~W
There's something in the EPG about some eladrin joining Phiarlan and even manifesting the Mark of Shadow, but I don't think that's common and as per older Eberron material would be seen as highly unusual by other houses. A drow with the Mark of Shadow would be a unique aberration as far as the "canon" is concerned. I'm not aware of any drow working for the Phiarlan, in fact they are very rare in Khorvaire period.
Then again, every Eberron is your Eberron, and weird stuff goes on. Who knows what those Umbragen (shadow magic-using drow) have been up to?
Drow aren't elves, just like eladrin aren't elves.
Since when?
As far as I have ever known, Drow have been called Dark Elves.
The race description in Forgotten Realms Player's Guide refers to them as "dark elves".
The Monster Manual states they are kin to the lighter skinned elves.
The Eberron Player's Guide states the elves originated from Xen'drik and descended from the Eladrin of the feyspire city of Shae Tirias Tolai.
So why shouldn't a drow have access to the Mark of Shadow? It could be a very interesting character concept. Either a full member of the house or possibly even a foundling.
Since when?
As far as I have ever known, Drow have been called Dark Elves.
The race description in Forgotten Realms Player's Guide refers to them as "dark elves".
The Monster Manual states they are kin to the lighter skinned elves.
The Eberron Player's Guide states the elves originated from Xen'drik and descended from the Eladrin of the feyspire city of Shae Tirias Tolai.
So why shouldn't a drow have access to the Mark of Shadow? It could be a very interesting character concept. Either a full member of the house or possibly even a foundling.
Since always. Drow might be "elves," but they are even more distantly related to the elves of Arenal and Khorvaire then half-elves are. Please note, half-elves do not manifest the mark of shadow. Also note, drow would not typically be members of either of the shadow marked houses. Those houses are part of Khorvairian culture. The drow are not. All three cultures of drow are from Xen'Drik, and generally speaking don't have any contact with Khorvaire. Seeing a drow in Khorvaire is an anomaly in and of itself. A dragonmarked drow is an aberration, pure and simple.
That being said, players can be, and often are, aberrations.
Since always. Drow might be "elves," but they are even more distantly related to the elves of Arenal and Khorvaire then half-elves are. Please note, half-elves do not manifest the mark of shadow. Also note, drow would not typically be members of either of the shadow marked houses. Those houses are part of Khorvairian culture. The drow are not. All three cultures of drow are from Xen'Drik, and generally speaking don't have any contact with Khorvaire. Seeing a drow in Khorvaire is an anomaly in and of itself. A dragonmarked drow is an aberration, pure and simple.
That being said, players can be, and often are, aberrations.
Ah, but several of the houses do maintain enclaves in Stormreach, including House Phiarlan. Such a dragonmarked Drow could be found there if anywhere.
As for Half-elves manifesting the mark, they are considered human and elf for purposes of feats...so long as they meet the prerequisites. Even in 3.5 they counted as elf. "Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-elf is considered an elf." and in the Eberron Campaign Setting in 3.5 it even went so far as to say "Since the union of elves and humans sometimes produces half-elves that are not part of the true-breeding race, a small number of half-elves can be found among the human - and elf - controlled dragonmarked houses."
Unless something in 4e specifically states otherwise...
But I digress. If someone wanted to make a drow from House Phiarlan (which is specifically mentioned as having an enclave in Stormreach.) Things to consider include (but are not limited to) Was s/he born into the house? Or was s/he a foundling? Perhaps having to have proven her/himself useful in order to be allowed to live. How did s/he come to Khorvaire? Do the house members there welcome him/her? Or do they regard him/her with hostility or indifference?
In my opinion, a Drow with the mark of shadow could be very useful and not necessarily an abomination. Just so rare as to be generally unheard of.
Ah, but several of the houses do maintain enclaves in Stormreach, including House Phiarlan. Such a dragonmarked Drow could be found there if anywhere.
As for Half-elves manifesting the mark, they are considered human and elf for purposes of feats...so long as they meet the prerequisites. Even in 3.5 they counted as elf. "Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-elf is considered an elf." and in the Eberron Campaign Setting in 3.5 it even went so far as to say "Since the union of elves and humans sometimes produces half-elves that are not part of the true-breeding race, a small number of half-elves can be found among the human - and elf - controlled dragonmarked houses."
Unless something in 4e specifically states otherwise...
Please note, in 3.5 a drow could not take the mark of shadow, and neither could a half-elf. Aberrations could of course occur, with DM fiat.
Please note, according to the established lore, drow did not develop marks. Aberrations could of course occur, with DM fiat.
Please note, house Phiaralan might have an enclave in Stormreach, but drow are not part of the culture of Stormreach. Vulkoori Drow are the outsiders from the jungle who occasionally visit and trade with Stormreach. The other two cultures of Drow have virtually no contact with Stormreach at all. Out in the wilderness of Xen'Drik, being an outsider from Stormreach is as likely to get you killed by a Vulkoori drow tribe as not. Stormreach, for all intents and purposes, is still a part of Khorvairian culture. The rest of Xen'Drik is not.
A Drow with a mark of shadow is an aberration. Its an aberration which someone can choose to play. It could be a moment of the draconic prophesy intentionally reaching out to touch the world. All of your questions surrounding such a character sound like fairly reasonable questions to ask of such an aberration. I'm not saying such an aberration should not be played. However, such a character IS an aberration.
As for Half-elves manifesting the mark, they are considered human and elf for purposes of feats...so long as they meet the prerequisites. Even in 3.5 they counted as elf. "Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-elf is considered an elf." and in the Eberron Campaign Setting in 3.5 it even went so far as to say "Since the union of elves and humans sometimes produces half-elves that are not part of the true-breeding race, a small number of half-elves can be found among the human - and elf - controlled dragonmarked houses."
This means that half-elves are non-marked members of these houses. 3.5 half-elves did not count as humans and elves for the purposes of meeting prerequisites, only for "effects" such as Bane weapons, and even then only counted as elves. They did not qualify for feats as if they were elves, because qualifying for feats is not an "effect", it's a state of being.
In my opinion, a Drow with the mark of shadow could be very useful and not necessarily an abomination. Just so rare as to be generally unheard of.
Unfortunately your opinion does not match the setting. Drow are a separate race with a separate race entry and are not considered elves for any effect. There is no rules text saying "Drow qualify for prerequisites as if they were Elves". In 4e, only Elves are Elves. Eladrin are not elves, except in the fluff of Forgotten Realms where they've taken over the roll of Sun and Moon elves. Even then, they cannot take feats for Elves, because again, only Elves are Elves. In 4e Eberron, Eladrin are the progenitor race of Elves and Drow, but millenia upon millenia of Giant experiments and forced breeding have turned them into separate species.
It's highly questionable whether drow, elves, or eladrin can even interbreed, precluding your "birthed in the house" from being a forgone conclusion of being probable.
Also, as of 3.5, there was the rule that True Dragonmarks could not appear on subraces of their intended race, but Abberant Dragonmarks could. So Drow, as a subrace of elf, could indeed carry a mark, but only an abberant one.
ALL THAT BEING SAID:
PCs in 4e are capable of being important parts of the prophecy, and a Drow with the Mark of Shadow would make a rather interesting piece of it. He might not be seen as "abberant" but actively cultivated by the Houses of Shadow, each trying to get him to join their house.
Either way, a drow with the Mark of Shadow would be one-of-a-kind unless the DM specifically wants to make more of them. But the mighty Hellcow has said that the ECG is going to discourage DMs from introducing many off-race marked NPCs, so as not to draw the attention away from the PCs being special. But, that's entirely optional advice. If you think a cadre of shadow-marked Drow would make an interesting part of the world, by all means.
Also note, drow would not typically be members of either of the shadow marked houses. Those houses are part of Khorvairian culture. The drow are not. All three cultures of drow are from Xen'Drik, and generally speaking don't have any contact with Khorvaire. Seeing a drow in Khorvaire is an anomaly in and of itself. A dragonmarked drow is an aberration, pure and simple.
Actually, I'm pretty sure that House Phiarlan (or at least Elves bearing the Mark of Shadow) originated on Xen'drik. These elves, however, were slaves of the Storm Giants who rebeled against them, whereas most Drow remained loyal so that they could retain knowledge of the Giants' mastery over fire magic.... or something along those lines... This is all from 3.5 however. But then if drow are not considered elves, then this is a moot point.
In either case, all of the 3.5 sourcebooks were fairly clear. Elves developed the mark of shadow. Drow did not.
All elves originated from Xen'Drik. The elves are a mutated version of Eladrin. The drow are a mutated version of the elves. As far as I remember, the dragonmarked houses originated from Arenal and Khorvaire, and did not start to appear until long after the drow/elf split... but someone who is a bit more on the ball with their lore will have to double check that/correct me if I am wrong.
Indeed. No dragonmarks developed outside of Aerenal and Khorvaire. In-setting speculation is that these continents somehow play a role in the appearance of dragonmarks, though no one is sure exactly what the connection might be. It could be some ambient magical energy present on these continents, a mechanism of the Prophecy, or who knows what else.
In either case, all of the 3.5 sourcebooks were fairly clear. Elves developed the mark of shadow. Drow did not.
Yep. Eberron canon is very clear. Only elves-- not half-elves, not drow-- develop(ed) the Marks of Shadow and Death. Even the inclusion of the "Phiarlan Eladrin" has been revealed to be a mistake and/or miscommunication between authors/devs. It's there now, so we can't get rid of it, but it absolutely contradicts previously established canon.
All that said, wehneman, the rules do allow you to play a drow with the Mark of Shadow. As Cyber-dave has explained, though, such a PC would be an aberration well outside the norm, and likely the first non-elf creature to ever develop the 'mark.
Lorewise, the dragon marks manifested on Khorvaire and Aerenal. Even if they were distant offshoots of the Phiarlan family, Eladrin and Drow would need to be born on Khorvaire or Aerenal in order to manifest a dragonmark that is more then just aberration. Possibly it might be necessary for the person's bloodline to have spend several generations on Khorvaire.
So, if you took every single Eladrin from the Thelanis and every single Drow from Xen'drik, put them in the Eldeen Reaches and Q'barra respectively, and then had them breed for several generations, those who hadn't died from population crowding might have manifested the Mark of Shadow or even Death due to sharing key ancestors with the house Phiarlan or Vol respectively.
The point of all that? Nothing unless you're Lady Vol but thankfully she isn't that desperate. Personally, I've once or twice thought of having Sarlonan humans marrying into the one of the Dragonmarked houses (most likely Orien) and giving birth to a Mixed Mark child, but even that is not really a concern for you.
Ultimately, make a decision. Lorewise there isn't a basis for aberrant marks manifesting outside of Khorvaire or Aerenal. But hey, the prophecy does strange things sometimes.
You mean Shadow and Death. Storm is very specifically half-elf.
Indeed. I'm not sure how that slipped in there.
I'll fix that now. ;)
I'd ask the question "Were they born on Khorvaire?"
I've always considered the Aerenal/Khorvaire connection to apply in terms of bloodlines, rather than individuals. I think the given bloodlines' exposure to "whatever it is" in Aerenal and Khorvaire led to their developing dragonmarks.
As such, I'd expect a Cannith born in Stormreach to be just as likely/unlikely to develop a dragonmark as a Cannith born in Aundair. Dragonmarks don't manifest at birth anyway, but later in life. I don't think the individual's place of birth matters as much, at this point, as the time his ancestors spent, or didn't spend, on Aerenal or Khorvaire.
That's just my take, though. There's really no right or wrong answer.
I've always considered the Aerenal/Khorvaire connection to apply in terms of bloodlines, rather than individuals. I think the given bloodlines' exposure to "whatever it is" in Aerenal and Khorvaire led to their developing dragonmarks.
As such, I'd expect a Cannith born in Stormreach to be just as likely/unlikely to develop a dragonmark as a Cannith born in Aundair. Dragonmarks don't manifest at birth anyway, but later in life. I don't think the individual's place of birth matters as much, at this point, as the time his ancestors spent, or didn't spend, on Aerenal or Khorvaire.
That's just my take, though. There's really no right or wrong answer.
Place of birth may not be important, family of birth is.
Do not forget that Dragonmark Houses are even weary of those of their own race manifesting a Mark of their House while they did not know there was a bloodline connection.
As far as is convention for the Twelve, only their bloodlines develop Dragonmarks. Anything outside of that is either to be observed and understood or exterminated as an Aberrant.
The relationship between Elves and Drow is also very specific in Eberron. It isn't that they are 'their dark skinned cousins', Drow in Eberron are 'those savages from Xen'drik' to most.
So, a Drow considered as normal for a Mark of Shadow.. no.
A drow with the Mark of Shadow in my campaign? Yes Please! The possibilities for a DM to create a shadow war between Phiarlan and Thuranni over this Drow while in the meantime Prophecy Watchers also are more then interested in this 'savage from Xen'Drik and his Dragonmark' and the, rather racist, reaction most Khorvairians have towards this Drow is a very interesting thing to play out!
So, a Drow considered as normal for a Mark of Shadow.. no.
A drow with the Mark of Shadow in my campaign? Yes Please! The possibilities for a DM to create a shadow war between Phiarlan and Thuranni over this Drow while in the meantime Prophecy Watchers also are more then interested in this 'savage from Xen'Drik and his Dragonmark' and the, rather racist, reaction most Khorvairians have towards this Drow is a very interesting thing to play out!
My sentiments exactly. Despite not being canon, it IS a good idea, and one I wouldn't object to.
Place of birth may not be important, family of birth is.
This was pretty much the entire point of my post. ;)
A drow with the Mark of Shadow in my campaign? Yes Please! The possibilities for a DM to create a shadow war between Phiarlan and Thuranni over this Drow while in the meantime Prophecy Watchers also are more then interested in this 'savage from Xen'Drik and his Dragonmark' and the rather racist reaction most Khorvairians have towards this Drow is a very interesting thing to play out!
Bold added
I'm not sure I'd expect a drow to encounter much racial prejudice. There are a great many strange things to be encountered in the world. I don't think a drow would be all that shocking a thing for most. If anything, this drow would have the Wayfinders beating down his or her doors to setup a visit to their enclave. Morgrave University would likely be doing the same. Many intellectuals would love to the chance to have a peaceful sitdown with a drow on Khorvairian turf, as opposed to the less desirable proposition of journeying all the way to Xen'drik and meeting the "savage" in the jungle.
Of course, you could've meant prejudice based upon his or her "Aberrant" Mark of Shadow. Out of place 'marks would definitely create as stir, as you alluded.
I'm not sure I'd expect a drow to encounter much racial prejudice. There are a great many strange things to be encountered in the world. I don't think a drow would be all that shocking a thing for most.
Really? Maybe in the lower levels of Sharn. I mean, drow are more rare in Khorvaire than most of the rare races, like Eladrin.
Khorvaire is more racially tolerant than many fantasy worlds, but it's also in the midst of a cold war. Some wierd-looking elf running around with no nationality to speak of would be subject to scrutiny, at the very least. Not to mention folks who read about the mysterious/dangerous dark elves of Xen'drik in the papers, or those with a scholastic interest. I imagine a drow will have his/her hands full navigating Khorvaire, particularly in Zilargo. Doubly so if he/she has a dragonmark.
Really? Maybe in the lower levels of Sharn. I mean, drow are more rare in Khorvaire than most of the rare races, like Eladrin.
Are they rare or unusual? Yes. Are they shocking, scary or hated? No.
A drow in Khorvaire would be just a strange elf, I'd think. For those "in the know", he or she might even be an object of curiosity. While you don't want to run into the "savages" of Xen'drik on their home turf and in numbers, a single drow would be a lot less intimidating when met on Khorvaire. Therefore, I don't see any real cause for fear or prejudice.
I'd expect prejudice in Khorvaire to be mostly along national and cultural lines, and I don't think drow would catch any more than their fair share. They may be "the outsider" wherever they go, but they'll also never be "the Karrn among Thranes", so to speak.
I just don't see many circumstances where I'd expect a drow to encounter racial prejudice. They'd likely have a tougher time in Valenar, than anywhere else. There's some history of conflict in that case, at least. As to the rest of the continent, I just don't see any real reason one would encounter consistent fear or prejudice. There's no history nor grounds for it, in my opinion.
If said drow has a dragonmark, then that's a whole other can of worms, and has little to do with his or her race. A human with the Mark of Shadow would find himself in the same boat.
That's just my
Really? Maybe in the lower levels of Sharn. I mean, drow are more rare in Khorvaire than most of the rare races, like Eladrin.
Khorvaire is more racially tolerant than many fantasy worlds, but it's also in the midst of a cold war. Some wierd-looking elf running around with no nationality to speak of would be subject to scrutiny, at the very least. Not to mention folks who read about the mysterious/dangerous dark elves of Xen'drik in the papers, or those with a scholastic interest. I imagine a drow will have his/her hands full navigating Khorvaire, particularly in Zilargo. Doubly so if he/she has a dragonmark.
This would be like some tribal individual from South America walking around the US or Soviet Union in the 60's. Is he going to get strange looks? Yes. Will people be confused as to his national origin and mistake him for something else? Sure. Will they treat him like crap or treat him as badly as they would an enemy soldier or a disparaged minority?
Probably not.
Now if he's walking around in animal hides, body paint, sporting a bunch of piercings, and more, he'll be treated as less uncivilized- just like a Talenta halfling, Shadow Marcher, or Eldeen Druid.