46 CHAPTER 2 | THE MAGICAL ECONOMY
Elemental galleons use bound water
elementals to increase the speed of the vessel.
These have long been the mainstay of House
Lyrandar; an elemental galleon can maintain
a speed of 20 miles per hour, more than twice
the speed of a mundane ship of similar size. The
cost of such travel is likewise twice the cost of a
normal journey.
The lightning rail of House Orien is the
gold standard for overland travel within the Five
Nations. An elemental engine pulls a train of
linked coaches over a path of conductor stones,
maintaining a speed of 30 miles per hour. The
rail links most of the major cities of the Five
Nations, though the destruction of Cyre has made
travel between eastern and western Khorvaire
more challenging. A journey on the lightning rail
generally costs twice as much as an inn stay of the
same duration, with quality ranging between the
modest coaches shared by most travelers (1 gp/
day) and the wealthy luxury coaches (4 gp/day).
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try to stow away on a cargo car, but Orien guards
discourage such behavior.
Elemental airships are the pride of House
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propel a vessel through the sky. Airships travel
between 20 to 40 miles per hour and have the
advantage of being able to cross any terrain.
Airships have only been in service for eight years,
and as a result many cities don’t yet have the
facilities required for docking or maintaining an
airship. However, airships are quickly becoming
the prefered method of travel for those who can
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times as much as an inn stay of the same quality
and duration.
Teleportation is the swiftest form of travel,
but also the most limited. An Orien heir with
the Greater Mark of Passage can cast teleportation
circle once per day; most major Orien enclaves
have permanent circles and can be used as
destinations. When this service is available, it
generally costs 1,000 gp.
All of these forms of advanced travel require
someone with the appropriate dragonmark—
the Mark of Storm for elemental galleons andairships, or the Mark of Passage for the lightning
rail—to control the vessel. While it may be
possible to develop an airship that doesn’t require
a Lyrandar pilot, the Dragonmarked Houses are
quite protective of their monopolies.WARFARE
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House Cannith produces a wide range of siege
equipment and mystical weapons and made
a number of breakthroughs during the Last
War. Massive [QMOM\[Iٺ[ÅTT\PMZWTMWNIZ\QTTMZa
Semi-sentient warforged titans scatter squads
of infantry. Kundarak sappers spread OTaXP[WN
_IZLQVOto deny a region to an enemy. Wands and
rods haven’t replaced the swords or bows, but
elite arcaneers are becoming more common.
The armies of Aundair specialize in the use
of magic and have the greatest numbers of
wandslingers. Karrnath has long been known
for its military discipline, but also became
infamous for its widespread use of undead
soldiers. Thrane is renowned for its peasant
archers and use of divine magic, thanks to its
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Flame. Cyre relied heavily on mercenary
services—including the Valenar elves and the
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number of warforged troops. Finally, Breland
had the best intelligence and industry of the
nations; it was also noted for the use of Zil
elemental weapons and for its ÆWI\QVONWZ\ZM[[M[.CREATING MAGIC ITEMS
House Cannith has an enclave devoted solely
to wand production. This facility is equipped
with tools that amplify the Mark of Making
and channel planar energies; the artisans also
have access to a vast array of exotic woods and
materials. You can also create a wand, but you’re
starting from scratch and creating the tools you
need. Essentially, when House Cannith creates
magic items, it’s using factories; while your
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in the garage. You can create magic items, and