark, necromantic arts. And the Tairnadal sought to become vessels for their fallen ancestors through the perfection of the martial arts.
In time, the Priests of Transition won the support of the majority of the Aereni. The path of the undying relied on the veneration of life, while many saw the work of Vol as preying on the living to prolong the life of a few. Over the course of thousands of years, the Undying Court took form, and this served as an anchor that brought the family lines together. The first Aereni conflict against the dragons cemented this unity. Following this first battle, the councilors of the Undying Court selected the first of the Sibling Kings, and the present-day political and religious structure of Aerenal was formed.

With the Undying Court in place, laws were established to govern the land, and what had previously been a friendly alliance of elven family lines now became a true nation-state. In this era, the phiarlans moved from being pure mediators and news bearers to actual spies. Tensions rose as the nation coalesced, and not everyone supported the rule of the Sibling Kings; in particular, the line of Vol rejected the teachings of the Priests of Transition. The phiarlans continued to carry the ancient forms of art and entertainment from court to court. But now family lords and the Sibling Kings paid them to monitor enemies, searching for signs of dissidence, rebellion, or feuds. While they began to take gold for these services, the phiarlans still saw themselves as peacekeepers: They brought light to the shadows so justice could find its way. And then the godmarks appeared.

The phiarlans had always been drawn from three different family lines: Tialaen, Shol, and Elorrenthi. The Mark of Shadow first appeared on a member of the Elorrenthi, but these lines had long mixed their blood and members of Shol and Tialaen soon manifested the mark as well. Some say that the ascendant councilors of the Undying Court are among the only humanoids with the age or intellect required to study the draconic Prophecy. But living sages had made some study of the Prophecy in the wake of the Elf-Dragon Wars, and while the elves did not know the significance of the marks, they recognized them as playing a role in the schemes of the material gods and dragons. The elves were the first to coin the phrase godmark, though few remember this. Fear followed the appearance of the marks. What was their purpose? What was the source of their power, and why had certain families been chosen? Given the long conflict between Aerenal and Argonnessen, anything tied to the draconic Prophecy was viewed with suspicion. This prejudice strengthened the bond between the three phiarlan lines, but it also pushed them away from the rest of the Aereni. The Sibling Kings came to rely on the Cairdal Blades and the Deathguard where they might have once used the phiarlans. The rivalry between the Priests of the Transition and the followers of Vol had been building for thousands of years, and the appearance of the Mark of Death three thousand years ago simply made matters worse. The situation finally came to a head when the Cairdal Blades uncovered the alliance between House Vol and the cabal of green dragons led by the Emerald Claw. This conflict between House Vol and the Undying Court shook Aerenal to its core, but in the end, the line of Vol was exterminated. Some whispered that a single heir of the Mark of Death, the half-dragon Erandis d’Vol, escaped the destruction—but Lord Haensu of the Cairdal Blades falsely claimed to have faced Erandis in battle and vanquished her. Still, the line of Vol had many followers who had no actual blood ties to the family, and these elves were given the choice of abandoning their vile necromantic traditions or leaving Aerenal for exile in Khorvaire.

Many left, though not just the former followers of Vol numbered among them. Numerous Aereni believed that the shedding of elven blood by other elves had forever tainted the land, and those who bore the Mark of Shadow feared that they would be the next to suffer the fate of Vol as all godmarked heirs became suspect. A handful remained, believing that it was their duty to the kingdom; these elves found themselves largely absorbed into other family lines, and this mingling of blood causes the Mark of Shadows to occasionally appear in Aerenal. But most of the elves of the Tialaen, Shol, and Elorrenthi families fled to Khorvaire so that they could start anew. To mark their departure from elven society, they formally joined their lines into a new alliance: House Phiarlan.These exiles began to call themselves Relorian elves to distinguish themselves culturally from the Aereni even as they merged seamlessly into the multiracial society forming among the human-dominated Five Nations.

The Relorian elves had been uprooted from their home and their culture, and they intended to gain a secure position in this new land as quickly as possible. That meant amassing power. The people of Khorvaire had never seen anything to compare to the artistic skills and talents of the elves, and this sparked a renaissance in culture across the continent. Elven entertainers were welcomed into every village and city, and in the process, they gained knowledge and contacts. The elves of what was now called House Phiarlan had spent over ten thousand years serving as the eyes of the Undying Court, and they put these skills to good use. The Phiarlan were soon fully accepted by the other godmarked houses as an important member of the Twelve after the War of the Mark. And once they had sunk their roots deep into the land, the barons of the house contacted the other lords of the land, offering their services in exchange for gold or favors in the days to come.