General Player Knowledge

[VennDygrem]

I will update this thread as necessary with what the players know about the world around them and particularly how it pertains to the overall plot of the campaign. This first post will be devoted to info on the plot. The next one will detail what you know about important NPCs. The third and final one will be general world information that I've had to make up or elaborate on for the sake of this game.

This thread is not for Player discussion. That can be done in the relevant OOC thread.

The Players Are:
tallan
BowenSilverclaw
Agita
Nanshork
Flay Crimsonwind
Risada
archangel.arcanis
Calchexxis

What the Heck is Going on?
Your quest began in the sleepy village of Lakeside, located in the nation of Karrnath. Your main goal is to seek clues about a mysterious, fabled artifact for Bordrek Stonefist. He has agreed to pay each of you handsomly for information regarding this artifact, which he has told you is known as "the Maker's Crown." Little is known about the crown, but legends revolve around it much like Eberron's twelve moons circle the planet. Some believe the artifact is tied directly into the Draconic Prophecy, and could be a key to unlocking its mysteries. Some believe it is little more than myth, while others have more outlandish theories (such as one which says that the crown reveals all 13 secret spices in the recipe to Sgt. Feathers' Crispy Couatl Tenders- Fear not, no couatls were harmed in the making of these tasty treats). The most prominent theories suggest that it either doesn't exist or is simply the crown belonging to an ancient king, long forgotten but holding no magical or special properties.
Bordrek wants it for his collection regardless.

Bordrek has sent you on your way already, and the first clues lead you into Karrnath. You are currently travelling the King's Road northward, ever further into the unforgiving Karrnathi winter. In the village of Winterhaven you are to meet an old man who will aid you in your quest for information on the Crown. Little is known of him, and in order to keep his identity safe you have not even been given his name (a practice you may well question, yet perhaps not enough to turn down the chance for gold or glory). In order to ensure you meet with the right old man, you were given a passage to repeat when you first meet him. When you ask him about the surrounding area, he will offer to draw you a map. You will speak the line, "Do the local birds need maps to know which way the wind blows?" He will respond to this pass phrase with, "not on a fair day, but they may when darkness falls." Following that, pass unto him a copper coin that features the portrait of King Kaius of Karrnath, and your exchange will be complete. He will then provide unrestricted aid while within the borders of Winterhaven, at least within his capacity to help.

The party journeyed to Winterhaven, dispatching some kobolds on the way and rescuing a young elf girl. You found your contact, Eilian the Old, in Wrafton's Inn. He told you that strange happenings are afoot, and that his missing friend and contact Douven Staul may be the key to unlocking their mystery. He sent the group off with some maps of the area and a guide, but not before leaving you with a cryptic warning: "Beware the elf girl." The next day, more kobolds were encountered, and it was decided to clear out the infestation, as the whole town had been complaining about the nuisance the night before. However, while chasing a straggler back to its hideout, Curyll the ranger scouted ahead and seemed to have disappeared, leaving the group bewildered. Furthermore, though they had yet to realize it, Minharath the psion had also disappeared. Strangely enough, they happened across a halfling seemingly investigating the same kobold menace. The disappearances continued, dwindling your numbers while bringing other new faces to your fold. Something is rotten in Winterhaven, and you're going to find out what.
The Heroic Spirit
Each of you possesses a unique trait that sets you apart from your peers back home. You have a special destiny, though you may not yet know what it is. You are heroes, and regardless of your personalities or backgrounds, you excel in some area, or otherwise stand out. Perhaps not in the sense that a Goliath stands out in a crowd of Halflings, but those who know what to look for can just tell.
Your special nature may just manifest itself in unique ways that you may not even yet understand.

Old info on the spirit artifacts for the 3.5 version of the game. Can't bear to part with it, but it does not pertain to the 4E game.
You may have acquired them from different sources, whether you found it lying around during a standard adventure, or you were gifted with the item from someone significant, or what have you. Some of you may not even have known the item was magical until much later, when some silent instinct pushed you on to discover its talents. Some of these powers alter your capabilities in combat or in social situations, while for some the transformation seems to be affecting your own body.

Beyond their normal powers, these items also allow you to mentally summon forth a special item, either a weapon or a shield, allowing you to fight and defend yourself as well as your comrades. For some of you, this item is the very same as the regular artifact item, granting even further powers to fight and defend. What you might not know is that these items are both linked to you, both one in the same as well as an extension of your own will, an expression of your adventuring spirit, and bound to your very soul. What you do know is that these are very special, very unique weapons, and reflect in their design aspects of your own personality. You also know that if broken, these items usually seem to re-form in a matter of days, depending on the damage, though you're not quite sure to what extent this is true.

Each item has unique artifact powers with unique durations and usage rules. The spirit weapon/shield, however, is normally a +1 weapon or a shield providing a +1 to AC and which hovers either directly in front of you or offset from one of your arms. You may summon forth the item with a mental command as a free action, and you may send it away with a similar action. The item's physical appearance is up to you, but regardless is somehow unique, its design distinct from others of its kind. It may appear as a simple etching set into a metal form, or it may even appear to radiate or even be composed of pure energy while wielded by you. If anyone disarms you of the item, it functions as a masterwork item of the same kind, but provides none of the special properties that it has while you wield it- it even appears to be made of normal steel even if normally composed of a special material. You may re-summon the item as a free action on your turn, disappearing from your opponent's hands and appearing in your possession.

Average Character XP
350/1000

[VennDygrem]

Important NPCs

Bordrek Stonefist d'Kundarak:

Bordrek is a Dwarven Artificer and a member of House Kundarak, one of the 12 Dragonmarked mercantile Houses in Eberron. He bears the Mark of Warding, literally marking him as a member of the House. You met Bordrek in Fairhaven, the capital of the nation of Aundair. He told you that he is a scholar from Morgrave University in Sharn (known as the City of Towers, a major cultural and economic hub in the nation of Breland), and he is seeking information on the whereabouts of, or existence of, an artifact known as the Maker's Crown.

From what you know about Morgrave University, it "doesn't possess the prestige of other universities. Instead, it boasts an outstanding collection of ancient treasures and relics. The institution's expeditions are often glorified treasure hunts. Still, its scholars and professors are learned and ardent" (4E Eberron Player's Guide, pg 23). To you, this is just another treasure hunt, and you're likely more than happy to track down a trinket for one of the university's lazier scholars in exchange for sizable wealth, though everyone might have differing motivations on why they agreed to help Bordrek.


Delphina Moongem

A young elf girl you rescued from a band of kobolds. She was gathering purple flowers when she was ambushed and tied to a tree not far from the King's Road outside of Winterhaven. Your party dispatched the kobolds and escorted Delphina back to town.

Salvana Wrafton

A middle-aged human woman, she is Wrafton's Inn's owner and proprietor. She employs a few waiters, waitresses, and cooks, but seems to manage much of the business herself. If anyone's heard the stories of this city, or knows of its denizens, Salvana would be in a position to know.

[More to Come]

Elmira Darkfeather:
You have met Elmira in the small, frost-bitten town of Lakeside. She is the contact that Bordrek told you about, and has provided you with details on where to begin looking for the artifact you seek. Nothing else is known about this person, but she seems to be a master of infiltration, and either is a spellcaster or has access to powerful magic items, likely from Bordrek if so.

Her personality is cold, frigid even, a good match for the weather affecting Karrnath this time of year. She takes matters of business seriously, and loathes wasting time. May or may not have a stick up her butt, depending on who you ask.

You have not met this NPC in this version of the campaign, though who's to say she won't pop up later on?

[VennDygrem]

General Information on Eberron at large

The Last War: The most significant historical event in Eberron, something that everyone but the most remote civilizations knows about. It began about a hundred years ago, and ended just 4 years ago on the Day of Mourning- when a fell grey mist erupted out of the depths of Cyre, destroying the nation and leaving only a tainted wasteland, now known as the Mournlands, where terrible creatures roam a twisted landscape and wounds do not heal naturally.

The war constituted a conflict raging between the nations of Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Thrane, and Karrnath, along with all of their satellite nations. Its purpose was to reunite the kingdoms of Galifar after they were divided with the death of Emperor Jarot. The conflict lasted over a century and ended inconclusively after the destruction of Cyre in the Day of Mourning. This lead to the Treaty of Thronehold that temporarily suspended the conflict until the cause was discovered.

Karrnath: One of the oldest human nations on the continent of Khorvaire, Karrnath was built on a strong military tradition, one that carries on to this day. Karrnath supports a heavy middle class with plenty of trade businesses running in the large metropolitan centers throughout the western region of the country. Every Karrnathi citizen is forced into compulsory military service lasting at least two years. While many turn this service into a life-long career still others are quick to fulfill their duty and begin their actual lives.

Most interesting about Karrnathi society is their use of the dead. There are no qualms about necromancy or undead in Karrnath and the forces of the military in the Last War were bolstered by skeleton and zombie forces. The summers are hot, short and wet while the winters are long, bitterly cold and full of snow. The people have grown hearty and robust out of this constant weather patterns.

The Draconic Prophecy: A record of things to come that has been playing out since creation. The dragons of Argonnessen observe and record everything from the position of the moons and stars, to the position of the Ring of Siberys to physical manifestations of dragonmarks in the world, all of which they study looking for portents and omens of things to come. The prophecy encompasses many many volumes and is said to be as complex and unfathomable as the dragons themselves. A few among the scholarly study snippets of the massive work, but only the dragons with their incredibly long lifespan have the ability and patience to see the prophecy for what it truly is.

Recently dragonmarks have formed on the so-called lesser races. Although the dragons are divided as the what this might mean, they are no less interested in studying the new bearers of the draconic prophecy.

It is unknown what the draconic prophecy's nature is. Some argue it is a revelation of the end of the world, others of a new beginning. Whatever the means it is obvious that the prophecy points towards the transformation of the world as we know it.
[Further information can be found here]