Though you have seen wealth, fame, and beauty as a child of Phiarlan, you know that knowledge (and the power it brings) is the greatest treasure of all. However, the path you take to claim that power is very much up to you.
As a scion of the house, you might choose to be a socialite, taking pride in your house’s works and enjoying the fame that goes with them. As an adventurer, you likely seek inspiration for some epic work you have in mind. Performance is in your blood, though, and between adventures you are never far from the theater, the tavern, or any other place where you can regale friends and strangers with story or song.
If you choose the path of the agent, you serve the will of the Serpentine Table. Though some who know of Phiarlan’s intelligence services might call you thief or spy, you know better. The Serpentine Table chooses each assignment with care, and through your work in the shadows, you shape the future.
A third path is that of the nomad. You respect the traditions and methods of your house and wish to hold influence within it, but you have no intention of working your way up through standard service. Instead, you create your own power base, starting with the members of your adventuring party. You will weave your own web of influence, and the Serpentine Table will accept you as an equal in the end.
Joining House Phiarlan
In the past, House Phiarlan allowed individuals to marry into the house only rarely; it would have been unusual to see two such unions in a single century. However, the Shadow Schism was a great blow to the house, reducing both its population and the diversity of its family line. As such, Phiarlan’s ranks have become more open to those outside the dragonmarked families, though only elves are ever considered for membership. A candidate must have exceptional artistic skill or remarkable talent in the arts of stealth and subterfuge. Phiarlan spellcasters typically focus on divination, enchantment, and illusion magic, which can be used both for the secret work of the house and for the entertainment activities that conceal it.
Advancement
In the Entertainers and Artisans Guild, talent rises to the top. Ranks in Perform and an aptitude for magic are the pillars of a career with the guild, but it takes more than a single performance to earn the top spot in a theatrical company. Repeated success is necessary in order for the house to invest resources in promoting you. As an adventuring entertainer, your life might not put you on the fast track to house leadership, but you could seek the right to carry one of the heirloom performances of the house.
The life of an entertainer easily suits a bard, but other adventurers are more likely to be drawn to the Serpentine Table. Children of the house play games of intrigue and deception, and the lessons of your youth remain with you. As you undertake missions for the house, you receive ongoing training in the silent arts. Beyond this, the house can provide you with insight into the secret struggles taking place in the shadows across Khorvaire.
As a member of House Phiarlan, you are taught to be ruthless and expedient when a mission requires it. You are trained to search for the secrets in any situation, since any piece of knowledge might someday prove valuable.
Missions
Should you serve the Serpentine Table, your adventuring companions are seen by House Phiarlan as an extension of you—a tool you are expected to mold and use for the benefit of the house. House Phiarlan excels at magical surveillance, and you will never undertake a mission that could be accomplished by the simple use of scrying. As a low-level agent, you might be sent on so-called shadowbait missions, following a target or penetrating an unexplored location to serve as an anchor for magical observation. If you are especially talented, you might be sent to steal a lock of hair from a target the house wishes to spy upon, or to plant a shadow eye. Missions in the service of the house and its clients could set you against kings, dragonmarked viceroys, masterminds of the Aurum, or even the Lords of Dust.
House Phiarlan has no special dispensation to break the law, and agents captured while engaged in illegal activities suffer the consequences. Serpentine liaisons require full disclosure about the reasons driving an assignment. Assassination requires excellent justification, and the house never kills or kidnaps a client in good standing—one of the reasons rulers prefer to work with the house instead of against it.