Chapter 4: Building Eberron Adventures - The Last War

Personal Impact

As players develop characters in an Eberron campaign, you can work with them to determine the role that the war played in their background. Here are a few topics for conversation:

Military Service. Did the character fight in the war? If so, which nation did they serve and what role did they fill? If more than one of the characters fought in the war, did they serve together (or as allies) or fight on opposing sides? Military service can be the basis of a strong connection for two or more characters.

Civilian Life. If the character is from one of the Five Nations and didn't fight in the war, how and why did they remain on the sidelines? Did they oppose the war? Did they do something to avoid conscription, or was there a reason they were considered unsuitable for service?

Personal Loss. What did the characters lose during the war? Did members of their family die, and if so, how? Was the village they grew up in destroyed, and if so, who was responsible? If the characters are from Cyre, they have lost their nation. Do they have any loved ones left? Did they spend time in a refugee camp or in the outpost of New Cyre in Breland? Do they support Prince Oargev as the leader of Cyre, or do they have other ideas for the nation's future?

For example, when an Aundairan player character meets a group of Eldeen druids, it's an opportunity to exploit the bad blood between Aundair and the Eldeen Reaches and to determine if this interaction has any personal relevance to the character. If a player character has the soldier background, you can introduce an NPC as a former comrade and work out the details with the player on the spot. The Personal Impact table provides ideas for plot hooks that could directly involve a player character in a scenario.

Bitter Grievances

Alliances shifted during the war, and almost every nation has grievances with every other one. Some of these postwar feuds rage more fiercely than others. One of these sources of tension could play a role in a character's back story, the plot of an adventure, or the reactions of an NPC. Although the nations are afraid to return to all-out war, any of these feuds could escalate.

Everyday Impact

There's no place in Khorvaire that escaped the Last War unscathed. Even villages that were never attacked lost their children to conscription or suffered from shortages. Some towns far from the front lines suffered damage from long-distance magic weapons or terror attacks. Any time you are setting a scene, you could add some element that speaks to the ongoing impact of the Last War. The Everyday Impact table offers some suggestions for these elements.

The Cold War

No one knows what caused the Mourning, and the fear of repeating this cataclysm—not the Treaty of Thronehold—is what keeps potential combatants at bay. No one is happy with the outcome of the war, but no one dares to continue fighting, since all believe that renewed full-scale conflict could result in utter destruction. That said, the general belief is that the mystery of the Mourning will eventually be solved. Either someone will learn how to control the power that caused the Mournland, or the precise cause will be determined and people will be able to tell if it still poses a threat.

Many people truly hope that the Last War will live up to its name forever. But others prepare for more war even as they pursue peace. First and foremost, every nation wants to unravel the mystery of the Mourning; a nation that could learn how to use this power would be unstoppable. Other forces are searching for weapons or forgotten powers that could turn the tide if another war breaks out. Adventurers could find themselves racing through ruins in Xen'drik, trying to destroy a weapon of the ancient giants before the Emerald Claw can claim it for Karrnath and Lady Illmarrow.

The characters can stumble into a web of intrigue without seeing the sticky strands. Perhaps a patron hires the adventurers to transport what seems to be an ordinary backpack full of goods, and they don't realize that it has a secret magical compartment until enemy spies come looking for whatever is inside it. Or a dying spy presses an amulet into the hand of one of the adventurers, saying, "The fate of Breland depends on you getting this to Boranel. Don't trust anyone!" Assuming the adventurers care about the fate of Breland, they're pressed into an urgent adventure that has implications they might not see or understand.

Playing During the Last War

In your campaign, you might want to take a look back at the war as it unfolds. Setting an adventure during the Last War puts the characters in a tumultuous time of political intrigue, tenuous alliances, and brutal conflicts. Consider these ways to make the Last War a present reality in your campaign:

• The players create new characters who live during a specific phase of the war. These characters could be figures of legend whose great deeds are known to the present-day characters, or they could be unknowns caught up in events much larger than themselves. In either case, the adventure they undertake can set the stage for events in the "present day" of your campaign.
• You might run an introductory session or flashback set during the waning years of the war, bringing the characters' backgrounds to life. Maybe the characters are all part of the same unit in the war, or they might be enemies forced to cooperate when disaster strikes. Are the characters participants in a memorable battle? Do they take actions they'll later regret? Do they make a bitter enemy who comes back to haunt them years later, when the campaign continues in the present day?
• A magical phenomenon might send the characters back in time, putting them in the middle of the conflict. Are they transported there to learn something? To alter the course of history? Or are they just stranded in a twisted time stream? How will they escape the horrors of the war and get back to their own time?

Villains of the Last War

Just as adventurers are shaped by their experiences in the Last War, villains often carry the physical and mental scars of the conflict. When developing the details of a villain's background, consider the following options.

Fortified Outpost

Military outposts across Khorvaire serve a variety of purposes during and after the war: rest stops for platoons on the move, garrisons for inactive troops, armories where weapons are stored, staging points for scouts and rangers who keep an eye on nearby enemy movements, and defensive fortifications meant to protect passes, bridges, or other key strategic locations. In an adventure, virtually anything can happen in or around it.

The Lord of Blades in the War

The Lord of Blades didn't appear in the world until after the Day of Mourning. Only he knows what his identity was before then, but many suppositions have been put forth. Some scholars say that he was originally a warforged named Bulwark, the personal bodyguard of King Boranel of Breland. Others believe that he was the last warforged to emerge from the creation forges at Eston, completed in the last moments before the Mourning.

Perhaps the most outlandish idea is that the Lord of Blades is not a true warforged at all. The first warforged were created by an artificer named Aaren d'Cannith, who became furious when the house used his invention to create weapons of war. Based on that knowledge, some believe Aaren transferred his consciousness into a warforged body so that he could personally seek vengeance for the wrongs done to his children.

In the years following the war, the Lord of Blades is a force to be reckoned with. The warforged are some of the few beings able to thrive in the desolation of the Mournland, so the followers of the Lord of Blades are building a nation of their own amid the devastation. They search out and scour sites that were devastated in the Mourning to gather lost weapons and magic, all part of their preparations for full-scale war against the creatures of flesh.

Warforged Ossuary

A warforged ossuary is a former temple, crypt, or warehouse deep in the Mournland that now houses the remains of slain warforged. It is a place of honor and reflection for the Lord of Blades and his followers.

Lord of Blades NPCs

The Lord of Blades highlights the issues surrounding the creation of the warforged. He and his followers are ready antagonists, employing deadly methods in pursuit of their aims, but their ire isn't born from evil. The Lord of Blades' greatest desire is to ensure that his people have a future, but his methods are colored by his anger at the injustices the warforged have suffered, and in some cases are still being subjected to. Examples of villains linked to the Lord of Blades appear in the Lord of Blades NPCs table.

Lord of Blades Campaign Themes

The Lord of Blades is a charismatic leader seeking to incite the warforged to violence and thereby to take vengeance against their former oppressors. Although low-level characters might not be prepared to face the Lord of Blades himself, they can easily encounter a squad of his followers anywhere on Khorvaire.

While the Lord of Blades and his minions can be a straightforward foe, it's also possible to add more depth to the conflict. Perhaps a squad of warforged attacks a foundry in Sharn. After repelling the attack, the adventurers realize that the owners are mistreating the warforged who work the forges. What do they do?

Another way to explore the facets of this issue is to introduce a warforged supporter of the Lord of Blades who doesn't engage in violence personally, such as a bard who moves among the warforged of a major city while speaking about the many abuses leveled against warforged. Especially if one of them is a warforged, how would the characters react to this individual?

The Lord of Blades can serve as a long-term opponent, as he continue to escalate his attacks over the course of the campaign. While he builds up his stronghold in the Mournland, he is also gathering the components to construct eldritch machines and other weapons. What would happen if the Lord of Blades were to discover the power that caused the Mourning and unleashed that power across Khorvaire?

Lord of Blades Adventure Hooks

The Lord of Blades Adventure Hooks table sets out some reasons how the characters could come in contact with the Lord of Blades.

The Lords of Dust and the War

The Lords of Dust took part in the events of the Last War whenever they saw opportunities to further their dark version of the Prophecy. It remains difficult to identify what events might have been manipulated by one of these fiends, because their schemes take so long to play out. Far in the future, it might become apparent that a seeming victory for the forces of good, or a battle averted that spared hundreds from death was ultimately the first step in an overlord's release. (For instance, a soldier who was otherwise fated to die in the battle that was avoided goes on to tempt a good-hearted priest into becoming corrupted.)

In the years since the Thronehold Accords, the Lords of Dust continue on as they ever have, advancing one small step at a time.

Demon Ruin

The Lords of Dust maintain a variety of safe houses and sanctums across Eberron, but their most tightly bound locations are the ruins left behind from the Age of Demons, scattered across the Demon Wastes.

Lords of Dust NPCs

Most of the Lords of Dust are rakshasas, but any sort of fiend—devil, demon, or otherwise—could be part of this organization. Such fiends are spawned in Khyber and aren't actually from the Outer Planes. These fiends generally work through a wide network of duped pawns and indebted servitors.

Each overlord has a chief servant, and these leaders meet in the ruins of Ashtakala in the Demon Wastes. 13 contains statistics for the overlord Rak Tulkhesh and his speaker, Mordakhesh the Shadowsword. The overlord Sul Khatesh is served by the rakshasa Hektula, also known as the First Scribe. Durastoran the Wyrmbreaker is the speaker of Bel Shalor, the overlord said to be bound in Flamekeep.

The Lords of Dust NPCs table describes some possible antagonists who might cross paths with adventurers.

Lords of Dust Campaign Themes

The Lords of Dust have two basic goals. The first is to encourage activities that strengthen the influence of their overlords. Rak Tulkhesh embodies war and conflict, and his minions are always eager to cause strife. The servants of Sul Khatesh entice cruel and selfish people to become warlocks, drawing mystical powers from their mistress. These activities won't release an overlord, but they help to sustain it.

To release an overlord, the Lords of Dust must ensure that the Prophecy unfolds along a specific path. Often, following this path requires specific mortals to do specific deeds. For example, one shred of the Prophecy could stipulate that King Boranel has to be killed by one of the characters. The Lords of Dust could easily kill Boranel themselves, but that wouldn't be sufficient to bring about the desired end; somehow, they'll have to trick the adventurer into doing it.

Because the Lords of Dust so often work through pawns and minions, it might take a while for adventurers to realize that an apparently unconnected series of encounters early in a campaign are actually all part of the complex schemes of the Lords of Dust. These fiends are so devious that it is often impossible to discern a pattern to their actions until their plans have come to fruition and the connections have finally been made clear. (You could retroactively decide that what you intended as unconnected encounters were all part of the plan from the beginning!)

Lords of Dust Adventure Hooks

The Lords of Dust Adventure Hooks table presents some ways to get the characters into a fiendish adventure.

The Mourning

No one knows the reason for what happened on 20 Olarune 994 YK. Though it had been battered, Cyre stood defiant; Cyran soldiers had recently driven deep into Karrnathi territory and were holding their lines against the combined forces of Breland and Thrane.

And then it all came to an end.

Some say that the dead-gray mist began in Metrol, initially flowing out of the royal palaces of Vermishard. Others swear that the disaster began in the Cannith stronghold of Making. All that is known is that the mist swiftly spread across the kingdom, transforming the lands and creatures caught within it. Over a million people died in the Mourning, including nearly all of the inhabitants of central Cyre. The mist slowed its advance as it spread, and some of those in the borderlands heard of the disaster in time to flee. Others survived because they were already beyond the borders of Cyre; the mist stopped mere feet away from the camps of Cyran soldiers holding sections of the Brelish front. And though the vast majority of people caught in the Mourning died, thousands did survive. Most have no clear memory of the event, and there's no explanation for why they were spared. The superstitious say that these people are cursed, that anyone touched by the Mourning is now an agent of darkness. (See the book's 0 for further details on how the Mourning might have affected characters.)

In the days immediately following the Mourning, many assumed that the mist would continue to spread. Intense panic slowly turned to curiosity as it became clear that the border had stabilized. Over the last four years, people have ventured into the mist for many reasons. Some sought to plunder the abandoned treasures of the richest nation in Galifar. Others hoped to find lost loved ones, or some explanation for the disaster. Few of these explorers have returned, and those survivors all tell tales of a land twisted in unpredictable and inexplicable ways.

Mournland Environment

The arcane energies that caused the Day of Mourning and that linger in the remains of Cyre are mysterious and unpredictable, so they can be the cause of any bizarre magical effect you want to bring to bear in your game.

Maps of Cyre from before the Day of Mourning are of limited use nowadays. The land beyond the gray mist has been twisted and warped, and distances seem to expand and shrink even as one treks across the wastes. As a result, any Wisdom (Survival) check or any check using navigator's tools made to negotiate the Mournland is made with disadvantage.

As if the difficulties of navigation weren't bad enough, explorers must bring their own provisions into the Mournland, unless they want to risk the danger of ingesting tainted food and water.

Sites and Ruins

Of all the bizarre and horrific spectacles of the Mournland, perhaps the greatest tragedy is represented by the ruins of the once-glittering cities of Cyre. Some have been reduced to rubble, while others are eerily preserved, devoid of life but otherwise unharmed. In some of them, treasures left behind by the former inhabitants await discovery, and many people across Khorvaire are eager to get their hands on such spoils for a wide variety of reasons.

Mournland Villains

Few people have reason to spend time anywhere near the Mournland. Among the exceptions are those who seek to plunder the riches of lost Cyre, such as Ikar's Salvage (described below). These treasure hunters are also the kind of people who make interesting villains, teaming up with adventurers one day and betraying them the next.

In addition to these salvagers, the Lord of Blades (described in more detail earlier in this chapter and in 13) is a major force in the Mournland. The Mournland Villains table suggests other possible evil schemes and influences that might arise in connection with the Mournland.

Adventures and Encounters

In contrast to the salvagers and treasure hunters who undertake most of the expeditions to the Mournland, some individuals enter the churning mist with good intentions in mind. Most of these adventurers are displaced Cyrans or are hired by such people, ranging from common folk hoping to retrieve family heirlooms to servants of Prince Oargev, who hopes to recover the lost regalia of the Cyran crown.

Two of the dragonmarked houses, Orien and Cannith, also have vested interests in investigating the Mournland's ruins and often hire adventurers to pursue those interests. House Orien wants to restore the lightning rail line that crosses the Mournland, which would reconnect the western and eastern halves of Khorvaire. House Cannith wants to recover trade secrets, experimental artifacts, and magic items from the creation forges, foundries, and secret laboratories it lost on the Day of Mourning.

The Mournland Adventure Hooks table includes a range of potential opportunities that could lead a group of adventurers into the Mournland.

Warforged Colossus

Mere weeks before the Day of Mourning, House Cannith unleashed its mightiest creations: the warforged colossi. Hundreds of feet tall, these gargantuan warriors thundered across Cyre, crushing everything in their path and leaving ruin in their wake. Meant to end the war decisively, these arcane war machines could pulverize soldiers beneath their feet and incinerate entire legions with beams of red light radiating from their mouths. But as the colossi were beginning to turn to the lands outside Cyre, the Mourning came, and the colossi perished. Now their remains lie, like mountains, in the Mournland, filled with secrets and waiting to be explored.

The Emerald Claw and the War

During the Last War, Karrnath was forced to embrace the practice of necromancy to bolster the ranks of its army. At the same time, a number of chivalric orders were founded by devoted worshipers of the Blood of Vol. These groups included necromancers and bone knights that were trained to raise and command the undead troops used during the war. The Order of the Emerald Claw was one of the most infamous of these groups, renowned for its fighting skills but often sanctioned for its brutal treatment of enemy soldiers. The Emerald Claw were also accused of slaughtering civilians so they could be raised as skeletons or zombies—behavior that was strictly forbidden by the Karrnath commanders.

When King Kaius III came to power near the end of the war, he turned against the Blood of Vol. The orders were disbanded, and many members of the Emerald Claw were condemned as war criminals. While the other orders complied with the king's edict, many knights of the Emerald Claw refused to surrender. The order fragmented as its original members scattered, but a number of those rebellious knights started their own cells, rallying all who wanted to see Karrnath achieve its rightful glory. The order experienced a surge in membership following the Treaty of Thronehold because many Karrns thought that Kaius III had betrayed their nation by embracing peace.

Six years ago, shortly after Kaius's accession, a figure known as Lady Illmarrow emerged as the leader of the Order of the Emerald Claw. Few of her followers know anything about her, other than her great skill as a necromancer; many members of the Order refer to her as Queen of the Dead. Some members of the order believe she will ultimately raise Karrnath above all other nations. Others simply trust that she will grant them personal power. They believe that she is poised to become a god of death, and that when she ascends to divinity, they will be granted immortality or at least the eternal life of undeath.

Library Vault

Map 4.9 shows a library vault maintained by the Order of the Emerald Claw. The order collects dark materials and forbidden magic and holds them for safekeeping in these heavily defended locations. Each vault also functions as a chapter house or a sanctuary for a local cell.

Order of the Emerald Claw NPCs

Given the undeniable nature of the order, villains associated with the Emerald Claw present an opportunity to provide characters with adversaries that are memorably evil, and that revel in their villainy.

Emerald Claw Campaign Themes

At low levels, adventurers can clash with Emerald Claw skeletons and zombies. As the characters grow more capable, the threats escalate. They might have to protect a village from a necromancer who is sucking the life out of the land, or race through a dungeon to acquire a necromantic relic before the Claw can claim it. The Emerald Claw is ideally suited to pulp action; it's a force that is blatant in its villainy and has hordes of evil minions to do its bidding. Defeating the schemes of the Emerald Claw should always feel like the right thing to do.

Although many members of the Emerald Claw believe that they are fighting for Karrnath, they are truly serving the lich Lady Illmarrow (see 13). The greatest necromancer of the age, she seeks to unlock the secrets of her inactive dragonmark, the Mark of Death. If she succeeds, she could come to possess unimaginable power. This makes her a formidable villain to drive the action of an entire campaign.

Emerald Claw Adventure Hooks

The Emerald Claw Adventure Hooks table offers some options to kick off adventures featuring the Emerald Claw that take place outside their sanctuaries.

Planes of Eberron

The Material Plane is enfolded by thirteen planes of existence. Many of these have aspects of both Outer Planes and Inner Planes. All of them overlap with Eberron in some way, and they influence and are influenced by the Material Plane. The intensity of this influence waxes and wanes; scholars often depict the planes as orbiting Eberron—sometimes coming close, other times far away—though this manner of expression is merely a metaphor for their shifting influence. When another plane's influence on the Material Plane is especially strong, the plane is said to be coterminous. When its influence is weak, a plane is remote. The state of a plane can be important for performing epic rituals, creating of eldritch machines, or interacting with extraplanar entities. Whether or not a plane is remote or coterminous at a given time depends entirely on the needs of your story.

Daanvi, the Perfect Order

Daanvi embodies absolute order, along with the ideals of law and discipline and their impact on civilization. The perfectly ordered, immaculate districts of the plane represent different aspects of law: precisely maintained fields, legalistic tribunals, and hordes of modrons compiling archives of every rule or regulation ever created. Some districts are governed by a justice system based in goodness, where laws help to maintain harmony. In more oppressive locations, harsh laws are imposed on the suffering populace by tyrannical devils.

Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams

Mortal creatures come into contact with Dal Quor when they dream (except for elves, kalashtar, and warforged, which don't dream). The outer fringes of the plane are shaped by the memories and experiences of dreamers. The dark core at the heart of the plane is shaped by the nightmare force known as the Dreaming Dark. The primary inhabitants of Dal Quor are the quori, enigmatic master manipulators that can inhabit the dreams of others.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the quori fought a bitter war with the giants of Xen'drik. The giants ended the war by severing the connection between Dal Quor and Eberron and disrupting the cycle of the planes. As a result, Dal Quor is always remote in relation to the Material Plane, and no manifest zones are tied to Dal Quor. The only way to reach Dal Quor from the Material Plane is through the psychic projection of dreaming, and the quori are forced to possess mortal hosts to work their will on Eberron.

Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead

When a mortal soul dies, it is drawn to Dolurrh, a place defined by despair and apathy. Over time, memories are leached out of these trapped spirits until only husks remain. Although this seems a bleak fate, most religions maintain that Dolurrh isn't the end of a soul's journey; it is a gateway to whatever lies beyond. They assert that what appears to be dissolution is the natural process of the soul moving to a higher plane of existence that mortals can never realize: joining with the Sovereigns, merging with the Silver Flame, or simply rejoining the cycle of life in a new form. That claim notwithstanding, Dolurrh is a gloomy plane filled with the lingering traces of the dead.

Fernia, the Sea of Fire

This plane encompasses both the raw elemental power of fire and its versatility: flame used as a weapon, as a force that holds darkness at bay, or as a destroyer and a force for change. Fernia is home to all manner of fire elementals and to celestials and fiends that embrace the same ideals. Efreeti pashas and fiendish satraps rule city-islands of obsidian that drift atop seas of magma, their minions producing metalcraft of surpassing beauty and quality.

Irian, the Eternal Dawn

Irian is the plane of light and hope, the wellspring of positive energy which is the foundation of light, life, and love. The regions of Irian reflect the idea of beginnings and of resurgent life: fertile lands untouched by any tool, glittering crystal forests, and thriving homesteads and communities. Angels dwell in a grand city reflecting the first days of a glorious empire. The sun never sets here.

Positive energy flows into Eberron from Irian, and the denizens of Irian believe that the simple fact of their existence helps the mortals of the Material Plane. The celestials of Irian are also those most likely to respond to planar ally and similar spells.

Kythri, the Churning Chaos

The plane of chaos and change, Kythri is a realm in constant flux. The elements collide in fantastic explosions of unbridled power, motes of earth careen erratically through space as gravity constantly shifts, and a riot of colors blazes through the ever-shifting sky. Still, stoic githzerai monks exert their will over the elements, crafting monasteries on islands of earth amid the chaos. Several varieties of slaadi dwell here as well, exulting in the endless turmoil.

Lamannia, the Twilight Forest

Though it is referred to as a forest, Lamannia contains every possible natural environment. It is home to great beasts, lycanthropes, and other beings that reflect the power of nature. The splendor of nature in this place is intoxicating to druids. Animals born here are paragons of their species, infused with primal power that put even the finest specimens of House Vadalis to shame.

Mabar, the Endless Night

Mabar is the darkness that promises to swallow even the brightest day, the hungry shadow that yearns to consume light and life. It is the plane of entropy, hunger, and loss, slowly sucking the life from the multiverse. It is the source of negative energy in Eberron. Most undead are animated by the power of Mabar, and the life they drain from mortals flows into the Endless Night.

Mabar is made up of many fragments, each one representing a different vision of desolation. The fiends of Mabar scheme to steal fragments of other planes and draw them down into their eternal darkness, creating a jumble of broken worlds in varying states of decay.

Risia, the Plain of Ice

The counterpoint to Fernia, Risia embodies winter's chill and the stoic constancy of the glacier. Across Risia's icy expanse, blizzards ceaselessly howl over floes of thick, blue ice, and frost giants carve great fortresses from glaciated mountains. Unprotected visitors perish quickly, but those who adapt to the cold or protect themselves from it can plumb the plane's frigid depths for ancient secrets.

Shavarath, the Battleground

Shavarath is the plane of war, ravaged by a conflict that will never end. Since the dawn of time, armies of fiends and celestials have fought one another in Shavarath, their eternal battles a microcosm of the struggle between good and evil that rages across all of reality. New arrivals are subject to forced conscription when encountered (whether by angel, demon, or devil), if they aren't summarily dispatched. Amid the constant strife, windstorms of blades scour the landscape, capable of cutting the unprepared to ribbons. For all its danger, Shavarath holds weapons of legend and a wealth of knowledge on the art of war.

Syrania, the Azure Sky

Crystal spires float in a perfect blue sky. Farms and serene communities stretch across clouds. Syrania is the plane of peace and all that flourishes in times of peace. This includes commerce; the Immeasurable Market of Syrania draws merchants and travelers from across reality.

Syrania is home to a host of angels that devote their immortal lives to serene contemplation. Each angel seeks to achieve mastery of one pure concept, such as holding all the knowledge on a subject or ceaselessly abiding by the tenets of a virtue. An angel of dreams isn't a quori, but it understands dreams, it can explain and interpret them, and it can shape them if it chooses. Likewise, an angel of war isn't constantly embroiled in battle as the celestials of Shavarath are; instead, it seeks perfection in the art and theories of war. Angels of Syrania can be useful sources of information for adventurers, and sometimes travel to Eberron to observe mortals.

Thelanis, the Faerie Court

Thelanis is the home of the fey and a realm where narrative and metaphor shape the nature of reality. Its many dominions are governed by the archfey, and the denizens of each realm reflect the nature and the story of their lord. For instance, the realm of the Prince of Frost is trapped in endless winter, and pale eladrin lead packs of winter wolves in their hunts. It's not the same environment as on Risia, because the prince's realm isn't an embodiment of the idea of cold—rather, it's a domain frozen by its prince's broken heart. If the prince's story were changed, the realm would change with it.

Time and space are both malleable in the Faerie Court, and a mortal who wanders into Thelanis might never return—or might leave after a few days to discover that weeks, months, or years have passed back home.

Xoriat, the Realm of Madness

Xoriat's bizarre geometry and unspeakable inhabitants seem like the product of an insane person's nightmare. In this utterly alien environment, beings whose appearance can shatter a person's sanity live in cities crafted from gargantuan, fleshy tumors. Seas of protoplasm, in a shade of purple that hurts the eyes, lap against shores of chitin. Some can look upon Xoriat and see it as a place of revelations, but most mortals who come too close to Xoriat fall prey to madness. Xoriat is the source of many aberrations, including the terrifying daelkyr.

Couatls

Couatls are a celestial race born from Siberys at the dawn of time. Along with the dragons, they battled the fiendish overlords of Khorvaire and Sarlona. Ultimately, the couatls sacrificed most of their number and combined their souls to form a prison to hold the overlords. Scholars have theorized that their combined souls eventually became the force that is worshiped by the Church of the Silver Flame. The church is ambivalent on the topic, preaching that regardless of how the Flame was first kindled, there is a place within the Flame for all noble souls.

The few couatls that remain on Eberron are devoted servants of the light. They are most often found guarding the prison of the ancient fiendish overlords, and individuals sometimes act directly to aid adventurers who fight the forces of darkness.

Fiends

The mightiest of the fiends born from Khyber are creatures of immense power known as the overlords. Dozens of overlords were imprisoned by the Silver Flame at the dawn of time; two of them, Rak Tulkhesh and Sul Khatesh, are detailed in 13. Another—Bel Shalor, the Shadow in the Flame—is bound within the Silver Flame itself in the great cathedral in Flamekeep in Thrane. You can adapt other evil gods or archfiends for an Eberron campaign (assuming you don't want Eberron to be connected to the wider multiverse) by recasting them as overlords. For example, Tiamat could be an overlord embodying the pride and potential for evil within dragons, Lolth could be an overlord who preys on the elves, and Asmodeus the insidious maker of profane bargains.

Any fiend—whether devil, demon, yugoloth, or something else—could be spawned by Khyber if it suits your story. Such fiends might be bound to an overlord, or they might be independent incarnations of evil unleashed on the world. Two other races of fiends, though, play important roles in its history.

Elemental Vessels

Long ago, gnome artificers and specialists from House Cannith discovered and developed a means of magical travel. The heart of the process is a set of techniques for binding elementals that uses Khyber dragonshards. This closely guarded procedure requires delicate engineering, arcane skill, and rare materials from around the world, and different workshops employ varying esoteric techniques. Building a new vehicle can occupy a workshop for months while magical energy is painstakingly inlaid into the vessel's hull. Such work is a complicated task requiring the labor of many; it is not something that can be undertaken by a lone wizard for any amount of compensation.

The construction of elemental vessels requires the use of two kinds of dragonshards. A Khyber dragonshard of the largest size and finest quality is required to bind the elemental to the vessel, and a Siberys dragonshard is needed to craft the vehicle's helm. Production of new vessels grinds to a halt without a steady supply of both kinds of dragonshards, and a workshop with an order to fill will pay a handsome fee to adventurers who can find them.

Lyrandar Airship

The airship is the most advanced elemental-powered vehicle on Eberron, the pride of House Lyrandar and the forerunner of the magical advances that many hope will become commonplace in the aftermath of the Last War. The first airships emerged from the Cannith and Zilargo workshops and appeared in House Lyrandar's service just eight years ago (in 990 YK). For now, though, they remain rare, because the soarwood required for their construction is exceedingly scarce and tightly controlled.

Soarwood is a form of buoyant timber found only on the island of Aerenal, and the elves who live there limit their annual harvest of the precious wood. As a result, production of new airships proceeds at a snail's pace, unable to satisfy the fervent demand for new vessels. The discovery of a new supply of soarwood could literally change the world, and even convincing the elves of Aerenal to part with more of it would be an achievement worth a handsome reward from House Lyrandar.

Lyrandar Galleons

A House Lyrandar galleon, also called an elemental galleon, resembles a Lyrandar airship except that it has a water elemental ring that propels it across oceans and seas instead of through the air. This vessel has a speed of 10 miles per hour but otherwise is similar to a Lyrandar airship.

Orien Lightning Rail

The wondrous lightning rail system once linked the far reaches of the Kingdom of Galifar, prior to the Last War. Now the system is divided, split into eastern and western circuits. Reestablishing the conductor stone paths across Scions Sound and the Mournland is often discussed in the halls of power in the Five Nations, but formidable challenges are involved.

Mysterious Passengers

Lightning rails and airships are good places to encounter a broad sample of Khorvaire's diverse population. You can use the Mysterious Passengers table to bring curious characters in contact with an adventuring party on any kind of journey. Each of these characters might spark an entire new adventure, or might be little more than a momentary diversion. Determine details about these travelers are, and the stories behind them, as you see fit.

Gold Dragon Inns

Travelers and explorers making their way across Khorvaire, especially in out-of-the-way areas, often find themselves in need of a safe place to spend the night. Thanks to the efforts of House Ghallanda, there's no better place to take a rest than at one of the hundreds of Gold Dragon Inns that the house operates.

Every city, most towns, and even some villages have a Gold Dragon Inn, and a large city might boast several. Every major road through the countryside has Gold Dragon Inns along much of its length, spaced roughly a day's travel apart. Sometimes an inn is the nucleus of a small community whose industry is focused on providing for the needs of travelers. A few Gold Dragon Inns are found in locations that offer no other comforts for the weary traveler—for example, high in a pass through the Byeshk Mountains, deep in the Karrnwood, or beneath the surface of the Mror Holds.