Tag Archives: iFAQ

Shorter articles about specific questions posed by Keith’s patrons

IFAQ: Selling The Sovereigns

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We’ve got a few important announcements this week—if you want to be sure to catch them, sign up for the Twogether Studios newsletter! Beyond that, as time permits I like to answer questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s one from this month…

How do you make the Sovereign Host feel like the predominant faith for a large portion of Khorvaire and thus a major part of the world? It often feels like they end up overshadowed by other faiths.

Previous, I’ve said this about the Sovereign Host.

The Sovereign Host is deeply ingrained into daily life in the Five Nations. Even if you don’t BELIEVE in the Sovereigns, you know the names and basic attributes of the Nine and Six. Likewise, everyone knows the basic story that in the dawn of time the world was ruled by demons; that the Sovereigns fought them; and that the demons were bound.

The broad idea is that the Sovereign faith is omnipresent in the Five Nations; that even if you don’t follow the faith, you can feel its impact throughout the nation. And yet, it’s also a more casual faith than the Church of the Silver Flame, lacking the monolithic structure or the militant mission of the templars. The Blood of Vol draws attention because it’s feared and misunderstood; the Path of Light is exciting because it’s locked in conflict with the Dreaming Dark. Set against these more dramatic stories, how can a DM make the Sovereigns feel like the dominant faith in the Five Nations?

One of the defining features of the Vassal faith is that the Sovereigns are always with us, always ready to offer guidance or inspiration; you just have to ask. You don’t have to go to a temple; you can always just say Aureon, guide me. While this can be done with deep devotion, it’s also something that should just come out constantly in casual, everyday speech… which is to say, Vassals swear by the Sovereigns all the time. Try dropping some of these into NPC conversation.

  • Sovereigns and Six! A good general expression of astonishment. Sovereigns and Six, have you ever seen such a mess?
  • Aureon’s Eyes! Essentially, How did you miss this or you should have known better. “Aureon’s Book” is slightly more positive; Are you ready for the exam, Kel? Aureon’s Book, I hope so.
  • Dorn’s Strength! This can be a positive invocation, something a warrior says as they draw their blade or an athlete says as they enter the ring. Or it can be an expression of long-suffering frustration… Dorn’s strength, Kel’s coming over here.
  • Olladra Smiles. A general acknowledgement of good fortune. Can be sincere, or said to someone else as a snarky anyone can get lucky. Olladra scowls is a general expression of bad luck,while Olladra cries or Olladra’s tears is usually a sarcastic “Ooooh, poor baby” when someone complains about misfortune.

These are just a few examples. Arrah’s Light, Onatar’s Hammer, Korran’s Purse. In one of my novels, a Brelish ambassador says Boldrei’s bloody feet! as an expression of frustration. Again, everyone knows the names and roles of the Sovereigns; this sort of swearing is a simple cultural touchstone. Beyond this, it’s common for people to call on the Sovereigns for casual blessings, and this is a friendly act. Boldrei’s blessings, my friends! is a common greeting from any innkeeper, while a teacher may start their lesson with Aureon, be with us now.

This is also reflected in places and shops. Just looking to Sharn, Olladra’s Kitchen, Boldrei’s Hearth, Korran-Thiven and The Korranath are all districts. Olladra’s Arms is an inn, Boldrei’s Tears sells potions, the Grand Hall of Aureon and the Korranath itself are temples. Need a name for a random business? (Sovereign’s) (Tool) is an easy option… get your sword at Onatar’s Forge or pick up a pastry at Arawai’s Bounty.

This ties to the general idea of shrines and monuments. This article talks about how the Sovereigns may be depicted in artwork—whether as dragons, using their symbols, or blended with images of beloved historical figures. Sovereign monuments and shrines can be found all over the place. A shrine can be any place where people feel the Sovereigns are present. Farming communities in northern Breland (and Cyre before it fell) often have blessing trees, a large centrally located tree that serves as a shrine to Arawai and Boldrei; people will hang small offerings in the branches of the tree, especially as thanks for a good harvest or the birth of a child. Adventurers could find a shrine to Dol Arrah and Dol Dorn that’s a literal sword in a stone; the village founder embedded the sword in quickstone, saying the Sovereigns will grant their strength and the blade to a champion if the village is ever in need. In Sharn, the gnome Daca sits atop a densewood pillar and shouts advice to those below; this is seen as a blessed shrine of Boldrei. Basically, anywhere adventurers go, they could bump into a Sovereign shrine or icon.

Perhaps you want something that more actively evokes the Sovereigns? How about Holidays? Both Sharn: City of Towers and Rising From The Last War provide a list of common holidays observed in the Five Nations, and most are associated with the Sovereigns or Six. These can add a lot of color to the background of a story. If it’s early Nymm, then everyone’s getting ready for Brightblade, the festival of Dol Dorn. If you’re in Sharn, you can be sure that mercenaries and adventurers are coming to town, ready for the prizefights and the Cornerstone contest of champions. People may be practicing archery or wrestling, and tavern brawls are likely to shoot way up due to the competitive spirit in the air. As Barrakas approaches, people will start talking about what beast will be brought in for The Hunt, and people may plan their own smaller hunts. Wildnight can be wondrous or dangerous, while the nights of Long Shadows are a time that even adventurers may want to stay in and join their friends around the fire. These can be background events, or they can form the basis of an entire adventure. Do you participate in the Contest of Champions on Brightblade? Does a patron hire you to capture a wondrous monstrosity and transport it to Sharn for The Hunt? You could even have an adventure that focuses on the stories you tell on the nights of Long Shadows, and the old ghosts that are stirring.

Another way to remind people of the Sovereigns is through magic items. The Vassal faith is the dominant faith of the Five Nations, and this may be reflected in their tools. Even if it’s made using arcane science, a sentinel’s shield may bear the Sun of Dol Arrah, while a good luck stone might be a domino imbued with Olladra’s blessing. Looking to more powerful items—legendaries and artifacts—you could have items that are tied directly to the Sovereigns in some way. Dol Dorn’s sword was famously shattered. An Aurum concordian could have found proof that nine legendary weapons were made from the fragments of Dol Dorn’s blade and be determined to recover them all; while each weapon is powerful on its own, can the fragments be reassembled to recreate Dol Dorn’s sword? Before people say but I thought there was no proof the Sovereigns existed, this is a common misunderstanding. It’s provable fact that the myths of the Sovereigns are based on the deeds of champions (possibly dragons) who fought the fiends in the Age of Demons, but at that point in time they were mortal champions. The myth is that they ascended to become the omnipresent Sovereigns after defeating the overlords, and THAT’S the part that can’t be proven. As a Sovereign, Dol Dorn has no use for a sword; he is present anywhere a blade is drawn. But he HAD a sword back when he was a mortal champion fighting demons.

In conclusion, if you want to make the Sovereign faith feel widespread, the key is to show how it IS a part of everyday life—in common speech, in place names, in widespread shrines, in festivals.

Wait, DOES everyone accept that there were mortal champions who inspired the Sovereign myths? And how do immortals play into this—don’t some immortals revere the Sovereigns?

Hmm. Let me reframe that. What I meant to say is this. It’s a provable fact that there were mortals whose names and deeds are very similar to the myths of the Sovereigns. This is NOT common knowledge; what’s common knowledge is the myths of the Sovereigns. But there is testimony from dragons, ancient giant records, and most notably, testimony from immortals that prove the existence of beings like the dragon Ourelonastrix. My point was that the fact that these historical figures can be proven to have existed doesn’t prove the existence of the Sovereigns, one way or the other. A few factors…

  • The core myth is that the Sovereigns defeated the demons and then ascended to serve as immortal guardians. The existence of mortal champions doesn’t prove ascension.
  • Most likely the Sovereign myths and relics came from multiple champions. We have a myth about Dol Dorn’s sword being shattered and we may have pieces of Dol Dorn’s shattered sword. But a dragon wouldn’t need a sword. So, was there also a titan or a giant who inspired myths of Dol Dorn? Were they involved in the Age of Demons or did they come later?
  • Tied to the above, many scholars will argue that there’s not proof that those oldest known champions became the Sovereigns as opposed to being early servants of the Sovereigns. THe key example here is Ourelonastrix, the first Loredrake. A skeptical scholar could easily say the Draconic word ‘strix’ means ‘invigorate.’ So ‘Ourelonastrix’ means ‘He who is invigorated by Aureon‘—clearly, one of the first priests of the Sovereign.

OK, but what about the immortals? There are immortals who worship the Sovereigns, right? Doesn’t that prove they exist? Well, here’s a key quote from Exploring Eberron…

When priests of the Sovereign Host cast spells such as commune or planar ally, they usually interact with celestials from the planes. Typically, this is a celestial that embodies the same concept as the Sovereign in question; when a Vassal priest casts conjure celestial in Dol Arrah’s name, a warlike angel may come from Shavarath. When a celestial speaks the name of a Sovereign, listeners will hear the name they are most familiar with, whether that’s Balinor, Baalkan, or Bally-Nur. As such, some scholars assert that it’s slightly unclear if a summoned angel serves “Dol Arrah,” or if it instead serves “Honor in War” and it’s just being translated as Dol Arrah. If asked such a pedantic question, both the angel and a devout Vassal might simply respond with, “What’s the difference? Dol Arrah is honor in war.”

Well, OK, but Exploring Eberron also says “The Librarian of Dolurrh may mention the time Aureon came to borrow a book—but that was almost a hundred thousand years ago.” In this case, the Librarian is talking about a mortal champion who embodied Aureon. But here again, part of the point is that immortals don’t get too hung up on the details. If Jaela Daran came to the Librarian, they’d likely say “I spoke to the Silver Flame today.” The Librarian spoke to a being who was the essence of Law and Lore. The distinction of whether they WERE the pre-ascended Sovereign or whether they were simply a mortal channeling the power of the Sovereign—a mighty cleric or priest—is irrelevant.

So, there were mortal champions who inspired myths and left relics behind. There are immortals who honor the Sovereigns. But the Sovereigns themselves do not manifest as physical entities, and the existence of immortals who honor them or mortals who resemble them doesn’t tell us whether they are, in fact, guiding us in this very moment.

One More Option…

I’ve suggested that the way to suggest the presence of the Sovereigns is to have people use their names and to highlight their festivals. But there’s another option, which is to suggest the presence of the Sovereigns. I wouldn’t do this casually, but let’s imagine that an adventurer—not a paladin or cleric, just whoever—is facing a demon in an epic fight that could have grave consequences for their nation. They have been paralyzed by hold person and they are about to make their next saving throw, and they may die if they fail it. I might ask them—you were raised a Vassal, right? Do you ask Dol Arrah to aid you? If they say they will, I might follow up—what do you offer? What is your vow or your sacrifice? If they give a compelling answer, well, perhaps the save will succeed on its own; if not, maybe I’ll give them a second chance or just say it succeeds. Either way… will they fulfill their vow? DID they get help from Dol Arrah, or did they just concentrate their will with such determination that THEY broke the spell? Or, perhaps did something else give them aid? In this article I talk about the fact that Divine magic should be mysterious—part of what differentiates it from Arcane magic is that it’s not scientific. I wouldn’t want to ever say “If you say a prayer to Dol Dorn at the start of combat you get a +1 Initiative.” But maybe, if it really matters, if you need it to succeed, and your character calls on a greater power—whether it’s a Sovereign, the Flame, their own divine spark—maybe it will answer. I definitely wouldn’t suggest this as a standard rule or something players could or should ever rely on… but as a DM, if you want your players to wonder if the Sovereigns are with them, you might want to occasionally give them reason to believe that they are.

As this is an IFAQ I won’t be answering questions on this topic, but please share your own thoughts or ways you’ve used the Sovereigns! And thanks to my Patrons for making these articles possible.

IFAQ: Dullahans in Eberron

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It’s been a busy month and I haven’t had a lot of time to write, in part because I’ve been making games like Cool Cool Cool, currently in its final day on Kickstarter! However, every month I answer questions from my patrons on Patreon, and I wanted to address two of those at once!

Are there any unique undead to specific cultures, or undead that show up in certain species more than others? How do dullahans fit into Eberron?

Rather than creating entirely unique undead, I tend to add regional flavor to existing creatures. Consider the ruins of Shadukar, a Thrane city set ablaze by Karrnath during the Last War, abandoned ever since due to the infestation of restless dead. Shadukar remains under an eternal haze of smoke and ash that refuses to disperse. Those who’ve entered the ruins and survive talk of smoke ghosts, moaning figures formed from soot and the scent of burnt flesh who seek to draw the heat from living creatures… and the charred, blackened bones still cloaked in a faint, smoky outline of the flesh they once wore. The practical fact is that these are just shadows and skeletons, though I add the details that smoke ghosts aren’t resistant to fire; their fiery demise is still seared into their memory, and a torch is a good way to drive off these lingering dead.

In dealing with undead, the first question I want to answer is why does this creature exist? There’s two basic paths here—Spontaneous undead and Intentional undead.

Intentional Undead are created by a sentient entity, whether that’s mortal necromancers or immortal beings. Lady Illmarrow, Katashka the Gatekeeper, the Bone King of Mabar, the long-dead Qabalrin elves of Xen’drik. Sentient undead are created for a purpose, and you should get a sense of that—the signature of the creator. Notably, Katahska the Gatekeeper delights in mortal FEAR of death and the undead, so its creations are intentionally grotesque and designed to provoke terror; while the Qabalrin sought solely to overcome death through undead. Thus, Qabalrin vampires are elegant and subtle, draining blood with delicate fangs that leave barely-visible wounds… while a vampire of Katahska uses a writhing wormlike proboscis that leaves hideous wounds, and the feeding is horrifying for both victim and observers. The Katashka vampire is supposed to provoke terror; that’s part of its purpose.

Spontaneous Undead are generally created due to an intersection of planar energies and emotion. Mabaran undead are driven to consume life force in some form (whether as blood, raw energy, or something else); they are typically hungry. Dolurrhi undead are the more traditional restless dead driven by unfinished business or an emotional anchor, something I discussed in more depth earlier this month with haunts. Mabaran undead are often monstrous, as they are hungry manifestations of entropy and despair, while Dolurrhi undead will usually display some hint of their anchors in their appearance.

So with this in mind, let’s consider the dullahan—the headless horseman. In standard 5E lore, dullahans are “the remains of villains who let vengeance consume them… Wicked knights or commanders in life, dullahans adhere to twisted codes of chivalry or soldiership.” By default, the dullahan is an easy candidate for spontaneous Dolurrhi undead. As I called out in the haunts article, battlefields where terrible tragedies occurred are often haunted; I’d say that the dullahan normally lingers in the Ethereal Veil of the battlefield where it dies, unable to cross by choice, but drawn into the world at certain times to search for its lost head. Such a dullahan could come from any culture; a Brelish commander whose head was destroyed by an arcane blast, a Dhakaani hobgoblin whose head was vaporized by a beholder, a Talenta raptor-rider whose head was stolen by a rival. Part of the idea of the spontaneous dullahan is that it can be laid to rest—you can fight it, sure, but you could also possibly resolve the situation by finding their head or by somehow offering them peace.

That’s one option. I could imagine a servant of Katashka the Gatekeeper stealing the head of a deceased hero and using it in a ritual that raises the former champion as a tormented dullahan, forced to so terror in the community it once loved until it is restored to its head; so again, the adventurers might be forced to fight the dullahan, but unless they can find its head and lay it to rest, it will always return. As noted above, with a Katashka dullahan I’d emphasize the horror—graveworms writhing in its exposed flesh, chunks of is body sloughing away as it takes damage, the sense that the dullahan is in agony even as it is forced to fight.

Another way to use an intentional dullahan would be to reverse the formula and make it a voluntary transformation: rather than seeking its lost head, the dullahan’s head could be like the phylactery of a lich. Returning to the Talenta Plains, consider the story of Headless Haralara…

When Haralara was astride her clawfoot Scythe, none could match them for speed or skill. Together they were faster than any fastieth and as silent as nightfall. Long ago, there was a night of six moons and a swordtooth titan was seen on the planes. The maskweavers called a great hunt, and said that the first hunter to draw the blood of the beast would be blessed. All knew this would surely be Haralara—and so the other hunters forged a pact, to hunt together not for the titan, but to take Haralara’s head. These were the finest hunters in the Plains save for Haralara herself. United, none could stand against them; when Haralara heard of this, she knew she was doomed. But Haralara was clever. They couldn’t take her head if they couldn’t find it; so she hide it where it would never be found, and then, riding Scythe, Headless Haralara hunted down each and every one of her enemies and took their heads. She rode with them into the night lands, where she haunts and hunts to this day; woe to the hunter who draws the absent eye of Headless Haralara.

In this case, Haralara knows where her head is… and as long as it’s hidden, she can’t be permanently destroyed. If she takes an interest in a group of adventurers—Because a halfling adventurer is the descendant of one of her old enemies? Because the adventurers killed a beast she was hunting?—they can defeat her temporarily in combat, but the only way to permanently escape her wrath is to figure out where she hid her head so long ago!

I’ll note that these thoughts on the dullahan are based on the fifth edition interpretation of the creature, which is largely inspired by “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Really, this creature should just be call a headless horseman; the dullahan is drawn from Irish folklore and has a far deeper and more significant role there than “ghost searching for its head.” I actually created statistics for this fey psychopomp in a book I wrote for 3.5 called Classic Fey. But for purposes of this article, I’m focusing on the creature as presented in fifth edition.

That’s all for now! I won’t be answering questions, but as a bonus for patrons, I’m posting four ghoul variants on Patreon! Happy Halloween!

IFAQ Roundup: Bugbears, Deathless Drow, Seeker Funerals and More!

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Every month, my Patreon supporters can ask me questions. Here’s a lightning round of questions from September!

In Exploring Eberron the Dhakaani Bugbears are characterized as Bulwarks in the military structure, and the Dhakaaani Bugbear playable race has no reference to bugbears innate gift for Stealth and ambushing… is there a reason for this?

Largely, it was ignored because the Dhakaani needed the bugbear’s strength more than their stealth. Under the base 3.5 rules, the bugbear has a substantial strength bonus and more hit points than either goblin or hobgoblin. Essentially, the goblins COULD serve as spies and scouts; they COULDN’T serve as shock troops or heavy laborers, while the bugbears could. Overall, Dhakaani military strategy wasn’t based on stealth; so again, for the Dhakaani, the bugbear’s strength was the tool they had a greater use for. Per the canon Dragonshard, “From an early age, bugbears are raised to think of themselves as the heroes and martyrs of Dhakaani civilization. They are taught to believe that their strength is the single greatest weapon of the Empire.” They are described as being skirmishers and typically having barbarian levels, so they often would serve as scouts and harriers; it’s certainly useful for scouts to be sneaky. But the Dhakaani focused more on the Golin’dar for stealth and the Guul’dar for strength; even their name translates to “Strong People.”

An important part of this is the idea that the hobgoblins effectively controlled the stronger bugbears through narrative; they didn’t WANT the bugbears to focus on their cunning. The Dhakaani intentionally downplayed that talent because they wanted the bugbears to embrace the bold vanguard role, something that comes up with the modern Marguul bugbears…

Since there isn’t much written on the Marguul tribes of the Seawall Mountains, what do you see as unique to the Marguul that differentiates them from other goblinoid cultures?

What’s been established is that the Marguul are a league of bugbear tribes whose ancestors “rose up against their hobgoblin oppressors to seize control of their own destiny.” While they’re fewer in number than the Ghaal’dar, “For centuries, the bugbears have raided the larger hobgoblin communities… slaughtering the arrogant hobgoblins.” While some have come down to take part in the Darguul experiment, most remain in the Seawall Mountains, “where they continue to battle any creatures that cross their path.” As noted above, they place great value on martial skill and guerilla warfare, and worship the Mockery and the Lhesh Shaarat (“King of Swords”), an interpretation of Dol Dorn.

The Marguul are supposed to be a challenge that makes it dangerous for adventurers and others to travel in the Seawall Mountains. But this isn’t because they’re somehow innately evil: it’s because they have valid reasons to despise and fight outsiders. The people of the Five Nations are the chaat’oor who drove their ancestors into the hinterlands and who built their cities on the bones of the great Dar fortresses. The catch is that they then also hate the Ghaal’dar, who sought to dominate the displaced dar and to rule those hinterlands. While their records don’t go back that far, Marguul anger can be traced all the way back to Dhakaan, where as noted above, bugbears were effectively indoctrinated to support the ruling hobgoblins and to serve as laborers and front-line troops. The Marguul essentially say we are the strongest of our kind. For countless generations you have feared us and sought to control us. Well, you SHOULD fear us and you will never control us again. So again, the Marguul are supposed to be dangerous. But there is reason for their anger, and if their grievances and their traditions are understood, they could become friends or allies. But their initial stance is aggressive, because they believe that only bugbears have ever done what’s best for the bugbears.

Going more into unique aspects of the bugbears, this is where I’d bring in the traditional bugbear affinity for stealth mentioned earlier. The Marguul have always been outnumbered by the Ghaal’dar, and they embrace guerilla warfare. It is in this aspect that they revere the Mockery—what this article calls The Lord of Victory. Just because you’re strong doesn’t mean you have to be reckless. When your enemies have greater numbers and resources, the Mockery will show you the path to victory, even if it leads you through the shadows. Bugbears have a natural gift for stealth, and the Marguul have refined this to an art. I see the Marguul as exceptional hunters and stalkers, viewing the greatest warrior as the one whose enemy never sees them. I imagine them as having a long tradition of stealth duels, with six Marguul entering a hunting ground from different points and stalking and counter-stalking… though to be clear, in such Marguul duels victory would come from striking an enemy firmly with a blunted weapon; the Marguul wouldn’t carelessly spill their own blood. I could absolutely see an adventure in which explorers venture into Marguul territory playing out like Predator, with unseen Marguul hunters stalking their prey, laying traps and slowly weakening them before a final conflict. This is also where the challenge of diplomacy comes in. Again, the Marguul have reason to distrust and hate the people of the outer world; and when you enter their territory, the first time you see one of them may be when they strike to kill.

I can easily imagine a Marguul player character; the ECS notes that a few of the Marguul have descended into Darguun and become mercenaries, and this could lead them out into the wider world. I’d just emphasize that they come from a culture that sees the rest of the world as oppressors and betrayers; they are always suspicious, always ready for danger, and surprised by altruism and kindness. What others might see as dishonorable strategies, they see as smart tactics; look back to this article at Redblade Rrac’s story of the two wolves.

The undead of Kech Nasaar are cut off from the Uul Dhakaan, but did a ghaal’dar of the kech ever rise to Marhu, ruling for centuries, or does the Emperor need a living connection to the dream, much like the edicts of Galifar prevent the dead from claiming the crown?

From Exploring Eberron: “The edict of a long-dead emperor asserted that no dead creature could wear the imperial crown; while the services of the Nasaar were valued, the dead are severed from the Uul Dhakaan and cannot draw on the wisdom of the past or see Jhazaal’s dream.” It’s quite likely that at some point there was an undead marhu because they’d need a reason to MAKE such an edict—most likely a marhu who became undead after taking office—but clearly their reign was disastrous enough that the edict was made. Which is to say, I doubt that they ruled for centuries, because that would require people to be content with their rule… and the edict suggests that they were not.

A Valenar warband plans to conduct a raid into Darguun in 998 YK, Besides Darguun opposition, are there any political or social obstacles the raiders would need counter or avoid; factions within the Valaes Tairn, Khorovar, or House Lyrandar?

That depends. At any given time, a certain number of warbands are assigned to the Host of Valenar. They have specific duties and answer to the High King, and definitely can’t raid Darguun, any more than a platoon in the US army could just decide to attack Canada. The catch is the bands that AREN’T assigned to the Host. They’re free to do whatever they wish. They could sell their services as mercenaries, roam as adventurers, or act as raiders. They don’t have to tell anyone what they’re doing or request permission to act, and the High King will accept no responsibility for their actions nor shield them from consequences… though the Host doesn’t extradite raiders either, so if you want them, you’ll have to come to Valenar and get them. Which is, of course, what the Valenar actually want and why the High King allows these raids, even if he doesn’t authorize them. Having said that, warclan leaders actually do keep track of the general positions and intentions of their bands; they may not know the specifics of what they plan, but effectively there’s a lot of Knowing winks when warband X says that they’re going to spend the summer “hunting” on the border of Darguun.

If the Blood of Vol see death as the gods’ cruel joke, how does a Blood of Vol priest perform a funeral? What do they say to offer comfort if their congregation believes that the departed soul has been cheated out of their rightful apotheosis?

Seeker funerals don’t focus on the loss; they focus on remembering the person who has been lost, sharing stories and ensuring that *they won’t be forgotten.* HOWEVER, a Seeker funeral is also about focusing on the people who have been left behind. Community is important to the Blood of Vol. There’s nothing to be done for the dead, but we can still help the living. If a child has been orphaned, who in the community will take them in? If a family is left with debts, who will offer them support? One of the key principles of the BoV is to defy the cruelty of the universe by standing together and looking out for each other. You may have taken Maia’s mother, cruel fate, but she won’t be left alone.

Could a drow from Xendrik become deathless? what about a half elf? how could a half elf or drow become worthy enough to become a member of the Undying Court?

So first of all, I’ve said before that there could be drow and drow/elf hybrids integrated into Tairnadal and Aereni culture who trace their roots back to the original exodus from Xen’drik—and that because of this, there may well be drow members of the Undying Court. But the key point is that while they’re biologically drow, these elves are culturally Aereni and Tairnadal and have been for tens of thousands of years… so very different from a Sulatar drow showing up from Xen’drik today.

COULD a Xen’drik drow or half-elf become a deathless member of the Undying Court? Sure, though in my Eberron it hasn’t happened yet. In principle, anyone could. But the key factor is that they have to be adored by the Aereni; they have to be welcomed by the Court and sustained by the living Aereni. We’ve called out that the energy required to sustain the deathless is a limited resource, which is why standards are so high and why so few Aereni become deathless. The principle of the Undying Court is that the living people don’t want to ever lose the deathless individual—that they value their skills or insights so highly that they wish to preserve them forever. It’s not just about a few priests bestowing this on the drow in question; the PEOPLE have to know of them and love them. To become one of the lesser deathless they only need the adoration of a relatively small population, like a town; but to become a Councilor they need to be loved by the Aereni as a whole. How could they accomplish that? You tell me. They’d have to be known and loved by the Aereni as a whole, granted a space that could go to a member of an Aereni line. Perhaps if they publicly saved Aerenal from a major threat — a Draconic attack, an Overlord, a Daelkyr, Lady Illmarrow. Perhaps if they made some sort of discovery or creation that significantly improved life on Aerenal. It would need to be something on that level — something significantly greater than the deeds of the current members of the Court, something so remarkable people are willing to break millennia of tradition to honor this individual.

Tis the season. The Pumpkin Spice Season! So what in Eberron is like the equivalent of pumpkin spice—something that everyone associates with that autumnal pop culture crowd?

When autumn rolls around, it’s time to bring out the sandfruit spice! This delightful staple of the Brelish frontier is sure to become a beloved fall tradition across the Five Nations. Any day now.

This message brought to you by Vesper and the Threshold Sandfruit Society.

For context, Sandfruit grows in the region covered by my upcoming Frontiers of Eberron: Threshold book. It’s highly unappetizing, and there’s an ongoing quest to find ways to improve the experience. Just as pumpkin spice doesn’t actually contain pumpkin, sandfruit spice is a blend used to flavor sandfruit. And trust me, if it can make sandfruit bearable, you’re going to love it!

That’s all for this month! I won’t be answering follow-up questions but feel free to discuss these topics in the comments. And if you want to ask your own questions, check out my Patreon!

IFAQ: Blood Hunters in Eberron

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Actually a Bitter Phoenix by Rich Ellis and Grace Allison, but close enough…

When time permits, I like to answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters, such as…

How would you incorporate Matthew Mercer’s blood hunters into Eberron?

At its core, the blood hunter is a warrior who can strengthen their own attacks and weaken their enemies at the expense of their own health. A blood hunter can invoke the Crimson Rite to infuse a weapon with elemental power or invoke a Blood Curse on an enemy, but this requires them to take damage based on the role of their Hemocraft die. A secondary aspect is a knack for hunting monsters. From the beginning, they have advantage on checks made to track or recall information about fey, fiends, or undead; the Brand of Castigation allows a blood hunter to mark a creature and always know the path toward it. Ghostslayer blood hunters specialize in dealing with the undead; Lycan blood hunters take on aspects of the curse of lycanthropy; Mutant blood hunters alter their own physiology; and Profane Soul blood hunters forge pacts with dangerous entities to gain their powers. Ultimately, the defining feature to me is monster hunters who burn their own essence to bring down their foes.

The critical question is what aspects of the existing blood hunter we want to keep. Is it important that the character is part of an order, or could they be a unique individual who has found their own path to this power? Does the power have to be based on blood, or as long as the core mechanics remain the same, could it be about consuming the character’s soul? I’ve never used blood hunters in my campaign, but here’s a few different ways I could imagine doing it.

The Order of the Silver Night (Ghostslayer)

When the jealous gods cursed our people with mortality, they filled the night with countless terrors—tempting demons, slavering werewolves, hungry corpses, and more. They sought to sever our path to divinity, to trap us in our flesh and to tear us apart. But I will seize that power and use it to slaughter these horrors, even if burns my body from within. I will be the silver sword in the night, the blade that stands between the innocent and terror.

The Seekers of the Divinity Within—also known as the Blood of Vol—know that there is a spark of divinity within mortal blood. They also know that the universe is a hostile place, that the gods have stacked the odds against mortals, and that only by standing together can humanity survive. So it was that long ago the wizard-priest Duran devised the ritual known as the Hunter’s Bane. Its name comes from the fact that the rite is incredibly painful, and can cripple or even killed those who undertake it. But those few Seekers with the strength and faith to complete the ritual of the Hunter’s Bane can draw on the power of their own divine essence, channeling their own power into their blades or laying curses on their enemies. But this power hasn’t been earned through enlightenment; the hunter can channel their divine spark into their blood, but it literally burns them from within.

The Order of the Silver Night protects seekers from supernatural threats. While they are far fewer in number, these Night Hunters serve much the same role as the templars of the Silver Flame—though a hunter will point out that their order is nearly a thousand years older than Tira’s church. They are ever watchful for scheming fiends, horrors emerging from Khyber, and other beasts… but their true and greatest enemies are the restless dead. Outsiders see Seekers using skeletons as laborers and learning from oathbound martyrs and assume that the Blood of Vol embraces all undead. But a ravenous ghoul is no one’s ally, and an exorcist is the only answer when a maddened ghost possesses an innocent in a quest for bloody vengeance. With its proliferation of Mabaran manifest zones, Karrnath deals with more spontaneous, malefic undead than any of the other Five Nations—and the hunters of the Silver Night stand ready to deal with these terrors. With this in mind, the hunters of the Silver Night typically use the Ghostslayer archetype; others use the Profane Soul archetype with an Undying Patron.

It may be that there is another aspect to the Night Hunters, one not known even to the hunter initiates themselves. The Seekers of the Divinity Within view sentient undeath as both a gift and a sacrifice. The faithful support vampires and oathbound with a tithe of blood, but this is based on the implicit understanding that the undead serve the living. It’s possible that the lich Duran—the oldest member of the Crimson Covenant and the creator of the Hunter’s Bane ritual of the Silver Night—has recruited an elite group of Night Hunters to police the Seeker undead, and to eliminate those who have been corrupted by greed or by the influence of Mabar. If a player character is drawn into this secret order, they could be tasked to investigate the Order of the Emerald Claw, to eliminate the undead who aren’t truly devoted to the well-being of the Seekers… perhaps even Lady Illmarrow herself. Whether the character uses the Profane Soul or Ghostslayer Archetype, Duran would effectively be an Undying patron.

It would be simple enough to posit a Ghostslayer order within the Church of the Silver Flame—one could even say that the damage the hunter suffers is “being burnt by the Flame.” However, I like the visceral contrast between the templar paladin calling on the Flame and the Seeker hunter ripping their unearned power from their own divine spark, doing whatever it takes to protect the innocent even if it may kill them. I’d love to play in a campaign with those two characters fighting side by side.

Olarune’s Blessed (Lycan)

Long ago, Olarune gave our people a gift. We could fully embrace the Beast Within, wielding all the power of the wild. But an ancient evil snatched her gift and twisted it, so any who channeled its power would become predators bound to its will. We refuse to surrender Olarune’s blessing. We defy the ancient evil, and use this power to destroy every monster it has unleashed within our woods.

The Towering Wood is filled with terrors. Capricious fey, plantlife twisted by the daelkyr Avassh, the fiendish minions of the Wild Heart—these are just a few of the dangers of the deep wood. The shifter tribes of the Towering Wood are guided by Moonspeaker druids, by cunning rangers and bold barbarians. But some of their most legendary champions are those who have reclaimed Olarune’s Blessing—fierce warriors who can unlock the full potential of their shifting gift.

Olarune’s Blessing doesn’t come easily. The rite of the Hunter’s Bane is one of the mysteries of the Moonspeaker druids; it can only be performed when the moons are properly aligned, and if the aspirant lacks spiritual strength they will become a monster bound to the will of the Wild Heart. A triumphant hunter receives Olarune’s gift, but the curse is always a part of it, and this is the principle of the damage dealt by blood hunter abilities; when the hunter draws on these powers they are actively fighting the curse of the Wild Heart, pushing through the corruption to seize the primal gift.

In playing one of Olarune’s blessed, the main question is why have you left the Towering Wood? You are a champion of your people, and there are many threats in the Eldeen you could deal with; why, then, would you become a wandering adventurer? Here’s a few possibilities…

  • You lost control and the Wild Heart’s influence turned you against your people. Your Moonspeaker restored you at the cost of their own life. You have left the Towering Wood to distance yourself from the influence of the ancient evil; you must master the blessing and strengthen your resolve before you can risk returning to your home.
  • A feud with other blood hunters drove you from the Wood. This could have been fueled by tragic romance, by tribal politics, or something else—but it is a mortal feud that drove you from your home, not fear of an immortal power. Do you intend to one day return and settle the matter, or have you closed the door on your old life?
  • The Eldeen Reaches are a young nation living in the jealous shadow of Aundair. The survival of the Reaches may depend on the recognition and support of the people of other nations. You’ve been sent into the world to be a hero—to perform great deeds that will raise awareness of and support for your people.
  • You have a nemesis—a fiend tied to the Wild Heart? A particularly cunning and cruel lycanthrope? Whoever they are, they inflicted great suffering on your people in the Towering Wood but have since fled. You are determined to hunt them down and make them pay. If you’re starting as a low-level character, it could be that this nemesis slew your blood hunter mentor. You know that you don’t currently possess the power necessary to defeat them. Finding and defeating your nemesis is your endgame, but as an adventurer you are working to develop the skills and allies you will need to defeat them; it’s not a race.

Mutant blood Hunters

With Mutant blood hunters. there are so many interesting possibilities that I find it difficult to choose one over the other. The Mutant hunter ingests mutagens that temporarily alter their physical capalities, and which possess both positive and negative side effects. Here’s just a few ideas…

  • The Gifts of the Traveler. As a changeling, you were born into a nomadic family with a secret gift they’ve kept hidden even from other changelings—a system of rituals and formulas that allow them to push the bounds of changeling shapeshifting. How have they used this power? Are they agents of the Traveler, challenging traditions and promoting change? Are they locked in a feud with another changeling clan—a shadow war singleskins know nothing about? As an adventurer, are you acting as an agent of your family, or are you perhaps its last surviving member?
  • Narathun Commandos. The dwarves of Clan Narathun are driven by the pursuit of arcane knowledge. Over the last century they have struggled to wrest the secrets of fleshcrafting from the Realm Below. The Narathun commandos are the product of that work—soldiers transformed to fight aberrant fire with fire. Your Hunter’s Bane rite essentially merged a symbiont with your nervous system, and your basic blood hunter abilities reflect this painful bond. Your mutagens are short-lived symbionts or formulas that interact with the embedded force. You surely served in the War Below; why have you left? Did you serve your time and retire with honor? Have you been banished from your hold after an incident in Sol Udar you won’t speak of? Are you pursuing a Cult of the Dragon Below—or are you afraid that such a cult has sunk its claws into your family?
  • Seryan Heir. As a dragonmarked heir of House Vadalis, you have discovered that you have ties to the infamous Seryan family—a Vadalis line that practiced vile magebreeding techniques and created horrifying monsters. You’ve read your ancestors’ notes and experimented on your own body using their techniques, undergoing the excruciating Hunter’s Bane rites; now you are continuing to experiment with their mutagens. While your ancestors may have been monsters, you believe that their work can be used for the greater good; you just need to perfect it, and you’re the only test subject you’re willing to endanger. You’re an adventuring Doctor Jekyll. It could be that you actually harvest ingredients from the creatures your party defeats—Hang on, let me get the eye from this bullette; it’ll be perfect for my experiments!

Profane Soul blood Hunters

Even more than Mutants, Profane Soul blood hunters present a vast array of possibilities based on the patron that they choose. An Undying hunter could be tied to the Silver Night, while an Undead hunter could be connected to Katahska the Gatekeeper or the Bone King of Mabar. In Aundair, there could be an order of Archfey hunters who use their gifts to hunt down renegade fey; Hexblade hunters could have ties to the Court of Shadows, knowingly or unwittingly drawing power from Sul Khatesh. On the other hand, a Hexblade hunter could have been transformed when they unwittingly accepted a cursed weapon—perhaps from one of the Daughters of Sora Kell! The Great Old One works well for a hunter with a tie to one of the daelkyr or even the Dreaming Dark; is the hunter fighting the force that transformed them, or do they revel in its gifts?

Most of these ideas work best for characters who are starting at 3rd level, allowing the connection to the patron to be part of the character’s story from the very beginning. However, you could still establish the story even if the character doesn’t receive the full benefits of the relationship initially. The main thing to keep in mind is the principle that it’s painful for a blood hunter to draw on their powers. This suggests the idea that the Hexblade hunter is cursed; that the Great Old One hunter is dealing with painful daelkyr modifications; that the Archfey hunter pays a price for channeling fey power. This article on warlocks might provide additional ideas!

That’s all for now! As this is an IFAQ, I won’t be answering questions on this topic, but feel free to discuss these ideas and share what you’ve done with Blood Hunters in your Eberron! And thanks as always to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible!

IFAQ: Figurines of Wondrous Power

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“What do we do, Lightbearer?”

“We’ve got to hold this position,” Drego said. “We can’t let the wolves through the pass. But the people at the Crossroads need to know what we’ve learned about the thrice-damned rats.” He unpinned the raven brooch from his cloak, and whispered to it. Silver flame licked around the edges, and the metal melted and expanded, reforming into a bird with glittering feathers. After a few more words, the bird took to the air and disappeared into the canopy of the Towering Wood, heading south.

As time permits, I like to answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Questions like…

How do you see Figurines of Wondrous Power fitting into the Eberron setting?

A figurine of wondrous power is a magic item that can become a living creature for a particular duration or until the animal is killed. These are the mechanics, but it’s up to us to provide the flavor and the context. How common are they? Who makes them, and who uses them?

Starting with the first question, suggested rarity is a good place to start. What we’ve said before is that uncommon items can be found as part of everyday life in the Five Nations. Rare items are in fact rare; they exist, certainly, but aren’t part of everyday life. So it’s reasonable to think that a soldier in a special forces unit might be given a silver raven to help with communication, and one of Tharashk’s top bounty hunters might have an onyx dog to help with her hunts. But that onyx dog would be a remarkable tool… and the very rare obsidian steed would be almost unheard of in the Five Nations. Given both the material and the nature of the creature involved, I’d be likely to make obsidian steeds tools created by the Lords of Dust—perhaps by the Scribe Hektula, given to favored warlocks of Sul Khatesh.

So once again, figurines are mechanics. But there’s a lot of different ways that you could interpret those mechanics, based on the story you want to tell. So how do figurines fit into Eberron? I could imagine a few very different ways I’d use them.

Sovereign and Flame

The first figurines used by the people of the Five Nations were divine in nature, not arcane. Balinor is the Sovereign of Hunt and Hound, teaching people to work with beasts both as allies and as prey. Vassal figurines are engraved with Balinor’s symbol and imbued with faith. They function just like normal figurines, but they can only be recharged by devotion; such a figurine won’t regain its charge unless it’s in the possession of a devoted Vassal.

As noted in the quote that opens this article, the Church of the Silver Flame has also created such figurines. The most common of these is the silver raven, often used as a messenger by templars in the field; some of these take the form of small winged serpents, though they have no special abilities beyond flight. Like the Vassal figurines, these divine items can only be recharged by the faith of a follower of the Flame. I could also imagine Seekers of the Divinity Within crafting bone figurines of wondrous power; while one might expect such creatures to be skeletal, I’d be more inclined to make them vivid crimson beasts formed from the essence of the Seeker’s own blood.

Cannith Figurines

Over the last century, House Cannith has been experimenting with figurines that replicate the basic principles of a creation forge. Cannith figurines can only be used by people who bear the Dragonmark of Making. They’re made of metal and wood, embedded with small siberys dragonshards. When activated, they grow bodies of root and steel, and have the Constructed Resilience trait of warforged. When the beast is killed or reverted, the materials that comprise it dissolve.

Sentira Figurines

Both the Inspired and the kalashtar of Adar use figurines of wondrous power carved from sentira, a substance made from solidified emotion. The emotion used in the figure is reflected in the creature summoned; an onyx hound made from hatred will be cruel and aggressive, while one made from love will be gentle but protective of its summoner. The beasts summoned by sentira figurines have the statistics of the living creatures they resemble, but they’re formed from ectoplasm and often have dreamlike aspects—unnatural coloration, fur rippling in nonexistent wind, and a strong aura of the emotion that forms them. Activating a sentira figurine requires the user to feel the associated emotion intently; to use a figurine formed of hatred, the bearer will have to think of a creature they hate.

Spectral Figurines

The elves of Aerenal—both Aereni and Tairnadal—create figurines of wondrous power. Both operate in a similar manner. When the figurine is activated, the translucent form of the summoned animal takes shape around the item. The summoned creature is solid and can be touched or ridden, and is in all ways treated as a living creature, but it is clearly ghostly and dissolves when its service is done. Aereni figurines are made using the spirits of beloved animals, while Tairnadal figurines are icons representing beasts of legend that fought alongside the patron ancestors. Both types of figurines are prized relics that typically have great emotional value to their owners, and are rarely sold; given this, Aereni or Tairnadal may be curious or angry if they see such items in the hands of others. Spectral figurines are often tied to the Valenar beasts presented in Eberron: Rising From The Last War; the equivalent of an onyx dog might summon a Valenar hound.

Daelkyr Figurines

A number of the daelkyr have created Figurines of Wondrous Power. While functional, they’re not very pleasant…

  • Dyrrn’s figurines are small, beating hearts. When activated, a figurine extrudes fleshy tendrils and chitinous plates, weaving them together to create a body out of strands of muscle; it has the general shape of an elephant or a goat, but most people will be horrified by its appearance. When the creature is killed or reverted, the fleshy form falls away and slowly decays, leaving only the heart intact.
  • Kyrzin’s figurines are vials of fluid. To activate the figurine, you unstopper the bottle and pour out its contents; the liquid expands into a gelatinous shape, again reminiscent of the creature but very clearly unnatural. When slain or reverted, the gelatinous form melts away. Meanwhile, the vial slowly refills itself until it’s ready to be used again.
  • Orlask’s figurines are stone statues, much like standard figurines of wondrous power. However, Orlassk’s figurines are living creatures that have been trapped in this stone form; holding the figurine, you can feel the misery of the trapped creature. When they are used, the bound creature is released, though it is forced to obey the person who freed it. When slain or reverted, they are returned to their prison of stone.

These are just a few examples of possible figurines of wondrous power, and I’m sure you can come up with many more. As rare items most figurines would be, well, rare; I’d use the uncommon bag of tricks if I was creating a version of Pokemon in Eberron.

I won’t be answering questions on this IFAQ, but share your thoughts and ideas below. And if you’d like pose questions that could inspire future articles or participate in my online Eberron campaign, check out my Patreon!

IFAQ: Working Without Lore, Sovereign Images, Nagpa and Princess Marhya!

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Every month I answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s a few more from April!

What details do you start with when trying use a Eberron location with no lore? Sometimes I get blank page paralysis.

First of all, what’s the nation? If it’s Aundair, is there something interesting going on with everyday magic or fey? If it’s Thrane, how does the faith in the Silver Flame manifest? If it’s Karrnath, is it more influenced by Seekers or by Karrnath’s martial traditions? Can you feel the weight of the Code of Kaius? If it’s Breland, is there crime? Do they support the monarchy or the Swords of Liberty? Outside the Five Nations, is there a manifest zone? Is it tied to a daelkyr or an overlord? Is there an interesting resource or an unusual creature?

Another thing to consider is the stories people tell. For example, in Frontiers of Eberron I dealt with Whitehorn Woods for the first time, which raised the question “Why do people call it Whitehorn Wood?” So, I decided that the people in the region tell stories of Whitehorn, a massive horned bear. Essentially, if a place has a name, there’s surely a reason for the name—what’s a logical explanation you can come up with?

Beyond that, I will often ask my players to help flesh these things out. If I was running a game tomorrow in the Whitehorn Woods, I’d start by telling people about the bear, and then I’d ask each player “Tell me something you’ve heard about the Whitehorn Woods.” I did this in Threshold just recently, when I asked players to tell me something they’d heard about the Byeshk Mine. I didn’t USE all those answers—not every story has to be true—but it was a useful source of inspiration.

How concrete are the appearances of the Sovereign Host — particularly at the local level. While canon has called out they have different appearances, is this a matter of everyone at one church holding a common image of Dol Arrah, or is it rather a more personal choice and imagining for each Vassal?

There’s two important things to consider here. The first is that the Sovereigns appear in many different cultures and with many different variations. Clearly Banor of the Bloody Spear, Bally-Nur, and the Pyrinean Balinor won’t all look the same; one’s a giant, one’s a halfling, one isn’t locked into any one species. Even within the Five Nations, you have many subsects within the broad Pyrinean tradition—the Church of the Wyrm Ascendant, the Restful Watch, Aureon’s Word, the Order of the Broken Blade, the Three Faces, and so on.

The second important point is that on some level, the exact appearance of the Sovereigns doesn’t matter, because the idea of the Sovereigns is that they aren’t going to appear and interact with you physically, but rather that they are with you at all times, offering guidance.

Is there art depicting the myths of the Sovereigns? Absolutely. But the key is that there’s no absolute agreement on what they look like, so instead what’s crucial is symbols. The first of these is called out in the original ECS: Dragons. Each of the Sovereigns is associated with a particular dragon; the blue dragon is a symbol of Aureon, while the silver dragon is used to represent Dol Dorn. Beyond this, each Sovereign has a particular iconic symbol, suggested in Faiths of Eberron; Aureon can be recognized by his book, while Arawai holds a sheaf of wheat. The ECS also assigns a favored weapon to each Sovereign, but I didn’t choose these and I strongly disagree with some of the choices. As Sovereign of the fields, it would make sense for Arawai to be associated with a farming implement, such as the flail or the scythe; instead, she’s canonically tied to the morningstar (which is sometimes depicted as a ball-and-chain, but definitely not a farming implement). Balinor is the Sovereign of the Hunt but is canonically tied to the battleaxe, hardly a traditional choice for a hunter. With that in mind, I’ll suggest kanonical alternatives befow.

With all this in mind, the point is that artwork depicting the Sovereigns focuses on SYMBOLS. There’s no one universally accepted depiction of Dol Dorn, but he’s always muscular and carries a longsword, often crossed over a shield. Dol Arrah holds her halberd with the sun rising behind her; if that doesn’t fit in the image, she’ll have a rising sun worked into her clothing. The humanoid models vary by sect and region, and often use historical or living figures considered to exemplify that Sovereign’s traits. For example, there may be a church in Sharn with a mural that depicts war heroes Khandan the Hammer as Dol Dorn (wielding a longsword instead of his famous hammer) and Meira the Huntress as Balinor. If you’re Brelish, you know Khandan as a warrior renowned for his strength and courage, and this combined with his pose, his obvious strength, and his sword and shield make it clear he’s representing Dol Dorn; if they really wanted to lay it on, they could add a silver dragon in a pennant or a brooch. Meanwhile, Meira the Huntress would be recognized as Balinor by her bow, by the antlers mounted on her helm, and by the fact that she’s clearly a huntress. It doesn’t matter that Balinor is considered to be male, because what this picture is truly depicting is Balinor acting through Meira—because THAT is how you’ll actually encounter the Sovereigns in the world. In using real people as models for the Sovereigns, these images remind us that the Sovereigns are with us all.

SovereignDragonWeaponSymbol
ArawaiBronzeFlailSheaf of Wheat
AureonBlueQuarterstaffBook
BalinorGreenBowAntlers
BoldreiCopperSpearHearth
Dol ArrahRedHalberdRising Sun
Dol DornSilverLongswordShield
Kol KorranWhiteMaceGold Coin
OlladraBlackDaggerDomino or Dice
OnatarBrassWarhammerHammer and Tongs

Where would the Nagpa from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foe fit into your Eberron?

I’ve never used the Nagpa. As I understand the story, the idea is that they’re mortal wizards who were cursed by the Raven Queen for meddling in a war between gods. Now they plot in the shadows, but presumably on a smaller scale than, for example, the Lords of Dust; they are still cursed mortals.

The first thing I’d do is to drop the Raven Queen and evaluate the core overall story. Mortals meddle, are cursed by a wrathful being of deific power. Playing to the idea that they “interfered in a war between gods” the most obvious answer to me is that they weren’t HUMAN wizards… they were DRAGONS. They interfered in the first war—the conflict between dragon and overlord—and were cursed by Ourelonastrix, forever bound to these pathetic, humanoid forms. Powerful as they are, they’re still feeble next to the glory of a greatwyrm, and you can see how their state would be a considerable humiliation. With this in mind, they can then have been present in EVERY disaster that’s come since. They could have played a key role in Aureon’s Folly; perhaps it was one of the Nagpa who urged the giants to use the Moonbreaker. Rival Nagpa could have helped different mazes in Ohr Kaluun, or Khunan. A key point would be that unlike the Chamber or the Lords of Dust, the Nagpa aren’t driven by the Prophecy and don’t know what the long-term impact of their actions—they just enjoy sowing chaos and causing trouble for all sides. If I didn’t want to do that, the next approach that comes to mind is to make them cursed acolytes of Sul Khatesh, twisted by their devotion to the Queen of Shadows—cursed with ugly immortality until they can unlock some particular arcane mystery. This could be tied to her release—making them allies of Hektula and an adjunct of the Lords of Dust—or they could just be an entirely separate faction which, again, has no knowledge of the Prophecy and are purely devoted to pursuing their own selfish problem. Another option would be to work with Thelanis, as the whole “cursed wizard” story sounds very Thelanian. But personally, I’d either go with cursed dragons or ancient Khorvairians.

You’ve mentioned Princess Marhya ir’Wynarn of Cyre a number of times, but if she’s in any canon sources, I cannot locate her. Is there anything more you can tell us about this youngest daughter (or possibly granddaughter, again referring back to the Oargev’s suitors article) of Queen Dannel? I’m not looking for anything mechanical here.

A few years back, my friend Dan Garrison—the co-designer of Phoenix: Dawn Command—ran an Eberron campaign called “The Fall of Cyre”. It began in Metrol on the eve of the Day of Mourning, at the celebration of Princess Marhya’s betrothal. That was the night we danced the Tago with knives! Marhya was the younger sister of Oargev, which in my current view would make her a granddaughter of Dannel. My character in that campaign was the warforged envoy Rose, who was built to serve as a companion to the Princess; Rose is depicted in Exploring Eberron and mentioned in the article on Oargev’s suitors.

In Dan’s campaign, Marhya was betrothed to Prince Jurian of Aundair… though of course, this isn’t canon. Marhya was competent, trained in statecraft and with the sword, determined to do what she could to ensure peace and safety for her people. In that campaign, Metrol was also sucked into Mabar, but more in the typical Hinterlands way—so apocalyptic chaos rather than the dystopia of Dread Metrol. Marhya was the natural leader who needed to unite the survivors and find a way out of the nightmare. Good times!

As with most IFAQs, I won’t be expanding further on these topics, but feel free to discuss them in the comments! If you have questions of you’re own, I’ll be posting a new call for questions for my Patreon supporters soon!

IFAQ: Medusa Fashions and the Population of Darguun!

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Tashka of Threshold, by Julio Azevedo

As time allows, I like to answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s two from this month!

Now that Medusae have begun to leave Cazhaak Draal for various purposes, have eyeblinders become a commonplace part of their culture or are they only used in the east to make the squishier races feel at ease?

“You aren’t in your Five Nations any more,” Sheshka said. She had sheathed her sword, but her voice was deadly. “You have come to my home. Your soldier threatened me with a blindfold. A blindfold, on my soil. Would I come into your castle and strip away your sword, or demand that you wear chains?”

“We can’t kill with a glance,” Beren said.

“And that excuses your threat to pluck out my eyes? Should I cut off your hands so you cannot strangle me?” The medusa’s eyelids fluttered, but remained closed. “Hand, tooth, steel – we are all deadly.”

The Queen of Stone

Canonically, while in the cities of the Five Nations a medusa is expected to wear eyeblinders, described as a metal visor that straps around the forehead and chin and takes multiple rounds to remove; in especially high-security situations, the straps can be secured with a lock. Of course, this varies by location; in a small village in Karrnath the sheriff surely doesn’t have a set of eyeblinders lying around, and in Callestan in Sharn, who exactly is going to demand the medusa put on eyeblinders? In such situations, a medusa will often wear a veil or more comfortable blindfold, as Tashka is modeling in the image accompanying this article. Such a blindfold doesn’t offer as much security as a set of eyeblinders, since it could be removed in a single action, but it’s a compromise; you don’t have to worry unless I take it off.

With this in mind, have blindfolds become part of standard medusa fashion? Do medusas wear blindfolds in Graywall or the Great Crag, or even in Cazhaak Draal? Definitely not. Medusas are perfectly capable of controlling their deadly gaze. Let’s start with simple mechanics. Here’s the 5E interpretation of the ability in question.

Petrifying Gaze. When a creature that can see the medusa’s eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the medusa, the medusa can force it to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw if the medusa isn’t incapacitated and can see the creature.

I’ve bolded the key word there—they can force someone to make a saving throw, but they don’t have to. While some people may interpret this as meaning that the medusa can choose to look you straight in the eye and not petrify you, how I interpret it in my campaign is that the medusa can never turn off their power, but that they have to look you directly in the eye to make it work and they’re very good at avoiding such accidental eye contact… and if they really want to play it safe, they can just close their eyes. This is something discussed in a canonical Dragonshard article…

The gaze of a medusa can petrify even an ally, and as a result, a medusa does not meet the gaze of a person with whom it is conversing. Where she directs her eyes indicates her esteem for the person. She drops her eyes toward the ground to show respect, or looks up and over the person if she wishes to indicate disdain; when speaking to an equal, she glances to the left or right. If she wishes to show trust, she directs her gaze to the person, but closes her eyes.

While this may seem inconvenient to a human, it has little impact on a medusa. If a medusa concentrates, she can receive limited visual impressions from the serpents that make up her hair; as a result, though she seems to look elsewhere, she’s actually looking through the eyes of her serpents. She can even use her serpents to see when she is blindfolded or has her eyes closed. However, she can still “see” in only one direction in this way; her serpents may look all around her, but she can’t process the information from all of them at once.

While I like the idea of looking up or down to signal respect when dealing with an individual, things get a little trickier on a crowded city street where accidental eye contact could easily happen—but in such a situation, again, all the medusa has to do is to close their eyes. To me, this is the absolute reason a medusa can’t petrify you by accident, and why you only have to make that saving throw if they choose to force you to; if they don’t want to hurt you, they’ll close their eyes.

So, with this in mind, no, medusas don’t wearing eyeblinders when they’re at home. The power of the medusa is a gift of the Shadow and they are proud of this gift; it’s not their job to calm your fears. And as Sheshka points out, everyone is dangerous, especially in Droaam; no one expects gargoyles to file down their claws, or Xorchylic to bind his tentacles. Demanding that a medusa cover their eyes is demeaning and shows a lack of trust. They’ll put up with it when the local laws require it, though even then they may skirt it (as with Tashka wearing a blindfold instead of full eyeblinders). But they certainly aren’t going to wear a blindfold while at home just to make you more comfortable.

Can you explain the demographics of Darguun? According to the ECS, only 6% of the population is human. How did it go from being a human-dominant nation to just 6%?

First of all, we need to address the tribex in the room, and that is that population numbers in Eberron have never been realistic. In part this is because we’ve never entirely agreed on the scale of the map; there’s also the broader question of whether population numbers should reflect medieval traditions (as was typical for D&D at the time the ECS was released) or if, given that society’s advances are more like late 19th century Earth, the population should reflect that as well. Consider that in 1900, London was home to five million people… while in the 3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting, Breland only has a total population of 3.7 million.

For this reason, the 3.5 ECS is the only book that actually gives population numbers for the nations; neither the 4E ECG or 5E’s Rising From The Last War do. Because at the end of the day, the exact number usually isn’t important. What matters is that we know that Aundair has the lowest population of the Five Nations and that Breland has the highest. It’s good to know that Sharn is the largest city in the Five Nations, even if I’d personally magnify its listed population by a factor of five or more. So I DO use the numbers given in the Eberron Campaign Setting, but what I use are the demographics break-downs—for example, the idea that dwarves make up a significant portion of the population of Breland, but are relatively rare in Aundair—while I use the population numbers just as a way of comparing one nation to another, so I know the population of Breland is almost twice that of Aundair.

So: I use the stats of the ECS, but I use them for purposes of comparing one nation to another, not for purposes of setting an absolute number. With that in mind, let’s look back to the original question: Is it strange that humans only make up 6% of the population of Darguun? In my opinion, not at all. The key is to understand the difference between the Darguun uprising and the Last War as a whole. During the Last War, the Five Nations were fighting over who was the rightful heir to the throne of Galifar. As discussed in this article, the goal—at least at the start—was reunification, and the question was who would be in charge. It was never a total war; the Five Nations agreed on the rules of war and whenever possible, avoided targeting civilian populations or critical civic infrastructure.

None of this applied to the Darguun uprising. The ECS observes that “Over the course of the Last War, most of the towns, temples, and fortresses in the region were razed and abandoned.” Not conquered and occupied: razed and abandoned. The Darguuls didn’t have the numbers to rule as occupiers, so they DESTROYED what they couldn’t control, driving the people away or killing them. It was an intensely brutal, ugly conflict, driven both by history—in the eyes of the Darguuls, the people of Cyre were the chaat’oor who had stolen the land and brutalized their ancestors—and by the fact that it needed to be swift and brutal, to maximize the impact before the Cyrans could regroup. By the time central Cyre was truly aware of the situation in southern Cyre, there was nothing left to save.

So I think the the demographic percentages are reasonable; I think most of that human 6% have actually come to Darguun after the war to do business or as expatriates of other nations. This ties to the point that Darguun is a nation of ruins—again, as the ECS says, “most of the towns, temples, and fortresses were razed and abandoned.” In my Eberron, the population of Darguun is far lower today than it was before the uprising; again, part of the reason for the brutality was because they didn’t have the numbers to rule through occupation. Darguuls are slowly reclaiming ruined towns and cities, building their own towns on the foundations just as humanity built many of its greatest cities on Dhakaani foundations—but overall, much of Darguun is filled with abandoned ruins that have yet to be reclaimed.

This brings up another important point. I agree with the demographic percentages of the ECS, but I think the listed population of Darguun is too high. Darguun is listed as having a population of 800,000. Again, I’m not concerned with that actual number—I’m concerned with how it compares to other nations. At 800,000, Darguun is the size of the Lhazaar Principalities, Zilargo, and Valenar combined. The whole idea of Darguun is that a relatively small force laid waste to the region because they lacked the numbers to conquer it. Now, in my Eberron the goblin population has swelled since the uprising. Haruuc’s people—the Ghaal’dar—were based in the Seawall Mountains and the lands around it. The dar were scattered and living in caverns, peaks, deep woods. As word spread of a goblin nation, tribes and clans came to Darguun from elsewhere in Khorvaire—from deeper in Zilargo, from Valenar, from central Cyre. This ties to the reasons Haruuc often has difficulty exercising control. The Ghaal’dar support him and they are the largest single block; but there are many subcultures that have their own traditions and aspirations. The Marguul are one example that’s been called out in canon, but there’s many more like this—dar immigrants who have come to the region with their own traditions. Notably, in Kanon I have a goblin culture from deep in the Khraal rain forest that is quite different from the Ghaal’dar, who came from the mountains and caverns. Nonetheless, this shouldn’t result in a nation with the highest population of any nation outside of the main five. By the standards of the ECS—so again, ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPARING IT TO OTHER NATIONS—I’d set the population of Darguun at around 230,000. That’s significantly higher than Valenar and on par with Q’barra or Zilargo, but less than a tenth of one of the Five Nations, and low enough to reflect the idea that most of the cities in the region are still unclaimed ruins.

That’s all for now! Because this is an IFAQ, I will not be answering further questions on these topics, but feel free to discuss your thoughts and ideas in the comments. And if you want support the site and pose questions that might be answered in future articles, join my Patreon!

IFAQ: Awakened Animals and Eldeen Materials

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Ja’taarka the Worg, by Julio Azevedo

Eberron: Rising From The Last War says that in the Eldeen Reaches, “communities include awakened animals and plants as members.” This raises a number of unanswered questions. Are these awakened beings considered to be citizens under the Code of Galifar? How common are awakened animals in the Reaches? Have they ever been hunted like normal animals? As always, keep in mind that what follows is what I do in my campaign based on my interpretation of the awaken spell—your mileage may vary.

The act of awakening an animal or plant isn’t about evolution. The caster doesn’t create a new species of sentient animal with a single spell. Instead, awaken shapes a sentience from the collective anima of the world and fuses that with the subject, creating a unique intelligent entity; it’s not unlike summon beast, but the spirit is infused into an existing body instead of having a conjured physical form. The awakened creature can access the memories of their life before awakening, but they are a new and unique entity. Critically, if a druid awakens two rabbits, their offspring aren’t sentient. So there aren’t vast lineages of awakened animals out in the world. Every awakened animal has a direct connection to a powerful spellcaster. Druids and bards who can cast awaken are rare, and the spell also has a significant casting cost; it’s not something that is ever done trivially.

So awakened animals and plants are found in Eldeen communities. But any time you encounter one, it’s worth asking who awakened this animal and why? Here’s a few answers.

  • Oalian’s Voice. The Wardens of the Wood maintain a network of awakened birds and other animals who act as scouts and messengers. Many of these creatures have been awakened by Oalian themself, and roost in the branches of the Great Druid when they return to Greenheart. Given how few Eldeen communities have Sivis message stations, these beasts play an important role in connecting communities. They’re far more than animal messengers; while they carry important messages between sect leaders, they also share stories and news with the general community, and many are celebrated entertainers. Beyond this, part of their work is to gather information; in may ways, the Voice is the Eldeen answer to the Korranberg Chronicle. So adventurers could very well find themselves being interviewed by a raven, who then spreads word of their deed across the Reaches!
  • Guiding Trees. Every Eldeen community has a druidic advisor. Many also have a guiding tree—a tree awakened by one of the leaders of the sect the community has aligned with. As traditionally awakened trees, these are generally young trees that are capable of movement and which walked to the community, but once in their new home they generally take root and prefer not to move without reason. These trees typically act as spiritual advisors; your town druid may be busy, but the guiding tree is always there when you need advice.
  • Bloodhounds. The Wardens of the Wood seek to maintain order across the Reaches, and this includes helping local councils investigate and deal with crime. The Wardens have long had a corps of awakened canines—mostly wolves in the Wood, but over the last forty years this have expanded to include other hounds. Bloodhounds (a term used regardless of breed) generally work with a humanoid Warden, whether traveling or residing in a community, but occasionally a Bloodhound—or even a team of Bloodhounds—can be found working independently.
  • The Faithful. Many powerful druids awaken a few animals to serve as companions and confidantes. Over time, these animals can become valued agents of the sect, being charged with important duties or acting as a representative of their companion druid. Should they outlive their companion, the faithful beasts typically continue to work with the sect. So you can find a Moonspeaker tribe where a great bear—once the companion of a legendary druid—is still respected as one of the elders of the tribe, or meet a wolf who’s come to Varna to speak on behalf of Faena Graymorn.
  • The Totem. Especially in the deep Wood, some communities identify with a particular beast or plant, and have an awakened creature of that type who serves as a combination of mascot and advisor. While some such creatures have nothing to offer but mundane wisdom and inspiration, some totems possess greater primal gifts and serve as oracles and spirit guides.
  • The Retired. It’s always possible to encounter an awakened creature that served in one of these roles until it chose to retire. This could be for any of the reasons a human chooses to retire. Perhaps they were injured. Perhaps they got too old for this %&$. Perhaps they just realized they wanted to do something else with their lives; awakened animals aren’t slaves, and while most are happy to work with their sects, it’s always a choice. So when you go to an Eldeen tavern, you might meet a crow who used to work for Oalian’s Voice, but who currently just does stand-up three nights a week and enjoys local gossip, or a former Bloodhound who lost her sense of smell and now works as a bouncer.
  • The Returned. While they aren’t technically awakened animals, some druids are able to transfer their spirits into an animal form after death… essentially, a variation of reincarnate that transfers the soul into a beast instead of a humanoid form. The Returned retain their memories and skills from humanoid life. Most only possess a fraction of their druidic abilities, if any—but a few have managed to regain their powers. Many Returned continue to serve their sects, but others prefer to spend their days in the wilds or to retire and pursue a hobby they never had time for in life.
  • The Fey. While most druids won’t create awakened animals without a reason, Greensingers are the sect most likely to awaken animals just to bring more magic into the world (although the 1,000 gp component cost keeps them from doing this TOO often). So while most Awakened creatures have a clear connection to a druid or a community, when you’re near the Twilight Demesne you may meet a talkative magpie or a shrub with a story to tell. While this uses the awaken spell, the subjects of this Greensinger technique are considered to be fey as well as beasts or plants.

Are awakened animals considered citizens under the Code of Galifar?

If they’re citizens of the Eldeen Reaches, definitely. In my campaign, becoming a citizen of the Reaches involves swearing an oath of allegiance to a druidic representative—I don’t have time to develop all of the details, but it’s largely saying that you swear to abide by the laws of your community and the Great Druid, and that you will protect the Reaches and its people in times of trouble. The key point here is that in the Reaches, awakened animals are treated like any other sentient creature. While they’re often found performing specific jobs, again, they aren’t slaves and they can quit any time they want. They’re fellow citizens of the Reaches, and if you commit a crime against one, it’s no different than committing a crime against any humanoid. If you kick a dog in a Reacher villager, he could go to the council and accuse you of assault, and if you shoot Bambi the awakened deer, it’s murder… though it’s worth asking why did someone awaken a deer? It definitely could happen in Greensinger territory, but an awakened deer would be very unusual elsewhere. Now, the trick is that while an awakened dog may be a citizen of the Reaches and thus entitled to the protection of the law in Sharn, you’ll have to convince the Sharn Watch of that, which may take some doing. On the other hand, there’s a giant owl on the Sharn Council, so who can say!

As a side note, while we often talk about Oalian as being an awakened tree, the rituals and power invested in the Eldeen Ada were more significant than the basic awaken spell. One aspect of this is that standard awakened plants can move around. In my campaign, Oalian is stationary and infused with primal power; they’re more than just a smart tree.

What sort of materials do the people of the Eldeen Reaches use for armor and weapons?

The people of the fields haven’t abandoned the use of metal. With the exception of some extremist Ashbound, there’s no inherent taboo against metalworking; metal comes from the soil, after all. The Wardens of the Wood seek balance between the wild and civilization, not to eradication industry entirely. The goal is to reduce the environmental impact of industry; scope may be reduced, and primal magic may be employed in place of destructive mundane techniques. Primal magic can help locate objects, shape or mold earth and stone, and when it comes to smithing, anyone who’s fought a druid knows that primal magic can be used to heat metal. The Reaches aren’t primitive; they are a primal civilization, and the key is to consider what tools primal magic can offer.

So the Eldeen Reaches are reshaping the industries of the east, but they haven’t abandoned them. The people of the fields still refine and work with metal, producing similar weapons and armor to those their Aundairian ancestors created. On the other hand, the people of the Wood have long had access to interesting materials aside from metal, and have primal techniques for shaping and strengthening wood, hide, stone, and bone to make it the equal of metal (if not superior to it, as with bronzewood and darkleaf presented in the ECS). So here’s a few options to consider…

  • Wood and leaves, potentially drawn from plants that don’t exist in our world or strengthened by manifest zones, primal techniques, or, well, Avassh.
  • Hide and leather, especially the hides of horrid animals (in the ECS, the horrid template increases a creature’s natural armor class by +5!)
  • Bones, claws, or teeth. These can be drawn from creatures that don’t exist in our world—such as horrid animals—and strengthened using forms of magic fang and similar rituals. While this may not always be the most efficient choice, in some cases it may be used because of totemic significance.
  • Stone, shaped and strengthened using primal techniques.

So an Ashbound champion might wear armor fashioned from the hide of a horrid bear and wield a two-handed macuahuitl embedded with its teeth… but due to the techniques of the Ashbound artisans, these things would be the equivalent of a breastplate and greatsword.

That’s all for now! Thanks again to my Patreon supporters for making these articles possible. I won’t be answering further questions on this topic, but please discuss your own ideas and how you’ve used awakened animals in your campaigns!

IFAQ: The Eldeen Reaches, Continued

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Art by Rich Ellis and Grace Allison

There’s no shortage of questions concerning the Eldeen Reaches, and I decided to answer a few more.

Does the Eldeen Reaches have a government and ministers? Is anything like the Code of Galifar enforced? Do the shifters in the Deep Wood acknowledge this? What’s the relationship between the Eldeen Reaches and other nations?

For the past forty years, the Eldeen Reaches have officially been under the protection and guidance of Oalian, the Great Druid of the Wardens of the Wood. Long dominant in the forest, the Wardens have spread out into the plains to ensure order throughout the region. Each village has a druid counselor who provides magical assistance and spiritual guidance, and who advises the leaders of the community. Councils made up of representatives from each farming family govern each of the communities. Bands of Warden rangers patrol the forest, responding to threats as they arise.

The shifter tribes and druid sects have their own customs, but leaders are usually chosen based on age and spiritual wisdom. Concepts of law are guided by the ways of nature, and justice is usually swift and harsh.

Politically, the folk of the Eldeen Reaches largely ignore the events of the east and are ignored in return. The Wardens of the Wood have made clear to Breland and Aundair that they will defend the nation against any military threat and have no interest in further discussions regarding borders, treaties, or resource rights.

Eberron Campaign Setting

These are the basic facts as laid out in the Eberron Campaign Setting. The Reacher communities are self-governing. Druidic advisors help guide the villages, and the Wardens of the Wood act as the connective tissue, “preserving order throughout the region”. Each community sets its own rules, inspired by the sect its aligned with. The Code of Galifar is a good general model; most things considered crimes in Sharn will probably be crimes in Varna. On the other hand, a village that’s embraced the teachings of the Children of Winter may have unusual ideas as to what constitutes a proper trial. The main point is that it’s very much what we’d consider frontier justice, with the Wardens acting as sheriffs and communities largely relying on the hue and cry–on people being ready to come together to help when a crime occurs. Meanwhile, the tribes of the Deep Wood generally respect Oalian and the Wardens, but only a few have chosen to become a full part of the Reacher experiment, and most still maintain the same traditions they’ve followed for centuries, ignoring the world beyond the Wood.

Politically “the folk of the Eldeen Reaches largely ignore the events of the east and are ignored in return.” Sharn: City of Towers specifically notes that the Eldeen Reaches don’t have any sort of consulate in Sharn and Five Nations says that they’ve rebuffed diplomatic contact with Aundair. But never forget that this is an experiment. The Treaty of Thronehold is only two years old; the Reaches are still figuring out what it means to be a nation, and how to play at politics. So at the moment, they don’t do much of it; they “largely ignore the events of the east” and “have no interest in further discussions.” But depending what happens in the days and years ahead the Reachers may realize that they have to forge stronger ties to other nations, and have to get better at the game of diplomacy. If adventurers have ties to the Reaches, they could be instrumental in helping to establish or protect the first Eldeen embassies.

What exactly IS the Towering Wood? What makes it different from any other forest?

The Towering Wood hasn’t been explored in depth in canon. Canon sources say that they are preternaturally fertile and that the forces of magic permeate the wood. We’ve mentioned greatpines and “awe-inspiring” bluewood trees. Reflecting my last post, the Eberron Campaign Setting has this to say…

The deep woods of the Eldeen Reaches remain mostly as uncultivated and pure as they were when the world was young. In the Age of Monsters, when the goblinoids forged an empire across Khorvaire, the Eldeen Reaches were the domain of orcs who sought to live in harmony with the wilderness. The orcs were devastated in the war against the daelkyr. As a result of this terrible conflict, the forest was seeded with aberrations and horrid creatures formed by the sinister shapers of flesh.

In my campaign the Towering Wood is surrounded by a buffer zone—a few miles of woodland where the trees are smaller, where there are certainly predators but where you aren’t as likely to piss off a dryad or encounter horrid wolves. The people of the fields have always hunted game and harvested lumber from this region, and it’s likely grown thinner over the history of Galifar. But the people have always known that there’s a line you don’t cross. Because when you reach the Wood itself… you feel that capital letter. You can feel its age and its power. And you if you blunder into it without knowing your way… Fey. Fiends. Aberrations. Plants twisted by Avassh. Undead. Horrid animals. Feral gnolls. Lycanthropes. Until a decade ago, Sora Maenya. If you just randomly chop down a tree, you might be cutting into Old Algatar, the great interconnected Eldeen Ada who will surely lay a terrible curse upon you or send a treant to crush you. And set aside all of these supernatural threats: if you just brought in a team to start cutting down bluewoods, you’d have to deal both with the Ashbound and the Wardens of the Wood; one of the prime directives of the Wardens is to protect the Wood from the outside world. It’s entirely possible Cannith has tried harvesting in the Towering Wood in the past; it’s just never ended well.

With that said, people live in the Towering Wood. The key is that you have to understand the threats, to be able to recognize warning signs, to know the locations of manifest zones and the safe paths maintained by the Wardens of the Wood. Looking to the present day, the Eldeen farmland communities work with their druidic advisors to harvest lumber from the edge of the Towering Wood, both ensuring that their actions are sustainable and that the lumberjacks don’t blunder into a dryad’s grove or one of Avassh’s bone orchards. Anyone can hunt and harvest from the Towering Wood… it just requires care and understanding.

But is the Wood actually like? For a start, it holds trees that don’t exist in our world. Greatpines are similar to the pine trees we know, but have thicker trunks and can reach heights of over 250 feet. The awe-inspiring bluewoods are more massive than our redwoods. But as you go deeper, you can encounter something different. This is a point where I break with canon—keeping the same general idea, but shifting it slightly. The ECS describes a specific region called The Guardian Trees, where the trees “dwarf the greatest redwoods”—but this is a very specific region that only spans about 30 miles. In my campaign, I take a different approach. First, I use the term guardian tree to refer to the Eldeen Ada. Second, in my Towering Woods those immense trees aren’t limited to a tiny region; they are spread across the forest. I call them titans—primordial trees that dwarf anything in our world, potentially thousands of feet in height. These titans are infused with primal energy—there’s the possibility they are literally the first trees, so they are sustained beyond what should be possible for any mundane fauna. The article I linked is tied to my Phoenix: Dawn Command setting, in which the titans have all fallen. In the Towering Wood I’d say most of the titans are still standing, but that there are a few that have fallen. This allows for the possibility of stumptowns (as pictured above, communities in the stumps of titans) or for communities or dungeons carved into the densewood trunks of fallen titans. Unlike the ECS, I spread these throughout the wood, but they are still rare; there’s a few dozen of them in total across the entire Wood. But each one is a truly remarkable landmark, and a wellspring of primal power. Traditional magic doesn’t work on a titan, so you can’t just animate one of them. Some people believe that the titans are awakened but are simply too vast to perceive humanoids; others believe that they hold the spirits of all the druids who’ve died in the region. Either could be true. To date Avassh hasn’t corrupted a living titan… but it could certainly have infested the trunk of a fallen one.

A final important point is that the map as it stands doesn’t show any rivers or bodies of water in the Towering Wood. This is solely because the maps have low resolution. Rivers and streams flow down from the mountains and through the wood, and there are pools tied to Lamannian and Thelanian manifest zones. There’s nothing on the scale of Lake Galifar or Silver Lake, but there are certainly immense ponds and streams that can prove challenging to cross.

What do the communities of the people in the Towering Wood look like?

The people of the woods hid from the eyes of Galifar, and most prefer the solitude of the Towering Wood to the bustle of the Five Nations. Shifters and centaurs sometimes live in their own isolated tribes, but the forest folk prefer to live in small mixed communities—human, elf, and shifter living side by side. They follow the faith of one of the druid sects, but only the most exceptional… join the patrols that guard woods and plains alike.

Player’s Guide to Eberron

There are many subcultures within the Towering Wood. Each of the druidic sects has its own tradition, and there are also sects that we haven’t discussed. The shifter Moonspeakers are a very significant faction that’s received little attention, primarily because they don’t interact much with the world beyond the Wood; there’s also a unique centaur tradition (though centaurs are also found among the Wardens, Greensingers, and other sects).

So first of all, you have the basic division of nomadic versus stationary communities. Within those categories, you see considerable variation reflecting the traditions of each sect and tribe. A detailed breakdown is beyond the scope of this article, but looking to the settled communities, some primarily create structures using tanned hides—essentially, tent cities, often extending up into the trees with hides stretched between strong boughs. Some build wooden platforms in the trees, while others—”root dwellers”—prefer sod walls and burrows going into the earth. In part, this depends on the weather and the nature of local threats, whether people need to take to the trees or if they feel secure on the ground. As noted below, people definitely take advantage of the resources the Wood presents; where you have a fallen titan (the tree, not the monster), people will build homes into the stump or the trunk. Beyond Greenheart, one of the largest communities in the Wood is just known as the Crossroads; this is a stumptown that lies along the migratory paths of a number of different nomadic tribes, which serves as central marketplace where people from different communities and sects exchange goods and services.

For the most part, however, the communities of the Wood are quite small. The Woodfolk don’t practice industrialized agriculture, so a community needs to be careful not to extend past the limits of local resources, and will split when it grows too far.

There’s a few things to keep in mind when dealing with the people of the Wood. Only the most gifted among them are full-fledged druids or rangers—just as few priests in the Five Nations are actual clerics, and few of the students in Arcanix are actually wizards. However, many possess some connection to primal power. This may be reflected by the abilities of a Gleaner, the primal equivalent to a magewright or adept. Gleaners can cast cantrips and perform spells as rituals, and as always their may have abilities beyond the standard spells; Deep Wood light-weavers create long-lasting light sources using a form of faerie fire. Gleaners also work with beasts in many ways, mirroring the ideas suggested for dinosaurs in this Talenta article; beasts serve as messengers, scouts, guards, beasts of burden, mounts, small-scale livestock, and more. Other Reachers master primal gifts that aren’t spells, and could possess gifts that mirror specific class abilities. Quite a few Deep Wood shifters master a limited form of wild shape allowing them to assume the form of a particular beast a few times a day (something that’s sure to send any follower of the Pure Flame crying “Werewolf!!!!”); even some non-shifters master this gift. A hunter might have a ranger’s Favored Foe feature, even if they don’t cast spells. Essentially, the full powers of a druid are remarkable—but primal magic and primal gifts are part of daily life in the Deep Woods. It’s also worth noting that on the whole, the people of the Deep Woods are highly competent, because they have to be. There’s a reason the Children of Winter lament how eastern civilization coddles the weak but have no such complaints about the people of the Wood, and a reason why the population of the Wood is far lower than that of the fields. The Towering Woods are dangerous. Survival is hard, and everyone is expected to contribute to their community. Ranger or not, every denizen of the Deep Wood has to be prepared to fight for survival. The tools may vary—some prefer a bow, some their own teeth, some a thorrn whip—but the Woodfolk are tough as ironwood, because they have to be.

Within a typical Woods community, everyone has tasks assigned to help the community, based on the skills they possess. The gleaners and actual druids of the community provide spiritual guidance, an expansion of the druidic advisors seen in the fields. Having said that, there ARE communities that are entirely comprised of initiates and hunters. Looking to the Wardens of the Wood, what you’ll see most are patrols, which function much like Valenar warbands: self-sufficient units capable of living off the land, which follow established paths between the major communities—helping travelers, containing new threats that have emerged, and maintaining ties between communities. You can also find circles, which function much like monasteries in the outside world; groups of gleaners and actual druids maintaining sacred sites and performing rituals, often for the benefit of nearby communities; for example, a circle may perform rituals which repel or calm horrid beasts in a wide area, or that hold back the influence of Avassh.

When creating a Deep Woods community, here’s a few things to consider.

  • What sect are they associated with? Who’s their spiritual leader?
  • What species are part of the community?
  • Why have they chosen this location? Is there a manifest zone here, or an especially useful resource? In either case, how have they harnessed this?
  • Do they work with a specific sort of beast?
  • What are the most significant local threats? Does the community have a particular way of dealing with them?

If the Eldeen Reaches is so decentralized and lacks industry, how can it possibly challenge Aundair or any of the Five Nations?

There’s two key elements here. The first is the spirit and determination of the Reachers. It is unlikely that they could invade Aundair or Breland, but they have sworn to be independent and are willing to fight to the bitter end to maintain that independence. This ties to the point that the Wardens excel at small-unit guerilla tactics. Essentially, it’s a statement of you can try to invade us, but be warned that we will never surrender, that you will pay a price each and every day.

The second point is more enigmatic. While Thrane bends them a bit, in general the Five Nations play by the same set of rules. Go back a century and all their generals were trained at Rekkenmark. Their nations are grounded on arcane science and the services of the Dragonsmarked Houses. They know what to expect from one another. But the Eldeen Reaches don’t play by those rules. They’re a wide primal society, wielding a power that’s never been fully tested in this way. The Five Nations don’t know what the Reachers are capable of—and beyond that, the REACHERS don’t know what they’re capable of. The spells player characters wield provide us with a foundation, but Exploring Eberron already addresses arcane artillery and war rituals—the idea that the powers of a player character are oriented around swift squad combat. Given time, given tools, given a full circle of druids allied around the Great Druid themself—the Reachers wield the pure power of nature. They shattered the castles of tyrant lords with earthquakes and scattered armies with hurricanes. They terrified enemies with swarms of stinging insects and devastated them with plagues (“Those who survive will be stronger for it,” the Children of Winter say). The most infamous engagement was the battle for Varna, in which Lake Galifar itself rose up to fight for the Wardens. At least, that’s what the stories say. They’re surely exaggerated; but the point is that the druids were able to raise an elemental of unprecedented size and power that devastated Aundairian ships and sent their forces into disarray.

Even the Warden soldiers who were at the siege don’t know what was involved in raising Lake Galifar or if it could be done again. And that’s the point: the full capabilities of the Reaches are a mystery. Their army is a fraction of the size of any of the Five Nations. Their industrial capacity is far smaller. But no one—not even the Reachers themselves—knows what they are capable of. You can be sure that there’s teams in the Arcane Congress specifically devoted to analyzing and countering the primal capabilities of the Wardens. But for now, those mysterious powers are sufficient to give any nation pause.

Are there Treants in the Towering Wood?

Absolutely… both natural treants, fey treants, and the dreaded gaa’avash. In my campaign, the treants of the Towering Wood are the children of the Eldeen Ada. Each has its own distinct personality, but each treant is spiritually linked to one of the guardian trees and follows its direction. So Oalian doesn’t leave the Greenheart, but their child Gywahar was part of the Warden forces during the Secession and many of the enemy assumed the treant was Oalian themself. Meanwhile, fey treants are found in Thelanian manifest zones and essentially a variation of dryads—a different sort of tree story.

Avassh has great influence in the Towering Wood. Elsewhere there have been suggestions that the Barrens are barren because of some sort of massive defoliation effort enacted by the Dhakaani. Why wouldn’t the Towering Wood have suffered the same fate?

There’s no certain answer to this question in the present day; you’d need to consult ancient Dhakaani or the long-dead orcs of the Towering Wood. But there’s two obvious answers. The first is that Dhakaani lived in the region that’s now the Barrens, while they never lived in the Towering Wood. They had to do something because Avassh was destroying their people… while meanwhile, the orcs of the Towering Woods would never have supported such actions. Beyond this, I’d be inclined to say that whatever cataclysmic method they used likely wouldn’t have worked in the Towering Wood, which is “preternaturally fertile.” The primal power of the region made it a safer haven for Avassh, even if the titans themselves resisted her influence.

That’s all for now! As always, these answers are my opinions and may contradict canon sources. Thanks to my Patreon supporters for asking interesting questions and for making these articles possible; if you’d like to see more frequent articles or to be able to influence future topics, check it out!

IFAQ: Transgender Visibility in Eberron?

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Threshold’s Chronicler, by Julio Azevedo

Every month I answer interesting questions posed by my Patreon supporters. Here’s one that came up this month…

In honor of the recent International Transgender Day of Visibility, are there any canonical NPCs you would consider being trans and/or nonbinary?

My immediate answer is every elf in Eberron, as called out in this article. Beyond that, however, this is a question where I’m far more interested in what other people have to say than in my own cisgendered opinion. Because the basic answer is that anyone could be. Exploring Eberron presents the idea that cosmetic transmutation is a safe and effective tool for transition. We’ve said that the people of Khorvaire are comfortable with gender fluidity and nonbinary identity—whether it’s the ongoing fluidity of a changeling or elf or a long-term decision. So the simple answer is that any canonical NPC COULD be transgender. But this in turn has a certain sense of “So what?” If Krozen transitioned when he was twenty but has identified as male for two decades, how exactly is it visible now? Should it even be called out now, given that Krozen is who they wish to be? I wonder if rather than “Which canonical NPCs transitioned in the past,” a more interesting question might be “Which canonical NPCs might transition in the future”—because to me, that’s what would make the story visible.

The short form is that I’m more interested in the answers of those who are living this experience than in my own ideas. Please share and discuss your thoughts—whether about canonical NPCs, transgender and nonbinary representation in Eberron in general, or experiences from your campaigns—in the comments. And while it’s not my work, I’d like to draw attention to Blessed of the Traveler, a DMs Guild book discussing this topic!

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE. I have never had to moderate comments on a post before, but I will be doing so on this post. I am asking for the input of people who are living this experience. Saying “I’m not trans and I don’t include any representation in my campaign” doesn’t add anything to this conversation, and instead further isolates people who are already isolated. This post isn’t going to force you to change how you DM. What it is—I hope—is for a chance for fellow gamers who normally feel unseen and unheard to share their experiences and to talk about how they would change the world. The question here is how do you include representation in your campaign; “I don’t” or “I won’t” aren’t useful contributions to this discussion and will be removed to keep things focused.

I have said before that in my campaign, “good” reflects empathy and compassion—our ability to understand the pain of others and the desire to avoid causing suffering. So please: be good. If the experiences of the people posting here are not your own, listen to them; this is not the time or the place to argue. Thank you all for your time, your energy, and your compassion.