Before Galifar, Thaliost and Daskaran were the greatest powers in northwestern Khorvaire. But in the age in which the Marks of Handling and
Before Galifar, Thaliost and Daskaran were the greatest powers in northwestern Khorvaire. But in the age in which the Marks of Handling and Passage appeared, the power of these city-states was still limited. There were a host of independent cities and freeholds, drawing power from faith or Fey bargains. Further west, a band of fertile farmland stretched down along the edge of the Towering Wood. But the woods were deep and dangerous. There were countless stories of the foul and deadly creatures that could emerge from the wood to prey upon settlers. Most people shunned these Western Reaches. But there were a few who took the risk and managed to prosper. The Tualis bred sentinel hounds and other guardian beasts, while forging bargains with the fey spirits of the region. The Grayswifts befriended the shifters and elves who dwelt within the woods, and learned some of their mystical traditions. And the Seryans harnessed some of the horrid beasts that roamed the Towering Wood and turned these creatures into living weapons. Other settlements rose and fell, but it was these three families that thrived in the Western Reaches… and eighteen hundred years ago, members of these families manifested the Mark of Handling. They weren’t alone. Further to the east, the Hornheels maintained a powerful freehold, while the Lavarins were renowned for their fine horses.
The Lavarins had long provided mounts to the Thorn Post, whose heirs had developed the Mark of Passage in the previous century, so they were quick to grasp the implications and potential of the Mark of Handling. It was Casta Lavarin who forged the alliance between the marked families, convincing them that unity would bring them strength and prosperity. It took time to cement this alliance. In particular, there was no love between the Grayswifts and the Seryans. While the Grayswifts maintained thriving farmholds along the edge of the Towering Wood, some of their kin had gone west to live within the woods, forming communities with the shifters, elves, and half-elves that dwelt there; these were the seeds that would eventually become the Wardens of the Wood. The Mark of Handling primarily appeared among the Grayswifts who remained in the fields of the Western Reaches, and these farmers didn’t entirely embrace the primal traditions of the wood-dwellers… but they had a deep respect for the natural world. This was in sharp contrast to the Seryans, who see nature as something to be harnessed and used. Unbeknownst to others at the time, the Seryans had recovered dangerous daelkyr relics and were also dabbling with the power of the Wild Heart; both of these powers were invoked as they pioneered the science of magebreeding. So Seryan and Grayswift were bitterly divided from the earliest days. But Casta Lavarin was able to overcome this rivalry, urging the two families to try to change one another through contact—to share ideas and build something stronger together. Tensions remained, but the families thrived. They strengthened their own farms and ranches, worked closely with the newly formed House Orien, and at the urging of the Seryans they explored the full power of the Mark of Handling and the potential of magebreeding. And this is when Vadalis Lavarin entered the stage of history. A grandson of Casta Lavarin, born in Foalswood to a Seryan mother and Lavarin father, Vadalis was the first heir to manifest the Greater Mark of Handling. He had his grandfather’s charisma and an uncanny talent for magebreeding; some say that the young Mordain d’Phiarlan was inspired by the journals of Vadalis Lavarin. It was in the Foalswood enclave that the first hippogriff was born. Lavarin records say that Vadalis produced the hippogriff purely through his work. Other accounts suggest that an egg or fledgeling might have slipped through from Kythri, but even if this is true, Vadalis’s creation of a breeding line of hippogriffs would still be remarkable. It was the hippogriff that drew all eyes to the Handlers. At the urging of House Sivis, the families formally proclaimed themselves to be a new dragonmarked house; after some debate, it was agreed that the name of that house would be Vadalis, and the hippogriff would be its seal.
Some might say that House Vadalis lacks ambition. But the truth is that Vadalis loves its work. Most heirs love raising their herds and tending their farms, and the magebreeders love pushing the limits of the natural world. House Vadalis has had countless successes that the wider world simply ignores. Following the hippogriff, Vadalis Lavarin’s next great success was the creation of the goldenfowl, a form of chicken notable for its gleaming feathers, prodigious production, and remarkable health. Goldenfowl are now found across the Five Nations, and are the primary source of eggs in Khorvaire. But they are so ubiquitous today that few people consider that this bounty was a gift from Vadalis.
In those early days, there was a spark of ambition deep within House Vadalis—the burning dreams of the Seryan line. In the Seryan enclave of Longburn, heirs experimented with strange tools of the daelkyr and infused beasts with fiendish energies. The true extent of their work only came to light during the War of the Mark. Vadalis initially supplied Deneith and Orien forces with mounts and beasts of burden, but Lady Hela Seryan told the Twelve that her house was capable of far more than mere support. Soon Seryan hunters were tracking aberrants with horrid wolves and hellhounds. They unleashed swarms of Stirges against aberrant populations. Packs of Displacer Beasts hunted aberrants in the shadows of great cities. But the greatest shock came during the siege of Starilaskur, when Vadalis forces shattered the aberrant defenses—and much of the city itself—with the first Purple Worm ever seen on Khorvaire. Terrifying as these creatures are, the vague accounts that survive suggest that there were horrors far worse than any of these monsters—beasts possessed by fiends, and possibly humans transformed into aberrations. All that is known with certainty is that the Twelve—and the other families of Vadalis—were horrified by the things the Seryans produced. The records are buried even within the Twelve, but a sage who digs deep enough can find accounts that the final battle of the War of the Mark wasn’t against the bearers of aberrant dragonmarks, but rather focused on the destruction of Longburn. When the Seryan enclave was devastated by Cannith artillery, the House soldiers discovered that the complex extended deep underground, stretching down into Khyber itself. All of the Seryans tied to that place were slain. Longburn was razed to the ground, the tunnels were filled with quickstone, and it was erased from maps. Seryan heirs dwelling in other enclaves were adopted into other Vadalis families, and the line was erased from family trees.
While Vadalis has never sought to conquer and expand, it is a House that requires significant amounts of land for its business. Thaliost was the largest nation in the region before Aundair and Galifar, but Vadalis itself claimed the territory between Varna and the Towering Wood as the Vadalis Commonwealth. Thus Vadalis lost more than most in the alliance with Galifar and the Korth Edicts. The house was given many concessions, promised that it would continue to run its farms and ranches as tenants of the nobles of Galifar; while the house had to pay tribute to the new nobles, the Edicts prevented a petty noble from simply driving Vadalis from a farm. Still, there were many farmers in the Commonwealth who became vassals of Galifar under the Korth Edicts, and newly minted nobles of Aundair who were granted claim to the lands long held by Lavarin and Hornheel. As centuries passed, the Vadalis Commonwealth was forgotten. But the heirs of Vadalis know that once they were lords of their own land. Again, few yearn to reclaim that lost glory… but the memory still lingers.
Under Galifar, Vadalis was quiet and productive. The house continued to support farmers, to improve daily life in tiny ways, and occasionally to create something remarkable and new, like the Tressym or the Riding Tribex. Then came the Last War. Over the course of decades, that sinister spark that burned in the War of the Mark caught fire again in the heart of the house. Magebreeders in Lavarin and Tualis were inspired to create living weapons. Some Magebreeders worked with Jorasco or other houses, operating openly on projects like the Dragonhawk Initiative which created a force of Aarakocra. But others were inspired by the lost lore of the Seryan line, certain that they could create things that could change the shape of the war… or the world. This spirit lingers as the Feral Heart, a faction hidden in the heart of the house. Today, Baron Dalin Hornheel d’Vadalis wants to focus on the core business of the house. But Mazina Lavarin is urging her kin to do more—to embrace ambition, and to find new ways to change the world.
What Happens Next?
The Feral Heart. The Feral Heart is a Cult of the Dragon Below that’s wormed its way into the roots of House Vadalis. There are cells scattered throughout the House, each working on projects that twist natural creatures into terrifying threats.
Grayswift vs Lavarin. Over the last century the Lavarin family has embraced a spirit of ambition, pursuing profit at all costs and advocating the philosophy of the Vadalis Monarch. The Grayswift family has always resisted industrial ambition. This could be an escalating point of tension, especially if Lavarin sects of the Feral Heart are brought into the light. Some within the family say Grayswift should break with the house and the Twelve, joining the Wardens of the Wood and the Eldeen Reaches. The family bond of Vadalis is still strong—can it hold?
Valenar. The Tualis and the Lavarin have long yearned to unlock the mysteries of the animal companions of the Tairnadal Elves. Balinor’s Blessed has been dispatched to steal Valenar beasts many times, and these incidents are an ongoing source of tension with Valenar. Could the Tairnadal declare war on House Vadalis, or on the Twelve itself? What would Lyrandar do in this situation? Could the Twelve convince one or more of the Five Nations to invade Valenar on their behalf?
Talenta Park. The Feral Heart seeks to create horrifying living weapons. But other branches of House Vadalis could pursue dangerous paths for more benevolent reasons. Baron Dalin has a vision of a grand resort—Vadalis’s answer to Stormhome—filled with wondrous magebred monstrosities and dinosaurs imported from the Talenta Plains. What could possibly go wrong?
Sasik and Aurala. Sasik d’Vadalis is the royal consort of Queen Aurala of Aundair, and he has maintained his connection to the house… despite this being expressly forbidden by the Korth Edicts. It’s said that they married for love, and perhaps that’s all this is. But Aurala has dreams of reigniting the Last War. Could she be working with House Vadalis—and knowingly or unwittingly with the Feral Heart—to produce terrifying weapons of war?