Eberron - Dragonmarks & the Zodiac

[victorysaber]

Apologies, I've asked this question before but I lost the thread.

Is there any official or WOG stance about which Dragonmarks correspond to which real world Zodiac signs?

The Mark of Death would correspond to Ophiucus (both being so mysterious), but I'm having trouble corresponding the others.

 

[Crothian]

First I've heard of anyone even inquiring on this. I don't recall Baker saying anything like this for or against.

 

[blargney the second]

The closest I know of is that each house uses a different magical beast in its heraldry:
Cannith = gorgon
Deneith = chimera
Ghallanda = blink dog
Jorasco = griffon
Kundarak = manticore
Lyrandar = kraken
Medani = basilisk
Orien = unicorn
Phiarlan = hydra
Sivis = cockatrice
Tharashk = dragonne
Thuranni = displacer beast
Vadalis = hippogriff

 

[victorysaber]

The closest I know of is that each house uses a different magical beast in its heraldry:
Cannith = gorgon
Deneith = chimera
Ghallanda = blink dog
Jorasco = griffon
Kundarak = manticore
Lyrandar = kraken
Medani = basilisk
Orien = unicorn
Phiarlan = hydra
Sivis = cockatrice
Tharashk = dragonne
Thuranni = displacer beast
Vadalis = hippogriff

Thanks!


Am I the only one who sees a link between Dragonmarks and the Zodiac?

 

[doctorhook]

Am I the only one who sees a link between Dragonmarks and the Zodiac?

No, you're not. But I think the connection is superficial. It's kind of like Dragonmarks/"Baker's Dozen" were conceived of as a fantastic zodiac system, but totally different.

To my knowledge, I'm not aware of Dragonmarks ever officially corresponding to any of the real zodiac symbols, but that doesn't mean you couldn't create a connection for your own game. I imagine the assignments would be pretty pretty arbitrary, however.

 

[blargney the second]

If you're looking for connections to celestial bodies, I know that each of the dragonmarks corresponds to one of Eberron's moons. Each moon also relates to a month, so you could zodiacify that by creating constellations that each moon travels through during its named month. (Personally, I'd make constellations that correspond to the magical beasts I listed above...)

 

[victorysaber]

To my knowledge, I'm not aware of Dragonmarks ever officially corresponding to any of the real zodiac symbols, but that doesn't mean you couldn't create a connection for your own game. I imagine the assignments would be pretty pretty arbitrary, however.

Ah, that's the thing. I tried to make assignments, but they ended up being rather arbitary towards the end (the remaining Dragonmarks and the remaining Zodiac signs don't have a very good fit, I feel).


This is what I came up with.


The Mark of Detection (House Medani) - Aquarius
The Mark of Finding (House Tharashk) - Sagittarius
The Mark of Handling (House Vadalis) - Pisces
The Mark of Healing (House Jorasco) - Cancer
The Mark of Hospitality (House Ghallanda) - Virgo
The Mark of Making (House Cannith) - Libra
The Mark of Passage(House Orien) - Gemini
The Mark of Scribing (House Sivis) - Capricorn
The Mark of Sentinel (House Deneith) - Taurus
The Mark of Shadow (House Phiarlan and House Thuranni) - Scorpio
The Mark of Storm (House Lyrandar) - Aries
The Mark of Warding (House Kundarak) - Leo


Any thoughts/comments?

 

[doctorhook]

Ah, that's the thing. I tried to make assignments, but they ended up being rather arbitary towards the end (the remaining Dragonmarks and the remaining Zodiac signs don't have a very good fit, I feel).


This is what I came up with.


The Mark of Detection (House Medani) - Aquarius
The Mark of Finding (House Tharashk) - Sagittarius
The Mark of Handling (House Vadalis) - Pisces
The Mark of Healing (House Jorasco) - Cancer
The Mark of Hospitality (House Ghallanda) - Virgo
The Mark of Making (House Cannith) - Libra
The Mark of Passage(House Orien) - Gemini
The Mark of Scribing (House Sivis) - Capricorn
The Mark of Sentinel (House Deneith) - Taurus
The Mark of Shadow (House Phiarlan and House Thuranni) - Scorpio
The Mark of Storm (House Lyrandar) - Aries
The Mark of Warding (House Kundarak) - Leo


Any thoughts/comments?

It looks great to me! And not just because you connected my favorite Dragonmark/House with my actual real-life zodiac sign. In order to encourage you to NOT CHANGE ANYTHING, I won't tell you which one that is. So don't change it. (Here's a hint though: I'm near the bottom of your list.)

Honestly though, that looks great to me. You've already realised that the connections are bound to be at least partially arbitrary, so any way you do it will likely be just as good -- and feel just as uncomfortable in some parts. You submitted this to the community for judgement, so I imagine you're at least somewhat happy with it the way it is. My advice is to take it as it is, print it out, tape in inside your Eberron book, and then never think about why "House-X" is associated with "Symbol-Y" ever again.

In other words, your list is perfect!

 

[Siberys]

Not quite what you seem to be looking for, but I know that members of dragonmarked houses hope for their children to be born in the month associated with their house. It's supposed to be auspicious or something.

I believe this comes to us from Dragonmarked, though it could have been one of the Dragonshard internet articles.

 

[Nymrohd]

Actually the moons are the "Zodiac" to Eberron's astrologers. What each sign means was described on a Dragonshard article. I'll try to find which one and link it for you.

And here it is: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050307a