House Medani: History and Structure (Patreon)

May is for Medani! Here's the next chunk of the upcoming House Medani article. Add thoughts here or discuss it on the Threshold Discord channel!

THE HISTORY OF HOUSE MEDANI

The Khoravar of pre-Galifar Wroat largely lived in poverty and squalor. Barred from most guilds and universities, they lived in the shadows of the Throne City, surviving through work both honest and otherwise. Though they came from different paths and bloodlines, most Khoravar of the Throne City treated one another as members of an extended family. Whenever a new Khoravar came to a neighborhood in the Throne, people would offer what food and shelter they could. And every week, the Khoravar of each district would come together to share stories, news, and food. Today, this is a well-known tradition; these gatherings are called Unity dinners. But in that grim time, the meetings were a secret thing. They were only mentioned using a word coined for the Khoravar cant, a blending of Elven words for gathering and family: Medani. 

What made this a grim time? Today, some scholars say that Rak Tulkhesh or Eldrantulku must have been on the rise, or that Shavarath was exceptionally coterminous… that surely a supernatural force fueled the paranoia and cruelty. Whether this evil was unnatural or merely mortal, it was a time when the king was weak and the Dragonmarked Houses were growing in strength. Aberrant Dragonmarks were appearing more frequently than ever, often carrying dangerous power. The Houses stirred up the fears of the common people. While their propaganda targeted those who carried aberrant dragonmarks, it was an age in which anyone who might be seen as the other was in danger. Used to being outsiders, the Khoravar of Wroat were largely sympathetic to the Aberrants. Despite the danger, the Medani sought to shelter and aid both Khoravar Aberrants and others unknown to them. And it was over the course of this century—a time in which fear and tension grew with each day—that the Mark of Detection appeared. It wasn’t tied to a single notable bloodline; instead, it was scattered across the Khoravar of the Medani. While some first thought these were Aberrant marks, it quickly became clear that this was a new true Dragonmark. In Medani meetings across Wroat, Khoravar debated the meaning of this mark and the proper path forward… and in due course, chose to conceal it, staying in the shadows and slums and using this gift to protect their people from the trouble ahead. And soon enough, the whispering campaign erupted into open violence: the War of the Mark had begun. And as the Medani Khoravar were assisting Aberrants, it was simply a matter of time before they clashed with Cannith and Deneith forces—and it was in these clashes that the Houses learned of the Mark of Detection. 

Many assume the Medani were forced to become a Dragonmarked House, that Deneith threatened the Khoravar with destruction. The Medani tell a different story. They say their ancestors stepped out of the shadows and demanded to be recognized as equals, so that they could challenge the cruelty of the War of the Mark loudly and in the light. Sadly, this came too late; Dorasharn fell even as Baron Trela d’Medani addressed her new peers for the first time. But House Medani would not let the matter rest. They investigated the events of the war, laying evidence of countless atrocities before the Barons. There had always been those within the Houses that questioned the War of the Mark, and the evidence gathered by Medani gave them unity and purpose. War criminals were forced to account for their actions. Leadership shifted, riding a desire to build instead of destroy. Hadran d’Cannith was one of the new leaders inspired by the Medani, and it was this spirit that drove him to create a new alliance based on research instead of war—and this was the beginning of the Twelve. 

House Medani has been a part of the Twelve since its foundation. It’s always been a voice for moderation and unity, urging against programs that would put profit ahead of the greater good. In part, this is because Medani itself has always been an outlier among the houses. Its services are personal and direct—invaluable to Medani clients, but operating on a far smaller scale than the Speaking Stone network, Jorasco healing houses, the Lightning Rail, Gold Dragon Inns or Cannith industry. Medani overlaps with the Shadow Houses, but the primary public-facing business of those houses is entertainment. When it comes to the business of inquisitives, there’s overlap with House Tharashk, but there again, House Tharashk now makes most of its gold through prospecting. For all of these reasons, Medani has always been one of the smallest and poorest of the Houses (although poor in the eyes of a Dragonmarked House is still quite well off compared to the rest of the world). Medani is also noteworthy in never having made any effort to crush competition, as some of the other houses have; notably, it didn’t oppose the rise of House Tharashk in the early days when they were directly competing. Medani has always relied on the quality of its services and its reputation—on the fact that Medani inquisitives and the Augurs of Aureon’s Voice are the best at what they do. Medani is still a business and the Warning Guild works to turn a profit, but it has never been as ruthless as its peers. 

House Medani has earned and maintained the trust of every nation. It maintained the broad neutrality of the Houses during the war; Medani Wardens and Watchens protected leaders and exposed spies and assassins from all sides. In the Treaty of Thronehold, every nation supported appointing the Basilisk’s Gaze to bring war criminals to justice. This is in spite of the fact that House Medani has always had a special relationship with Breland. Ever since the War of the Mark, whenever war has threatened the people of the region, Medani augurs have offered advice to military and civilian leaders on all sides of the conflict—not to sway the final outcome of the war, but to minimize the harm done to infrastructure and Brelish civilians. Throughout the age of Galifar, the Medani Baron traditionally offered advice to the governor of Breland. No one was surprised that this tradition continued during the Last War. The point is that Medani managed to maintain its relationship with the other nations; people were confident that Medani would fulfil its contracts, that a spycatcher employed by Aundair wouldn’t let a Dark Lantern slip by. For many, this was a further reason to employ Medani during the war; it was a form of protection, since they wouldn’t reveal secrets they were being paid to protect, but other intelligence was fair game. The Basilisk’s Gaze is the key to recognizing the status of Medani; even at the end of the war, the assembled nations believed Medani would serve as an impartial force and bring criminals of all nations to justice. 

While Medani has always offered advice to Brelish leaders, Baron Trelib d’Medani has an especially close relationship with King Boranel ir’Wynarn. The two first met as students at the Library of Korranberg. Trelib later helped Boranel explore the ancient ruins of Dorasharn, and the two planned and executed a number of exciting treasure hunting expeditions in Xen’drik. Trelib was equally close to Queen Chaseva, Boranel’s first wife. Some suggest that the three were more than just friends; those who tell such tales often observe that Syra ir’Wynarn has remarkably sharp ears for a human. Whatever the truth of these tales, Trelib mourned Chaseva’s death and his greatest regret is his failure to bring her murderer to justice.

Today, House Medani continues as it has for the last century. Baron Trelib may be close friends with King Boranel, but commoners and nobles of every nation employ the services of the Warning Guild. Medani is the smallest and poorest of the Houses, but the leaders of the Twelve value the insight of the Voice of Aureon. 

What Happens Next? On the surface, House Medani seems to be one of the least ambitious Houses. Medani doesn’t seek to enforce a monopoly. It continues to offer the same services it has for hundreds of years; its tools are its people. But there are a few threads you could pull on if you want Medani to be a source of drama in your campaign. 

Staring Into The Abyss. The Thousand Yard Stare watches the edge of the Mournland, but Channara d’Medani yearns to probe deeper beyond the mists. This can be an opportunity for adventurers, as Channara will often hire independent (read: expendable) operatives to investigate specific regions of the Mournland. However, another way to use the Stare is to suggest that they have sent their own forces into the Mournland… and recovered something better left alone. It could be a new form of lycanthropy, infectious ghouls, a psychic contagion, or something even stranger. Perhaps the Mournland is a crossroads with the Eberrons of other realities destroyed by the daelkyr. A Medani patrol from our reality entered… but the Medani who returned were from a different Eberron, and they have a terrifying plan. 

The Doomsayer. At 24 years of age, Dalia d’Medani is one of the youngest scions of the House to develop the gifts of a Medani Prophet. Her gifts are the strongest the house has ever seen—but she’s not content to follow the traditions of the Voice of Aureon, guiding the House or advising wealthy clients. Her visions are powerful and dangerous. She describes horrible fates that invariably come to pass. She presents visions of virtuous people engaging in corrupt acts, of violence breaking out in peaceful towns, of attacks by aberrations or fiends, and everything she describes comes to pass. Are her visions truly gifts from Aureon? Or is she in fact a witting or unwitting vessel for the Shadow—not predicting the future, but actively guiding it down the dark paths she describes? Can Dalia show adventurers the path to stop a great evil, or is she herself the evil that must be stopped?

The Evil Within. If the theory of the Medani Gestalt is true, heirs of the Mark of Detection are connected through their Dragonmarks, linked to a well of memories. What happens when Dyrrn the Corruptor poisons this well? Some Medani heirs are overwhelmed by alien concepts when they use their Dragonmarked gifts; when using See Invisibility they see into other realities, and when drawing on Divination they learn horrible secrets unrelated to their queries. Eventually, the heirs who receive these visions evolve into aberrations—gaining the mechanical abilities of Mind Flayers while still maintaining their Khoravar form (Extract Brain is accomplished by laying a palm on the victim’s forehead; the victim’s consciousness is extracted, while the actual brain is left intact). When an adventuring Medani or a Medani ally of the party begins having these visions, they must find a way to exorcise Dyrrn’s influence from the Medani Gestalt. 

Puppet Masters. House Medani has maintained its neutrality for hundreds of years… or so it seems. Adventurers could discover that the Voice of Aureon has always been a conspiracy within the House, using their gifts to maintain a vast web of blackmail with threads on the leaders of the other houses, nations, guilds, and more. Is this purely a mortal agency, or are the leaders serving an Overlord (Sul Khatesh or Tul Oreshka?) or are they agents of the Dreaming Dark? And what secrets do they know about the adventurers and their allies? This isn’t a path I would personally follow with House Medani, but it’s always an option as a shocking revelation. 

THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE

In keeping with its role as a house of counterspies, Medani keeps a low profile even in its ancestral home in Wroat. The Medani enclave is a connected network of unmarked buildings within sight of both Brokenblade Castle and Parliament Hall. It is not marked on any map, and those not already aware of its existence would be hard-pressed to pick its well-guarded doors out from among the private apartments and shops that surround it.

The Tower of Inquisition, Medani’s center of interrogation and incarceration, is the only part of the enclave known by name among the other dragonmarked houses. A nondescript stone building overlooking the river, it is said to be as well guarded as Brokenblade Castle itself.

-from the 3.5 Dragonmarked sourcebook

House Medani doesn’t maintain factories, fleets of ships, or brigades of mercenaries. Its work is subtle, and relies on customers with need for their services and coin to pay for it. Wroat is the ancestral home of the house and the seat of Baron Trelib, but it has its major enclaves in Fairhaven, Flamekeep, Korth, Sharn, and Trolanport. As described above, Medani doesn’t contain its heirs in fortified citadels. Instead, Medani enclaves are connected networks of unmarked buildings. Every Medani stronghold has a central, public location like the Tower of Inquisition in Wroat, home to the Lord Seneschal of the nation. These are the location of the Guild facilities that are accessible to the public. But other Medani facilities—meeting halls, training facilities for scions, libraries, armories, storerooms, and more—are unassuming and unmarked. The existence of these facilities isn’t a vital secret; a party of adventurers won’t be hunted down because they’ve learned the location of the local Medani library. But they aren’t advertised and outsiders aren’t invited in without good reason. However, where some Houses isolate their heirs, Medani scions generally interspersed with the local community. Many live in the same district, usually a district that already has a significant Khoravar population. But they eat, drink, and worship with the people of their community. Medani heirs undergo private training and tutoring in the hidden halls, but they also participate in public education and take apprenticeships with local businesses. In part, this is pragmatic. Most Medani believe in the idea of the spirit of the House, the gestalt that draws on the memories of all marked Medani; the more information and connections the house has, however meaningless they may seem in the moment, the more its inquisitives have to draw upon. Beyond that, the Medani have always preferred inclusion to isolation. Empathy and connections are important tools both for solving mysteries and identifying threats. This is a sharp contrast to House Lyrandar. The Medani are proud of their Khoravar heritage and traditions; in cities with Medani enclaves, the House hosts weekly unity dinners where all Khoravar are welcome. But they celebrate the fact that the Khoravar emerged from the blending of species and cultures. While the House doesn’t actively recruit outsiders, humans, elves, and members of other species are welcomed when they are drawn to Medani by love or talent. 

The Warning Guild

When people think of House Medani, they often think of a lone Inquisitive sitting at a desk waiting for trouble to walk through their door. But Inquisitive can cover a variety of roles. The Warning Guild licenses and brokers the services of a number of distinct specialists. These are the common terms used within the Guild itself. 

Watchers are the classic Inquisitives people read about in serials. Do you think your spouse is having an affair? Do you think your uncle faked his death? Are you certain the Sharn Watch won’t find your sister’s killer on their own? Then you’re looking for a Watcher of the Warning Guild. Watchers specialize in acquiring information and solving mysteries. Nondetection, Clairvoyance, Detect Thoughts, and Arcane Eye are all useful tools for the careful observer. But Deduction (AKA Divination) is their greatest gift. Usually it won’t solve a mystery on its own, but it will always provide leads for the Watcher to work with. 

Wardens defend their clients from harm. The Medani Warden is more Rogue than Fighter. Their job isn’t to stand next to you with a shield; it’s to never even be seen. Ideally they eliminate threats without the client even knowing there was a threat; this could be because they identify an enemy and remove them quietly, or it could be that they avoid the threat by changing the client’s route, providing information to the Watch, or otherwise defanging an enemy. Nobles and other wealthy clients may keep a Medani Warden on retainer to direct their personal security forces. Over the last century, Medani Wardens have been in high demand as spycatchers, and the Warning Guild has teams that specialize in these operations. There’s nothing secret about the existence of the Wardens, but common people have less use for a Warden than they do for a Watcher, and if a Warden does their job well the public never knows about it. 

Wolves are problem solvers. You call in a Watcher to get answers, and you hire a Warden to prevent disasters; you hire a Medani Wolf to clean up the mess after a disaster has happened. Insight, Investigation, and the divinatory powers of the Mark of Detection help a Wolf understand the parameters of a problem and identify the people involved. A good Wolf knows how to clean up a scene, how to make evidence disappear, how to negotiate with problematic individuals—when it’s best to employ bribery, blackmail, or simple intimidation. Keep in mind a Wolf’s ability to use their Mark to Detect Thoughts, to hide their charge with Nondetection, to find details with Deduction (Divination) or Background Check (Legend Lore). 

There are only a handful of offices of the Warding Guild in Khorvaire. The Guild has a presence in each of the major enclaves, which are discussed later in this article. Guild offices can also be found in Varna, Newthrone, Krona Peak, Regalport, Taer Valaestas, Rukhaan Draal, and Stormreach. Baron Trelib is keen to have a footing in the new nations, and there’s currently negotiations to establish a Guild outpost in either Graywall or the Great Crag. So far, House Tharashk has blocked these efforts. While Medani isn’t especially aggressive in its competition with Tharashk, the House of Finding values its influence in Droaam and has kept its rivals at bay. However, most people don’t interact with the Warning Guild through a dedicated office. While there are heirs who serve the Guild directly (including the three organizations mentioned below), many heirs run their own agencies; they are licensed and supported by the Guild, but operate independently. This is where that image of the Inquisitive with her feet up on her desk becomes reality. The number of inquisitives in an agency, and the number of agencies in a community, both depend entirely on the size of the community and its ability to support inquisitives. A typical agency will have one to four operatives, with a few assistants or apprentices. An agency may focus on a single speciality—a pair of Watchers solving mysteries—or it could have a diverse set of skills, with a Warden, a Watcher, and a Truthteller all working together. Sometimes such partnerships are purely professional, but it’s not uncommon to find a town with a Medani family agency that’s been serving the community for generations. If a client has need of a particular set of Medani specialists that can’t be found in the local community—someone wants to hire a full-time security chief, or a squad of Wardens—they can send the request to the closest Warning Guild office. The administrator there will either dispatch Guild staff specialists, or broker the services of a qualified licensed agency. 

While Inquisitive services are the bread and butter of House Medani, there are a few additional organizations connected to the Warning Guild. 

The Voice of Aureon. Most Medani believe that the gifts of their Dragonmark flow from their shared memories. But there have always been Vassals among the Medani who believe that the House as a whole is blessed by Aureon—and that some heirs are gifted with visions from the Sovereigns. Those who feel this calling are drawn to join the Voice of Aureon, which is both a religious order and a business within the Warning Guild. Initiates of the Voice of Aureon possess the Mark of Detection, but they also gain greater power of divination. The common acolytes follow the path of the Augur or the Truthteller; these use the Oracle and Mediator Magewright stat blocks provided in Rising From The Last War, with the addition of the Mark of Detection. Medani Truthtellers use Zone of Truth and Detect Thoughts to assist in legal proceedings, diplomatic negotiations, or business deals. Augurs can perform a ritual form of Augury that reaches further into the future; it still only provides the basic options of Weal or Woe, but it can predict the broad outcome of actions further into the future. Beyond this, Augurs can perform standard Divination; while answers are still cryptic, they aren’t limited to the knowledge of the Medani gestalt. Medani Augurs aren’t the only professional oracles, but the seal of the Warning Guild gives clients assurance that the practitioner is a true oracle, rather than a charming charlatan. Augurs and Truthtellers broker their services through the Warning Guild, but there are a few members of the Voice of Aureon who work directly for the House itself. These are the Medani Prophets—described in more detail in the 3.5 Dragonmarked sourcebook. Beyond their concrete spellcasting abilities, Medani Prophets receive visions of the past and of possible futures. Currently, there are six Prophets in the order. Most remain in the shrine of Aureon hidden in the Wroat enclave, serving as advisors to Baron Trelib. Recently the Prophet Taldor was appointed to lead the Basilisk’s Gaze. On extremely rare occasions, a Prophet will be assigned to a client — serving as an Augur or Warden in addition to their gift of Prophecy — but this would only happen if Trelib believes it to be absolutely necessary.

Most of the Medani are casual Vassals; they may not be as devout as the Voice of Aureon, but there’s no tension between the Voice and the House as a whole. The beliefs of the Voice don’t defy the idea of the spirit of the house. The priests of the Voice believe the Mark of Detection—including the Medani gestalt—is a blessing of Aureon. Some initiates of the Voice can be a little arrogant, believing themselves to be especially blessed, but it’s not a driving source of tension within the House.  

Seneschal Ruran d’Medani is the leader of the order and a Prophet himself—though his visions aren’t as frequent as powerful as those of his five peers. He maintains Aureon’s Shrine in Wroat, and its is generally Ruran who discusses the affairs of the house with Baron Trelib. 

The Basilisk’s Gaze. Ever since the War of the Mark, there have been Medani heirs who have sought to expose and persecute atrocities carried out in times of war. Early during the Last War, the leaders of the Five Nations met to establish the terms of the conflict; at that time, a small group of Medani observers were empowered to monitor the conflict and investigate war crimes. Officially, this is the Thronehold Warfare Observer Corps, or “Two-C”. However, it quickly became known as the Basilisk’s Gaze. During the War, the Gaze reported on war crimes, but took no action to persecute them. When the Treaty of Thronehold was signed, provisions included empowering the Basilisk’s Gaze to pursue war criminals in all of the signatory nations, whenever possible apprehending these fugitives and transporting them to Thronehold to face justice. The Gaze is a small, elite force of operatives that draw on the resources and safehouses of House Medani, but don’t answer to the Viceroys and Baron. It has a few dozen members drawn from the best of the Warning Guild including specialists from each of its disciplines. Because an entire team of Medani may draw attention, it’s common for field agents to assemble teams of talented operatives to assist in their operations; these hirelings may or may not know exactly who they’re working for. With this in mind, the Basilisk’s Gaze can be a concrete foundation for a party of adventurers. At least one character should be a Medani heir who serves as the mastermind and connection to the House; the other adventurers can be the team they’ve assembled. Can they unmask and bring down dangerous war criminals—including those now serving with the Emerald Claw or Blades of Liberty? For an entirely different twist, an adventurer with the Soldier background could have been implicated in a war crime and be on the Basilisk’s list. Are they in fact guilty of the crime they’re accused of? If not, how were they framed? The evidence would have to be reasonably strong and the crime significant to be targeted by the Basilisk’s Gaze: how can the character prove their innocence? 

The Basilisk’s Gaze is led by Taldor d’Medani, a Medani Prophet who believes that Aureon wishes to see justice done. Taldor is icy and serious; he claims to have “left extraneous thought and counterproductive emotion behind.” 

The Thousand Yard Stare. Officially the Western Mournland Working Group, the Thousand Yard Stare is a Medani operation funded by the governments of Thrane and Breland. The Thousand Yard Stare patrols the edge of the Mournland, providing early warning of monsters or strange magical phenomena that could threaten nearby settlements. Stare operatives are capable soldiers, typically in the model of Rangers; they will engage and attempt to neutralize minor threats. However, their ultimate mandate is to warn, and if a threat is too powerful to be eliminated their duty is to gather as much information as possible and to provide that data to the closest fortress of the nation. Members of the Stare are capable foragers who typically live off the land while on long patrols, but they have become well-known by the people in the border villages they protect and are usually welcomed. The organization is based in the fortress of Arythawn Keep on the edge of the Thornwood. This stronghold was heavily damaged during the Last War, and Thrane has granted the fortress to the Medani as long as they carry out their duties and continue to repair it. 

The Thousand Yard Stare is led by Channara d’Medani. As noted earlier in this article, Channara yearns to delve deeper into the Mournland and to unravel more of its mysteries. The Stare is stretched thin, and she can’t commit her own forces to such a dangerous and foolish endeavor—but she might be willing to pay adventurers to investigate reports! 

That's all for now! This is a work in progress, so your questions might result in changes to the final article. The art associated with this image is the seal of the Basilisk's Gaze, designed by Matthew Johnson.