Khorvaire

Galifar was a feudal monarchy, as are most of the nations that formed after the Last War shattered that legendary kingdom. In addition to the rural farmers, a middle class of laborers and shop owners has developed in the larger towns and cities. The mercantile barons that control the dragonmarked houses align themselves with no nation, which allows them to operate independently and in all nations, though most can’t help but associate more strongly with one nation.

The thirteen dragonmarked houses constitute an aristocracy of commerce and industry across Khorvaire. The blood members of each family have wealth and social status that puts them fi rmly in the middle to upper classes of Khorvairian society. The house nobles and their immediate relatives share the highest status in the land, equivalent to the royal houses and the highest-ranking clergy. Scions further removed from the main bloodline share and take advantage of this status as the nobles allow, but on their own they rank in the middle class.

Farmers dominate the countryside of most of the nations, raising crops and providing food. In some nations, farmers are serfs indentured to the lords that control their lands. In others, farmers are free workers who own or lease their land and pay taxes for protection and other services they require of the ruling class. Farmers toil through the daylight hours and rest when darkness covers the land. They live within a mile or so of a trading village, which is guarded in turn by a local lord and his keep or castle. When legal disputes arise, it is the manor lord (or his appointed officer) who settles disagreements and issues rulings.

Some farmers have magic to help them with their chores. This magic might be provided by their lord or purchased from a dragonmarked house.

While some farmers in every nation saw firsthand the degradations of the Last War, most have to worry more about bandits and marauding monsters than the armies of the neighboring nations. The average farmer doesn’t wander far from his or her home, but every family has a member that went off to fight the war or seek employment in a city, and everyone knows someone whose brother or sister decided to become an adventurer and leave home in search of fame or fortune.

Some townsfolk and city-dwellers engage in a craft or trade of some kind, though for every professional there are three or more common laborers working in the city. Merchants and shop owners, smiths, leatherworkers, and artisans of all descriptions live and work in the cities. Many use some magic to ply their craft; magewrights cast magecraft themselves; others hire magewrights to assist them when the funds are available.

People live in close proximity in the cities, shopping in the markets, working, relaxing as the opportunity presents itself. City-dwellers have a bit more access to the conveniences of magic than their rural counterparts do. The dragonmarked houses maintain pavilions and emporiums in many good-sized towns and cities, where their services can be purchased on a regular basis. Magewrights are more abundant in the towns and cities, and even the least well-to-do city has everbright lanterns to light at least the major thoroughfares and exchanges.

In a city, law and order prevails—or at least it tries to. A city watch patrols the streets, a local garrison protects the trade roads and caravan routes passing nearby. Courts and councilors hold sway over matters of law, deciding disputes and determining guilt or innocence through something akin to due process

From the rural communities that dot the countryside to the villages, towns, and cities that rise wherever need and circumstance come together, the people of Khorvaire fall into three economic categories: poor, middle class, and wealthy. There are ranges and degrees of wealth in each category. Six out of ten people in the Five Nations are common farmers, unskilled laborers, and tradesfolk who are in the poor economic class, having no more than 40 or 50 silver pieces on hand at any given time, and most having considerably less.

Life for the common class is not much altered by the passage of centuries or the change of regimes. The people of Valenar experienced little change when rulership of their land passed from Cyre to the Valaes Tairn; they continued to work their farms, pay their taxes, and live and die very much as they had since the beginning of human settlement. Advances in both magical and mundane technology can make life easier for the common folk, but only after those advances become so widespread that people can afford to make use of them. The first humans to arrive in Khorvaire from Sarlona brought iron tools with them, so even the fundamental technology of metalworking has changed little for the common folk in all the centuries since.

In contrast, the middle class might be the locus of the greatest change in society, technology, and economics in the history of Eberron. Three out of ten people are in the middle class, including skilled laborers, prosperous traders and shop owners, skilled artisans, most nobility, low-level adventurers, and some members of the dragonmarked families who normally have a few hundred gold pieces or more on hand. Its very existence dates back only as far as the creation of Galifar. By their nature, the dragonmarked houses exerted a great deal of power in trade and commerce from the moment their powers arose, and they brought that power to bear in the political realm by launching the War of the Mark fully five centuries before the reign of Galifar I. By the time of Galifar, the power of the dragonmarked houses was such that the king was forced to recognize it—and indeed to court it in order to accomplish his bid to unite the Five Nations. In some ways, the story of the formation of Galifar and the birth of the middle class run parallel, for with the emergence of a unified kingdom, the wealth of the houses grew enormously, and an ever-increasing number of people associated with the houses gained a significant share of that wealth. By the early ninth century, the dragonmarked houses had grown to such importance that they had eclipsed the hereditary nobility of the Five Nations in all but name.

Naturally, the dragonmarked houses were not the only ones to profit from the growing importance of trade and commerce. Merchant lords not associated with the houses have been slower to arrive in the halls of power, but by the middle of the Last War, such independents were solidly ensconced there alongside the dragonmarked heirs and lesser nobles. Today, while nobles retain status and power by virtue of their class, they must share that power with those who have earned it by virtue of their economic might.

The middle class has risen to its elevated position in society by riding on the back of magical and technological innovation. The manifold use of magic in the everyday life of Khorvaire primarily benefits those who can afford to make use of it, or those who have near-exclusive command over the unique powers of the dragonmarks. Though only a rare few members of the dragonmarked houses carry the actual marks that hold the magical power of the house, every member benefits from the use of that power—particularly through innovations such as message stations, lightning rails, and elemental galleons. Such advances allow the houses not only to put their magical power to novel uses, but to create steady sources of new income.

One out of ten people fall into the wealthy category, those with access to a few thousand gold pieces at any given time. This class includes merchant lords, barons of commerce, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the dragonmarked families, the most popular and successful artisans, mid- to high-level adventurers, and the ruling royalty. The hereditary nobles retain their status in the upper part of the middle class by remaining useful. They hold grants of land bestowed by the rulers of the Five Nations, and repay them by governing and protecting the common folk who live on their lands, paying taxes to the heads of state, and supplying troops to serve in their lord’s armies.

Throughout the Five Nations (or at least what’s left of them), formal schooling is considered a right and a necessary part of every child’s training. Rural manors maintain schools for the sons and daughters of the peasants and laborers. Private tutors provide an education for the children of royal and economic nobility. In towns and cities, schools cater to all who wish to attend. In no case is education mandatory; however, most people understand the advantages offered to them by the remnants of the Galifar education system.

Higher education and study is available at a number of colleges and universities, as well as among the religious institutions. For those who don’t want to become scholars, apprenticeships and on-the-job training replace higher education. The exception to this system involves magewrights and wizards, who must attend one of the magical colleges for at least some of their training.

The main continent of Eberron, at least from the point of view of the humans and their closest kin, is Khorvaire. In ages past, the goblinoids ruled the continent. By the time the first human settlers arrived 3,000 years ago, the goblinoid nations were already in ruin. Their time had passed, and the stage was set for humans and the other newer races to carve out their own age.

On Khorvaire, humans settled what became known as the Five Nations. Dragonmarks began to appear, and the dragonmarked families developed into the mercantile houses as time went on. Humans interacted with the races they encountered—trading and forming partnerships with dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, conflicting with and driving off goblinoids and other monster races. In time, humans and their allied races (including elves, who migrated from Aerenal to forge a new way of life on Khorvaire) controlled the central region of the continent. They settled large portions of what is now the Eldeen Reaches, Aundair, Breland, Thrane, Zilargo, the Mournland, Karrnath, the Talenta Plains, the Mror Holds, and the Lhazaar Principalities.

Eventually, the great and wondrous kingdom of Galifar arose from the joining of the Five Nations—the original human settlements. During the reign of the Galifar kings and queens, human lands expanded, the dragonmarked houses stabilized, and wonders such as Sharn, the City of Towers, and the Korranberg Library were established. The shining kingdom was legendary, even in its own time, and for good cause. Many of the most amazing accomplishments of Khorvairian civilization came to pass during Galifar’s almost nine hundred years of existence. The mastery of magic and the arcane arts, which developed through the efforts of the Twelve, King Galifar I’s Arcane Congress, and similar enterprises that followed, led to the construction of great cities, wondrous monuments, magical conveniences, and powerful weapons of war. Massive civil works projects, bolstered by magic, paved the way for the metropolitan centers of central Khorvaire. Magic helped crops grow and herds prosper, so hunger rarely struck the inhabitants of the kingdom.

In its day, Galifar stretched from the Barren Sea to the Lhazaar Sea, covering every mile of the continent. In practical terms, the crown claimed the entire continent but was only able to govern the central region with any proficiency. The farther one traveled toward the edges of the continent, the more wild, undeveloped, and uncivilized the land became. This fact was especially true in the areas that would eventually become the Shadow Marches, Droaam, Darguun, Q’barra, and Valenar. These frontier regions attracted some humans, but were more likely to be home to the monstrous races. The humans that did make the trip to these areas fell into a few categories: explorers, profiteers, missionaries, and settlers.

Profit made an excellent incentive for sending people into the wilderness. There were resources to discover and gather, trade routes to open, maps to create, and money to be made. Some explorers set out for crown and glory, others just to see what was out there. More often, however, explorers were attached to profiteering projects designed to open up some part of the wilderness for use by the civilized regions. This led to the construction of trading posts and supply outposts from which additional expeditions could be launched.

Trading posts developed into settlements in some locations, and there were always those who sought to find new and better lives in new lands. Settlers had hard lives, and many fell victim to monster raids and other hazards, but a few settlements survived. The human–orc communities of the Shadow Marches, for example, are in this category.

Missionaries occasionally delved deep into the wilderness to bring the message of their faith to the natives. Some, such as the Sovereign Host, went to teach. Others went to destroy, as with the lycanthrope extermination launched by the Silver Flame.

In 894 YK, King Jarot, the last king of Galifar, died. With his death, the kingdom of Galifar collapsed. Civil war erupted as his scions refused to uphold tradition and instead battled for the crown. This conflict, which became known as the Last War thanks to headlines plastered across many years’ worth of Korranberg Chronicles, lasted just more than a century. When it ended, the makeup of the continent was changed. Cyre, one of the original Five Nations, was reduced to a blighted, decimated region called the Mournland. The peace conference that resulted in the Thronehold Accords and ended the war created twelve distinct nations from what was once mighty Galifar. The recognized nations, who each signed the treaty and are now in place on Khorvaire, are Aundair, Breland, Darguun, the Eldeen Reaches, Karrnath, the Lhazaar Principalities, the Mror Holds, Q’barra, the Talenta Plains, Thrane, Valenar, and Zilargo. Regions formed during the war but not yet recognized as sovereign include Droaam, the Shadow Marches, the Demon Wastes, and the Mournland. Though the original Five Nations have been reduced to four, the common usage remains: “By the Five Nations” continues to be the pledge (or curse) of choice.

Thanks to the industrious innovation of multiple dragonmarked houses and workshops full of magewrights, the people of Khorvaire can cross the continent in a week or less using magical means. The lightning rail and vessels powered by bound elementals and operated by the dragonmarked houses, can carry passengers as far in an hour as a horse can walk in a day. This section discusses issues related to travel in an Eberron campaign and presents the Gold Dragon Inns, a chain of hotels that offer consistent accommodation for travelers anywhere in Khorvaire.

As described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, it’s up to you whether you gloss over travel in your campaign or narrate it in more detail. If the point is to get the characters to their destination so they can get the adventure underway, it’s fine to assume that their journey (whether it’s by lightning rail, airship, or more mundane means) passes without incident. After all, the people of Khorvaire make such trips every day, and most of them reach their destinations safely.

The alternative is to make the journey an important part of the adventure. Travel can play a crucial role in a story, and when it does, you should give it as much time at the game table as it needs.

Elemental Vessels

Long ago, gnome artificers and specialists from House Cannith discovered and developed a means of magical travel. The heart of the process is a set of techniques for binding elementals that uses Khyber dragonshards. This closely guarded procedure requires delicate engineering, arcane skill, and rare materials from around the world, and different workshops employ varying esoteric techniques. Building a new vehicle can occupy a workshop for months while magical energy is painstakingly inlaid into the vessel’s hull. Such work is a complicated task requiring the labor of many; it is not something that can be undertaken by a lone wizard for any amount of compensation.

The construction of elemental vessels requires the use of two kinds of dragonshards. A Khyber dragonshard of the largest size and finest quality is required to bind the elemental to the vessel, and a Siberys dragonshard is needed to craft the vehicle’s helm. Production of new vessels grinds to a halt without a steady supply of both kinds of dragonshards, and a workshop with an order to fill will pay a handsome fee to adventurers who can find them.

Elemental Matrix

Every elemental vessel is imbued with an invisible, arcane matrix. This magical essence extends from the containment chamber at the core of the vehicle to the binding struts, then through the rest of the vehicle’s hull. When a Khyber dragonshard holding a bound elemental is placed in the containment chamber, the matrix comes alive. The unsuppressed elemental emerges from the shard and flows along the matrix in the way that blood moves through the arteries and veins of a living creature.

The binding struts force the elemental into a ring shape and give every elemental vessel its distinctive appearance. From there, the elemental continues to flow along the matrix through the hull, appearing as jagged, snaking lines of living energy that pulse and shift. These conduits of elemental energy take on an appearance associated with the type of elemental bound into the vessel. A fire elemental, for example, sends tendrils of flame along the hull of its ship.

At the command of the vehicle’s dragonmarked pilot, the bound elemental can be suppressed, causing its essence to flow back into the containment chamber and the matrix to disappear from view. A vehicle whose elemental is suppressed ceases to be propelled.

Controlling the Elemental

Piloting an elemental vessel requires effective communication between the pilot and the bound elemental. The elemental controls the vehicle’s movement, and everything from basic propulsion to delicate maneuvering is dependent on the ability of the pilot to control the elemental. If the elemental is uncontrolled and not suppressed, the vehicle moves according to the elemental’s whim until a pilot asserts control again.

A dragonmarked heir at the helm of a vessel can command the elemental easily. Without such a pilot, it’s very difficult to control the vessel. A character who is touching either the Khyber dragonshard where the bound elemental is housed or the magic item at the vessel’s helm can try to communicate with the elemental, but with no guarantee of success.

A character can make a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check to persuade the elemental to cooperate or demand its obedience. On a successful check, the elemental obeys the character for 1 minute.

The dominate monster spell can also enable a character without a dragonmark to control an elemental vessel, even wresting control away from a dragonmarked pilot. The charm monster spell (found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) also makes the elemental compliant to the caster’s wishes, but the elemental remains obedient to the commands of a dragonmarked pilot at the helm.

Freeing the Elemental

Shattering the Khyber dragonshard that binds it can free an elemental, preventing the vehicle from moving. On most elemental vessels, the shard is sealed in a protective metal chest with 10 (3d6) hit points, usually made of iron (AC 19) but sometimes of mithral (AC 21) or adamantine (AC 23). The chest is often guarded with a glyph of warding and housed in a room behind locked and possibly trapped doors. The shard itself has AC 17 and 10 (3d6) hit points.

Lyrandar Airship

The airship is the most advanced elemental-powered vehicle on Eberron, the pride of House Lyrandar and the forerunner of the magical advances that many hope will become commonplace in the aftermath of the Last War. The first airships emerged from the Cannith and Zilargo workshops and appeared in House Lyrandar’s service just eight years ago (in 990 YK). For now, though, they remain rare, because the soarwood required for their construction is exceedingly scarce and tightly controlled.

Soarwood is a form of buoyant timber found only on the island of Aerenal, and the elves who live there limit their annual harvest of the precious wood. As a result, production of new airships proceeds at a snail’s pace, unable to satisfy the fervent demand for new vessels. The discovery of a new supply of soarwood could literally change the world, and even convincing the elves of Aerenal to part with more of it would be an achievement worth a handsome reward from House Lyrandar.

How It Works

A standard airship (at least as far as standards have been defined for this relatively new creation) looks similar to an oceangoing ship but is rigged with control fins and rudders rather than sails. An air or fire elemental is bound into a ring around the hull, which is suspended on four struts jutting outward. Most airships are outfitted with the finest amenities, including many decorative flourishes and creature comforts.

Operation. A dragonmarked heir of House Lyrandar must pilot a Lyrandar airship, channeling the power of the Mark of Storm through the wheel of wind and water that controls the vessel. The helm is typically situated near the rear of the ship, inside the shelter of a wheelhouse. Controlling the vessel (without the benefit of something like the conductor stones that dictate a lightning rail route) requires constant attention, so at least two pilots typically travel on every journey.

Only a dragonmark heir with the Mark of Storm can use the wheel and command the bound elemental. House Lyrandar pilots train for months to gain a deep understanding of the ship’s powers and limitations. Because of this training, a skilled pilot can execute acrobatic maneuvers in the sky.

Airships can move in all three dimensions, with or without the aid of the wind. Unlike most flying creatures, they don’t rely on wings for lift thanks to their soarwood hulls. They are able to fly equally well on their sides or even upside down (notwithstanding the risks that such maneuvers present to passengers and crew).

Airships cannot actually land, because the struts that hold the elemental ring in place protrude 10 feet from the bottom of the vessel. Thus, passengers and cargo are lifted in elevators and loaded at towers in major cities. Each ship carries rope ladders for use at smaller stations, in open terrain, or in cases of dire emergency.

A typical airship can reach a speed of 20 miles per hour in clear skies carrying up to 30 tons of cargo. Airships are most often employed by explorers and by wealthy travelers who demand luxury — clients who have a need to move quickly to places that might not be served by the lightning rail.

Suppression. Although the elemental bound to the airship is essential for propulsion, the vessel’s soarwood hull provides its lighter-than-air buoyancy. When the elemental is suppressed, the ship remains aloft but can’t move. The pilot always suppresses the elemental before docking, then uses ropes to maneuver the vessel into position.

Lyrandar Galleons

A House Lyrandar galleon, also called an elemental galleon, resembles a Lyrandar airship except that it has a water elemental ring that propels it across oceans and seas instead of through the air. This vessel has a speed of 10 miles per hour but otherwise is similar to a Lyrandar airship.

Orien Lightning Rail

The wondrous lightning rail system once linked the far reaches of the Kingdom of Galifar, prior to the Last War. Now the system is divided, split into eastern and western circuits. Reestablishing the conductor stone paths across Scions Sound and the Mournland is often discussed in the halls of power in the Five Nations, but formidable challenges are involved.

How It Works

A lightning rail train is made up of an elemental vessel linked to a series of connected carts, all of which float about 5 feet off the ground. Each cart, similar in form to a large wagon with no wheels, has a conductor stone embedded in its underside. A corresponding set of conductor stones laid out in a line on the ground interacts with the stones in the carts to form a rail for the train to follow. Lightning arcs between the two sets of stones, accounting for the system’s name.

The elemental vessel at the front of the train, called a crew cart, holds a bound air elemental that propels the train along its route at a speed of about 30 miles per hour. The elemental appears as a ring of lightning encircling the crew cart while the train is in motion. A bound air elemental can move a train of up to ten carts without obvious strain, and most trains are configured accordingly.

The other carts that make up the train have various purposes. A typical train has a crew cart at each end, with two cargo carts, four passenger carts, and two lounge carts in between. Doors at both ends of each cart enable crew and passengers to walk from one to the next, even while the train is in motion. Both crew carts are identical, except that the bound elemental in one is suppressed. On the return trip, the roles of the carts and the states of their elementals are reversed.

Specialized carts of other sorts vary in configuration depending on their purpose and the degree of luxury afforded to them. Some have solid sides and roofs, while others are covered only with canvas.

Map 4.10 shows the different carts that comprise most lightning rail trains.

Operation. The vessel’s pilot, a House Orien dragonmarked heir, stands at the helm, high atop the crew cart, beneath the elemental binding struts. The pilot controls the elemental and communicates with it during the trip, watching the path ahead through broad windows that encircle the helm platform.

The placement of conductor stone lines dictates where a lightning rail train can travel, but the pilot still must make operational decisions as the coach moves from one city to the next. The pilot controls the vessel’s speed based on conditions around the train. When conductor stone lines split, as they do at various hubs along the way, the pilot selects the intended route and directs the elemental down the correct line.

The crew of a train includes handful of chief stewards overseeing a number of lesser stewards who are charged with seeing to the needs of passengers and keeping cargo secured.

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Lightning Rail Stations

Lightning rail stations, where passengers and cargo can be disembarked or loaded, are located in or just outside villages, towns, and cities along the conductor stone paths. There are no stations in the expanses between these settlements, and House Orien rules prohibit lightning rail pilots from stopping anywhere but at a station.

Stations throughout Khorvaire have a similar look and feel, to ensure that each one lives up to the high expectations of House Orien’s patrons. White and gold everbright lanterns continually illuminate each station. When a train pulls into the station, loading ramps are moved into position beside each cargo cart, and stairs by each passenger cart. The cargo is unloaded from one side of the train and the passengers from the other.

Individual stations do have distinct touches that reflect local features. For example, the station in Gatherhold, in the Talenta Plains, is decorated with traditional halfling motifs and offers specialized stables for travelers leaving their dinosaurs behind. On a larger scale, the station at Passage, which is the seat of power for House Orien, is a multistoried structure designed as a monument to the majesty and storied history of the house.

Mysterious Passengers

Lightning rails and airships are good places to encounter a broad sample of Khorvaire’s diverse population. You can use the Mysterious Passengers table to bring curious characters in contact with an adventuring party on any kind of journey. Each of these characters might spark an entire new adventure, or might be little more than a momentary diversion. Determine details about these travelers are, and the stories behind them, as you see fit.

Mysterious Passengers

The naming conventions among the people of Khorvaire tend to follow language, rather than being linked to race. A Brelish dwarf who doesn’t speak Dwarvish might also carry a name with a human origin rather than a traditional Dwarvish name.

Most citizens of Khorvaire have a given name followed by a surname. A surname associated with the Common language is usually either a family name or related to an occupation or region of origin. So Sorn Fellhorn, Kara of Windshire, and Tellan Magewright are all names you might find among the common folk.

The noble families of Galifar—along with those granted land and titles by one of the sovereigns of the Five Nations—add the prefix ir’ to their surname. The name Darro ir’Lain tells you that this individual is a landed noble. The Wynarns were the royal line of Galifar, and the current rulers of Aundair, Breland, and Karrnath are all heirs of the Wynarn bloodline. Thus, Queen Aurala of Aundair is Aurala ir’Wynarn.

Another common prefix is d’, used by any heir of a dragonmarked house who has manifested a dragonmark. So Merrix d’Cannith is a member of House Cannith who has manifested the Mark of Making.