Khorvairian settlers have roughly divided Q’barra into two territories—New Galifar and Hope. New Galifar is older, founded around Adder Bay and the Adder River by patriots fleeing the Last War in 928 YK, and features larger and better-defended settlements. Hope consists of newer and rougher towns at the feet of the Endworld Mountains. built by exiles who came to Q’barra in the waning years of the Last War.

In its seven decades as a colonial realm, Q’barra has become a haven for the idealistic, the disenfranchised, and the desperate. Refugees and weary soldiers from every corner of war-torn Khorvaire have made their way here, even as the criminal fringes of society have taken advantage of the promise of this new land.

Whether they are the descendants of Galifar exiles or have found reasons to flee central Khorvaire in more recent years, few in Q’barra have any love for the Five Nations.

King Sebastes ir’Kesslan rules New Galifar as a feudal realm. He is seen as a just monarch who truly cares for his people, and the law in New Galifar is modeled on that of old Galifar and (by extension) the Five Nations. Though Sebastes has no real influence in Hope, some of the folk of that territory look to him for aid and protection. The law there varies from place to place—when it exists at all.

Q’barra is home to dragon born clans comprising the remnants of a civilization that was old before human history began. The dragon born divide their territories into clanholds, each autonomously ruled by clan elders, and all recognizing the holy site of Ka’rhashan as their ancestral home. The dragon born have warred on New Galifar and Hope in the past, but the two cultures have begun to integrate in recent decades. Only a few clans still maintain a bellicose stance toward the “invaders.”

As relations between Q’barra’s dragon born and its human settlers have improved, so have tensions with the lizardfolk decreased. A few tribes regularly trade with—or even live alongside—colonist communities.

Since the end of the Last War, Q’barra has seen numerous changes. King Sebastes, accompanied by the dragon born High Elder Bhisma Na’kala Flamebrow, gained recognition for the realm at Thronehold. Sebastes and the clans now seek peace with the Valenar elves and Lhazaar raiders who have long harried Q’barra’s borders, and the king works to develop trade with the Mror Holds and Sarlona. The Inspired of Riedra have entered into treaties with New Galifar, and a small number of Riedran troops—with a promise of more to come—now help defend this land.

New Galifar and Hope have seen a large influx of Cyran refugees since the Day of Mourning. Turning their back on Prince Oargev and New Cyre, these exiles have integrated into existing communities and even built a few of their own.

The Last War shattered the existing order in Galifar, setting the human nations of Khorvaire against each other. However, a good number of Galifar nationalists refused to embrace what they saw as the petty grasping for power of royal scions. Rather than join in the conflict, these patriots sought refuge outside their broken kingdom.

One such idealist was Duke Ven ir’Kesslan, who petitioned his monarch—King Connos of Cyre—to grant him the right to settle the lands east of the Endworld Mountains. In the territory the Lhazaar corsairs called “cursed Q’barra,” he would found a new kingdom based on the ideals of fallen Galifar.

Under the watch of the Cyran military, ir’Kesslan and thousands of like-minded folk set out in a colonial fleet. Though a third of his ships were lost to pirates, war, and weather, those colonists who made landfall did so near Adder Bay, founding a settlement at what is now Adderport.

As they tried to raise their new home within the jungle, the settlers inadvertently disturbed numerous sites holy to the native lizardfolk, dragon born, and kobolds. Such actions sparked intermittent hostilities that the settlers typically won. The dragon born pressed the colonists hardest, but through diplomacy, ir’Kesslan managed to secure a tenuous peace.

The lack of exploration of this land led the Khorvairians (including Duke ir’Kesslan) to believe that Q’barra was uninhabited by civilized creatures. However, 10,000 years ago, the goblins of the Dhakaani Empire drove the lizardfolk of the Talenta Plains and the Blade Desert into Q’barra. The lizardfolk made new lives in this rich land, building their settlements atop the remains of a fallen dragonborn empire. Many retreated to Basura Swamp, while others made alliances with the dragon born clans or with Rhashaak, the dragon guardian of Haka’torvhak.

The dragonborn came here from Argonnessen long ago, aiding the dragons in guarding Haka’torvhak and other ruins dating from the Age of Demons. However, as time passed and the dragon guardians of this land became corrupted, the dragonborn forgot their duties. For glory and pride, they pushed into the Talenta Plains and clashed with the Dhakaani Empire. West of the Endworld Mountains, they held territory for a short time, dubbing their empire Q’barra. Then the fiend under Haka’torvhak awoke, and thousands of dragon born died in the battle to confine it once more. The outer empire crumbled in the rush to defend its homeland, and the dragon born never fully recovered.

Common Knowledge: The jungles, swamps, highlands, and plains of Q’barra are rife with threats. Settlers and explorers must deal with hostile lizardfolk, troglodyte, kobold, and dragon born tribes. Valenar raiders test their spirit and their steel across the Q’barran border, and Lhazaar pirates make raids along the coast. Moreover, the ancient ruins that cover this land conceal unknown dangers.

Kobolds lurk in the hills and mountains of Q’barra in large numbers, with lizardfolk, dragon born, and the kobolds of the Poison Dusk tribe spread across the lowlands.

Snakes, drakes, and dragonspawn haunt Q’barra’s jungles, and wealthy hunters from central Khorvaire make the treacherous trek across the frontier to hunt these dangerous beasts. Others come in search of this land’s rare flora. Q’barra’s exotic jungle animals bring decent coin in markets abroad, but this land’s most valuable resource is the large deposits of Eberron dragonshards found here.

The greatest resource Q’barra has to offer is its rich Eberron dragonshard deposits. The jungles also contain exotic plants with valuable alchemical properties. While Q’barra has begun to trade these goods to outsiders, most Q’barrans prefer to avoid contact with what they consider to be the traitorous successor nations to old Galifar and instead deal with the Lhazaar princes and the Inspired.

The nation of Q’barra contains three distinct communities of the common races clustered in the Adder Valley region. The largest and oldest, New Galifar, considers itself to be the last bastion of the shattered kingdom. Despite the young nation’s humble status, its extremely proud citizens are suspicious and scornful of travelers from the West, seeing the inhabitants of the Five Nations as warmongers and amoral swindlers. Cyre’s fate proves the madness of those who rejected the ways of Galifar.

The refugees of the Last War—a mix of criminals, deserters, homesteaders, and the displaced—control an area they call Hope and only grudgingly accept the authority of the New Galifar nobles. These refugee villages are havens for smugglers, prospectors, and renegades. Some are home to human bandits who blame their depredations on Valenar elves, lizardfolk, or mountain kobolds. Travelers are always welcome in a refugee village but would be wise to watch their backs.

Finally, the Cyran refugees have carved out neighborhoods in both communities, forming the largest gathering of the sons and daughters of Cyre outside Breland. Prince Unknown of New Cyre has made overtures inviting these Cyrans to join him, but most have decided to make a go of it in Q’barra.

Q’barra is a feudal nation, following the model of old Galifar. King Sebastes ir’Kesslan, grandson of the settlement’s founder, rules from the port city of Newthrone. Q’barra is also a frontier nation. Justice and its dispensation falls to the local lord or magistrate, who administers it swiftly and often harshly—especially where outsiders are concerned.

Q’barra’s relations with its neighbors have been tumultuous. Warbands from Valenar have recently become a serious threat. Lhazaar marauders plague the coast, although King Sebastes seeks to reach agreements with the Lhazaar princes to end these raids. Q’barra participated in the peace talks at Thronehold to secure recognition of its sovereignty, even though the leaders of the frontier nation have little love for the Five Nations. Accordingly, they have made overtures to the new nations, especially the Mror Holds and the Lhazaar Principalities.

Beyond the nations of Khorvaire, the last decade has seen increasingly strong ties between Q’barra and the Inspired lords of Riedra. The Inspired have flattered the king, entered into a number of trade agreements and treaties, and even sent troops to help defend their Q’barran ally. Currently these garrisons are quite small, but the Inspired promise additional troops if New Galifar should require them.

New Galifar mostly ignores the refugee communities, only dealing with them if necessary. For this reason, law has little place in the villages within Hope.

Eberron dragonshards are as useful to the psions of Riedra as they are to the artificers of Khorvaire, and such shards are extremely rare in Sarlona. As a result, the Riedrans are extremely interested in Q’barra. The Inspired ambassador Jhakanath has provided King Sebastes with a garrison of troops to help defend his young nation, and a Riedran quarter has sprung up in the city of Newthrone. Jhakanath is purchasing large quantities of shards from House Tharashk, but the Inspired have also secured permission to start their own mining operations. Nonetheless, the richest shard deposits lie in the lands of the scales, and Sebastes won’t let the Riedrans threaten his relationship with the lizardfolk or dragonborn . . . yet. The Inspired have ways of influencing people, and Sebastes might have dreams of the threat posed by the scales—dreams that encourage him to accept further aid from Riedra, and to build up an army strong enough to seize land from the dragonborn and claim the kingdom his people deserve. Sebastes isn’t the only target for such influence; the Inspired can also further this goal by planting dreams in the minds of the dragonborn. Conflict in Q’barra serves the Inspired well, since it increases Sebastes’s need for Riedran troops

The influx of Cyran refugees promises to reshape Q’barra. Most of the settlers are peaceful people searching for a homes and opportunities, but some among them chose Q’barra over refugee camps because they refused to accept charity from former enemies. These “Mourners” rob and kill settlers from the nations that fought against Cyre. Hope also has its share of brigands and criminals, bandits who prey on House Tharashk convoys and settlers alike.

The relationship between the settlers and the natives is another source of tension. Although King Sebastes forged a treaty with the Cold Sun Federation, the prospectors of Hope regularly violate this treaty. The Poison Dusk lizardfolk are hostile to both the settlers and the Cold Sun Federation. Conflicts between settlers and scales have escalated over the last four years, and many fear that worse is yet to come.

Eberron dragonshards are a vital part of Khorvaire’s magical economy. But exactly what are they good for? What is their value on the open market, and is there anything else that makes them useful to adventurers? Beyond this, what are the unique types of Eberron dragonshards that are found only in Q’barra, and what makes them special?

In the Eberron campaign setting, Eberron dragonshards are a required component of most common magic items. Approximately 25 percent of the cost of enchanting a magic item comes in the form of dragonshards. A character can create an item without Eberron shards, but it requires an exotic array of components that vary widely for each item, such as hydra blood, the hairs of a manticore’s mane, and similarly esoteric items. As such, the modern industry of enchantment has come to rely on dragonshards.

Beyond this, Eberron dragonshards are charged with raw magical energy that can be tapped for any form of complex magic. In this way, Eberron dragonshards duplicate the effects of residuum. The market value of an Eberron dragonshard is its equivalent value in residuum; if a shard is used in a ritual that uses less than the full value of the shard, it partially melts away. Eberron shards are found in small geodes, typically containing 1d6 pure crystals worth 5 to 25 gp apiece. Rich fields such as those found in Q’barra and the Shadow Marches can yield larger shards that are the size of a human fist; these shards are worth up to 250 gp. Larger shards have correspondingly higher value but are rare. Higher grades of shards have greater concentrations of magical energy, translating to a greater market value.

Q’barra is known for two unusual grades of Eberron dragonshards. Dusk shards are a smoky gray with vivid red veins, and dawn shards are pale orange with crimson threads. Both shards are worth five times as much as a standard shard of similar size, so the smallest dusk shard is worth 25 gp. Dusk and dawn shards also provide a +2 bonus to any skill check associated with rituals performed using the shards as the sole source of components.

The miners have yet to discover the source of this unusual power. The truth is that the dawn shards are charged with the divine power of the Silver Flame, and the dark shards are imbued with the essence of the immortal fiend Malsvirik. As a result, these shards or the residuum produced from them could have other remarkable effects, entirely of the DM’s choosing.

For example, when a priest of the Silver Flame uses a dawn shard in the Inquisitive’s Eyes ritual, the ritual might peer much further into the past than expected … or produce an effect that lasts for months or years instead of the usual 10 minutes, effectively locking the caster into visions of the past. Alternatively, someone using dusk shards for divination rituals could receive messages directly from Malsvirik, or misleading information that serves the purposes of the overlord. More information about Malsvirik will be provided in an upcoming article.

House Tharashk doesn’t sell raw Eberron dragonshards. Instead, Tharashk refineries process dragonshards to produce residuum. A shard processed by Tharashk refineries produces more residuum than its raw market value; this is how Tharashk makes its profit on the trade.

Source

The nation of Q’barra was founded by Ven ir’Kesslan of Cyre, once duke of the Dollen region. Ven named his settlement New Galifar, and claimed his intention to recreate the noble model of Galifar in this untamed land. The former duke thus became the first king of New Galifar, despite not being tied to the Wynarn bloodline. Those few counts that had supported his cause became dukes, and wealthy donors who had funded the expedition became counts. Having said that, New Galifar is small and still actively expanding. Newthrone is the royal seat, and the only two actual “duchies” are Whitecliff and Adderport. Q’barran counts rule over villages that would barely justify a crown reeve in the Five Nations. Most nobles are “claim lords”—they’ve been granted titles and parcels of land by the King of Q’barra, but they haven’t actually claimed or cultivated those lands. Adderport and Newthrone together have a kingdom’s worth of dukes and counts, but most only over a handful of retainers and a small city estate.

A Q’barran title currently means little in the wider world, and it’s unlikely that a Q’barran noble would have a Position of Privilege unless they were tied to some other office, such as being an appointed ambassador. With your DM’s approval, your character could be a claim lord, regardless of your actual background; as such you have a title and some influence when you’re actually in Newthrone, but it has no real significance elsewhere. While this would not provide you with the benefits of a Position of Privilege, your king could charge you to perform services in the name of New Galifar.

Source: Politics of Q'barra

Consisting of the western border of Q'barra, Hope lies outside the protection of New Galifar. While settlers have always sought to expand beyond the confines of Newthrone Accord territory, these war refugees were relatively few in number until the Day of Mourning. The destruction of Cyre brought with it a surge of refugees looking for a new home. While most ended up in Breland, Thrane, and Zilargo, a significant minority preferred to travel to a distant land that had not spent the last century at war with them.

The end of the war in 996 brought a second surge, soldiers discharged from their duties who did not return home for one reason or another. Some because it was home that had changed. Others, because they had changed. Whatever the reason, the influx of combat-trained veterans has reshaped the character of the region. Some have integrated, merely providing deterrence against brigands. Others have continued their careers of violence, either serving as mercenaries or becoming outlaws.

While New Galifar has managed to establish a collection of stable towns that have lasted decades, the villages of Hope are lucky to have lasted a full year. For some, it's a mere matter of economics - small deposits of dragonshards that are excavated in a matter of months lead to villagers packing up and moving onto the next. For the less fortunate, the threats of the jungle kill and maim enough to force resettling.

The Law

Fundamentally, Hope is a lawless region. The nobles of New Galifar are stretched thin enough protecting their own lands, let alone trying to assert control over and manage the ever-shifting landscape of villages.

As such, Hope is subject to ad-hoc frontier justice. Some lawmen have the benefit of authority granted by a community election, but many are self-appointed ministers. Without the benefit of an extensive legal administration, the emphasis is less on due process and more on resolving disputes and de-escalating arguments. Without backup, a prudent or cowardly sheriff (depending on your point of view) may choose not to intervene in a situation due to the personal risk. Other sheriffs may abuse their station to extort those they ostensibly protect.

In addition to the lawmen that choose to stay in one place and protect a single community (or perhaps several nearby communities), roving bounty hunters search the region looking for war criminals and other wanted refugees. Some are fortunate enough to have proper authorization from the Finder's Guild of House Tharashk or the Sentinel Marshals of House Deneith. Others operate independently, either dissatisfied with those organizations or fresh faces hoping to earn their spot.

The Money

Moving across a continent to a new land is expensive. For the average villager getting to Q'barra is doable, but bringing anything with you to actually start a life is significantly more complicated. The initial cost leads most newcomers to need a loan, which could come from any number of sources.

House Kundarak is the largest individual source for loans, but any other number of other factions might be interested in investing in the unknown jungles of Q'barra. House Tharashk's operations not only rent equipment but also housing to those who are willing to work its mines. Aurum investors have begun to see Q'barra as an untapped resource and pathway to higher levels within the organization. Last but not least, some refugees do come with not only enough money for themselves, but enough to start an entire community - typically displaced nobles whose only property lies inside the dead-gray mists, but whose fat Kundarak accounts have left enough to build something new.

Inside the villages of Hope, most people are engaged with the basics of frontier life - agriculture, a bit of general trade, defending what's theirs. What truly draws people though is the dragonshard trade, a gold rush that promises riches if you can just find the right patch of mud to dig up the geodes. For those with more sense, the jungles of Q'barra are rich in alchemical reagents not found in the rest of the Five Nations.

The Religion

Like the rest of Galifar, a majority of the colonizers of Hope consider themselves Vassals of the sovereign host. Olladra is a particular favorite amongst the many seeking to start a new life, but the entire pantheon is worshipped here.

Worship of the Silver Flame is more popular in Hope compared to the rest of Galifar, in part due to the prominence of Wyrmwatch as one of the few stable bastions in the region.

The Blood of Vol has a few villages of dedicated worshippers, many of whom lost positions of power when Kaius III took the throne. The relative proximity of Q'barra helped make this a minor getaway for the faithful who felt they no longer had a home.

Cults of the Dragon Below tend to center themselves around the reptilian demons of Q'barra. While Masvirik's fiendish domain is scaled creatures, his servants have found Q'barras pull on the desperate and the greedy to make colonists especially susceptible to promises of power.