Yggdrasil Saga
House Vadalis
House Vadalis bears the Mark of Handling,
which has the power to calm and control animals. The
Vadalis Handlers Guild breeds and sells a tremendous
variety of animals, and Vadalis handlers serve as teamsters,
trainers, and stablekeepers across Khorvaire.
The humans who formed the Vadalis family migrated
to the Eldeen Reaches about two thousand years ago. When
the Mark of Handling emerged two hundred years later,
offering the settlers a defense against the many wild animals
of the region, it was seen as a gift from the gods.
House Vadalis has developed that gift into a lucrative and
powerful economic position.
Today, the power of House Vadalis radiates from the
Eldeen Reaches, and the Handlers Guild has outposts
throughout Khorvaire. House Vadalis is a family first
and a business second. Patriarch Dalin d’Vadalis oversees house operations from
an enclave in the heart of the city of Varna, and the house
maintains a number of small towns throughout the eastern
portion of the Eldeen Reaches.
Vadalis produces remarkable mounts, livestock, and
guardian beasts, using natural animals, domesticated magical
creatures, and magebred animals enhanced through
generations of arcane experiments. From magebred dire
wolves to pegasus mounts, Vadalis is the source for all
manner of unusual creatures.
In addition to breeding and selling animals, the
Handlers Guild provides a host of other services.
House Vadalis maintains stables in most major
towns and cities, provides training and
health care for animals of all descriptions,
and hires out drivers and teamsters
for caravans and coaches. While
they are relatively slow, the messenger
bird and mounted post services of
House Vadalis provide a connection to
out-of-the-way communities that are
too small to support the operations of
House Sivis or House Orien.
House Vadalis has always had close
ties with House Orien, and Orien
caravans often use Vadalis drivers and
animals. Since the druids emerged
from the Great Forest, Vadalis has done
its best to maintain strong ties with the Wardens of the Wood. Not all the Eldeen druid sects approve of House
Vadalis. In particular, the Ashbound despise Vadalis
and often raid the holdings of the house. In addition,
House Vadalis made bitter enemies among the elves of
Valenar when it sought to steal a herd of Valenar horses
twenty years ago.