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Dragonmarks: The Dragonmarked Houses

In the wake of the war, many nations still want to contain the power of the dragonmarked houses. The clearest example of this attitude is the provision of the Treaty of Thronehold that called for the destruction of the creation forges that House Cannith used to create the warforged. At the time the treaty was signed, House Cannith was divided, reeling from the loss of its baron and its Cyran holdings in the Mourning. Now, realizing that weakness and concession led to Cannith’s losses, the houses refuse to be so easily cowed, and no united Galifar remains to rein them in. The houses are not bound by national borders. With the threat of renewed war looming on the horizon, the possibility of losing the services of a house is one that few nations can afford. Indeed, some leaders are working to build close ties with the houses. Aundair granted Stormhold to House Lyrandar in a clear violation of the Korth Edicts, and that house’s activities in Valenar also overstep the law. House Deneith’s military forces at its headquarters in Korth have grown beyond even the more generous provisions granted to it in the edicts, but Karrnath has yet to challenge this state of affairs.

All this creates a situation rife with intrigue and ready for adventure, as player characters—especially those who bear dragonmarks themselves—negotiate the ever-changing alliances and plots among the houses and the nations. Aside from the individual intrigues of each dragonmarked house, you might also consider the growing influence of the houses as a whole. A century ago, the balance of power clearly lay in the hands of the monarchy. Today, the divided leaders of Khorvaire’s many nations squabble and work intrigues, weakening their influence over their economies. Meanwhile, the reach of the merchant houses grows stronger with each day. There are many who whisper that if the nations of Khorvaire are ever to be united again, it will not be a descendant of Galifar who sits on the throne, but a dragonmarked heir of one of the houses.

This text is from from the fourth edition Eberron Campaign Guide, and it reflects a few of our basic design goals in creating the dragonmarked houses. Eberron is a world where magic is a part of industry, where it provides services that are part of everyday life—communication, transportation, medical services. If you need healing, you don’t go to a temple, you go to a hospital—which is to say, a Jorasco healing house. Part of our goal in doing this was to contrast the traditional feudal fantasy kingdom with the modern multinational corporation… to explore the idea that in an industrial world, the barons of industry may be as powerful—or more powerful—than kings and queens. In part this was inspired by powerful corporate families throughout history, such as the Medici Bank or Thurn & Taxis. it was equally inspired by the megacorporations of the cyberpunk genre, which often envisions a world in which industry has largely supplanted nations, where brand loyalty may mean more than nationality. Eberron isn’t at that point YET, but it was always the idea that you could imagine it going there… that the houses are growing in power while the nations are tearing themselves apart. It’s a theme you see explored in the last two Thorn of Breland novels, among others.

You don’t have to explore this in your campaign. The basic principle of Eberron is that we present more threats than any one campaign could possibly deal with—daelkyr, Dreaming Dark, Overlords rising, dragonmarked dystopia, the Next War, the Queen of the Dead—and it’s up to the DM to decide which will play a factor in a campaign, and which are still decades or centuries away from being relevant. Just as the stars may not be right for the daelkyr to arise, it could be that in YOUR Eberron the houses have no sinister agenda and are simply friendly, reliable service providers. But the idea is there that the houses are forces with the power to rival nations, driven purely by the interests of their families and an endless hunger for profit.

To be clear, it’s not the case that the houses are supposed to be evil. They’re essentially self-regulated monopolies. Given that, they could engage in vicious price gouging. They could knowingly peddle substandard goods, or take advantage of their customers in any number of ways. In general, we present them doing the reverse: we call out that people prefer to go to a Cannith-licensed smith or a Ghallanda-licensed tavern because they trust the quality and pricing, whereas an unlicensed business could be peddling substandard wares. By default, we present the houses as having earned the trust of the public over the course of centuries of reliable service. Jorasco may charge for healing; but we’ve never suggested that they charge unreasonable rates, and we’ve said that it is the industry people are used to dealing with. By defaultand you can of course change this—the houses are essentially nations. They put the interests of their nation and their citizens above the good of outsiders; Jorasco is first and foremost considered with the stability and profitability of House Jorasco, just as King Boranel puts the interests of Breland ahead of the needs of the people of Thrane. The houses aren’t GOOD; they aren’t driven by compassion and they don’t engage in charity. And they do take ruthless action to preserve their power, just as a Breland will use the King’s Dark Lanterns to eliminate threats to the nation. But as a whole, the houses are working to provide quality services at a fair price… and they could do far worse if they chose.

With that said, while a house as a whole may not be a force for evil, there are cabals and factions WITHIN the houses that are certainly engaged in cruel or ruthless actions. Looking to Jorasco, we’ve discussed the idea that there are secret facilities engaged in bioweapons research. The nosomantic chiurgeons are an order that twist the power of the Mark of Healing to do harm rather than to prevent it. The Fading Dream shows a secret facility where innocent monsters are being tortured as part of Jorasco experiments. The point is that the typical Jorasco healer would be horrified by what’s going on in that facility… just as a typical Brelish citizen may not support the actions of the Dark Lanterns or the Swords of Liberty. The LEADERS of the Houses may well pursue ruthless agendas the common heir knows nothing about. House Cannith could have caused the Mourning… but that doesn’t mean every Cannith artificer was a part of it. As the opening paragraph suggests, the houses are a source of constantly shifting alliances and plots, and this is enhanced by the fact that they aren’t loyal to or accountable to any one nation.

So the houses could be involved in a campaign in a number of ways…

  • As neutral service providers who shape the general landscape and flavor of the world, providing the everyday services adventurers come to rely on.
  • As forces whose ambitions drive adventure—either because they are seeking rare resources, exploring or seeking to establish a presence in new regions, or pushing the envelope of arcane science in dangerous ways. A group of Vadalis researchers may have no evil intent, but that won’t stop the war-beasts they’ve magebred from wreaking havoc. A Cannith artificer is creating warforged that appear human; she may have no evil purpose for them, but the Lord of Blades has a few ideas. Such situations could involve the player characters working as operatives for one of the houses, cleaning up a mess made by the house, or competing with house agents.
  • As opponents whose quests for profit or power puts innocents or allies of the PCs in danger. This could be something on a grand scale, or it could be quite specific: the PC artificer has made a remarkable discovery and House Cannith wants to either buy it or destroy it. Again, this may involve a specific faction within a house rather than the entire organization: a Traveler cult within House Cannith, a specific unit of assassins in House Thuranni, a Vadalis cabal magebreeding supersoldiers, or just a single ruthless baron with a vision and vast resources. You can even blend this with other forces, introducing a Cult of the Dragon Below or Dreaming Dark cell within a dragonmarked enclave.
  • If you want, you COULD explore the idea of the Twelve actively working to undermine the monarchies and leaders of the Thronehold Nations. As it stands, this is something that is largely happening organically; it’s not that the house are trying to take over the world, they’re just slowly pushing their limits. But if you WANT to jumpstart a dragonmarked dystopia, that’s up to you.

Needless to say, these ideas would usually involve a particular house or a cabal within a house… and could involve two houses working at cross-purposes. Here’s a few of the more significant house conflicts.

  • House Deneith resents House Tharashk for edging into the mercenary trade by brokering the services of monstrous forces.
  • House Orien is threatened by House Lyrandar’s introduction of air travel. Currently this is a very young and limited form of travel, but as it expands it could seriously hurt Orien’s monopoly on overland transportation.
  • House Thuranni split from House Phiarlan less than thirty years ago. While the two houses largely operate in different territories, there’s certainly a strong rivalry when their paths cross.
  • House Cannith lost its leaders during the Last War, and there’s currently three powerful barons vying for control of the house. It remains to be seen if one of them can unite the house behind them, or if it will shatter and follow the example of Thuranni and Phiarlan.
  • House Medani and House Tharashk are rivals in the Inquisitive business, and Medani and Deneith have overlap in personal protection. While they specialize in different things, there’s still room for rivalry.
  • All of the dragonmarked houses are made up of multiple family lines, and there can always be intrigue between them. The biggest example of this is the split of the Houses of Shadow, which occured when the Thuranni erradicated the Paelion, another Phiarlan line. But this is always a possible source of tension and intrigue.

The Twelve is an organization formed specifically to help mediate these sorts of disputes and to foster cooperation between the houses. House Sivis likewise actively works to keep the peace between and within the houses. But these are certainly points of tension that could form the basis of a plot.

Agent or Excoriate?

What does it mean to be a dragonmarked character? Are you complicit in the actions of your house or bound by its rules? Could you be a rebel, or a spy engaging in covert operations on behalf of the house? The answer is simple: what do you want your story to be? The houses are massive organizations with thousands of heirs. Are you close to the powers that run the house, or did you grow up working on the factory floor? Do you want to be limited by the rules of the house, or do you want to be on the outside?

The Dragonmarked sourcebook presents five different roles for player characters. Here’s a quick overview, along with my thoughts on how this relates to fifth edition.

The Agent

As an agent of a dragonmarked house, you have close ties to a house and its leaders. Depending on your status and accomplishments, you can draw on the authority and resources of the house—limited at first when you’ve yet to prove yourself, but increasing with your accomplishments. The flip side of this is that you have responsibilities and you’re accountable to the house. Your actions reflect upon it and you’ll be expected to follow its rules and regulations. In short, your ties to the house are a constant factor in your life, and will likely come up in every adventure—whether it’s because the house has given you a specific mission, or simply because your ties to the house affect your interactions with others. One topic that’s worth discussing with your DM is whether you want to be proud of your house and if you’d like it to be shown primarily in a positive light in the campaign… or if you like the idea of your house taking actions that force you to question your loyalty, and if you might uncover secrets you wish you didn’t know.

Your influence as an agent is based on your actions, so this is something you have to earn over time. However, there’s two backgrounds that make sense if you want this to be a long-term part of your character. House Agent from the Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron reflects an ongoing role as an operative and troubleshooter for your house. You may not be close to the leadership, but you’re a recognized agent. Alternately, Noble reflects the idea that you are tied to one of the most powerful and influential families within the house… reflecting the idea that in Eberron, a dragonmarked baron has power to rival a prince or duke. Your Position of Power has a different flavor than that of an aristocrat, but you are still heir to wealth and power. Nobles may see you as new money, but they will respect your family’s influence.

In the novels, Lei d’Cannith begins as an agent of House Cannith. She’s a uniformed house operative serving alongside the Cyran military; she adheres to all house rules; and she has ties to important families and has been provided with an arranged marriage to solidify her position.

The Scion

As a scion you’re an heir in good standing with your house, but you aren’t actively working for a branch of the house, and you have little recognition or responsibility. At some point in your career you worked for one of the house guilds, but you’re currently out on your own. Effectively, if the houses were nations, you’d be a citizen: you have certain rights based on your citizenship, but the house will only pay attention to you if you draw attention to yourself. This is the simplest approach if you like the idea of being part of one of these powerful families, but don’t want to have a lot of responsibilities. As with the agent, it’s good to talk with your DM and discuss the role you’d prefer to see the house play in your story. Would you prefer to stay at a distance? Would you be interested in being drawn more deeply in over time as your reputation grows? The house could definitely take an interest in you as you gain influence and power. There could be intrigues with your family, or you could have prophetic significance you don’t know about. You could discover corruption within the house and have to decide whether to fight it or whether to simply break ties with it. You begin as a largely free agent, but there’s many ways your story could go.

While a scion could have any background, there are a few that could reflect your ties to your house. Guild Artisan is an obvious one, with your guild being the house guild that covers your particular trade; your Guild Membership feature means that you can call on the support of the house, even if it’s on a more practical level than the Noble or House Agent. If you’re Phiarlan or Thuranni, a background as an Entertainer may be a reflection of a career that began with the House Guilds, while if you’re a Spy you could be a former agent who’s still maintained a few contacts and covers. Soldier is a fine choice for House Deneith, and your Military Rank represents your honorable service within the Blademark mercenary corps. Lyrandar Sailors, Sivis Scholars, Tharashk Urban Bounty Hunters… all of these reflect the idea that you had an honest career within the house, but currently you don’t have any responsibilities to it.

The Orphan

As an orphan, you’ve chosen to break your ties with your house. This often happens when an heir wants to engage in actions forbidden by the Korth Edicts, such as marrying into a noble family. But it can also be driven by a matter of principle: a Jorasco heir wants to devote their life to charitable healing, or a Deneith soldier wants to fight for a particular cause instead of for gold. The main point is that you chose to cut yourself off. You’re not allow to wear the house insignia or to present yourself as an heir, but you’re not an excoriate. If your circumstances change, you could even potentially return to it. The main question to answer in creating your character is why did you leave? Was it driven by the Edicts? Was it a matter of principle? Was it tied to love, or to prevent a scandal?

In many ways being an orphan is the simplest way to play a dragonmarked character, if all you want is the abilities of the mark. You have no responsibilities, no access to house resources, and you can’t even use the house name… but you’re also not burdened by the infamy of excoriation. The main question is if you want the house to play a role in your life. If you left to avoid a scandal, do you want it to come back up? If you were driven away by love gone wrong, do you want to cross paths with your lover or your rival? If you left because of a principle, do you want that to be a theme as your story evolves? Or do you just want to focus on a career as an adventurer with a dragonmark, without getting into any of that?

An orphan can follow almost any background. The main point is that the benefits of your background will not reflect an active tie to your house. If you’re a Soldier and a Deneith orphan, you should either drop Military Rank, or say that it reflects your rank in a different military organization; you’ve broken all ties to the Blademark. If you’re a Noble, you don’t have a Position of Privilege within the house; instead, you or one of your parents could have married into the aristocracy. Of course, you could take the Noble background with the Retainers option, suggesting that you turned your back on your life of privilege but a few loyal retainers remain by your side.

In the Dreaming Dark novels, Daine is an orphan who left House Deneith in order to serve in the Cyran army.

The Excoriate

An Excoriate has committed a crime against the house and been formally cast out of it. This is far more severe than being an orphan. Your likeness is circulated; heirs of the house are forbidden from providing you with any sort of aid or assistance, and even members of other houses will usually shun excoriates. This punishment is reserved for serious offenses, and carries the weight of infamy, so the immediate question is what did you do? Did you actually commit treason or make an attack against your house? Did you deserve your excoriation, or is it the result of political maneuvering—you uncovered corruption or some other secret the house needed to keep hidden? If it was possible, would you want to find a way to return to your house, or do you despise your family and everything it stands for?

An excoriate is an orphan with an extra serving of drama. You aren’t simply ignored by the house, you will actively have to deal with the consequences of your infamy. If the adventure requires interaction with a house, you may have to disguise yourself or make yourself scare. On the other hand, perhaps you still have friends or contacts in the family… but are you willing to place them at risk by asking for their help?

While an excoriate can follow any background with the same limitations as the orphan, this is also a logical path for a Criminal; it could be that your criminal activities are what got you excoriated, or it could be that you were forced into a life of crime after being thrown from the house. It’s also a good match for a Folk Hero, especially if you were excoriated for doing something that hurt your house but helped the common people. A more unusual option would be Hermit or Haunted One; you have seen or discovered something the house doesn’t want known.

In the Dreaming Dark novels, Lei d’Cannith becomes an excoriate. In her case, she doesn’t know why she was driven from the house, and this is an ongoing mystery she slowly unravels over the course of her story.

The Foundling

As a foundling you never had a connection to a house. You’re presumably descended from an orphan or excoriate… or you might be the illegitimate child of a member of a house. You’ve grown up without any guidance from the house and you don’t know any of its traditions; you’ve learned to use the mark entirely on your own. As a general rule, the houses are quite happy to bring foundlings back into the family, so you COULD become a scion or agent if you ever wanted to… so the question is, why haven’t you? Is it that you’ve never had contact with a house—that you’re an Urchin, Hermit, or Outlander who has never been to a house enclave? Have you been recruited by some other organization keen to make use of your powers… so you might be a Spy or a Criminal, or an Acolyte who’s chosen your faith over your house? Or are you AFRAID of the houses… either because you know a terrible secret about them, or for purely irrational reasons?

A foundling has no immediate responsibilities; typically, the house doesn’t know you exist. Generally, the reason to play a foundling character is because you want to explore a relationship with the houses… or to play the idea of being a dragonmarked agent of another organization. If your reputation grows and your mark is revealed, your house may pressure you to join—is that a story that you want to explore? If not, you might be better off as an orphan.

This article began as a general Q&A with questions provided by my Patreon supporters—thanks for keeping this website going! Here’s answers to those questions.

Why did you decide to limit dragonmarks to specific bloodlines as opposed to making them available to all members of a particular race?

In part this was inspired by historical precedent—the Medici Bank, Thurn & Taxis, industrial dynasties like the Rockefellers. But there’s a few major reasons we chose to limit it. Tying the houses to families is a way to immediately ensure self-interest and to encourage the monopoly aspect: they began in one place, they had the immediate motive to ensure the prosperity of their families, and it’s not like someone halfway across the world could develop the mark independently and challenge their monopoly. The second aspect is the fact that families have drama. If you’re dragonmarked and there’s a villain in the house, they may be your uncle or your cousin. Essentially, if you have a dragonmark, you have a connection to the house, whether you’re a foundling, orphan, or agent; it’s not the case that you just developed it randomly on your own.

This is also something that clearly and concretely distinguishes the houses from aberrant dragonmarks, which do appear entirely at random.

Was it intentional for House Jorasco to come across as a heartlessly capitalistic organization?

The Dragonmarked sourcebook presents a particularly heartless view of House Jorasco, requiring every heir to swear an oath never to heal without payment and suggesting that heirs can actually be excoriated for breaking this oath… when excoriation is elsewhere said as a rare punishment reserved for treason and similar acts. Personally, I consider this to be extreme, and that oath isn’t something I use in my Eberron. I definitely focus on the fact that the house is a business, not a charity. Again, think of the house as a nation; Breland is going to put the interests of the Brelish people ahead of Thranes, even if that means some Thranes may die. Jorasco’s position is simple. They don’t have the resources to heal everyone. They need to make a profit to prosper and continue to provide their services. Therefore, they will limit their services to those who can pay. And people KNOW that. I live in the US, and I know that I can’t just walk into a doctor’s office and demand that the doctor give me a free checkup; it’s just not how the system works. Would it be better if everyone had all the services they needed? Of course! But that’s not how the system works… and I don’t think my doctor is evil or heartless because of it. I don’t expect an auto mechanic to fix my car for free. I don’t expect the grocer to give me free food. In Eberron, Cannith doesn’t give away warforged and Orien doesn’t offer free rides on the lightning rail… and Jorasco only heals those who can pay for it.

With that said, I feel the oath as presented in Dragonmarked is too specific and strict. I DEFINITELY don’t support the idea of a Jorasco cleric saying “Sorry, fellow PC, I can’t use a healing word until you give me 5 gp. Oath, y’know.” With that said, I think it’s entirely appropriate for the house to insist that a Jorasco agent be compensated for healing they perform… but that compensation can take many forms. If the party is performing a service for the house, that’s the payment. Otherwise, does the agent feel that the actions of the party are increasing the reputation of the house? are they helping Jorasco allies? Essentially, the services of a Jorasco healer should never be taken for granted—but even the Dragonmarked chapter notes that alternative forms of payment are an option.

I find it hard to imagine a good-aligned Jorasco PC who doesn’t in some way chafe against their House, a chaotic-aligned Jorasco PC who isn’t an excoriate, or indeed much room for good-aligned or chaotic-aligned NPC Jorascos at all; again, was that intentional?

Again, I see this as being based on the Dragonmarked idea that a Jorasco heir could be actively punished for helping without payment, and as I said, I see that as extreme. While they are at a healing house, they have to follow the rules, just as a Cannith smith has to meet the standards and follow the pricing established by the house. But I don’t support the idea that if that halfling healer is walking home and a kid falls off a bike, the healer would say “I’d love to take a look at that, but it will cost 5 crowns.” SOME Jorasco heirs may be heartless and cruel, but I also feel there are Jorasco heirs who do care about their patients and who do the best they can… and if they can’t give away full services for free, they might at least point the patient towards charitable services.

I will say that it’s hard to see a chaotic individual becoming a house agent, but not impossible; “Damn it, Dravis! You broke a dozen house regulations, but I can’t argue with your results.”

With that said, the IS the point of the orphan or excoriate. While I don’t support the Dragonmarked oath, I definitely agree that a Jorasco healer isn’t allowed to give away the services of a house of healing, and there are some who will balk at that or at the fact that the house isn’t doing more to help as many people as possible. You could leave as an orphan to do your part; or perhaps you’re a folk hero and excoriate who gave away an entire shipment of healing potions to help save a village.

There’s two points I do want to call out here. One is the fact that while Jorasco is BEST known for its healing magic, the most COMMON and affordable services are mundane treatment enhanced by the power of the mark—which is to say, use of the Medicine skill with the intuition bonus granted by the mark. If you’ve got gold you can get a lesser restoration to remove an ailment instantly, but most treatments are long term and based on the healer’s skills. So in looking to the fact that they expect payment, most of what they do is an actual SERVICE—not just the work of a moment and a spell slot.

The second is that there are people who provide charitable healing. The Church of the Silver Flame and adepts of Boldrei sometimes operate free clinics. The critical points here…

  • These places look after people who are truly in need. This is Faela in Sharn, caring for the destitute people of Fallen. If you show up with gold in your purse just trying to avoid paying Jorasco costs you clearly could afford, they’ll tell you to get lost.
  • Most priests in Eberron aren’t divine spellcasters. These charitable clinics provide access to someone trained in the Medicine skill, but this isn’t a place you go hoping for a free restoration. They don’t have dragonmark focus items or the other resources of a Jorasco house.

Essentially, in a big city there will be some options for people in desperate need, but this doesn’t change the fact that Jorasco is seen as the standard and most reliable option.

How strong or fragile are the limitations of the Korth Edicts after the War?

The Korth Edicts are the laws put in place by the united kingdom of Galifar to limit the power of the dragonmarked houses. These include restrictions on the houses holding land or maintaining military forces. The issue with the Korth Edicts is that Galifar is no longer a united entity. So if a house violates these terms… who’s going to enforce them? Cannith abided by the terms of the Treaty of Thronehold when it demanded the destruction of the Creation Forges, but that was a rare moment both of unity between all Thronehold nations and exceptional weakness for Cannith, which had just lost its leadership. But imagine if Aundair decided to call out Stormhome as Lyrandar violating the terms of the Edicts… and imagine Lyrandar saying “Of course! We completely understand your need to stand by these antiquated principles. But we were planning on Stormhome being the new center of our weather control operations, and if we can’t have the island we’ll have to discontinue this service in Aundair. It’s really too bad: I have it on good authority that you’re looking at a severe drought this summer without our help. We’ll also need to raise costs on airship travel out of Aundair to offset the costs… and House Sivis told us that if we raised our rates, they’d probably, they’ll have to increase the cost of communications across Aundair as well. Are you SURE that our little island is a problem? It would be so much simpler for all of us if we just kept things as they are.”

Essentially, the war weakened the nations and strengthened the houses. The Twelve are still testing the limits of the Korth Edicts. At the moment they aren’t violating them on a massive scale, but the main point is if they did, who would actually be able to do anything about it? This is a theme that comes up across the Thorn of Breland novels. Would the nations stand together to enforce limits on the houses? Or would the houses be able to exploit the divisions between the nations and continue to get what they want?

So the Korth Edicts are weakening. Is that how House Vadalis has land on which to put their compounds and Varna, Merylsward et al? I couldn’t think of who they pay rent to, now that the Reaches no longer under Aundairian rule. Did they just quietly claim ownership of the land?

The Player’s Guide to Eberron says “Since the houses do not own land, the edicts dictate a system of rents to be paid to the crown. In the wake of the Last War, the houses continue to operate under the edicts of Korth, treating the local ruler as the crown for purposes of the law.” Stormhome is called out as a special exception, where Aundair granted the land to Lyrandar in violation of the Korth Edicts.

The Eldeen Reaches are likewise an unusual case. Prior to the Eldeen secession, Vadalis was paying rent to the Aundairian crown for its holdings in Varna. Following the Eldeen secession, I believe that the Wardens of the Wood came to an arrangement with Vadalis, where the house holds the land in exchange for maintaining the local infrastructure and supporting the Eldeen secession. Much like the Valenar and House Lyrandar, the Wardens of the Wood have no interest in maintaining large cities, so it makes sense that they’d deputize the house to do so. Again, this is a violation of the Korth Edicts, but the Eldeen Reaches were never a part of the Korth Edicts, so why should they enforce them?

In the last book of Thorn of Breland, we see a covert joint operation between several of the Houses after Drix uses an Orien teleportation circle. What was the purpose of that operation and what are other “secret project” that the houses are working on ?

The houses are always working on joint projects; facilitating such cooperation is the primary purpose of the Twelve, along with presenting a unified front if a nation challenges the houses. The Kundarak vault network was a joint operation between Cannith, Kundarak, and Orien. Airships are a joint operation between Cannith, Lyrandar, and the Zil. In the case of The Fading Dream—and I say this because it’s not a major spoiler to the main plot of the story—they stumble into a facility that appears to be a joint Jorasco-Vadalis program seeking to unlock and replicate the supernatural abilities of various monsters. Jorasco would love to be able to replicate the regenerative powers of trolls, and Vadalis would be thrilled to be able to magebreed the harpy’s voice or medusa’s gaze into other species. House Cannith often gets dragged into things because the houses need them to build magic items or focus items… and this in turn is why they have traditionally been the most influential house within the Twelve. House Orien doesn’t especially need House Jorasco, but it relies on Cannith to produce conductor stones and coaches.

As for other secret projects, who can say? If Vadalis was magebreeding supersoldiers, I’d expect Jorasco to be involved. Likewise, we’ve hinted at the existence of Jorasco bioweapons programs, and that could likewise benefit from Vadalis insights. Each house has a specialty; in thinking of an interesting idea, consider which specialties would be required to bring it about.

House Deneith is the only House with rights, through the Treaty of Thronehold, to maintain an army. How does this contend with House Tharashk’s mercenary operation, if at all?

See the earlier discussion of the Korth Edicts. Tharashk doesn’t maintain an army in the same way that Deneith does with the Blademark; Tharashk simply brokers the services of independent monstrous mercenaries. It also generally bases these forces in Droaam or the Shadow Marches, neither of which are Thronehold nations. If it wants to establish a garrison in the Five Nations, that could be an issue.

Is there a bloodline of Halas Tarkanan?

Halas Tarkanan was the commander of one of the major aberrant dragonmarked forces during the War of the Mark. We know he had a consort, the Lady of the Plague. No canon source mentions them having children, and even if they did, one would presume that they died in the destruction of Dorasharn. House Tarkanan has never mentioned any sort of recognized Tarkanan bloodline; instead anyone with an aberrant dragonmark is considered to be a member of the house and to have a right to use the Tarkanan name. But the point is that no one knows, so this is entirely something for each DM to explore. Do you WANT a secret bloodline of Halas Tarkanan? Then come up with a story of how it survived the siege of Dorasharn and run with it.

With that said, this relates directly to the earlier question about the dragonmarked families. Aberrant dragonmarks are not reliably hereditary. The most reliable way to produce an aberrant dragonmark is by mixing pure dragonmarked lines. Aside from that, aberrant dragonmarks can appear on anyone, anywhere, regardless of heritage. We’ve said that children of aberrant parents aren’t assured of developing aberrant marks, and that those that do usually won’t inherit the abilities of their parents. In The Son of Khyber, Zae is the daughter of Fileon… but Fileon has a deadly touch, while Zae talks to rats. This is intentionally in direct opposition to the reliable, hereditary nature of “true” dragonmarks; aberrant marks are chaotic and impossible to control. So you COULD have a bloodline of Halas Tarkanan, but being an heir of Halas doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get an aberrant mark, and even if you do it may have no resemblance to his mark.

According to D&D Beyond, a warforged character can have an aberrant dragonmark. Is this a mistake?

The Wayfinder’s Guide placed no racial restrictions on aberrant marks. Changelings, shifters, or even warforged can have aberrant marks. An aberrant warforged would be highly unusual, and raise questions about how it happened and what it means. But with that said, there IS an warforged with an aberrant dragonmark in The Son of Khyber—and again, people there are puzzled and wonder what it means. The whole point of aberrant dragonmarks is that they are unpredictable and they AREN’T tied to bloodlines.

How did Thuranni get away with the Shadow Schism? What’s the common understanding of the mass-murder/disappearance of so many Paelions?

This is covered on page 82 of Dragonmarked. The Paelions were accused of plotting a massive wave of assassinations targeting the heads of nations and dragonmarked houses. Per Dragonmarked, To this day, Baron Elar d’Thuranni maintains that he acted out of loyalty to his own house and all the dragonmarked houses, quashing a plot that would have thrown all of Khorvaire into even greater upheaval”… And within the Twelve, there are many that believe him and support him, which is why Thuranni was accepted as a house by the Twelve.

As for the public understanding of the situation, bear in mind that this occurred in the middle of a war; that the Paelions were believed to be entertainers; and that the Thuranni are expert assassins with a great deal of experience covering their tracks. Depending on the situation, assassination could have been made to look like the result of military action (Aundarian arcane explosive accidentally brings down opera house!), the work of bandits (tragic loss as bandits senselessly murder traveling Phiarlan troupe!), or criminal activity (Were gambling debts behind the carnival massacre?). It’s not like the common people even know the difference between all the Phiarlan lines. You can be sure that there are conspiracy theorists that have pieced it together, but you can be equally sure Thuranni agents have spread a host of ridiculous theories that have clogged up those channels—the Paelions were a cult of the Dragon Below! They were secret agents of the Silver Flame slain by demons! But the short form is that the public was more concerned with war and not in a place to be terribly interested in the seemingly coincidental deaths of Phiarlan entertainers.

Beyond this, one theory is that the “Shadow Schism” was an amicable arrangement between Elar and Elvinor d’Phiarlan—that they both wanted to eliminate the Paelions, and that the entire schism is a sham. Don’t forget that these are the finest actors in Eberron; this could all be part of an elaborate play that’s going to take a century to play out… which is, again, not a lot of time for an elf!

The Dragonshard articles on House Phiarlan give different locations for the Five Demesnes (the primary house enclaves) than the Dragonmarked Sourcebook. Which is correct?

The Dragonmarked sourcebook is the more accurate source.

Have you thought about putting an explicitly anti-House organization into the setting?

There are a few specifically anti-house organizations… it’s just a question of whether it’s a pleasant answer. The Aurum is entirely an anti-house organization. The Ashbound are anti-house, along with anti-many other things. There’s a few others like that. But we intentionally didn’t put an entirely benevolent, well organized anti-house organization for the same reason the Gatekeepers are withered and fading: we don’t want the major problems of the world to be solved by NPC organizations. Typically where there are such organizations—notably the Church of the Silver Flame, a compassionate organization that does charitable work, provides free healthcare where it can, and seeks to fight supernatural evil—we call out problems that limit its ability to accomplish that mission. Because the world needs player characters to shift the balance. As it stands it’s a world with many problems and few solutions; it’s up to YOU to find the best answer.

While most people see the houses as directly dispensing the services they provide, isn’t it the case that most of those services are actually provided by the guilds—and that the members of the guilds aren’t necessarily part of the dragonmarked family? What are the interactions between high-ranking, unmarked guild members and those house leaders who govern their affairs?

This is a good question, and it’s covered on page 11 of Dragonmarked. You are absolutely correct: the HOUSES are families, and the GUILDS are what provide services. However, there’s a Venn diagram here, because the Guilds govern three different types of businesses.

  • House Arms are businesses directly run by blood heirs / house agents on behalf of the house.
  • Bound Businesses are essentially franchises. They’re funded by the guild in exchange for a greater share of the profits, and they maintain a recognized guild identity—for example, the Gold Dragon Inn of House Jorasco. In many cases, a bound business will have to be run by a blood heir because the business may require the use of dragonmark focus items to provide its services, but many of the employees may be outside of the house. They have more independence than a house arm, but they have significant limtiations.
  • Licensed Businesses are businesses that uphold the standards of the guild, and are usually run by people trained by the guild, but they are not directly tied to the house and generally aren’t run by blood heirs.

The critical point here is that licensed businesses can’t provide the unique house services. You can have a licensed scribe who’s Sivis-trained, but they can’t manage a message stone. Meanwhile, most Sivis message stations are house arms, because the house actively maintains and expands the stone network.

So looking to Jorasco, a house arm is directly run by the house through the guild. It will have the best equipment and the largest number of blood heirs. A bound house will likely be run by a blood heir who can use dragonmark focuses, but will have less of those focuses and a significant number of unmarked staff. And a licensed house of healing will largely provide nonmagical services, but the people there will be Jorasco trained and maintain Jorasco standards, and they may sell Jorasco potions.

Generally speaking, I expect the leadership of the guilds to be largely comprised of blood heirs… though quite possibly UNMARKED blood heirs. Remember that only around half of the heirs develop even the least mark, and guild administration is an important position that doesn’t require a mark. You don’t HAVE to be an heir to rise to a position of authority, but there’s always going to be some degree of nepotism you’ll have to deal with. Still, it’s not the case that the Finder’s Guild is primarily run by outsiders who are going to negotiate with the house; leadership will still mainly be Tharashk heirs, even if they’re unmarked, and they will have the interests of the house at heart.

71 thoughts on “Dragonmarks: The Dragonmarked Houses

  1. Good morning Keith. I have a speculative question:

    Besides having the monopoly over their respective industries, the Dragonmarked Houses are also stated to have a regulatory role through their guilds and seals of approval. While it’s unlikely to find a weather-changing business outside Lyrandar, Cannith’s gorgon seal carries great weight among independent artificers, as does Ghallanda’s approval among inns and restaurants. So here’s the question;

    Could the Houses transition into this regulatory role full-time, if their products or specialities become widespread? As an example, were land carts to become as common in private ownership as cars IRL, could Orien become the regulator of the vehicles and their infrastructure?

    • Could the Houses transition into this regulatory role full-time, if their products or specialities become widespread?

      It’s certainly possible, yes. The houses wield more influence than any corporation in our world, but even in our world we have examples of corporations exercising control over regulatory forces.

      Again, a major part of this is how you want to go as a DM. Do you want to tell a story in which the nations rally against the houses and weaken their power—finding some way to break them down or limit their influence? Or do you prefer the more cyberpunk approach of the corporations ultimately overshadowing nations? By default the world is sliding towards the latter option, but it’s possible that it could change direction.

    • This is a fascinanting topic and question. I am a legal scholar and precisely the question of lex privata/lex mercatoria (non-state-created law without State intervention) has been discussed in social legal studies. Some say such a law existed in the Middle Ages because of common standards created by merchants across European borders, others say that States enforced rules in the dnd -I addresswd a bit of Dragonmarked lawyers in my DMsGuild ‘Lawyers of Eberron’ publication

  2. So the Kieth Edicts – er, I mean the Korth Edicts – are weakening. Is that how House Vadalis has land on which to put their compounds and Varna, Merylsward et al?

    I couldn’t think of who they pay rent to, now that the Reaches no longer under Aundairian rule. Did they just quietly claim ownership of the land?

  3. Hey keith, I was looking at races, do you think Simic Hybrids (Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica) would serve well as magebred humans?

  4. In Wayfinder’s, the (least) Mark of Finding is primarily tied to finding/hunting creatures. What is the reasoning for House Tharashk to be so heavily involved with dragonshard prospecting, when only their greater mark has “find object” powers? (Other than 3.5e)

    • IIRC, houses implement dragonshard devices such as Dragonmarked Rods to enhance the powers of their marks. The spell-like abilities of the Mark aren’t the only power marks have. So when the Mark first manifested, the dragonmarked relied heavily on those spell-like abilities but now advances in technology have given even the least dragonmarked more power

    • Nick is correct. The ability to use dragonmark focus items is much more important than the actual spell like abilities granted by the mark itself. I almost included the Prospector’s Rod — the focus item Tharashk uses for prospecting — in the WGtE, but it’s primarily an industrial tool as opposed to something that’s designed for adventurers, so I left it out.

  5. As for Tharashk mercenaries, my impression was that the house mostly acted as a go-between for mercenary bands from Droaam and the Shadow Marches. Deneith, on the other hand have troops of their own.

    • That’s largely correct. House Deneith brokers the services of independent mercenaries, but it also maintains the Blademark: a mercenary force trained, outfitted, and garrisoned by the house. So far, Tharashk has simply brokered the services of Droaamite mercenaries, and doesn’t have a in-house force.

      • Hi Keith,
        Would the LionDrake guard mention in The City of Zarash’ak be considered an in house force? And I would expect these mercenary’s procured by the LionDrakes Roar to be led by house agents rather then trusted to engage in combat unsupervised throughout Khorvaire proper.

        • The Liondrake Guards of Zarash’ak are an inhouse force, yes, but they aren’t a military force on the scale of the Blademark; they are an elite unit, similar to the Manticore’s Tail of House Kundarak. The houses have always been able to maintain guard for personal security; Deneith is the only one that has a dispensation to maintain an ARMY.

          And I would disagree: the mercenaries recruited by the Liondrake’s Roar are NOT supposed to require Tharashk handlers. The primary work the Roar does through its recruiting and training is selected monsters who can work alongside easterners and teaching them basic customs. Gnolls of the Znir pact are if anything MORE disciplined than many forces of the Five Nations, and many others can adapt. Note that there are harpies serving as couriers in Sharn; their services are brokered by Tharashk, and they don’t have a handler tagging along with them.

          With that said, this is why monstrous mercenaries have always been rare, and why the Five Nations prefer to work with Deneith; many Easterners distrust monstrous troops.

          • Hmmm I see, makes me terrified of the idea of an expansionist Droaam then haha. Thanks as always for your insightful input Keith : )

  6. Could an Apex mark occur naturally or is it only the product of magic conditioning and coaxing as in experiments in the line of Vol?

    Do dragonmarked heirs that leave Eberron, such as any lycanthropes or allies that made their exodus to Lamannia during the Purge, carry that potential for future descendants? Could an appropriate bloodlined elf later born on Lamannia develop a Mark of Shadow, etc?

    • Could an Apex mark occur naturally or is it only the product of magic conditioning and coaxing as in experiments in the line of Vol?

      The only time we’ve ever mentioned an Apex mark is in connection with Vol, and that was the end result of an extensive program of magebreeding and experimentation AND occurred on a dragon-elf hybrid. In my opinion it’s extremely unlikely that it could occur naturally; at least, in the history of dragonmarks, it never has. It’s also entirely possible that Apex marks can ONLY manifest on dragon hybrids. On the other hand, a DM can do whatever a DM wants to do. But in canon Eberron, I don’t think you’ll ever see an Apex mark just randomly appearing.

      Do dragonmarked heirs that leave Eberron, such as any lycanthropes or allies that made their exodus to Lamannia during the Purge, carry that potential for future descendants? Could an appropriate bloodlined elf later born on Lamannia develop a Mark of Shadow, etc?

      I don’t see leaving Eberron having any impact on a dragonmarked heir or bloodline. So yes, you could have an elf coming back from Lamannia and developing a dragonmark. Bear in mind that the Purge wasn’t that long ago, for elves.

  7. First, thanks for the answer — I didn’t get the “inversion of the divine right of kings” thing because that’s not real in our world either, but the contrast is interesting.

    Building on this topic, I’ve been toying around the idea of altering dragonmarks #InMyEberron, as something similar to a living trademark — any member of the species can manifest a true dragonmark through the Test of Siberys, but the Houses control access to the magic used to evince dragonmarks, and/or only people with specialized training will succeed well enough to get a dragonmark and the Houses control access to the resources needed to succeed. (Why do they manifest in such similar ways despite originating independently in different groups? Why are they species-locked? That’s a mystery to solve!)

  8. Is there any road forward to limiting the power of the Houses? One thing that’s always surprised me is how understated that threat is – that there is effectively no one to police them, that the Edicts are effectively toothless – and how these capitalist entities are basically unchecked, but it never gets much time in the spotlight.

    • It’s a dystopian future in the making, for sure. The 4E ECG has a section that specifically called it out as a campaign theme, and again, it’s brought up in the last two Thorn novels. It is as plausible a threat as the daelkyr or the Overlords… and as with those threats, it’s up to the DM to decide if it’s going to reach a boiling point now, or if it will simmer for another decade. Likewise, it’s intentional that there’s no clear answer in place. It’s the basic principle of Eberron: if the daelkyr emerge, the problem isn’t going to be solved by some NPC. If the houses get wildly out of hand, they won’t get taken down by the FTC; it’s going to be up to the player characters to find a solution, whatever it may be.

      • In my campaign, one of my players has taken this to heart. His character developed his aberrant dragonmark and wild sorcery in the devastation of the Day of Mourning, as his nation essentially died all around him. He blames Cannith, regardless of whether it was actually their doing, and holds the other houses in various degrees of complicity. He’s studying artifice to see if there’s a way he can use the chaotic powers of his mark to hijack the functionality of true dragonmark focus items, and use them himself in order to undermine the economic power of the houses, and eventually tear them down.

  9. Also, have you thought about putting an explicitly anti-House organization into the setting? I’d love to have some hope for this, as someone who finds unrestrained capitalism much scarier than the daelkyr.

    • There are a few specifically anti-house organizations… it’s just a question of whether it’s a pleasant answer. The Aurum is entirely an anti-house organization. The Ashbound are anti-house, along with anti-many other things. There’s a few others like that. But we intentionally didn’t put an entirely positive, well organized anti-house organization for the same reason the Gatekeepers are withered and fading: we don’t want the major problems of the world to be solved by NPC organizations. Typically where there are such organizations—notably the Church of the Silver Flame, a compassionate organization that does charitable work, provides free healthcare where it can, and seeks to fight supernatural evil—we call our problems that limit its ability to accomplish that mission. Because the world needs player characters to shift the balance. As it stands it’s a world with many problems and few solutions; it’s up to YOU to find the best answer.

  10. This is outside the realms of this Q&A, but I have a question about the population of Rhuukan Draal. Third and Fourth Edition have a massive disparity on how big the city is in 998. Which source is more accurate?

    • I don’t have the books at hand as I’m traveling. But I will say that in my opinion the 3.5 ECS has the map scale too large and the population numbers too low. So I’d take the higher number of the two, whichever it is.

  11. Couple of quick questions:

    In Dragonmarked it says Orien has an enclave in Trolanport, but the Lightning Rail terminus is in Korranburg. Is there a reason this is so?

    If the most common way for aberrant marks to manifest is cross house breeding, are dwarfs and gnomes less likely to manifest them? And if so, does that influance their opinion on aberrant marked individuals?

    • I can’t answer the first question until I have access to my books (I’m traveling now). But to the second, I said that the most RELIABLE way to produce an aberrant Mark is by crossing two Dragonmarked bloodlines. But it’s NOT the most common way, because the houses have massive taboos against it. So the random manifestation is the most common method in the modern world and any race can develop them; it’s just entirely unpredictable.

      So you’re correct, the dwarves don’t develop “mixed marks”; but they still develop aberrant marks and roughly the same pace as other races.

      • Thanks for the clerification on mixed/aberrant mark issue.

        As to the first question, no worries. I just thought it odd that Orien had an enclave that couldn’t be reached by Lightning Rail.

        • To help clear up why, Orien also runs traditional land routes for animal driven land carts as well. The lightning rail isn’t the only transportation they manage.

  12. To what degree are the various espionage groups working against the dragommarked houses? I’ve been thinking about this since playing a barbarian/warlock (Aundairan Flameblade/Agent of the Royal Eyes) who was also a Scion of House Orien.

    Would the Citadel or other groups ever ask a member to betray their family? Do they avoid even approaching likely candidates if they have a dragommarked name? Would excoriates or orphans from the house of shadows (or ghallanda for that matter) be enticing spies and assassins? Are the answers to these questions different depending on the group (Citadel doesn’t want to be involved, Black Lions openly employ Deneith members, etc)?

    In general are other power groups ever trying to scoop up excoriates and orphans as prized resources that can be exploited (knowledge of inner workings, ability to activate house items)?

    • There’s two sides to this.

      First, excoriates and foundlings definitely have value to many people—I’ll note the Wind Whisperers of the Lhazaar Principalities, who rely on Lyrandar excoriates and orphans to help pirate airships. So yes, intelligence agencies definitely have an interest in them.

      As for whether they are working AGAINST the houses, it’s a dangerous road to walk. The houses are vital allies and largely have held to their position of neutrality. If you’re Aundair, do you want to risk being the cause of the Twelve turning on your nation and fully allying with Breland? Are you SURE your Royal Eyes can evade Medani and the Serpentine Table? In the Thorn of Breland books, Thorn is frustrated because she WANTS The Citadel to draw a harder line against the houses and they are playing a more diplomatic game. So the short answer is that it’s up to you and your DM… but that it’s a big risk for a nation to take.

      MOST OF ALL, what I said in previous comments applies here. The threat posed by the houses isn’t supposed to be dealt with by NPCs. Aundair doesn’t have an answer sorted out. But PLAYER CHARACTERS are exceptional people who can shift the balance of power. So if YOUR PC is with the Royal Eyes, then maybe thy have a chance at making a real difference…

  13. Thank you for the answers. 🙂 I will note that I consider Dragonmarked’s extreme take on Jorasco in particular to have some implications:

    * Ambulances, and emergency care as we know it in general, wouldn’t exist because such things would depend on people potentially paying later, not up-front payment before a single thing happens. This is in distinct contrast to the real world, where ambulances were a thing in civilian life in the 19th century.

    * As I mentioned when I asked my questions, oaths to not heal at all until receiving full payment seem like a Nuremberg defense waiting to happen: “Of course I couldn’t have healed the only man who was holding the demon at bay, it’s against my oath”. It would probably take significant corruption being in play for someone to ACTUALLY be punished in an extreme situation, but there might well be chilling effects that bad with policies as strict as Dragonmarked portrays them to be. “Jorasco defense” might even be the in-world equivalent term!

    * On that note, the policy being that strict would really only be justifiable for a couple of hundred years, as House Jorasco was still establishing itself; by now, specifically requiring payment up front rather than merely requiring payment at all would represent thousands of years of groupthink. Perhaps this hints at other artifacts of Jorasco policy that need reworking?

    * A version of House Jorasco that strict might even take steps to make sure that if they’ve been tricked into healing without full payment — say, by someone glamering some copper coins to seem like gold and this going undetected at the time — they can “take back” their services. While Dragonmarked describes nosomatic chiurgeons as all isolated cases reviled by the House, in light of the way the House itself is portrayed elsewhere in the book, I can’t help but imagine them as the reason you don’t cheat House Jorasco. (That being said, I don’t see the House as an overall organization being so greedy that they’d spread disease just to profit from it… even if isolated “incidents” are possible and punished.)

    While certainly the other Houses are also harshly capitalistic, House Jorasco above all others is in the position of being able to let people die in front of them as a direct result of their refusal to help. Other Houses would, as a general rule, not be quite as directly culpable in an emergency. This is what makes me inclined to see such policies as not merely nongood, but actually on the evil side when it comes to Jorasco.

    • Like I said, I personally don’t see Jorasco as being so inherently cold. I believe that they start from a position of “We don’t have the resources to heal everyone so we have to draw the line somewhere” and combine this with “Yes, we have the power to help others, but WE HAVE TO LOOK AFTER OUR OWN FAMILY TOO; we have a responsibility to care for our OWN people above the lives of strangers, and that means securing the profit of OUR house.” This leads to “We can’t heal everyone, so we’re going to heal the people who can pay.”

      These sorts of things are very real to me. There are instances of hospitals isolated by floods where you’d hope people would ration medicines, and instead families of patients looted and stole to get what they needed to keep THEIR people alive. It’s nice to ask for absolute altruism, but it’s not surprising to me if most people will choose the well-being of family or friends over strangers… and if Jorasco chooses commerce over charity. That’s not GOOD behavior, since compassion and altruism are high on my list for what defines “Good,” but I wouldn’t entirely label it evil; it’s still helping someone other than yourself.

      Again, when I think “Evil” regarding healers I think of gouging, extortion, and deception (prescribing unnecessary treatments or snake oil medicines). I see Jorasco as demanding reasonable payment for their services and not providing charity, but within that framework seeking to do the best they can for their patients… and potentially engaging in compassionate care if someone IS going to die in front of them. I can imagine true evil existing within the house—branches that DO engage in reprehensible practices or in torturous experiments, IE Nosomantics or what we see in The Fading Dream. But Jorasco is supposed to be the recognized default for healing, having earned trust over the course of centuries.

      So I personally stick with the idea that Jorasco is exactly as heartless as Sivis or Cannith. Everyone could benefit from their services. They can’t afford it to give everyone their services, and they care more about their family than they do about you, so they are going to provide services to those who can pay, and if that means you die, well, WE CAN’T SAVE EVERYONE. It requires difficult decisions and there are orphans and excoriates who disagree with its policies… but I don’t personally see them as engaging in the sort of behavior that I’d expect to generate universal revulsion. And I definitely don’t support the idea of a Jorasco cleric who tells the party “You want a healing word? 5 gp.” I LIKE the idea of that cleric saying “Look, I’m providing a crucial service and I’m out here to serve the interests of my family; if you want my healing, we need to deal with (whatever).” It’s about helping the house in a way that drives a story forward rather than just being a jerk.

      • With that said, I’m not trying to dissuade YOU from heading down the darker path, which is after all suggested by the canon Dragonmarked! I’m just talking about what appeals to ME.

      • I also disagree with the idea of nosomantics as all being reviled rogues. I see the house as conducting bioweapon research and experiments like we see in Fading Dream, and I see the common healer as being horrified by those things. But that’s where the house itself can have layers. The common healer in your small town wants to help people; the ruthless sociopath is working for Special Ops.

    • One thought that does come to mind in moderating between possible takes here also is that the perception of House policy among members may not accurately reflect actual House policy. The existence of rumors that the House had secret agents who punish oath-breakers by inflicting disease on them came up in a campaign some time back, and my own Jorasco Scion reacted as if it was less creepy rumor and more obvious fact, but that doesn’t reflect actual knowledge on her part, just a sort of yeah, they probably do that sort of attitude.

      Also, on the matter of running up against the bounds of the oath, there is a particular matter I figure some healers can skate on up to a certain personal limit: under-the-table personal generosity. One of the Jorasco NPCs in a story I’m writing does keep a special personal fund on hand that he can dip into if a need arises that is to his mind critical enough to call for an exception, but where he’s not prepared to argue it to his House; this allows him to essentially provide the coin for his own payment as either gift or loan. I go with a particularly ritualized interpretation here, where he actually hands over the money and then demands it back, but I imagine others merely carefully make sure the books reflect it rather than worrying about coins themselves.

      Also, Jorasco strikes me as a house that doesn’t do third-party business endorsements as a rule, but said NPC has unofficially ‘let it be known’ in Korranberg that he approves of the standards of care at a certain mundane charity clinic. Said clinic also has a small donated fund to cover emergency referrals to Jorasco if a need comes up that is sufficiently dire (though that doesn’t really come up often in a place like Korranberg), so it can be said that this relationship does benefit the House in the end.

      Also, I forget exactly where, but I got the impression that the canon material leaned away from the idea of the Silver Flame doing much charity healing or healing outside the church’s members, possibly in an attempt to emphasize the need for adventurers to rely on Jorasco’s services. In the case of Korranberg, at least, one can probably argue both limited need (poverty-stricken areas seem like a more obvious priority for outreach by a continent-wide organization) and less of an organized presence by any church (all sorts of religions have a presence in Korranberg, but the Zil take on religion is a bit different than most).

      • On the other hand, there is also the possibility that House policy as officially laid out does not always reflect House policy as enforced in practice. Some enclaves may be as strict as official word says, to the point of ruthlessness; others may only do what they have to in order to keep running and not get in trouble.

        As for canon material on the topic of churches healing, I’ve only particularly gotten the sense that the intent wasn’t to preclude charity healing, but to emphasize a difference from the “default” D&D assumption that to get healing, one goes to a temple and pays the high priest, who in turn is obviously a cleric. In Eberron, the idea is that if you want to pay for healing, Jorasco is where you go.

        • Entirely correct in regards to churches and healing. We’ve certainly emphasized that you don’t go to a temple for healing, you go there for spiritual guidance. This ties to the fact that in Eberron, most priests aren’t divine spellcasters! So it would be like going into any church today and asking the pastor if he could fix your broken leg. It’s not his job, and he doesn’t have the tools or training to do it.

          However, both the Silver Flame and adepts of Boldrei will operate charitable clinics for those in need. But a few points there…
          1. These are rare. There are many towns where you just don’t have one.
          2. They will ONLY help people truly in need. If you’re an adventurer who clearly has enough money to go to Jorasco, they’ll send you there. I’ll note that your beliefs aren’t usually a factor. Whether it’s Boldrei or the Silver Flame, you’ll likely get a bit of a sermon with the service and they will hope that their compassionate example will help guide you towards the light, but both seek to help all people in need. In canon I’ll point to Faela, a priest of the Silver Flame helping the wretched of Fallen; she’s not turning anyone away because they don’t share her faith.
          3. A charitable clinic may or may not have any spellcasters. Even if they do, they won’t have Jorasco focus items. They will provide medical assistance, but this is typically long term care and the Medicine skill.

          For all of these reasons, anyone who CAN will usually go to Jorasco; the point is that there are charitable institutions who do provide help to those in desperate need.

          Regarding under-the-table kindness, I agree. While I don’t personally play with the payment-in-full-before-any-service, I do play that a Jorasco healing house only provides service to those who can pay for it, and if you CAN’T pay for it, they’ll turn to debt collection, a nosom giving you the disease back again, etc. A healing at a healing house can’t break those rules: they are representing the house. But sure, they could point you toward Boldrei’s clinic; they could whisper some advice; they could quietly make a house call. Most WOULDN’T, and even though I don’t play with the strict oath I do say that people working at a house outpost will be censured for breaking the rules… again, this is why we have orphans and excoriates who are kicked out for being too merciful. But some still will. They are still people in the business of saving lives… it’s just that many are content with the idea that “We can’t save them all, and WE are going to save the ones that can pay.”

          But to me, the general point remains: as an AGENT you will be expect to conform to house rules; if you’re not taking payment you need to be able to show something of equal value that justifies the investment. If you’re a SCION, you’re on a very long leash unless your actions will clearly reflect poorly on the house. And if you’re an ORPHAN or EXCORIATE, you’re left to your own devices unless you REALLY reflect poorly on the house, and if so the consequences could be more extreme.

          But as a case in point: Jode in the Dreaming Dark was Jorasco; IIRC, its left unclear as to whether he’s orphan or excoriate. But he was healing soldiers during the war and adventurers after, and he was never taken down by a nosomantic assassin. Again, part of the point is that he left because he wanted to be able to freely provide aid and had to leave to do that… but still, he did and could.

    • 1) Ambulances.. I could imagine, especially in major cities, ambulance services run by non-Jorasco skilled medics, who can provide immediate first aid (no advance payment), and for more serious injuries, provide transport to the nearest Jorasco hospital. The amulance service bills you later.

      2( Would it be too modern to imagine that someone, perhaps an enterprising scion of House Kundarak, has started health insurance? For a low monthly fee, you get your counterfeit-proof KundarakCare(TM) card, which you present at the Jorasco hospital in lieu of cash payment. House Jorasco knows that Kundarak is good for the money, and House Kundarakperhaps even notiates lower fees for their card carriers. Sure most people never need the services of a Jorasco magical healer, but isn’t it worth the peace of mind to know that you can get it if you do?? Contact KundarakCare(TM) through your nearest House Kundarak banking establishment!

  14. How does Phiarlan (or Thuranni, after the schism) handle the provision of intelligence services for multiple clients who are opposed in interest? Say during the war, if Audair hires Phiarlan to spy on Breland, does Aundair get exclusive use of the information, or can Phiarlan sell it to Cyre? And if Karrnath gets Phiarlan to do a security audit, can Phiarlan use the information it gleans about Karrnath’s security to help it spy on Karrnath on behalf of Thrane?

    And what about counterintelligence? Medani is pretty cozy with Breland, does anyone ever use Phiarlan and Thuranni instead (who would be better suited for certain counterintelligence operations anyway). Is there a risk of Phiarlan counterintelligence agents trying to thwart Phiarlan intelligence agents, and if so how is that handled?

    What is the penalty for spying? Surely under the Code of Galifar, given the pseudo-feudal society and the fact that Phiarlan would have acted exclusively on behalf of Galifar, the penalty was death. But I can’t see Phiarlan today allowing it (although I suspect they are “shot while trying to escape” whenever possible).

  15. Hello!
    Can You explain how you figure out dragonmark functions ideas? Why you choose those specific – healing, weather, entertaining, banking etc and not for example masonry, crop rising, hunting or diplomacy. Had you got other dragonmarks ideas that they didn’t finish in the final Eberron world and why?

    • Some of the concepts you call out ARE covered by the marks that exist. Agriculture is impacted by weather, and the Raincallers’ Guild of the Mark of Storms plays a significant role in industrial agriculture. The Mark of Finding is a boon to any hunter, and the forebears of House Tharashk were primarily hunters. Diplomacy is an aspect of Hospitality and Scribing, and Masonry could be an aspect of Making. But ultimately, they aren’t supposed to represent a full spectrum of useful powers; we decided there would be thirteen, and those are the ones we came up with.

  16. I wonder how House Deneith recruited mercenaries during the war. Wouldn’t the Five Nations draft every young adult into their own military? Did new Deneith recruits only come from veterans, or people who weren’t citizens of the Five Nations?

    • The process of conscription varied by nation. Galifar was nominally feudal, with a relatively independent middle class. Many Deneith recruits would be veterans. Others would be from those families or social classes that weren’t subject to conscription. This includes members of dragonmarked houses… so a significant amount of the Blademark is made up of heirs of House Deneith, along with heirs of other houses.

  17. I mastered a campaign were the main goal of one of the character was to topple the ancients of Clan Jorasco and take theyr place heading the House towards a more charitable direction; He managed to do exactly that at the end of the campaign, and at the argument you used “we can’t save everyone”, the player retorted:” But we can give it a good try, and charging only the riches will still provide us good money” Right now I’m mastering a new campaign in the near future were Joltan d’Jorasco (the PC former character) is the new patriarch of a more charitable House Jorasco; What do you think could be the consequences of that turn?

    • Well the bottom line would suffer. Each spell (the things they were providing that cost a lot) costs time, resources and effort, and as those were previously turned to profit you’d see a loss.

      The other houses may seize on that and start eating up market share, or start sending agents to reason, beg, cajole or threaten Baron Joltan to ease back on actions which threaten to be the weak link in the Twelve. Assassination would be an extreme result but one which the Twelve have resources for (even just funding anti-Joltan actors within Jorasco)

      The Aurum would not pass up the opportunity to snatch up influence if they can get former agents, scions and guild members too mercenary for Joltan’s taste

      And remember no matter how altruistic there will be people who only stand to benefit who still demand to know what the angle is and why things are changing

    • There’s a number of factors here.

      A critical point is that this change was spearheaded by a player character. Normally I’d dismiss it as being unlikely to last, for many reasons. But if anyone can change the course of history, it’s a player character. So to me, the critical question is what you WANT to have happen. How do you want the story to go? Do you want it to have a happy ending? Do you want to focus on the many challenges that they’ll have to overcome? Or are you prepared for it to fail?

      The main point has already been called out. “Free health care for everyone!” is a fine idea, but how do you acquire and maintain your supplies and pay for your labor, rent, and other costs? In our world, public healthcare is usually covered by taxes; it’s not that it’s free, it’s that the cost is shared among the whole. But Jorasco doesn’t collect or benefit from national taxes. Are they going to charge the wealthy so much that it pays for the cost of all other services? If so, what happens if the wealthy hire their own excoriate or orphan healers and don’t participate in this system? Are they going to convince the public at large to contribute—essentially, to create a voluntary tax (and if so, what happens if not everyone agrees?)? Or will they try to ally with the nations themselves and make the house an arm of the national governments, which might be something that would send the Twelve into fits (and IMO, place Jorlan at serious risk of being assassinated)? Or do they come up with something epic and unprecedented, like forging an alliance with celestials from Irian? None of these thigns should be easy, but especially with a PC (or former PC) driving it, anything is theoretically possible.

  18. Hi Keith! Excellent post, as always!
    While most people see the dragonmarked houses as directly dispensing the services they provide, what I remember from the ECS 3.5 is that in most cases, this would be more of the guilds’ role. And while Lyrandar is deeply involved in the day-to-day managing of the raincaller’s guild, for obvious reasons, I clearly recall that in the case of Vadalis, the link between the house and their guild (which I don’t recall the name) is thin and that the guild is mostly independent. I would like to know your thoughts on this, especially the possible interactions between high-ranking members of the guilds, who don’t necessarily belong to the houses, and those in charge to oversee the work of the guilds inside the leadership of the houses, as well as the relations between with their guilds in the different houses.

  19. What do the dragons think of dragonmarks? By canon they payed big attention when the prophecy literally appeared ON lesser races. But they exterminate the mark of death (aka part of the prophecy itself) without a second thought. Isn’t it weird? Could they find out that that was a huge mistake?

    • But they exterminate the mark of death (aka part of the prophecy itself) without a second thought.

      That’s not how I’d describe what happened. The Mark of Death existed for six hundred years before the dragons took action against it. They only took action after another group of dragons had engaged in a series of experiments that had created a new form of the mark. The campaign of eradication was conducted in concert with elves of the Undying Court—an unprecedented alliance that can’t have been easily negotiated. This wasn’t done without a second thought; it would have had to involve a tremendous amount of careful planning and negotiation, and I’m sure there was fierce debate in the Conclave of Argonnessen. Personally, I think that the driving opinion was that the Emerald Claw was endangering the Prophecy by creating an Apex mark—and that it was better to completely destroy all traces of the Vol/Claw research (including the entire line of Vol) than to allow it to exist.

      But certainly: it’s possible it was a terrible mistake.

    • If one wanted to run with the idea of it being a big mistake, consider this: each of the moons is traditionally associated with a dragonmark according to the Moons of Eberron Dragonshard article. The thirteenth moon, Crya, disappeared when Dal Quor was thrown off its orbit; furthermore, to me, the imagery for many if not all of the remaining moons also suggests the planes. The Mark of Shadow is associated with Sypheros, the darkest of the moons, and best candidate for a Mabar association. But it wouldn’t really make sense for the Mark of Death to be associated with Crya, which itself would logically be associated with Dal Quor. One would think it would be the other way around for the two elven marks…

      I considered running a game that played off of that little conspiracy theory myself, but for various reasons it never got off the ground.

  20. Are there certain types of excoriates who are mostly doomed or unplayable? Ones that are rare due to the consequences? Jorasco would mean you’re entirely dependent on faith healing and bards (not a giant issue for PCs but everyone else suffers) while Ghallanda, Lyrander, Kundarak, Sivis and Orien govern things PCs generally want access to.

    In connection I’ve wondered how aware house scions are of the darker sects of their houses. If a paladin with the mark of hospitality slays a black dog, does he have a defense against excoriation or should he know better?

    • It depends on how strict you are about the statement that “an heir can’t provide assistance to an excoriate.” You could say that this means an excoriate can’t benefit from any dragonmarked services, which would be a fairly severe handicap… frankly, more than I’d attach to a background story unless I was providing the character with some sort of benefit that balances it out. The less extreme approach is to say that heirs won’t turn away a customer, but they won’t provide any assistance BEYOND that standard service.

      In the Dreaming Dark novels, there are a few heirs who refuse to talk to Lei… but she still books passage on a boat to Xen’drik, and the ship is at least licensed by Lyrandar. Essentially, the excoriate wants to have other characters handle negotiation and diplomacy with heirs, but it’s not like they can’t get a drink at a licensed inn.

      If you want to push the idea that an excoriate’s face is known to literally every clerk at every guild business and to truly cut them off from all guild services, it would certainly be an interesting challenge for a character to deal with and would certainly emphasize the serious nature of the punishment. However, in that case, I’d probably give the character a form of the Bad Reputation benefit of the sailor/pirate background; if they’re that infamous, there’s presumably stories and rumors about just how awful they are.

  21. If i can ask another question; House Sivis seems to be the great glue of the Twelve and the modern Houses system. Would bringing them down as a House, or splitting the House, be a conceivable “first step” in bringing down the Dragonmarked Houses as a whole?

  22. The korth edicts – the referrence to ww1 versailes treaty isnt lost on anyone. But just like the irl aspiration, the korth edicts implies a time before.
    Keith, could you elaborate a bit on the generel way the houses oprerated prior. And perhaps any incidents that lead to the signing of said edicts

    • The Korth Edicts *are* the old ways, as a deal made by the ascendant Galifar where the Houses promised support and staying away from overt political and military power in exchange for economic strength. The new thing is that they were a deal signed with the kingdom of Galifar, and Galifar is no more. Thus, many in the Houses feel that they can leverage their economic power to get political power, and play one nation against another.

      It is also my impression that the Houses in those days weren’t as large and powerful as they are today – they were far more local affairs. They were beginning to go continent-wide, but they benefited from having a single political entity to deal with instead of a dozen.

  23. What happens if someone or their sibling/parent develops a different dragonmark after they’ve married into a dragonmarked house? For example someone who marries into Orien then has a brother manifest the Mark of Making?

    “the houses are essentially nations”

    Do ranking house members even have an official nationality? Like is a lightning rail driver born in Sharn (but hardly stays long) considered to be Brelish? Would it be unusual to consider him just “Orien”?

  24. The idea that the Mark of Healing can be used to harm people really solidifies an idea I’ve been contemplating for years now: all Mark’s are aberrant. Sure the true Mark’s breed reliably whereas aberrant ones dont. But maybe that wasnt always the case. Maybe it only became the case after generations of bloodlines mixing and intermingling. All houses claim that someone not of the house who manifests a mark is connected to the house through an ancestor. And maybe that’s true a lot of the time. But it doesnt have to be true every time.

    The remaining big difference is that true Mark’s are beneficial, aberrant Mark’s are destructive. But if Jorasco can tap into the mark of healing for destruction, what’s to say with training an aberrant mark couldn’t be developed into something beneficial?

    I like the idea of the stigma of aberrant Mark’s being intrinsically bad as just being corporate propaganda spread by the Twelve. And this helps give me the final piece to make that make sense.

  25. I have a question regarding aberrant dragonmarks and the taboos the 12 houses have surrounding them. I understand that the best chance to produce an aberrant dragonmark is for pure bloodline houses to have a coupling and produce an heir, I also understand that this is considered a major taboo to break by the 12 houses. But does this taboo apply to only those houses who are capable of producing children in the first place?
    For example, gnomes are not technically supposed to be able to produce children with halflings, nor could a halfling produce children with a human or elf. In this way, does the taboo forbidding inter-house relations apply to something like a gnome from Sivis and a halfling from Jorasco. If they mated they would not be able to produce children, thus the chance of producing an aberrant dragonmark is zero.
    Or is the taboo so strict that all inter-house relations are forbidden regardless of the possibility of children

    • There’s two elements: the threat of aberrant heirs and the complexity of interhouse relations. For examples, if the Baron of House Sivis started dating the head of House Jorasco, there could be fears that it would result in some sort of preferential relationship between their houses. So I’d say it’s LESS of a concern, but still not trivial.

  26. I am attempting to create my first character in Eberron and was wondering, can a member of one of the True Mark Houses form an aberrant mark instead of their house mark? Like not a mixed mark but a true broken aberrant mark. And if so what would be the reaction or outcome?

    • Mixed marks are the only RELIABLE way to generate aberrant marks, but the nature of aberrant marks is that they can appear on anyone. In most cases such an individual would be driven from the house. They have no use to the house; they can’t use focus items, and what’s been established is that developing an aberrant mark effectively breaks your tie to the true mark, so their children wouldn’t be able to develop the true mark. So between that and the common fear and prejudice, they’d be driven from the house… unless they hid the aberrant mark or had powerful family connections.

  27. Hey Keith only recently i started playing DnD and for my first ever DM game i wanted to make a campaign with the Eberron settings because it just called to me i guess. Bought the book and also found and old 4e book Five nations to just give me those finer details. My plan is that my PCs are somewhat of a detective group. They infiltrate a meeting beetwen the houses and the Breland King who summoned them. He gets attacked by an assassin, The king suspects Kaius because he wants his lands but the PCs figure out that its one of the houses that is undermining the king and want more power. So they go on a hunt for clues to see who would do that and why. So my plan is that one or even maybe two houses are secretly working for Lady Illmarrow and that the Mournland became the Mournland when she got ressurected and now she is trying to kill everybody and make a huge undead army and destroy the ring that is around Eberron and conquer everything with her undead army. Which house do you think is the best to be alligned with her. I was thinking House Jorasco because they are in the healing market and if they are helping her it would be kinda ironic, plus read somewhere that they are close with the boromar family and that they produced bioweapons, also House Cannith because they are a mysteri. Also some of my other ideas are about Warforged come under The Lord of Blades and fight for their true freedom and rights. And Oalian who is fighting against the bioweapons that are causing his forrest to get damaged. Any advice would be appreciated because i love this setting

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A Prayer to Bgein the Day from Knox’s Book of Common Order (1564)

Let thy mighty outstretched arm, O Lord God, be our defence; thy mercy and lovingkindness in Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, our salvation; thy all true word our instruction; the grace of thy life-giving Spirit our comfort and consolation, unto the end and in the end; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

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Personal Recommendation

New Postman Pat better than expected

The BBC recently unveiled an “updated” Postman Pat.  Some cried ‘Heresy!’, but having seen it I must admit to rather enjoying it.  Especially now his van talks back to him and he carries a gun.  See what you think: New Postman PatUploaded by Kenny_Park


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Summer Home Selling Tips

Kimberly Sommer March 6, 2017

Summer Home-Selling Tips

If you’re thinking about selling your home, now is a great time! It’s estimated that 50 percent of homes are sold in the summer, making this the best season to get your house on the market. Here’s what you need to know to make the most of your summer listing.

Make all the needed repairs

If your home needs some obvious repairs, be sure to tackle them before you list. There’s no need to slow up the closing process by haggling with potential buyers over the cost of repairs. And since summer will give you the best weather in which to work, there’s really no reason to put those fixes off.

Focus on the outside

Everyone tends to spend more time outdoors in the summer, so be sure to spend some time getting the outside areas of your house ready for showing. Keep your lawn fertilized, watered and trimmed and add colorful annual blooms to beds and containers. Add cozy seating areas to decks and porches and set up a grilling station with a barbecue and tools. Make sure your pool is clean and ready for use and add some pretty rolled up beach towels to lounge chairs around the perimeter. You want your outdoor spaces to look as inviting as possible and serve as extensions of the indoor living space.

Cool it off

Once the dog days of summer hit, don’t forget to keep it cool inside. Have the air conditioning serviced and turn it on before any potential buyers visit. You should consider keeping the thermostat a little lower than usual, since people will be opening and closing doors and windows. Set out pitchers of ice water or lemonade and keep the fridge stocked with other cold drinks. Offer some light snacks that will encourage buyers to linger a little longer.

Keep it light

When you’re showing your home, you want to have as much light inside as possible. Remove heavy drapes from windows and open all the blinds. Tie back lighter curtains and turn on inside lights. Make sure the windows are clean, especially when there’s a nice view on the outside. If you’re showing your home in the evening, be sure all the outdoors areas are well lit. You can easily add some inexpensive solar lights along the walk to the front door or some romantic string lights on your back deck.

Get the air moving

Nothing is worse than a stuffy house, and in the summer the air can get a little stagnant when the windows remain closed. If you have ceiling fans, be sure to give them a good cleaning and then turn them on to provide some cool circulation.

Bring the outdoors in

Just like taking your indoor areas out by adding furniture on decks and patios, bring the outside in with plants and flowers. Nothing beats a beautiful vase of colorful roses, which will also add a lovely light fragrance to the room.

If selling your home is in your future, why not give yourself the best possible chance by putting your house on the market during the hottest season of the year? There’s no time like the present!

Compliments of Virtual Results

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The KITAB project is seeking researchers who are interested in collaborating to advance their own, distinct research projects. The aim is to build a small group of academics (6-8) who will work with our corpus of 1.5 billion words of pre-modern Arabic texts (700-1500) and our datasets (including for text reuse especially). Members of the KITAB team will provide a week’s worth of training in the last week of February 2021. In July 2021, we will host a further meeting in which participants will present papers that are informed by their work with the project.

Both visits to London will be funded by the European Research Council, which supports the project.

Who is eligible?

This call is especially for junior scholars – advanced PhD students and recently completed PhDs – who are working on topics that would benefit from methods of computational analysis.

Description of the project

The KITAB project focuses on the history of Arabic books using digital methods, especially text reuse detection. Based in London, the project is currently funded by the European Research Council, the Qatar National Library, and the Mellon Foundation. For more on the project, see: Our corpus of books, available through the OpenITI, can be read with a text editor and is available here: .

We will determine the training best suited to the pool of applicants.  Some examples would include:

  • Working with command line, working with GitHub
  • Introduction to the OpenITI: its organisation, mARkdown, betacode, and metadata
  • Regular expressions: how they work and what they can do for you
  • Reading data through PowerBi
  • Working with python: basics, data manipulation
  • Working with R: basics, social network analysis, stylometry
  • Basics of the OCR workflow (eScriptorium)

To apply

Please submit a statement of no more than 750 words to Nadia Bhaloo ( to Anjum Alam  (, by Sept. 1. In your statement, please elaborate your research interests, your prior exposure to digital methods (with a couple of examples), and possible topics you would like to explore with the KITAB team.

Prior to the meeting in February we will share with you materials to review.

N.B. By joining us, we would expect you to work on a publishable paper based on our data for completion by December 2021.

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Ladies Ministry

We all need encouragement as learn and live the hope we have in Christ. The Book of 1 Peter explains to us that hope!  All ladies are invited to join us for beautiful Christian fellowship as together we grow in Christ.  Join us every Tuesday at 10:30 LifeSong Lodge

We are a friendly welcoming group of young people that are seeking to follow Jesus and serve Him in our community. So we gather monthly for fellowship, games and study in God's Word.  We then desire to go out and serve through our church. All teens ages 13-19 are welcome to come out and be a part!

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Cross Connect is a group of college age & young professionals who seek to glorify God by learning God's word and making a difference in the world through the gospel. The Mission of CROSS CONNECT is to glorify God through developing word-centered, genuine, and passionate Christ followers by holding each other accountable, exhorting each other to live transparently before God and others, and faithfully serving each other, the local church, and the greater community.

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Our children's ministry is designed to teach the Bible to children ages 2-12. Kids Bible Time meets during the morning service each Sunday.  A typical meeting includes singing gospel songs, memorizing of Scripture and a lesson from God's Word with application to the child. We are convinced that this is an important part of training up our children in the way they should go.  Bring your child to church this Sunday!  You will be glad you did!

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Our church is committed to your spiritual growth.  As you connect, you will begin to grow in knowledge and practical experience as you use your gifts  serving Christ's body, the church.

We are saved to serve! At Kitwe Church we want to help you go and serve Christ and the gospel.  Come get connected so that you can grow in Christ and go serve Him!