Korrander

Test of the Messenger: A key found in a ruined dragon hold elsewhere in Adar fits into a stand shaped like a dragon head made of brass and set with turquoise. The keyhole is set inside a golden star. This is the test of Aasterinian, Messenger of Io. If the key is placed in the stand, a secret door on the far side of the cavern opens immediately. Without the key, the secret door must be found (Search DC 35) and opened by force or otherwise breached. Regardless, the door is 20 feet up the far wall, across a 20-foot-deep pit leading into caves beneath the halls.

Test of Fate: Here, through a gossamer wall of violet energy, is the test of Chronepsis. A shades effect calls forth duplicates of the PCs as they might have been if they had chosen darker life paths and worldviews. Under the unblinking eye of Chronepsis in the ceiling, the characters must face their sinister selves.

Test of Wealth: Set in the center of this place is a pool shaped like a sun and swirling with purple energy. Knowledgeable explorers might recognize the pool as a symbol of Astilabor, the Hoard Mistress (Knowledge [religion] DC 20). Eight golden statues of noble and winged kobolds pour violet streams into the pool, and something sparkles deep within. Those who give generously by casting wealth into the pool might find their wealth increased tenfold in the form of a desired magic item. Those who steal are punished when the statues animate.

Test of the North Wind: This room's domed ceiling sparkles as a night sky, the constellation of Bahamut shining most brightly. Those who look into the stars see the depredations of an evil dragon or some spawn of Tiamat, and those who want to do so can be carried as if by a cold wind to the wicked wyrm's lair. Slaying the beast returns the questers here and the evil one's hoard to the Teeth of the Three.

Test of Death: The massive skull of a black dragon rests in the center of this chamber, signifying the baleful majesty of Falazure. Its eyes flash red as anyone enters, calling forth heinous undead to harry good folk. Evil beings might find a boon here instead, such as the secret of becoming one of the free-willed undead, if they are willing to risk death to acquire it.

Test of Tales: The ghost of a very old copper dragon sleeps here upon a golden book (the symbol of Hlal), waiting for someone who can spin a tale to rouse her heart and free her from her duty. A Perform check result of 30 or higher is enough to satisfy her, but a clever bluffer or a skilled diplomat can also rouse the jaded spirit. She then imparts some important knowledge in the form of a long-winded tale before sending the adventurers on their way. Those who want to can read the golden book for a special boon. Of course, the spirit can also be slain.

Test of Justice: A magic golden longsword stands in the center of this room, balanced on a tiny platinum needle and flanked by stone dragons (two drakestone golems, Draconomicon 164, or marut inevitables, MM 159). This is the test of Lendys. Spirits within the dragons judge each passer for some misdeed, possibly causing the guardians to attack if the defense is inadequate. Victorious characters are purified through this trial by ordeal. Death claims the guilty. A paragon of law might be able to take the sword and the needle from this room.

Test of the Firelord: Those who manage to make it through the previous halls come to a volcanic shaft that has cool lava at the bottom. A wide spire of rock stands in the middle, red and glistening. An observant character might notice (Spot DC 25) roughly carved symbols of Garyx, the All-Destroyer, on the outside of the archway leading into the shaft. Across the tube is a platform that apparently allows access to another part of the complex—but this platform is higher in the shaft than the entry point and obscured by the spire. Further, a decoy cave opens in the northern wall near the lava.

The moment anyone enters the volcanic tube, it springs to life as if erupting, forcing the characters to make a mad dash for the other side. Run this event as if each party member faced some danger each round from flying debris, dangerous gases, or hot magma. Add fire elementals and other fire creatures if you prefer combat to a furious rush or carefully plotted escape. The fires settle down as the characters exit the shaft, almost as if it were all an illusion. Monsters do not pursue those who make it to the platform, but they might follow those who enter the caverns.

Test of Life: Beneath a black ceiling etched with a silver seven-pointed star, the skeleton of a couatl is reverently coiled in a funerary basin, polished bones and bright feathers showing through ornaments of gold and precious stone. Those who return this creature to life pass the test of Tamara and gain the aid of a powerful native outsider for a while. The couatl warns those who return it to life of the test of power. Creatures sitting in the basin are affected as if by a regenerate spell once per day. Any corpse laid in it is granted a constant gentle repose spell (time spent in the basin doesn't count against the time limit of raise dead). At the same time, the basin reduces the body to skeletal remains.

Test of Power: A grand idol of Tiamat stands in the center of this chamber, and the evil one suffers none to pass this chamber. The idol becomes an aspect of Tiamat—a red dragon that has a Challenge Rating at least 3 higher than the intruders' average level, except that it can breathe the breath weapon of any evil dragon instead of just fire. It still uses its breath only once every 1d4 rounds, and it does not chase those who flee back to the test of life. If you want, you can instead use the aspect of Tiamat (Miniatures Handbook 54) as a guide to creating a more powerful aspect to serve in this room. Those who best Tiamat's aspect are rewarded with passage to the Teeth of the Three, and possibly more.

Chamber of the Teeth: This great, round chamber represents Io the Concordant, Creator of Dragonkind, and in its center is set the Teeth of the Three (page 142). The room glows in eerie colors—the light of the Teeth reflected off polished surfaces. Whil e anyone who returned through Korrandar's halls would have to face many of its tests again, the Chamber of the Teeth allows egress through its ceiling. This way passes through the lairs of several mighty Storm Guardians, but the dragons show those who have passed the tests through the winding caverns, letting them leave after having a short conversation and presenting a small token of remembrance. 

Korrandar's storms often prevent flight, and the Teeth of the Three and the Shroud thwart dimensional travel. The elusive Storm Guardians are usually seen only if they have business with intruders (that is, if you want them to be seen). Otherwise, the mountain is a wilderness of the most unforgiving type. Draconic creatures are more common here than elsewhere in Adar.

For adventures under Korrandar's cloud cover, use all the worst a mountain has to offer (DMG 89—90). Depending on the season, throw in a thunderstorm or snowstorm, and intermittent blizzard or tornado conditions (DMG 94). Much of the time, vision is impaired due to driving winds and precipitation, and/or thick clouds obscuring light. Severe cold (DMG 302) is a particular problem in the winter and at night, but Korrandar is covered with glaciers and snow all year. If you have access to Frostburn, use the Frostfell Mountain Terrain chart (page 22). You might also use rules for crevasses, snowfields, and whiteout. The supernatural energy surrounding the mountain could also result in sudden squalls of blood snow, death hail, and howl of the north, as well as ebony ice and rare pools and rivulets of coldfire.

Another of Adar's holy sites, Korrandar is a place few people visit. Those who do come always have a purpose. The most likely reason is either to investigate the mystery of the Teeth of the Three and possibly to use it to fortify Adar's Shroud, or to thwart the plans of some evildoer who has designs on the mountain's contents. The Storm Guardians aren't likely to interfere, especially if some element of the draconic Prophecy is unfolding before their eyes.

A character who wants to tie the Shroud to the Teeth of the Three must have seen each of Adar's eight shroud resonators. By contacting the artifact, visualizing a specific shroud resonator, making a successful DC 35 Concentration check, and taking 1d4 points of Constitution drain, such a character can tie the visualized shroud resonator to the Teeth. Failure on the check deactivates the visualized shroud resonator for a day, so taking 20 is impossible. Willing participants within 60 feet of a character performing this process can provide aid by taking the same Constitution drain. Each character who does so also grants the character in contact with the Teeth a +2 bonus on his Concentration check. Those who die in this process vanish in a flash of silvery light and cannot be raised with magic less than true resurrection coupled with a wish or miracle.

A shroud resonator tied to the Teeth of the Three no longer needs powering but otherwise functions as normal. If all of Adar's shroud resonators are tied to the Teeth, all must be shut down or destroyed for the Shroud to cease functioning. It is possible that shoring up the Shroud this way releases the spirit of Taratai from the shroud resonators.

Free to pass within their own halls, the Storm Guardians have placed riches within the mountain, gathered over millennia as the people near Korrandar and pilgrims to the mountain made offerings at shrines near the peak's base. Those who survive Korrandar and their quest for the Teeth of the Three are unlikely to be robbed of whatever they take from under the mountain—at least by the dragons of Korrandar. The same cannot be said for those who burgle from one of the Storm Guardians.

An awe-inspiring and majestic piece of dragon artifice, the Teeth of the Three could be the hope of Adar and Sarlona, and perhaps even Eberron. The Teeth of the Three rests above the head of a creature of legend—a slumbering rakshasa rajah—and if destroyed, it could spell doom for Adar, Sarlona, and the world. This incredible item is a magical focus that might be responsible for Adar's odd mixture of planar energy and the physical manifestations of them. It could have been why the kalashtar were able to cross the barrier between dreams and the world into Adar. It is a strange combination of artifact and magical location.

Lore: Few know about it. Fewer know where it is. And fewer still will ever see it and live to tell the tale. Characters can gain the following pieces of information about the Teeth of the Three by making a Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (history), or bardic knowledge check. A character from Adar can use Knowledge (local). When a character makes a check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 20: The creators of the Shroud are said to have shared a vision during their meditations or in their dreams in sleep. This vision revealed a great device like the shroud resonators. Some believe that this device exists.

DC 25: The whole story is that the shared vision included the mighty peak Korrandar. Perhaps the mysterious device glimpsed lies on or in the volcano. But none besides Speaker of the Word Chanaakar have braved the storms or the Storm Guardians to find out, and he hasn't said.

DC 30: It is said that within the shrouded heart of Korrandar is set a massive draconic artifact composed of all three types of dragonshards. The dragons brought it from Argonnessen and used it and their mighty sorcery to create the natural fortress Adar is today. Under the land of refuge they sealed the spirit of a rakshasa rajah named Ran Iishiv. They then placed this item, called the Teeth of the Three, within the volcano, and a mighty couatl sacrificed herself to power the crystal's eternal power against fiends.

DC 35: Tales say the Storm Guardians gave Vusgaar, the sorceress of legend who was friend to dragons, leave to see the halls under Korrandar's mists. In that story, Vusgaar tells that the Teeth of the Three is a joining of three dragonshards, each amplifying the others' power. It is a nexus that vents the rajah's wrath into Adar's storms, at the same time focusing eldritch power to keep Adar as the dragons want it.

Vusgaar's disciples kept records that indicate the Teeth of the Three is a major component of the draconic Prophecy. Dragons created it based on their auguries. The artifact seems to pull certain creatures near and push others away. It is also a massive psionic and magic focus. If this is so, it could be possible to tie Adar's Shroud to the Teeth of the Three, greatly reducing the maintenance the Shroud requires and strengthening its properties. Perhaps such a network is what the dragons sought to build all along.

Description: The Teeth of the Three is a breathtaking conglomerate crystal made up of three dragonshards of a size never seen in modern Eberron. In the center is a Khyber shard. An Eberron shard and a Siberys shard join the Khyber shard at the base and emerge from that point at 45-degree angles. Each shard is easily double the height of a full-grown human and as wide as that person is tall. Motes of golden, violet, and crimson light seem to materialize near and flow into the crystals, and a diaphanous shaft of silver radiance surges from the center of each upward. This flow forms a wavering flame that dissipates at about 5 feet above the artifact.

Space around the crystal thrums as if in time with the heartbeat of the world. This vibration is felt not heard. A silence beyond silence surrounds the item, as if the gods hold their breath. The faint smell of burned metal taints the air, though, and your brow furrows with some forgotten anger. Prerequisite: Only those who have passed through the Spheres of Korrandar can access the power of the artifact.

Activation: Contacting the Teeth of the Three is a standard action that requires a creature to touch the crystal and make a DC 20 Wisdom check. Any creature of couatl descent, such as a shulassakar, gets a +4 bonus on this check, while a nondraconic evil creature takes a —8 penalty. Anyone who fails the check takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage. Once a user has contacted the Teeth of the Three, activating any power of the device is a standard action. Breaking contact is a free action, and a creature that has contacted the crystal need not make a Wisdom check to touch it again for a year.

Recharge: Once a creature acquires the powers of the Teeth of the Teeth, it cannot do so again for a year. Those who have the Touchstone feat (Sandstorm 53) are exceptions to this rule—such creatures must simply return to the artifact to recharge their abilities.

Effects: The couatl's gentle and loving spirit within the Teeth calls to those who value life, freedom, and balance. This effect is hard to measure, but it covers Adar and stretches beyond the land's borders. Far from insuring that all within Adar are good, this effect has still influenced Adar's development over the millennia. No doubt some Riedrans near Adar's borders have felt a longing to cross into the mountains, quickly dismissing the notion and reaffirming the teaching that Adar is a land of monsters.

More definitively, the area around the Teeth of the Three is blanketed in several effects. A dimensional lock covers an area 67 miles around the artifact, and within 7 miles of it all effects that summon or call creatures, or that require extraplanar materials, such as ectoplasm from the Astral Plane or shadow stuff from the Plane of Shadow, are impeded. A creature that tries to produce such an effect must succeed on a Spellcraft or Psicraft check to do so (as appropriate, DC 20 + effect's level), expending the required resources but failing to produce the effect if the check fails. Strangely, within the same 7 miles, any attempt to summon or call a couatl works without requiring a check. Effects that hedge out evil outsiders, such as protection from evil, dismissal, banishment, and dispel evil, still function. Indeed, they are heightened (as if they were one level higher by means of the appropriate Heighten feat) and quickened (as if the caster or manifester had the appropriate Quicken feat). Those within 7 miles of the Teeth of the Three receive a +5 bonus on level checks to overcome the spell resistance of evil outsiders. Creatures are also immune to possession within this smaller area, but a fiend can continue to possess a creature it already possesses even if that creature enters the area. Evil outsiders gain only immunity to possession from these latter benefits.

When Ran Iishiv and its minions were trapped beneath Adar, the rajah's rage was so great that the land around its prison boiled, hurling up the great volcano Korrandar. The Teeth of the Three was put in place, and the dragons used their most puissant magic through it to bring Lamannia's energy closer to Eberron, though Ran Iishiv's chaotic mind also attracted Kythri's influence. With access to elemental forces, the dragons pushed the land of Adar higher and a couatl joined with the crystal to channel Ran Iishiv's fury. The plan worked, as did the idea to channel Ran Iishiv's violent passion into supernatural and natural storms that rage in Adar. Dragons foresaw they would need these storms to protect their hold in Korrandar. Strangely, this has an affect in Adar—whenever more than a few score persons act in anger or violence in the land of refuge, an effect like control weather causes a terrible storm (a hurricane on the coast or a tornadospawning thunderstorm inland) to manifest in the area of the battle. Such a storm is worse for those without shelter in the mountains—a Riedran siege force, for example.

A nondetection effect protects the Teeth of the Three. In addition, a forbiddance effect against evil and a magic circle against evil surround the artifact. It makes exorcism attempts on anyone it has line of effect to that is possessed by an evil or neutral entity. It makes this check as if it had the granted power of the Exorcism domain (ECS 106) and were a 30thlevel cleric who has a Charisma of 30. A possessing creature can attempt to hide from the Teeth of the Three (Hide DC 40), success indicating the artifact doesn't "see" the fiend and attempt an exorcism check.

An exorcized evil outsider, a creature possessed by an evil outsider, or any evil outsider that has line of sight to the artifact is immediately affected as if by a sympathy spell (DC 29). Failure indicates an overwhelming urge to touch the item. Touching the crystal, whether by sympathy or willingly, subjects the evil outsider to a trap the soul spell (no save or spell resistance). When an evil outsider is trapped in this way, the silver flame surges to double its height and brightness for a number of minutes equal to the HD the evil outsider has, then returns to normal.

While in contact with the Teeth of the Three, a creature is affected as if by a mind blank spell. A character touching the artifact can use remote viewing (EPH 129) at will, except that it takes only a standard action to begin the scrying process. Scrying performed through the artifact is not blocked by the Shroud's nondetection effect and overcomes all similar effects if it succeeds on the appropriate level check. Furthermore, anyone in Adar takes a —10 penalty on the save against remote viewing. The Teeth of the Three also allows the character touching it to use the following powers and spells targeting the subject of the remote viewing power: detect thoughts, discern location, dream, mind probe (EPH 119), psionic modify memory (EPH 122), and psionic suggestion (EPH 128). A character need neither know these spells or powers nor pay spell slots or power points to use them. Remote viewing ends just after one of these powers is used only if the user desires it.

Those who contact the Teeth of the Three immediately understand its lingering effects and how to access those powers. Lingering Effects: Anyone who meets the prerequisite and has been in the presence of the Teeth of the Three is immune to possession for one year thereafter.

The Teeth of the Three also functions as a touchstone (Planar Handbook 153 or Sandstorm 54). Anyone who has the Planar Touchstone (Planar Handbook 41) or Touchstone feats can elect to gain the ability to use detect evil three times per day, as the spell, as a base ability, along with the use of the remote viewing power once per day as a standard action for up to five uses as a higher-order ability. Such remote viewing uses the character's Charisma score for the save DC.

A character who has contacted the artifact can spend seven days meditating in the Chamber of the Teeth. The deed done, a meditator gains the constant effect of a nondetection spell (CL 20th within Adar, CL 10th outside Adar) for one year. Someone who has this ability can suppress it at will. (Characters who have this ability radiate faint abjuration magic if successfully viewed with detect magic.)

Aura/Caster Level: Overwhelming all spell schools and psionic disciplines. CL 30th.

Ability Value: The nondetection effect gained by one who meditates in the Chamber of the Teeth for seven days is worth 90,000 gp.

Weight: 6,000 lb.