Post-apocalyptic desert wastelands await
Eberron is a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons and the name of the world on which the campaign is set. Much like most D&D campaign settings, Eberron is a fantasy world filled with magic and medieval-like societies, but it merges cyberpunk elements weaving mechanised creatures and technology into the wrold. A campaign book has been released for 5e set in Eberron called Eberron: Rising from the Last War. It has its own planes of existence and unique cosmology being set on the world of Eberron in the Great Wheel Cosmology.
Geography of Eberron
Eberorn is made up of 6 continents:
- Aerenal – A small continent ruled by elves
- Argonnessen – A dragon infested continent
- Everice – A polar continent
- Khorvaire – A continent of 5 nations and the location of “The Last War”
- Sarlona – A continent ruled by the Quori, creatures that originate from the realm of dreams
- Xen’drik – Jungle continent once ruled by giants before their empire collapsed. It is now inhabited by tribes of drow
Eberron also has an underdark known as Khyber, similar in nature to the underdark of Faerun. The continent of Khorvaire is the location of most published adventures in Eberron and deals with the events of the five nations who each take on a certain characteristic or national focus:
- Aundair – Scholarly
- Breland – Cosmopolitan
- Karrnath – Militaristic
- Thrane – Theocratic
- Mournland – An uninhabited haunted wasteland
Dragonmarks
Dragonmarks are rare markings on a person’s body that grant abilities that operate much like spells. Usually, only members of the thirteen dragonmarked houses can inherit dragonmarks (though only 12 of these remain as those that bear the mark of death are all believed to have been destroyed) and each house has a unique dragonmark that provides unique gifts to those that have them. Even then, only a small percentage of the members of each house ever manifest a dragonmark.
There are 5 types of dragonmarks, each being more powerful and prestigous than the previous:
- Aberrant
- Least
- Lesser
- Greater
- Siberys
Aberrant dragonmarks are not recognised by the dragonmarked houses and are generally believed to have been warped by Khyber, the dragon below. The Siberys mark is considered the greatest mark to have. Players in the Eberron setting can take dragonmarks as feats gaining access to unique abilities.
Religion
Religion and worship of deities in Eberron works differently than it does on Faerun for example. Gods are race agnostic so elves, humans, dwarves and all other races worship the same pantheon of gods. Worshippers tend to belong to a religious order first and foremost and adherents to a deity second so a paladin that follows the path of Dol Arrah and a wizard following Aureon belong to the same religious order despite worshipping different gods. Their faith and outlook on theology is the same but they focus on gaining their gifts from a different deity within that order.
The number 13 is important within the Eberron setting, particular when applying minus 1 to the number (making 12). For instance:
- There are 13 dragonmarks but only 12 still exist
- There are 13 nations on Eberron but one is not properly recognised as it’s a wasteland
- The ancient calendar had 13 months but the existing one has 12
- There was said to be 13 moons, but one disappeared leaving only 12
- There are 13 dwarven clans but one was destroyed leaving 12
- There are 13 outer planes in the Great Wheel Cosmology but only 12 of them orbit the material plane of Eberron
Eberron History
The Ancient Goblinoid Empire of Dhakaan
Over 16,000 years ago, goblins covered the continent of Khorvaire witha great empire that dominated the land until the Daelkyr arrived. The Daelkyr are humanoids from Xoriat, the Realm of Madness. They are both immortal and immensely powerful with an army of aberrations (like beholders and mind flayers) at their command.
The Daelkyr decimated the goblinoids but were eventually stopped by the gatekeepers, a druidic sect dedicated to protecting Eberron aberrations and extra-planar threats. There are believed to be 6 remaining Daelkyr on Eberron who are seeking a way to bring their armies back to conquer it, but they are trapped in the depths of Khyber (Eberron’s underdark); for now.
The Dhakaan empire has never regained it’s previous might and majesty and is only formed of several clans that live in the ruins of their former empire. These tribes have more recently begun to wrestle for greater control of Eberron’s lands however.
The Last War
Only 2 years ago was the end of “The Last War”, a war to end all wars. The people of Khorvaire hope that no such war will ever occur of its magnitude again. The Last War itself encompasses many conflicts fought over a 102 year period which was primarily marked by a particularly devastating moment on the Day of Mourning (2 years before the end of the war) in which the nation of Cyre was destroyed by an incident with similar effects to an atomic bomb. The true cause of this incident is unknown, but the nation of Cyre has been left decimated by the disaster and still suffers from the magical and mutational effects of the radiation left, harming both plants and creatures and leaving the place a wasteland.
The nation of Cyre is now known as the Mournland. The Mournland is home to living spells, undead and a militant sect of warforged led by the Lord of Blades. This sect seek total annihilation of all fleshy humanoids and the domination of the continent of Khorvaire. The Mournland is obviously incredibly dangerous, but those that enter it are unable to heal either magically or naturally due to the effects of its magical radiation. For these reasons, very few people enter the Mournlands.
