# EBERRON -- Our non-regularly scheduled program



## Cyronax (Jul 22, 2009)

I run a lengthy campaign set in the homebrew World of Spire & Abyss campaign,. Its getting pretty heated in its adventures. When we all can't make the session, though we still like to game. 

This story hour will chronicle our 'off' side trek campaign set in Eberron -- specifically northeastern Karrnath. 

None of that derails my commitment to the Spire & Abyss campaign, btw. That will remain THE campaign I devote most of my DMing energies toward. 
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Anyway, we were down to three today like I said. Here is our Eberron Side Campaign. Even though it looks like a lot of planning went into the adventure and the characters' backgrounds -- nearly all of today's session was a spur of the once I heard all three of the characters' proposed backgrounds and/or personalities moment creation. It just seems more complex in hindsight, but I must say Michelle's initial background idea inspired enough material to fill several novels. Elsith is a firecracker ... and a very very interesting character. 

One other note, the tone and theme for this initial adventure and those in the future will focus more on Eberron's appeal as a pulpish world of spies, conspiracy, and intrigue heavy adventure. I would say I would look at it like the Indiana Jones series or James Bond movies like From Russia With Love. 

Both Dan and Faisal are welcome to make characters for this!   Additionally here is a link to an Eberron wiki I found. Its useful reference for those of you that aren't familiar with Eberron: Eberron Wiki.

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Character Generation
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Ability Generation Method: 4d6, drop the lowest (at least +4 total modifier for playable PC and no upper bracket limitation) or Standard (22) Point Buy. 

Starting Level: 2nd level 
Starting Wealth: 
- identification papers are available for free if appropriate to your character
- traveling papers are only available for characters that have an established reason in their background for traveling internationally
- 100 gp for mundane equipment
- 2 potions of healing or 2 alchemical items of 1st-5th level
- One magic item of 1st or 2nd level
- One magic item of 1st level

Alignment: LG, G, U

Races Available: PHB, PHB2, EbPG (changeling, kalashtar, warforged), drow (from Xen'drik), goblins, and hobgoblins
Classes Available: PHB, PHB2, FRPG (swordmage), EbPG (artificer), and the psionic playtest classes (monk and psion)

Feats: any published in WotC books. Only excludes Channel Divinity feats not associated with Eberron deities. 

Religion: Sovereign Host (Arawai, Aureon, Balinor, Boldrei, Dol Arrah, Dol Dorn, Kol Korran, Olladra, Onatar), The Traveler, The Path of Light (only for Sarlonan PCs and must have DM permission), Elf Religions, and the Silver Flame.  

New House Rule: 
- Multi-classing into a divine class enables characters to choose Channel Divinity feats.

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Cast of Heroes
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- Asha, male elven monk (Rick): an even-keeled and urbane elf from the elven homeland of Aerenal. He's apparently an adherent of the Undying Court (elven cult of ancestor worship) and appears to be a man of cultivation, manners, and high birth. Has so far said little about his background, but he hides a proud career as a spy and servant of the Aerenal embassy corps (AEC). AEC has poor relations wit Karrnath for a variety of reasons, but has an embassy in Rekkenmark and a consulte in Irontown. Elsewhere the AEC is known to have embassies and consulates in Sharn, Q'barra, Valinar, the Lhazaar Principalities. To most people however he seems simply like an exotic foreigner with strange tattoos and customs. 

- Elseth Arnelian, female human wizard (Michelle): a 'mousy' young noble lady and former apprentice of the Incantrix Academy of Metrol in the ruined kingdom of Cyre. Her recent past is a personal mystery which will likely affect her near term agenda. Until two days ago, she was kept in a comatose form of stasis for approximately five years. Her last waking memory had been falling asleep in her own rich bed in Metrol, peacefully. She then woke up in the wreckage of a lightening rail mishap in what appeared to be an ivory coffin-like receptacle that was loaded into one of the wrecked rail's three cargo-cars. She missed many major events, including the utter destruction of her homeland of Cyre on the Day of Mourning, the Thronehold Accords (an armistice that ended the Last War), and the dramatic announcement that the King of Breland plans to abdicate in favor of democracy by the end of the current year. 

- Prath, male longtooth (lupine) shifter avenger devoted to Dol Arrah (Jason): a hermit and a man of peace devoted to Dol Arrah, the shining goddess of honorable combat, selflessness, and sunlight. Prath appears to be a man of low station and status from the borderlands of the Eldeen Reaches and Aundair, but he is no yokel. He's a man of the woods and values new challenges, especially new vistas. He had been traveling east to the see the clean and rugged beauty of the mountains of the Mror Holds (the Rockie Mountains-like environment that is home to the kingdom of the dwarves), but was side-tracked by a mishap on the lightening rail.  

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Session Recap
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It was a sweaty summer day in the year 998 YK. Its been two years since the Thronehold Accords brought the century-long Last War to a tumultuous end, and four years since the kingdom of Cyre was tragically destroyed in a mysterious catastrophe that left it little more than a dead-mist shrouded wasteland. Most view the Accords as a temporary and-for-the-moment-binding armistice, but its well known that a lot of countries are already planning for future conflicts. 

Our adventure begins in the northeastern corner of the authoritarian kingdom of Karrnath (Karrnath - Eberron Wiki). 
Karrnath's climate is similar to that of Minnesota -- a rich land of hot summers and very long and desperate winters. To the east lies the high alpine dwarf nation of the Mror Holds. To the south lies the Talenta Plains, an empty region of arid savannas inhabited by nomadic halflings and roving packs of drakes. 

The action started on a six-car-length lightening rail (Lightning Rail - Eberron Wiki) traveling along the Vulyar-Krona Peak lightening line. Thirteen hours into the journey (and just two hours from a stopover in Irontown) a massive explosion ripped one of the rear three cargo-cars into pieces and knocked the entire lightening rail off the line. Out of approximately 150 passengers and attendant staff, only half survived the damage and many of the survivors were severely injured. 

Several notable passengers and staff managed to either soak up the worst effects of the crash or were deft enough to avoid damage through skillful acrobatics. These included a seemingly wealthy elf named Asha who had been up front in the 1st class car and a doughty shifter (or were-touched as his people are often known) named Prath that had been crammed into steerage with the lot of the poor, the cheap, and the last minute planners. In addition to Prath and Asha, a stern half-orcish lightening rail attendant named Adolphus, the beautiful and cautious conductor of the lightening rail Winnifred d'Orien (a dragonmarked human female with long brunette hair and a tight fitting and somewhat provocative outfit (House Orien -- House Orien - Eberron Wiki)), a dwarf merchant, and a few male passengers and attendants managed to emerge from the wreckage relatively unscathed.   

Prath, Asha, and Winnifred quickly began helping their surviving fellow passengers and attendants get out of the thrown lightening rail. It was a bloody business, but the trio did a world of good. For a while the able-bodied survivors noticed that a massive and noxious looking cloud of dead-gray mist flecked with blue and lavendar pulses of energy was hanging over the exploded cargo-car. The cloud eventually dispersed and it nearly bowled over a few of the survivors before it had finally dissipated. The mist was harmful if breathed in. 

Prath and Asha were fairly perceptive and quickly noticed that Adolphus and two others gentlemen -- a dwarf merchant and a poor-looking human mercenary -- had convened in the wreckage of the exploded cargo car and were fiddling with some of the still intact cargo. The half-orc, dwarf, and human looked to be from three completely separate backgrounds and they hadn't demonstrated any previous relationship prior to the explosion, but Prath and Asha noticed that the trio were working together as if they were at least previous acquaintances, if not all united under some common purpose. 

Strange ... but it didn't seem sinister, at least yet. Prath and Asha approached the three men and were immediately instructed by Adolphus to go back and help the injured. The half-orc said he was doing Orien business (and he was an employee of that house), yet Prath and Asha noticed that in the strewn cargo car's wreckage lay five ivory coffin-like receptacles. All but one was heavily damaged in the explosion and accompanying wreck, and it was clear that each receptacle held a body of a humanoid of some sort dressed in fine clothes. The four bodies were all visibly bleeding and it seemed to Prath and Asha that the blood was from damage sustained in the explosion and wreck .... this meant that the people in the receptacles weren't cadavers at all, but had been alive at least until moments ago!

Adolphus and his dwarf and human counterparts remained recalcitrant and were quite rude. Eventually Winnifred d'Orien came to investigate the exploded cargo car as well and she quickly realized that Adolphus (who was supposed to be a simple d'Orien lightening rail employee) was more than he seemed. 

Eventually weapons were drawn (first by the deceitful half-orc) and within moments. Prath, Asha, and Winnifred were united against what would appear to be a trio of conspirators. During the battle Asha proved himself to be extremely skilled at tumbling and weaving through his opponents and also showed himself to be a master of unarmed combat. He collapsed the chest of the longsword-wielding human mercenary and kicked the dwarf merchant in the throat so forcefully that the man keeled over dead. 

Adolphus proved more of a challenge. He stabbed deep and hard with his many hidden daggers, and severely wounded both Prath and Winnifred. Winnifred, befitting her lineage in House Orien, fled the battle using some type of teleportation magic she seemed to intrinsically know. 

The battle was eventually won by Prath who dropped Adolphus with a swing of his greataxe, but the weretouched man of faith quickly staunched the half-orc's grievous wound with but rags and his skills as a doctor. Interrogation began, though Adolphus was very tight-lipped. He lied, lied, and lied some more but he was convinced to reveal some information when Prath lopped off the half-orc's right hand (with Winnifred's apparent and subsequent blessing). It was soon revealed that some sort of smuggling operation was afoot. The coffin-like receptacle were somehow involved in the explosion, but its wasn't clear how or why. Winnifred, as the conducting Orien official on the lightening rail, claimed she hadn't even known the receptacles were even on board her lightening rail and said that Adolphus must be part of some larger plot. Adolphus eventually confirmed this and said he was supposed to relay the receptacles during the night (either tonight or tomorrow night) to someone in Irontown named Krauss. 

Winnifred didn't recognize the name and she indicated she was pretty familiar with Irontown. 

With Adolphus crippled and as pliant as he would ever be, Prath, Asha, and Winnifred turned their attention to the one remaining undamaged ivory coffin-like receptacle. They spent awhile deciphering a series of strange runes that were etched on the receptacle and appeared to be responsible for keeping the receptacle closed. After awhile, they disarmed the runes and managed to open the receptacle. They found a mousy young human lady of approximately 18 years of age, dressed in dark funerary clothes, yet she was definitely quite alive. It appeared that she was also just awaking from a long slumber. 

This turned out to be the shocked and disoriented wizard's apprentice named Elseth Arnelian. After a long and traumatic conversation with Asha, Prath, and Winnifred, Elseth revealed that her last memory was of a quiet autumn evening in 993 YK (five years ago) and a drift off into 'normal' sleep. She has no idea why she was in a box in a cargo-car of a lightening rail in some sort of stasis. In fact, she was even more saddened to hear that her homeland and likely most of the people she knew from her past had perished during Cyre's destruction on the Day of Mourning. She grew somewhat hostile for awhile and got into an especially heated and nasty exchange with Winnifred d'Orien. She eventually calmed down but was also deeply saddened to learn that the other four people that were in the damaged coffin-like receptacles were in fact peers of hers from the Incantrix Academy in ruined Cyre. Apparently someone had kidnapped her and four other young and relatively untested apprentices, obviously back when Cyre was still a thriving beacon for civilized, knowlegeable people. The motivations for such a crime were unfathomable to Elseth, but in the back of her mind noted that herself and the other four apprentices had all been Incantrix's top five students in the graduating class of 993 YK.  

The day wore on and Prath, Elseth, and Asha quickly realized that they were exposed on the open Karrnathi plain. It was too close too the Talenta Plains predators. 

So they decided quickly to as a trio travel to Irontown and seek help for the wounded and injured people from the lightengin rail accident. They left with no fanfare. Winnifred bade them good luck in a business-womanly manner and it was clear that she had offered a great sum of her own money if Prath, Asha, and Elseth would keep their dealings with her and her team to an abosulte minimum. But no one asked ....... 'but lady Winnifred, who is on your team?'

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Either way, the heroic trio of Prath, Asha, and Elseth traveled overland over night to Irontown, Karrnath. During the night the trio was waylaid by a hungry and towered 'carver' drake. Its leering and snap snap raptor-like bite was very dangerous. Prath and Asha exchanged blows with it, while Elseth lobbed magic from the rear. The carver was quickly overwhelmed and fled into the night.

By morning they arrived, and they were able to convince Tenor of House Orien to come and assess the terrible damage caused by the lightening rail accident. 

The companions were now discussing their next move. Elseth wants to find more about how she was put in stasis and also wants to find out what caused the Day of Mourning. Prath didn't have much to add. He seemd interested in seeing the probably conspirators put down. Asha's background gives him direct interest in this situation, but so far he not reveal the interests. 

IN addition to the minor loot that they gained, the party got 5 medallions that somehow affected the apprentices. They were given 20 each by House Orien for their struggle and Elseth was given a line of credit from House Orienfor 500gp if she promises to keep the situation underwrapps and not let the public know about what happened with the lightening rail crash.

C.I.D.


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