My guess would be that she would keep it hidden and close to continue breeding and lay low untill there her "family" has grown a bit bigger again. Since she is elven this can take a while. Offcourse you could use a high official of the Silver Flame, who comes to the PC's with the message that it seems like the Emerald Claw is laying low and that the "silence" of the Emerald Claw is inda scaring the church because they don't know what will come. They could ask the PC's the investigate what the reason is.
However, I don't really like this idea and I'm wondering if others have better ideas about what Vol would do after she has succeeded in making the thirteenth mark come back to Eberron.
I think a purge in elven society is likely to be on the top of the list. Destroying the elves and the undyings that betrayed her. She might want to establish herself in the Undying Court, and reestablish the name of Vol which has been carried in mud for the past centuries. Of course, vengeance against Argonnessen would be in her projects, and it could also be a way to unite the elves under her banner.
On the other hand, she has her toys: the Blood of Vol and the Emerald Claw. She can continue to play with humanity and try to shape the destinies of Khorvaire and beyond for her own amusement and pleasure. And such things aren't always pleasant. Look at young girls playing with Barbies, they can come up with many different scenarios of a wide selection of emotions.
Rekko
In my campaign I'm thinking of letting Vol get back the Lost mark. She has spend centuries looking for far relatives and has a huge map with all people who are related to her in blood, even for the smallest bit. In the end she has about 2-6 half-elves who seem to have survived the massacre and are partially heirs to house vol, but their blood isn't pure enough to gain the mark. So she has developed a high level arcane spell that is specifically designed to polymorph a a half-elf to a full elf and instead of letting the spell focus on special abilities and the like it is focussed on the elven blood of the recipient. (well over a millenia of arcane research gives you time to find such a complicated spell. )
So after casting this on a male half-elf and a female half-elf she has two full blood elves with the blood of Vol and she can start breeding (which is literally what she does), however breeding with elves takes a long time.
This is the idea and I know what her main goals are, but what I was wondering is: what will she do on short term after she has succeeded in bringing back the lost mark. What can the pc's (and Khorvaire) notice after this has been done in the first few months after she has accomplished this and what will Erandis do in this time? What is her short-term strategy?
The PCs are worried that if she manages to use the orb to reverse her lichdom and restore the mark of death, it will kickstart large scale conflict between the dragon marked houses once again, and is likely to restart the last war.
So the answer, in my campaign is that her first priority is to attempt to rebuild the house of Vol. While it's true that she is a bit childish, she's also a 17th level wizard which means: very high intelligence, she knows she can't hope to win a large scale conflict with other dragon marked houses, the elves of Aerenal and especially the Dragons of Argonessen with the forces of the Emerald Claw and the Blood of Vol alone.
If my players are unable to stop her from getting the orb, she will likely clone herself and find suitable matches with which to... propegate, not only for herself but for her clones. Her clones may or may not be altered to be genetically different from her, but in short, with magic involved even Elves can repopulate a single house in as little as one generation.
Rekko
Erandis might be one of the greatest wizards of history, but there is one thing to consider about her. She is above all, a little girl who lost her mother. Finding what's lost and vengeance upon those who separated mother and child are the only schemes possible. However, Erandis is still a child with idealism and many dreams, which could in turn dictate her actions.
Out of curiousity, I've seen a lot of people on the forums describe Vol as childish, but I've never seen any indication of this in the sourcebooks. Is that characterization from a novel or somesuch?
The description says she was raised for some time in secrecy, so I guess she could have passed unnoticed a few years/decades, but a half-green dragon elf is hard to keep hidden.
Moreover, the Mark of Death has lived about 600 years (from -3,200 to -2,600) So Erandis can't be older than that. And since she's one of the last born of her line, you have another argument for her young years.
Those who say that Erandis is childish goes with the idea that lichdom sort of freezes your personality on the moment of your death. However, with time even a lich can change personality, but we prefer to say that her childish personality is deeply printed in her.
Moreover, imagine the faces on your players when they discover that the almighty Queen of the Dead is a teddy bear holding little girl (the teddy bear is the phylactery, that's Edy's idea btw)
If you have a different Vol, that's perfect also, your the DM and you call the shots in your game
Out of curiousity, I've seen a lot of people on the forums describe Vol as childish, but I've never seen any indication of this in the sourcebooks. Is that characterization from a novel or somesuch?
Not as far as I know. As far as I know, it is (1) a conclusion based on the fact that in most people, dragonmarks manifest during their childhood/teenage years. It was Erandis' the half-dragon's dragonmark which triggered the eradication of her family... and during the elf-dragon attack, Erandis' mother turned her daughter into a lich, and (2) the simple fact that many people here on the boards like the idea that one of Eberron's most dangerous villains is simply a young girl who has never had the chance to grow up and has never properly reached either physical or psychological maturity.
But the best argument comes from Hellcow himself, when asked whether it was ever stated how old Erandis was...
I don't think so. The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
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Moreover, imagine the faces on your players when they discover that the almighty Queen of the Dead is a teddy bear holding little girl (the teddy bear is the phylactery, that's Edy's idea btw)
That's actually scarier than all of the monsters we've ended up fighting in our game (one of which included a necro-animated castle).
I remember seeing a miniature of her, but I wouldn't use it if I were you; It says she's a sorcerer, and makes her look too old.
DarkangelUziel; From what I understand from your posts Your Vol is more interested in restoring her house then in revenge. What I suggest is that you keep her on this course - Don't make her go after the undying court and the dragons right away, she can do that after she's sure in her bloodline's survival.
Now, the first threat to the restored mark of death is obviously the accusation that it's an aberrant mark. And the only way to avoid that is to go to The Twelve and claim a place in the institute. This may seem a bit too diplomatic, but if I get you correctly this is the best way for her to act - Being accepted by The Twelve is the ultimate recognition in the Vol line. It may force her to reveal her existence to the world, but I think she'll be willing to do that in order to make sure her new relatives are safe from persecution.
This is of course all your decision but I think it makes things very interesting - Suddenly your players have to deal with Erandis Vol the public figure, an ancient heir of a dragonmarked line and the leader of religion of the masses.
The real question is - what damn part of the economy can the mark of death blend into?
The real question is - what damn part of the economy can the mark of death blend into?
Undertakers? :D
Out of curiousity, I've seen a lot of people on the forums describe Vol as childish, but I've never seen any indication of this in the sourcebooks. Is that characterization from a novel or somesuch?
well i have read the Lost Mark book trilogy which say that Vol made herself a lich but this person is a follower of Vol and so think that Vol told this just to make herself look cooler but a dragon did say that he did fight Vol herself so i think she would be a teenage at the most.
Originally Posted by Hellcow
I don't think so. The miniature of her certainly makes her look older, but personally I like young Erandis both on the basis that the purge of the line started before she could grow into her full powers, and also because it lets her and Jaela have a vicious catfight sometime.
i love this i will remeber this forever