"So all we know is that they will have dragon shards and that they are coming in by rail? Hm... How many stops are expected for the rest of the day? We should probably keep an eye out for any shifters too." Kael turns to Kaellead, "Could you find out if any Dragon House members are supposed to be coming into town today?"
it's not 1 house, it's multiple houses
"I don't think we have time, but Shifters don't carry marks, so I think it's a moot point."
"Aye. It's not the rail I'm worried about. Have you ever been to one of those stations? People! Everywhere. Milling about. Travelling here, and zooming there. Scurrying. And we're supposed to sniff out the right ones? I don't like it one bit. That's kinda like holding back a crack in a dam with just our thumbs. If we have to hold up every single person, it could cause a riot in there. There must be a better way."
"I lived on the streets of Sharn, crowds are no problem for me."
"Now, he gave us this paper saying we're acting as agents of the crown. Perhaps we should just stop the passengers and make sure they know. Since we're acting on behalf of Galifar, the guards would be under our jurisdiction as well."
checks his weapons, checks his false peace knots, making sure he can draw if needed
"It's not my first choice of places to visit, but it'll do I s'pose." Faress has been quiet during this affair, willing to listen and evaluate the situation on his own terms. If the whole affair made him a little uneasy, he didn't show it.
"Come on Silnur. Follow me close, and keep to yourself." he says, reaching down to the large mastiff's neck and giving it a scratch. This large dog, with it's powerful jaws and leather armour, was intimidating and visibly powerful in every way that Faress wasn't.
"Truly?" Kae wonders, "It's just a magical mode of transportation. Not some seedy dive in the Demon Wastes"
Dragonshards are magical crystals that can be incorporated as key elements of magic items. They come in three types: eberron, siberys and khyber.
Eberron – these shards are found in rocky nodules buried shallowly under the ground. They are useful for attuning to various spells, which has numerous applications. For example, a specially attuned shard can be used instead of a spellbook for a wizard, or in the everglowing lamps which light many of the cities of Eberron.
Siberys – siberys shards appear to have an affinity for dragonmarks, and can be incorporated into items to enhance the effects of dragonmark spell-like abilities. Siberys shards fall from the sky like meteorites, and are obtained by prospecting the areas where they are likely to fall.
Khyber – khyber shards are used in binding elementals and other such creatures. They are found deep under the earth, growing around lava pools.
House Tharashk makes a lot of its money prospecting for dragonshards.
Within the last few thousand years, a number of the humanoid races have manifested dragonmarks, strange sigils which appear on the skin and grant the bearer specific magical powers. The causes and meanings of the marks are mysterious, though the dragons of Argonessen have taken some, albeit aloof, interest in lesser races since they began appearing. The marks appear to be heritable, and as such families bearing the marks have formed themselves into twelve “Houses” which have, over the centuries, accrued considerable economic power to themselves though the use of their marks. The dragonmarks are partly responsible for one of the key elements in the Eberron campaign – the relative prevalence of low level magic in the setting. Because the Houses are arranged on commercial lines, their magical powers are for sale. For example:
- long range communications are facilitated through House Sivis speaking stones
- House Orien runs the lightning rail (effectively, magic trains) across the Five Nations to speed up long distance travel, or you can charter a House Lyrandar airship if you have the money and a more out-of-the-way destination in mind
- House Kundarak runs a series of magically protected banks, and you can always take out the items you have lodged there, from any branch, irrespective of where you placed it in their safekeeping in the first place
- House Tharashk can track down anything, or anyone
- House Jorasco can cure whatever ails you (in fact, no one “goes to the temple” for healing as the priest is usually not a cleric, they go to House Jorasco)
- House Cannith manufactures all manner of magic items, from potions of Cure Light Wounds to lightning rail carriages or warforged (though the manufacture of warforged is now expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Thronehold).
The lesser powers of the Houses can be purchased by the man on the street. The more powerful abilities require serious money, from the wealthy individual or even states. Either way, it all adds to the commercial power and political clout of the Houses.
Other, aberrant, marks exist but are much less common following the War of the Mark, which established the current House system. The holders are not arranged into houses, and the nature of their powers can vary wildly, though they are rarely particularly powerful. Indeed, holders of aberrant marks are often shunned by society and can suffer from madness. The War of the Mark pitted the holders of the aberrant marks against the nascent dragonmarked houses, and led to their virtual extermination (in the ages following the War, the Houses still killed holders of aberrant marks, though this is no longer common).
The Houses stayed neutral in the Last War, and indeed profited mightily in some cases (especially House Deneith and House Cannith). The Houses technically are not involved in politics and cannot aspire to office or power. However, given their wealth, they are often deeply involved in political machinations, often in concert or against one another.
The particular marks of the different Houses grant specific, related powers that allow them to dominate in particular fields of enterprise. These are as follows:
House Cannith - Mark of Making - Humans - Manufacture and repair of goods, especially magical items
House Deneith - Mark of the Sentinel - Humans - Personal physical protection and mercenary services
House Ghallanda - Mark of Hospitality - Halflings - Inns, taverns, dining
House Jorasco - Mark of Healing - Halflings - Healing
House Kundarak - Mark of Warding - Dwarves - Banking, security of property
House Lyrandar - Mark of the Storm - Half-elves - Sea transport, air transport, weather-control
House Medani - Mark of Detection - Half-elves - Investigation, personal protection
House Orien - Mark of Passage - Humans - Courier and land-based transport services
House Phiarlan - Mark of Shadow - Elves - Entertainment
House Sivis - Mark of Scribing - Gnomes - Communication, notarisation of documentation
House Tharashk - Mark of Finding - Humans, Half-orcs - Investigations, finding dragonshards
House Thuranni - Mark of Shadow - Elves - Entertainment
House Vadalis - Mark of Handling - Human - Animal husbandry and training
In game terms, receiving a dragonmark requires a feat to be taken. There are four types of dragonmark: least, lesser, greater and siberys. The first three can be obtained by taking the relevant feats (a lesser mark requires that the least mark feat has been taken, and so on) or by taking the Dragonmarked Heir prestige class (in the ECS). The siberys mark requires the Heir of Siberys prestige class to be taken (and this can’t be taken if the character has any dragonmarks already). The dragonmark allows a specific spell-like ability, to be activated one or more times a day.
leans against the wall, twirling a cold iron dagger on his fingertip, intensely staring at Kael
Info on Shifters from Aubrey's PbP Campaign, for those unfamiliar with Eberron)
Shifters:
Spoiler:
Shifters are the descendants of lycanthropes, but rather than being an affliction their bestial nature has been internalised in a process call shifting. When a shifter shifts, this animalistic trait is released, enhancing the shifter in a number of ways. (In game terms, a shifter chooses a shifter trait which can be used, a bit like a barbarian rage, to enhance them for a limited period of time. There are a number of traits with different effects to choose from, ranging from increased AC, growing claws or fangs as natural weapons, enhanced senses, and so on.) Shifters have a bestial appearance, with hairy arms, legs and sideburns in both sexes, and stand about 5’6” tall. They are subject to a degree of prejudice because of their somewhat frightening appearance, and are most prevalent in the Eldeen Reaches. Their favoured class in Ranger.
Some onfo on religions in Eberron, from Aubrey's PbP Eberron Campaign:
Religion
The gods of Eberron are grouped into two major pantheons, plus a series of other unrelated religions. With a few exceptions, noted below, the religions are not racially based. Even where a religion is practiced exclusively by a single race, the reasons are cultural rather than a facet of the gods themselves. The gods of Eberron are impersonal forces – they do not interfere at all in the ways of mortals. Some philosophers even doubt whether they truly exist at all.
A number of these gods have domains that are not in the core rulebooks – they are set out in the ECS, and probably the Spell Compendium too. It is possible to worship a pantheon rather than a specific god, and thereby a cleric can choose two domains from that pantheon even if they come from different gods.
Priests of deities in the broader Eberron setting tend not to be of the Cleric class. They are often adepts, or even experts with no magical powers. Clerics tend to be the knights militant of a faith, rather than the local parish priests.
Alignments and clerics
One rule change from the core setting is that a cleric of a god does not need to be within one alignment step of his chosen deity. In fact, he could have a wildly different alignment and still draw power from that deity. A good cleric can cast spells with the Evil descriptor (or perform other acts of evil), and vice versa, without recourse to Atonement spells.
The Sovereign Host
This pantheon is the most commonly worshipped in Khorvaire. It is the mainstream religion of the Five Nations, with the exception of Thrane. It is typically worshipped as a pantheon, rather than on a god-by-god basis.
Arawai, God of Agriculture – NG – Good, Life, Plant, Weather
Aureon, God of Law and Knowledge – LN – Knowledge, Law, Magic
Balinor, God of Beasts and Hunting – N – Air, Animal, Earth
Boldrei, God of Community and Hearth – LG – Community, Good, Law, Protection
Dol Arrah, God of Honour and Sacrifice – LG – Good, Law, Sun, War
Dol Dorn, God of Strength at Arms – CG – Chaos, Good, Strength, War
Kol Korran, God of Trade and Wealth – N – Charm, Commerce, Travel
Olladra, God of feast and Good Fortune – NG – Feast, Good, Healing, Luck
Onatar, God of Artifice and the Forge – NG – Artifice, Fire, Good
The Dark Six
The negative counterparts to the Sovereign Host, they are rarely openly worshipped. However, it is a rare citizen who hasn’t offered a surreptitious prayer to them, such as the farmer hoping to propitiate the Devourer to prevent his crops being ruined in a flood. Worship tends to be of a specific god, rather than of the pantheon.
The Devourer, God of the Tempest – NE – Destruction, Evil, Water, Weather
The Fury, God of Violence and Hatred – NE – Evil, Madness, Passion
The Keeper, God of Death – NE – Death, Decay, Evil
The Mockery, God of Treachery – NE – Destruction, Evil, Trickery, War
The Shadow, God of Dark Magic – CE – Chaos, Evil, Magic, Shadow
The Traveller, God of Deception – CN – Artifice, Chaos, Travel, Trickery
The Church of the Silver Flame
The Silver Flame is the force that binds the rakshasa and demon lords within Khyber (see below). While it has existed since the end of the Age of Demons, humanity only became aware of it when Tira Miron, a paladin of Dol Arrah, sacrificed herself to help a couatl defeat a demon that was about to shrug its bonds. Through her selfless act, she merged with the flame and became its voice, able to communicate with mortals. The Church sprang up from that moment, its mission to purge the world of evil and corruption. With its stronghold in Thrane, it is a powerful crusading force against the machinations of fiends and other foulness. It is also the instigator of a number of atrocities carried out in the name of the Silver Flame, either though excessive zeal or corruption from within.
The Church of the Silver Flame – LG – Exorcism, Good, Law, Protection
The Blood of Vol
The doctrine of the Blood of Vol is that blood is the source of life, and that death is an abomination. Undeath is a way to achieve divinity, and many within the cult aspire to become one of the sacred undead like Vol, Queen of the Dead. The state religion of Karrnath,
The Blood of Vol – LE – Death, Evil, Law, Necromancer
The Dragon Below
The various cults of the Dragon Below are rarely connected with one another. Instead, a charismatic leader gathers a small band of similarly insane followers to worship some aspect of the works of Khyber, either through trafficking with fiends, the adoration of aberrations from the depths, or dwelling within the deep places of the earth and practicing hideous rites.
The Dragon Below – NE – Earth, Evil, Madness
The Path of Light
The religion of the kalashtar, it emphasises the perfection of body and mind, the importance of the kalashtar communities, and readiness to strike against darkness.
The Path of Light – LN – Law, Meditation, Protection
The Undying Court
The Aerenal elves revere their ancestors. Indeed, their reverence has granted the ancient dead post-mortal animation as members of the deathless. As such, they continue to act as councillors and rulers within that realm.
The Undying Court – NG – Deathless, Good, Protection
The druid sects
A number of sects exist of which the key leaders are druids. They revere the natural world, though some of them different in doctrine (some wildly) and in their relationship with the more civilised lands. The most prominent, and doctrinally mild, are the
Wardens of the Wood, who also rule the Eldeen Reaches. They see agriculture as compatible with the natural order, provided that the land is respected. At the other end of the spectrum are the
Children of Winter, who revere death and decay as the key natural forces of the world, and the
Ashbound, a terrorist-like group who consider any form of civilisation and arcane magic as an abomination.
The Gatekeepers are a sect based in the Shadow Marches, mostly comprised of orcs, who were instrumental in the defeat of the daelkyr (see below) and maintain constant vigil to prevent further incursions from Xoriat.
My character will need something a bit more solid to cement my loyalty, and reputation with my house. He's selfish, he wants more power, and he feels he can only gain that power in his own house.
PbP but we are full of players right now, we've already turned someone else away... you are free to lurk though and wait to see if something opens up.
Ok, I changed up my flaws slightly, I took a metal allergy to cold iron (I typed in what I thought it should do), and Conceited. I like noncombatant but I didn't want to duplicate someone else's flaw choices, just a personal thing for me.
Kael is travelling around. So far he's been to the ironroot mountains, Valanar, Cyre, and he's now in the Eldreen reaches researching about his allergy.
I should be completely finalized from a mechanics point of view tonight or tomorrow morning.
Ok thanks anyway, I was hoping it wasn't full or pbp
I like PbP format...I just started it last month, it's pretty fun...especailly since I get to play...I DM my live group...and never get to play heh.
My description and backgrounds are posted, I'll finish getting my gear tonight.
Skills and Feats are complete, I took 2 flaws (Leacherous and Short Temper)from that one website you had greenlighted. With one of the bonus feats I took the Extra traits feat from Second Darkness. One of the Background traits I took was from Iron Kingdoms, Let me know if everything is good. Having been an orphan he's VERY self-centered and self-reliant, he can work with a team when he has to, but he also knows that if he is too much of a bastard he might be excoriated from House Phiarlan, and that is the only family he has truly had, so he is fiercely loyal to his House.
One thing about Eberron, race doesn't matter as much as Nation or House...If it's an exclusively elven thing that would either mean it's from Aerenal, or House Phiarlan...as the other elves haven't hit the shore at this time.
Just because you weren't a guard for me, doesn't mean you couldn't have been a guard for another, perhaps my mother or father. That would link us.
I think there's a write-up about duskblades in the Player's Guide to Eberron, can someone summarize that for him? (If it's in D&D it's in Eberron is the saying they made for Eberron. and most of the conversion is in the Player's Guide.)
Oh and Dahn, thanks for reminding me about Phiarlan beign entertainers...so now my Profession is Acrobat...heh...
I see myself as a blade for hire, as befits a Phiarlan...I'm quite adept at killing enemies, though I'm also quite adept at sneaking and gathering info. I doubt I need a bodyguard tho.
So if I searved as a personal guard to a member of one of these houses I could have the mark put on me to get the bonus. Is that a magic item or a feat or just a bonus to picking a house? What marks would bennifit a guardsmen of the elven race?
It's not an actual tattoo, it appears basically at random, you can choose a mark as feat selection. Humans have the Mark of Warding, but it's not available to an elf. The marks are said to be part of the Dragon prophecy.
Anyone have a site that gives the basics of Eberron for him?
It's a very intricate campaign setting, one of the best in my opinion.
Here we go, have a look at some of the old articles from the D&D site
So if I searved as a personal guard to a member of one of these houses I could have the mark put on me to get the bonus. Is that a magic item or a feat or just a bonus to picking a house? What marks would bennifit a guardsmen of the elven race?
It's not an actual tattoo, it appears basically at random, you can choose a mark as feat selection. Humans have the Mark of Warding, but it's not available to an elf. The marks are said to be part of the Dragon prophecy.
Anyone have a site that gives the basics of Eberron for him?
It's a very intricate campaign setting, one of the best in my opinion.
A dragonmark is a blue and purple tattoo-like mark that appears on the various dragon-marked races (Main races). For example: I have the Mark of Shadow, it allows me to use darkness 1/day, it also makes me a member of the dragon-marked house...now if I screw up bad enough, I can be excoriated from my house.
There are twelve houses, the 13th house was destroyed during the War of the Mark. The destroyed mark was the Mark of Death.
There are also aberrant dragon marks, which have various powers, but people with an aberrant mark are regarded with suspicion at beast and as monsters at worst.
Elves themselves don't have a court in the Eldeen Reaches.
There is the Kingdom of Galifar, but it's court is not in Aundair either, being an elf, you could be a guard for one of the 2 elf dragonmarked houses, Phiarlan or Vadalis. if you're dragonmarked you could have the d'Phiarlan or d'Vadalis name, if you work FOR the house and bear no make, then you are allowed to add Phiarlan or Vadalis to the end of your name.
I don't mean to sound like a weirdo who has this sh*t memorized. Literally I'm sitting here with my ECS book on my lap, flipping between pages 120 and 224, trying to piece together a history that we have only fragments of, in order to be present in it!
I kinda figured, heh, I'm sitting at work occasionally looking at my Paizo stuff... with no books heh.
The Orcs were there first (around -30,000), and so then too were the Gatekeepers. They awakened Oalian in -4,100, who did his best to teach the principles of the gatekeepers to what few humans began to settle there (somewhere around -2,500 and -1,800), but it's only throughout the Last War that this Druidic history began to really fracture and split into 12 distinct factions. The liberation of the Eldeen Reaches is one of the main events that helps solidify the Wardens of the Wood as they are now.
Perhaps your character is one of the early wardens? His ideals are part of the fractioning. You could always play an orc gatekeeper heh...
Yeah I haven't touched my Eberron books in the last few months up until this thread started...had forgotten my timeline. Been running my group through Crown of the Kobold King - Pathfinder Beta.
What year are we starting in, by the way? I'm trying to organize some kind of fluidity in my backstory. 894;The first year of the war?
The Wardens of the Wood, especially the druids, are very important in the history of the eldeen reaches, but the Eldeen Reaches don't exist proper until 958, proclaiming independance under the guidance and authority of the Wardens and Oalian. I'm trying to find a path.
Well the Eldeen Reaches existed of course, just not as an independent nation, I would think the Wardens of the wood probably existed prior to that...does it have a timeframe for the creation of the wardens?
It doesn't prevent you from dying of old age, but it stops you from accruing the penalties of ageing. (bonuses still accrue)
So I could look and feel like a spry 24 year old well into my 90's....
All the more believable that I would find something to mate with before I die...
or you could get to mature before L12 and get that wisdon bonus.
Then have 1 or 2 longevity potions near the end of your life, which would get you there. or maybe you're actually 1/8th elf alreayd and our illustrious DM could figure you will live to max age for a human.
I think it's since he wants to have you be able to last to the end of the war, some hundred years later...of course I guess you could always try to get longevity items down the line?
Ok I'll be an elf Duskblade Privateer. I don't know anything about the Edeen Reaches so If some one could post a few highlights that might help me with a background I would appriceate it. Also I have in my mind that Ebberron has flying ships, or dirigibles. Is it this right??? It will make a difference on the spells I take. I finish the character tomarrow morning.
Yes, there are airships in Eberron, unless you're from a specific house, you won't get one.
The Eldeen reaches are part of Aundair at the beginning of the Last War, it's a heavily forest area, agriculture is the primary work. A great many druids inhabit the Eldeen Reaches.
Would it be possible to use the Flaws/Hubris from the Swashbucking Adventure setting? They have much more flavor than the UA flaws.
examples would be:
Envious: Once per day, the DM or another player can activate your hubris in order to get you to covet something belonging to someone else. You should attempt to get it.
Hedonistic: Once per day, the DM or another player can activate your hubris to get you to relax your guard and have a good time.
Changed to a Swordsage, as I took the Least Mark of Shadow, and I thought the Shadow Hand stuff worked much better for a d'Phiarlan...plus d12 always seemed a bit odd for an elf.
Well I have a name, just not an Identity yet, if the Changeling is gonna be a wizard, I don't know if I should play one also, course I wouldn't be an illusionist. Perhaps a Mindblade instead...
(EDIT: Since we have a Wizard I will play a War Blade instead, never gotten a chance to play one.)
and for pronunciation it's Kay-yay-eth...welsh inflections of the double Ls and Ds.
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