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Unlock with PatreonDragonmark: Shae Deseir and the Line of Vol
‘Here.’ I pointed to the massive rainforest that lies between Blackwood Bay and the Madwood Gulf. ‘There’s no name listed for this jungle; the cartographer must have overlooked it. What’s it called?’ Jaelon said nothing. ‘It doesn’t have a name?’ I said. ‘I told you its name,’ he replied, but when I asked again, he said nothing. I won’t relay the entire ridiculous conversation that followed, but in time, the truth emerged: the name of the jungle is a moment of silence. And that’s just the start of it. Southwest of this Silence, there’s a fertile valley with two rivers flowing into the Blackwood Bay. Do a scry-by and you’ll see farmlands and villages. There’s a huge city on the coast of the river, a place called Shae Deseir. But no one’s lived there for over two thousand years. ‘Why?’ I asked Jaelon. It seems there was a war, a bitter feud that ended with a great house eradicated and their supporters exiled. But we’re talking about a span of time over twice the length of Galifar. Wars happen, and the survivors claim the spoils. Why is this region shunned? ‘No one lives there,’ he told me. ‘But the dead remain.’
The elves that followed Aeren were a rag-tag alliance drawn from a dozen different cultures. They were escaped slaves, survivors of independent city-states that had been crushed by the giants, nomads whose warbands were scattered, primal adepts trapped in the forms of beasts, and more. All were shaken by their devastating losses, both of Aeren and those left behind on Xen’drik. Following Aeren’s death, the refugees coalesced around a handful of charismatic leaders and philosophies. The Tairnadal swore to keep the memory of their champions alive by continuing to fight, laying claim to the northern plains. Tolaen led his people to the edge of a vast rainforest, vowing to preserve the image of the fallen in living wood. The Mendyrian siblings were wizards and mystics, and they believed that they could harness the light of Irian to extend life. Vol chose the lands others shunned—a region peppered with manifest zones tied to Mabar, a place where shadows might suddenly prey upon those who cast them. Mabar was long seen as the antithesis of life. But Vol could speak to the dead, drawing on the traces of her ancestors’ spirits. She’d learned secrets from the long-dead psychopomps of Shae Tirias Tolai and the fallen necromancers of the Qabalrin. And Vol believed that she could harness the power of Mabar and use it to overcome death—to give the next Aeren eternal life, even if it meant feeding on the blood of others. This was her pledge to the elves who laid the foundations of her city: We will not live in fear of death. We will learn its secrets, learn everything there is to know about the nature of life and its loss. We will redefine what it means to live, and in so doing we will never lose those that we love again. And so Shae Deseir rose on the bank of the river of Night.
The Rise of the Undead
Humans often imagine that Aerenal has always been as it is today—that the Undying Court has always guided its people, that the Line of Vol began exactly as it ended. But Shae Deseir began as a village of a few hundred elves with just a handful of necromancers among them. It took over ten thousand years for the Mendyrian and Jhaelian to unlock the secrets of the deathless, and ten thousand more for the Undying Court to attain the power it wields today. The Line of Vol grew over that same span of time, delving ever deeper into the mysteries of Mabar and Dolurrh and unlocking the secrets of necromancy. True to their vow, the Vol didn’t have the same fear of death as the other elves—or even the modern Seekers. Speak with dead was always a core aspect of Vol society. The skulls of the dead were preserved and consulted. The Vol understood that speak with dead only spoke with the traces of memory that remained, but they held to the principle that as long as we are remembered, we remain. So the Vol were comfortable with death. However, they still wished to overcome it—to preserve their greatest people as more than just memories. So while the Mendyrian and Jhaelian experimented with the deathless, the Vol studied the ways in which the power of Mabar could animate the dead.
The first sentient undead created by the Line of Vol was a form of wight; it consumed life force directly by touch. However, the insatiable hunger of Mabar overwhelmed the mortal memories of these undead, and they quickly became ravenous monsters that had to be destroyed. Vampires mitigate this by consuming blood rather than directly absorbing life energy, but the early vampires of Vol were still highly unstable; most devolved into feral creatures like the nosferatu of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. Over time the Vol were able to restore and refine what scholars call the Qabalrin vampire—the standard vampire, complete with its limitations on running water and not entering a house unless invited. That last one may seem a little strange; why is it that vampires innately can’t enter a stranger’s home? The answer can be found by looking at the most common form of sentient undead produced by both the Line of Vol and the modern Seekers of the Divinity Within: the oathbound, which the Monster Manual refers to as mummies. The oaths are vows that are mystically imposed upon the spirit, and it is these vows that keep the essence of the mortal from being dragged to Dolurrh and consumed. The more restrictive the oaths, the simpler the ritual and the more stable the personality of the creature. Forbiddance is an oath woven into the Qabalrin strain of vampirism; it is part of what makes the line more stable than the earlier nosferatu strains. So with that in mind, the line of Vol included the following forms of undead.
- Oathbound were widespread throughout the region. They’re very stable; existence as a mummy is less of a strain on the spirit than vampirism or lichdom. The more restrictive the oaths binding the mummy, the easier it is to create and the more stable it will be. The majority of Vol oathbound were bound to specific locations, tied to a family estate or institution. Oathbound served as guardians and guides, often teaching the living. They often lacked the fire and creativity of the young, and so it was always seen as valuable to have the living and the dead work closely together.
- Vampires have far more freedom than oathbound, but the state of vampirism takes a greater toll on the personality of a creature—and, of course, a vampire has to feed to maintain its existence. As a result, vampirism was granted to exceptional individuals who intended to spend their undeath in motion. Vol vampires were often diplomats and envoys, conducting business in the cities of the other lines. Some of the greatest innovators of the line chose vampirism simply to ensure flexibility in whatever the future could hold. But vampirism was a state that had to be earned, and would-be vampires underwent tests and trials to assure the lich-lords they had the strength of will to survive.
- Vampire spawn are the first step to becoming a true vampire, as discussed in this article. So in imagining daily life in Shae Deseir, keep in mind that there were more vampire spawn than there were full vampires.
- Liches were rare. As called out in Chronicles of Eberron, a lich typically has to perform the rites of transition themselves, and it requires both an exceptional understanding of necromancy, an iron will, and an absolute conviction not to die—a conviction that must remain firm throughout the lich’s existence. There were liches among the line of Vol, and they were revered by the living—but it was a state that could only be earned, never granted. The case of Erandis Vol was a remarkable exception, tied both to the incredible skills of Minara Vol and to Erandis’s dragonmark.
Skeletal humanoid labor wasn’t as common among the Vol as it is among the Seekers of the present day, as the Vol preferred to preserve the skulls of the dead in vast bone libraries where they could be consulted, much like the spirit idols of the Undying Court. However, beasts were regularly reanimated for tireless labor. The Vol also had a great affinity for shadows, tied to the Mabaran resonance all around them. Many Vol elves could employ their own shadows as a wizard does a familiar, sending them on tasks, seeing through their senses or speaking through them. Shadow puppetry was a common form of entertainment, and an arcanist could conduct an entire company of shadows through the performance of a play or an artistic display.
Life in the Line of Vol
The Line of Vol shared many basic traditions with the other Aereni lines. There was always tension between Vol, Mendyrian, and Jhaelian; there were feuds and vendettas that stretched out over the centuries. But the Melideth and Tolaen respected the Vol, honoring the shared struggles of their ancestors and engaging in commerce and conversation. Like the other lines, the Vol honored their ancestors and followed in their footsteps. And like most Aereni, elves of Vol would typically focus on a particular craft or field and spend centuries perfecting that skill. Generally speaking, innovation was less important than tradition—mastering the way a thing had been done was more important than finding a better way to do it. Necromancy was the crucial exception to this rule, and the Vol were always exploring new variations of existing rituals and spells.
Given its reliance on necromancy—often seen as a sinister form of magic—and the prevalence of skulls and bones in its art and architecture, scholars of the Five Nations have often assumed that the Vol were a cruel or malefic culture; in this, they are usually compared to the Qabalrin or the people of Ohr Kaluun in Sarlona. But the leaders of the Line of Vol weren’t ruthless or cruel. They had no desire to conquer their neighbors, and the dead used their experience to lift up the living. In studying necromancy, their focus wasn’t developing ways to kill the living but rather on finding ways to prolong existence and to communicate with the dead. The development of deadly spells was a side effect of their research, but war magic was never the purpose of it. Overall, the Line of Vol sought to celebrate life. It’s for this reason that they didn’t flood the province with vampires. The hunger of Mabar is difficult even for a person of strong will and tends to erode empathy; most elves who sought immortality in undeath were content to live a more limited but peaceful existence as one of the oathbound.
Some might wonder how this aligns with the grim culture of the Bloodsail Principalities, which has a direct path back to it. But the circumstances of the Bloodsails are very different from that of the Line of Vol. The Vol thrived for thousands of years in an atmosphere of relative peace and prosperity. By contrast, the Bloodsails began as exiles who had seen that peaceful culture utterly eradicated by its enemies. Farlnen is a harsh land with limited resources; sacrifices have to be made to sustain the living population. And from the beginning, the Lhazaar Sea was far more dangerous than Aerenal was for the Vol. The Bloodsails had to fight to survive—to fight both their barren land and their rivals on the sea. Because of this, the Bloodsails are more aggressive and ruthless. Their ancestors saw the peaceful Line of Vol exterminated by its rivals; they won’t allow that to happen again.
Religion and Divine Magic. The Line of Vol preferred the concrete truths of arcane science to abstract ideas of distant gods. They didn’t believe in any form of the Sovereigns and Six, and they didn’t invoke the power of the Silver Flame. However, they did have two traditions of magic beyond arcane science. Vol worked closely with Mabar, and there were points in their domain where the borders to the Eternal Night were very thin. Over the generations, some Vol engaged in commerce and conversation with the Dark Powers of Mabar—notably, the Bone King and the Empress of Shadows. Most Vol arcanists recognized the malevolence of these beings and didn’t idolize them; but they were willing to work with them in exchange for knowledge and arcane power, and this produced a tradition of warlocks. Over time, the Vol also developed a path through which adepts could channel and mold the power of Mabar through sheer will and mental discipline. Practitioners of this art were known as dusk weavers. Mechanically, exceptional dusk weavers could resemble Shadow Monks, Trickery Clerics or Oathbreaker Paladins. This tradition is still practiced among the Bloodsails. While it provides a form of divine magic, it is fueled by the practitioner’s absolute faith in their own ability to shape the power of Mabar. And while technically I’m suggesting that such characters could have the abilities of clerics or paladins, the magic they can wield should always reflect the power of Mabar; even though mechanically light is a spell on the cleric spell list, it’s not a spell a dusk weaver should possess… unless they manage to flavor it in a way that fits Mabar, such as a creating a ball that draws all shadow to it and leaves light in its absence.
Architecture and Artifice. Animated skeletons are bound together by an invisible, ectoplasmic force. The bone crafters of the Line of Vol discovered ways to adapt this arcane principle, creating structures that appear to be formed from swirling shadow with bones suspended. In Mabaran manifest zones—like Shae Deseir—bone crafters could pull raw bone-stuff from the layer of the Bone King, creating pillars and walls from ivory, though this substance was never part of a living creature. This is incorporated with darkwood and often built into and around living trees in the Silence. Vol communities can feel very gothic and sinister to outsiders, but the Vol don’t see anything malevolent in the use of bone; instead, it reminds them of their ancestors, and to enjoy life while it lasts.
Vol communities often contain the following structures.
- Bone Libraries are ossuaries holding the skulls of deceased elves. People come to the library to consult the skulls using speak with dead, but there are also services that commemorate ancestors either en masse or highlighting the deeds of an individual or group.
- Shadow Sanctums are where dusk weavers learn and practice their arts. They are somber and monastic in tone, typically filled with adepts engaged in meditation and pools of shadow drawn from Mabar. Dusk weavers are also often trained as healers, and the sanctums double as healing houses.
- The Hall of Life is the center of the community, where people gather to support one another and to resolve civic issues; it also serves as a school for the young.
- The Arcanum is the center of necromantic research and development. This is where undead are created, where shadows are bound, other important magical work is done.
Beyond this, a Vol community will have buildings common to any town—taverns and inns, a theatre, artisans, and homes.
General Demeanor. The leaders of the line of Vol had no interest in imposing their will through force. Throughout much of their history, the Vol were a prosperous culture with more space and resources than their relatively small population required. As such, their focus was on enjoying life—the dead teaching the living and helping them find a satisfying road to walk through life. The Vol liches were the most powerful members of the culture, but they didn’t band together as the Undying Court; a Vol lich typically used its power and knowledge to help its local community. Much as the Sibling Kings of Aerenal stand distinct from the Undying Court, the civic leaders of the Line of Vol were living people who worked to make sure every village had what was needed, to resolve disputes, and to engage in diplomacy with the other lines. But largely the role of leadership was to guide and assist, while always pursuing greater knowledge. Of course, it was this pursuit of knowledge that ultimately doomed them, when they sought to unlock the full potential of the Mark of Death.
The Silence. Shae Deseir is located in a verdant valley along the Night River, so named because a curious effect of the Mabaran manifest zone causes the reflection in the water to always show the sky above as if at night. There were a few villages spread out along the banks of the river. But the majority of the Line of Vol dwelt not in the valley—which, among other things, has issues with hostile shadows—but in the vast forest to the east of it. In the past it was known as Antalyn Orioth, the “Jungle of Peace”… though the term has connotations of “final peace” or “peace of the grave.” Since the eradication of the line of Vol, this name has been stricken from all maps and the Aereni do not use it. Instead, they refer to the jungle by casting their eyes down and remaining silent for a long moment.
The Silence contains a number of Mabaran manifest zones of varying size and intensity. Some of these are deadly to mortal life; these produce moss, fungi, and crystals that are useful components for necromantic magic. Others were once home to Vol villages. There are also two wild zones in the Silence. The Gray is tied to Dolurrh, and under the proper circumstances it can serve as a gateway to the Realm of the Dead. The Bones are tied to Mabar, and trees of bone rise from black soil; here the Bone King of Mabar watches the world. Aside from its planar influences, the Silence contains massive groves of darkwood; before they were destroyed, the Vol worked with Tolaen to harvest this resource.
Defenses and Damage. The Line of Vol wasn’t a warlike culture… until the end. Their civilization was wiped out in a brutal, decisive conflict against dragons and the Undying Court. It was a swift conflict fought by beings wielding immense power, and as a result many of the typical tools of war were irrelevant; there was no wall that would protect a village from a flight of dragons. Traveling through the Silence, adventurers can find vast clearings still scorched by dragonfire, with scattered shards of building bone or vague outlines of foundations. While active defenses are rare, undead are common in the region, and this is why the Aereni shun it to this day. Due to the presence of the manifest zones, all of the factors that contribute to haunts and restless dead are intensely magnified. There are a handful of haunts where shades of villagers relive their last hours, often entirely peacefully. But there’s also countless undead spawned by the intense trauma of the final days of Vol. There are angry ghosts and banshees that still retain some semblance of their former lives, but there are also more raw manifestations of pain and of Mabar’s hunger—swarms of shadows, angry specters, and at the extreme, powerful sorrowsworn born of anguish and pain. Within the Bones, a former Mendyrian commander remains as a death knight. Laen Mendyrian is tormented by the massacres he set in motion during the conflict, and now lingers as a vassal of the Bone King; he is accompanied by the Silver Wind, a silver dragon slain by the Emerald Claw who lingers as a ghost dragon.
Shae Deseir
Shae Deseir was the first and greatest city of the Line of Vol. Built from darkwood and shadow, it was a gothic metropolis. This is where the Vol made their last stand, focusing the might of their liches and the Emerald Claw. So great was their power that they were able to shield the city from aerial and arcane assault, which meant that dragons and elves stormed it directly. Because of this, the city has been devastated. There is a massive crater where the First Arcanum once stood, soil seared by a blend of flame, acid, and raw radiant power. The Hall of Life is cut in half, and the bones of defenders remain fused with the stone.
In assaulting Shae Desier, the forces of Argonnessen and Aerenal ensured that all living denizens of the city died, and that the phylacteries of the liches were destroyed. As soon as this mission was complete, they retreated, and the city has been left untouched ever since. Because of this, there are treasures hidden in the wreckage. The Great Bone Library is still intact, with thousands of skulls waiting to speak. But Shae Deseir is intensely haunted. The region was always known for its hostile shadows; rituals performed by the Vol kept the influence of Mabar in check. Now it is a place of bitter sorrow. The spirits that remain in Shae Deseir cannot leave this cursed city, but they will make any living creature that comes to it suffer.
What sort of treasures could you find in Shae Deseir? The First Arcanum was the site of some of the most remarkable necromantic work ever carried out. Any sort of magic item related to death and the dead could be found in the haunted city, along with scrolls of necromantic spells, such as horrid wilting and true resurrection. But the research could be even more valuable. How exactly did Minara Vol turn Erandis into a lich? How did they produce a half-dragon bearing an apex dragonmark, and what was the ultimate goal? These secrets are surely hidden in the ruins. Beyond that, scattered across the city are the remains of the warriors who fought that final bitter battle; there may be legendary arms and armor once wielded by champions of the Undying Court still lying on the battlefield. Another idea to consider: I’ve said before that the Eye and Hand of Vecna could be associated with Lhazaar in Eberron. However, if you wanted to remain closer to the original idea—to keep them as remnants of an ancient archlich—then they could be the Eye and Hand of Vol, the last pieces of the first and greatest lich produced by the line. Perhaps they went toe to toe with the Ascendant Councilors of the Undying Court and were torn apart. Now only a few pieces remain… but they want a vengeance greater and more terrible than anything Lady Illmarrow could devise.
What sort of monsters could you find there? Shadows roam freely in the region around Shae Deseir, and they can be found in many sizes and shapes. There are shadows cast by dragons long ago that are still crawling across the soil, and swarms of shadows that could be drawn by light or warmth. Beyond this, there are pockets of haunting scattered across the city, bitter moments captured in eternity. On the outskirts you might fight sword wraiths facing a banshee, an echo of Cairdal commandos fighting a Vol arcanist. Deeper in you could find dullahans fighting death dragons. Near the heart there are nightwalkers formed from the sheer rage of the fallen elves. And in the Bone Library or the First Arcanum there may well be a lingering demilich, nearly mindless after the loss of its phylactery, but somehow still sustained by its grief.
Why does this matter? Any campaign involving Lady Illmarrow could involve a trip to Shae Deseir. Illmarrow might need resources that can only be found in the Mabaran groves of the Silence. She could need research from the First Arcanum, or an artifact lost on the battlefield. Alternately, adventurers seeking to destroy Illmarrow could seek to find the details of her creation to learn how she can be permanently destroyed. Illmarrow aside, an Aereni adventurer could seek to enter Shae Deseir to recover a sacred artifact lost by an ancestor—or a necromancer of any culture could yearn to claim the secrets of the Vol arcanists.
What About The Mark of Death?
The alliance between the Undying Court and Argonnessen slew every living creature that carried the Mark of Death, and almost every elf tied to the Vol bloodlines. Erandis Vol still carries the mark, but it has been inactive since her death. There has been no confirmed manifestation of the mark since that time. The nature of the Mark of Death—how it could reappear and what powers it might possess—is a mystery we have always chosen to leave unanswered in canon sources. However, the things I write aren’t canon. I’ve created a version of the Mark of Death as bonus content for my Patreon supporters; you can find that here.
That’s all for now. If you’re going to PAX Unplugged, you can find me at the Twogether Studios booth. I hope to see you there!
Monsters of Eberron: Vampires
“The first vampire was an elf named Vol. After living for centuries, Vol saw the end of his life approaching and was determined to escape death. He prayed to the Sovereigns, but they dismissed his prayers. All journeys have an end, Kol Korran told him. Do not fear what lies beyond, Arawai said. Trust in our love. But Vol had no faith in the Sovereigns, and so he turned to the Dark Six in his quest for immortality. They were willing to aid him… but they had demands. The Keeper pledged not to take Vol’s life, but only so long as Vol continued to add to the Keeper’s hoard, sending him a steady stream of innocent souls. The Fury made Vol a natural predator, but charged him to prey upon his own kind. The Mockery made Vol a master deceiver able to move unrecognized among the living, but demanded that he spread terror with his deeds. And the Shadow made Vol the master of the night, able to command its creatures, to dissipate into mist, to enforce his will upon weak minds. They made Vol a champion of the shadows, a corpse imbued with a semblance of life so it could kill and kill again, spreading terror and feeding the Keeper. The Sovereigns could not simply undo what the Six had created, but they laid their own bans upon Vol. Dol Arrah cursed Vol; he might be the king of the night, the light of day would burn him to ash. Boldrei forbade Vol from entering any home, unless he was invited within. And Arawai said that as Vol had broken the cycle of nature, wood and water would be his enemies. Running water reflects the endless motion of nature, and it would tear away the vampire’s false life. And a simple stake of wood, driven through the heart, would lay the vampire to rest.”
This is a story the Vassals tell. The elves of Aerenal don’t believe in the Sovereigns; they say it is Mabar that empowers a vampire to live on after death so long as they feed the Endless Night with a steady stream of blood and souls. Gift of the Shadow or the Endless Night, it makes little difference. The vampire is a corpse animated in violation of nature, which must consume the blood and essence of the living to sustain its undead existence. They hide among the living in order to prey upon them, and have the power to spread their corruption—consuming the souls of those they drain of blood, allowing them to rise as hungry spawn. But they cannot stand Arrah’s light, and they cannot enter a home without an invitation. So cling to the light and take care you know those you welcome into your home—for the vampires are waiting in the shadows, and they are hungry.
—Dorius Alyre ir’Korran, The Manual Maleficent
Vampires are an iconic undead creature. Canonically, vampirism has become a practical tool in Eberron: the Bloodsails, the Seekers of the Divinity Within, and the Line of Vol all make use of vampirism as a way of extending life after death. It’s not surprising to find a vampire leading an Emerald Claw cell. But such a vampire is typically relevant as a threat in combat; the Emerald Claw usually isn’t very subtle. With this article, I want to start by exploring what makes vampires distinct from other common forms of undead and considering how this can apply to stories you might tell… and then to look closer at the role of vampires in everyday life in Khorvaire, and different sorts of vampires one could encounter.
VAMPIRE STORIES
Set aside mechanics for a moment. What is it that makes a vampire spooky? What are hooks you can work into a story? Here’s a few.
- Walking Dead. A vampire is an animated corpse. Aside from the various immunities this grants, it highlights the fact that they are deeply unnatural. They should be dead and yet they aren’t. It’s easy to ignore this—in part because typically, they don’t rot like a zombie—but when you stop and think about it, it’s disturbing. They are DEAD, but some power moves through them and makes their dead flesh move, sustaining them as long as they continue to feed on the living. There’s lots of little ways you can play with this. Cold flesh. They don’t drink… wine. Most notably, in combat I will typically describe a creature’s loss of hit points and nicks and grazes, near misses and deflected blows. In the case of undead creatures like vampires I may choose to highlight that an attack strikes true and just has minimal effect. You drive your dagger into his side, piercing the kidney. It’s a perfect, crippling blow… but he just laughs, and no blood flows as you pull the blade free from his body.
- Predators. Vampires consume the life force of the living, typically through the medium of blood. They are wolves among sheep, and mortals are their prey. Often this is reflected by their appearance; not only can they conceal their undead nature, but they are charming or attractive, able to lure mortals to their doom. Now, specific vampires may resist their predatory urges—but it’s the fact that they are driven by their hunger that makes that a compelling story, as they strive to hold onto their humanity and not to become a ruthless predator.
- Infestation. Specifics vary by tale, but under the mechanics of 5E, if a humanoid creature is slain by the life-draining bite of a vampire and buried in the ground, they will rise as a vampire spawn under the control of their sire. Depending on the needs of the story, a vampire may already have a network of spawn when it is encountered by adventurers—or a tale could involve the slow spread of a vampire’s reach throughout a community. This is especially effective when someone near and dear to the adventurers becomes spawn, or when the spawn is someone who was a hero in life—a friar of the Silver Flame who helped organize the fight against the vampire, or a young poet who wouldn’t hurt a fly. The point is that the vampire doesn’t just kill its victims—it turns them into tools, mocking who they were in life.
- Age and Influence. Vampires don’t have to be old. But part of the story of the vampire is eternal life, and this can be a compelling part of a vampire’s story. Did this vampire fight alongside Tira Miron when she founded the Church of the Silver Flame? Was it there when Halas Tarkanan collapsed the old towers of Sharn? Did the vampire know an adventurer’s parents—has it been watching them, all this time? A secondary aspect of this is the fact that a vampire may have resources that can play a major role in a story. A vampire may have caches of gold and supplies hidden around Khorvaire. It could have a family of loyal servants that have been bound to it for generations. It could have friends in very high places, or very low ones. In Aundair, Lady Talon is an elf noble who advised King Galifar during the war of unification. She just had lunch with Minister Adal. And you want me to believe that she’s some kind of monster? This influence could also be maintained through the use of a faithful (humanoid) familiar with a hat of disguise—King Kaius just gave a speech in the plaza while the sun was at its height. And he regularly speaks out against the Blood of Vol. The idea that he could be a vampire is preposterous. Often, part of what drives a vampire hunting story is the fact that no one else but the adventurers can or will pursue the vampire; either no one believes what the adventurers know, or the vampire’s influence is so strong (reinforced by Charm and by well-placed spawn) that the forces that should help are turned against the party.
- Weakness. A vampire regenerates 20 hit points a turn, and can escape in mist form when it needs to get away. It cannot be killed by brute force… unless its weaknesses are brought into play. If cannot enter a home unless it is invited—giving adventurers ways to find a safe haven even when facing an overpowering foe. The vampire’s efforts to overcome its weaknesses and the adventurers’ attempts to take advantage of them add flavor to a story—especially if those weaknesses aren’t what the adventurers assume them to be.
Keeping all those things in mind, let’s consider some of the ways adventurers might encounter a vampire.
The Random Encounter. The adventurers are racing to reach an artifact in Xen’drik before the Order of the Emerald Claw finds it… and the captain of the Emerald Claw force is a vampire. In such a scenario, the fact that the enemy is a vampire may only become relevant in battle; they’re just a powerful foe to be overcome. Of course, they’ll primarily want to move at night and will have difficulty with water. But the DM might also emphasize their ability to charm people to get the things they want… or play up the infestation aspect as a weapon in their arsenal. Perhaps the artifact is hidden somewhere in a region populated by small villages of tabaxi. The adventurers discover a village that appears to be completely empty; the Emerald Claw has clearly passed through, but there is absolutely no sign of the tabaxi inhabitants. Then as night falls, the former villagers burrow up out of the ground, red eyes gleaming in the moonlight; the vampire killed them all, and left them to return as spawn as a trap for the adventurers. Such a scenario is both an opportunity for a challenging fight and a chance to showcase the utter cruelty and bloodthirst of the vampire, who’s willing to drain an entire village just to mock their rivals.
They Are The Land. The vampire is in a position of unquestioned authority in an isolated place. The Lhazaar Principalities are an easy option for this, allowing a vampire to have entrenched power stretching back for generations. But they could just as easily be the lord of a remote community in the Five Nations… or the captain of a ship, or the foreman of a factory. The point is that they hold power; they have a secure stronghold and considerable resources; and that the local population supports them, whether due to actual devotion or simply because of overwhelming terror. Such a vampire might have supernatural connections that go beyond their typical powers. Perhaps the vampire can see through the eyes of every rat in their domain. Maybe they control the weather. Perhaps they have shadow-minions that can possess the shadows of residents or visitors. The adventurers can’t figure out how the count seems to know their every plan… and then they realize the wizard’s shadow is moving on its own!
The Spreading Cult. You have a quest that’s brought you to this small town, and that’s going to keep you there for a while, a quest that has nothing to do with vampires. But some of the people are acting strangely. When a blood-drained corpse shows up on the edge of town, you suspect there’s a vampire about… and perhaps you even have a clash with a spawn that proves it. But how do you go about discovering the identity of the vampire, and how do you balance it with your primary quest? How do you deal with it if someone vital to your quest becomes a spawn—or if you discover the identity of the vampire, only to realize that you need their help to accomplish your quest? I’ve suggested this as a small town scenario, but in a large town the spread of a vampire’s brood could be lost amid the noise of everyday activity. Perhaps the vampire targets a local gang; they’re already prone to violence, so a few deaths will go unnoticed. Once they’ve secured the gang, they start spreading throughout the entire underworld. Or perhaps they’re pursuing a political agenda… and once again, what do you do if you discover this, but you and the vampire both want the same political outcome? Do you destroy the vampire if it means losing that crucial vote? An interesting secondary question is what you do about the spawn after you defeat the master vampire. Do you hunt them all down, even those that used to be your friends or loved ones? Or do you believe that they can resist the hunger and retain their humanity?
The Ancient Enemy. By the Monster Manual entry, a vampire spellcaster is a CR 15 creature—not something a low level character could face. I’ll talk more about this below, but one option is to say that there’s a vampire that has feuding with your family for countless generations, killing each member of your bloodline as soon as they have a child. The vampire shows up occasionally, to see how you’re doing and to mock you before vanishing in mist. Perhaps you go to sleep in an inn, only to wake up to find the innkeeper turned to spawn. Hopefully its overconfidence will be the end of it! Alternatively, the vampire in this scenario could be an agent of the Emerald Claw in addition to being the scourge of your bloodline; in addition to haunting you, they are also carrying out missions for Lady Illmarrow. If you cross paths, they won’t kill you, because it’s not time yet; but they can still make you suffer!
The Desperate Spawn. A vampire exerts control over the spawn that it creates. But some spawn cling to their humanity and seek to defy their undead master. Your adventurers could receive assistance from just such a spawn. They might be very limited in the help they can provide, or only able to assist in certain places or at certain times. But this can be a compelling way to have a vampire as an ally. Of course, the question is whether the adventurers can trust the spawn… does it truly seek to retain its humanity? Or does it simply want its master slain so it can be independent and pursue its own malevolent path?
The Repentant Monster. Vampires don’t have to do evil or to be evil. The hunger of Mabar—or whatever power animates the vampire—drives them to prey on the living, but they can fight these urges. The vampire mentors of the Blood of Vol are an example of this; they are sustained by blood freely given by the faithful, and (at least in theory) devote their undead existence to guiding and protecting Seekers. While there’s nothing wrong with having a vampire who’s never done anything bad in its entire existence, a repentant monster can be a compelling character. Most vampires begin as spawn under the control of a sire, who might make them do terrible things; consider a certain vampire king in Eberron canon who was forced to murder his beloved spouse. Or consider Angel from the Buffy series; his infamous past highlighted his currently heroism and also served as a lingering threat. This ties to a vampire’s longevity. How will adventurers react when they learn that the vampire NPC who’s serving as a patron or mentor now was an infamous murderer when they served alongside Malleon the Reaver? Do they believe that they are truly repentant?
In considering these stories—I should call out the following concept from Chronicles of Eberron:
Once you have one vampire, it’s easy to make more … so why aren’t vampires more common? The primary reason is that it’s not easy being a vampire. A vampire is bound to Mabar, and Mabar is hungry. This fuels a vampire’s thirst for both the blood and life energy of the living, and over time, it becomes increasingly difficult for a vampire not to see all living creatures as prey. A weak-willed vampire quickly devolves into a feral predator; such creatures use the statistics of vampire spawn, but their Intelligence is more a measure of cunning than of rational thought. It takes strong will to maintain your personality as a vampire, and stronger still to maintain any empathy or compassion for other creatures. This is why vampires are seen as monsters, for many do become ghoulish killers that need to be hunted down by templars of the Silver Flame, the knights of Dol Arrah, or the Aereni Deathguard. This is an additional reason most vampires don’t make legions of spawn; all it takes is one spawn going feral and drawing templars to town to lead to a deep purge. Undead have no rights under the Code of Galifar, and destroying a vampire isn’t considered murder; you’d just better be sure the mayor is a vampire before you kill him.
You don’t have to embrace this idea, and it’s also something that could vary by strain. In the case of a cult, the idea is that the willpower of the sire sustains the spawn, but that if the master is slain the spawn could devolve into monsters. Likewise, in cultures like the Blood of Vol or the Bloodsails where vampirism is an accepted tool, a newborn will be guided through their new existence, so the feral collapse is rare. But it’s a reason people aren’t lining up to become vampires… and a challenge you’ll have to deal with when facing a cult.
VAMPIRIC POWER
The default vampire in the Monster Manual has a Challenge Rating of 13-15… far too powerful for a starting party of adventurers. It also feels pretty dramatically powerful to use in many of the situations that have been described above. Is every vampire Bloodsail CR 13? Are you going to run up against a CR 15 vampire “mentor” if you start a brawl in a Seeker community? The CR 15 vampire spellcaster works great for The Ancient Enemy or They Are The Land… but it can be overpowering when you just want to have a vampire leading a small Emerald Claw cell.
The simplest answer is that most of the vampires in Khorvaire—Seeker guides, Bloodsail pirates, Emerald Claw officers—aren’t vampires; they’re vampire spawn. With both the Bloodsails and the Blood of Vol, there are a few full vampires—Grim Lords of Farlnen, members of the Crimson Covenant—who turn the mortal aspirants who have earned a vampiric existence. In those cultures, the sire typically doesn’t enforce their will over their spawn, though they could. And in time, the spawn might earn the blood of their sire and unlock greater power. Nonetheless, the “typical” vampire you’re likely to encounter as a Seeker guide or an Emerald Claw enforcer would actually be a vampire spawn… which, at CR 5, is a more reasonable challenge for a low level group of adventurers.
While this is a practical solution to the power level of a vampire, the default vampire spawn lacks many of the classic vampire powers and isn’t the most interesting opponent. I’m posting a companion article on my Patreon that provides additional options for vampire spawn to make them more interesting enemies.
STRAINS AND BLOODLINES
There are many different forms of vampire that can be found across Khorvaire. The Qabalrin strain is the most widespread and well known, and it’s what the common person thinks of when they hear the word “vampire”. This section discusses the Qabalrin vampire and a few of the other bloodlines out in the world.
Qabalrin: The Common Vampire
When the typical citizen of the Five Nations, they think of an undead creature with fangs, an affinity for bats and wolves, an aversion to sunlight and an inability to enter homes unless invited. Academics refer to this strain as the Qabalrin Vampire, as it was believed to have been created by the necromancers of the Qabalrin elves in Xen’drik. The Line of Vol revived this strain in Aerenal, and there were a number of such vampires among the elf refugees and exiles who fled following the destruction of the Line of Vol. Some went north and helped found the Bloodsail Principality on the island of Farlnen. Other exiled vampires traveled inland and helped establish the faith now known as the Blood of Vol. But there were a handful of vampires who broke ties with their fellow elves and carved their own paths… and they and their spawn spread out across Khorvaire and into infamous legend. While the oldest Qabalrin vampires are elves, over the course of their migration they have created spawn of many different species. It’s worth noting that “Qabalrin Vampire” is an academic term; even among the Seekers and the Bloodsails, most people simply refer to these creatures as “vampires.”
Qabalrin vampires use the Vampire and Vampire Spawn stat blocks from the Monster Manual, and have the standard weaknesses. Their Charm effect involves manipulation of desire and allure; their victims adore them. The Bloodsails have developed a magic item they call the Torc of Blood and Salt. When attuned, this protects a vampire from being harmed by running water; however, water dramatically bubbles and steams when in contact with the vampire.
Qabalrin Example: The Phantom of the Grand Stage. An adventurer in Sharn is approached by an old friend who works at the Grand Stage in Upper Menthis. This friend has only been working at the Stage a little while, but it’s an excellent job they want to keep. But they’ve noticed something strange. The beloved leading man often seems pale and weak after major performances. There’s a surprising turnover in stagehands. The director absolutely refuses to make changes to a particular script, and the manager refuses to take the actor’s concerns seriously. Can the adventurers get to the bottom of this? One or more members of the stage crew are vampire spawn… and the investigation shows that their sire is a powerful Brelish noble. They finally come face to face with the Phantom, who wears a mask and has no desire to fight them; she appreciates how well they’ve played their roles. She tells them she’ll be leaving town for a decade now… and if the adventurers stop digging into her affairs, she’ll let them live. Perhaps if there’s a bard in the party, she even offers to sponsor their work; she would be an influential patron. At CR 13 the Phantom is too powerful for the adventurers to defeat; if they attack she might toy with them before making her offer again. Do they let her go? Do they fight until one or more of them are dead, at which point she laughs and mists away? Or do they agree to her terms, but then seek out allies—templars, knights of Dol Arrah—who can help them bring down the Phantom?
Barrowbones: Vassals of the Bone King
Do y’know the story of King Odakyr, lad? This was before Karrn the Conqueror, before anyone ever sought the Divinity Within. Odakyr was a warlord and a tyrant, and he drew power from the darkness in the land. It was said the shadows obeyed his beck and call. He was a cruel man, and his own son eventually brought an end to his reign with a sharp length of steel. But just one day after Odakyr was laid beneath the stones, he rose from his barrow and slew the young prince. He ruled on then, holding court only at night, and his council had more shadows than it did ministers. It was Halon Harn who finally did him in, the greatest grandsire of House Deneith, the model for the Sentinel Marshals of today. But some say Odakyr’s shadow slipped away after the battle… and that he still lingers, haunting his long-buried barrow.
The Bone King of Mabar can transform chosen mortals into vampires. Often this starts with a warlock-like pact. As with the story of Odakyr, the mortal might gain powers tied to the shadows of Mabar—abilities in line with those of a Hexblade or Undead warlock. When the individual dies, they rise again, infused with the hunger of the Endless Night. This is the source of the academic name for the line, as old stories speak of tyrants rising in their barrows. This can be a useful option for a recurring villain; the adventurers may bring an enemy down or see them die, only to have them return later in the campaign as a vampire. When a barrowbone vampire is finally destroyed, its spirit is drawn to the domain of the Bone King in Mabar, where it lingers as a wraith.
Barrowbone vampires don’t have dainty fangs. When they reveal their true nature, their jaws distend to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Long bone talons extend from their fingers; barrowbone vampires inflict slashing damage with their unarmed attacks. When a barrowbone is struck with a grievous wound, shadow leaks from them instead of blood. Barrowbone vampires don’t cast shadows—but the Bone King typically grants a vampire an undead shadow that accompanies the vassal, concealing this absence.
A barrowbone vampire may use the vampire or vampire spawn stat block as a foundation, reflecting the power of the vassal. Make the following changes to the base stat block.
- Barrowbone vampires aren’t Harmed By Running Water and don’t have the Forbiddance weakness. However, they are vulnerable to Radiant damage.
- A barrowbone can only use its Shapechange to assume mist form; for the barrowbone, this manifests as transforming into a shadow.
- A barrowbone’s Children of the Night trait summons 1d4 Shadows.
- While the barrowbone’s Charm action causes a creature to become charmed, the experience for the victim is one of abject terror; the victim feels that they must do what the vampire asks of them or they will be destroyed.
- A humanoid drained and slain by a barrowbone’s bite returns after burial with the statistics of a ghoul. These ghoul-spawn retain their appearance and memories from life, though like vampire spawn they are under the control of the vampire that made them. They cannot create other ghouls.
Barrowbone Example: King Odakyr. As described in the legend above, Odakyr ruled as a tyrant long before the Seekers of the Divinity Within settled in the region that still bears his name. Over the centuries he has occasionally returned and sought to dominate the mortals that dwell in his ancestral domain, but Seeker champions have driven him back. Yet no one has ever found his resting place, hidden deep below the Mabaran manifest zone at the heart of the region. Odakyr is now the site of Fort Bones. Adventurers could get drawn into Odakyr’s attempt to return and seize control of Fort Bones; perhaps the Bone King has given him power over the Karrnathi undead! Or perhaps it’s a dungeon crawl, and adventurers need to delve into his deep crypt to recover an artifact the Bone King gave to the fallen tyrant long ago…
Souldrinkers: The Keeper’s Chosen
Legends say Souldrinkers are bound to the Keeper and the Shadow, as described in the myth that starts this article. However, it may well be that they are creations of the dracolich Mazryalyx, the master of the Keeper’s Lair. Either way, the fact is the same. They are undead predators who pay for their eternal life by consuming innocent souls. Because of this, souldrinkers are often solitary wanderers, traveling from place to place, moving on after they have fulfilled their appetites. Souldrinkers often have a particular taste; a souldrinker might only drain poets, or soldiers, or people in the depths of despair.
Souldrinkers don’t have fangs. They have a second tongue with a barbed end that can extend up to a foot from their mouth. In their vampiric form they appear to be ancient, with papery skin stretched over bone and eyes of pure darkness sunk deep in their sockets. They can use either the vampire or vampire spawn stat blocks as a foundation, with the following changes.
- Souldrinkers aren’t harmed by Running Water or by Stakes to the Heart. They are vulnerable to psychic damage, as they feel things very intensely. They can only be truly destroyed by psychic damage, eradicating their will to return.
- A souldrinker can use Shapechange to assume the form of a beast that can be summoned with Find Familiar. Each souldrinker has a specific beast form it can take; once chosen this cannot be changed.
- Souldrinkers retain traces of the memories of the creatures they drain. A Souldrinker can speak with the voices of its victims, using these to taunt adventurers with those they’ve lost. A Souldrinker can cast speak with dead targeting its victims, as if their bodies were present. When the sun sets, a Souldrinker can choose one skill or tool that one of its former victims was proficient in; for the next 24 hours, the Souldrinker has proficiency and expertise with that skill.
- Souldrinkers do not have the Children of the Night trait.
- Souldrinkers don’t create spawn. Someone reduced to zero hit points by a Souldrinker can only be restored to life by a wish spell. The DM must decide if the souls remain within the Souldrinker—in which case, the victims could be restored to life through normal methods if the Souldrinker is destroyed—or if they are channeled to a specific place or power, such as the Lair of the Keeper.
Malefic Vampires: Spawn of the Overlords
Ultimately, vampires are creatures that appear to be humanoids and prey on humanoids in order to prolong their unnatural existence. Many of the overlords can corrupt mortals to create predators. Such malefic vampires may be undead, or they may be fiends; it’s up to the DM to decide if they are a corpse animated by demonic forces, or a mortal husk possessed by fiendish power. There’s a few examples of malefic vampires, but it’s not a conclusive list.
- The Cold Sun. Vampires created by the overlord Masvirik manifest serpentine traits. When they reveal their vampiric nature their jaws distend and reveal long, serpentine fangs; they shed their skin, revealing scales underneath. In addition to the standard effect, someone bitten by a Cold Sun vampire must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 17 for a vampire, DC 14 for spawn) or be paralyzed for one minute; the victim repeats the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on success and gaining immunity to that vampire’s venom for one minute. Poison Dusk vampires aren’t harmed by running water, but they are vulnerable to fire damage. A Poison Dusk vampire can shapechange into mist or into a tiny snake; the Children of the Night action can be used to summon 1d4 swarms of poisonous snakes.
- The Heart of Winter. Vampires created by the overlord Draal Khatuur have veins filled with frozen blood. They don’t actually drink blood, but instead absorb the heat from creatures they embrace. When they reveal their vampire form, their flesh is encased in frost and they radiate an aura of cold, inflicting 5 cold damage on any creature that starts its turn adjacent to the vampire. Iceblood vampires are immune to cold damage and vulnerable to fire damage. In place of Charm, they can use an effect that mimics hold person; the victim is actually frozen for the duration of the spell. Icebloods don’t have the Forbiddance weakness, but they cannot move within 5 feet of a source of fire equal to or larger than a torch. The only form an iceblood vampire can take with shapechanging is a cold mist. Iceblood vampires don’t have the Children of the Night trait, but they can cast Ray of Frost, which manifests as the vampire trying to suck the warmth from the target at a distance.
- The Oathbreaker. Eldrantulku loves to sow strife and intrigue among allies, and oathbreaker vampires use their gifts to set feuds in motion and cause vendettas. Once an oathbreaker vampire has tasted a humanoid’s blood, it gains a number of benefits. It can use its Shapechanger ability to duplicate the appearance of the victim (or to assume a misty form). It can cast dream on the victim once per day. And it can cast detect thoughts on the victim from any distance, provided they are both on the same plane. The victim feels that they are being watched when this occurs, but cannot identify the source of the sensation. If a victim makes a successful saving throw against either dream or detect thoughts, they are immune to the oathbreaker’s manipulations for 24 hours. Oathbreaker vampires don’t have the Children of Night trait.
- The Gatekeeper. Katashka delights in spreading fear of the undead among mortals, and prefers its minions to be ghastly and dramatic. The nosferatu presented in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is a good example of a vampiric creature Katashka would create; the Gatekeeper is also known to create Spawn of Kyuss, though in Eberron these are “Spawn of Katashka.”
Abominations: Creations of the Daelkyr
The daelkyr have created their own variations of vampires and vampire spawn. Often, these creatures are alien entities animating corpses, and are aberrations rather than undead. Kyrzin vampires are a form of ooze that replaces the victim’s blood; when they use Misty Escape, they actually abandon their host body in vaporous form and have to animate a new corpse; they summon oozes instead of rats and bats. Valaara’s vampires are insect colonies animating corpses, a more subtle form of the Spawn of Kyuss. Dyrrn creates psychic vampires that consume thoughts instead of blood.
Thelanian Vampires: Storybook Villains
While academics use the term “Thelanian,” most Thelanian vampires are natives of the material plane. Often they are transformed due to a connection to an archfey, similar to the relationship between the Bone King of Mabar and the barrowbone vampires. Lady Talon is an example of a Thelanian vampire; she is tied to the fey of the Riverwood, and has become something more than mortal. Thelanian vampires are considered to be fey as opposed to undead, but the key is that they are still unnaturally extending their life by consuming the blood or energy of others. The cosmetic details of a Thelanian vampire should reflect the Archfey or tale that has spawned them. The Archfey of the Riverwood is tied to owls, and so is Lady Talon; and as a spirit of the Riverwood, she enjoys running water. Typically, every Thelanian vampire will be unique; learning about the fey or the tale they are tied to will be the key to understanding their powers.
ALTERNATE WEAKNESSES
Chronicles of Eberron suggests a number of alternative weaknesses for vampires. Here’s a few ideas that could be used instead of or in addition to the standard options. These ideas aren’t especially restricted to vampires; they could be tied to oathbound, death knights, or any other undead with an appropriate story.
Anchors. The Monster Manual suggests that a vampire must be tied to its coffin and to grave dirt from the site of its original burial. But depending on the strain of the vampire and its personal story, it could be connected to something other than a coffin. This could be similar to a lich’s phylactery, an object that facilitates the vampire’s return if it is destroyed. Perhaps a barrowbone tyrant doesn’t flee in mist form, but they are tied to their spiked adamantine crown. They will only truly be defeated (and condemned to wraithdom) if the crown is destroyed; otherwise, some weak-willed mortal will be compelled to put on the crown, and their body will be reshaped into that of the vampire. Or perhaps specific abilities of the vampire are tied to an object. A handsome vampire keeps a portrait made of them in life in their mansion; if it is burnt, the vampire will be unable to conceal their true nature, becoming hideous and withered. A Thelanian vampire might be tried to a tree. They meld with the tree when they rest or retreat, and the sap of the tree is instead all the blood the vampire has drained from its victims.
Ghostlight. Something familiar to players of Phoenix Dawn Command, this is the idea that certain undead are vulnerable to relics and reminders of their original death. By learning the history of the creature, adventurers can learn how to effectively defeat it. King Odakyr was first killed by his son, a human wielding a dagger. The closer adventurers can get to recreating this original death, the more bonuses they should receive. At the simplest level, a human attacking Odakyr with a dagger could get advantage to attack rolls. If the human is wearing a piece of clothing or jewelry that belonged to Odakyr’s son, the king might be vulnerable to the damage they inflict. If they can find the actual dagger originally used to kill him, they might get all of that and negate his regeneration, or score critical hits on an 18-20. Conversely, you could say that Odakyr cannot be permanently slain any other way, which is why he lingers to this day; the dagger is lost and has never been found. The point of this is to encourage and reward investigation; the only way to defeat the undead creature is to understand it, and to confront it with its own mortality.
The Power of Faith. While many divine spellcasters have ways to harm undead, on its own a holy symbol has no power over a vampire. In my campaign, I like to give such symbols power based on the faith of the vampire. If a vampire (or other sentient undead creature) was an especially devout follower of a particular faith, it must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 13) when someone uses an action to brandish a holy symbol of that faith and castigate them. If it fails the saving throw, the undead creature is frightened of the symbol until the end of the brandishing character’s next turn. For a more intense situation, a DM could allow a character of strong faith to take a bonus action to engage in an opposed Religion check with the vampire; if the adventurer wins the contest, the vampire has disadvantage on attack rolls against them and they have advantage on saving throws against its attacks until the end of their next turn. In both of these cases, the key is that the vampire has to have once had faith, and the adventurers have to know what it was they believed in. The point is that if a Souldrinker vampire believes its power comes from the Keeper, there is a level at which it believes it is an abomination in Dol Arrah’s eyes—and thus it responds to being cursed in her name. But a Qabalrin vampire that never believed in any power greater than itself won’t be shaken by your invocation of Aureon or the Flame.
WHAT ABOUT DHAMPIRS?
Dhampirs possess vampiric traits but aren’t actually undead. In Chronicles of Eberron I suggested that dhampirs could mortals born in Mabaran manifest zones and touched by its all-consuming hunger, or that they could be shaped by pacts with Katshka or the Keeper. These ideas still work, but another option is that you became a dhampir due to extended contact with a vampire. Perhaps you were kept prisoner by a vampire, drained just to the edge of death time and again; you survived and eventually escaped, but you were forever changed by the experience. Maybe you were actually slain and returned as a vampire spawn… but due to a quirk of your sire’s bloodline, when it was destroyed, all of its spawn were returned to the half-life of the dhampir. Or perhaps you were a familiar who willingly bound yourself to a vampire… and through this bargain, you gained a fraction of your vampire’s power.
That’s all for now, but I’m posting a companion article on my Patreon that delves deeper into vampire spawn, familiars, and dhampir, including optional abilities for vampire spawn and a background for familiars! I’m also going to be hosting a live Q&A on Discord this Sunday for my Threshold patrons, discussing ways to handle spooky stories and horror in D&D!
IFAQ: The Grand Duke of Atur
When time permits I like to answer questions posed by my Patrons. Many are simple; others require more thought. It’s taken me a few months to address this question, and you may want to read this article on Atur before you dive into it. With that said…
In your Eberron, who is the Duke of Atur and what do his personal agenda and political aspirations look like?
Delve into the pre-Galifar history of Karrnath and you’ll find references to the “Dark Ages.” This was a time of tyrants and feuding warlords, but the use of dark doesn’t refer to this brutality… rather, it’s a reference to the literal darkness found in Karrnath during this period. There were vast shadow lands, barren stretches where clinging mists obscured the sun. These shadow lands posed a threat even to those who shunned them. Shadows, wights, and other deadly undead would rise within the mists and emerge to threaten the surrounding lands. These shadow lands are powerful manifest zones tied to Mabar. While fighting tyrants and warlords, the first followers of the Divinity Within often took shelter in shadow lands, and they learned how to manipulate the Mabaran energies with their rituals. And over time they found ways to channel these energies—using some of this power to raise skeletons and zombies to help with everyday life, and dispersing additional Mabaran energy in ways that limited its impact on the flora and fauna of the region. The people of the surrounding regions soon learned that the Seekers were useful neighbors—that even if their necromantic practices were disturbing, it was better to have skeletal farmers on the border than bloodthirsty wights crossing it.
The region where Atur now stands is one of the most powerful Mabaran manifest zones in Khorvaire, known in records as the Lake of Sorrows. The necromancer Duran dispersed the shadows of this “lake” and built a fortress for his followers here, and over the course of time this expanded to become the city of Atur. When the other warlords joined together to support the first Queen of Karrnath, Duran chose to stand apart: his loyalty was to his followers and to their faith. While some urged the Queen to destroy the Seekers, she remembered the horrors that once emerged from the Lake of Shadows, and preferred to keep those forces in check. So she negotiated an arrangement with Duran—one preserved to this day, granting Atur the status of a semi-independent palatinate. It was in Atur that Kaius I negotiated with the Seekers of the Divinity Within, and it holds the Vaults of the Dead where most of Karrnath’s undead forces are held in reserve, patiently waiting to return to the battlefield. Despite Moranna’s edicts condemning the Blood of Vol, the crown needs the Seekers to contain the Lake of Sorrows and to maintain the Vaults of the Dead. And so Atur remains a proud Grand Duchy and a stronghold of the Blood of Vol… and the Grand Duke Davian Karla is its ruler.
The Blood of Vol was born from the blending of the traditions of Aereni exiles and human rebels. Davian is a Khoravar who can trace his bloodlines back to Duran the Wise and the shadow-touched towers of Shae Deseir. Though his title of Grand Duke entitles him to use the ir suffix, his parents weren’t nobles and Davian is proud of his lowly roots; he enjoys the discomfort of his fellow warlords when they remember how he earned his title. Because as a palatinate, Atur isn’t bound by the traditions of Karrnath, and the title of Grand Duke isn’t hereditary. It is bound to a second title… Warden of the Lake of Shadows. There is a core of Mabaran energy at the heart of Atur, a force first contained by the Seeker Duran. Binding this power is a crucial part of holding the harmful energies of the region at bay. It is a task that requires tremendous willpower, faith, and an understanding of necromantic science… and the favor of the Lake itself. When the Grand Duke of Atur is lost, any resident of Atur can seek to claim the title. The process is simple. An applicant must descend to a chamber below the great palace, immerse themselves in the ever-spreading pool of shadows… and drive a dagger into their heart. While dying, they must draw the shadows into their body and bind this Mabaran power to their blood. No one lives through this ritual: they will either be reborn as the Warden of the Lake of Shadows, or die in the darkness and be forgotten. Going forward, the Grand Duke is infused with this power. It sustains them, protecting them from age and disease. They are alive—mechanically, using the Reborn lineage. But their body is now bound to the shadow, and they do not heal normally. When they are seriously injured, flesh falls away to reveal the shadow within. Eventually—when shadow outweighs flesh—the Grand Duke will be drawn into Mabar as a wraith. Duran escaped this fate by becoming a lich, but every Warden who’s followed him has eventually been consumed by this darkness.
Davian Karla has been Grand Duke of Atur for 235 years. He was 33 when he claimed the title—a necromantic prodigy, and one of the youngest people to successfully claim the title. He is not as powerful a practical necromancer as Malevanor or the late Gyrnar Shult; but it is his deep understanding of the principles of necromancy and his devotion to the Seeker faith that allows him to contain the Lake of Shadows. He is an elegant Khoravar with pale skin and shining dark hair that he usually wears in a plaited braid. The irises of his eyes are ever-shifting gray, forever reflecting the Lake of Shadows. Davian is tall and thin, but not gaunt; he moves with an easy grace, like water flowing against stone. His fine, dark clothing generally hides his most distinctive feature. During the Last War he lost his left arm and upper left shoulder, along with strips of his left chest and lung. Where once there was flesh, now there is shadow—a misty replica of the limb he once had. While he is conscious, he can choose to make this phantom limb substantial, and so he usually hides it beneath silk and leather. But should he choose, Davian can make his arm insubstantial; there are stories of him reaching into a rivals’ chest and running ghostly fingers across their heart.
Davian’s primary motivation is to protect Atur and to maintain it as a bastion of the Blood of Vol. During the Last War, he played a vital role in negotiating the Seeker alliance with the crown and overseeing the construction of the Vaults of the Dead. In the present day he navigates a difficult path, balancing the resentment of many warlords and their desire to scapegoat the Seekers for Karrnath’s setbacks with the fact that Karrnath needs the Seekers to maintain the Vaults and to contain deadly Mabaran energies. He is equally skilled with intimidation and persuasion; he can play on the fears of those unnerved by his ghostly halflife and the power he possesses, but he can be extremely charming when circumstances require. Atur is a city that celebrates life, and Grand Duke Karla embraces that; he loves poetry and dancing, and often joins his people in the streets during wild nights. While he is angry about how the Seekers have been treated, he does all that he can to maintain his relationship with King Kaius III and Queen Etrigani. He does not seek to expand his holdings, because it is the Mabaran foundation of Atur that ensures no other warlord could ever claim it. But he is determined to maintain its independence and to ensure it remains a sanctuary for the Blood of Vol.
Davian Karla is a committed Seeker. He is not a priest, but his role as Warden of the Lake of Sorrows commands the respect of other Seekers; while he can never fully unlock the power of the Divinity Within, he holds the deadly shadows at bay with the strength of his mind and blood. He has resisted the influence of Lady Illmarrow and despises the Order of the Emerald Claw for tarnishing the reputation of Seekers both in Karrnath and beyond; however, he is in touch with the Crimson Covenant and abides by their commands. As the vessel of the Lake of Sorrows, he cannot travel more than sixty miles from Atur; there is a supernatural gravity tying him to the city, and his body cannot be moved further even against his will.
How powerful is Davian? That’s up to the DM. It could be that he contains the power of the Lake but cannot wield it; likewise, it could be that his necromantic knowledge is reflected by expertise in Arcana but not by practical spellcasting. On the other hand, it could be that he possesses vast power he just almost never exercises. Davian Karla is alive; for now he is a humanoid, not undead. But it could be that he has the power of a Death Knight and could use that stat block. He doesn’t usually wear armor and he’s alive; but he could possess all of the other abilities and traits of a Death Knight. Regardless, he is a skilled swordsman and served in the military before he became Grand Duke; in battle he can choose whether to fight with a weapon or to strike with his phantom grip. His ghostly touch mimics the life drain attack of a wraith: +11 to hit, 4d8+5 necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 constitution saving throw or have their hit point maximum reduced by the damage taken. Again, it could be that this grip is the only dramatic supernatural ability he possesses, or it could be that he is one of the most dangerous beings in Karrnath… who wants to find out?
How would you use him in a story? Grand Duke Davian Karla is a powerful figure working to protect the Seekers and their interests. But aside from the diplomatic maze he navigates, he is also the governor of an important province and has countless duties to oversee and attend to. Beyond this, after two centuries governing the infamous City of Night, Davian is widely known across Karrnath—and he can’t go far from his city. Taking all of these factors together, Davian needs capable agents to help him as he strives to help the Seekers. Depending on their beliefs and allegiances, Davian could support an entire party of adventurers. Alternately, he could be the secret patron of a single Seeker character, providing instructions through spectral messengers (let’s call them “undead drops”). He could push his agents to quietly oppose the Emerald Claw while minimizing the damage the Claw does to the reputation or the Blood of Vol. He could have them help other Seekers in trouble, or acquire necromantic lore or artifacts sought by the priests of the Crimson Monastery. Or he could need help with more mundane issues—dealing with diplomatic rivals or undermining rival warlords.
One question the DM must decide is the relationship between Davian and Kaius III—which in turn depends on the path they’ve decided to take with Kaius. It is possible that Davian is a close confidante of Kaius III, working to help him fight Lady Illmarrow while maintaining the King’s secrets. Or it’s possible that there is a bitter divide between them—that Davian maintains a diplomatic relationship, but doesn’t know the king’s secrets and blames Kaius for the difficulties the Seekers are facing.
If the adventurers oppose the Blood of Vol—perhaps lumping all Seekers in with the Order of the Emerald Claw—then Davian could be a dangerous enemy. Or, in your Eberron, you could decide that Grand Duke Karla has embraced Lady Illmarrow and that he is giving the Emerald Claw a safe haven within Atur. As always, it’s a question of the story you want to tell. Could the Grand Duke of Atur be a powerful ally, or is he a deadly foe?
That’s all for now. If you’ve enjoyed the article, please consider checking out my Patreon! In addition to asking the questions that drive articles like this, my Patreon support directly determines how much time I can spend creating Eberron content in the future. I’m also doing a monthly live Q&A, and Threshold patrons have the chance to play in my ongoing Eberron campaign. Check it out, and thanks to all of you who are already patrons!
IFAQ: The Beliefs of the Blood of Vol
When time allows, I like to answer interesting questions from my patrons. This has been an exceptionally busy month and I’ve largely only been able to answer questions on my Patreon, but I’m going to try to get to a few more this week, starting with this one.
The Blood of Vol asserts that everyone has the potential to become a god, but that no one actually has yet. How does this appeal to a commoner? Maybe a player character can believe that they’ll be the first one to do it, but isn’t this kind of like saying it’s a religion in which no one’s ever made it to heaven yet, but hey, maybe you’ll get lucky?
So the first thing to recognize is that the typical Seeker (someone who believes in the Blood of Vol, short for “Seeker of the Divinity Within“) doesn’t expect to become a god. A basic principle of the faith is that we all could become gods, but that the curse of mortality was created to prevent us from doing so—that you will die before you can unlock your true potential. It’s not a question of “maybe you’ll get lucky.” You won’t get lucky. You will die first. That’s literally why death exists. That’s not the goal of the faith.
So what is the goal of the faith? Let’s look at the basic principles presented in Eberron: Rising From The Last War.
- Everyone has a spark of divinity. Find that power within.
- Death is the end, Dolurrh is oblivion, and if the gods exist, they are cruel. Stand with those you care for; all we have is this life and each other.
Working backwards, the first thing the Seeker faith does is to provide an explanation for injustice and suffering. Why is there death and disease? Why do our crops fail and our children die? Because the universe is cruel. There’s no benevolent skyfather, there’s no happy afterlife at the end of the rainbow. If there are gods, they’re jealous beings who hoard their power and laugh at our pain. This is why the faith thrives in the harshest parts of Khorvaire; it’s the faith of a people who see suffering every day, and who seek an explanation for it. And that explanation is life is cruel. But what the Seeker faith tells you is to FIGHT. The universe is against us. This life is all we have. So fight for those you care about. Protect your family and your friends, because the world WILL try to take them from you. To be a Seeker is to know that there is misfortune around every corner, to be ever ready for the next plague or famine, because you know the universe will take any chance to screw you over. But it’s also to know that you will not lay down and die… and even if you do die, damn it, let your family animate your corpse so you can keep fighting for them until your bones are ground to dust.
And when it comes to fighting… Everyone has a spark of divinity. Find that power within. The common Seeker doesn’t expect to become a god, to fully unlock their Divinity and to become an omnipresent entity with the power of a Sovereign. But the SPARK of that power is within them… and they CAN draw on that power. This is most obvious in the magic of Seeker paladins, clerics, and adepts. Seekers believe that their divine spellcasters draw power from their own divine sparks. Each Seeker cleric is, in essence, their own deity. But what of the commoner who can’t cast divine spells? Well, consider the Vassal smith, who asks Onatar for guidance when they start their work. Consider the Vassal soldier who asks Dol Dorn for strength and courage in battle. They aren’t paladins or clerics, but they believe that they can get strength and guidance from a higher power. The Seeker soldier or smith believes the exact same thing—except that the higher power is within them. The Seeker knows that they have divinity within their blood… that they CAN perform miracles. They have the courage they need. They have the ability to make the finest sword that’s ever been seen. They don’t need to ask some alien force to help; the power is within them. A Seeker doesn’t ask Olladra for good fortune; they know that they can make their own luck. And if it doesn’t work? Well, that’s the cruel universe for you; spit in its eye and keep fighting.
So how does the Blood of Vol appeal to the commoner? It explains why you suffer. It urges you to defy the cruel fates and to fight for a better life, and it tells you that you have the power you need to fight. It doesn’t promise some gilded afterlife at the end of the road; death is the end. But that is exactly why it urges you to FIGHT for yourself and for everyone you care about. Because this life is all we have. Make it count.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
When you’re playing a Seeker, keep a few things in mind.
- Some Seekers believe that the Sovereigns exist and that they are cruel. “As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.” Others believe that there are no deities, that the universe sis simply an impersonal engine of cruelty. Where do you fall on this scale? Do you believe that it’s theoretically possible to some day make the Sovereigns pay for their cruelty, or is the only fight that matters the struggle to survive?
- As a Seeker, you’re always prepared for the worst. You expect nothing but cruelty from the world. Plague, disease, war, greed—whatever can go wrong surely will. You ration your food because there could be a famine next month… and when it happens you’ll be ready. The followers of the Silver Flame are prepared for the fiendish apocalypse; the Seekers are prepared for house fires, flash floods, flu outbreaks, and every other mundane, shitty thing that could happen. So as a Seeker, you’re never surprised when something bad happens. Of course you rolled a 1; the universe hates you.
- … But again, part of what it means to be a Seeker is that you will fight against that cruelty. You’ll extinguish the fire. You’ll save your child from the flood and you will nurse them through the flu. You won’t give the universe the satisfaction of surrender.
- And most crucially, you will fight for everyone you care about. You know that we can’t survive alone. Encourage teamwork. Try to form connections to the people you are working with, because you will need those connections to survive. You may be grim, but you’re not a lone wolf; you recognize the importance of standing with a pack.
- As a divine spellcaster, you believe that your magic comes from within you. You’re drawing on your own divine spark. When you use divination, you’re being guided by the god you could become. Even if you’re not a divine spellcaster, you believe that you have that power within you, that you are being guided by your own divinity. Where others would pray to a higher power and say give me strength, you say I know that I have the strength I need within me.
What about necromancy? The Seeker refuses to surrender to death. We were cursed with mortality by the cruel universe; necromancy is a way to give that universe the finger. You killed my father? Well, he’s right here fighting alongside me. The Seeker faith asserts that death is oblivion and, therefore, there is no reason to have reverence for a corpse; a corpse is a tool, and if it can serve the greater good, that’s something any Seeker would want. Beyond that, Seekers have learned how to channel the energies of Mabar into necromantic rituals as a way to contain the negative environmental effects of those energies; in places like Atur, Seekers make significant use of necromancy because it’s actually vital to the ongoing health of the city.
So as a Seeker you may be grim and stoic. You may expect the worst from the world. But you know that we need to stand together to survive. You value friendship, love, and community, and you will fight fiercely for those you care about. And as seen in Atur, make sure to celebrate the joys of life when you can.
That’s all for now. Thanks as always to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible, and look for a bigger article later in the week!
January IFAQ: Atur, Seeker Saints, Penguins, and More!
I’m still in the process of deciding what I’m doing next—whether my next major project will be another Eberron book for the DM’s Guild, or whether I will explore a new setting—and if the latter, whether it will be for 5E D&D, another system, or system agnostic. However, in the meantime, I’m starting a new campaign! Every month I run an online session in an ongoing campaign for Patreon. All patrons at the Threshold level have access to recordings of previous sessions… as well as a chance to play in every new session. Over the course of this month, I’ll be running a series of patron polls to determine exactly WHAT I’m running next. So if you’d like to help determine my next campaign—or be a part of it!—check out my Patreon.
Meanwhile, another benefit of my Patreon is getting to ask me questions. I don’t get to every question every month, but here’s a few of my favorites from January!
In the original 3e Setting book for Eberron Atur is described as a bit of a party city with lots of bordellos and taverns, how true is this in your modern conception of Eberron and the Blood of Vol? Or is this a vestige of when the Blood of Vol and Emerald Claw were treated as interchangeable terms, and thus Atur was made to be seedy and decadent?
Also called the City of Night, Atur sits in the shadow of the Ashen Spires, near the great Karrn Falls that spill out of the mountains and fl ow into the Karrn River. The close peaks of the Ashen Spires, the constant mist rising off the swirling waters of the Karrn, and the oppressive brick buildings make for a place that has relatively short periods of direct daylight and consequently long nights. But the City of Night was named more for the fact that the place seems to come alive when darkness overtakes the land. With the city’s temple to the Blood of Vol (called the Crimson Monastery) and its massive Vaults of the Dead, where corpse collectors store the fodder for Karrnath’s undead armies, Atur has a definite connection to the twilight and midnight hours. A significant portion of the population follows the teachings of the Blood of Vol and attends the daily rituals in the Crimson Monastery.
Otherwise, the City of Night has a rhythm and pulse that seems to increase when the sun goes down. Feast halls, taverns, theaters, and bordellos of all descriptions open their doors after dark and stay active until the sun struggles back up and over the mountains. For many visitors, the city seems to operate in a way opposite to the other metropolitan centers of the Five Nations. Everything appears quiet and deserted by day, but by night the the various shops and businesses open to crowds of people.
Eberron Campaign Setting
The Grand Duchy of Atur is infamously a stronghold of the Seeker faith and a center for necromantic research. Its association with the Blood of Vol long predates Kaius I’s embrace of the faith, and its status as a palatinate means it remains a safe haven for Seekers regardless of how they are viewed elsewhere. Because of the strength of Seeker traditions, undead are found throughout the city. Knowing this, many who hear the name “City of Night” think Atur must be a grim, miserable place. Nothing could be further from the truth. Atur is a city that looks death in the eye—and because of that, it is a city that CELEBRATES LIFE. Karrnath as a whole is a stoic and austere culture; Atur is a place that celebrates all of the joys of life. Food, sex, art—all are enshrined and presented in a spectrum of delights. That spectrum means that there are definitely seedy elements in Atur, and if you’re looking for decadence you can find it. The quote above calls out that Atur is home to entertainments of all descriptions and that’s the key; there are taverns so fine your adventurers will surely never be let through the door, and some of Thuranni’s finest artists only perform at the grand Palace of Shadows. This is something that has evolved over the course of a thousand years, again with Atur running at odds to the generally stoic persona of the typical Karrn; the City of Night is a place for a Karrn to escape their lives for a few days, and tourism is its primary industry. So certainly, outsiders often call Atur “seedy and decadent”—but that description fails to grasp how seriously Aturans take their duty of celebrating life, and the quality of the food, music, and other performances that can be found in the City of Night.
Atur has been a bastion for the Blood of Vol since it first took root in Karrnath. The Crimson Covenant was first formed in the great monastery of Atur, and that Crimson Monastery has grown into the largest temple to the Divinity Within in Khorvaire. It was in Atur—in the palace of Nighthold—that the leaders of the faith forged their alliance with Kaius I. However, while a majority of the citizens of Atur follow the Blood of Vol, it’s not exclusively tied to the faith. The Great Hall of Feast and Fortune—commonly referred to as the Feast Hall—is one of the grandest temples of Olladra in the Five Nations; in addition to traditional services, it’s the finest venue for parties in the city, and the sounds of coins and dice can be heard at all houses in the gaming hall.
Thanks to the influence of the Blood of Vol, undead are a common sight in Atur.
- The Seekers have no attachment to corpses and most are happy to donate their remains to serve the greater good. As a result, skeletons are found performing menial tasks and manual labor across the city. Because they serve many different functions, they’re generally painted to indicate their service; blood-red for those associated with the Monastery or other temples, dark green for sanitation, black and gold for those tied to the city watch, blue for this tied to commerce; artists add often secondary designs that give each skeleton a little personality. However, these are standard skeletons, possessing limited intelligence; they are managed by Bone Wranglers, specialized magewrights who effectively program the undead. As noted in the Monster Manual, “Although they lack the intellect they possessed in life, skeletons aren’t mindless. Rather than break its limbs attempting to batter its way through an iron door, a skeleton tries the handle first. If that doesn’t work, it searches for another way through or around the obstacle.” So a sanitation skeleton is focused on collecting garbage and disposing of it, but it can show limited initiative to overcome obstacles.
- The Vaults of the Dead are a vast complex that served as the center of Karrnath’s necromantic war machine. Its fortified facilities include workshops for the production of undead, warehouses for storing bones and bodies, and the vast catacombs that currently hold the Karrnathi undead that have been sealed below since the Treaty of Thronehold was found. While the vast majority of the Karrnathi Undead are sealed in the vaults, the Atur Watch has a significant corps of these sentient undead, and they can also be found protecting the Ministry of the Dead, the palace of Nighthold, and other important locations. The Vaults of the Dead are maintained by the Ministry of the Dead, NOT by the Blood of Vol. While many Seekers serve in the Vaults, they serve the Crown and the Vaults are a separate entity from the Crimson Monastery.
- The Crimson Monastery has its own corps of undead—Seeker martyrs who have devoted their endless lives to service to their faith. Most of these are Oathbound, a form of mummy; most have greater intelligence and lower strength than the typical mummy in the Monster Manual, but the principle is the same. Oathbound are sustained by the oaths they’re sworn to uphold and the restrictions placed upon them; many can’t actually leave the Crimson Monastery, while others are bound to their service but can roam the city. Oathbound can also be found in other roles in the city; the oldest tavern in Atur, The Old Bones, is maintained by Grethan and Talan Todar, two oathbound who’ve been serving Seekers for centuries. Unlike skeletons and Karrnathi undead, Oathbound do maintain memories of their former lives; but their oaths place considerable limitations on their activities.
Because of this, there are a number of businesses that cater specifically to undead. Second Life is an Oathbound salon. Despite what you may read in the Voice of Thrane, there’s no zombie bordellos in Atur (or ARE there…?) but there are a few establishments that are devoted to entertaining the undead. Oathbound can’t eat or drink and don’t experience physical pleasure, but they can still feel desire; Eulogies specializes in storytelling and roleplaying, helping the Oathbound remember joys they can no longer experience directly.
As called out above, Atur celebrates the arts. Before the Last War, Atur was the seat of House Phiarlan’s Demesne of Shape, devoted to physical arts—painting, sculpting, ceramics—as well as to the creation of costumes, props, and other supporting goods. In the wake of the Shadow Schism, House Thuranni claimed the demesne, now known as the True Shapers Enclave. This is a center for production and education, but it’s complimented by the Palace of Shadows—One of the grandest performance spaces held by Thuranni. This is not to be confused with the actual palace of Nighthold, a secondary seat for the royal family. As Atur is a Grand Duchy, it is semi-autonomous, but the presence of the Nighthold has always been a source of pride and a sign of the importance of the city. Kaius III has spent little time in Atur over the last decade, but Queen Etrigani loves the City of Night.
This only scratches the surface of the many wonders of the City of Night. You can be certain that in a visit to Atur you will see wonders you’ve never seen anywhere else. Is it seedy and decadent? It can be, if that’s what you’re looking for. But it can also be a place of astonishing beauty, a chance to experience meals and joys you won’t find anywhere else. And it is certainly a place to find forgotten secrets in the vaults of the Crimson Monastery, or to speak to an oathbound older than Galifar itself. But remember, what happens in Atur doesn’t always stay in Atur…
Am I correct in remembering that Atur is a major mabar manifest zone? If so how does that effect it’s status as a party scene and its culture more generally?
You are correct: Atur is in the most powerful Mabaran manifest zone in Karrnath, which is why it’s the seat of the Vaults of the Dead and the center for the production of undead. Which sounds bad, right? The key comes from the Fort Bones article in Dungeon 195: “Temples of the Blood of Vol are often built in manifest zones linked to Mabar or Dolurrh. The Seekers have learned to harness the power of (these zones) and to protect their comrades from their dangers.” This is WHY Atur is the site of the Crimson Monastery—the largest temple of the Blood of Vol in Khorvaire—and why Atur was left inviolate even when the nation shifted away from the Seeker faith: they need the Seekers to continue their rituals to keep the dangers posed by the Mabaran zone contained. This is also a concrete reason for the revelry in Atur; just as the Aereni veneration of the Undying Court generates the positive energy needed to sustain the Deathless, the ongoing celebration of life is part of the equation that holds the power of Mabar at bay. Incidentally, this is the underlying reason Queen Etrigani is fascinated with Atur and spends a significant amount of time there. She shares the common Aereni belief that Mabaran necromancy and undead pollute the world, but she is intrigued by the techniques the Seekers have developed to contain these energies… and she appreciates the active celebration of life even in this place of death.
I’m running a session in Atur and I’m trying to think of who would be memorialized by statues in the city. Does the BoV have any saints?
One of the basic principles of the Blood of Vol is that dead is dead—that Dolurrh eradicates the soul. The Seekers seek to unlock their Divinity Within, and clerics and paladins are partially doing just that. If someone truly did unlock the full potential of their Divinity Within they would in theory have the power of a Sovereign, but personally, I DON’T want to say “There’s a bunch of people who have already done that and we get power from them” because that fundamentally alters the flavor of the faith and because I always prefer to have things happening NOW than to have happened sometime in the past. I’d rather have your Seeker cleric potentially being the first to accomplish this. Some might believe that someone HAS unlocked their full divinity in the past—but that if so, they are locked in battle with the Sovereigns and unable to help mortals. The main point is that the Blood of Vol doesn’t have Saints in the sense of people who have died but who are still invoked to provide supernatural assistance. The dead are DEAD. You don’t pray to Malevanor hoping he will grant you favor; you go talk to Malevanor at the Crimson Monastery, because he became Oathbound precisely so he could continue to help Seekers after death.
So, the Blood of Vol doesn’t have saints in the sense of people-who-may-intercede-on-behalf-of-the-living. But BECAUSE dead is dead, the Blood of Vol does believe it’s important to remember the dead and to honor their memory and works. It’s the same way that WE have statues of founders and heroes; we don’t pray to them, but we want to remember them. Gyrnar Shult and Malevanor are two examples of recent people who could have statues honoring their achievements in Atur (a statue of Malevanor as he was in life, not reflecting him as Oathbound!). There could be statues of other great priests, philosophers, or soldiers; even in Atur, Karrns still respect martial prowess and courage.
Any advice how to create compelling religions in homebrew worlds?
Successful religions build community and generally offer hope or provide explanations for the challenges people face in life. The Sovereign Host tells us the Sovereigns are guiding us, that Boldrei brings us together, Aureon’s laws make us stronger, and that the Dark Six can be blamed for all the evil in the world. The Blood of Vol tells us the Sovereigns are to blame for the evil in the world (well, one Seeker sect says this): the gods are against us, life is cruel, and we need to stand together because all we have is one another. The Silver Flame teaches that there are real, concrete forces of evil in the world itself, but that we can overcome them by standing together and channeling the light of the Flame. So again, first and foremost: WHY should someone adopt the faith you’re creating? What questions does it answer? What hope does it offer? What about this faith would cause it to spread and flourish?
How would you explain Eberron to people who believe it is a Grimdark setting because of the multitude of world ending threats posed to it “at the same time?”
The multitude of world ending threats are presented as OPTIONS, but it’s up to the DM to decide which—if any—actually ARE world ending threats. It’s entirely possible that the stars aren’t right—that none of the overlords could be released in the next century, that the daelkyr are securely bound, that the Mourning was a fluke (a Cannith weapon that could only be created during a planar convergence that won’t happen for another five hundred years), that the Kalashtar have the Dreaming Dark situation under control. Part of my general campaign advice is to pick one or at most two of these threats to be factors in your story arc and to kick the others down the road; they all COULD happen right now, but none of them HAVE to.
So in short, it’s as grimdark as you want it to be. It COULD be that everything’s coming to a boiling point right at this moment… and while we’re at it, Lhesh Haruuc and King Boranel could die, Aundair could decide to reclaim Thaliost and the Eldeen Reaches, there could be a civil war in Karrnath, etc, etc… but the general approach of the setting is to present the DM with a lot of options, and for you to decide which will actually be threats TODAY.
Where would you put Penguins in your Eberron?
You’re asking the wrong question. You should have asked “Where WOULDN’T you put Penguins in your Eberron?” Those little %*¥#s are EVERYWHERE. Ok, just kidding. For real, though: they’re in the sewers of Sharn. There was a huge craze when Zil explorers brought them back from Everice, but then people got bored with them and dropped them down the privy, and next thing you know, soiled penguin swarms.
Of course, there’s the other obvious answer, “Silver Flame convents.”
And FINALLY, don’t forget about that time the megafauna penguin burst through the Lamannia manifest zone and laid waste to half of Silver Lake.
That’s all for now. Feel free to discuss these topics in the comments, but I’m afraid I won’t have time to answer questions myself. And again, thanks to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible—follow the link if you want to ask your own questions or get in on my next campaign!
IFAQ: Smalltown Karrnath, Ghallanda Scouts, and Speaking with the Dead!
As time permits, I like to answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s a few more from March!
Canonically, Karrnath has a significant halfling population. How does this affect its culture?
The cultures of the Five Nations are inherently cosmopolitan, woven from a tapestry of different species. Halflings make up a minimum of 4% of the population of all of the Five Nations, and have since the time of Galifar. So first and foremost, keep in mind that the culture of Karrnath as it is defined—a culture of martial discipline and warlords, the undercurrent of the Seekers—were all formed with halflings as part of that tapestry. There are halflings teaching at Rekkenmark and at the Atur Academy. The typical Karrnathi halfling is grim and stoic, and likely served in the military; a Thrane halfling is likely to be devoted to the Silver Flame; an Aundairian halfling may be a flamboyant wandslinger. They’re all halflings, but they’re also Karrns, Thranes, and Aundairians—and they are part of the gestalt that created those cultures to begin with.
With that said, Karrnath does indeed have a higher halfling percentage than most of the Five Nations—twice that of any other nation. So roughly half the halfling population of Karrnath reflects the typical widespread presence of haflings throughout Galifar, halflings who identify culturally as Karrns. But that leaves another 5% of the population. These halflings are concentrated in southeastern Karrnath, along the always loosely-defined border with the Talenta Plains. This region has a tumultous history. Before Galifar, there were times when Karrn warlords subjugated nomad tribes, and there were times when Talenta raiders struck deep into Karrnath. Galifar and modern Karrnath largely brought an end to both extremes, but also established this region as a buffer zone. Some nomad tribes chose to settle in the area, adopting agriculture and swearing fealty to warlords in exchange for protection and support. In the present day, these still exist. These small towns are communities that are almost entirely comprised of halflings, whose people think of themselves as Karrns but still retain some elements of the Talenta faith, speak both Common and Halfling in everyday life, and who may domesticate fastieth, glidewings, or hammertails.
In the wake of the Last War, this region has taken on new significance. The original Eberron Campaign Setting says “… to curb continued aggression from the Valenar elves, Karrnath has established a separate alliance with the halfling clans of the Talenta Plains. This alliance has allowed Karrnathi troops to set up forts in halfling territory for the mutual protection of both nations.” So the buffer zone of halfling communities has existed for centuries, but in the wake of the Last War and this alliance, you have new Talenta tribes choosing to settle in this buffer region and adopting this hybrid lifestyle, as well as nomadic tribes who have shifted their migratory routes to pass through southern Karrnath, taking advantage of the alliance. Essentially, the border between Karrnath and the Talenta Plains is a spectrum whose inhabitants blend the traditions of both cultures. You have halflings who consider themselves Karrns and who are legally Karrnathi citizens, but who still maintain a number of Talenta tradititions (as well as unique traditions that have evolved through the merging of the two cultures)—and you also have nomads who consider themselves Talenta and aren’t Karrnathi citizens, but who are allowed to dwell in southwestern Karrnath due to the current alliance.
So small towns are Karrnathi communities—some of which have been around for centuries—and Karrns of any species are welcome in them. However, the practical fact is that these are mostly small communities, figuratively and literally; they are built by small humanoids for small humanoids. Medium humanoids can usually find shelter in a barn or church, and some villages have a dwarf or human family who may allow medium travelers to stay with them; but overall, these communities are on a smaller scale than the human-built Karrn towns. While many are small in population as well as scale, there are a few small towns of significant size along the Vulyar-Irontown road. The most notable of these is Sorallandan, a town of over ten thousand that has significant outposts of both House Ghallanda and House Jorasco; Sorallandan is a Halfling word meaning “The Hope For Comfort At The End Of A Lengthy Journey.”
Are there halfling warlords in Karrnath, or are these small towns governed by warlords of other species?
It’s a mix. The small towns around Odakyr and Vulyar owe fealty to human warlords, who are content to let the villages follow their own traditions as long as they meet their commitments as vassals. However, there are two domains along the stretch of land between Vulyar and Irontown that are held by halfling warlords. One of these warlord families—the Toralamars—were raised from the small towns centuries ago; Sorallandan is the Toralamar seat, and the family is committed to maintaining the traditions of the towns and ongoing cultural exchange with the Plains. By contrast, the Warlord Asta Vanalan commanded Fort Deepdark during final decade of the Last War, and Kaius recognized her service by granting her dominion over the nearby lands previously ruled by the ir’Jennrei line; while this technically ennobles her, Vanalan rarely employs the ir’ honorific. The Vanalan family has deep roots in Rekkenmark, and Asta is working to impose more traditional Karrnathi culture on the small towns within her domain; this includes an effort to convince Karrns from the west to resettle in the region. As a warlord, Asta has passed the daily duties of command of Deepdark to Brandin ir’Dulinch, but Deepdark remains the seat of her power.
Is there a group of kids in Khorvaire who wear sashes and sell cookies?
The first one that comes to mind are the Ghallanda Scouts. This organization is run by the Hosteler’s Guild of House Ghallanda. The mission of the Ghallanda Scouts is to build confidence and character. The primary focus is on wilderness skills—sharing the Talentan heritage of the house with all who wish to learn. However, it’s also well known for selling cookies, which both helps to raise funds and to hone business skills. Ghallanda Scout programs can be found anywhere where the house has a presence, and all children are welcome to participate; it’s not limited to halflings or Ghallanda heirs. If a character has the Outlander backgrounds, they could have been raised in the wild… or they could be a Sharn native who loved their time in the Ghallanda Scouts; just swap “A trophy from an animal you killed” for “A collection of merit badges.”
How common is the practice of Speak With Dead in the Five Nations?
There’s a few different aspects to this. Speak with dead is a service that exists in Khorvaire; the list of magewrights on page 318 of Rising From The Last War includes a medium who can perform Speak With Dead as a ritual, and elsewhere we mention a member of the Blackened Book—the mystical division of the Sharn Watch—using it as part of an investigation. So it’s a tool that is used in law enforcement, and I’ve previously mentioned it as a tool that would be used in archaeology. With that said, it’s not commonplace in the Five Nations, for a few key reasons.
- It’s difficult and expensive. Third level spells are at the top tied of what’s commonly encountered as “everyday magic” and according to Rising, you’d have to pay a medium 100 gp to perform the ritual.
- It doesn’t actually contact the spirit of the victim. You are drawing on trace memories attached to the corpse; you aren’t drawing their spirit back from Dolurrh. So it’s an effective way to gather information, but it’s not like you can have a normal conversation with your dead grandpa because you miss him.
- It has to be cast on a corpse. Followers of the Silver Flame typically cremate their dead. Vassals bury them and generally don’t look kindly on people digging their relatives up. It’s typically used by investigators before corpses are buried; at the very least, you’re going to have to file some paperwork to get dispensation to dig up a corpse for questioning. Which ties to the fact that…
- The people of the Five Nations don’t like necromancy. It’s not outlawed—and again, speak with dead is definitely used by investigators and archaeologists—but in the Five Nations, people think talking to skulls is CREEPY, and digging up the dead is worse.
So speak with dead exists and is used in the Five Nation, but it’s primarily used as an investigative tool prior to burial or as a scholarly tool on remains that have been recovered. Having said that, let’s talk about the exceptions.
Medium is listed as a magewright specialty. Magewrights have limited spell selection and can only cast spells as rituals, but they can also produce effects that are more dramatic than the standard spells. A magewright medium can certainly perform the standard speak with dead ritual—but a skilled medium can do more than that. In my campaign, a skilled medium can cast speak with dead without access to the corpse, provided they have access to strong emotional anchors—objects that were important to the deceased, and most of all, a living person with a connection to them. This is like a classic seance; it is a slow, lengthy process and the people who are close to the deceased have to actively participate in it.
If the deceased person hasn’t been dead for long, such a ritual may actually be able to reach their spirit in Dolurrh; but remember that spirits in Dolurrh are afflicted with ennui and are constantly losing their memories, so the longer they’ve been dead, the less of them will be left. The spell description notes that “Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive, and the corpse is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer.” In the case of reaching a spirit still in Dolurrh I’d require a skill check on the part of the medium (Arcana or Religion) and a Charisma check on the part of the petitioner—with advantage or disadvantage based on their relationship to the deceased and how long they’ve been dead; a good result on both checks might be able to give a semblance of actually having a conversation with the deceased. Of course, the other side of this is that there are some mediums who are simply charlatans—who use detect thoughts to determine what the petitioner wants to hear, and illusion magic to put on a spookshow.
The Seekers of the Divinity Within—AKA the Blood of Vol—have skilled necromancers and no sentimental attachment to corpses. In some Seeker communities, the skulls of people seen as particularly wise or who possess valuable information will be preserved in a sort of library ossuary, allowing a necromancer to consult them with questions. However, this is just standard speak with dead, not something more dramatic like the spirit idols of Aerenal. Mediums can draw on the trace memories that remain in the skulls, but they aren’t actually speaking to the spirits of the deceased.
Meanwhile, when you go to Aerenal speak with dead is a very common tool—but in Aerenal, spirits of the dead are often preserved in spirit idols that prevent them from the dissolution of Dolurrh. When interacting with a spirit idol, speak with dead allows the caster to have an actual conversation with the deceased spirit; it’s not limited to five questions, and provided the spirit likes the questioner, answers don’t need to be cryptic or short.
That’s all for now! If you’d like to present questions for future articles, join my Patreon—thanks to my patrons for their questions and support! I won’t be answering further questions on this topic, but feel free to discuss these ideas and what you’ve done in your campaign in the comments!
IFAQs: Seeker Crime, Targath, and the Dreaming Dark
October was a chaotic month for many reasons, and I’m also preparing for Pax Unplugged—my first convention in almost two years! As a result I haven’t been able to write much for the last few weeks. There’s an article on The Mockery in the works, but for now I wanted to share a few questions posed by my Patreon supporters last month.
Is there crime in Seeker towns and villages? Since the overall theme of the Blood of Vol seems to be “we only have each other/self-improvement” at it’s most altruistic, I wonder if the usual trigger for crime (lack of resources/access and a submarket growing to fill need) exists in a community that’s living very community minded.
All of the major religions of Eberron encourage strong communities. The Silver Flame encourages people to stand together in the face of supernatural threats, and to try to fight human evil with compassion and by example. The Blood of Vol teaches that we face a hostile universe and cruel gods and all we have is one another. The Sovereign Host urges us to obey Aureon’s laws, while Boldrei binds a community together. But within any community, not everyone will hold to one of these faiths, and even those who do may not live up to the ideals of their faith… or interpret them generously. There are many faiths in our world that encourage compassion and charity; but not everyone who follows those faiths shares their possessions with the poor. And this doesn’t begin to deal with crimes of passion and other unpremeditated crime. Beyond this, there’s the possibility of a Seeker criminal who emphasizes breaking the laws of the land to get the people of their community the things they need; there’s also a practice common in many grifter communities of only targeting outsiders. Everyone knows Joey is a pickpocket, but they also know he only targets tourists and adventurers passing through, so that’s fine; he may even tithe part of his take to the local church.
So I don’t think I’d say “There is no crime in Seeker communities.” Instead, I’d consider how crime might evolve in such a community—IE criminals who are acting in the best interests of the community or targeting outsiders—and also consider the likelihood that as with Karrnath in general, the forces of the law might be especially ruthless in a Seeker community; if you DO choose to prey upon your community, they’ll make a harsh example of you. This would actually be a potential contrast between Seekers and the Silver Flame. The Flame encourages us to show compassion and inspire by example—so you want to show mercy to the criminal and try to guide them to the light. I can see Seekers being considerably more pragmatic; if you prey on your community, you’ve made your choice and will suffer the consequences. The Silver Flame believes that noble souls strengthen the Flame after death, and thus tries to guide people to the light; the Blood of Vol knows this life is all we have and won’t waste time with such notions.
Targath doesn’t get much mention after being floated as a resource for periapts of health, reducing the risk of disease, and as a weapon against deathless in ECS. Since it’s a resource found in Northern Argonnessen do you have any thoughts for ways the dragons, Seren, and dragonborn could make use of targath for both benign purposes and as a weapon?
Targath is an exotic metal introduced in the 3.5 EBerron Campaign setting, along with byreshk, bronzewood, and others. Part of the point of targath is that it’s an exotic metal almost completely unknown in Khorvaire, and mined and used by a civilization that is all but unknown and dramatically more advanced than Khorvaire. in this, it is quite similar to vibranium in the Marvel Universe—a wondrous substance, but one the common people know almost nothing about, encountered in the weapons of champions. Odds are good that only a handful of sages and artificers in Khorvaire have even encountered targath, and those who have only in weapons recovered from remnants of the Dragonborn Empire or Seren champions. The Aereni are familiar with it, but for obvious reasons they would have no reason to encourage knowledge of it or spread it around. Among other things, this makes it a fun “miracle substance” for PC artificers to “discover”—WE know it just as a set of game mechanics, but for the PC artificer it’s a source of unknown potential and an obvious “power component” they could use to create items like a periapt of health. Even the Dragonborn of Q’barra have no traffic with Argonnessen, so their Targath items would be the regalia of champions, handed down over the course of thousands of years. Essentially, the point is that this is one way to concretely identify an item as belonging to the Trothlorsvek; it’s made from a metal unknown on Khorvaire.
Looking to the Serens, the question is whether the metal can be found on the islands, or only on mainland Argonnessen. If it’s on the islands, the Serens may use it in many ways, likely incorporating it into unenchanted decorations and ornaments. This could imbue a general degree of health across their population, even without the full effect of a magic item. The Serens aren’t an advanced culture, so I wouldn’t expect to see a lot of exotic mystical uses, but they may also have items given to them by their draconic patrons. As for the dragons, keep in mind that Targath is like dragonshards: it’s an exotic material that doesn’t exist in our world but that channels a particular form of mystical energy in undefined ways. It’s especially tied to HEALTH, so amulets of health and periapts of wound closure are obvious. But a belt of giant strength, armor of poison resistance, or cloak of protection forged in Argonnessen could all be described as having Targath strands woven through them. Potions of healing from Argonnessen could be identified by the traces of Targath infused into the potion, and it could be this that allows Argonnessen to produce potions of supreme healing, potions of longevity, and elixirs of health.
Ultimately, it’s an exotic substance that allows an alien culture to produce wonders we can’t produce in the Five Nations; you can work it into any sort of magical effect associated with supernatural health.
How suspicious are the major nations of Riedra beyond what you’d usually expect of a nation looking at another nation whose intentions you’re not fully sure of?
Well, let’s compare Aerenal and Riedra. Both are distant nations. Both are isolationist cultures that don’t allow outsiders to freely travel through their lands. Both are older than Galifar and have rigid traditions. Both claim to have leaders who possess divine powers. Keep in mind that aside from its conflict with the Kalashtar, Riedra has never been a conquering power; it arose from the Sundering when the Inspired UNITED the common people to bring an end to the vicious conflict between the warring nations. So again, Riedra is older than Galifar, but has never engaged in any sort of obviously hostile action against Khorvaire. It’s been a reliable trade partner and has helped multiple nations over the course of the war. What reason is there to BE suspicious of it? The people of Khorvaire may find Riedran customs to be strange and oppressive, but overall the RIEDRANS are content; so again, what reason is there to be suspicious of them? And if there IS reason to be suspicious, would those same suspicions be applied to Aerenal? WE know about the Dreaming Dark and Riedran aspirations. But part of the point of the Dreaming Dark is that it can be a disruptive force in Khorvaire without directly employing Riedran agents. if anything, the main reason to BE suspicious of Riedra is that it’s TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE… it’s TOO friendly. Why were they so willing to help out Khorvaire during the war? Why aren’t they interested in spreading their culture or beliefs to Khorvaire? Why don’t they want outsiders roaming unrestricted in their lands?
So on a high level no one is particularly suspicious of either Riedra or Aerenal, because both are isolationist powers that don’t actually seem to WANT anything from Khorvaire. However, there may be INDIVIDUALS—spies, ministers, sages—who have personal suspicions and gut feelings they’re trying to justify. On the other hand, the Dreaming Dark can use dream manipulation to help improve their image. It’s amazing how many people have dreams about helpful, friendly Riedrans…
If the players found a way into Dal Quor, and took the fight to Tirashana (a powerful agent of the Dreaming Dark) in her home plane, where might they find her?
I think the main question is whether she’s expecting company. if so, I’d expect her to build her lair from the nightmares of the adventurers who are pursuing her. Dal Quor is a mutable reality, so her lair could include the childhood home of one of the adventurers, or the prisoner of war camp they were in during the Last War, or the site of a tragic loss. I’d look to the book/movie IT as a possible source of inspiration, in terms of what it means to attack a mistress of nightmares in the seat of her power. Likewise, you might want to read The Gates of Night, which has some general inspiration for adventures in Dal Quor. But the key point is that I would build her lair from the nightmares of the player characters. And to do that, I’d personally ask the players to help shape it. I’d ask THEM to tell me what’s so scary or creepy about a scene—because they know better than you what their character would find terrifying. One of the greatest strengths of RPGs is that they are COLLABORATIVE. Especially when it comes to horror, each player knows better than you what they would find terrifying and entertaining—and likewise, they know better than you the lines they don’t want to cross and the things they DON’T want to experience in a story.
Could describe your ideas for a Quori of Sloth? How would they effect dreamers? What is their position and role in hierarchy of Dreaming Dark?
“Sloth” isn’t quite the right word for a quori. The general idea is that quori specialize in developing and manipulating particular emotions or moods. So the key is that this quori—which I’ll call the Lluora—doesn’t embody sloth itself; rather, it specializes in SAPPING MOTIVATION. Consider all the tools of procrastination—creating distracting tasks or options; causing the mortal to endlessly question their decisions, paralyzing them with self-doubt; causing them to question their end goal; encouraging Whataboutism and “Why bother doing anything when nothing will ever really change?” I don’t think they’d be common. One possibility is that they’d be a sort of jailor, trapping mortals in their own mental prisons and preventing them from ever building up the motivation to escape. Another is that they’d advise kalaraq, suggesting ways to undermine mortal motivation.
So in short, the Lluora is a quori spirit that specializes in creating doubt, undermining self esteem, and similar tools. “Why bother doing anything at all?”
That’s all for now! Thanks again to my Patreon supporters for asking interesting questions and for making these articles possible!
IFAQ: September Lightning Round!
As time permits, I like to answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s a few of the questions that came up this month!
In our world, some fairy tales heroes deal with/encounter undead: Ghosts, wraiths, skeletons, headless horsemen, etc. On the material plane, the hero would encounter them in manifest zones to Dolurrh or Mabar, but how would that story be told in Thelanis? Are there any fey in Thelanis that have to do with undead or necromancy?
First of all, you can find almost anything in Thelanis if it fits a story archetype. There’s a barony in Thelanis with a massive dragon in it, and a barony filled with ghosts. But the key point is that those ghosts were never living mortals, and that dragon likewise isn’t mortal (it’s an archfey!) and has no connection to Argonnessen or the dragons of Eberron. If a ghost story is about a ghost that lingers because of unfinished business, it’s likely tied to Dolurrh. If it’s about an aggressive undead being who consumes life or hope, it’s likely tied to Mabar. If it’s more about the abstract idea—a story that can be found repeated in many cultures, that’s more about the allegory than the specific actions of a historical undead creature—then it could be tied to Thelanis. You can have devils in Fernia, Shavarath, and Daanvi, but they’re very different from one another; likewise, you can have ghosts in Mabar, Dolurrh, or Thelanis, but they’re very different from one another. Thelanian undead aren’t actually the remnants of mortals; they’re the IDEA of remnants of mortals. It’s up to the DM to decide whether these creatures should even be considered to be undead for purposes of magical effects, or if they are in fact fey. personally, I’d probably be inclined to make Thelanian ghosts both undead AND fey; they ARE fey, but they react like you’d expect undead to react, because that’s the story.
Who is Lady Dusk of the Crimson Covenant?
The article on the Crimson Covenant notes that members of the Covenant “guide and protect other Seekers. The Crimson Covenant are the oldest and most powerful of these undead champions, some of whom were guiding the Seekers before Erandis Vol even knew the faith existed. ” It’s also long been noted that Seeker communities donate blood which is kept in barrels of preserving pine to sustain vampire champions. This practice began with Lady Dusk, believed by some to be the first human vampire in Khorvaire. Given her age and the secrecy with which she shrouds herself, few facts are known about her. The most common of these is that she was the daughter of a warlord in the first days of Karrnath; recent scholarly work suggests that she was a member of the House of the Ram, one of the warlord dynasties that would eventually merge into House Deneith. When elf refugees came west fleeing the destruction of the Line of Vol, the lady gave them shelter and fell in love with one of these refugees. When her family decided to exterminate these elves, Lady Dusk fought alongside them. She was executed by her family… but, according to the story, her lover had already shared her blood and Dusk rose as a child of the night.
Ever since then, Lady Dusk has followed the path of the undead champion—acting to guide and protect the Seekers of the Divinity Within. She’s the model of an undead champion of the faith and the reason communities began storing reserves of blood. With that said, this is dangerous work; over the centuries, most of her peers—including her lover—have been destroyed, and Dusk herself has narrowly escaped many times. As such she rarely acts openly; she disguises herself and works from the shadows. If something is threatening a Seeker community, she won’t just charge in with fangs bared; she will try to organize mortal resistance. It’s the idea of teaching someone to fish instead of fishing for them; Lady Dusk is a GUIDE, and those she assists may never know who their mentor was.
What do the Carrion Tribes of the Demon Wastes eat to survive? Do they make use of Shadow Demiplanes for resources in the same way as the Ghaash’kala?
There’s flora and fauna in the Demon Wastes, it’s just highly aggressive and often poisonous or infused with fiendish power. Over many generations the Carrion Tribes have developed resistances to these natural and supernatural toxins, and they can eat things travelers can’t safely eat—though in part because of this diet, members of the Carrion Tribes have a very low life expectancy and their numbers remain relatively low. The Carrion Tribes aren’t as disciplined or well equipped as the Ghaash’kala and also rarely retain institutional knowledge; for all of these reasons, they don’t harness demiplanes as effectively as the Ghaash’kala. Essentially, there’s lots of things you can eat in the Demon Wastes, if you don’t mind hosting infernal parasites, shortening your lifespan and suffering hallucinations and severe mood swings; for the Carrion Tribes, that’s just a typical Tuesday.
How do you imagine the curriculum at Arcanix to be? Is the goal of classes specifically to teach how to cast spells in a practical manner, in which case I’d imagine most courses don’t go beyond the Third Circle, or are there classes in which the theory of higher level magic is studied even if the spell can’t be cast by the students? Accompanying this, I’m curious if there’s a presence by Wizard Circles in Arcanix similar to companies at universities trying to recruit talent near graduation.
The Strixhaven book coming out in a month is sure to have lots of suggestions about this topic, so I’m somewhat loathe to discuss it now. But first of all, arcane magic is a form of science, so to begin with, consider how any form of science is taught. You’re going to have base entry-level classes that teach the principles of Arcana along with the basics of arcane science and history. These will advance into practical magic, from there into study of specific schools of magic, from there into specialized topics within that field. Most students of Arcanix don’t become wizards, and there are some who can cast perform ritual magic that’s beyond the Third Circle, just more limited than what a wizard can do; so yes, there are definitely classes dealing with magical THEORY that goes beyond the practical limits of 3rd level spells. Keep in mind that Arcanix is always driving students to push beyond the limits of what’s currently possible; Third Circle may be the practical limit of everyday magic TODAY, but the students of Arcanix intend to change that.
Many of the students of Arcanix will never cast spells as a wizard or sorcerer does. However, Aundair has the highest percentage of wandslingers and war wizards in the Five Nations. Thus you have the War College within Arcanix, which focuses on practical battlefield magic. It’s here that you will get direct training in combat cantrips, arcane sparring, drills to hone concentration, and so on, along with classes in tactics and strategy.
Meanwhile, wizard circles aren’t COMPANIES. The equivalent to companies would be the dragonmarked houses or the Arcane Congress, both of which do send recruiters to Arcanix. But wizard circles are essentially fraternities; they don’t simply have recruiters at Arcanix, they have CHAPTERS at Arcanix.
How do the magic tattoos from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything fit into Eberron?
Like all magic items, magical tattoos are a set of mechanics, which can be flavored very differently based on the story and cosmetic elements associated with them. There’s no single form of magic tattoo or single culture associated with them; instead, there are a number of different forms of magical tattooing. Sigilry is the field of arcane science that is used to create scrolls, and master sigilists can create magical tattoos infused with arcane power. On Khorvaire, the Mark of Scribing has given Sivis the edge in creating magical tattoos, but Thuranni and Phiarlan also have a limited tradition of arcane tattoos. But magical tattoos can also be created using divine magic—such as the couatl tattoos of the Ghaash’kala, which I mentioned in a recent article. Such tattoos are in part empowered by the faith of the bearer and can usually only be attuned by a person who shares the faith of the creator. There’s also a primal tradition of tattooing, employed by the shifters of the Towering Wood; Races of Eberron discusses these tattoos, which shift in appearance when the bearer activates their shifting trait. So it’s the same way that many different cultures use wands, but the design of the wand and the powers channeled will vary based on the culture and their magical tradition.
What do the Valaes Tairn do when they aren’t fighting? Would there be a reason for a group of warriors to be in Sharn besides looking for an artifact of some kind?
What they do when not fighting depends on their patron ancestor. Tairnadal seek to emulate their patrons at all times, not just in battle; so what was their patrons known for? Were they explorers? Entertainers? Arcane researchers? With that said, as long as it doesn’t directly oppose what their patrons would do, Tairnadal can also pursue their own interests when there’s no clearly mandated path. So a group of Tairnadal in Sharn could be looking for work; they could be tourists passing the time between mercenary assignments; they could be pursuing a rogue Tairnadal who betrayed their warband; they could be following the example of their patron. There were grand cities in Xen’drik at the time of the elven rebellion; perhaps their patron was known for protecting the innocent in the shadows of the greatest city of the age. The Tairnadal have identified Sharn as the closest equivalent and are fighting crime in Lower Dura!
That’s all for now! If you have an infrequently asked question, I’ll be taking another round soon on my Patreon!
IFAQ: Kaius and Lady Illmarrow
In my previous article, I answered questions my patrons posed about the Blood of Vol. In response to that, one of my patrons asked a question that had deeper roots reflected the changes to the setting over the course of three editions of D&D.
Could you please clarify the historical relationship between the vampiric Kaius, the Blood of Vol, and Erandis/Illmarrow under your current conception of their lore?
One of the most infamous “secrets” from the original Eberron Campaign Setting is that Kaius ir’Wynarn III, the King of Karrnath, is actually Kaius I—that he was transformed into a vampire by Erandis Vol and replaced his descendant. I say “secret” because this information was included in the basic description of Karrnath in the book, and because there have been images and miniatures of Kaius the Vampire… so while it was supposed to be a secret in the WORLD, most PLAYERS were aware of it. In describing this, the ECS says…
When the Last War was in full swing, Kaius I was approached by priests of the Blood of Vol. These priests promised to aid Karrnath against its enemies, provided Kaius agreed to a few minor considerations… First, the priests worked with Kaius’s own court wizards to perfect the process for creating zombie and skeleton troops to bolster Karrnath’s forces… Second, the priests provided an elite fighting force dedicated to both Vol and Kaius—the Order of the Emerald Claw.
That was in the ECS, the first Eberron book ever written. Over the course of fifteen years, the concept of the Blood of Vol, Erandis Vol, Lady Illmarrow, and the Order of the Emerald Claw all evolved. Lady Illmarrow is a spider who has agents spread among the Seekers—including priests and members of the Crimson Covenant—but the faith doesn’t serve her personally. Likewise, it has been established that the Order of the Emerald Claw was just ONE of the Seeker chivalric orders, but not the only one. So for a more detailed breakdown of the timeline as I personally run it…
- Early in the war, plagues and famines wreak havoc in Karrnath. Priests of the Blood of Vol — possibly including Malevanor’s predecessor Askalor, or even a young and still living Malevanor — approach Kaius and propose an alliance between the Seekers and the crown, offering necromantic advancements and undead troops in exchange for elevating and celebrating the faith and developing the chivalric orders.
- The Seekers celebrate this alliance and the common people grudgingly accept it. Over the course of decades, Seeker priests and necromancers work to find ways to enhance Karrnath’s military might through necromancy. This includes widespread use of common undead troops with their bone knight commanders, the development of the Seeker orders, and the perfection of the Odakyr Rites, creating the Karrnathi undead.
- This continues until the Regent Moranna turns against the Blood of Vol, disbands the orders, and breaks ties between the faith and the crown. When Kaius III rises to power, he blames Karrnath’s troubles—including the plagues and famines that originally set the alliance in motion—on the Seekers, a populist strategy that salvages Karrnathi pride and seeks to solidify support behind Kaius; this is important because not all of the warlords support his desire for peace.
This all public-facing, well documented fact. What is NOT publicly known is what happened to Kaius I and the role of Lady Illmarrow. One of the intentional choices we made when writing Eberron Rising From The Last War was to leave the ultimate truth about this up to the DM. Specifically, Rising includes a newspaper article that says Maybe Kaius is a Vampire… Or maybe he isn’t! This is tied to an in-world conspiracy theory I personally subscribe to, but I’ll get back to that later. So the main point is that what I’m about to say isn’t a spoiler, because IT MAY NOT BE TRUE IN THE CAMPAIGN YOU ARE PLAYING IN, reader. But with the assumption that Kaius I is a vampire…
Long before the Last War, Lady Illmarrow worked to spread agents throughout the Seekers. She gained power over priests and even placed a number of her own loyal servants within the Crimson Covenant. While useful, this influence was limited by the fact that the Seekers had little political influence and no organized military; there was no equivalent to the Order of the Emerald Claw for her to use. As the Last War began, she used her influence with her Seeker agents to promote the idea of the alliance with the Crown. It’s worth noting that it is entirely possible that ILLMARROW is responsible for some of the plagues and famines, creating a situation where Kaius needed the alliance. Regardless of whether this is true, the priests who approached Kaius I largely did so in good faith, truly believing that their actions would benefit both their country and their faith—while Illmarrow’s loyalists made sure to include the idea of the Seeker chivalric orders. In the decades that followed, the elevation of the Seekers and their integration into the military served Illmarrow’s agenda in a number of different ways. Her agents within the Seekers gained more broad influence in the nation. She gained greater access to the Karrnathi military (remember, not all the members of the modern Emerald Claw are Seekers—many are just Karrnathi veterans and patriots!). She had access to the arcane resources of Karrnath to help her develop necromantic weapons. And with the development of the chivalric orders, she was able to build the core of a force that could serve as her personal strike force—the Order of the Emerald Claw.
Next, the ECS tells us this:
When Vol, the ancient lich at the heart of the Blood of Vol cult, appeared before Kaius to collect her “considerations” for the aid her priests provided him, he had no choice but to submit. In addition to allowing the cult to establish temples and bases throughout Karrnath, Vol demanded that Kaius partake in the Sacrament of Blood. Instead of the usual ceremony, Vol invoked an ancient incantation that turned Kaius into a vampire. Instead of becoming a compliant thrall, however, Kaius fought to keep his independence. Furious that the vampire refused to be humbled, Vol eventually forced the issue by triggering Kaius’s blood lust (something he had been struggling to control). When the crimson haze cleared, Kaius discovered that he had killed his beloved wife.
Even with the many changes over the years, in my campaign the basic idea of this is the same. As the price of the continued Seeker alliance—something Illmarrow could control through her agents—Kaius was forced to become a vampire. This should have made him a thrall forced to do Illmarrow’s bidding, but somehow he was able to resist her control… though not before killing his wife. We know that what happened next is that he went into hiding. There’s likely two reasons for this: the first being that the world wasn’t (and still isn’t) ready to put a vampire on the throne of Galifar, and the second being that whatever allowed him to resist Illmarrow’s control wasn’t reliable; he had to go into hiding until he found a way to protect himself from her influence. The ECS tells us “Now, after eighty years of hiding and secretly working to break all ties with the Blood of Vol, Kaius has returned to govern his nation. He has taken the place of his great grandson, pretending to be Kaius III.” Looking back to the public-facing facts, it is at this time that Karrnath breaks ties with the Seekers and disbands the chivalric orders. It’s up to you how far this goes; as I say above, in my campaign Kaius III is now using the faith as a straw man to build support. Regardless of whether you follow that path, Kaius III has taken an anti-Seeker stance and opposes Illmarrow, while Illmarrow has reformed the Order of the Emerald Claw as her personal army, including both original Seeker members and Karrnathi fanatics who believe she will return Karrnath to greatness (unlike peace-loving Kaius III).
The question that remains is who is Kaius III? It is possible that he’s Kaius I the vampire pretending to be Kaius III. I personally like the theory that he’s Kaius III pretending to be Kaius I pretending to be Kaius III—that the reason Illmarrow can’t control him is because he’s NOT really Kaius I, but rather Kaius I is remaining in hiding and working through K3 until they can find a way to break Illmarrow’s hold over him. This ties to the next question, which is assuming K1 is a vampire, what IS Illmarrow’s hold over him? The ECS account implies that Erandis used a ritual to turn K1 into a vampire. *I* prefer the idea that she turned him the old fashioned way—that one of her top vampire lieutenants sired Kaius, and that it is actually that lieutenant who can control Kaius, using the standard bond between sire and spawn. One of the main reasons I prefer this is because it means killing that vampire is the key to breaking Illmarrow’s hold over Kaius, and that’s a story adventurers could get involved in.
If you follow the original narrative in which Kaius I is a vampire who replaces Kaius III, what to you think he did in all the years between disappearing and becoming Kaius III? It is almost 100 years for a ex-king vampire probably with none or few allies.
First of all, I COMPLETELY disagree with the idea that Kaius I had “no or few allies.” He didn’t just run away. His disappearance would have been very carefully planned. To my knowledge the exact circumstances have never been described, but I expect that he faked his own death, used cosmetic transmutation to enact a long term disguise, and then went into hiding among a carefully established network of supporters. For the sake of absolute secrecy it’s quite likely that many of the people sheltering him didn’t know who he was, but they would know that he was a loyal servant of the former king. He would have retained contact with followers with influence in court, and in MY Eberron he was certainly continuing to manipulate events in Karrnath from hiding, offering guidance to generals and nobles who remained loyal to him and likely dealing with political rivals from the shadows. Ultimately, this culminated with his working closely with Moranna to plan the Regency and his return. Again, aside from Moranna many of the people he worked with may not have had known exactly who they were dealing with, but they certainly respected and valued his advice.
Beyond that, one of the most important things he was doing was learning everything he could about vampires. He was surely working to master his own abilities, but also to understand his weaknesses and particularly to understand the methods Illmarrow could use to control him and what he could do to block them. In this, I expect that he was working closely with Seekers. Remember that Kaius has been called out as having a loyal cabal of Seeker followers who, among other things, provide him with blood. Part of the idea is that even though Kaius PUBLICLY denounces the Seekers—because it’s politically expedient to do so—he maintains ties with a devoted sect OF Seekers. Why would they follow him? Because they recognize that Illmarrow holds a poisonous influence within their faith and that Kaius opposes her—they believe that in the long term, Kaius WILL help the Seekers. Time will tell if they are correct.
But to the short form, I believe that the vampire Kaius I was always pursuing his return, which required him to learn more about the nature of vampires and to manipulate events from the shadows. He built alliances, destroyed enemies, and studied the nature of the undead.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
All this may be fun for folks who like quibbling over inconsistencies in canon sources, but as a DM or player, why does any of this matter to you? Here’s the key breakdown.
- The Order of the Emerald Claw is a force that is directly loyal to Lady Illmarrow. Its forces include Seekers with elite military training—bone knights, battlefield necromancers—as well as Karrnathi veterans who aren’t Seekers but who are fanatically devoted to Illmarrow.
- While there are still necromantic forces integrated into the Karrnathi military—non-Seeker Karrns learned necromancy during the time of the alliance—a significant portion of this strength was lost when the crown broke ties with the Seekers. The bulk of the Karrnathi undead were sealed in subterranean vaults, and some of the warlords are afraid that they cannot be trusted.
- As a Karrnathi Seeker, you may have to deal with hatred from your own people, who have been encouraged to blame the Seekers for all of Karrnath’s woes. Some Seekers are angry about this and have turned against the Crown, and it’s many of these Seekers who support the Emerald Claw. However, other Seekers are still devoted to Karrnath and trust that this time will pass.
- Kaius III opposes Lady Illmarrow and the Emerald Claw. It may be that Kaius is a vampire who has found a way to resist her control; that he isn’t a vampire at all; or that he is actively carrying out a plan to break her power (IE destroying his sire). Illmarrow seeks to undermine Kaius; her loyalists in the Emerald Claw accuse him of being weak, of robbing Karrnath of its rightful victory by pursuing peace, and so on.
- It also ties to the most basic question of whether Kaius is a potential ally or whether he’s a dangerous enemy. If adventurers oppose Lady Illmarrow, Kaius could be a powerful friend. On the other hand, while he may want a peaceful solution, in my opinion Kaius still wants to rule Galifar; remember that if he is the vampire Kaius I, he’s one of the five rulers who STARTED the Last War. I believe that he pursues peace because he doesn’t feel Karrnath can win and reunite Galifar through force, at least for now. But in my opinion he is a ruthless man and a brilliant strategist who has been scheming for a year. He may be the enemy of your enemy if you’re opposing Illmarrow, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have sinister plans of his own… it’s just that where Aurala is willing to restart the Last War, I think Kaius is searching for a different path to the throne of Galifar.
As a Karrnathi Seeker player character, an important question is whether you are angry at Kaius III for turning on your faith (and if so, if you actually have a positive opinion of the Order of the Emerald Claw); whether you simply have no opinion; or whether you are actually loyal to your king in spite of this betrayal. If you choose the latter approach, one option is that you are actually part of the king’s inner circle (even if only at the lowest level)—that you are sworn to help him find a way to break Lady Illmarrow’s poisonous influence within the faith.
As an example of this: In a campaign I ran, a player created a paladin of the Blood of Vol. His backstory was that his parents were members of a Seeker chivalric order and were killed when Moranna turned on the faith. As a child, the PC was taken in and raised by Lady Illmarrow, taught to harness his powers and led to believe that Kaius III betrayed his faith and was responsible for the death of his parents. As a PC, his initial arc was to build his power and gain allies to help him bring down Kaius III. That was the PC’s goal, but what the PLAYER knew from the start was that his character was a dupe and that Kaius III wasn’t truly guilty. His whole idea was that, assuming he succeeded in killed Kaius, it would through Karrnath into chaos and the PC would realize Illmarrow had lied—that the SECOND arc of his story would be undoing the damage he’d done and bring down Lady Illmarrow. We never actually reached that second arc in the campaign, but I appreciated the idea—that he KNEW his character’s goal was something foolish that would have disastrous consequences, but that his long-term character arc would be cleaning up that mess. And in this story you can see something I talked about in the previous article—that it may be that any number of Illmarrow’s agents serve her because they believe she has the best interests of the Seekers or of Karrnath at heart, and that if they discover absolute proof that this is not the case, they could turn against her.
You used to talk about Erandis Vol as quite a sympathetic character, murdered and robbed of her birthright while still a teenager, but your presentation of “Lady Illmarrow” is quite different; she seems more unambiguously evil.
There’s a few important elements here. From the very beginning Erandis Vol was intended to be one of the major antagonists of the setting. Eberron draws on Pulp and Noir themes, and Erandis and the Emerald Claw were always intended to weigh on the pulp side of that spectrum. They’re the Nazis in an Indiana Jones movie, Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, COBRA in GI Joe. What I’ve always said is that the Emerald Claw are the villains adventurers can always feel good about opposing: you never need to stop and say “I wonder if we should actually let the Nazis have the Ark of the Covenant” or “Maybe COBRA has some good points.” The SEEKERS have a far greater degree of moral complexity and depth of story, and SEEKERS can be allies or enemies. But Erandis and the Emerald Claw are supposed to be some of the most reliable, straightforward villains you can encounter in the world.
Having said that: I see Erandis as a TRAGIC character, and I always have. I LIKE villains to have depth and motivations we can understand. Erandis has endured horrors and carries an enormous burden. I can understand why she commits atrocities. But the key point there is that she commits atrocities. We may feel sympathy for her loss, we may understand her drive to reclaim her birthright, but the simple fact is that she will destroy nations and slaughter countless innocents in pursuit of that goal. She’s a tragic villain, but the key word there is VILLAIN.
The second important point here is that the people who work for her DON’T KNOW HER TRAGEDY. And that’s what underlies this question and WHY we introduced the identity of Lady Illmarrow. Erandis Vol is the woman murdered as an adolescent, who saw her entire bloodline unjustly eradicated because of a mark she bears on her skin but cannot use, who cannot even choose oblivion but is bound to an eternity to contemplate her failings and the stolen legacy of her line. It is Erandis who must hide her name and nature lest the forces that eradicated everyone she cares about come after her again. She CAN’T share her burden. She can’t even declare her name with pride lest she bring down ruin on all she has accomplished. And thus, she created Lady Illmarrow, a Grim Lord who has risen to power among the Bloodsails entirely on her own merits, unburdened by ancient tragedy. Lady Illmarrow is infamous not for the deeds of her family, but for her own deeds and power. She is respected and feared by her minions, even those who have no knowledge of her true past and potential.
It could well be that Erandis uses Illmarrow to channel her darkest impulses and to be the ruthless tyrant she needs to be to achieve her destiny, while Erandis remains the murdered adolescent still mourning her family. She’s been alive for thousands of years and has suffered through immense tragedy; it could well be that Illmarrow is in some ways an independent persona, that the mask Erandis created has taken on a life of its own and in this way allows the core of Erandis to retain some innocence. However, the ultimate point is that whether she’s Erandis or Illmarrow, she is a dangerous villain who will break the world if it allows her to achieve her goals.
If Erandis Vol wants to die (“she cannot choose oblivion”) why doesn’t she just reveal her presence to the Deathguard and let them destroy her?
First of all, just because Erandis may hate her existence doesn’t mean that she wants the DEATHGUARD to end it. The Undying Court destroyed her entire bloodline and she is all that’s left of their legacy. If she was to be destroyed without mastering her mark, all of that would be for nothing. And she will NOT allow the Undying Court to win this struggle.
Second: the Deathguard can’t destroy her. Since Rising From The Last War, it is canon that the elocation of Erandis’s phylactery is unknown; if her body is destroyed, she will reform in a random location hundreds of miles away. So the Deathguard can’t grant her oblivion. What it CAN do is slaughter all her allies, steal or destroy all the relics she’s gathered, and ruin all the plans she’s carefully built up over centuries. The danger they pose isn’t to her personally, but rather to everything she has managed to accomplish. Imagine you’d spent 800 years building up a plan; would you want a bunch of $&%* paladins to suddenly drop in, destroy everything, and leave you in a new body hundreds of miles away having to spend centuries to rebuild everything you’ve lost?
I’ve written a number of articles that are quite relevant to this topic, so for people who HAVEN’T been reading this blog for years, here’s a few you might want to check out.
IFAQ: Mummies and the Blood of Vol
That’s all for now. Thanks to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible!