While Cyre now exists only as an idea, a few years ago it was a powerful nation, and Cyran embassies still exist in the great courts of Khorvaire. Many nations have expelled the Cyran ambassadors—what use is an ambassador without a country? However, Breland has taken in a large number of Cyran refugees, and has even allowed the creation of the city of New Cyre on its northwestern border. As a result, Sharn has allowed the embassy of Cyre to remain open.
The primary function of the Cyran embassy is to coordinate refugee activities and provide a point of contact for New Cyre. The few surviving Cyran nobles realize the precariousness of their situation. They have lost the wealth and resources of their nation, along with the bulk of their military power. New Cyre only exists because of the generosity of King Boranel—and if the Cyrans have nothing to offer or are perceived as a threat, that generosity could eventually fade. The embassy staff spends much of its time among the refugees in Lower Tavick’s Landing, recording the identities and skills of Cyran refugees and trying to find positions for them within the city.
Refugees and people with strong family ties to Cyre are placed under a lot of pressure to help restore the old kingdom, or at least to help it continue to exist as a ghost. Refugees are expected to donate 20% of their income to the embassy toward the recreation of Cyre. This includes adventurers, although the ambassador has no way to measure the income of an adventurer or real power to punish him, save by laying shame on his family. Cyran adventurers are frequently asked to perform services on behalf of New Cyre. This typically involves recovering treasures from the Mournland, searching for clues about the origin of the Day of Mourning, or assisting other powerful people with whom the Cyrans are trying to curry favor.
However, there are those among the surviving nobles who feel that their proud nation should not exist as a memory or as a gift from Breland. They plan to seize new land, whether from Breland, Darguun, Valenar or some other nation entirely. This would require powerful magic artifacts—perhaps ancient weapons hidden in Xen’drik—or dangerous dealings with the Lords of Dust, the Inspired, or the Order of the Emerald Claw. A Cyran character may be drawn into these plots knowingly or unwittingly—and he must decide just how much he is willing to risk for his country.
The Cyran ambassador to Sharn is Lord Jairan ir’Dain (LG male human aristocrat 6). Jairan still plays the role of the proud noble, attending social functions in his fine clothes, but he lost his fortune on the Day of Mourning and his glamerweave doublets are becoming increasingly threadbare. Jairan is an optimist, and he believes that somehow if he keeps doing his job Cyre will be restored—that New Cyre can peacefully grow, and perhaps reclaim the blasted Mournland.
The Cyran spymaster Tyrala (NE female human rogue 8) is Jairan’s mirror image. She is obsessed with the survival of Cyre and will use any means necessary to achieve that goal, however questionable they may be. Jairan may ask a Cyran character to perform an altruistic deed; Tyrala’s requests are often morally ambiguous, though they may have more concrete results. Tyrala firmly believes that one of the other nations was behind the destruction of Cyre, and she is determined to find out who did it and how, and to take a bitter vengeance. She uses this as a lever against a Cyran character—doesn’t he want revenge for the hundreds of thousands of his people who were killed? Doesn’t he want to prevent this from ever happening again? The embassy can draw on the discretionary funds held in the Kundarak Bank, but it has little to offer—its primary currency is loyalty to the lost nation.
There are a few other notable Cyran NPCs scattered throughout the city. Doras (N male human commoner 2/rogue 2/fighter 2) is a village reeve who was visiting a cousin in Smoky Towers on the Day of Mourning. Today he remains in Smoky Towers as an insurgent, urging people with Cyran blood to come to the aid of their ancestral homeland. The Guardians of the Gate and the Citadel both keep a close watch on Doras, but he has yet to be arrested. Cala Narain (N female human ranger 4) was a captain in the Queen’s Forward Blades, a scouting unit. Currently, she is the highest-ranking Cyran military officer in Sharn, and she has been trying to organize the scattered soldiers among the many refugees. Holt (N male personality warforged fighter 5) is a warforged bodyguard who usually travels with Lord ir’Dain or Tyrala when they leave the embassy