The city is beautiful—more a work of art than a place of habitation. The wall surrounding the city is four times the height of a human, formed of blue crysteel that glitters in the light of the sun. It seems to have been carved from a single slab of crystal, though surely that can’t be possible. Safely behind the wall, a dozen towers of glass and stone rise up, studded with crystal spheres that pulse with all the colors of the rainbow. The buildings are smooth and rounded, with curved walls that create an aesthetic quite unlike the towers of Sharn or the ruins of Stormreach.
As impressive as the city is, it is dwarfed by the massive monolith that stands to the south. The ovoid monument is at least 800 feet tall and covered with a tracery of glowing lines.
Though most Khorvairians think of Stormreach as the first settlement on Xen’drik, the smaller enclave of Dar Qat was a thriving port for centuries before the pirates were driven from the Skyfall Peninsula.
An outpost of the far-off Riedran Empire, Dar Qat is the embarkation point for nearly all goods and passengers traveling between Xen’drik and Sarlona. The Riedrans run Dar Qat as a closed colony, and they have no tolerance for intruders. Those approaching by land or sea are attacked if they attempt to gain entry.
Stormreach might be the largest human city in Xen’drik, but few people know that it was not the fi rst settlement. That honor goes to Dar Qat, the outpost of the distant empire of Riedra. The Inspired lords who dominate Riedra have long been interested in the resources and secrets hidden in Xen’drik, and they established their city a full century before the pirates of Khorvaire set the fi rst stones of Stormreach. In fact, Riedran merchant vessels have long been the favored prey of the northern pirates; were it not for the steady stream of Riedran shipping, Stormreach might never have been established to begin with.
Though many Sarlonan expeditions set out from Stormreach, Dar Qat is where all Xen’drik trade goods bound for Sarlona are refi ned and processed. The city also provides a base for more clandestine Riedran exploration of the continent. Though the city exports dragonshards, the resonant stone of the crystal wastes, long corn, gurk’ash, and dream serpents, the quori’s primary interest in Xen’drik is the discovery of artifacts related to the planar invasion of ages past.
Few people know that Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams, undergoes a cyclical process of implosion and rebirth, and that the present age of the Dreaming Dark is thought to be the third age of the Quor Tarai—the heart of Dal Quor, or “the Dream of the Age.” However, fewer still understand the full implications of this cycle of destruction.
The quori who presently occupy Dal Quor are not the same quori who invaded Xen’drik forty thousand years ago. Those ancient quori (along with their knowledge and history) were destroyed during the last turn of the age, and it is the next turn of the age over which the Inspired and the kalashtar now wage war. The Inspired seek to prevent Dal Quor’s destruction, hoping to maintain the present age of the Dreaming Dark for all time. The kalashtar seek to advance the schedule of the plane’s rebirth, believing that a coming age of light will replace the present darkness.
The turn of the age means that the quori of the present day have no firsthand knowledge of the society that preceded them. The relics and lore of the war that destroyed Xen’drik are literally priceless to the quori and their Inspired servants—especially any power that promises to bring Dal Quor and Eberron coterminous once again.
The Inspired of Dar Qat have recently completed the construction of one of the hanbalani altas—the towering monoliths that rise across Riedra. Where it towers over the city, the monolith acts as a psychic battery, drawing on the mental energy of the city’s inhabitants to aid the Inspired’s control. The Inspired will undoubtedly start constructing new monoliths in the future, to further spread their power across the shattered land.
Strangers are not welcome in Dar Qat, and the Riedrans are noted for their xenophobia. Foreigners are barbarians and criminals whose very presence disrupts the spiritual evolution of the Riedran people. The pirates of the Thunder Sea have long helped to reinforce these stereotypes, and as a result, all Xen’drik business involving the empire must be conducted in the Riedran embassy in Stormreach.
Although a majority of Dar Qat’s inhabitants are human, the city has a signifi cant population of dromite and half-giant slaves. These psionic half-giants share a connection to both the land of their masters and the continent on which they now toil—native to Sarlona but descended from giant explorers who fled to that land after Xen’drik’s fall. For the most part, these slaves are kept passive by constant indoctrination and the effects of the hanbalani monolith. However, some develop the strength of will to rebel against their overlords, and escaped slaves might assist PCs against the plans of the Dreaming Dark.
Infi ltrating Dar Qat is no small task, since the city’s human guards are supplemented by empty vessel psychic warriors, soulknives, and psions. Seers use remote viewing to watch the gates, and kineticists can bring considerable firepower to bear against foes who think to take the city by force. Though the Inspired seem to have little interest in confl ict with Stormreach, they maintain a considerable garrison in Dar Qat—both in expectation of hostilities from Khorvaire and against the dangers their expeditions face exploring the wilds.
Where there’s a will, there’s typically a way, however—especially if a party intent on entering the city has a sympathetic ally behind the walls. Perhaps a dromite elocater is hidden among the slaves—a gifted teleporter who has concealed her talents from her masters, and who is waiting for an opportunity to release her comrades from bondage.
Leadership: Dar Qat is governed by Lord Ralastar (LE male tsucora Inspired telepath 5/thrallherd [EPH 153]). He is supported by eleven Inspired aides and over seven hundred empty vessels, who perform the important and administrative tasks in the city. Although only twelve Inspired currently reside in Dar Qat, the presence of the empty vessels allows other quori to easily manifest within the city. Thus, agents of the Dreaming Dark can appear at any time, posing a threat to characters of any level. The commander of the guards is Harulkek (LE male tsucora Inspired psychic warrior 9), but if the Dreaming Dark or the Thousand Eyes suspects great danger, far more capable agents can be dispatched to protect the city.