Narath

The oldest human settlements in Karrnath lie along its northern coast, as sailors from Lhazaar (whether intentionally or unintentionally) ventured west of the Hoarfrost Mountains. The imposing expanse of the Karrnwood isolated it from the kingdoms to the south, leaving Narath out of most of Karrn the Conqueror’s warmongering. This also led to Narath becoming a sort of refuge for marginalized people; while the land is harsh, respect was earned through deeds rather than ties of ancestry or family. Karrn’s expansionism did eventually bring Narath into the fold, but with the recognition that any campaign to conquer the northern coast would be extremely costly for both sides. 

Originally a disparate collective of northern fishing towns, Narath only began to evolve after Galifar I’s son, Karrn, began to create structure throughout the land he governed. The largest port town, Narath, was elevated to the seat of a new duchy under the rulership of the newly minted ir’Tanar family. These moves set the stage for the Galifar-Lhazaar war that began in 28 YK; the shipyards of Narath were infused with money so they could construct and repair the warships Galifar needed to force the Lhazaar princes to heel.

Under the Kingdom of Galifar, improvements in arcane science made life in Narath both more comfortable and more profitable. Fishing moved from being primarily for sustenance to primarily commercial, as ships brought back more fish each summer, and those fish could more easily and safely be transported to distant markets or preserved for other parts of the year. Agriculture still struggled, as effects like plant growth are a blind spot for arcane magic and dragonmarks.

Prior to his death and the onset of the Last War, King Jarot bolstered the armadas of both Aundair and Karrnath, fearing some unknown terror might strike from the Frostfell across the Bitter Sea. These renewed navies were immediately utilized by their princes, with Karrn I and Wrogar contesting each other in the resource-rich waters. The docks of the city of Narath held the largest of Karrnath’s northern shipyards, constantly processing lumber brought up from the Karrnwood and turning it into new and improved warships.

The city of Narath was besieged several times during the war, but it was in 989 YK that Aundair successfully landed assault forces and razed the city. The Burning of Narath may not be the most iconic of the war’s disasters—Karrnath’s razing of Shadukar earlier that year was far fouler and occurred to a more populous city—but it nonetheless stained the continent in blood. Arcane fire from Aundair spread rapidly through the wooden houses of the city, indiscriminately burning military and civilian infrastructure alike. The magically enhanced fire rapidly outpaced people’s ability to flee the city, leading to tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

In the near decade since the Burning of Narath, commercial activity in the Bitter Sea has recovered but the city has not. The city’s Fernian manifest zone tore open on the Day of Mourning, allowing salamanders to spill through and decimate reconstruction efforts. Karrnathi scholars blame the Aundairian war magic for weakening the ethereal veil that separated the city from the plane of fire, but whatever the cause the port is currently unusable. 

Warlord Renn ir’Tanar (human he/him) is as bitter as the sea he gazes upon every day from his ancestral family castle. He has not moved on from the devastation wrought by Aundair and sees Kaius III’s willingness to sign a treaty as cowardice. However, his daughter Mordalyn disagreed with his subtle and prolonged plan to undermine the king, instead joining up with Drago Thul to directly challenge Kaius. She now lives in tropical Stormreach supporting Drago’s dissent, far away from the duchy that was once her birthright. Renn believes both that she is foolish and that she will ultimately rejoin him; for now, his founding role in At All Costs is the primary way by which he seeks to obtain his grand political goals.

Born of the Sea. The people of Narath are the finest sailors in Karrnath, whether they are out on the waters for commercial or military purposes. Almost every job there is either at sea or in support of those who are. Unlike the Lhazaarites to the east, the people of Narath find solidarity in being part of a united kingdom; the people of the eastern coast are too chaotic and vainglorious to appreciate what it means to work together towards something greater.

Bitter Hearts. The people of Narath are isolated from most of Khorvaire, leaving them to solely dwell on their conflict with Aundair. Grudges are not easy to forgive in the frozen north, and their reasons for grudges against Aundair are numerous.

The surviving citizenry of Narath, a city still in ruins, has dispersed among the outlying areas and coastal towns. The city itself is not entirely abandoned, however, as the salamanders occupying the city’s downtown are unable to venture far from the portal that brought them to the material plane; the outlying parts of the city were also less ravaged by the Aundairian assault, leaving them somewhat livable.

The Infernal Rift

An imposing tear in the very fabric of reality, this rift stands at the heart of a Fernian manifest zone covering the entire downtown and harbor area. While the chilly waters of the Bitter Sea could freeze as far south as the Karrnathi coast on particularly cold winters, the downtown and harbor of Narath were always protected from the cold (As per the Deadly Heat property in Exploring Eberron, all creatures gain resistance to cold damage, and a creature that is usually resistant to cold damage becomes immune.)

Now, the area is a beachhead for salamanders who slither among the scorched ruins in the heart of the city. These salamanders are not under the thumb of any efreet but represent a free group led by a noble whose Ignan name roughly translates to Brightlance (salamander they/them). Driven by a desire to escape from the contained servitude of the efreeti as well as the Fernian impulse to build, the salamanders have plundered every piece of metal they can find within the manifest zone to build shelter and maintain their arsenal. Brightlance’s forces maintain their militaristic posture on both sides of the portal, as concerned with an assault by efreeti forces as they are by mortals. Salamanders do need to eat, and a lack of suitable food on the material side of the portal forces Brightlance to rely on resupply from Fernia.

When Fernia is remote (which occurs at least once every five years during the month of Zarantyr but can happen other times at shorter and less predictable intervals), the rift closes. The salamanders have to stockpile for and scavenge during this time, as not only are they cut off from resupply, but their fires burn less bright—their features and attacks only do half as much fire damage while Fernia is remote.

Castle Narath

An imposing structure on the western edge of the city, the damage to Castle Narath has largely been repaired. From here, Warlord ir’Tanar plots to take the harbor back from Brightlance; the last time Fernia was remote was before the Treaty of Thronehold, when forces were simply not available to confront the salamanders. Now, he plans to take advantage of the upcoming rift closure and the fading of the manifest zone to defeat the salamanders and permanently close the portal to Fernia.