Post/Author/DateTime	Post
greedo99 05-02-05, 07:37 PM	I want my campaign to rovolve around the Mark of Death and House Vol coming back. But my only problem being as House Vol was obliterated, how will Vol bring the mark back? I'm stuck...I'm not an Eberron loremaster liek Keith or Edymion..lol..so any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated.
Vharuck 05-02-05, 07:44 PM	Ok, if following the current rules of the Dragonmarks, there is only one way for the Mark of Death to return... Vol comes back to life in her original form, no longer undead. Dragonmarks are part of an individual, so it will manifest again. She would then breed with elves and make a larger family. Or maybe (and this was thought of before) she has preserved a piece of her until she researches a special spell or finds a unique artifact that allows her to Clone herself and have the clone manifest the dragonmark. True, a simple Clone spell would work, but then you have to answer why she didn't do it before and the search for something allows for the PCs to affect it. Or... You can go back to the original rules. Dragonmarks have been found beneath the ground in Khyber. Maybe an elf who got lost in the dark tunnels walked into a strange living spell or manifest field and the mark on the wall bonded with his spirit, and (gasp!) it happened to be the mark of death. I'd go with the first idea, though. The second opens up too much room for abuse by players who search for these marks they can put on themselves.
greedo99 05-02-05, 07:47 PM	I dunno, i could just rule that the Clone spell doesnt carry over dragonmarks, and Vol basically has to tweek the spell just right to do just that....cept, its only taken her forever and a day..Man thats scary a bunch of cloned VOls running around..*shudder*
Gurv 05-02-05, 08:17 PM	Techically, there is no way for the Mark of Death to come back. According to the ECS, Erandis is the last surviving member of the line of Vol, and she has been dead too long for virtually any form of restorative magic to have any hope of functioning. Since Vol seeks to restore the Mark and has failed, it is logical to assume that any methods readily available to an immortal 16th level wizard will not work. It also stands to reason that if any other members of the line of Vol did survive, they or their descendants would have manifested the Mark of Death by now. Now that we have a short list of reasons why the Deathmark has not returned, we can more easily find reasons to circumvent them, and explain why it is happening later rather than sooner. There is the possibility that there were others who survived the destruction of House Vol. Such a member might have been put into stasis, turned to stone, or cast into the future (think of the time hop power with a much lengthened duration), or whatever as long as s/he has been "out of it" for a very long time. Then again, House Vol dabbled in necromancy as I hear it...so it wouldn't be surprising if one or two got their souls trapped in gems by jealous relatives; since dragonmarks tend to stick with the life-force of the bearer, if such a spirit were restored to a proper elven (half-dragon elf?) body, then the Deathmark might well manifest. Another possible way would be to restore Vol to life, or to transfer the mark from her to another suitable host. As mentioned before, this is all but impossible, so you'll need Eberron's solution to all things improbable: the eldritch machine (a.k.a. "the harnessed wish spell"). This is a big task, so it should include all the bells and whistles like only working when the planes are properly aligned and needing about a dozen one-of-a-kind material focuses to work. Some living sacrifice would be pretty much manditory (this is the Mark of Death we're talking about), and if you're moving the mark rather than bringing Vol back to life, then the recipiant should be an unwilling PC, or at least an unwilling loved one. Naturally, Vol wants to remain immortal, so moving the mark onto someone she can then magic jar with would be ideal, not to mention creepy and evil. Basically, decide what adventure you want to run, and the answers will jump out at you. Don't change what the ECS says, but build on what it doesn't say didn't happen. Then twist things around on all-too-knowledgable players by actually altering things and breaking the rules. Doing something different than what the ECS says is true is a great way to catch players off balance and force them to use what the PCs know, rather than what the players have read in sourcebooks.
Alac Luin 05-02-05, 08:34 PM	Maybe Vol has no control of it. Perhaps a line from that family has survived, and the mark of death would appear on an elf child “orphan” near the Mournlands. Ok, that would never happen. Just disregard this post. ;)
KP91 05-02-05, 09:18 PM	Eldritch Machine. The ultimate answer in Eberron.
Majorafire77 05-02-05, 09:23 PM	Maybe Vol has no control of it. Perhaps a line from that family has survived, and the mark of death would appear on an elf child “orphan” near the Mournlands. Ok, that would never happen. Just disregard this post. ;) Wow. Original stuff. I like it!:shifty:
Isran_Imrador 05-03-05, 01:44 PM	Maybe Vol has no control of it. Perhaps a line from that family has survived, and the mark of death would appear on an elf child “orphan” near the Mournlands. Ok, that would never happen. Just disregard this post ;) . Hehe, i see some one has read the same book i have. :) You could boost Erandis up to epic and have here develop Vol`s Clone spell...basicly take a dead pice of flesh and it turns into a living clone of the one how gave the flesh.... Or just gett some Khybershard and bind the mark of death to that...some ruomor say thet for this to work the host dies but Erandis is already dead rigth.... :) I am sure i can come up with some more on this...Well if you got time you may find some interesting ideas in the Erandis d`Vol Encyclopedia (and more) link in my signature...
Vharuck 05-03-05, 02:03 PM	Maybe the drow of Xen'drik (who were once elves) have had the mark for centuries. The reason nobody ever discovered this is because the drow are isolationists, they already have several natural spell-like abilities (so what's one more?), and the mark may be mistaken for one of their intricate tattoos at a distance. Of course, all dragonmarks are easily seen up close, but then you're close to a drow with the Mark of Death and... well... That doesn't always end too well.
Taigis 05-03-05, 02:39 PM	I don't have an idea for what would make the Mark of Death return. However, I do have an idea on how to have it crop up. Perhaps the Mark of Death returned sometime during the Last War (or even prior). Wheres it been hiding? The Houses of the Mark of Shadows. This could be an explanation for what caused the rift between Phiarlan and Thuranni. Who better to have the Mark of Death than the newly formed house of assassins? Well, at least until Keith does a Dragonshard giving the "real" reason behind the rift between Phiarlan and Thuranni. Taigis
darkthought 05-03-05, 04:46 PM	*Cough* Marked for Death *Cough*
Alac Luin 05-03-05, 05:02 PM	Maybe the drow of Xen'drik (who were once elves) have had the mark for centuries. The reason nobody ever discovered this is because the drow are isolationists, they already have several natural spell-like abilities (so what's one more?), and the mark may be mistaken for one of their intricate tattoos at a distance. Of course, all dragonmarks are easily seen up close, but then you're close to a drow with the Mark of Death and... well... That doesn't always end too well. Well, drow do have ebony colored skin. (or did this change?). The mark might not show up all that well, depending on the color this dragon mark shows up as. Perhaps the drow don't even know they have it :) *Cough* Marked for Death *Cough* He He
ChorusOfEchoes 05-04-05, 03:51 AM	I believe that the ECS says that Vol is orchestrating Aereni breeding in the hopes of reviving the line of Vol (and thus the Mark of Death). The recent (I think) article involving the Library of Korranberg and the Blood of Vol exchanging priveleges to genealogical archives states the Blood has the most comprhensive records on these matters in Khorvaire. We also know that Dragonmarks only manifest within certain houses, or bloodlines. I think it's entirely feasible to resurrect the Mark of Death through Vol's own sanguine machinations, without having to resort to yet as unheard of magic items
D1Tremere 05-10-05, 01:51 PM	A changeling with levels in chameleon and the racial emulation feat could do it. Use racial emulation to become an elf and qualify for the least mark of death feat (assuming the DM lets one exist), use the changeable feat from chameleon to take it. As a changeling with racial emulation you will alwase breed true with members of your emulated race, so the new elf child would have a chance of manifesting the mark itself. This is only one posible way for it to happen, and the DM is in complete control of it.
jst1vaughn 05-11-05, 04:11 AM	A few more thoughts... At some point, there were no Dragonmarks of any kind on living creatures. So, the Mark of Death, like all Dragonmarks, must have begun to manifest at some point. Who's to say that the Prophecy doesn't require the Mark to reemerge right now, quite possibly on a non-elven race? On another, more sci-fi note, the Dragonmarks appear to have some tie to the moons of Eberron, and the 13th moon has vanished, along with its Dragonmark. An Eldritch Machine designed to pull the long-lost 13th moon back into a close orbit around Eberron could create a power surge, adding Dragonmarks to hundreds of Elves whose tie to the moon had been lying dormant due to the increased distance from their power source.
Vharuck 05-11-05, 04:55 AM	A changeling with levels in chameleon and the racial emulation feat could do it. Use racial emulation to become an elf and qualify for the least mark of death feat (assuming the DM lets one exist), use the changeable feat from chameleon to take it. As a changeling with racial emulation you will alwase breed true with members of your emulated race, so the new elf child would have a chance of manifesting the mark itself. This is only one posible way for it to happen, and the DM is in complete control of it. So, you plan to forego anything resembling logic or consistancy? Such as having to actually be of a race to acquire the mark? Or having to have a parent that had the bloodline? Or going at it in such a roundabout way when, if we did allow everything you suggest, any old elf could just "take the feat" if the DM allows it?
D1Tremere 05-11-05, 01:26 PM	So, you plan to forego anything resembling logic or consistancy? Such as having to actually be of a race to acquire the mark? Or having to have a parent that had the bloodline? Or going at it in such a roundabout way when, if we did allow everything you suggest, any old elf could just "take the feat" if the DM allows it? I don't see it as foregoing logic (as the rules allow it) or consistancy (as there is nothing in the story that says it could never have happened). As for having to be a member of the race, with racial emulation you are a member of that race (that's the whole point of the racial emulation feat). Having to have a parent of that bloodline isn't necessary when you are altering your genetic structure (which is what is going on with that feat as I see it). And yes, anyone can do anything in a magical and non real fantisy world, especially if the DM allows it. I think that far from messing up the feal of the story, it adds a new layer of intrigue and danger to the game. After all, how much more would people fear and distrust changelings if they found out that some could emulate working dragonmarks? And what measures would the changelings go to to keep secret such a large power that could spark a new war of the mark?
Alac Luin 05-11-05, 02:00 PM	I don't see it as foregoing logic (as the rules allow it) or consistancy (as there is nothing in the story that says it could never have happened). As for having to be a member of the race, with racial emulation you are a member of that race (that's the whole point of the racial emulation feat). Having to have a parent of that bloodline isn't necessary when you are altering your genetic structure (which is what is going on with that feat as I see it). The thing here is, dragon marks are hereditary. At least the ability to manifest them is. Only an elf that had an ancestor that had the mark of shadow can manifest the mark of shadow. If there has never been an ancestor with said mark in the blood line, an elf can not manifest said mark. By taking the feat, it is assumed the character has had such an ancestor. So yes, by the RAW, it may be theoretically possible. But it does go against the continuity of the story.
Charles Phipps 07-27-05, 09:55 PM	Time Travel Erandis Vol heads back into the past and the PCs must follow to kidnap one of the massacred members of the Household that she intends to leave a clone of. Then she will bring them to the future and BRING ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD!
Radkres 07-27-05, 10:03 PM	Something you might want to think about is if one or more had been turned to stone or something similar they technically would not be alive or dead could weather the length of inactivity as a statue in a medusas lair somewhere.
KP91 07-27-05, 10:21 PM	Ok, if following the current rules of the Dragonmarks, there is only one way for the Mark of Death to return... Vol comes back to life in her original form, no longer undead. Dragonmarks are part of an individual, so it will manifest again. She would then breed with elves and make a larger family. Or maybe (and this was thought of before) she has preserved a piece of her until she researches a special spell or finds a unique artifact that allows her to Clone herself and have the clone manifest the dragonmark. True, a simple Clone spell would work, but then you have to answer why she didn't do it before and the search for something allows for the PCs to affect it. Maybe you could do something like this. Except make the PC's want to stop her. Perhaps Vol doesn't have the spell in her book, so she hires the PC's to steal it from somewhere dangerous. Arcane Congress, The Twelve ,or maybe from Mordain himself. <--He is so damn cool!
Kaleanae en'i Mori 07-27-05, 11:31 PM	Or read the novel "Marked for Death" it is set after the war and deals with a possible reoccurence of the dragonmark.
Charles Phipps 07-27-05, 11:39 PM	Honestly, you need to first establish what the Mark of Death's importance is honestly. Is it symbolically important? Is it magically important? Is it something else entirely? If it's symbolically important; it might be a rallying cry for Elvish Necromancers, the Blood of Vol, and various groups that have the return of the Mark of Death being a sign of Apocolypse throughot the land. Is it magically important? Is some powerful ritual to destroy the world or make entire nations into undead only accomplishable by a person with a functioning Mark of Death? Perhaps unparralleled objects of power? WHY is the Mark so ruddy important?
Hannibal 08-27-05, 10:17 PM	The line of vol may not have been eradicated. The Inspired's empty shells are specially bred, with both fiend and elf blood. Perhaps some of the elves they used to create empty shells belonged to the house of vol. The Inspired's empty shells may not be able to have the mark of death, but perhaps they could unknowingly be carrying it?
Majorafire77 08-27-05, 11:49 PM	E-Machine > D&D rules.
Alratan 08-28-05, 09:58 AM	As a material component, Clone needs a piece of flesh taken from the living creature. Two possibilities. Before converitng Vol to a lich, perhaps her mother secreted pieces of her in stasis in variuous hiding places. Vol thinks they have been destroyed - but one day the PCs... Many spellcasting creatures (such as dragons...) do not need material components to cast spells, so are fully capable of bringing Vol back to life at any point. Perhaps Vol's draconic parent is just waiting for an opportune moment to push his interpreation of the Phrophecy, and the lichdom was just an easy way of putting the Mark of Death in cold storage for a few hundred years.
Splendide 08-28-05, 10:02 AM	I don't know that its ever been proven that Dragonmarks are hereditary, just that they are only found within specific races.
Sir Elton 08-28-05, 10:13 AM	Basically, decide what adventure you want to run, and the answers will jump out at you. Don't change what the ECS says, but build on what it doesn't say didn't happen. :shocked: I'm shocked. Basically, any campaign setting you buy is really "yours." Everyone's Eberron is different from WotC's, just as everyone's Eberron is different from Keith's. People who run Eberron the WotC way is just being unimaginative on how they can make it theirs. You can still have the Dragonmarked House of Vol. Just think on how many generations of Elves were part of the House of Vol. There could be relatively many descendents of Vol, and the Mark of Death might manifest on any one of them. You can work out a return of the Dragonmark pretty easily. All of the suggestions above are quite viable.
Ricohard_Draconis 08-28-05, 01:32 PM	I don't know that its ever been proven that Dragonmarks are hereditary, just that they are only found within specific races. The marks are hereditary, hence the importance that the houses hold over the purity of their bloodlines, mixing marks leads to aberrant dragonmarks which are... icky. This was what kicked off the war of the mark all those years ago.
phoenxhwk 08-28-05, 03:25 PM	Definitely have to bring Vol back. I'd guess you'd need Wish/Miracle and possibly a True Res - perhaps to build an Eldritch Machine. But who in the world would do this? Maybe Vol could cast all the spells herself. But then you have a problem - your party is up against a ridiculous enemy from the start. Oh and I won't talk about that novel. Talk about HORRIBLE, both in premise and writing. Also - why is everyone interested in this particular plot point? I think it's one of the lamest that Eberron has to offer, but I think it makes for very interesting background for an enemy like Vol.
Dalmuti 08-28-05, 10:20 PM	I was poking through www.answers.com and I looked up Eberron, and it pointed something out I never noticed. Have you guys noticed that the numbers 13 and 12 poke up a lot in Eberron? There were 13 moons, but now there are 12. There were 13 dragonmarks but now there are 12. There were 13 planes connected to Eberron, but now there are 12. There were 13 nations, but now there are 12. Perhaps the only way for cosmic Eberron balance to work is that if the Mark of Death comes back, another mark has to die.
nfras 08-28-05, 11:34 PM	Here's some ideas: Not every elf with Vol blood was killed. One family line, illegitimate, was able to escape, to Xendrik. They set up a small community in Xendrik and have survived there for hundreds of years. They have forgotten why they fled and even forgotten Aerenal. Erandis d"vol was not the only experiment with dragon and elf blood. Before House Vol was destroyed, a rogue dragon took elf form and slept with a male heir of the dragonmarked house. She left for Argonessen/Xendrik/Khorvaire and laid her egg in secret. Days ago, the dragon/elf began to manifest a dragonmark. A player (half-elf preferably) with an Aberrant dragonmark has begun having strange visions and the mark has been changing, growing in shape and complexity, becoming something else. Something that nobody recognises, until they meet a scholar from one of the universities. The Prophecy (at least as Vol reads it) has foretold that she must become a living being again to pass on the dragonmark and assure that House Vol lives. There is a long process involved for her to do this, and the PCS must stop her or the Blood of Vol will flow again. A group of Karrnathi zombies and skeletons have gone disappeared. Thrane is the prime suspect, but the PCs soon discover that the undead had exhibited a much higher degre of intelligence than normal and that one had begun to manifest an odd, swirling mark on its body. Is the mark of Death starting to appear on undead? Is that one of the reasons that Vol formed an alliance with Kaius? Hope these are useful. I want to use a reappearance of the line of Vol in a campaign but want to foreshadow it over a few adventures. I'm thinking of having the mark appear on a cave wall, even have a cavern shaped like the mark (if my players' mapping skills are up to it!). That way they can see the Prophecy in action before it becomes apparent.
Splendide 08-29-05, 12:54 AM	The marks are hereditary, hence the importance that the houses hold over the purity of their bloodlines, mixing marks leads to aberrant dragonmarks which are... icky. This was what kicked off the war of the mark all those years ago.What kicked off the war was commonly accepted theory regarding the inheritance of dragonmarks. This theory is still not confirmed.