The stories of Sora Katra are many and varied, for she’s a gifted shapeshifter who seems to love meddling in the lives of heroes. She’s the old woman at the inn whose idle comment sows doubt in lovers’ hearts. She’s the tinker who gives the farmboy the magic sword that helps him become king—the same blade he uses to kill himself in the final act. It’s only through a wink to the audience or a hint to the reader that Katra’s true identity is revealed. In some ways, this fictive role overlaps with that of the Traveler, but the gifts of the Traveler bring chaos, while those of Sora Katra inevitably bring tragedy.
However, Sora Katra isn’t always the villain in tales. When she acts openly, she often poses a challenge that tests the hero’s wits or resolve. In most of these tales, the champion fails the challenge—which is, to be fair, usually weighted against them—and disaster ensues. But in those rare cases where the protagonist remains true to their ideals or outwits the hag, she always holds true to her promises. It’s this penchant for testing resolve and punishing failings that gave birth to the popular tale that if a child makes a promise and breaks their word, Sora Katra will come in the night and take a finger from them.
Sora Katra is known as a schemer. In many stories she’s found weaving curses on her loom—plotting misery and misfortunes to release into the world. In the tale The Sleeping Prince, she curses the Prince of Wroat three days after his birth. In the end of the story, the Woodcutter’s Daughter kills the giant in the King’s Forest and gives Katra his tongue, and when the curse is lifted, the Woodcutter’s Daughter marries the prince. Scholars have long debated Katra’s motives in the tale. Is it that she couldn’t kill the giant, and was setting a scheme in motion that would lead to his downfall? Or was it actually her goal from the start to elevate the Woodcutter’s Daughter— did she create the obstacle in order to give her chosen hero a chance to rise? While this is a positive spin, there’s no question that Katra’s actions always bring misfortune to someone— especially those who fail to measure up to her challenges.
Sora Katra is a brilliant orator. In the stories, she usually uses her words to sow doubt or discord, but she is equally capable of binding people together and weaving dreams of glory. In Droaam, she is the voice of the Daughters, and her speeches have drawn a dozen different species together, and made raiders and brigands believe that they are part of something greater and grander than they ever imagined. In part, this is about playing on the peoples’ anger and fear of the easterners. But she also has a knack for simply knowing what people want—such as the ambitions of her warlords—and using that to her advantage. Combined with the guidance of Teraza, she foresees problems and invariably finds someone to take the fall for things that cannot be avoided. In some ways, this is the central mystery of Droaam: Why found a nation to begin with? And why seek to be recognized by the Treaty of Thronehold, when Teraza most likely knew the effort would fail? One possibility is that the entire nation is just a stepping-stone toward her true goal—just as the prince in The Sleeping Prince was a tool that ultimately elevated the Woodcutter’s Daughter. It’s possible Droaam is another of her tests—but who’s being tested, and what happens if they fail? What about the criminal organization Daask? Is this just a diversion for Katra, or is Daask advancing a mysterious agenda?
In her natural form, the Mistress of the Mires is a green hag, with green skin and dark green hair. However, she loves illusion and rarely remains in her true form. If she has no reason to remain in a particular form, she often shifts in mid-speech. She delights in forms with a personal impact on the people she’s dealing with—taking the face of a dead lover or a betrayed friend. She possesses abilities like a powerful bard, both the ability to inspire and to perform powerful enchantments and illusions.
Sora Katra loves challenging heroes, which makes it easy to tie her to a story. Perhaps Droaam itself has been created to test the player characters—she’s spent a decade and built a nation to force the characters to make a difficult decision. If you want to create a connection between Katra and a character, is the character the archetypal Sleeping Prince—who Katra torments, seemingly without reason—or are they the Woodcutter’s Daughter, who may be challenged but has a chance to come out ahead in the end? Consider also the tale of the farmer who became a king. Katra might give a character an artifact, seemingly for no reason; can they use it wisely, or will it lead them to despair? While a connection to Katra could develop during play, you could establish a tie to the Mistress of the Mires in a character’s backstory. Perhaps Katra cursed the character’s family because of something their parents did; is there something the character can do to lift the curse? Or perhaps the character unwittingly did a favor for a disguised Katra back when they were a child, and she promised to repay this act of kindness; when and how will the character call in this favor?
Source: Exploring Eberron
Sora Katra is the voice of Droaam. The common folk of the land fear Sora Maenya and her trolls, but a majority of them truly love Sora Katra. She is a consummate shapeshifter and is rarely seen in her green-skinned hag form. Sora Katra is a brilliant orator and a cunning manipulator, and she enjoys drawing heroes into her schemes.
Source: Eberron Campaign Guide
Sora Katra (NE female green hag, bard 11) acts as the voice of the covey. Katra speaks at all public gatherings and deals with the envoys of other nations. Her diplomatic skills help maintain order among the warlords, with the aid of her army of giants. She is extremely clever, thriving on intellectual conflict and deception. At any given time she has half a dozen plots underway; she uses the coven’s hag eye to monitor and circles of sound to maintain contact with a network of minions hidden among the monstrous mercenaries spread across Khorvaire. These schemes are usually relatively small, idle plots that keep her wits sharp as she works toward her greater goals focused on her new kingdom. Recently she has been quietly building a criminal guild in Breland; known as Daask, the guild has been using the powers of its monstrous enforcers to overwhelm the competition. Her involvement, and the involvement of Droaam itself, is kept secret so as not to hamper her diplomatic efforts with Breland and the other nations. In addition to the monsters of Droaam, Katra has recruited a considerable number of changelings for Daask.
Source: Eberron Campaign Setting
Renowned in song as the trickster of the deep swamp, Sora Katra has been a figure in Brelish folktales for centuries. Stories abound of those who have gone to her in search of secrets or treasure, planning to best her with wit or steel. With few exceptions, these tales always come to a bad end. Her charisma and skill with words are remarkable, and while the threat of violence forms the foundation of Droaam, Sora Katra's rhetoric is quickly building a fanatical following for the hags.
When all three of the hags are encountered, Sora Katra will do most of the talking. She uses disguise self constantly, choosing forms to distract or disorient her opponents. She sees the world as a vast gameboard and is always playing out dozens of schemes. One of her primary tools is a criminal organization known as Daask (a giant word translating as "monstrous eye"), which has spread east through Breland and Aundair. More information about this organization can be found in the upcoming sourcebook Sharn: The City of Towers.
In addition to her powers as a hag and half-fiend, Sora Katra possesses a legendary talent for curses. Once per day she can bestow curse as a spell-like ability; once per month she can perform binding. She must supply the usual components for binding. She performs these spells as a 20th level bard, and the save DCs are Charisma based.