By many measures, humanity and its cousins may seem to be the weakest of Eberron’s children. Compare me to a simple housecat. My eyes can’t pierce the gloom of night. I have no claws and my teeth are poor weapons. I have no fur to protect me from the cold, and if I fall my bones will break. It may seem that I’m a poor creation next to my little friend. But what I have is the blessing of Balinor — the promise of dominion over all of the beasts of land, sky, and sea. I don’t need the strength of the tribex, because I have the tribex to bear my burdens. I don’t need the wings of a bird when I have a hippogriff to carry me through the air. I wear no crown, but I’m a prince of the wilds.

When people think of the Dragonmarked Houses, the first names that are spoken are usually Lyrandar, Cannith, or Orien. People think of airships with their rings of fire, the lightning rail stretching across the land, House Cannith producing siege staffs and warforged titans. House Vadalis is a quiet house, easily overlooked. And yet, Vadalis is an integral part of life in the Five Nations. Mounts, beasts of burden, agricultural livestock, guardian beasts, pets—all of these are tied to the Handler’s Guild. There are Vadalis heirs who spend their lives producing dairy products or eggs. Of course, most farms and farmers aren’t directly tied to the house. But in the Five Nations, most farms associated with livestock are licensed by Vadalis. The House enforces health standards, provides veterinary care, and breeds and sells the finest stock—including magebred beasts and monstrosities. Vadalis runs the trade schools and offers expert advice. So magebreeding and monstrosities may be the aspects of the house that fire the imagination, but the bulk of the work of the Handlers Guild is comparatively mundane.

As an heir with the Mark of Handling, where others hear barking dogs or singing birds, you can hear intent and emotion. All you have to do is concentrate—taking a few minutes to meditate on your mark—and that noise resolves into meaning. You can speak with any animal, and if you focus through your mark, you can compel obedience. And these are just the simplest gifts of the Mark. While it’s easiest for Vadalis heirs to manipulate beasts, some develop the ability to influence the behavior of any creature, at least momentarily. Others are able to manifest spirits—imagining an animal with such intensity that it briefly becomes real.

All of these things are woven into everyday life in Vadalis communities. If you’re a Vadalis heir, you’ve grown up surrounded by familiars, awakened beasts, and all manner of mundane service animals. Between Dragonmarked heirs and Magewrights, nearly half of the members of the house have the ability to cast Find Familiar. In addition to the many ways in which they can be practical tools, Vadalis heirs use familiars to express their personality, their current mood, and as a fashion accessory. Remember that the form of a familiar can be changed every time the ritual is performed, so familiars can be adapted to match an outfit or used to make a specific statement. If a Vadalis heir has a bright red serpent wrapped around one arm, it means I’m busy, leave me alone; conversely, an Aundairian Silver parrot on your shoulder means I’m in a mood to talk, come say hello! Sparrowmonkeys are often used as assistants, whether Awakened or simply well-trained. Keep in mind that’s sparrowmonkey, not sparrow monkey; it’s the same principle as the owlbear. Vadalis sparrowmonkeys are small winged primates that use the Winged Monkey stat block from Tomb of Annihilation (Small Beast; AC 12, HP 3, 20 ft speed, 20 ft Climbing, 30 ft flight).

Many Vadalis heirs dislike major cities and large crowds of humanoids. Most prefer to be out in the country and around beasts. However, it’s a mistake to think that Vadalis heirs seek to defend the natural world or that they have much in common with druids. Vadalis heirs dislike cities and crowds; but most are quite happy with their ranches and farms. And their powers don’t come from an understanding of Primal mysteries, or any devotion to balance or tradition. The Mark of Handling gives an heir the ability to understand beasts and to control them. Some heirs—notably the Grayswift family—believe in empathy and compassion for the creatures they work with, often going so far as to treat their animal companions as members of their family. But the majority of the heirs of House Vadalis believe that their Mark gives them dominion over the natural world. Beasts are tools to be used for the benefit of the house, and more broadly, humanoid civilization. Many further assert that as a House, Vadalis has the power and the duty to improve upon nature—that what exists is a foundation, but that Vadalis ingenuity will make things better. In creating a Vadalis character, consider if they accept this idea — that Vadalis has the right to bend nature to its will—or if they are more empathetic.

This philosophical divide is complicated by the fact that Family and House are deeply important to Vadalis. Heirs are expected to place the good of the House above all, and the good of kin above anything else. Vadalis heirs know their family trees by heart, and the closer you are in blood, the more loyalty is expected of you. But even beyond direct relatives, all Vadalis heirs are taught to consider any other heir of the house as a cousin, as someone worthy of trust and devotion. Betraying another member of the house is a serious crime and can be cause for excoriation. When another Vadalis is in need, you are expected to offer sympathy at the least, and help when possible. There are limits to what can be expected from this; as a Vadalis heir, you can’t go into a Vadalis stable and demand their best mount. Surely, you don’t need their best mount, and you’d be inflicting financial hardship on them if they just gave it to you. But if you are truly in need—if there is a real emergency, and you have to get to Varna by the end of the day—they might lend you a riding Tribex, or prevail on the local stonespeaker to send a message on your behalf. They will treat you as family, and do what they can to help you. But any such demand and aid is always noted by the House, and you will be marked if you regularly take more than you give; if you receive significant assistance, you may find yourself being called upon to repay that aid with service to the family. So there are sharp divides within the House—the Grayswifts dislike the Lavarans—but they are still kin, and expected to set aside those differences when an heir is in trouble.

THE MARK OF HANDLING

The Mark of Handling allows its bearer to understand beasts and to control them. Under the latest version of the rules, anyone who bears the Mark of Handling knows Speak With Animals and Animal Friendship and can cast each of these once per day without using a spell slot. As Speak with Animals is a ritual spell it can be used at will (with a ten minute casting time). The Mark of Handling also gives its bearer the ability to cast Speak With Animals and Animal Friendship on Monstrosities, provided the Monstrosity has an Intelligence of 3 or below. So, a Vadalis heir can befriend a Rust Monster, Basilisk, Carrion Crawler or Bulette as easily as a dog or a tribex.

So at its most basic level, the Mark of Handling allows its bearer to communicate with beasts and to influence their behavior. Animal Friendship is a subtle, long-term effect. But Vadalis heirs can learn to use the Mark of Handling to “handle” creatures more roughly, forcefully shifting thoughts for a short period of time. Command, Confusion, and Hold Monster all reflect a mental demand or disruption, while Beacon of Hope and Calm Emotions are soothing effects. The idea of the Mark of Handling is that it focuses on Beasts (and low-intelligence monstrosities) and most NPC heirs can only cast these spells on such creatures; Calm Emotions is still about calming Beasts, not people. But there’s always been stories about Vadalis heirs being able to using the Mark of Handling to “handle” people—and that’s because some can. An adventurer with the Mark of Handling can use these Spells of the Mark on any creature. Exceptional Vadalis NPCs can as well, although many prefer not to. But there are some within the House who hone this gift even further, learning to cast Charm Person, Charm Monster, Suggestion, or even Dominate Person. Vadalis tradition discourages using the Mark in this way—but there are Handlers out there with this power.

Mental manipulation is one aspect of the Mark of Handling. But the Mark can also grant the bearer the power to conjure animal spirits—to imagine an animal so vividly that it becomes almost real. The simplest form of this is Find Familiar; the heir imagines a creature and dreams it into a temporary reality. Beast Sense is an extension of this. An heir can always see through the eyes of their familiar. When using Beast Sense, they are essentially conjuring a familiar spirit and implanting it within the targeted beast, and that’s the foundation of the sensory link; they are seeing through the spirit they’ve planted within the beast. This is also the principle behind Vadalis Awakening. When a Vadalis heir casts Awaken, they aren’t actually raising the intelligence of the target creature. Instead, they are producing a familiar spirit and giving that spirit control of the target beast; it’s effectively the same as the quori Mind Seed, except that the spirit is a blank slate that doesn’t have the memories or skills of the caster. But the spirit is still a product of the caster’s mind, and Vadalis-awakened creatures often share personality traits or quirks with the person who Awakened them. Conjure Animals is less focused and more forceful, creating a purely spiritual manifestation; this is a relatively rare power of the Lesser Mark, and relatively few heirs can produce it. In my campaign, NPC Vadalis heirs can only use Awaken on Beasts; they cannot Awaken plants. A player character with the Mark of Handling could be an exception to this rule—but Vadalis isn’t known for working with plants.

Kanon versus Canon. Two spells on this list are marked with asterisks, and that’s because they aren’t on the canon Spells of the Mark of Handling list as they will appear in Forge of the Artificer. This is because I’m changing the list for my campaign. The first change is that I’ve replaced the canon spell Aura of Life with Confusion. Aura of Life protects allies from Necrotic damage and restores people with 0 HP to 1 HP. It is a life-affirming healing effect, and in my opinion has nothing in common with the other spells on the list. Even Beacon of Hope is an EMOTIONAL effect rather than a physical one. Thus, I’ve replaced it with Confusion, building on the idea that if you can Command and Calm Emotions, you could disrupt thought and Confuse. Finally, by canon the only 5th level Spell of the Mark is Awaken. My issue with this is that Awaken is an extremely limited spell. It has an eight hour casting time and a 1,000 GP consumable component. It’s not a spell that an adventurer can use all the time, and I feel that makes it a poor choice. Hold Monster is a simple, useful spell for an adventurer that fits the idea of emotional demand—aggressive “handling” disrupting thought. So in my campaign, I’ll offer it as a choice; an heir of the Mark has to decide which of these two talents they possess. And as noted above, in my campaign Vadalis Awaken can’t be used on plants.

By the rules as written, Calm Emotions only works on Humanoids. This is a spell canonically assigned to the Mark of Handling, and this makes little sense if it only works on Humanoids. In the original 3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting the Mark granted access to Calm Animals—but that spell doesn’t exist in 2024. As such, in my campaign I’m adding the following sentence to the Primal Connection trait of the Mark of Handling feat: “You can target Beasts when you cast Calm Emotions.”

Monarchs and Druids. The Spells of the Mark reflect the most common powers granted by the Mark of Handling. These gifts don’t require any sort of Primal connection or Druidic training. Any Vadalis spellcaster—Wizard, Cleric, Sorcerer—can use spell slots to produce these effects, and the Potent Dragonmark feat allows any character to cast them; I generally treat Dragonmarked NPCs as having a form of Potent Dragonmark. However, I’ve also talked about a special sort of Vadalis spellcaster—a Vadalis character who has the powers of a Druid. Within the House, these people are called Monarchs, tied to the idea that the Dragonmark grants them dominion over nature. Vadalis Monarchs have access to Druidic abilities, including Wild Shape and expanded spellcasting; they typically follow the Circle of the Land or Circle of the Moon. However, as with the basic powers of the Dragonmark, these aren’t tied to Druidic devotion and are entirely driven by a powerful connection to the Mark of Handling. While a player character Monarch can cast any spells from the Druid spell list, most Vadalis Monarchs are limited to spells that directly affect animals (Animal Messenger, Locate Animal), that can be depicted as coercion or manipulation (Hold Person, Charm Monster), or which involve transmutation (Polymorph, Enhance Ability, Enlarge/Reduce, healing effects). This talent for transformation is the seed of Vadalis magebreeding. Relatively few heirs are able to master the powers of the Vadalis Monarch, but the seed is there and can be drawn out with focus items. The point of all of this is that House Vadalis has a significant number of heirs with powers that resemble those of Druids, but who have no tie to the Druidic mysteries—and the Ashbound in particular despise Vadalis Monarchs. With that said, there ARE Vadalis heirs who do embrace Druidic traditions, most often tied to the Grayswift family.

FOCUS ITEMS

Vadalis heirs use Channeling Rods, Dragonmark Channels, and Dragonmark Reservoirs, and they’ve crafted unique items like the Collar of the Wild Bond to enhance the powers of the Mark. But they’ve also developed focus items and Eldritch Machines that are crucial to the business of the house but which have little application for adventurers. Balinor’s Blessing is one example of this; they are used at Vadalis ranches to enhance the health and virility of livestock. Other items ease the process of childbirth, help with long-term animal training and domestication, or play a crucial role in the process of Magebreeding. The Mark alone doesn’t grant spells related to Magebreeding; it’s through focus items and rituals that Vadalis heirs are able to produce these effects.

Balinor’s Blessing

Eldritch Machine (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Handling)

This six-foot stone pillar is engraved with the patterns of the Mark of Handling. As long as a creature with the Mark of Handling is attuned to the pillar—a process that must be repeated every day—It has the following effects within a 2000 foot radius.

• Beasts have advantage on Constitution saving throws. They are remarkably healthy, fertile, and resistant to mundane disease.
• Beasts have disadvantage on saving throws to resist any spell effect associated with the Mark of Handling.
• Any creature with the Mark of Handling has advantage on Charisma (Animal Handling) checks.

Collar of the Wild Bond

Wondrous Item, varies

If you possess the Mark of Handling, you may use a Magic Action to cast Dominate Beast on a Beast you can see that’s wearing a Collar of the Wild Bond. This doesn’t use a spell slot, but the other limitations of the spell apply. The effect has a range of 60 feet, and the creature can negate the effect with a successful Wisdom saving throw; your spellcasting ability for this effect is the same one you chose for the Mark of Handling. You must concentrate to maintain the effect, but as long as you are within 200 feet of the creature, you can maintain the spell indefinitely.

There are two forms of Collar of the Wild Bond. The Uncommon Collar only works on Beasts. The Rare version of the Collar can be used on Monstrosities with an Intelligence of 3 or less.

Scepter of Wild Dominion

Rod, Rare (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Handling)

While holding this rod, you have the following benefits.

• You gain a +2 bonus to the Saving Throw DC of your Spells of the Mark.
• You cast Spells of the Mark as if using a spell slot one level higher than the slot you actually expend.
• You may cast Command, Animal Friendship, and Speak With Animals without using a spell slot.

MAGEBREEDING

When most people hear “Vadalis,” they think of magebreeding. This is a term that has many meanings. Let’s start with the earliest description.

The widespread use of magic on Eberron has led to the development of magical enhancements to animal breeding, particularly within House Vadalis. Some experiments in that direction have created new creatures that are actually magical beasts, with unusual intelligence and supernatural or spell-like abilities. In general, however, the aim of these breeding programs is simply to create better animals—ones that are more suited for use in the work of daily life. These magically enhanced animals are called magebred.

Today, House Vadalis identifies three distinct forms of magebreeding.

Incremental magebreeding is similar to breeders in our world trying to produce a new breed of dog. The result is a slight variation in the standard beast well suited toward a particular role: a hen that lays larger eggs, a tiger that’s easier to train, a hound that thrives in colder climates or has a remarkable sense of smell. One concrete example of this is the Riding Tribex (seen in Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone). For thousands of years, the Plains Tribex has been bred as a beast of burden and source of food. The Riding Tribex is smaller and faster—sturdier than a horse and capable of enduring long, sustained trips.

Enhanced magebreeding seeks to strengthen a creature, imbuing it with minor supernatural qualities. The Magebred Animal template in the 3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting suggests the following changes:

• One of Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution is increased by 4; the other two ability scores are increased by 2.
• Armor Class is increased by 2, reflecting increased overall durability.
• Magebred animals are easier to train, can learn more tricks or maneuvers than purely mundane creatures, and the DC of Animal Handling checks involving the beast is reduced by 2.
• The creature gains either a +10 bonus to one of its movement speeds, an additional +2 bonus to armor class, or a bonus to tracking checks.

These creatures are still considered beasts; in 3.5 D&D terms, they were limited to an Intelligence of 2. A few critical points about this template. It’s intended to reflect BREEDS of magebred animals. So Redleaf hounds all have +4 Dexterity and a bonus to tracking; it’s not as though two pups in the same litter each get to choose whether the +4 goes to Strength or Dexterity, or whether they get the boost to movement or tracking. House Vadalis created the first Redleaf hounds through active enhanced magebreeding; but ever since then, Redleaf Harriers have bred that enhanced line, while the innovative magebreeders have moved on to other things.

The second point is that this is a simple template that is intended to give a broad example of what can be done. The template only suggests a possible bonus to movement, armor class, or tracking checks. But I could see any of the following as being the sort of features that enhanced magebreeding could produce:

• Increased fertility; increased laying for egg-laying creatures, along with potentially unusual egg characteristics.
• Animals used to provide meat or dairy could be magebred to enhance these aspects, whether that’s simply increasing the quantity or adding an unusual quality (flavor, color). This is how you get the cow that produces chocolate milk.
• Heightened senses; a magebred falcon might have a bonus to Perception instead of Survival.
• Specific resistances: creating a creature that doesn’t just have thick fur, but that is actually resistant to cold damage.
• Unnatural appearance. A horse with metallic, silvery fur; a hound with glowing eyes; cats that always have identical markings.

The key points here are that the general goal of enhanced magebreeding is to produce new breeds with hereditary traits and generally requires generations to produce results. They don’t take an existing horse and give it metallic fur; they easily COULD with cosmetic transmutation, but it wouldn’t last. Instead they work to instill a trait over multiple generations, that will thereafter be passed down to offspring. Typically enhanced breeds are only available to bound businesses in the Handler’s Guild, and enhanced beasts are sterilized before they are sold to others. Stories say that there are all sorts of safeguards to deal with poachers—that enhanced animals will die if they aren’t fed special Vadalis supplements, that they will frenzy and turn on rustlers, that Vadalis has death squads that sneak around the world hunting for unauthorized breeders—but these are probably just rumors. Probably.

Innovative magebreeding involves the creation of either an entirely new species or imbuing an existing creature with dramatic supernatural characteristics. Popular legend holds that the house’s first act of innovative magebreeding was the production of the hippogriff; skeptics claim that Vadalis simply discovered the first hippogriff after it emerged from a manifest zone tied to Kythri. A more recent and dramatic example is the Tressym, first produced just twenty-four years ago. The house is always working on innovative projects, but actual successes are far and few between; innovative creations are often sterile, stillborn, or mentally unstable. Many innovative creatures are Monstrosities as opposed to Beasts.

While it’s more colorful and exciting than, say, dairy farming, magebreeding is a tiny fraction of the work of House Vadalis. Ranches and kennels tied to the Handler’s Guild may perform iterative magebreeding, but enhanced and innovative magebreeding is performed almost entirely within house enclaves or in conjunction with the Twelve. The Tressym was produced through collaboration with House Medani, and there are stories of Vadalis working with House Jorasco on ghastly experiments involving troll’s blood and medusa’s eyes.

So what does a magebreeding facility actually look like? What is the daily work that goes on within? The following tools are used in magebreeding.

• Manifest Zones. Zones tied to Kythri and Lamannia are both highly prized by House Vadalis, though any zone can have value; a Risian manifest zone could be crucial when trying to breed a creature resistant to cold. Sometimes this is about creating a facility in a manifest zone, but often it involves using secondary materials, such as foodstuffs grown in the relevant manifest zones or harnesses formed from planar materials.
• Focus Items and Eldritch Machines. As described earlier in this article, Vadalis magebreeders use focus items that help them both to maintain control of beasts through the process of magebreeding, compel necessary behaviors, shape instincts, and monitor the state of their charges. Eldritch Machines can serve more dramatic purposes; one that comes to mind is the Spire of Growth, a monolith that accelerates the aging of any beasts within its radius; these help with generational breeding, though these spires are expensive to create and dangerous to maintain (supposedly they don’t affect humanoids…). In general, Eldritch Machines that produce truly dramatic effects are likely to be either unique or experimental, and may become unstable or require a steady supply of dragonshards.
• Rare Components. As noted before, Vadalis has been experimenting with troll’s blood. Innovative and enhanced magebreeding often uses transmutation techniques to imbue a creature with the qualities of another creature; this can require organs, blood, or other elements of the creature with the desired trait. Likewise, planar resources can be important in magebreeding.
• Transmutation Magic. Magebreeding can involve a wide array of transmutation rituals, most of which have little practical application to adventuring: rituals to enhance fertility, highly specific Polymorph effects, rituals that simply increase a beast’s chances of surviving the transfusions and other operations it’s going through. A side effect of this is that there is a corps of specialists within Vadalis who excel at cosmetic transmutation (as described in Exploring Eberron). This is rarely a service they perform for humanoids, but there is at least one Vadalis transmuter who runs a business altering the new pets of rich clients to match the appearance of a deceased pet. As a general rule, Polymorph alone doesn’t allow successful breeding; Polymorphed creatures are functionally sterile while under the effects of the spell, so while you can turn a cat into a dog for an hour, if it mates with another dog in that time it won’t end up producing either puppies or kittens. This is certainly something Vadalis has and continues to experiment with, but lasting change isn’t as simple as a single 4th level spell.

So the point is that magebreeding facilities often look like farms or veterinary hospitals, with special chambers for performing rituals or imbuing planar energies. But magebreeding is invariably a long-term process, involving both breeding and the careful study of multiple generations. Vadalis is always searching for ways to produce swifter and more dramatic results… And these efforts often end in disaster, or at least adventure!

THE HISTORY OF HOUSE VADALIS

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 a collaboration with the Grayswift family to produce 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?

THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE

House Vadalis is spread across Khorvaire. Where other houses focus on massive centers of industry, Vadalis outposts are typically working ranches or farms; they need to spread out in order to support their beasts.  Consider The Stampede in the Eldeen city of Sylbaran. This town is on an Orien trade road, and the Stampede is a tribex ranch whose primary focus is providing mounts and beasts of burden to House Orien. The Stampede is run by Myrana d’Vadalis, who also has a personal interest in bulettes. Myrana cares for a pair of bulettes named Trundle and Grim, who she hopes will one day produce offspring. For now, Myrana works with the bulettes, and lets children ride Trundle at festivals. This is a classic example of a Vadalis outpost. It’s a working ranch that focuses on raising a particular type of creature—in Myrana’s case, riding and plains tribex—while also providing care and stabling services for travelers, and possibly experimenting with a more exotic beast or monstrosity beyond the reliable main business. An outpost will always offer hospitality to any Vadalis heir passing through town, but that could range from the use of a guest room to a bedroll in the stables. When creating a Vadalis outpost, the first question is what is the primary beast that they work with? Messenger birds? Tribex? Horses? Hippogriffs? Egg farming? The second thing to consider is how the Mark of Handling differentiates them from a mundane farm. Do they have any resident monstrosities? Are they magebreeding? Do they have any Awakened animals, or any especially noteworthy familiars? Always remember that Vadalis heirs can talk to their animals; when you leave your horse at the stables, the stablehand is likely to chat with them. How have you been? Seen any interesting adventures? There’s nothing malicious in this; it’s not that they’re trying to steal your secrets by talking to your horse. It’s just that they CAN talk to your horse, so why wouldn’t they? Especially if you’re an adventurer! Surely they’ve got some stories to tell.

There’s countless Vadalis ranches and farms spread across Khorvaire. Where most of the Houses place their outposts in major cities, Vadalis’s most important outposts are often in smaller communities where the Vadalis farms and ranches are the driving force of the town. Moonwatch in Breland is driven by Vadalis horse-breeding. In the Eldeen Reaches, Redleaf is famous for its Vadalis hounds. Delethorn is known for the Delethorn goldenfowl, a line remarkable for its health and laying capacity. Merylsward is the birthplace of the Sparrowmonkey. Erlaskar is where Vadalis is experimenting with magebred fish. These are all places mentioned in canon, but similar Vadalis villages can be found in all of the Five Nations. Of course, under the Korth Edicts, Vadalis can’t actually own land; all of its holdings are tenancy arrangements with the nobility. But for all intents and purposes these are Vadalis towns, and while it’s technically forbidden by the Edicts, in many of them Vadalis heirs hold positions of authority. The house is always searching for manifest zones. Ranches focused on production (such as Delethorn) are often in Lamannian manifest zones that enhance health and fertility, while outposts focused on innovative magebreeding (such as Merylsward) are often built in manifest zones tied to Kythri. With that said, there are a number of important Vadalis enclaves that are associated with major cities:

• Varna in the Eldeen Reaches has long been the center of the house. The enclave of Foalswood is the Baron’s seat and a center for research and record-keeping; the house archives in Foalswood hold records of every innovative magebreeding ever attempted. Foalswood has a remarkable menagerie of monstrosities—including success stories of the House itself alongside creatures being studied. While Foalswood is the heart of the house, the adjacent outpost of Willowhaven is the largest dairy farm in Khorvaire, and there are a host of Vadalis smallholders spread around the area.
• Sharn in Breland is home to Pegasus Spire, where the house produces Pegasi. It’s worth noting that Vadalis Pegasi are the result of magebreeding; they are Monstrosities rather than Celestials, and don’t inflict Radiant damage with their hoof attacks. Longfeather Ranch, a short distance away from Sharn, are the house’s finest hippogriff breeders.
• Shavalant in Breland is known as “Tribex Town.” The Farm is a major enclave that serves as a hub for the itinerant members of the Handler’s Guild, and it is also where Vadalis produces Breland’s beloved magebred bears.
• The Hearth was originally located in Cyre, but in the wake of the Mourning it has taken over an existing ranch outside of Wroat—a ranch built to contain a Kythri manifest zone that occasionally produced monsters. The Hearth has always been the center for the house’s most dramatic innovative magebreeding; once a new creature has been created, they’re transferred to another ranch for ongoing husbandry. Mazina Lavarin d’Vadalis is the Viceroy of the Hearth, as she was when it was still in Cyre. Mazina and her closest aides are celebrated for having survived the Mourning unscathed. While Mazina hasn’t shared any details, rumors say that Mazina and her heirs escaped the destruction by taking shelter in a Khyber demiplane; others suggest that she was temporarily thrown into Kythri. Whatever the truth, there are those who say that Mazina only appears to be unscathed by her experience—that whatever happened to her on the Day of Mourning, it has marked her in deep and unsettling ways.

These are just a few notable enclaves! Near Newthrone in Q’barra, House Vadalis is experimenting with dinosaurs and reptiles. By Stormreach, the house studies the varied and dangerous creatures of Xen’drik, paying a bounty for any live monstrosities the viceroy has never seen. The Flamekeep enclave is famous for producing the dragonhound Skaravojen. In Trolanport, Vadalis breeds messenger birds and other small beasts. Vadalis is very widespread—in part again because each individual enclave has a smaller population than the enclaves of most other houses. While the list above may give the impression that Vadalis is more invested in Breland than it is in the Eldeen Reaches, the House’s roots in the Reaches are deeper and more widespread. Breland has a significant number of large enclaves—especially since the Hearth relocated to Wroat—but Aundair and the Reaches have more Vadalis villages.

The Handler’s Guild

With most of the Dragonmarked Houses, business is conducted through the Guilds. With Vadalis, the House itself is a business; every outpost is a working ranch, and most of the work of the House is conducted by Vadalis itself. The Handler’s Guild is an outreach operation that works with ranchers outside of the family—providing guidance, livestock, and veterinary medicine to Guild members who adhere to Vadalis standards of quality and safety, as well as offering the services of expert teamsters or trainers to those who have need of them. Because of this, the Handler’s Guild doesn’t have outposts of its own. There are Guild offices in the main Vadalis enclaves, but most of the full time employees of the Handler’s Guild are itinerant, traveling between farms to perform inspections and offer assistance.

Balinor’s Blessed

Balinor’s Blessed are an elite force within the House Vadalis—hunters trained to contain and capture monstrosities and dangerous beasts. If a magebreeding operation has a sudden need of a catoblepas, it’s the Blessed who will be sent into the swamp. In recent years, the Blessed have conducted multiple operations into the Mournland, capturing some of the bizarre creatures produced by the Mourning. The greatest disasters in the order’s history occurred when Blessed teams sought to obtain Valenar horses; to this day, many Valenar Tairnadal will challenge any member of the Blessed they encounter. While the primary function of Balinor’s Blessed is the acquisition of monstrosities, they are also called in to contain outbreaks; when the Purple Worm gets loose, it’s time to call on the Blessed. Balinor’s Blessed is a small order; there are a few teams trained to work together, along with a number of independent operatives who assemble squads to deal with the assignments they receive. This is the path that a Player Character would follow if they were sworn into the order: they could deputize their fellow adventurers as their squad to deal with whatever missions the House sends them.

The Fates

A tiny but important order within House Vadalis, the Fates are Vadalis matchmakers. Given that its work is tied to the careful cultivation of bloodlines, it should come as no surprise that House Vadalis has a strong interest in the pairings of its heirs. The Fates want heirs of the House to lead happy lives, but there are deeply ingrained traditions tied to the belief that well-chosen matches will produce the strongest dragonmarks. No heir is ever forced to marry based on the recommendations of the Fates (though their parents may apply pressure) but no Vadalis heir is allowed to marry without their approval. It’s possible for outsiders to win this approval, as seen relatively recently with Sasik d’Vadalis and Queen Aurala, but it’s rare and dependent on the Fates perceiving the outsider as a strong addition to the bloodlines. Vadalis accepts that heirs may have deep and even intimate friendships with outsiders; but tradition maintains that they should only produce offspring with a Fate-approved spouse.

The Feral Heart

Scholars would classify the Feral Heart as a corrupted Cult of the Dragon Below, with ties to both Dyrrn the Corruptor and the Wild Heart. The Seryan family were the first followers of the Feral Heart, and the cult delusions typically take root in those who study Seryan tools or techniques. The core corrupting belief of the Feral Heart is the idea that we can unleash the untapped potential of nature, the feral heart that beats within all things. Ferals quickly become convinced that mundane nature is flawed and half-finished, that they are on the verge of creating wonders. This conviction overwhelms any qualms about danger or morality. Where Vadalis is described as experimenting on humanoids—such as the secret Vadalis-Jorasco workshop seen in the novel The Fading Dream—it’s a good bet that the Feral Heart has taken root. Canonically, Mazina d’Vadalis oversees a cell of the Feral Heart within the Hearth; it’s up to you to decide if this is the case in your Eberron campaign.

VADALIS CUSTOMS

As a whole, House Vadalis is less formal than many of the other houses. It adopted the basic structure encouraged by the Twelve—the system of viceroys, seneschals, ministers, and masters—but Vadalis heirs rarely use their titles. Even Dalin Hornheel d’Vadalis, the patriarch of the house, laughs when people call him “Baron.” Even beyond the house, most Vadalis heirs find any system of titles to be pretentious and amusing.

As mentioned earlier, familiars are part of everyday life in Vadalis; even heirs without the Mark of Handling often learn to cast it. As familiars can be transformed each time the spell is cast, the shape of a familiar is a way to express mood and personality. There’s a whole language of what different beasts and patterns mean—a crimson serpent around the arm means I’m busy, leave me alone—but the simple approach is that when a Vadalis adventurer meets a Vadalis NPC with a familiar, the DM should let them know the message being conveyed by the familiar.

There is often a sense of friendly competition amongst Vadalis heirs—casual sibling rivalry, all in fun, but nonetheless a simple way to establish a pecking order. How this manifests varies by family; the Tualis compete by telling stories, while Hornheels like to prove their greater physical strength. Duels between familiars are another Vadalis pastime, something that will draw wagers from the heirs observing the duel. It’s important to note that this pastime is popular because familiars are spirits that suffer no long-term harm from defeat.

VADALIS FAMILIES

Family is deeply important to House Vadalis. In the present day there are many small families within the house, but every heir knows exactly how their roots run back to the founding four—Lavarin, Grayswift, Tualis, and Hornheel. This section mentions some of the smaller families that have especially strong connections to the founding four, but in creating a Vadalis adventurer or NPC, you can always add new families.

Grayswift

Historical Role: Druidic dabblers

Primary Areas of Influence: Poultry and (avian) raptors, Awakening

Common Traits: Empathetic, Spiritual, Observant, Determined

Lesser Families: Brightsong, Hawk, Swiftwing

The roots of the Grayswift family are intertwined with those of the Wardens of the Wood. The Grayswifts lived on the edge of the Towering Wood, and thrived due to their interactions with the shifters of the great forest. They were intrigued by the druidic mysteries of the Moonspeakers. Over time, those who were strongly drawn to primal power went east to dwell in the wood themselves, forming the foundation of the modern Wardens. The Grayswifts are descended from those who respected the druids while still remaining true to the traditions of Balinor and Arawai. To this day, the Grayswifts serve as a bridge between the Wardens of the Wood and House Vadalis, seeking to maintain a balance between the Lavarin drive to profit and their own respect for the balance of nature. The Grayswifts believe that overall, the work Vadalis does is a positive thing, that there’s nothing wrong with using magebreeding to create a stronger strain or selling beasts to those that will use them wisely and well. They believe that animal husbandry is the gift of Balinor. The Grayswifts were the first to call for the annihilation of the Seryan line, and they’ll fight fiercely should they encounter animals being abused or practices which they feel defile the spirit of nature itself. More recently, there have been a number of clashes between Grayswifts and Lavarins, as the Grayswift elders say Lavarin is putting its hunger for profits ahead of Vadalis traditions. But overall, the Grayswifts believe that domestication, basic magebreeding, and the powers of the Mark of Handling are all gifts humanity is meant to use.

The Grayswifts have always been known for their work with birds. Grayswifts magebred the Goldenfowl, which has become the most common form of poultry in the Five Nations. They breed many species of messenger birds and work with raptors for hunting and scouting. The Grayswift line has always had an exceptional talent for Find Familiar and Beast Sense; during the Last War, Grayswift Falconers were often hired as scouts or to handle short range communication. The Grayswifts also have a strong tradition of producing heirs capable of Awakening beasts. Almost every Grayswift outpost has one or more Awakened birds. Grayswifts treat the creatures they Awaken as members of their family, and Grayswift birds regularly carry news and gossip between family outposts.

Grayswift Characters. The Grayswift family respects the primal mysteries. As such, this is the family for anyone who wants to play a true Vadalis Druid. Such adventurers typically follow the Circle of the Moon, understanding beasts so deeply that they can become beasts themselves. Due to their respect for their animal companions, the Grayswifts are also an excellent family for Beast Master Rangers, especially those who prefer to work with Beasts of the Sky. Given Grayswift’s frequent work with Awakened animals, an unusual path for an adventurers would be to present a character as having originally been a Grayswift Awakened beast who was somehow reincarnated into a humanoid form—either fully human, or as an explanation for playing an Aarakocra or other bestial humanoid. Such a character logically shouldn’t have the Mark of Handling—although the Prophecy works in mysterious ways—but they would have close ties to the House. Overall, Grayswifts are compassionate and brave. The family is loyal to Vadalis, but a Grayswift adventurer may take it upon themselves to police other Vadalis families, making sure that they aren’t mistreating their beast charges.

Notable Grayswifts. Mother Goslin is a respected elder in the Eldeen town of Merylsward. She carries the Greater Mark of Handling, and her title is drawn from the number of birds she’s personally Awakened. She considers the birds to be her children, as she’s always accompanied by two to three of them. Shepherd is the House’s official envoy to Wardens of the Wood, spending most of his time in Greenheart. Shepherd works to resolve any issues that arise between Vadalis and the druids, but he’s also the eyes of the House in the Towering Wood. There are many fascinating creatures and unusual manifestations of primal magic within the Wood, and Shepherd might well have a use for adventurers who aren’t affiliated with Vadalis who can investigate things he’s learned about without implicating the house.

Hornheel

Historical Role: Cattle ranchers

Primary Areas of Influence: Livestock

Common Traits: Patient, Sensible, Strong, Persuasive

Lesser Families: Bluebull, Longwheel, Moldan

Nations have risen and fallen around them, but there have always been Hornheels at Willowhaven Ranch. Even before the Mark of Handling, the Hornheels had the finest herds in the region, and were known for their excellent cheeses. Today are the primary wranglers of tribex in the Five Nations, breeding beasts of burden, continuing to run dairy farms, and providing a solid foundation to the house’s more exotic endeavors. The Hornheels themselves are often described as bullish—solidly built, often possessing considerable physical strength. As a family they are known for their stoic disposition and common sense, but they also have a knack for handling people as well as beasts. Hornheels have a long tradition of mediating disputes between the Grayswifts and the Lavarins. While they don’t have the Lavarin love of haggling and driving for deals, the Hornheels have long believed that it’s better to solve a problem with words rather than force. While the Hornheels have pushed back against some of Lavarin’s more unusual magebreeding ideas, the family strongly believes that the Mark of Handling is a gift of Balinor and that Vadalis is justified in exerting its dominion over nature.

Hornheel Characters. Hornheels are known for strength and endurance. While it might seem an odd choice for a family known for their even tempers, the Wild Heart Barbarian can be an interesting choice for a Hornheel adventurer. Their “rage” can be seen as drawing on the bull’s durability, and the other class features could likewise be seen as connecting to animal aspects through the Dragonmark. The Mark of Handling can be used to manifest temporary spirits (Find Familiar, Conjure Animal); the Hornheel Barbarian is manifesting a beast spirit but then holding it within.

Notable Hornheels. Historically, Vadalis has usually been led by a Hornheel or a Lavarin. The Lavarins are driven by ambition, and drive the House to pursue dangerous innovations; the Hornheels prefer to maintain a steady pace. The current baron, Dalin d’Vadalis, is a Hornheel heir known for his amiable nature but also for his shrewd diplomacy; his brother Sasik is the consort of Queen Aurala of Aundair. Meanwhile, Willa d’Vadalis is the administrator of Willowhaven and a pioneer in the field of cheese; she’s known as the ‘Dairy Queen.’ If you’ve ever wanted to meet an alchemist artificer who works through the medium of cheese, take a trip to Willowhaven!

Lavarin

Historical Role: Horse Traders

Primary Areas of Influence: Mounts, Innovative Magebreeding

Common Traits: Ambition, Charisma, Imagination, Impatience

Lesser Families: Coldwind, Silvermane, Tavou

Before Orien became a House, the Thorn Post was the most reliable courier service in central Khorvaire—and it was the Lavarin family who supplied the Thorns with horses. Even then, they were working with incremental magebreeding, taking advantage of manifest zones to produce horses with greater speed and endurance than any of their rivals. That spirit continues today; the Lavarin Destrier is the swiftest horse bred in the Five Nations. Lavarins feel a deep drive to do better—to push the envelope, to challenge what’s seen as possible. It was Vadalis Lavarin who produced the first hippogriff, and his descendants strive to live up to that example. This zeal manifests in many ways. On the one hand, the finest innovative magebreeders of the house are almost all Lavarins. Remarkable imagination blended with sharp intelligence helps them push the limits of what can be done. On the other hand, the Lavarins are equally ambitious in business. This became especially relevant during the Last War, as it was the Lavarins who pushed the house to find new ways to engage with the war effort. It was Kyara Lavarin who presented King Boranel with his magebred Ghost Tigers and convinced the king to purchase a battalion of battle bears. Throughout the history of the house, the Lavarin urge to innovate has been tempered by a broad general respect for the general design of nature; it’s this that originally separated the Lavarins from the Seryans. However, over the course of a century of war, Lavarin ambition has driven them further and further afield, with many seeking out forgotten Seryan lore. It’s this that has sparked the rise of the Feral Heart, along with many of the more dramatic acts of magebreeding—including the rumored efforts to apply innovative magebreeding techniques to humanoids. And Lavarin ambition isn’t limited to magebreeding. Mazina Lavarin was behind the disastrous efforts to steal horses from Valenar, and this surely won’t be the last grand scheme a Lavarin sets into motion.

Overall, the Lavarins are the branch of the family most likely to be tyrannical in their dealings with their beasts—seeing them as tools to be used rather than companions. The Tualis and Hornheels dislike such behavior, but the Grayswifts despise it and will often directly challenge anything they see as Lavarin cruelty.

Lavarin Characters. In playing a Lavarin character, consider the path of your ambition. Are you drawn to magebreeding, or are you more inspired by the mercantile energy of your forebears? In general, Lavarins dream big; what are your dreams? While the Vadalis Monarch Druid is one path for a Lavarin spellcaster, another option would be to play a Battle Smith Artificer but (with your DM’s permission) to frame your Steel Defender as an organic creature with the Beast subtype rather than as a construct. The idea is that this is an expansion on the principle of Conjure Animals and Find Familiar; you are imagining a beast into reality, designed to your specifications. Beyond this, the Lavarins are the family whose heirs most often develop the ability to handle humanoids; a Lavarin Glamour Bard could present Charm Person, Charm Monster, Suggestion and their other coercive abilities as manifestations of the Mark of Handling.

Notable Lavarins. Mazina d’Vadalis is the viceroy of the Hearth in Breland. While Foalswood is the oldest center for magebreeding, throughout the Last War the Hearth has been the seat of the house’s efforts to magebreed living weapons. Mazina was the head of the Hearth at its original location in Cyre, and now she continues her work in its new locations. Meanwhile, Orz Lavarin is the overseer for Balinor’s Blessed; they coordinate the actions of the different Blessed teams, and if a Vadalis adventurer is one of the Blessed they’ll be expected to keep in touch with Orz. Orz is a skilled strategist, but their ambition can drive them to take dangerous risks, as seen in the failed efforts to acquire Valenar beasts.

Tualis

Historical Role: Hound Breeders, Fey Petitioners

Primary Areas of Influence: Hounds and Guardian Beasts

Common Traits: Curious, Determined, Fey, Quick

Lesser Families: Olden, Redleaf, Wyris

Despite what you might think from some of the stories, Fey aren’t ubiquitous in Aundair and the Eldeen Reaches. They aren’t everywhere. But everyone knows they exist. They could be anywhere. There could be a cinderbin living in your stove. So if the nights are getting cold, it couldn’t hurt to burn some cedar, could it? And of course, the more people embrace these stories, imagining dryads in the trees and grunklins in the attic, the greater the possibility of native fey being born, magic swirling together to fulfil the story. While this could happen anywhere, it’s quite unlikely in most places. But there are points in the world where the spirits are waiting, where energy drifts through from Thelanis. These manifest zones may not contain archfey or passages to the Moonlit Vale, but they hold stories yearning to be told. And yet, even in such places you may not see a dryad or a sprite. When people hear “Fey” most think of humanoid fey—eladrin, nymphs, satyrs. But what of the Questing Beast that’s always one step ahead of its pursuers? The Displacer Beast with a thorn in its tentacle? The Wolf With Burning Eyes, who speaks with your Grandmother’s voice? Will you slay the hart whose silver antlers gleam in the moonlight and suffer a wasting curse, or do you know how to earn this spirit’s blessing? You won’t encounter these things in most parts of the world, but they are out there… and if you dwell in a place where the spirits are strong, you’d best learn how to deal with them. This is the story of the Tualis clan, who staked their claim along the edge of the Towering Wood. They uncovered many wonders and weathered many storms. Some learned from the Greensingers, elves who wandered through the woods. Others stumbled through their lessons. But in time the Tualis learned which creatures they could hunt and which to spare, and how to earn the favor of the spirits. They learned to summon familiars by weaving tales. And through their struggles they were ever accompanied by their faithful hounds, who could scent the presence of unnatural things.

This is the story of the Tualis. Their traditions aren’t druidic. It’s not a matter of faith; it’s about finding the magic in the wild and knowing the rules it plays by. Where the other families have always sought out manifest zones tied to Lamannia or Kythri, the Tualis search for zones bound to Thelanis, for these are the places where they prosper. They excel at Find Familiar and Conjure Animal, because they’ve always worked with spirits in beast form. With that said, it’s a mistake to think that every Tualis has regular interactions with Fey beyond their own familiars. Tualis know the signs of Fey presence and know how to deal with Fey when their paths cross. And some of them have made personal pacts with the spirits of their ancestral homes. But there are plenty of Tualis who live in grim gray cities that hold no fey spirits, Tualis who focus on their beasts. Yet even these Tualis keep the Fey alive in their hearts by telling their tales. The Tualis love to share stories; if there’s two Tualis in a room for an evening, you can be sure that they’ll engage in a storytelling duel before the night is over.

Tualis Characters. Tualis adventurers blend the common affinity for beasts with a love of the Fey. One way to express both aspects of the Tualis is through the Fey Wanderer Ranger. While not as tightly bound as a warlock, a Tualis Wanderer should have a patron who gifted them with Fey magic. This doesn’t have to be an archfey; it could be the Hound Who Howls On The Moonless Night, a native hound-spirit who dwells in a grove outside of Redleaf. The Hound doesn’t have immense power, but they have enough to bless this one Ranger. The question then is why? Did the adventurer already pay for their gifts—perhaps rescuing the patron in the past? Have they been given a mission? Or is there a debt as yet unpaid, an open favor waiting to be specified? There are other valid paths; a Bard could be a Tualis storyteller, while an Archfey Warlock might have made a foolish deal. But Fey Wanderer Ranger is the strongest because it’s a class that innately works with the wilds while also drawing on Fey magic.

Notable Tualis. Hala Whitehorn is a legendary figure who played a critical role in the founding of Shavalant. When settlers first came to the region, they cut back the trees of the great forest… and a massive horned bear, “larger than the largest dragon”, emerged from the woods and devastated their farms. Hala Tualis d’Vadalis entered the woods and spoke with the spirits, and when she returned she established a clear set of edicts about how to deal with the forest. Since then the people have lived in harmony with the spirits, and people even believe that if the town is threatened, Whitehorn (the great bear) will emerge to protect it. This is a good example of Tualis in the wider world, because the Fey don’t have a visible impact on the everyday life of Shavalant—but the Tualis heir was able to serve as a mediator in a critical situation that involved them. Meanwhile, Ravi d’Vadalis is a Tualis Ranger who serves as an itinerant agent of the Handler’s Guild, traveling to Guild-supported farms and providing advice and veterinary assistance. Ravi is familiar with the hidden Fey of the region in which he wanders. Just as Hala helped Shavalant, Ravi could offer useful advice to adventurers who cross his path when they’re dealing with a Fey force they don’t recognize or understand.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When adding House Vadalis into a campaign, consider the types of animals that are involved. If there’s a lone Vadalis heir, do they have a familiar, and if so what shape is it? Do they have a hound or a hawk, and if so is it simply an animal companion or is it an Awakened beast? If it’s a Vadalis outpost, what sort of creatures does it raise or support? If the answer is some sort of mundane creature—horses, chickens, tribex—has the creature been incrementally magebred to have a unique trait, whether cosmetic (golden feathers, fur that shifts in color) or practical (enhanced laying of eggs, color-shifting fur that serves as active camouflage)? Or is the ranch or individual dealing with innovative magebreeding or working with monstrosities? Tied to this, always remember the Vadalis ability to speak to animals and monstrosities. The ranch hand out in the field with the Bulette will be walking alongside the creature and telling it where to dig.

Another point to consider is the overall tone you want for Vadalis in your campaign. The Blessing of Balinor gives Vadalis dominion over the beasts, or so they believe. Despite this, the overall tone presented in this article is that most heirs do take good care of their charges; they can talk to them, after all, which makes it harder to ignore cruelty and suffering. However, if you’re focusing on Lavarin or the Feral Heart, you can present Vadalis heirs who are more tyrannical in their dealings with their beasts, more willing to use them and discard them or to create things because they can rather than because they should.