The Twelve

The Twelve is an alliance of the Dragonmarked Houses, and an institute of arcane learning. It was founded roughly 1,500 years ago, after the conclusion of the War of the Mark, and is based in Korth. The Twelve facilitates collaboration between the houses, allowing them to innovate and achieve things that they could never accomplish on their own. Famously, the Lightning Rail and Airships would not have been possible without the Twelve facilitating collaboration between House Cannith, House Orien, House Lyrandar and the elemental binders of Zilargo.
The Twelve is also responsible for managing and mediating disputes between the dragonmarked houses. Although all of the houses ostensibly work together under the Twelve, each house has it's own goals and ambitions, and they aren't all compatible with each other. House Deneith and House Tharashk are frequently at odds, as are House Phiarlan and House Thuranni, and House Lyrandar and House Orien. Sometimes, feuds even arise within a particular house that may require the intervention of the Twelve, such as the schism currently splitting House Cannith.
The committee of the Twelve oversees the institute's activities, and in theory is made up of one member for each dragonmarked house. At present, House Cannith has three representatives; one for Cannith East, one for Cannith South, and one for Cannith West. Between this and the schism that caused the formation of House Thuranni, the committee currently numbers 15 representatives.
On top of it's position as a representative of the houses, the Twelve is also an institute of arcane learning, competing with the likes of the Arcane Congress. It trains magewrights and wizards for the purposes of supplying the houses with magical talent and resources. During the Last War, the Twelve was coerced by Kaius I of Karrnath to train their own mages, which called into question the supposed neutrality of the Twelve and significantly damaged it's standing amongst the other nations of Khorvaire. Now, the Twelve is largely surpassed by the Arcane Congress of Aundair, and the houses are growing increasingly independent as they pursue their own ambitions, all of which comes together to leave the Twelve sorely diminished.

Founding Date

-1500