House Orien

The house of transport and transit, Orien is a name known across Khorvaire. No other house directly touches as many lives, whether through the lightning rail that once connected the great cities of the Five Nations, the caravans that traverse rural lands, or the couriers who deliver letters and packages virtually anywhere.
House Orien’s businesses have been pervasive (and profitable) since before the first appearance of the Mark of Passage. However, the Last War took a heavy toll on this house—one from which it has yet to recover. After decades of effort, House Orien had spanned the Five Nations with its lightning rail, but the war and the Day of Mourning shattered the house’s intercontinental links. Today, the organization is bent on recovery, but fresh competition from House Lyrandar and the instability of Khorvaire’s new age are challenges the house has yet to overcome.

By Road and Rail

House Orien began as a collection of merchants and teamsters, forming caravans that moved around pre- Galifar Aundair and beyond. They manifested the Mark of Passage nineteen hundred years ago, enhancing their skills with supernatural abilities that swiftly allowed them to dominate the roads of central Khorvaire. The dragonmarks were a celebrated phenomenon by this point, and the extended Orien family established itself as a dragonmarked house in short order.
In the days before Galifar, few except the couriers and caravans of House Orien could cross the boundaries of nations and the holds of minor warlords in safety. With the help of the Mark of Passage and a knack for diplomacy, it became possible for Orien messengers to send information and packages from one end of Khorvaire to the other, with an excellent probability that the goods would arrive intact and in time. Orien caravans also carried human cargo, and as workers and explorers moved across the continent, the house became one of the primary forces driving the commonality of culture that marks Khorvaire today.
Even as Orien’s mundane transportation services connected the Khorvaire of the common folk, the Mark of Passage provided the house with services so exclusive—and so expensive—that few but kings and queens could afford them. In a united Galifar, nobles who might once have fought each other were forced to curry diplomatic favor and entertain their peers at court. However, the vastness of Khorvaire (not to mention the land’s many dangers) made mundane travel for a royal retinue impractical at best. As such, the teleport ability of the greater Mark of Passage quickly became Orien’s most requested (and most profitable) service. Effortless and instantaneous travel between the courts of Galifar helped establish the foundation of communication and trust among the nobility that allowed the new kingdom to thrive.
As its routes stabilized and Galifar grew, Orien took on a royal commission that seemed like little more than a dream at the time: to connect Galifar’s cities with highspeed transport that would allow travel across the kingdom in a matter of days. In 811 YK, the first lightning rail line was established between Fairhaven and Flamekeep. In 845 YK, King Jarot announced his intention to see the lightning rail connect every corner of Galifar, a task that Orien completed in less than twenty years.
With lines of conductor stones spanning the Five Nations, Orien controlled three crown-subsidized lightning rail routes, all running through the heart of the nation in Cyre. From its humble origins on the trails and trade roads of Aundair, Orien had grown to the house that held a kingdom together.

Dark Path Ahead

What Orien had built over a lifetime, the Last War shattered in two terrible events. The fi rst of these was in 899 YK, when the White Arch Bridge across Scions Sound was destroyed, most likely by order of King Kaius I. The bridge, which connected the city of Rekkenmark in Karrnath with Thaliost in Thrane, was an indefensible liability for both nations, but when it fell, Orien’s primary east–west link across Khorvaire fell with it. In the aftermath of the war, many have spoken of the need to rebuild the bridge. However, Orien cannot afford the expense of reconstruction, and Thrane and Karrnath have little reason to want their kingdoms linked across the sound once more.
The second and more devastating loss happened on the Day of Mourning. Orien’s three routes met at Metrol, the crossroads of Khorvaire, which was destroyed in the cataclysm that razed Cyre. Orien still maintains that the Cyre lines are intact, but the house has yet to send a commercial coach into the Mournland. Reports from explorers in that wasted land hint that many conductor stones have been stolen, leaving gaps large enough to derail a coach.
Since the war’s end, Orien has managed to go some distance toward offsetting the loss of its profitable lightning rail runs with its other courier and transport services. At the same time, the viceroys of the house are determined to reclaim their former wealth and status, but they know that doing so will require allies. The Five Nations might never again be one, but the house hopes that the leaders of those nations can be convinced of the need to reforge links to each other’s lands.

History

The Mark of Passage first appeared in Aundair around the year -1900. Most of the humans who developed the mark were experienced travellers and teamsters who soon formed a group when learning of their common bond. During these early years, the marked humans competed against each other however, they soon united when they realised what they could accomplish together. The newly established House Orien immediedately began putting their efforts into the caravan business, delivering goods across Khorvaire. During these times the roads were quite dangerous so Orien set out to secure safe passage for their vehicles by exercising their diplomatic powers and pure magical ability. As the house prospered, Orien invested in the developement of new roads and upgrading the old ones. In the days before the Sivis speaking stone network, House Orien ran a post system that was used across the Five Nations.
In 811 YK the first lightning rail was constructed by House Cannith and the elemental binders of Zilargo. This technology revolutionized transportation and so it was only a matter of time before Orien involved itself with the business. Orien began to manage the lighting rail and soon was in control of where the lightning rails spread as Orien commissioned for a group to be formed known as the Trailblazers, whose objective is to explore new routes for the rail to travel and lay the conductor stones for the rail to follow. The Last WarEdit
The war adversely effected House Orien as bridges and rail tracks were often destroyed in order to slow down enemy advancements. To make matters worse, House Lyrandar began running the airship business toward the end of the war. House Orien's dominance over the field of transportation has never been so unsure, in an effort to regain control the house has begun to focus on its teleportation business though, teleportation remains expensive.

Founding Date

-1900 YK

Type

Consortium, Business

Location

Passage

Notable Members

• Baron Kwanti d'Orien

Related Ethnicities

• Khorvairan Amalgam