House Kundarak — Dragonmark Focus Items

"I learned to pick those locks when I was barely out of the crib." — Cutter, former burglar and Kundarak excoriate; currently re-employed by the house on probation as a security analyst

Mark: Warding | Symbol: The Manticore | Production: House Cannith and the Twelve (exclusive) Requirement: All items below require the Mark of Warding unless otherwise noted.

The Principle

Where some houses' catalogues are shaped by the personal drama of their marks — Deneith's progression toward shared suffering, Ghallanda's progression toward conjured sanctuaries — Kundarak's catalogue is shaped by architecture. The house's most important security systems are not individual items but layered installations: interlocking networks of ward, seal, glyph, and trap that the house constructs, maintains, and audits on-site. The items below are the portable and personal layer — the tools that individual heirs carry into the field. The larger systems are Kundarak's real product, and they are built into the walls and floors of the places they protect.

The same principle governing all dragonmark focus items applies here: they amplify an existing magical gift; they do not create one from nothing. A keycharm does nothing in the hands of a person without the Mark of Warding. This is the structural basis of house power. Because focus items are easier and cheaper to produce for a marked heir than equivalent items for unmarked users, Kundarak maintains a permanent practical advantage in security work that no independent locksmith or magewright can simply purchase away. A talented rogue can pick a conventional lock. No talented rogue has ever picked an arcane seal set by a Kundarak heir wearing the gloves of the locksmith — and if one ever does, the house will make certain it is the last lock they ever touch.

Focus items are produced exclusively by House Cannith and the Twelve using proprietary techniques. They are not found in shops and are not sold commercially. Each bears the image of the Mark of Warding somewhere on its surface — typically the manticore crest — and most incorporate a Siberys dragonshard. Acquiring one outside house channels is unusual and warrants investigation; the house pursues unlicensed possession through financial, legal, and — where necessary — Sentinel Marshal channels.

DEFENDERS GUILD — FOCUS ITEM POLICY All dragonmark focus items bearing the Kundarak manticore remain the property of House Kundarak regardless of current possession. Items are tracked in enclave inventory, subject to periodic audit, and must be returned upon conclusion of commission or separation from guild service. The house reserves the right to deactivate, recall, or recover any focus item at any time. Unauthorized possession, modification, or duplication of Kundarak focus items constitutes a breach of house security protocols and will be treated accordingly.

Mark-Specific Focus Items

Warding Brooch

Wondrous item, common (requires the Mark of Warding) Duplicates: brooch of shielding

A simple brooch bearing the manticore crest, set with a sliver of Siberys dragonshard. It provides resistance to force damage and immunity to the magic missile spell — the same protection as a standard brooch of shielding, but requiring the Mark of Warding, which makes it simpler and cheaper to produce.

The warding brooch is not dramatic. It is not the kind of item a Kundarak heir displays or discusses. It sits beneath a tunic, beneath a cloak, doing nothing at all until someone fires three bolts of force at the heir's chest — at which point the bolts dissipate harmlessly and the heir does not even flinch. The protection is passive, constant, and invisible. It is, in that respect, a very Kundarak item.

House role: Entry-level personal protection for Kundarak heirs in client-facing roles — vault officers, banking clerks, legal custodians, enclave administrators — who may encounter hostile situations but are not primarily security specialists. The house's most basic protective item: unglamorous, practical, and quietly effective.

Keycharm

Wondrous item, common (requires the Mark of Warding)

A simple amulet bearing the manticore crest and a small Siberys dragonshard. When a bearer of the Mark of Warding casts alarm, arcane lock, glyph of warding, or a similar ward spell, they can link the spell to a keycharm in their possession. The keycharm's carrier is then treated as the effective caster of the linked spell — aware of the spell's location, able to bypass its effects, and able to dismiss it. This takes the existing concept of a password or physical key one step further, transferring functional ownership of a ward to whoever carries the charm.

The keycharm is the connective tissue of Kundarak's entire client-facing security operation. When a Defenders Guild locksmith seals a noble's vault, the client does not receive a password — passwords can be overheard. They do not receive a physical key — keys can be copied by a skilled rogue. They receive a keycharm: a magical object that functions as proof of ownership over the ward itself. The charm cannot be copied. It cannot be forged. And because the enclave always retains a linked charm for any ward it sets, Kundarak maintains a permanent record of — and access to — every lock it has ever sealed. This is disclosed. It is standard. The client accepts it because the alternative is trusting their security to something less than Kundarak.

House role: Standard issue to Defenders Guild locksmiths and the foundation of every warding contract. The most important common-rarity focus item in the house's inventory — not because of what it does alone, but because of the system it enables.

Kundar Chains

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires the Mark of Warding) Duplicates: dimensional shackles

Heavy manacles worked from dark iron, engraved with sigils from the Mark of Warding and set with a small Siberys dragonshard at the central link. They function as dimensional shackles, preventing the restrained creature from using any form of teleportation or planar travel. A bearer of the Mark of Warding can apply or remove the chains as an action; any other creature requires the standard attunement process.

The manticore sigil is intended to be visible. When a prisoner arrives in Kundar chains, the message is not merely "this person is restrained" — it is "this person is in Kundarak custody, and the consequences for interfering are the consequences of interfering with House Kundarak." The chains are heavy, uncomfortable, and deliberately archaic in appearance. They look like something from a darker age. This is by design.

House role: The Defenders Guild's primary custodial tool. Used in extraditions, prisoner transfers, and the processing of arrivals at Dreadhold. When the Sentinel Marshals coordinate with Kundarak wardens on a high-value capture, Kundar chains are typically how that prisoner arrives at the enclave. House Deneith routinely requisitions them through inter-house agreements for dangerous spellcasters and aberrant-marked fugitives — a supply-chain relationship that reflects the long partnership between the two houses.

Adamant Chest

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires the Mark of Warding)

A tiny model chest forged from adamantine and set with a Siberys shard — small enough to hold in one hand, cool to the touch, and heavier than it looks. When used as a material component for a secret chest spell with the Mark of Warding, it summons a 3'×2'×2' adamantine chest from the Ethereal Plane, sealed with arcane lock keyed to the charm itself. The chest is bound to the adamant chest model, not a specific caster — any marked heir who acquires the charm can access the associated vault. There is no risk of expiration or loss in the Ethereal Plane.

The adamant chest is the personal-scale version of Kundarak's extradimensional vault system. Where the Banking Guild's full vault network serves institutional clients moving goods between enclaves across Khorvaire, the adamant chest serves the individual heir or trusted agent who needs secure portable storage that exists outside physical space entirely. The goods travel in the Ethereal Plane. The courier carries only a small metal model. If the courier is robbed, searched, or killed, the thieves find nothing — because there is nothing to find.

House role: Particularly valued by Kundarak couriers transporting high-value items between enclaves, and by agents operating in hostile territory where physical storage is compromised. Also used by senior wardens who carry components, tools, or sensitive documents that cannot risk being discovered.

Locksmith's Ring

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Warding)

A large iron ring with an embedded Siberys dragonshard, typically worn on the index finger or used as a keyring. While attuned, the bearer can cast arcane lock or knock as a ritual, consuming 100 gp of refined Eberron dragonshards per casting.

The dragonshard cost per casting ensures the ring is used deliberately rather than casually — a Kundarak locksmith does not seal doors for fun. But for a journeyman on a multi-room installation job, the ring is far more practical than expending the mark's own power repeatedly. A locksmith with a ring and a supply of residuum can work through an entire estate in a day: sealing every door, every window, every vault, every chest, then walking the route again with keycharms to verify each ward. The ring is what makes large-scale installation work efficient.

The inclusion of knock alongside arcane lock reflects the mark's dual nature. A Kundarak locksmith can seal anything that can be opened — and can open anything that has been sealed. The ring facilitates both. A locksmith called to assess a competitor's work, or to open a vault whose original owner has died, uses the ring's knock casting for the same reason they use its arcane lock: because the mark understands locks from both sides.

House role: The working tool of the Defenders Guild's field locksmiths — journeyman and senior heirs who travel to client sites to install, maintain, and audit locks. Standard issue for any locksmith working contracts that involve more than a single door.

Universal Channeling Items

These items are not Warding-specific in design — the same frameworks exist for every dragonmark — but those keyed to the Mark of Warding are standard equipment for Kundarak heirs in field and extended operational roles.

Dragonmark Channel (Mark of Warding)

Wondrous item, common (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Warding)

A brooch embedded with a small Siberys dragonshard, engraved with the manticore. While worn, the bearer may cast any 1st-level spell on the Mark of Warding's spell list once per day. Recharges at dawn. For an apprentice warden completing their first solo installation — setting alarm on a merchant's warehouse while the merchant watches, unable to afford a mistake — the channel ensures the spell answers reliably.

House role: Entry-level mark support for apprentice wardens and guild trainees.

Dragonmark Reservoir (Mark of Warding)

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Warding)

A bracelet or amulet bearing the manticore crest with a Siberys dragonshard. The reservoir holds 7 charges, usable for 1st- or 2nd-level mark spells. Recharges at dawn. A warden commissioning an entire vault wing — setting alarm wards on every door, glyphs on every threshold, and arcane locks on every chest — cannot afford to exhaust the mark's natural reserves halfway through the job.

House role: Sustained output for heirs working large estate installations, vault commissioning, or post-breach repairs.

Channeling Wand (Mark of Warding)

Wand, rare (requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Warding)

A short metal wand tipped with a Siberys dragonshard. Holds 7 charges, regaining 1d6+1 daily at dawn. Can extend range, duration, or casting speed of mark spells by expending charges. If the last charge is expended, roll a d20 — on a 1, the wand crumbles to ash.

The duration doubling has obvious applications in large installations — a warden setting wards across an entire wing can extend each ward's duration without returning to refresh it. The range doubling transforms touch-based sealing effects into something that can be applied from across a chamber or through a barred portal — critical when the door you need to seal is on the other side of a room you do not want to enter.

House role: Issued to senior wardens managing complex layered installations. Not standard issue for field locksmiths.

Greater Siberys Items

Houseward

Wondrous item, uncommon (wards 2,500 sq. ft.) / rare (wards 5,000 sq. ft.) / legendary (wards 10,000 sq. ft.) Requires the Mark of Warding

A heavy block of lead and stone approximately one cubic foot in size, engraved with arcane sigils and set with an embedded Siberys dragonshard. The houseward provides permanent magical security for the building it protects. If any creature with the Mark of Warding spends 10 minutes touching the houseward, it can cast guards and wards without requiring material components. The area protected is determined by rarity. The effect lasts 24 days; it ends early if the houseward is used again, if a marked creature dismisses it with 10 minutes of contact, or if the houseward is removed from its protected area. After use, the houseward cannot be activated again until the following dawn.

Housewards are typically embedded into the floor of the building they protect — or buried beneath the foundation, concealed in the base of a statue, or built into a wall. This is because a destroyed or removed houseward ends all its spells immediately. The concealment of a houseward is itself a significant part of an estate's security planning, and Kundarak wardens take considerable pride in finding hiding places that even a determined searcher would not think to check. The 960 YK announcement of the Kundarak vault network was built in part on houseward technology scaled to the demands of extradimensional space.

House role: The Defenders Guild's flagship residential and institutional product. Most noble estates and government archives with Kundarak protection have at least one houseward. Unlike a single-use ward casting, the houseward maintains guards and wards continuously, renewed daily by the heir on retainer. A network of housewards of different rarities can protect an entire compound — the legendary variant alone covers ten thousand square feet, and a duke's estate might have three or four of different sizes layered through its wings and outbuildings.

Gloves of the Locksmith

Greater Siberys item (requires the Mark of Warding)

A pair of supple leather gloves set with Siberys dragonshards along the knuckles, bearing the engraved sigil of the Mark of Warding. A Kundarak heir wearing the gloves can cast arcane seal on any portal or object, enchanting up to three keys with each use. The gloves can be used a total of 3 times per day regardless of who wears them — multiple heirs passing the gloves around cannot circumvent this limit.

Standard practice: the Kundarak locksmith provides two keys to the client and retains one at the enclave. This third key provides emergency access if the client loses both their keys — or, less charitably, provides Kundarak with a permanent means of entry to any lock it seals. The client receives this arrangement without surprise; it is disclosed, it is standard, and it is the price of Kundarak's guarantee. The seal itself is of Siberys-grade permanence — it does not expire, it does not weaken over time, and it resists knock and similar breach attempts with the full force of the Greater Mark.

The 10,000 gp price tag places the gloves firmly in institutional territory. These are not items an individual heir carries casually. A regional enclave will have one or two pairs, used by senior locksmiths on commission. The gloves are enclave property, tracked in inventory, and their use is logged — because every seal they create is a Kundarak guarantee, and the house does not make guarantees it cannot back up.

House role: The working tool of the Defenders Guild's senior locksmiths. Used to seal noble vaults, government archives, Dreadhold cells, bank vaults, and any installation where an arcane seal of the highest grade is required.

"The lock on the door of the Iron Council chamber in Krona Peak was set by a Kundarak locksmith wearing these gloves six hundred years ago. It has never been picked. It has never been forced. It has never failed. The key to open it is held at Korunda Gate. When the Council convenes, a Kundarak courier delivers the key. When the session ends, the courier takes it back. Six hundred years, and the arrangement has never once been questioned." — Attributed to a Kundarak archivist

Acquisition & Distribution

The distribution pattern reflects the house's values with unusual clarity. The common items — warding brooch, keycharm, dragonmark channel — are tools of daily commerce: protection, client handoff, and basic mark support. The uncommon items — chains, chest, ring, reservoir — are tools of professional specialization: custody, courier work, and large-scale installation. The rare and legendary items — channeling wand, houseward, gloves — are institutional instruments, tracked in inventory, logged on use, and assigned to commissions rather than to individuals. None are available for open purchase. Unauthorized possession is treated as theft of house infrastructure — and Kundarak takes theft very, very personally.

A Note on the Catalogue's Shape

Kundarak's catalogue tells a different story than those of the other houses. There are no items here designed to protect an individual's body in combat (Deneith's shields and helms), no items that create spaces from nothing (Ghallanda's Manor Key), and no items that build or fabricate (Cannith's forges). Every item in this catalogue does one of two things: it seals something, or it controls access to something that has been sealed.

The progression runs from the personal (the brooch on your chest, the charm around your neck) through the professional (the ring on your finger, the chains in your pack) to the architectural (the houseward buried in the floor, the gloves that seal a vault for six centuries). At every scale, the logic is the same: identify what matters, seal it, control the keys, and punish anyone who tries to get through without permission.

This is not a philosophy of violence. It is a philosophy of boundaries — the conviction that the line between what is yours and what is not should be clear, respected, and enforced. The mark draws that line. The items in this catalogue make it permanent.