Dragonmarked Houses - House Orien
The House that the Lightning Rail built. While the lightning rail may be what House Orien is most famous for, it is not the only method of transportation that the dragonmarked heirs have at their disposal. From horse to rail to teleportation, the Mark of Passage has provided these humans with the ability to move people and products throughout the Five Nations. But their history is a complicated one. At their pinnacle, they controlled all methods of transportation in Khovaire. The bottom came as a result of the Mourning and the loss of Orien's three routes at Metrol, the crossroads of Khorvaire. Let’s take a closer look at the rise, fall, and possible rebirth of House Orien.
House Orien
Dragonmark - Mark of Passage
Race - Human (it should be noted that in 3.5e, one could be human, half elf or half-orc)
Traits - ASI, Courier’s Speed, Intuitive Motion, Magical Passage, Spells of the Mark.
Headquarters - Journey's Home (Aundair)
Patriarch -Baron Kwanti d'Orien
Emblem - Unicorn
Guilds - Couriers Guild, Transportation Guild
History
Before the Dragonmarks manifested and the Five Nations came into existence, this group of merchants banded together and traveled the lands delivering goods and providing transportation. In the year -1900, the Mark of Passage appeared, and they were able to take their services to a whole new level through the creation of House Orien was created. Travel was full of dangers during this time, so House Orien established strong diplomatic ties throughout Khovaire, and along with the use of their Mark, they were able to deliver merchandise with little issue.
House Orien's business was a tale of two economic classes. Their over-land business served the general populous, connecting friends and family living in different locales through Khovaire. Common merchants were able to ship goods, and people could obtain safe travel via the caravans the House ran. The nobility and royalty of the region were able to afford the exclusivity of teleportation travel. The teleport ability of the Greater Mark of Passage was by far House Orien's most lucrative business. As the nobles of the young Galifar sought to converse instead of bear arms, such instantaneous travel led to easy and quick communication between them, which in turn fostered a real sense of trust needed for the nation to survive. Such travel was not without its dangers and House Orien began to explore additional methods of transportation.
It was in 811 YK that House Orien saw their influence, power, and wealth explode with the first lightning rail being constructed. With technology developed in partnership with House Cannith, House Orien could now provide travel services that, while still falling short of teleportation, revolutionized how people moved throughout Khovaire. House Orien sent forth groups of heirs known as the Trailblazers who mapped out and placed the conductor stones along which the lightning rail trains would follow. The magical energy created by the stones allowed the trains to travel the path laid out, with speeds averaging 30 mph.
Not just anyone could operate these trains, however, and the task of managing them fell to the heirs of Hosue Orien. The lightning rail coaches each contain an elemental that is bound to it, which creates a ring of electricity that, in conjunction with the conductor stones, pushes the train along the path. Only a House Orien heir can act as a pilot, communicating with and controlling the elemental. With such great power of the ability to control the trains, House Orien grew in stature and wealth, but its days as one of the most powerful houses would soon come crashing down around them.
The Last War saw the Five Nations engage in a brutal war amongst themselves. The tracks within a nation were used to transport goods and troops to the borders, but bridges and rails between the nations were defensive liabilities, and most if not all were destroyed. The most significant blow came when the White Arch bridge was destroyed. This bridge, which connected Karrnath and Thrane, was the primary route of the east to west travel in Khovaire. Its destruction crippled House Orien's ability to operate the lightning rail between the two sides of Khovaire. House Lyrandar was more than willing to pick up the slack, as their airships were now a viable means of transportation. As House Orien's dominance over the field of transportation started to wane, an additional crushing blow came via the Day of Mourning. Lost in this cataclysm was the station at Metrol, where the rails' three major routes met. With the loss of this station, the lightning rail became a secondary form of transportation in Khovaire, ending their dominance over transportation services.
In an attempt to wrestle their hold on transportation service, House Orien's First Step magewrights have been working on various methods of advanced teleportation. The development of the Linked Portal ritual, along with their control over most permanent teleportation circles in Khorvaire, is seen as the first step back to prominence. As my many new technologies, there are still some issues to be worked out, and its usage has not taken hold quite yet. If people still view taking an elemental airship, which takes longer, as safer means of passage, you know House Orien still has a long road to travel.
The Mark of Passage
The Mark of Passage in 3.5e was a series of three feats that focused on spells that revolved around teleportation. The first feat was the Least Dragonmark feat, and the series culminated with the Greater Dragonmark feat. The prestige class in this edition was the Blade of Orien, known for its deadly blades and short-range teleportation ability on the battlefield. These heirs gain the following abilities:
Swift Leap - 2nd level dimension leap as a move action.
Korran's Strength - 3rd level dimension leap, and you can bring a friend!
Orien's Grasp (Sp) - 4th level, dimension leap small objects.
Olladra's Twist (Sp) - 5th level use dimension leap to dimension push. Knockback an opponent your move distance.
Orien's Wrath - 7th level dimension door an opponent up to 20 ft away. That must be confusing for them.
Shadow Shift - 8th level dimension leap or dimension door abilities, you no longer provoke attacks of opportunity.
Orien's Cloak - 9th level blink instead of dimension door, if you want.
Orien's Fury - 10th level dimension leap as a move action, you can make a full attack at the end of your leap.
Marks of Passage
Least Mark of Passage: expeditious retreat 1/day, mount 1/day, or dimension leap 1/day; +2 bonus on Survival checks. A character with the dimension leap spell-like ability can teleport up to a total of 10 feet per character level. Think misty step.
Lesser Mark of Sentinel: dimension door 1/day or phantom steed 1/day
Greater Mark of Sentinel: overland flight 1/day or teleport 1/day. The overland flight is a faster fly spell, where you can travel 64 miles in eight hours of flying.
In the 4th edition, the Mark of Passage allowed the bearer of the Mark to become a master of teleportation. The paragon path was Orien Swiftblade. These master duelists could open a rift into another dimension with a swing of their blade, allowing one to appear in a new and more strategic part of the battlefield. The Swiftblade had the following abilities:
Swiftblade Action - Spend one action point, teleport your speed as a move action until the end of your next turn.
Vigilant Sprinter- You do not grant combat advantage for running.
Swift Foot - Gain a +1 bonus to speed and a +1 bonus to AC and Reflex against opportunity attacks.
Today
House Orien is a House in flux at the moment. They lost lightning rail lines during the Mourning and continue to see their other transport services be chipped away at due to the ever-growing popularity of House Lyrnadar airships. Currently, House Orien is looking for new and advanced methods of transportation services, most revolving around long distance, instantaneous teleportation. With only the most powerful heirs able to safely conduct such feats, they are working with House Cannith once again in an attempt to accentuate their Mark's power.
While House Orien's stronghold is located in Journey's Home, Baron Kwanti d'Orien is continuously traveling through Khoavire is search of funding for their teleportation experiments. Research is costly, and House Orien's coffers being what they are, the Baron is seeking outside funding from other houses, nations, and wealthy individuals. Such funding as been hard to come by, so most time, one can find Baron Kwanti aboard his lightning rail coach, the Silver Unicorn.
The Couriers Guild delivers packages, messages, and people throughout Khovaire. Using a combination of their caravan routes and the lightning rail, they can deliver the goods with relative speed and safety. The guild will also use their Mark of Passage and teleportation abilities to send products instantaneously, for those that can afford them. They also take advantage of the vast transportation network established by the House, as well as the dragonmark abilities related to teleportation. There are even rumors that the guild has a select branch that provides service for those more covert and dangerous deliveries.
The Transportation Guild operates and maintains the caravan mentioned above routes and lightning rail. They are responsible for the upkeep of the trade roads through Khovaire and ensuring the safety of those that travel on them.
In the 5th edition, the Mark of Passage is a human subrace with the following traits:
ASI - Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other of your choice increases by 1.
Courier's Speed - You walk faster - increase speed to 35 ft.
Intuitive Motion - Add a d4 to Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks or any ability check to regarding a land vehicle.
Magical Passage - Misty step spell once per long rest.
Spells of the Mark - Includes such spells as expeditious retreat, pass without trace, blink, freedom of movement, and teleportation circle.
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