Hey Keith...Can we get some Official/Un-official info on the Mark of Death? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Hey Keith...Can we get some Official/Un-official info on the Mark of Death? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Valdorn Maedora
08-05-05, 10:21 PM I want to have some information on rolling up a character with the Mark of Death, care to shed some light I mean shadow my way?
Charles Phipps
08-05-05, 10:39 PM I have to admit that I personally want some clarification.

Not necessarily on what the Mark ITSELF does but some things that have been bugging me honestly.

1. Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence?

Erandis D'Vol and House Vol wasn't exterminated because of the Mark of Death. It was exterminated because of interbreeding and experimenting with necromancy.

Was the Mark feared at all?

2. Is there anything SPECIAL about the Mark honestly?

We may be putting too much importance on what is largely a symbolic thing.
a_psh
08-05-05, 10:58 PM Well, I'm betting that the only Keith-answers you'll get about rolling up a character with the Mark of Death are:

Officially, it doesn't exist. You're free to make up your own stats for it. But, like certain other things, it'll never be officially defined. What stats you give it are rather irrelevant.

However, there are old threads about it. In fact, there's a new one every few weeks. Consulting those will probably give you a good idea of what sort of stats to use. Dunno whether there's anything in the AKBs.
Darrek
08-05-05, 11:23 PM Dunno whether there's anything in the AKBs.

It has been asked. And you guessed right about the answer. Usually followed by encouragement for DMs who are interested in using it to be creative and do what they feel like. :P
Edymnion
08-05-05, 11:42 PM 1. Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence?Yes and no. They were exterminating House Vol, not trying to wipe out the mark for it's own right.
Was the Mark feared at all?It wasn't feared so much as it was hated. The elves were at a splitting point with their ancestor preservation. Half were going for the Deathless, half were going for the Undead (like lichdom). Then House Vol, the most skilled of the necromancers developed the Mark of Death, which made their side more powerful. The other half, the Deathless half, were afraid that their side was going to lose the civil cold-war. When Erandis came out, it was just a convenient way to galvanize the elven population on both sides into erasing the abomination and all those responcible for it.
2. Is there anything SPECIAL about the Mark honestly?Doubtful. At most it would have had an Animate Dead once per day, maybe a Syberis Mark that allowed you to make much more powerful undead (how Erandis's mother managed to Lich her so quickly).

All in all, I'd say it was of equivolent power level as the other dragonmarks, and it was just the idea which it represented that was feared and hated.
Charles Phipps
08-05-05, 11:50 PM All in all, I'd say it was of equivolent power level as the other dragonmarks, and it was just the idea which it represented that was feared and hated.

I suspected as much. I just noted that too many players think it has to be something awesome by nature.
Sarlax
08-06-05, 12:00 AM The Vol line was probably doomed as soon as it manifested the mark. The Vols had already had tense relations with the rest of the elves - this apparently goes back to Xen'drik. Their negative undead contrasted quite sharply with the positive undead of the Undying Court. Then, after thousands of years of conflict with the dragons, the Vol line suddenly manifests mystical powers with a very obvious connection to the Draconic Prophecy. After the Vol purge, it's no wonder the Phiarlans got out.
Hellcow
08-06-05, 12:37 AM Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence? Erandis D'Vol and House Vol wasn't exterminated because of the Mark of Death. It was exterminated because of interbreeding and experimenting with necromancy.
Not at all. The Phiarlan Dragonshard says "The rivalry between the Priests of the Transition and the followers of Vol had been building for thousands of years, and the appearance of the Mark of Death three thousand years ago simply made matters worse. The situation finally came to a head when the Cairdal Blades uncovered an alliance between Vol and a cabal of dragons. The extent and purpose of this alliance was never revealed to the public, but the Undying Court launched a full scale assault on the line of Vol. The Sibling Kings declared that the blood of Vol was to be completely destroyed, as even a drop could destroy all living things."
The necromantic practices had been going on for tens of thousands of years. The interbreeding was disastrous, but would hardly require the extermination of every last member of the line: after all, prisoners wouldn't run off and breed with dragons. The reason to exterminate the entire line was because the line carried the mark: and the mark itself was a threat to all things.

Now: the key issue is – WHY the line of Vol mix its blood with dragons? Why did the dragons involved choose this alliance? And what effect did the mingling have on the dragonmark? I think that the Mark of Death possessed by a normal elf could be very different than the Mark of Death as possessed by Erandis d'Vol (meaning, among other things, that whatever happens in Marked for Death, unless a half-dragon is involved, there is still room for the unknown). I DO believe that mark is and was special: that it posed a greater threat than any other dragonmark, and granted powers beyond those of the 12 standard dragonmarks.

I want to have some information on rolling up a character with the Mark of Death, care to shed some light I mean shadow my way?
I'm afraid not. It's something we have always said that we would leave as a mystery, and even my saying something "unofficially" would be construed as official by many people. You're best off asking for the opinions of other people on the boards: I know a few ideas have already been posted in other threads.
Charles Phipps
08-06-05, 01:45 AM That works for me Keith, it fits with my "modification" of what I thought the Dragonmarks were anyway.
Edymnion
08-06-05, 02:14 AM The Sibling Kings declared that the blood of Vol was to be completely destroyed, as even a drop could destroy all living things."Well, of course he did. Thats standard wartime hyperbole.
You want the people to help you make sure that you win, you exaggerate the danger posed by the enemy to try and stir up a zeal in your people. Not unlike the "Red Scare" of McArthy-ism.

IMO, that line is no differant than a national leader in WWII saying that "Every last Nazi must be tracked down and eliminated, or else all is lost!" That its not so much that the world is doomed if you miss so much as one of them, its just a way to stir the people up to your side. I mean, your troops are naturally going to fight harder if they think the world is doomed if they don't win.

Not unlike the Crusades, really, where the Pope declared that if you died fighting in the divine war to take back the holy land, you would go straight to heaven, and no sins that you committed during that mission would count. I'm quite sure that for every high moraled individual that went to retake the holy land, there were two more that went just because it was free reign to pilliage, rape, and murder anybody they wanted.

I see that statement as being much like McArthy and the Crusades.
Stir up a universal fear of your opponent, then dehumanize them to the point no one would even consider showing mercy to them. So, IMO it was the Deathless elves seeing an oppertunity to finally win the upper hand once and for all, and they took it. Demonize House Vol to the general public, and there is no limit to how much force you can use, or how little mercy you can show. "They're going to destroy the world, they must be wiped out! Just don't ask us how they're going to do it, they just are!"
Charles Phipps
08-06-05, 02:48 AM I see that statement as being much like McArthy and the Crusades. Stir up a universal fear of your opponent, then dehumanize them to the point no one would even consider showing mercy to them. So, IMO it was the Deathless elves seeing an oppertunity to finally win the upper hand once and for all, and they took it. Demonize House Vol to the general public, and there is no limit to how much force you can use, or how little mercy you can show. "They're going to destroy the world, they must be wiped out! Just don't ask us how they're going to do it, they just are!"

The irony is Edymnion is that it's very easy to mistake the morality in Eberron for moral relativism when it's actually just got a fair and broad definition of morality with a long spectrum.

Yes, it's possible that Erandis D'Vol was not guilty and her family was unfairly persecuted for trying to bring peace to the Dragons and Elves. It's also possibly like the final scene in The Omen. A father is trying to stab his 8 year old son in the head with a knife.

...except of course, Damien is the AntiChrist.

In Eberron, the Dragon's persecution of the Elves may seem unjust. It's entirely possible though that the Prophecy indicated they needed to war against them for a reason....very possibly Erandis D'Vol's birth.

It's easy to paint the Deathless as persecutors and we'll never know the truth sadly but it might be they were quite serious and Erandis intended to destroy the world....or might possess the power to.
Hellcow
08-06-05, 03:33 AM Well, of course he did. Thats standard wartime hyperbole.
Certainly true. But the fact remains that they went ahead and DID it. After the war was clearly over and won, there weren't war trials. There were no prison camps or reeducation for members of the line that surrendered. And the Deathguard and Cairdal Blades were sent beyond the borders of Aerenal in search of any of the line who might have escaped.

Clearly Eberron is a world where the value of proganda is understood: just ask the Dreaming Dark. But that doesn't change the fact that the Sibling Kings not only said the line of Vol needed to be exterminated, they followed through until, as best as they could tell, every last heir had been killed.
Edymnion
08-06-05, 02:43 PM It's easy to paint the Deathless as persecutors and we'll never know the truth sadly but it might be they were quite serious and Erandis intended to destroy the world....or might possess the power to.Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!"

I mean, the Deathless aren't perfect, they've got their own motivations as well.
Charles Phipps
08-06-05, 02:58 PM Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!"

I mean, the Deathless aren't perfect, they've got their own motivations as well.

No, it's wrong to paint Erandis as a heroine though as well. I think it's better to make her an innocent who nevertheless DID have the power to destroy the world in this case.

She was 8 but it's entirely possible her family had nightmares planned.
Hellcow
08-06-05, 04:52 PM Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!"
Ah, but *I* never said they were evil. And I never said that they INTENDED to destroy the world. Some of them were undoubtedly good. Many were likely horrified by the interaction their nobles had with dragons. And yet, all of them were killed.

Furthermore, one thing that is clear to me is that they were speaking metaphorically. "One drop of blood could destroy all living things" - well, presumably they didn't mean this literally, since vast quantities of blood were spilled and everything didn't die. But the Undying Court is also pursuing the Prophecy - thus, it's highly likely that the actions of Vol threatened the path the UC wanted to develop.

I stand by my statement: in my mind, the Mark of Death possessed by Erandis d'Vol was something quite different and far more dangerous than the average dragonmark, quite probably because of her half-dragon nature and the experiments of her line. But that hardly makes the utter extermination of every blood relative a good act - after all, while some members of the line may have chosen to experiment with the mark once it appeared, they didn't ask to inherit the mark in the first place. The destruction of the Line of Vol is another example of people doing something terrible in the pursuit of what they believe to be a righteous goal - and after all, it caused the Phiarlans and a number of other elven lines to turn their back on Aerenal for good.
Edymnion
08-07-05, 08:22 PM after all, it caused the Phiarlans and a number of other elven lines to turn their back on Aerenal for good.Heh, well yeah, you go around genociding people you don't agree with, and things like that are bound to happen from time to time :P
Valdorn Maedora
08-07-05, 08:32 PM Ok here is my idea so far for the Mark of Death, give me input and try game testing it for me guys and let me know what you think eh? Pretty much everything is just the opposite for the Mark of healing, except I just want to know what typ of ability the elf girl was accidentally using in the book Marked for Death...wich was killing people in her sleep.
Isran_Imrador
08-08-05, 12:13 PM If you want suggesstions for a mark of death there are many in a link in my signature! Most of the Threads on this topic can be found there :)

What i would like to know more about is that cabal of Dragons that breed with the elfs...The Crossbreeder Fraction, as they have been named unofficaly in some other threads.. :P
KingNeo
08-12-05, 11:01 AM Now this would be ironic what if the Mark of Death did not animate the dead, or at least not solely, but brought back the dead instead. Or that the reason why the Undying Court kill off the House of Vol was because the House of Vol discovered a way to bring back the dead without tramatizing the ressurrected or found a way to bring those dead for centuries ( maybe millina) back to life, causing all of the Undying to lose there power over Aerenel. Or maybe, as an intresting twist, this what Vol's dragonmark did? Also we have talked about the reasons why the Elves killed off the House of Vol, but my question is why did the Dragons kill off the heirs of the Mark of Death. ( And I seriously don't think that the dragons are so advance they can say "Who are you to question us with your sense of righteousness? We are above you!)
Valdorn Maedora
08-13-05, 07:21 PM I didn't expect all these side questions to come up within my one post.
Save-vs-DM
08-13-05, 11:06 PM Someone wanted some stats for hte Mark of Death. Here is my take.

Mark of Death
+2 bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks
Least: Detect Undead 1/day, Ray of Enfeeblement 1/day, or Touch of Fatigue 2/day
Lesser: Command Undead 1/day or Animate Dead 1/day
Greater: Slay Living 1/day or Create Undead 1/day
Syberis: Create Greater Undead 1/day

Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Save vs DM
Beleriphon
08-13-05, 11:43 PM Mark of Death
+2 bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks
Least: Detect Undead 1/day, Ray of Enfeeblement 1/day, or Touch of Fatigue 2/day
Lesser: Command Undead 1/day or Animate Dead 1/day
Greater: Slay Living 1/day or Create Undead 1/day
Syberis: Create Greater Undead 1/day

Not bad at all, but I always thought that the Syberis mark should be Power word: Kill, it seems to be more in line with the other Syberis marks in terms of power. Then again I might be nuts.
Charles Phipps
08-13-05, 11:56 PM Not bad at all, but I always thought that the Syberis mark should be Power word: Kill, it seems to be more in line with the other Syberis marks in terms of power. Then again I might be nuts.

That seems to be the only cannon one though since it made 8 year old Vol into Lich Vol
Beleriphon
08-14-05, 12:36 AM That seems to be the only cannon one though since it made 8 year old Vol into Lich Vol

Possibly, although there should to be more to the mark than just creating undead. While undead are all fine and good, I think that the Mark of Death should have control over death.

That being said, we have no real idea exactly how Erandis was turned into a lich other than her mother seemed to cause the effect. Perhaps it was just some crazy eldritch machine that they had whipped for some other effect, maybe it was a crazy dragonshard/half-dragon/mark of death thing going on. That being said, Create Greater Undead would be pretty useful.
Charles Phipps
08-14-05, 12:54 AM Possibly, although there should to be more to the mark than just creating undead. While undead are all fine and good, I think that the Mark of Death should have control over death.

That being said, we have no real idea exactly how Erandis was turned into a lich other than her mother seemed to cause the effect. Perhaps it was just some crazy eldritch machine that they had whipped for some other effect, maybe it was a crazy dragonshard/half-dragon/mark of death thing going on. That being said, Create Greater Undead would be pretty useful.

I have a theory actually that the original Mark of Death was used to just flat out kill people and the House of Vol was largely a House of Assassins. This was unseemly but was a useful service to the various factions of Aerenal and nobody really objected to their existence all that much. The Dragonmark was largely just...

Mark of Death
+1 to all damage rolls
Least: Cause Light Woundsl 1/ per day
Lesser: Cause Serious Wounds 1/ per day
Greater: Slay Living 1/ per day
Syberis: Finger of Death 1/ per day

Then they corrupted the mark to be necromantic in orientation.
Charles Phipps
08-16-05, 09:01 PM BTW, On the Mark of Death novel...

What stat should reflect Teoma the changeling whom in ANY game was given the status of being a DM's favorite NPC and survives ridiculously long despite being thoroughly unlikeable and worthless?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Valdorn Maedora 08-05-05, 10:21 PM	I want to have some information on rolling up a character with the Mark of Death, care to shed some light I mean shadow my way?
Charles Phipps 08-05-05, 10:39 PM	I have to admit that I personally want some clarification. Not necessarily on what the Mark ITSELF does but some things that have been bugging me honestly. 1. Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence? Erandis D'Vol and House Vol wasn't exterminated because of the Mark of Death. It was exterminated because of interbreeding and experimenting with necromancy. Was the Mark feared at all? 2. Is there anything SPECIAL about the Mark honestly? We may be putting too much importance on what is largely a symbolic thing.
a_psh 08-05-05, 10:58 PM	Well, I'm betting that the only Keith-answers you'll get about rolling up a character with the Mark of Death are: Officially, it doesn't exist. You're free to make up your own stats for it. But, like certain other things, it'll never be officially defined. What stats you give it are rather irrelevant. However, there are old threads about it. In fact, there's a new one every few weeks. Consulting those will probably give you a good idea of what sort of stats to use. Dunno whether there's anything in the AKBs.
Darrek 08-05-05, 11:23 PM	Dunno whether there's anything in the AKBs. It has been asked. And you guessed right about the answer. Usually followed by encouragement for DMs who are interested in using it to be creative and do what they feel like. :P
Edymnion 08-05-05, 11:42 PM	1. Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence?Yes and no. They were exterminating House Vol, not trying to wipe out the mark for it's own right. Was the Mark feared at all?It wasn't feared so much as it was hated. The elves were at a splitting point with their ancestor preservation. Half were going for the Deathless, half were going for the Undead (like lichdom). Then House Vol, the most skilled of the necromancers developed the Mark of Death, which made their side more powerful. The other half, the Deathless half, were afraid that their side was going to lose the civil cold-war. When Erandis came out, it was just a convenient way to galvanize the elven population on both sides into erasing the abomination and all those responcible for it. 2. Is there anything SPECIAL about the Mark honestly?Doubtful. At most it would have had an Animate Dead once per day, maybe a Syberis Mark that allowed you to make much more powerful undead (how Erandis's mother managed to Lich her so quickly). All in all, I'd say it was of equivolent power level as the other dragonmarks, and it was just the idea which it represented that was feared and hated.
Charles Phipps 08-05-05, 11:50 PM	All in all, I'd say it was of equivolent power level as the other dragonmarks, and it was just the idea which it represented that was feared and hated. I suspected as much. I just noted that too many players think it has to be something awesome by nature.
Sarlax 08-06-05, 12:00 AM	The Vol line was probably doomed as soon as it manifested the mark. The Vols had already had tense relations with the rest of the elves - this apparently goes back to Xen'drik. Their negative undead contrasted quite sharply with the positive undead of the Undying Court. Then, after thousands of years of conflict with the dragons, the Vol line suddenly manifests mystical powers with a very obvious connection to the Draconic Prophecy. After the Vol purge, it's no wonder the Phiarlans got out.
Hellcow 08-06-05, 12:37 AM	Was the extermination of the Mark of Death just a coincidence? Erandis D'Vol and House Vol wasn't exterminated because of the Mark of Death. It was exterminated because of interbreeding and experimenting with necromancy. Not at all. The Phiarlan Dragonshard says "The rivalry between the Priests of the Transition and the followers of Vol had been building for thousands of years, and the appearance of the Mark of Death three thousand years ago simply made matters worse. The situation finally came to a head when the Cairdal Blades uncovered an alliance between Vol and a cabal of dragons. The extent and purpose of this alliance was never revealed to the public, but the Undying Court launched a full scale assault on the line of Vol. The Sibling Kings declared that the blood of Vol was to be completely destroyed, as even a drop could destroy all living things." The necromantic practices had been going on for tens of thousands of years. The interbreeding was disastrous, but would hardly require the extermination of every last member of the line: after all, prisoners wouldn't run off and breed with dragons. The reason to exterminate the entire line was because the line carried the mark: and the mark itself was a threat to all things. Now: the key issue is – WHY the line of Vol mix its blood with dragons? Why did the dragons involved choose this alliance? And what effect did the mingling have on the dragonmark? I think that the Mark of Death possessed by a normal elf could be very different than the Mark of Death as possessed by Erandis d'Vol (meaning, among other things, that whatever happens in Marked for Death, unless a half-dragon is involved, there is still room for the unknown). I DO believe that mark is and was special: that it posed a greater threat than any other dragonmark, and granted powers beyond those of the 12 standard dragonmarks. I want to have some information on rolling up a character with the Mark of Death, care to shed some light I mean shadow my way? I'm afraid not. It's something we have always said that we would leave as a mystery, and even my saying something "unofficially" would be construed as official by many people. You're best off asking for the opinions of other people on the boards: I know a few ideas have already been posted in other threads.
Charles Phipps 08-06-05, 01:45 AM	That works for me Keith, it fits with my "modification" of what I thought the Dragonmarks were anyway.
Edymnion 08-06-05, 02:14 AM	The Sibling Kings declared that the blood of Vol was to be completely destroyed, as even a drop could destroy all living things."Well, of course he did. Thats standard wartime hyperbole. You want the people to help you make sure that you win, you exaggerate the danger posed by the enemy to try and stir up a zeal in your people. Not unlike the "Red Scare" of McArthy-ism. IMO, that line is no differant than a national leader in WWII saying that "Every last Nazi must be tracked down and eliminated, or else all is lost!" That its not so much that the world is doomed if you miss so much as one of them, its just a way to stir the people up to your side. I mean, your troops are naturally going to fight harder if they think the world is doomed if they don't win. Not unlike the Crusades, really, where the Pope declared that if you died fighting in the divine war to take back the holy land, you would go straight to heaven, and no sins that you committed during that mission would count. I'm quite sure that for every high moraled individual that went to retake the holy land, there were two more that went just because it was free reign to pilliage, rape, and murder anybody they wanted. I see that statement as being much like McArthy and the Crusades. Stir up a universal fear of your opponent, then dehumanize them to the point no one would even consider showing mercy to them. So, IMO it was the Deathless elves seeing an oppertunity to finally win the upper hand once and for all, and they took it. Demonize House Vol to the general public, and there is no limit to how much force you can use, or how little mercy you can show. "They're going to destroy the world, they must be wiped out! Just don't ask us how they're going to do it, they just are!"
Charles Phipps 08-06-05, 02:48 AM	I see that statement as being much like McArthy and the Crusades. Stir up a universal fear of your opponent, then dehumanize them to the point no one would even consider showing mercy to them. So, IMO it was the Deathless elves seeing an oppertunity to finally win the upper hand once and for all, and they took it. Demonize House Vol to the general public, and there is no limit to how much force you can use, or how little mercy you can show. "They're going to destroy the world, they must be wiped out! Just don't ask us how they're going to do it, they just are!" The irony is Edymnion is that it's very easy to mistake the morality in Eberron for moral relativism when it's actually just got a fair and broad definition of morality with a long spectrum. Yes, it's possible that Erandis D'Vol was not guilty and her family was unfairly persecuted for trying to bring peace to the Dragons and Elves. It's also possibly like the final scene in The Omen. A father is trying to stab his 8 year old son in the head with a knife. ...except of course, Damien is the AntiChrist. In Eberron, the Dragon's persecution of the Elves may seem unjust. It's entirely possible though that the Prophecy indicated they needed to war against them for a reason....very possibly Erandis D'Vol's birth. It's easy to paint the Deathless as persecutors and we'll never know the truth sadly but it might be they were quite serious and Erandis intended to destroy the world....or might possess the power to.
Hellcow 08-06-05, 03:33 AM	Well, of course he did. Thats standard wartime hyperbole. Certainly true. But the fact remains that they went ahead and DID it. After the war was clearly over and won, there weren't war trials. There were no prison camps or reeducation for members of the line that surrendered. And the Deathguard and Cairdal Blades were sent beyond the borders of Aerenal in search of any of the line who might have escaped. Clearly Eberron is a world where the value of proganda is understood: just ask the Dreaming Dark. But that doesn't change the fact that the Sibling Kings not only said the line of Vol needed to be exterminated, they followed through until, as best as they could tell, every last heir had been killed.
Edymnion 08-06-05, 02:43 PM	It's easy to paint the Deathless as persecutors and we'll never know the truth sadly but it might be they were quite serious and Erandis intended to destroy the world....or might possess the power to.Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!" I mean, the Deathless aren't perfect, they've got their own motivations as well.
Charles Phipps 08-06-05, 02:58 PM	Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!" I mean, the Deathless aren't perfect, they've got their own motivations as well. No, it's wrong to paint Erandis as a heroine though as well. I think it's better to make her an innocent who nevertheless DID have the power to destroy the world in this case. She was 8 but it's entirely possible her family had nightmares planned.
Hellcow 08-06-05, 04:52 PM	Ah, but to just accept at face value that House Vol was evil and going to destroy the world is much too one sided for Eberron. I much prefer the intracacies of it being more politically motivated than just a flat out "they're evil, go kill 'em all!" Ah, but I never said they were evil. And I never said that they INTENDED to destroy the world. Some of them were undoubtedly good. Many were likely horrified by the interaction their nobles had with dragons. And yet, all of them were killed. Furthermore, one thing that is clear to me is that they were speaking metaphorically. "One drop of blood could destroy all living things" - well, presumably they didn't mean this literally, since vast quantities of blood were spilled and everything didn't die. But the Undying Court is also pursuing the Prophecy - thus, it's highly likely that the actions of Vol threatened the path the UC wanted to develop. I stand by my statement: in my mind, the Mark of Death possessed by Erandis d'Vol was something quite different and far more dangerous than the average dragonmark, quite probably because of her half-dragon nature and the experiments of her line. But that hardly makes the utter extermination of every blood relative a good act - after all, while some members of the line may have chosen to experiment with the mark once it appeared, they didn't ask to inherit the mark in the first place. The destruction of the Line of Vol is another example of people doing something terrible in the pursuit of what they believe to be a righteous goal - and after all, it caused the Phiarlans and a number of other elven lines to turn their back on Aerenal for good.
Edymnion 08-07-05, 08:22 PM	after all, it caused the Phiarlans and a number of other elven lines to turn their back on Aerenal for good.Heh, well yeah, you go around genociding people you don't agree with, and things like that are bound to happen from time to time :P
Valdorn Maedora 08-07-05, 08:32 PM	Ok here is my idea so far for the Mark of Death, give me input and try game testing it for me guys and let me know what you think eh? Pretty much everything is just the opposite for the Mark of healing, except I just want to know what typ of ability the elf girl was accidentally using in the book Marked for Death...wich was killing people in her sleep.
Isran_Imrador 08-08-05, 12:13 PM	If you want suggesstions for a mark of death there are many in a link in my signature! Most of the Threads on this topic can be found there :) What i would like to know more about is that cabal of Dragons that breed with the elfs...The Crossbreeder Fraction, as they have been named unofficaly in some other threads.. :P
KingNeo 08-12-05, 11:01 AM	Now this would be ironic what if the Mark of Death did not animate the dead, or at least not solely, but brought back the dead instead. Or that the reason why the Undying Court kill off the House of Vol was because the House of Vol discovered a way to bring back the dead without tramatizing the ressurrected or found a way to bring those dead for centuries ( maybe millina) back to life, causing all of the Undying to lose there power over Aerenel. Or maybe, as an intresting twist, this what Vol's dragonmark did? Also we have talked about the reasons why the Elves killed off the House of Vol, but my question is why did the Dragons kill off the heirs of the Mark of Death. ( And I seriously don't think that the dragons are so advance they can say "Who are you to question us with your sense of righteousness? We are above you!)
Valdorn Maedora 08-13-05, 07:21 PM	I didn't expect all these side questions to come up within my one post.
Save-vs-DM 08-13-05, 11:06 PM	Someone wanted some stats for hte Mark of Death. Here is my take. Mark of Death +2 bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks Least: Detect Undead 1/day, Ray of Enfeeblement 1/day, or Touch of Fatigue 2/day Lesser: Command Undead 1/day or Animate Dead 1/day Greater: Slay Living 1/day or Create Undead 1/day Syberis: Create Greater Undead 1/day Hope that helps. Cheers, Save vs DM
Beleriphon 08-13-05, 11:43 PM	Mark of Death +2 bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks Least: Detect Undead 1/day, Ray of Enfeeblement 1/day, or Touch of Fatigue 2/day Lesser: Command Undead 1/day or Animate Dead 1/day Greater: Slay Living 1/day or Create Undead 1/day Syberis: Create Greater Undead 1/day Not bad at all, but I always thought that the Syberis mark should be Power word: Kill, it seems to be more in line with the other Syberis marks in terms of power. Then again I might be nuts.
Charles Phipps 08-13-05, 11:56 PM	Not bad at all, but I always thought that the Syberis mark should be Power word: Kill, it seems to be more in line with the other Syberis marks in terms of power. Then again I might be nuts. That seems to be the only cannon one though since it made 8 year old Vol into Lich Vol
Beleriphon 08-14-05, 12:36 AM	That seems to be the only cannon one though since it made 8 year old Vol into Lich Vol Possibly, although there should to be more to the mark than just creating undead. While undead are all fine and good, I think that the Mark of Death should have control over death. That being said, we have no real idea exactly how Erandis was turned into a lich other than her mother seemed to cause the effect. Perhaps it was just some crazy eldritch machine that they had whipped for some other effect, maybe it was a crazy dragonshard/half-dragon/mark of death thing going on. That being said, Create Greater Undead would be pretty useful.
Charles Phipps 08-14-05, 12:54 AM	Possibly, although there should to be more to the mark than just creating undead. While undead are all fine and good, I think that the Mark of Death should have control over death. That being said, we have no real idea exactly how Erandis was turned into a lich other than her mother seemed to cause the effect. Perhaps it was just some crazy eldritch machine that they had whipped for some other effect, maybe it was a crazy dragonshard/half-dragon/mark of death thing going on. That being said, Create Greater Undead would be pretty useful. I have a theory actually that the original Mark of Death was used to just flat out kill people and the House of Vol was largely a House of Assassins. This was unseemly but was a useful service to the various factions of Aerenal and nobody really objected to their existence all that much. The Dragonmark was largely just... Mark of Death +1 to all damage rolls Least: Cause Light Woundsl 1/ per day Lesser: Cause Serious Wounds 1/ per day Greater: Slay Living 1/ per day Syberis: Finger of Death 1/ per day Then they corrupted the mark to be necromantic in orientation.
Charles Phipps 08-16-05, 09:01 PM	BTW, On the Mark of Death novel... What stat should reflect Teoma the changeling whom in ANY game was given the status of being a DM's favorite NPC and survives ridiculously long despite being thoroughly unlikeable and worthless?