The line of Vol had long been rivals of the Undying
LADY lLLMARROW Court, and many whisper even today that the attack on
Lady Illmarrow is a legend-an ancient lich said to dwell
in a castle of bone and ice in the coldest regions of the
Lhazaar Principalities. Some stories say that she is
served by a legion of undead and that she maintains a
court of vampires and ghosts in her palace of ice. Other
tales claim that when anyone dies in Lhazaar, Illmarrow
chooses whether to take their soul before it passes on to
the Keeper and Dolurrh.
But Lady Illmarrow is no folk tale. She is the greatest
necromancer in Eberron, and after centuries of silence,
she is setting ancient plots into motion at last. She is
the power behind the Order of the Emerald Claw, but
her motives for founding the order are buried in her
past. Lady Illmarrow has no interest in ruling the living.
Rather, she seeks to become Queen of the Dead.
The Mark ofDeath. Illmarrow is a fiefdom on the isle
of Farlnen-home to a community of elves exiled from
Aerenal, who have practiced necromancy for centuries.
But Lady Illmarrow's roots extend far beyond her is­
land domain.
Long ago, it was revealed that the elven line of Vol-a
house that practiced the art of necromancy and bore
the Dragonmark of Death-was engaged in secret blood
rites with a clan of dragons. The discovery of this pact
triggered an unprecedented alliance between the Sib­
ling Kings of Aerenal and the dragons of Argonnessen.
The Sibling Kings proclaimed that House Vol would be
exterminated to the last member, and the Mark of Death
would be eliminated from the world.
C HAPTER 6 I FRIENDS AND FOES
296
House Vol was nothing more than an excuse to elimi­
nate a political rival. But others believe that what the
Undying Court truly feared was a path shown in the
Draconic Prophecy-that a child born of dragon and elf
could become a godlike avatar of death.
11/marrow Rises. Even as dragons and elves fought
to destroy the line of Vol, a child was born to the house:
Erandis. A scion of elf and dragon, Erandis bore a Mark
of Death unlike any other. In time, it might have been
her gateway to immortality and unrivaled power, but she
was hunted down and killed long before she could mas­
ter the mark's magic. Her mother, Minara Vol, escaped
with her daughter's body to the icy reaches of Farinen,
far from the conflict. There, Minara unleashed all her
necromantic power to raise Erandis as a lich.
As an undead being, Erandis lost the use of her drag­
onmark. Thus, when the diviners of Aerenal asked if
the line of Vol had been exterminated and the Mark
of Death destroyed, they received a vision affirming
that the bloodline of Vol was no more. To the world,
the last survivor of that bloodline is known as Lady
Illmarrow. But in truth, she is Erandis Vol, heir to the
Mark of Death.
Trapped in Undeath. When Minara restored Erandis
as a lich, she hid her daughter's phylactery, weaving
enchantments into it that cause Erandis to be reborn in
a random safe haven after she is destroyed. Thus, even
Erandis herself doesn't know the location or form of her
phylactery.