House Cannith, as those who read the Dragonmarked sourcebook know, is currently divided into three different factions, each of them very determined to become successor to the whole. One is building a secret army (most likely) in Breland (probably with a silent nod from the King of Breland), one has tapped into the Blood of Vole, and probably has been making some sort of deal with the Necromancers of Karrnath, and lastly, one with no direct standing army at all, but probably the ear of the Magic Academies of Aundair, and probably the ear of house Vadalis as well.
Part of me is thinking about adding one more contender. The Lord of Blades. To me, it makes sense. The Lord of Blades currently resides in the original home land of Cyre, it probably has access to a Creation Forge, and has enough military strength to flex if it wanted to get involved and messy. In reality, it doesn't really care about House Cannith one way or another, but it DOES care about the Mark of Making, because without it, he will not have any prodegy once the current groups are destroyed by hazzard and time.
The PC's will be put in the middle of the mess, as they are part of the security forces that are hired by a debate center in Stormhome. They are suppose to keep these three, soon to be four, violtale factions from clashing with each other, and they will have to decide if the Ambassador Warforged is serious or not, and if he and his fellow warforges deserve to have protection from the other House Factions?
The idea is a little clunky, but I am wondering if you think this might be doable, and a way to start off a mid-level campaign?
With this in mind, he can probably manipulate at least a few Cannith heirs who worked with creation forges. He might be able to get his up and running normally with such help.
Sounds good to me. The main question I would ask is: What is the status of marked heirs within the Lord of Blades' faction? Are they essentially slaves? If they're treated fairly well, why would anyone join the Lord of Blades instead of one of the other 3 factions? He might be able to coax a couple of hardcore Cyran heirs who desperately want to see their homeland reclaimed. But that'd be about it unless he really sweatened the pot.
Well, currently the status of Heirs that might be supporting the Blades would be unknown. They are not slaves, but more like Fiefers. The Lord of Blades is about Nationbuilding, in my opinion, and uses tactics that the Curch of the Silver Flames uses to unify his 'people'. His religion is a cult of personality, and he leads based on the fact that warforged like to listen to him, and his message of self governance appeals to them.
A possibility that opens with 4E is that maybe the Lord of Blades has managed to get an abberant Dragonmark that works very much like the Mark of Making. This would explain why, even though he is skilled in artifice and can make his creation forge work, even when it shouldn't, that the creations he makes are warped and imperfect.
Another possibility along those lines is that he DOES have a mark of making, hidden deep on his wooden core, and that he really has a legitamit claim to the throne, in a indirect odd fashion. If the Warforged can be considered the prodigy of their creators, then this opens up many shocking revelations. Not that he would be playing that card or caring for it. It is possible to rule a House without actually manifesting a Dragonmark. It's just exceedingly rare that descendants without marks are allowed to ascend.
In my mind, he probably already has agents in Cannith South, gathering Information on the source of "new" warforged, and is quietly setting up 'accidents' and planting evidence of betrayal on these artificer heirs, to free 'his' people, and to weaken the position of a rival forge.
I'm not even really sure that he wants to be head of house Cannith (Although to be honest, he wouldn't mind the power, I am sure). He just wants control of house Cannith as a step to ensure that his people will continue to propagate. Wood doesn't last forever. Wood ages and rots, and eventually all that will be left of the warforged are fallen plates, unless the Lord of Blades or House Cannith can get the forges restarted.
Really, this is a bid for power. The Lord of Blades feels House Cannith is about to go to blows, and if it does, he wants to make it clear that his intention is to ensure the house survives. He, believing in his own glory due to the cult of personality, feels that it would be in everyone's best interests that they just let him oversee operations. If the humans would just see that he is right about this, everything would go more smoothly.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh man.
Your idea of the Lord of Blades having a Mark of Making gave me an insanely good idea.
Its so good i'm going to try to put it in a spoiler block.
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The Patriarch of Cannith caused the Day of Mourning.
Specifically, he was afraid of his mortality. He was afraid of going to spend eternity wandering through Dolurrh. His idea? Craft a warforged body for himself and transpose himself in it. Warforged can't die of old age.
Of course, this sort of thing requires booku magical energy. Not the kind that spellcasters can manipulate; the kind that just exists in the world through the presence of ley-lines, magical nodes, and the sort. In order to harness that magic, the user has to control them somehow; so, he went to the Queen of Cyre, and told her that he could give her a (insert superweapon here; my favored idea is a barrier that could keep enemies out of Cyre; you can do whatever you want) if his House could harness the natural magical energy of Cyre (harness in the same way that you harness a stream or a river to power a dam). Of course he didn't tell her about his plan for immortality.
Specifically, he was afraid of his mortality. He was afraid of going to spend eternity wandering through Dolurrh. His idea? Craft a warforged body for himself and transpose himself in it. Warforged can't die of old age.
Of course, this sort of thing requires booku magical energy. Not the kind that spellcasters can manipulate; the kind that just exists in the world through the presence of ley-lines, magical nodes, and the sort. In order to harness that magic, the user has to control them somehow; so, he went to the Queen of Cyre, and told her that he could give her a (insert superweapon here; my favored idea is a barrier that could keep enemies out of Cyre; you can do whatever you want) if his House could harness the natural magical energy of Cyre (harness in the same way that you harness a stream or a river to power a dam). Of course he didn't tell her about his plan for immortality.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh man.
Your idea of the Lord of Blades having a Mark of Making gave me an insanely good idea.
I like the way you think. Ultimately I haven't really paid much attention to the Lord of Blades.
*sigh* I so want to play in Eberron, but my current location doesn't seem to have much in the way of good gaming.....
Have you considered VoIP and one of the various battlemat programs? I haven't tried it with VoIP, but I have a friend who enjoyed playing games that way.
I like the way you think. Ultimately I haven't really paid much attention to the Lord of Blades.
Neither have I, actually; he was always just kinda a bad guy I could use if my PCs went into the Mournland, or if I wanted to throw 'forged at them. That's why i was so excited about that idea.
Have you considered VoIP and one of the various battlemat programs? I haven't tried it with VoIP, but I have a friend who enjoyed playing games that way.
Not really. I tried once with my old gaming group, but they were all in a room and I was the lone Skype-er. I'd want to be able to see the board, show and see body language, etc. and I don't know if VoIP type stuff could do that. Could be something to look into, though.
I admit, for the most part, I've ignored him because he's just off in a place that players don't visit. No one goes into the Mournlands unless they have a death wish, anyway. Part of me thinks that the Demon Wastes are safer in a way then the Mournlands.
A possibility that opens with 4E is that maybe the Lord of Blades has managed to get an abberant Dragonmark that works very much like the Mark of Making. This would explain why, even though he is skilled in artifice and can make his creation forge work, even when it shouldn't, that the creations he makes are warped and imperfect.
...Warforged can get dragonmark in 4.0? Did I miss something?
*shrug*
It's an additional option, to be used or not used.
Kinda. In 4e, they allowed 'marks to manifest on races other than those they would normally manifest on if the DM allowed it. So, either PCs or NPCs (people who matter). The EPG essentially says that it would pretty much be a direct manifestation of the Prophecy; in other places (the ECG, i believe) it talks about how dangerous that might be.
*shrug*
It's an additional option, to be used or not used.
Well, it would make an interresting plot twist. But I suppose it would be rare. Even rarer than an aberrant dragonmark. An elf with the Mark of Warding would be something out of the ordinary, but a WARFORGED with any mark at all would be something truly unique.
Right. Anyways. Yeah, allowing marks to manifest on other races is pretty much a plot device. If its on a PC or an NPC, they're special, and could very well be integral to the plot.
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
What do people think of my solution?