Dragonmarked Houses - House Phiarlan/House Thuranni
This week we are combining two houses, House Phiarlan and House Thuranni, for a good reason. House Thuranni was a part of House Phiarlan until recently when they broke away for exposing a dark secret during the Last war. Some claim the publically stated reasons are just a cover for other nefarious intentions, but to date, these are unconfirmed rumors. The houses are in direct competition with one another, as they both provide the same services. What do these houses do, what led to the schism between them, and how are they going to move forward? Let's take a look below and see what we can find out about House Phiarlan and Thuranni.
House Phiarlan / House Thuranni
Dragonmark - Mark of Shadow
Race - Elf
Traits - ASI Increase, Cunning Intuition, Shape Shadows, Spells of the Mark
Headquarters - The Demesnes / Regalport (Lhazaar Principalities)
Patriarch - Elvinor Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan / Elar d'Thuranni
Emblem - Hydra / Displacer Beast
Guilds - Entertainers and Artisans Guild/Shadow Network
History
We start with House Phiarlan, as it is from this house that House Thuranni was eventually born. One of the oldest houses in existence, House Phiarlan beginnings can ve traced back to the elves who rebelled again the giants in the waning years of the Age of Giants. This clan of elves traveled to front, entertaining the troops to keep morale high, but they also acted as scouts, informing them of giant troop movements. They called themselves Phiarlans, which translated to "spirit keeper." At the end of the war, the Phiarlans were responsible for transporting the remaining elves to safety. Finding refuge in the island nation Aerenal, the remaining elves clans settled down, but conflicts ran rampant. It was during these years that the Phailran elves played a crucial role.
The Phiarlan elves continued their tradition as a group of traveling entertainers, visiting the settlements to bring their talents to the masses. But the Phiarlans also acted as a neutral party to help mediate disputes between the various elven factions. They were able to glean knowledge and secrets from the various factions, and the Phiarlans became quite adept in the art of information gathering. Using this information wisely, they would use it when it served the greater good for all elves. Their role as entertainers, musicians, and singers was the perfect cover for their more convert activities.
Undying Court
It was during the rise of the Undying Court that the Pharalans mastered the art as spies. While it sounds ominous, the Undying Court is the main religion for the elves of Aerenal. We know that elves live incredibly long lives, but these elves have no plans to ever pass from the mortal coil to the afterlife. The ruling governmental body in the capital of Aerenal (Shae Mordai) is called the Undying Court and comprises elves called the Deathless. They are not undead but technically are undead creatures, and unlike other undead, they are not evil. The Deathless owe their existence to their close ties to the Plane of Positive Energy, keeping them alive forever. The Undying court despises evil undead, and their primary mission is to eradicate them whenever possible. So now that we know a little bit about the more evil undead elves, you'll understand who the Phiarlan spies were working for and that their mission was a crucial one in keeping the actual evil undead at bay.
House Phairlan and the Last War
Around -3200 YK, the Mark of the Shadow began to manifest amongst the members of the Phiarlan elves. Small problem though - The Mark of Death had already appeared, and those elves were members of House Vol. Now the elves had been fighting the great dragons that maintain a residence in Aerenal, and they weren't thrilled about the appearance of the new dragonmark. As it turns out, House Vol was a secret alliance with the dragons, which wasn't exactly a good thing for the rest of the elves. The Phiarlans made it their singular mission to wipe out House Vol, and after some time, they were able to end the bloodline, removing the Mark of Death from existence. Concerned that the other elves in Aerenal would eventually turn against all dragonmarked, the Phiarlans fled to Khovaire, were they officially established House Phiarlan in -2300 YK.
Once the Last War rolled around, House Phiarlan, like many other houses, refused to take sides but saw an opportunity to make money. They put their skills as spies to a profitable end, taking on contracts for each of the Five Nations. This helped make the house a great deal of money, but it also came at a high cost. As you can imagine, this eventually pitted house agents against one another. Loyalties were tested, resulting in the Shadow Schism within House Phiarlan.
Shadow Schism
Once again, we'll need a sidebar to talk about the Shadow Schism as it is crucial in the formation of House Thurrani. There are several rumors about the Shadow Schism, but the jist of it is this. Elar Thurrani d'Phiarlan coordinated a massive wave of assassinations against the Paelion family, effectively wiping out the entire bloodline in a matter of days. Why did he turn against another member of House Phiarlan? Turns out that Tolar Paelion d'Phiarlan, the head of the Paelion bloodline, was a power-hungry elf and had plans to assassinate the rulers of all Five Nations. With them out of the way, he could consolidate power under the Paelion bloodline.
Elar found out about this sinister plot and knew he had to act quickly. There was a slight problem however; he forgot to mention what Tolar was planning to anyone else before he set off to eliminate the Paelions from existence. The current leader of House Phiarlan, Baron Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan, not knowing why Elar would commit such a heinous act, excommunicated the entire phairlan bloodline from the house. Elar, in so many words, told her to fuck off, and created House Thurrani. Naming himself Baron Elar d'Thuranni, his house is in direct competition with House Phialran.
The Mark of Shadow
In 3.5e, the Mark of Storm was a series of three feats focusing on intelligence gathering, spying, and other covert activities. 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 Shadow Hunter. Shadow Hunters are the warriors and assassins of both houses. They can use the abilities of their dragonmark to hide from and blind their opponents.
Least Mark of Storm - Darkness, disguise self or minor image 1/day; +2 bonus on Gather Information checks - think Insight check.
Lesser Mark of Storm - Clairaudience/clairvoyance, shadow conjuration or scrying 1/day
Greater Mark of Storm - Mislead, prying eyes, or shadow walk 1/day. Mislead is pretty cool. In essence, you get to cast greater invisibility and major image on yourself. You are then free to go elsewhere while your double moves away. With prying eyes, you create magical orbs that you can send out to survey the area around you and report back to see what they have found.
In the 4th edition, the Mark of Shadow, the Phiarlan paragon path was the Phiarlan Phantasmist. These heirs can twist illusions to their purposes, and are even able to bring the worst nightmares of their enemies to life. Their abilities included the following:
Disturbing Visions - Put frightening illusions plague into your enemies' minds, causing them to flee in fright.
Taunting Decoy - Create an illusion of yourself, drawing your enemy's attacks away from you.
Phantasmist Stalker -Summona phantasmist stalker, which obeys your commands
The Thuranni paragon path was the Thuranni Shadow Killer. These heirs are the deadliest assassins with Khovaire. If you have the coin, they can infiltrate any stronghold, take out their target no matter how well guarded, and slip out unnoticed. Their abilities included the following:
Descending Shadows - You can hit your opponent twice with a single attack.
Shadowstep - Creates a zone of darkness that lasts until the end of your next turn. You cannot be seen without the benefit of darkvision. You gain darkvision until the end of your next turn and teleport to the effect’s origin square.
Spectral Garrote - A magical garrote that grants you the ability to grab a target and use them as cover. It also forces them to attack the last individual that targeted you.
Today
After the Last War, both houses continued to operate both as entertainers and spies, vying for business and contracts throughout Khovaire. House Phiarlan works in the lands west of the Mournland, and Thuranni handles most contracts in the eastern lands. Phiarlan heirs are the better spies, but if you need someone assassinated, you'll look no further than House Thuranni.
The two houses get along as far as two families can when both feel they have been betrayed. In public they maintain a peaceful relationship, but long-held grudges simmer just below the surface. Baron Elar d'Thuranni rules House Thuranni from an enclave in Regalport. They do not have a guild per se; instead, they run the Shadow Network. Unlike many houses, which operate their guilds as separate parts of their respective houses, the Shadow Network is an integrated guild. All Thuranni's artists partake in the art of espionage to one extent or another, even if it is just providing a simple distraction to those who are involved in, let's say, more direct contact with a target.
House Phiarlan is located in the lands known as the Demesnes. They are the epicenter of the arts in the Five Nations, with each demense focusing on a specific artistic tradition; the written word, movement arts, music, material arts, and the arts of illusion, puppetry, oratory, and acting. Baron Elvinor Elorrenthi runs House Phiarlan from Sharn, taking up residence in the Demesne of Shadow. They operate the entertainers and artisans guild. Think of them as the artists' unions. If you operate any entertainment establishment, you probably belong under House Phialran's umbrella and can only hire approved members of the guild. They also run the Serpentine Table. While it is not precisely a guild, it serves as the espionage arm of House Phiarlan. Only a handful of individuals who are not members of House Phialran know of the Serpentine Table. Even within the House, only the top individuals grasp what the Table does.
So there we have it, the two houses of the Mark of Shadow. Intrigue, betrayal, and murder all wrapped up in a single dragonmark. Remember to keep quiet of you think you are talking to an agent of House Phailran, and if you see an heir of House Thuranni out of the corner of your eye, then it's already too late.
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