House Kundarak: Structure (Patreon)

While any Dragonmarked heir may use the title of lord or lady, it carries a different weight in House Kundarak. Both Kundarakhold and Dreadhold stand beyond the Korth Edicts, and the founding clans of House Kundarak are landholders with a duty to protect and preserve their domains. Kundarak heirs oversee the miners, farmers, and soldiers around their spires, tending to their tenants and pulling Kol Korran’s bounty up from the depths. The Kundarak banker knows that the wealth he works with flows from Ironroot mines, and the Sharn locksmith knows her clan has a great spire in the east. All heirs of the House must choose a path following the test of Siberys: will they serve clan or guild? Those who choose the guilds will find a place in an enclave, whether they end up as a powerful investor or as a prison guard; those who choose their clan will serve in the Mror Holds. In creating a Kundarak heir, consider the path that they’ve chosen and what this says about their ultimate aspirations. Do they feel a strong connection to the Ironroot Mountains and their ancient land, or are they driven by the opportunities available in the wider world? 

While House Kundarak is one of the younger House, Clan Kundarak stretches back thousands of years; only Phiarlan and Thuranni have older traditions. Any heir can choose guild or clan and prosper on either path, but the most powerful positions within the clans are hereditary. While all Kundarak enclaves west of the Ironroot Mountains lease the land they stand on, the House split the provinces of Galifar up between its clans when it joined the Twelve, and as such each Kundarak enclave is under the dominion of a particular chieftain and clan. Clan Tuvodni is tied to Karrnath, Nolon to Aundair, Ghedin to Breland and Zilargo, and Durbannek to Thrane; prior to the Mourning, Clan Kundarak was responsible for the enclaves in Cyre. Each clan has a balgo—”great leader”, typically translated as “chieftain”—who governs the territory associated with that clan, as well as a host of lesser nobles tasked with managing the clan’s holdings in Kundarakhold; these positions are passed directly down along family lines. The guilds are businesses with members from every clan, and within a guild positions must be earned rather than being inherited. The leaders of enclaves (the boldra, “hearthwarden”) are appointed by the guild councils, but the chieftain of the region must approve the decision. As a result, hearthwardens are usually from the chieftain’s clan, but there are exceptions. Boldra Jakela d’Kundarak oversees the grand enclave of Kundarakhold despite being an heir of Clan Tuvodni—although Morrikan Kundarak d’Kundarak is Lord of the Spire and the ruler of the city itself. 

Officially, Kundarakhold has no voice on the Iron Council of the Mror Holds. However, the dwarf lords have looked to Kundarak for guidance for thousands of years, and that hasn’t changed. It’s rumored that it was Baron Morrikan d’Kundarak who urged the lords to unite and declare their independence, and Morrikan has an “observer’s seat” at the Iron Council. Over the course of the last century Clan Soldorak has criticized Morrikan and House Kundarak, saying that the House has strayed too far from Mror tradition and that it puts its other interests ahead of the good of the Mror. To date Kundarak has brushed aside these accusations with little impact, and there is no acknowledged feud between Kundarak and Soldorak. But Soldorak’s jealous grows with each passing day. 

Kundarak Enclaves. Much like the enclaves of House Sivis, Kundarak are split between the public spaces where business is conducted and the private space, which is treated as an estate of the ruling clan. While members of any family can work at any estate, there are separate living quarters for “guests”—anyone who’s not tied to the ruling clan by blood or marriage. Most enclaves incorporate a bank, as well as an office of the Warding Guild which maintains the security of the enclave in addition to the services it offers the public. Kundarak enclaves are solidly built and very well secured, protected with the Locks, Privacy, and Dimensional Seal effects of the Kundarak’s Ward spell in addition to independent measures. This means that Kundarak enclaves are shielded from divination and that it’s impossible to teleport into or out of them—unless you have one of the keycharms tied to that particular enclave. The security systems in the public spaces of the enclave are generally nonlethal—Alarms, Guilt Traps, and similar effects—but the vaults of a Kundarak enclave are defended with deadly wards. A few things worth noting about the private side of a Kundarak enclave… 

Kundarak dwarves possess Darkvision and come from a culture comfortable with tight, windowless spaces. Places made for public gatherings are generally grand and well lit, but any space not intended for outsiders—servant’s quarters, archives, storerooms—may only have dim lighting, or no lighting whatsoever. 

Kundarak enclaves always have a trophy room, which holds relics of the great achievements of past Boldras and other heirs from the enclave. These things may not have great value—you could have a copper coin from the first deal negotiated in the enclave—but they will always have stories. 

Many Kundarak enclaves have a “mush-room”—a hydroponic garden with a controlled environment, where they grow mushrooms and fungus from the Ironroot Mountains. Enclave chefs use these ingredients to prepare traditional Mror dishes, and many Kundarak enclaves maintain their own microbrewing operations. 

The Banking Guild

The Banking Guild of House Kundarak oversees banking and financial services across Khorvaire. The Banking Guild trains and licenses bankers, coinmakers, gemcutters, goldsmiths, jewelers, moneylenders, and similar trades; beyond this, the Banking Guild works closely with the Twelve (and always with the aid of the Ledger of House Sivis) to maintain stable pricing on general goods and services. 

The Kundarak Bank is to the Banking Guild what the Gold Dragon Inn is to the Hosteler’s Guild of House Ghallanda—a reliable, familiar service found across Khorvaire. Most major cities have a branch of the Kundarak Bank, and these are the only facilities that will have Vault Portals to access the Kundarak Vault Network. However, just as House Ghallanda licenses independent inns and taverns, smaller communities may have financial services provided by licensed independents (Kundarak heirs or otherwise). The manticore seal of House Kundarak is a statement that a lender can be trusted—and anyone licensed by the House who fails to adhere to their standards and practices will be ruthlessly prosecuted by Kundarak. Canonically, the typical Kundarak lender offers loans at a rate of 10% annual interest; this can certainly vary based on the terms and timing, but it’s a good place to start. 

The Korranda Mint oversees the production of coins. While its primary facility is in Korunda Gate, it has a smaller facility in Starilaskur in Breland and had another in Making in Cyre. 

Nolon’s specializes in jewelry and gemstones. It has its central workshop and and showroom in Nolonspire in the Ironroot Mountains, but it has major outposts in the capital cities of the Five Nations, as well as Zolanberg in Zilargo, along with a handful of smaller shops. Nolon’s works closely with the Binding of House Cannith, providing lovely jewels and jewelry for Cannith artificers to enchant. 

The Warding Guild

Where the Sentinel’s Guild of House Deneith protects people, the Warding Guild of House Kundarak protects property. The Warding Guild works with locks, traps, and everything else required for security. 

The Golden Door is the primary public face of the Warding Guild, providing mystical and mundane security measures. The artisans of the Golden Door work with traps, locks, and wards. The Golden Door also trains and licenses independent locksmiths.  

The Iron Gate manages prisons. While Dreadhold is the most infamous facility run by the Iron Gate, Kundarak also maintains a handful of smaller prisons across Khorvaire. Many Kundarak enclaves have a small Iron Gate jail which local authorities can use (for a price). Typically this is used for the temporary confinement of prisoners awaiting trial, when it’s believed that the city watch isn’t up to the task—this could be due to corruption within the watch, the dangerous nature of the prisoner, or because it’s important for the prisoner to be seen to be in a neutral location. The Iron Gate also maintains a number of “Dustbins”—debtor’s prisons, built to hold clients who have defaulted on Kundarak loans. The typical Dustbin prisoner is a noble or prosperous merchant—someone who Kundarak would entrust with a significant loan, and someone who they believe can raise the funds to repay (or who will eventually be bailed out by allies). As such, a Dustbin is usually a relatively pleasant place to stay, with Ghallanda chefs and staff supplementing Iron Gate security—but Kundarak maintains a running total for the cost of the imprisonment, adding to the victim’s debt. During the Last War, Dustbin facilities were often used to hold noble prisoners of war while their captors negotiated a ransom. Beyond maintaining prisons, the Iron Gate can provide security guards. In this, the Iron Gate works with House Deneith rather than competing. Iron Gate mercenaries specialize in security as opposed to the use of force. So in a situation where a noble wants a team to defend their mansion, Deneith might arrange for a force of 10 Blademarks and two members of the Iron Gate. The Gate would focus on maintaining the security of the building, while the Blademarks stand ready to engage intruders. 

The Keyguard

The Keyguard is an elite force that answers directly to the chieftains of the House. Its agents are drawn from the most capable members of the Golden Door, and many continue to serve in the Golden Door between missions. But the Keyguard provides additional training, producing specialists known as Silver Keys—Kundarak heirs who learn to use the Mark of Warding to bypass security. Any heir with the Lesser Mark of Warding can shield themselves with Nondetection. But an expert Silver Key can learn techniques allowing them to slip across Glyphs of Warding without triggering them, to silence Alarms with ease, and to open Arcane Locks with no need of Knock. The greatest Silver Keys can even enter magical portals normally tied to a single individual, such as the portal to a Magnificent Mansion. Officially, House Kundarak maintains the Keyguard to test the security of their own facilities, infiltrating enclaves, vaults, and prisons to identify flaws that less talented intruders could exploit. The House has also employed the Keyguard on a number of occasions to recover items stolen from Kundarak vaults; a number of remarkable criminals have been shocked to find their own security to be no match for Kundarak’s repo men. 

The Ghorad'din

House Kundarak takes the security of its vaults very seriously. The Ghorad’din—the Manticore’s Tail—are a specialized force tasked to preserve Kundarak’s reputation and security by killing any criminal who successfully steals from the House, or any heir who thinks to sell its secrets. Consider the effects of Private Sanctum: Sound can’t pass beyond its borders. No one can teleport into or out of its area of effect. It blocks divination. In other words, the perfect blackout to cover a swift and brutal commando strike. Kundarak’s Ward does this and more, allowing the Ghorad’din to fill corridors with mist and to conceal doors with illusions while sealing them with Arcane Lock. The point being that the techniques usually used to keep intruders out can instead be turned inward to keep the Ghorad’din’s quarry from escaping. Keep in mind that the Ghorad’din are a small force and that House Kundarak doesn’t have the intelligence gathering power of the Trust or the Citadel. They can’t automatically find every thief who steals from a Kundarak Bank or every crooked heir who sells a secret. But they stand ever ready in the shadows. Even if it takes a decade for the Baron to learn who was responsible for that grand heist—when the criminal is finally revealed, the Ghorad’din will be ready. 

The Manticorps

The Mror love a story. Ask anyone of the deeds of the hero Kundarak, and they’ll tell you how he climbed the tallest mountain in the Ironroots—blindfolded, some say—and when he came upon a nest of manticores, he sung them a song so sweet they offered to carry him back down to the ground. Unlike some Mror tales, this one can be confirmed. It wasn’t the founding Kundarak who climbed the mountain; it was a Tuvodni heir named Dolon, who had listened to the songs of the manticores until he understood their meaning. When Dolon climbed to the heights he was able to forge an alliance with a clan of manticores called the Harshaak. Dolon convinced a score of manticores to return to Tuvolok and to work with his people, and over the centuries their numbers have grown. The Manticorps—properly, the Ghoradoc—forge bonds between Harshaak manticores and Kundarak riders. While still few in number, the Manticorps provide aerial security for important Kundarak facilities. Beyond Tuvolok, their largest squad is based on Dreadhold. You can learn more about the manticores of the Mror Holds in this article. 

KUNDARAK CUSTOMS

House Kundarak shares its roots with the clans of the Mror Holds, and Kundarak culture retains a number of distinctly Mror traditions. First among these is a love of tall tales, typically centered around the deeds of their own clan founders—Kundarak, Nolon, Durbannek, Ghedin and the others. As is common among Mror tales, stories of the founders can absorb the deeds of any accomplished heir of their line. Heirs of Tuvodni know that it was Dolon Tuvodni who forged their alliance with the Harshaak Manticores, but they still tell the story of Brave Tuvodni. Likewise, a little exaggeration is always accepted in a tall tale; a Kundarak would argue that the point of a story is to entertain, and if that means drifting slightly from the facts, so be it. A secondary aspect of this is that every Kundarak heir wants to inspire a great story of their own. They want to leave a trophy in the hall of their home enclave, and they want to add a legend to the deeds of their clan founder. This can be tied to business—spotting a brilliant investment, forging a crucial alliance, foiling a grand heist. But it can also be tied to everyday life: a grand love affair, a legendary wager, an epic drinking contest. This is slightly at odds with the fact that much of the business conducted by the house is concrete and professional, and Kundarak urges its heirs to take their work extremely seriously. Your locksmith may be grim and focused while presenting your options for security systems. But when they are with friends or off-duty, Kundarak heirs like to live large lives, celebrating achievements and mourning misfortunes, always looking to create glorious moments. 

Kundarak heirs are competitive, but they rarely seek to undercut one another; they seek to prove their worth through honest achievements. Most Kundarak heirs love to make wagers, and any heir may have half a dozen long-term wagers running with fellow heirs of the house. The purpose of a wager is to prove the acumen and wisdom of the heir making the bet, and as such, heirs rarely wager on anything entirely tied to chance. They will wager on the outcome of an expedition, the payoff of an investment, the result of a duel—all proving which of the bettors has a better eye for the odds. Such wagers are also a way to flaunt one’s wealth; the ability to place an expensive bet is a statement that I can afford to lose this and serve as a power move. Again, Kundarak heirs rarely attempt to sabotage other heirs, as you might see in Sivis schemes or Cannith feuds—but every Kundarak heir wants to be the brightest star in the local firmament, and they’re always looking for ways to outshine their comrades. 

Kundarak heirs are very conscious of financial matters. They never spend gold carelessly, and will typically leap in to barter on behalf of a companion who’s about to make a foolish transaction. At the same time, many Kundarak heirs enjoy acts of charity and philanthropy, whether that’s buying a round of drinks for their table or helping to restore a local institution fallen on hard times. It’s a reflection of power and accomplishment—to have earned enough that they can afford to share their wealth—but heirs are also taught that the greatest treasures are friends, family, and joyful memories. Maintaining financial security is important—again, gold should never be wasted—but an act of kindness for a friend in need isn’t waste. 

Tied to all of this is the idea that every Kundarak heir should have something they dream of acquiring. It could be a title, an estate, a piece of art by a favorite artist, a trip to a wondrous location. This starts as a game among children, and it is something still discussed about grown heirs. This ties to the idea that every heir wants to leave a story behind. What is the treasure you are pursuing? What is your dream, and why are you proud to share it with your friends?