Five Nations

One night in Olarune of 299 YK, the settlers and farmers of Thrane saw dark clouds gathering over the Tamor Hills. A ruddy glow rose from a fi ssure in the hills. Those who explored the chasm did not return. As months passed, fiends and bloodthirsty beasts crawled out of the fissure and threatened the land. The Year of Blood and Fire was a time of great terror, but it was also a time of inspiration. The holy warrior Tira Miron gathered priests and soldiers to fight against the darkness. Armed with a singular vision, she ultimately confronted the evil forces within the Tamor Gap, binding their fiendish lord and transforming its dark fl ame to a font of silver light. Through her sacrifi ce, she became a spiritual vessel for the Silver Flame, a conduit through which it could touch the souls of others.

Many in Thrane see the Year of Blood and Fire as a turning point. Inspired by Tira’s sacrifice and guided by her spirit, Thranes destroyed or drove off the remaining fiends. The common folk turned to the new church in droves, and the citadel of Flamekeep was soon established. The Church of the Silver Flame spread across Khorvaire, but Thrane remained its heart. The good people of Thrane had seen the horror of unrestrained evil, and they were determined to stand against that darkness. At times, this missionary zeal spun out of control. Queen Joliana’s fervor for the Flame nearly shattered the kingdom of Galifar centuries before the death of Jarot. However, most of the followers of the Flame have shown tolerance toward those who pursue other faiths, saving their strength to battle inhuman and supernatural evil.

If the Year of Blood and Fire was the fi rst major turning point in the history of Thrane, the second was surely the death of King Thalin. The Council of Cardinals had grown in power and infl uence, and Thalin’s heir, Prince Daslin, was seen as weak. Above all, the nation was at war. It took little effort on the part of the cardinals to convince the people to raise the church above the throne, and Daslin himself acceded to the demand without a struggle. In 914 YK, Thrane offi cially embraced the Church of the Silver Flame as its ruling body, becoming the fi rst true theocracy in Khorvaire.

While a few archbishops and cardinals crave personal power, most believe that the rule of the Flame is best for Thrane and for Khorvaire. This uncompromising zeal made it diffi cult for Thrane to form lasting alliances during the Last War, but the resolve of its clerics and paladins allowed the nation to hold its own even when beset from all sides. The new Keeper of the Flame, Jaela Daran, does not believe that war within Khorvaire serves the goals of the Church. However, many knights and cardinals still yearn to see a new Galifar united under the Silver Flame. And in the shadows of the court, the symbolic queen, Diani ir’Wynarn, looks back on the history of her family and dreams of returning her line to the throne.

Royals of Thrane

For the better part of a thousand years, the scions of King Galifar I—all members of the royal Wynarn bloodline—ruled Thrane. The children of Galifar’s ruling sovereign were always fi rst in line to govern the Five Nations. Occasionally, as happens when there are fewer suitable heirs, governorship of Thrane fell to trusted regents drawn from other parts of the family.

As with the other Five Nations, Thrane was administered by the governor-princes as part of the Kingdom of Galifar from the founding of the kingdom until 894 YK. In that year, as the struggle for the crown that caused the Last War escalated, Thrane broke from the kingdom and declared itself an independent monarchy under the rule of King Thalin. Thalin, like many of the Thrane-based ir’Wynarns, was a devoted follower of the Silver Flame. He broke with tradition in order to exercise what he saw as his divine right to the Galifar crown. With the kingdom under his control, he could elevate the Silver Flame to its proper position as the one true religion of the land and the people. In many ways, it was Thalin’s zealous faith that led to the next stage in Thrane’s history.

Thrane remained a monarchy until 914 YK, when it became a theocracy governed by the Church of the Silver Flame. At that time, temporal and spiritual power fell to the Council of Cardinals and the Keeper of the Flame. Although the Wynarn line in Thrane continues to appoint blood regents (eldest scions of the royal family), these scions are merely figureheads without any temporal power.

ECS

The spirit of the Silver Flame took hold of the hearts and souls of the people of Thrane seven hundred years ago, and this religious fervor remains the driving force behind the nation. Thrane was one of the original Five Nations founded by the human settlers of Khorvaire; the culture and heritage of the region goes back millennia. It was absorbed into the Kingdom of Galifar and remained a pillar of that celebrated kingdom for almost a thousand years. While the rest of the Five Nations followed the tenets of the Sovereign Host, a new religion found life in Thrane before spreading far and wide across Khorvaire. In the wake of the Last War, Thrane stands as a theocracy devoted to the Silver Flame.

Thrane ir’Wynarn, third scion of King Galifar I, was appointed to oversee the nation that would eventually carry his name shortly after his father united the kingdom. As with the other nations, the name was changed to match that of its regent by popular decree in 32 YK. Thrane, and the greater kingdom to which it belonged, prospered as the decades grew into centuries.

In 299 YK, the event that started the religion of the Silver Flame took place. In that year, a terrible eruption split the ground and a great pillar of crimson fire emerged from the resulting chasm. No one understood the significance of the blazing column of flame, but most who dared approach it felt unrelenting malevolence in its radiating heat.

Tira Miron, a paladin dedicated to Dol Arrah, received a powerful vision about this strange fire while exploring the western reaches of the realm. In her vision, a great rainbow-winged serpent warned her that a terrible evil was emerging in the east, riding crimson fire from the depths of Khyber itself. Tira rallied the forces of Thrane and defeated the dark creatures that had come to venerate the crimson fire and help free the malevolent entity trapped within its flames. With her great sword Kloinjer, its pommel capped with a Khyber dragonshard, Tira turned to face the emerging demon just as the great serpent with the rainbow-feathered wings of her vision appeared and dove headfirst into the fire. Tira watched as the serpent and the demon struggled in the flames. The battle within the fire seemed to last for an eternity, and as she watched the demon began to overcome the serpent. Horrified, she saw the demon strike a crippling blow. The serpent, calling on its last reserves of power, encircled the demon and buried its fangs into the fiend’s fiery throat. At the same moment, it sent a mental plea to Tira, and the paladin didn’t hesitate. She leaped into the fire, plunging Kloinjer through the writhing serpent and deep into the demon’s flesh.

Then, the legend says, a powerful explosion rocked the entire kingdom of Galifar. The hot crimson fire became a cool silver flame. Tira remained within, now part of the divine fire that had replaced the evil conflagration. She became the Voice of the Silver Flame, and a new religion was born. Flamekeep, a simple stone castle, was erected around the everburning pillar of silver fire. Deep within the chasm, at the point where the fire erupts from the earth, it is said that mighty Kloinjer’s blade is buried almost to the hilt, binding demon, serpent, and paladin together forever.

In time, the castle became a cathedral, and a city grew around it. By 400 YK, the Church of the Silver Flame was the dominant religion in Thrane. The Sovereign Host, accepting of most faiths, saw the Silver Flame as just another expression of the divine pantheon on Eberron. The Silver Flame, on the other hand, tolerated the Host but had little love for faiths that didn’t accept the cleansing light of the Silver Flame.

Over the centuries, the kings and queens of Galifar, and their sons and daughters who governed the Thrane realm, have had a mixed relationship with the faith of the Silver Flame. As the Thrane people began to turn to this faith in droves, the royal family was forced to accept the Church of the Silver Flame as a force within the kingdom. Early on, they tried to restrict it to Thrane, but the faithful were zealous, and missionaries soon appeared to bring word of the Silver Flame to the rest of Khorvaire. More than one scion over the centuries, while governing in Thrane, adopted the faith. One particularly dark episode occurred in 558 YK, when Queen Joliana reached the throne after serving as Thrane’s regent. She was a devoted follower of the Silver Flame, and decided that under her rule all of Galifar would accept the Silver Flame as the one true religion. A few bloody clashes almost led to civil war before Joliana died suddenly and mysteriously before the second year of her reign had ended.

When Jarot died and the scions broke with tradition and started the Last War, Thalin of Thrane saw another opportunity to spread the Silver Flame to the entire kingdom. While the other scions had more personal or philosophical reasons for refusing to honor the traditional rights of succession, Thalin believed that he had a divine right to the crown. This tendency on the part of Thrane to place itself above the rest of the shattered kingdom led to some of the most terrible battles of the Last War.

In 914 YK, with the death of King Thalin, Thrane’s people rejected Thalin’s heir’s claim to the throne and turned to the Church of the Silver Flame for leadership. Thrane became a theocracy. The Keeper of the Flame, the head of the Church of the Silver Flame, took control of the temporal as well as the spiritual reins of the nation. This turn of events has led to tensions that go beyond the nation’s borders, as the leaders of the remaining Five Nations see the mingling of church with crown as unnatural and potentially dangerous to their own plans and ambitions.

Today, Jaela Daran serves as the Keeper of the Flame. She assumed power when she was six years old, identified by the Silver Flame as the successor to the church’s previous Keeper. Now eleven years old, Jaela helped guide Thrane through the peace talks and has developed into a caring and forceful leader despite her young age. It isn’t unusual for a Keeper so young to be selected, but it hasn’t happened since the nation became a theocracy.

War remains a primary preoccupation for the nation of Thrane. To Jaela’s advisors and the other leaders within the theocracy, the current peace presents a chance to rest and prepare for future conflict. Until all nations have accepted the Silver Flame, there will always be enemies at their borders waiting to exploit the first show of weakness or hesitation. Jaela believes that, with the exception of wiping out true evil, war is a futile endeavor. The Silver Flame doesn’t call for war; indeed, she believes that the Flame is saddened by the conflict that has pitted brother against brother. Her power within the theocracy isn’t as ironclad as some believe, however, and she has learned to negotiate her course carefully and with much deliberation. As long as most of the spiritual and secular leaders of Thrane want war, the best Jaela can hope to accomplish is to delay the start for another day, week, or year.

ECG

That Thrane survived the Last War more or less intact is a testament to the power of the Church of the Silver Flame. Over twenty years after the war started, pious King Thalin’s death left Thrane at the center of a raging storm, with enemies to all sides. Faced with internal strife, Prince Daslin renounced his claim to the throne. The church was forced to step forward and guide the nation through the war. As a result, the people fought for more than just their homes and lands—they fought for faith. Their conviction gave them the strength to soldier on no matter the odds.

Divorcing the church’s history from the nation’s is impossible—their stories are too tightly bound. The province of Thrane, like its sister realms, came to be when Thrane ir’Wynarn, King Galifar I’s third son, assumed power as regent and ruler. For three centuries, Thrane grew in power and influence, benefiting from its proximity to Thronehold and its position as Galifar’s crossroads of culture and commerce.

At the close of the third century, an ancient lord of darkness called Bel Shalor broke free from his bonds and emerged from Khyber, spawning monstrous threats upon the land and spreading misery and death. As the church’s history recounts, the paladin Tira Miron heard the call of the ancient light that had long imprisoned the demons and responded to the challenge, leading a band of heroes to the site where Flamekeep now stands to battle the monstrous tide and face the burgeoning evil. Facing the fiendish overlord, Tira allowed herself to become a vessel for the Flame, sacrificing her own life to defeat the mighty fiend. A fountain of silver flame marks the site of her sacrifice and ascension, and her example inspired a new religion . . . perhaps the greatest religion ever formed on Khorvaire.

From these noble origins grew the Church of the Silver Flame. Word spread throughout Thrane and beyond, bringing the curious and the skeptical to behold its power. Those who witnessed the shining beacon were transformed, adding their numbers to the growing movement, until the church’s power and influence could not be ignored. Tira Miron lives on in spirit as the Voice of the Flame, revered by all who follow the faith.

As the church grew, so too did its hold on Thrane’s royal scions until the regents came to see themselves as the ultimate champions of the faith. When Galifar broke into disparate nations following King Jarot’s death, Thalin declared himself King of Thrane and seized the opportunity to extend the church throughout the dying kingdom, to become head of a grand empire devoted to the Silver Flame. His zealotry plunged Thrane into war and set the tone for its fanaticism throughout the Last War.

Upon Thalin’s death, the crown was to pass to his heir, Prince Daslin. The people rose up against the prince, whom most deemed weak and unworthy. At the urging of the masses, the church stepped forward, assuming both temporal and spiritual leadership of the state. Intimidated by the church’s authority and fearing a bloody civil war if he didn’t step aside, Daslin surrendered his claim to the crown, ceding all authority to the Keeper of the Flame, the mortal who serves as titular head of the church.

During the Last War, the royal heirs remained loyal but lost any vestige of power and became nothing more than symbols. The current blood regent is Diani ir’Wynarn, and she often appears alongside the Keeper of the Flame to show solidarity with the church.

Members of the old nobility retained their holdings as long as they supported the church. Those nobles who did so continued to rule as they had before the theocracy. Those who resisted lost everything, including, in some cases, their lives.

Thrane abides by the Thronehold Accords, and the church’s young Keeper of the Flame is not eager to see her people victimized in another war. Even so, extremist elements among the nation’s leaders seek to channel rebuilding resources to Thrane’s military, to establish a new Galifar with the church at its head.

Secret Knowledge: Queen Diani is a dutiful follower of the faith in the public, but secretly she covets the power she believes is hers by right. Diani stands at the center of a royalist conspiracy, forging bonds with likeminded citizens and brokering with foreign nations to gain their assistance in ousting the church from power

In 299 YK, the Silver Flame was born. One year later, the newly christened Church of the Silver Flame appointed its first Keeper of the Flame—a spiritual leader of the nation who could commune directly with the Flame and pass its will onto the people.

In 914 YK, amid the turmoil of the Last War, the people of Thrane abandoned the monarchy and invested the Keeper of the Flame with temporal as well as spiritual governorship of the nation. Thrane became the first theocracy of Khorvaire.

A gull landed on the windowsill, fidgeted nervously, and paid Ghalt no heed. The warforged unhinged his mouth and said, “Hey, bird,” at which point the gull, startled, flew away.

Ghalt sighed.

It was very lonely on the ninth floor of the west tower. He could hear the distant shrieking of gulls, the faint sounds of the busy harbor. Ghalt stood in the corridor for several more hours. The hall darkened, and the wooden floor creaked. He looked at the floor. He stared at the ceiling. He looked at the window. He looked at an empty suit of armor standing in one corner of the hall.

“That’s me in another five years,” the warforged lamented.

Ghalt sighed.

“What am I doing here?” he asked out loud. “I was built to fight armies! I was built to defend Thrane! Nice of m’lady to leave me standing here like a coat rack for a month while she sips Brelish brandy and catches up on her reading.”

Silence gripped the hall for another hour or so. Clump, clump, clump, clump. Ghalt stepped over to the window, his footfalls echoing loudly. He peered down at the twilit harbor hundreds of feet below. Vertigo made his head swim, but he could not pull away. An anchored ship with bundled sails lingered in the bay. He wondered what it might be like to stand on its deck, to feel the planks heaving gently beneath him. He wondered where the ship had been, what perils its crew had faced, and what great adventures awaited them.

“Crooked!” the warforged exclaimed, shaking his head as he returned to his post. “What am I doing? I am a servant of Thalingard, not an adventurer. I guard stuff. That’s what I do.”

Night fell. Hours passed. The last shred of evening light fl ed the hall. From out of the darkness came the soft sound of adamantine creaking against wood.

“I guard stuff,” whispered the warforged. “Yep, that’s what I do.”

The tower fell silent.

Six hours later, the first rays of morning struck the tower near the familiar ninth floor window. Light crept into the hall. Ghalt was nowhere to be seen.

Outside, far below, a low fog had settled over Flamekeep’s harbor. Esallin emerged from his cabin with redbone cup in hand, ready for his morning tea. He spotted a warforged standing on the deck, a greatsword slung over its back and saltwater pooling at its feet.

“Now thar’s something ye don’t see every day,” he said. Esallin stroked his beard, thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Crawled up the anchor line, did ye?”

“Hope that’s okay,” Ghalt replied.

“Well now, that’s somethin’ ye’ll need to take up with the cap’n. I’m just the bosun on this here boat.”

The warforged and the bosun studied each other for a moment. Ghalt turned his gaze up to the crow’s nest. Esallin sipped his tea. “You drink?”

Ghalt fixed his gaze upon the man once more. “I don’t think so,” he replied.

“I reckon you don’t.”

Ghalt felt a moment of awkward silence.

“I’m afraid I’m not quite sure where to go from here.”

“The world is a big place,” mused Esallin. “If all else fails, pick a star and follow it, or just go wherever the wind takes ye. That’s freedom, my adamantine friend, granted to ye by the Treaty of Thronehold. Embrace it while you can.”

Ghalt nodded, thinking that the treaty didn’t seem to apply in Thrane. “Is this boat going away?” he asked.

The bosun sipped his tea. “Aye, away from Thrane,” he replied evenly, catching the warforged’s true question.

“Then I would like to go with it,” Ghalt said.

The warforged set his jaw, closed his eyes, and felt the gentle waves carry him away.

Imagine being surrounded on all sides by angry, resentful neighbors, and you can begin to understand how the common Thrane feels. Thrane shares borders with all four of its longtime enemies, and Thrane alone abandoned the royal bloodline of Galifar in favor of a theocracy. Moreover, Thrane seized parcels of land from Aundair and Breland—territory that Queen Aurala and King Boranel would like returned. Thrane has also been duly chastised for its cruelty. It demonstrated a startling lack of compassion when it denied Cyran refugees a new home after the destruction of their homeland, and vengeful Karrns resent Thrane for the ruthless bombardment of their capital—an audacious attack that left the imperious Karrnathi citizens feeling vulnerable and defenseless. Surrounded by such resentment, Thranes can ill afford to lead carefree lives. However, they take great comfort in the Silver Flame, for it has never broken their trust or led them astray.

The overwhelming majority of Thranes are honest, proud, and passionate people who believe in the Church of the Silver Flame. Equally devoted to family and work, Thranes do nothing halfway. If a citizen of Thrane undertakes a task or agrees to serve a cause, he gives it his all. That said, few Thranes are mindless zealots. Most followers of the Flame tolerate other belief systems. After all, Tira Miron herself began as a paladin of Dol Arrah. The Silver Flame demands only that its followers fi ght evil, whether it’s evil incarnate—fi ends, undead, and other abominations—or the evil that plagues the human soul. If a paladin of the Silver Flame senses evil in an innkeeper, he should try to fi nd a way to bring that soul back to the light, not strike down the innkeeper or destroy his business. However, this is a hard road to follow, and try as they might, many Thranes do not measure up to these high ideals.

In general, Thranes lead ascetic lives. Gambling, carousing, and similar activities are frowned upon in the land of the Silver Flame. Religious observances are very important. However, not all Thranes see eye to eye. Many are divided on the importance of the monarchy, for example. Most citizens pledge their greatest loyalty to the Church, but a small faction holds to Queen Diani ir’Wynarn and the line of Galifar. Some of these loyalists reject the power of the Church entirely, while others (such as Captain Unknown of the Knights of Thrane) believe that both have their place in the kingdom, and that it was a mistake to upset the balance between the two.

Thrane is still rebuilding as a result of the Last War. It has few coins left in its treasury, it owes money to various dragonmarked houses (House Kundarak in particular), its citizens are overtaxed, and its cities still show signs of the carnage and destruction wrought by Aundairian, Brelish, Cyran, Karrnathi, and Darguun invaders. The dragonmarked houses have trouble acting within the tight strictures of the Church of the Silver Flame, and they must trod carefully around prickly, overbearing cardinals.

The Last War brought pain and loss to every family in Thrane. Dead brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters are remembered in daily prayer. Cardinal Yisek, who spoke out against the war, proclaimed that “the Last War was about who gets to sit on that old chair in Thronehold.” The sad irony is that after Thalin’s death, Thrane forsook the royal bloodline altogether. When the nation transformed into a theocracy, Thranes stopped fighting for their king and instead began fighting for land and for the greater glory of the Silver Flame. It’s no wonder that many Thranes today feel detached from the rest of the Five Nations.

Although Thranes hear news of rampant corruption in the cities of Aundair, Breland, and Karrnath, they are blind to the corruption within their own borders. Too many officials who learned to abandon their morals and ethics during the Last War remain in power, wearing their faith like a mask and cleverly hiding their personal agendas and thirst for power. Whether the theocracy can survive the machinations of these tainted few remains to be seen.

Thranes have never shied away from arcane science. While arcane magic has its place in postwar Thrane, citizens these days concentrate their energy on spiritual devotion. Thrane’s lack of arcane sophistication is countered by the widespread use of divine magic. While arcane magic is not seen as evil, most Thranes regard excessive devotion to arcane studies as a distraction from the light of the Silver Flame. Likewise, most followers of the Flame are tolerant of those who worship the Sovereign Host, but they judge other religions more harshly. The Blood of Vol is seen as an abomination, and the Thranes have never forgiven Karrnath for embracing this darkness.

Thrane culture demands restraint and control, but when a Thrane shows emotion, everyone knows it. Offended or upset, a Thrane may very well respond like a focused blast of fire, either incinerating what invokes his displeasure or smoldering for a long, long time. It is considered rude to shout or rant, so Thranes show their opposition in very brief and very precise displays. Thrane citizens grow up learning exactly where the boundaries of propriety and modesty lie, but the wise ones learn how to defy such rules without explicitly breaking them. When rules are circumvented, success can justify forgiveness.

Some foreigners see this as a double standard, but natives consider such behavior a very precise code of conformity. When dealing with elders or authority, young Thranes are reverent, obedient, and proper, but when left to their own devices—as is often the case among Thrane adventurers—they burn with passion and intensity, either resolving problems with the swiftness of an inferno or searing all opposition until it melts away.

Thranes do not typically see themselves as zealous, fanatical, or hypocritical. While these extremes do exist in Thrane society, such attitudes are more villainous than heroic. Thranes are certainly very passionate, and that passion applies to all aspects of life, not just religion. Many learn about heroism from an early age, including a few notable stories of spectacular failures that are now seen as heroic. Boys and girls play at being paladins, and in recent years, many young women go through a “Jaela Daran” phase.

The nation’s heroes are not reckless or stubborn in battle—those who are don’t survive for very long. However, the average Thrane has an instinctive sense of right or wrong, just as a paladin has a supernaturally strong sense for what is good and evil. Many are dedicated to preserving what they know is right, and more important, supporting those who are willing to make that same sacrifi ce.

The people of Thrane embrace the tenets of the Silver Flame in all of their forms of expression. From fi ne art to sculpture, the most popular artistic style remains Kree-Flamic, a stylized form of rendering that uses cubes and triangles to create all shapes and images. Jesp Kree pioneered the style; he served as the Church Art Master for Keeper Traelyn Ghelios and helped establish the principles of the Flamic style. From stained glass in the great cathedrals that present stylized images of great moments in the faith’s history to the three-sided, stained-glass fl ame boxes found in the homes of many followers of the Silver Flame, almost all Flamic-style art pays homage to the Church and its signifi cant figures.

Of course, not everyone in the country adheres to the tenets of the Silver Flame. A small but growing artistic counterculture has taken root in Thrane. Called Pre-Kingdom style by critics and practitioners alike, the form harkens back to the art created before the coming of Galifar and the united kingdom. It is a raw, humanistic form that draws on strong emotions, primal urges, and topics more grounded than the religious ideals depicted in Flamic art. Although it is not outlawed, some Church leaders and the most conservative of the faithful dismiss Pre-Kingdom art as frivolous, distracting, and in some extreme cases even perverse.

Thrane architecture features Galifar-style towers and keeps, deep-wood long homes, and Flamic-style cathedrals and public buildings. In some places, the older-style construction has been modifi ed to incorporate Flamic elements, while newer buildings fully embrace the Flamic style from the ground up.

Flamic architecture features tall windows and open arches to let in light, and incorporates an open, soaring use of space to revere the power of the Silver Flame. From urban centers to the larger villages in the countryside, Thrane surrounds itself with religious symbols, edifi ces, and art that makes the entire country feel like an extended church.

The Last War caused much damage to the infrastructure of the country, and today the Keeper of the Flame and other Church offi cials have begun to put programs in place to repair what has been damaged and replace what has been destroyed. The newly appointed Art Master, Kenra Deel, has been charged with updating the Flamic style for the new generation. Her fi rst project, the impressive Tower of Cardinals, now under construction in Thaliost (much to the dismay of Aundair), shows signs of taking the Flamic style in new but wholly appropriate directions.

The Church of the Silver Flame is a militant faith, and Thrane communities are built around fortified churches designed to serve as fortresses in times of trouble. Larger towns maintain sturdy walls patrolled by skilled archers. A Flamic architectural style appears throughout the region. Buildings incorporate light and soaring spaces, and icons of the Silver Flame and images of the martyr Tira Miron appear throughout the nation.

While the heart and soul concentrates on the Silver Flame, the collective stomach of Thrane looks to the country’s unique cuisine for a different kind of religious experience. Many find that secular life in Thrane is stifled by the theocracy, but few who come to the country find the food to be disappointing. “It is like a breath of fire in the cold of a dark winter’s night,” said Princess Wroya of Breland during a diplomatic visit to Thrane, after partaking in the Feast of the Silver Flame.

Utilizing thrakel spices cooked in thick sauces, Thrane cuisine tends to be heavy, filling, hot, and delicious. Thrakel-seared beef in red sauce, three-thrakel fish stew, and the traditional silvered vegetable skewers are particular favorites in Thrane and beyond.

The people of Thrane also enjoy their desserts, but here they take a different tack. To counter the spicy nature of the main meal, Thrane desserts tend to be sweet and served cold. Beesh-berry sorbet on top of silverfruit pie is considered the best of many tempting desserts.

Roughly three percent of Thrane’s citizens worship the Sovereign Host instead of the Silver Flame. Modest shrines to the Sovereign Host can be found in most of the nation’s major settlements, although they pale next to the Silver Flame’s magnificent and ostentatious cathedrals. Groups who worship the deities of the Sovereign Host are collectively called the Host of the Faithful. They can trace their lineage back through centuries of Thrane’s history, and they are as much citizens of the nation as those who hold the Silver Flame as infallible. By ignoring them, the theocracy relegates the Host of the Faithful to second-class citizens. In an incendiary postwar culture, worshipers of the Sovereign Host must remain vigilant and find quiet ways to legitimize their religion. Religious intolerance does not pervade Thrane’s society, but devout followers of one religion remember those who openly practice other religions. Many members of the Host choose to hide their religious affiliation, pretending to revere the Silver Flame while attending secret services for the Sovereign Host. While the theocracy tolerates such activity when it is found, Flame devotees are sometimes less forgiving.

Getting PCs Involved: Characters with any connection to the Sovereign Host who spend time in Thrane will hear about the Host of the Faithful. They might be called upon to help Arawai-worshiping farmers find the zealous Flame-worshipers who have been slaughtering their livestock, or they might serve as escort for a merchant who worships Kol Korran and learn more about the religious intolerance he faces whenever he trades in Flamekeep. Characters with family ties to House Cannith might be called upon to help worshipers of Onatar (god of artifice and the forge) build a shrine in Flamekeep and deal with the more violent opponents of the project.

1. Trust in the Silver Flame. The Voice of the Silver Flame never lies. It will light your way to glory and salvation.
2. Heed the words of the Keeper. The Keeper of the Flame is your emissary. Through the Keeper, the Silver Flame speaks.
3. Fight evil in all its forms. Not everyone can have the strength or conviction of a paladin, but there are many ways to fight evil that don’t require one to draw a sword. We must also remain vigilant, for the one thing evil does well is hide in plain sight.
4. Lead a noble life, and encourage others to do the same. Temptations abound, but the wisest of us can recognize and avoid them. If you die with a pure spirit, you will be forever bound with the Silver Flame.
5. Share the faith. The Silver Flame can purify the darkest spirit. Share the power of the Flame with those who have not yet embraced it.

One of Thrane’s most devastating contributions to the battlefi eld, the silvereye marauder is a vicious engine of destruction devised by an Aundairian defector, wizard, and Silver Flame worshiper named Kaldor Ravalek. Ravalek worked closely with silver pyromancers and House Cannith magewrights in Sigilstar to build the fi rst working prototype. The Church of the Silver Flame secretly poured hundreds of thousands of gold coins into the project. In 946 YK, two years after the prototype’s completion, packs of silvereye marauders were set loose to slaughter enemy patrols, protect Thrane trade routes, and guard Silver Flame temples. Only a handful of silvereye marauders survived the war.

A silvereye marauder has a vaguely leonine body composed of silvery steel. It measures 5 feet long, stands 3 feet tall at the shoulder, and weighs 250 pounds. Silver light spills from its hollow interior, and it emits a hollow, raspy sound similar to labored breathing.

Using magical ingenuity similar to warforged creation forges, House Cannith magewrights imbued the silvereye marauders with the barest of sentience, making them as smart as hounds. They understand basic commands spoken in Common, but cannot speak.

Wingwyrds are descendants of normal gargoyles that have been touched by the Silver Flame. They serve and protect temples of the Silver Flame, occasionally acting as messengers between them.

Wingwyrds require no food, water, or air. They spend their time waxing philosophic and refl ecting on the Silver Flame. They are social creatures but understand that duty comes before personal pleasure.

Wingwyrds are very communicative. They speak Common and Terran.