Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Hanuman47 10-15-04, 10:21 AM	Professionals like House Phiarlan, Thuranni, or Tarkanan (that's a toffee, son)may be able to pull off this sort of sabotage and get away with it, but that's because they WON'T engage in a open brawl in broad daylight! This came from another thread and, surprisingly, no one has jumped on it so far. I now open the floor to rampant speculation. To start things off here are my thoughts on possible interpretations of what Tarkanan is: 1) Splinter within one of the existing Dragonmarked Houses. By the context, one could imagine that it's yet another split amongst the contentious bearers of the Mark of Shadow. But is that necessarily the case? The gnomes, for example, have a bit of a reputation for sneakiness and dirty dealing. Could this be a more sinister twin to House Sivis? After all, Sivis deals in information and information is power. Or there could be splits within House Medani or Tharask (there is a bit of linguistic similarity) or even Deneith or Kundarak. 2) A new House bearing the Mark of Death. Unlikely in the extreme - the return of that Mark would be a HUGE meta-event of the sort that I hope the designers aren't going to be messing around with for quite a while, if ever. 3) A House of Aberrant Marks. What if the persecuted few decided to band together for protection against their 13 implacable foes? Working from the shadows, nursing a grudge a millenium and a half old...This is my personal favorite theory and I may have to incorporate it into my campaign whether or not it's canon. 4) Tarkanan is not actually a dragonmarked House, but some other organization or entity. It's possible that Tarkanan's inclusion in the quote above was misleading, although that seems unlikely from the context. Any other ideas?
Splendide 10-15-04, 11:02 AM	I'd guess its just a non-dragonmarked house that adopts the stylings of a house in order to sell their services. Being in charge of guys that do stuff doesn't really require a magic tattoo. Either that or they bear the Mark of Confectionery, and specialise in resolving sticky situations.
ieattrollsforbreakfast 10-15-04, 04:57 PM	Either that or they bear the Mark of Confectionery, and specialise in resolving sticky situations. :D Anyway, my guess is that they are a non-dragonmarked house. A guild of assasins,theives and/or spies perhaps? One with much more secrecy thatn Phiarlan and Thuranni? Perhaps a criminal power in Sharn?
Saurenda 10-15-04, 09:07 PM	Pherhaps they are the house of Candy! Hellcow mentioned toffee didn't he? Hmm...mark of candy.
Hanuman47 11-20-04, 03:54 PM	I just wanted to bump up this thread to draw everyone's attention to idea #3 and to gloat that I WAS RIGHT!! (more or less) And so was ieattrollsforbreakfast! Cookies all around! :cookie:
Lujayne34 11-20-04, 04:02 PM	I don't know if it means anything or not but.... on p29 of the Sharn book "At first it was a simple purge, as the aberrants were hunted down one by one. But in the third year of this inquisition,Lord Halas Tarkanan gathered his aberrant kindred..." sounds to me as if this House Tarkanan are the surviving members of an aberrant mark controlled house. It does mention that the current leader has an aberrant mark that she conceals from everyone.
ChronosCrow 11-20-04, 04:44 PM	I don't know if it means anything or not but.... on p29 of the Sharn book "At first it was a simple purge, as the aberrants were hunted down one by one. But in the third year of this inquisition,Lord Halas Tarkanan gathered his aberrant kindred..." sounds to me as if this House Tarkanan are the surviving members of an aberrant mark controlled house. It does mention that the current leader has an aberrant mark that she conceals from everyone. Cool, I'll go with aberrant mark house on this one.
Alexius D'Cannith 11-20-04, 07:39 PM	on the other hand if it gets exposed it could kick off a second war of the mark, and khorvaire isnt really in a position to endure the so far stable and neutral houses running around like the thranish inquisition
nick012000 11-20-04, 07:44 PM	on the other hand if it gets exposed it could kick off a second war of the mark, and khorvaire isnt really in a position to endure the so far stable and neutral houses running around like the thranish inquisition Nobody expects the Thranish inquisition! :P