The Trade Roads: Centuries before the creation of the lightning rail, House Orien built the major trade roads connecting the Five Nations. Rune-carved stones are buried beneath the surface of these roads. Orien’s caravans and the tack of their messengers’ mounts are inscribed with arcane sigils. A bearer of the Mark of Passage can perform a ritual to increase the speed of a caravan or a mount that travels these roads.
The Lightning Rail: Since its creation in 811 YK, the lightning rail has been the symbol of House Orien. Faster than any caravan, it is a safe and secure method for transporting goods and people across Khorvaire. Only a bearer of the Mark of Passage can control the elemental that powers a coach. Many lightning rail lines were damaged during the Last War, and the house is still rebuilding the network.
Teleportation: Orien’s First Step magewrights are the foremost experts on teleportation in the Five Nations. They developed the Linked Portal ritual, and most permanent teleportation circles in Khorvaire are Orien’s. However, teleportation is still a fledgling science, and many people are nervous about using it; a ride on a lightning rail or a Lyrandar elemental airship might take longer, but it is seen as safer.
Teleportation
House Orien maintains an extensive network of permanent teleportation circles in cities throughout the Five Nations. Outside the Five Nations, circles are somewhat less widespread, limited to the larger cities and national capitals. Orien invests heavily in expanding this service, however, and expeditions to remote regions are under way to allow customers to reach even the most far-flung places.
House Orien ensures its control of the portals by locating them inside sprawling stations that feature fine accommodations—rooms, restaurants, shops, and spas—to pamper customers and protect the circles from unauthorized use. For paying customers, Orien heirs perform the Linked Portal ritual, allowing rapid transportation between any two of the house’s established teleportation circles. The house also allows experienced ritual casters to use its teleportation circles as the origin point for their own rituals, which reduces the component cost of the Linked Portal or True Portal rituals as described in the ritual entries in the Player’s Handbook. Realizing that anyone who has access to the Linked Portal ritual could use them, however, the house closely guards the sigil sequence associated with each one.
Coaches and Caravans
Transportation by House Orien coach or caravan is a great way to cross vast distances without attracting attention. Most caravans consist of long trains of horse- and ox-drawn carts and wagons, burdened pack animals, and their handlers. One doesn’t hire a caravan as much as one pays to accompany a caravan to its destination. Caravan masters usually waive the fee for adventurers who offer their services as guards.
Orien coaches follow scheduled routes within a city or to one of its outlying settlements. Travelers can charter a House Orien coach to other destinations, but a much more economical choice is to book passage on the mail coaches as they make their circuit among the major trade stops in the region.
A typical House Orien coach is an enclosed wagon divided into two compartments, one for the crew and the other for passengers or cargo, drawn by four sturdy horses. Cushioned benches accommodate up to twelve passengers. The coach has a crew of two—a driver and a porter who doubles as a bodyguard.
The Lightning Rail
The kingdom of Galifar commissioned House Cannith and House Orien to construct a means of rapid transportation across the nation. The objective was to expedite the movement of soldiers, goods, and people while avoiding the troubles that plague slow-moving caravans. Each house contributed to the creation of the lightning rail, but it never could have existed without House Cannith’s conductor stones.
These large, glowing orbs are inert in isolation. However, when placed in a row, they define a pathway of magical energy. Conductor stones are installed on the underside of specially constructed wagons, coaches, and other vehicles. When vehicles so equipped are placed over a preconstructed pathway, the conductor stones on the ground gently and precisely repel the stones on the coach, causing it to float. This phenomenon creates an effectively frictionless mode of travel, allowing the vehicle to move far faster than by mundane means. Conductor stones do not, however, provide propulsion. House Orien and the Zilargo gnomes solved that problem by binding an elemental spirit to a land cart. Combining elemental-bound coaches with long lines of passenger carts, cargo boxes, and other container vehicles gave birth to the lightning rail, so named because a train’s movement across the pathway of conductor stones generates bright displays of sparks.
The lightning rail survives still, and remains as fast as in the past, but the network does have limits. The century-long conflict prevented House Orien from expanding the lines beyond the Five Nations, and transport between the former enemy nations was heavily restricted. Thus, current lightning rail destinations are largely limited to locations within the Five Nations, with a few stops in Zilargo, the Mror Holds, and the Talenta Plains. Now that the war is over, House Orien has begun the process of expanding the lines. It is actively recruiting labor from local nations in order to carve routes to new lands.
Accomodations
Lightning rail passengers choose from three levels of accommodation. Most riders travel in standard class, getting a seat, modest meals, and a bunk in a sleeper cart. The poor (or thrifty) are relegated to steerage class, where an uncomfortable bench is the extent of the amenities offered. Those who have style and coin can opt for first class, enjoying cushioned couches, full-sized beds, fine meals, and attendants to see to every need. The wealthiest travel in their own carts, which they link to the rail for a steep fee.
About a third of every lightning rail train consists of cargo carts used to ship livestock, dry goods, and other materials. Passage in a cargo cart is strictly forbidden, but it happens from time to time. A subclass of people who have no place to go find homes nestled between the sacks and crates of these carts.