The largest planar orrery left on Xen’drik lies within the hollowed recesses of an immense tree nurtured by powerful druidic magic beyond the scope of any but Eberron’s children. The dragon custodian of the apparatus lost his mind long ago and eventually withered to bone and dust. The orrery stands eerily deserted now, a silent testament to the dragons’ might, but many believe its purpose in the Prophecy is not yet fulfilled.
Approach
The planar orrery is shrouded in the thick jungle of the Valley of Shadows, nestled in a primeval forest whose trees breathe as one and whisper secrets older than the giant empire that rose and fell around them. The forest has a memory. Trespassers have provoked its ire through the ages, and it no longer tolerates such fools. The jungle closes in on all who brave its depths, forcing them to hack through vines as thick as pythons each step of the way. Explorers might glance back to find their hard-hewn trail reclaimed by slithering creepers in the blink of an eye. The mighty tree in which the orrery lies is visible only on breaching the thick forest around it.
The vine-choked woods part at long last to reveal a vast clearing. At the center stands an immense livewood tree, a titan of the forest to whom the surrounding woods genuflect in fear and awe. The ominous silence of this place eats words. Even the wind dares not trespass here.
Features
The eerie silence of this place deadens sound, imposing a –10 penalty on all Listen checks. The sky above is always cloudless. No weather or wind effects function within 1 mile of the orrery. Darkness reigns inside the tree. No stairs exist; creatures that are unable to fly or use tree stride must laboriously climb. Ascending the exterior requires DC 15 Climb checks; the polished interior walls take DC 25 Climb checks to scale.
Keyed Locations
The following features correspond to numbered areas on the map.
- Ring of Trees: A circle of six trees stands before the entrance to the orrery. One of the trees is an aged treant named Maerdin, who challenges intruders. Any who speak Druidic or display a dragonmark are allowed to pass unmolested.
- Veil of Vines: A thick curtain of living vines covers the entry arch. Most of the plants slither and hiss like serpents, but others bunch in disturbingly humanoid-shaped clumps that moan piteously at passers by. Anyone who touches the vines is infected with a fell magic disease (contact, Fort DC 20, incubation 1 minute, 1d4 Dex and blindness). Affected creatures painfully sprout vines from their skin and eyes; any whose Dexterity is reduced to 0 transforms into a clump of vines.
- Throne of Old Marrowdrax: The black dragon custodian of the orrery rests here upon his dais-throne of polished wood. Millennia of seclusion frayed Marrowdrax’s mind, and he sank into a torpor from which he never awoke. Most of his bones are dust now, but his imposing horned skull sits between the wooden talonrests at the front of his dais-throne. His hoard has long ago been pilfered, but a successful DC 30 Search check reveals an orange ioun stone tucked in a hollow knot behind Marrowdrax’s throne.
- Tabernacle of Secrets: Hundreds of branches surround this broad platform of wood where the dragons of the orrery once held council meetings. A pedestal of polished wood rests at the center. If any living creature touches the pedestal, the branches around the platform twist and shift, shutting out the sun and sealing the area off completely. A Mordenkainen’s private sanctum effect is raised and persists until the pedestal is touched again (which also returns the branches to their original configuration).
- Giant Webs: In his later years, Marrowdrax’s madness caused him to couple with all manner of foul forest denizens. Now a group of draconic ettercaps infests the orrery. The creatures’ sprawling webs choke passageways, and the exsanguinated husks of captured birds, harpies, and even the occasional pegasus are tangled within. The ettercaps serve the arachno-fiend in area 9.
- Roc Nests: Huge clusters of uprooted trees and shrubs wedged among these high branches serve as a nesting ground for rocs. These fierce avians prey on any creatures they detect and destroy any creature that threatens their eggs.
- Dragon’s Demise: This web contains the skeleton of an unfortunate young red dragon who fell prey to the arachno-fiend after a fray with some drow long ago. A DC 25 Search check can uncovers a +3 adamantine icy burst arrow lodged between its rib bones.
- Grove of Many Worlds: Thirteen smaller trees grow from this large branch of the orrery. Each of the trees corresponds to one plane, and the branch twists and shifts over time in accordance with planar orbits. Only the trees of planes that orbit close to Eberron thrive and bear fruit; the others remain withered. At the time the PCs explore the orrery, Fernia and Mabar are waxing. A sturdy tree with bright auburn leaves bears fire-red oranges, and a gnarled, black tree with sinewy inkyberried vines thrives as well.
Anyone eating one of the oranges gains resistance to fire 10 for 24 hours and can use fire shield as a spell-like ability once (CL 20th). Tasting the bitter black berries grants a creature the ability to make a single touch attack that bestows a negative level on the target, and to use darkness once as a spell-like ability (CL 20th). The fruits confer these powers to a given creature only once every 24 hours, no matter how many are eaten. - Den of the Aracho-Fiend: The orrery’s current master, a hideous winged spider-demon, rests here in an ornate black web. This unusually intelligent half-fiend Gargantuan monstrous spider prowls the orrery, feeding on anything that crosses its path.
- Mirrors of Prophecy: Mirrored dragonshards mounted on these upper branches are destined to play a role in the Prophecy. The mirrors must be adjusted into a configuration aligned with matching mirrors located all across Xen’drik. Once this is done, a beam of brilliant light blazes across the sky from mirror to mirror, etching a Prophecy mark of continent-spanning size. Many of these dragonshards are missing now, stolen by thieves or those who hope to prevent this world-shaking fragment of the Prophecy from unfolding.
- Skygazing Tower: This treetop chamber offers a breath-stealing view of the night sky.