“The exiles forgot their past and this place almost from the moment they stepped onto the boats, so desperate were they to burn away the horrors of what lay behind them. Or perhaps they sensed the greatness of their future and sought to leave space for that in the memory-yet-to-come of their race. Few care to know these things now, but they remain with me. If you have time to listen, I have time to speak . . .”
—Qataakhast the Bright-Eyed
In the glowing steppes and harsh desert wastes of Syrkarn, tales are told of an ageless dragon whose molten gaze has seen this land’s fall and rise. He is Qataakhast the Bright-Eyed, a great brass wyrm who can be sighted in the sands and empty grasslands from the central Plains of Itzaina to the sea.
Qataakhast is the keeper of many secrets, but the one he holds closest is known only to him and his apprentice Rumura. Though the dragons of Argonnessen had always been cognizant of the role human history would one day play in the Prophecy, few could have foretold how far that history would advance as a result of a single fateful sea voyage. Three thousand years ago, a ragtag flotilla of ships set out from the shores of Rhiavhaar, bound for an unknown land across the Sea of Rage. The captain of this expedition was Lhazaar. Qataakhast was there to watch her go.
As a young adult, Qataakhast and his mate Vyssilthar left Argonnessen to take up a life of exile in Sarlona— punishment for Qataakhast’s failure at a mission of which he has not spoken in all the time since. When the Lhazaar expedition set sail, Vyssilthar felt compelled to accompany it in half-elf form. Qataakhast stayed behind, bound to complete his penance alone.
Before her departure, Vyssilthar had spent long years studying the draconic Prophecy. When Lhazaar’s port city was abandoned in the Sundering, Qataakhast returned there to record his mate’s work and his own memories of the expedition, even as he kept watch on the open sea in the hope that she might someday return. However, as Riedra established its dominion over Rhiavhaar, Qataakhast was forced to flee for the freedom of Syrkarn, where he remains today. (Qataakhast’s former lair and the caverns where he recorded his impressions are part of White Water Harbor, page 117.)
Though his former life and calling are some thirty centuries behind him, Qataakhast has lost none of the nobility and sense of purpose that mark many of the great wyrms of Argonnessen. Today, he spends much of his time traveling across his adopted homeland, forcing lesser rogue dragons to respect the settlements of human and eneko (Syrkarn’s civilized “mongrel ogre” tribes). On rare occasions, Qataakhast has unleashed his full fury to keep local rogues in line. For most, a single demonstration is all that’s needed.
Description
Centuries beneath the bleaching Syrkarn sun have burnished Qataakhast’s scales to an almost mirrorlike sheen. His bladed chinhorns are the length of longswords, each honed to razor sharpness by constant rubbing against the shard pile within his lair. Years of slumber on a bed of Khyber shards have left the scales of Qataakhast’s underbelly limned a deep blue-black, and a faint glow seems to ripple there as he moves. The deep green of his wing-edges appears nearly pearl-black when they are unfurled, and the great wyrm’s eyes burn with the light of a Syrkarn dawn.
Like all brass dragons, Qataakhast loves the heat, and he often basks in the open sand and empty grasslands of his adopted home. However, because of his imposing physical presence, the great wyrm makes a point of flying only at night if possible. Qataakhast soars with a speed and grace that defy his massive size, and when his gleaming scales catch the dawn’s light, they flare like a beacon that can be seen for miles. The eneko nomads of the plains consider it good luck to catch sight of this “dragonlight.”
Though he conveys the majesty of distant Argonnessen in his every word, the great wyrm retains the verbosity and playful acquisitiveness common among his kind. He is great lover of gifts, no matter how trifling, and to those who offer some trinket and the necessary respect, Qataakhast will happily speak for days on end. Those who come to him with specific questions inevitably receive answers, but the great wyrm is seldom in a hurry to get to the point.
For a thousand years, Qataakhast has watched over this land, always hopeful that Vyssilthar might one day return to his side before he takes his last sight of earth and sky. Lately, however, the great dragon has become resigned to facing his end alone. The idea that his knowledge will die with him when he passes saddens Qataakhast, and so he seeks to pass on what he knows in the time that remains.
Minions
Over his long life, Qataakhast has known countless mortal creatures that have passed to dust in the relative blink of a dragon’s eye. As he has aged, the great wyrm’s benevolence toward those who seek his counsel has not lessened. However, he has grown ever more circumspect over the years, and these days counts on only a single creature for friendship and service.
The djinni Khayyada (MM 114) came to know Qataakhast through the dragon’s summon djinni ability. She appreciates that Qataakhast summons her only for noble purpose or from dire need, and the great wyrm and the ageless genie have developed a close relationship over the years. With her wind walk and plane shift abilities, Khayyada often undertakes far-ranging errands for Qataakhast, including numerous intelligence-gathering expeditions to Riedra and at least one recent mission to Argonnessen itself. When summoned, Khayyada reacts immediately to any threat against her master, defending Qataakhast with her life.
Allies And Enemies
Qataakhast’s apprentice and assistant is Rumura, an aspiring dragon sage (male adult gold dragon loremaster 6). The great wyrm took the gold under his wing some five decades earlier. Like Qataakhast, Rumura was exiled to Sarlona for crimes he does not discuss. However, unlike his mentor, the gold dragon aspires to return to Argonnessen one day and sees Qataakhast’s unique knowledge and legacy as his eventual ticket home.
Because Qataakhast does not have the alternate form ability, Rumura is also the great wyrm’s agent among the peoples of Sarlona. In open country, the dragon often travels in the form of a gold-white wolf, taking on human form in civilized centers and on intelligence-gathering missions for his master. Though Qataakhast does not know it, Rumura resents the tedious questions of strangers who interfere with his own attempts to codify the great wyrm’s lore. Thus, the gold spends much of his time deflecting the attention of those who would seek out the Bright-Eyed.
As one of the most powerful dragons in Sarlona, Qataakhast is under the constant scrutiny of Thousand Eyes agents in Syrkarn. Kumesha is one such operative (male Chosen nomadEPH 10/fist of Dal QuorSoS 5) whose missions have taken him from the Syrkarn coast to the Riedran frontier and back again. As a fist of Dal Quor, Kumesha enjoys great latitude in setting the scope of his assignments, and his nominal work monitoring the movements of dissidents in Syrkarn has taken a back seat to close observation of Qataakhast for several years. Rumors suggest that Kumesha might have even secretly defended Qataakhast against plots of the Gornatha (page 124), but if so, the Riedran’s motivations remain unknown.
Adventure Seeds
Though Qataakhast possesses a near incomprehensible amount of knowledge, the great wyrm remains effectively cut off from much of the world around him. During his three-thousand-year exile in Syrkarn, events such as the Last War, the emergence of the Silver Flame, the arrival of the kalashtar in Adar, and the rise of the Blood of Vol have all occurred at the periphery of Qataakhast’s understanding. What he does know might still have incalculable value for PCs caught up in the maelstrom of intrigue that is Eberron, even if Qataakhast himself does not understand the information’s significance.
Fact-Finding Mission: One of the Khorvairian universities believes that a rogue dragon in Syrkarn is sitting on a first-hand account of the Lhazaar expedition, and enlists the PCs to “liberate” this priceless lore. After they make contact with the benevolent Qataakhast, the PCs learn that their patrons actually want the dragon and his knowledge destroyed. The party is merely a dupe in a much larger scheme.
Dragon Uprising: The PCs defend Qataakhast when against a group of rogue Syrkarn dragons who rise up against this self-styled protector of the steppes. However, the party’s attempts to aid the great wyrm are complicated by his apparent lack of concern for his own life. Having accepted that he will not see Vyssilthar again before the end, this legendary dragon believes that his time on Eberron is done.