DRAGONBORN
WHEN THE JUNGLE'S HIDDEN DARKNESS STIRS, THE
children of the dragon will scatter into shadow, keeping
their eternal watch.
-The Draconic Prophecy, as recorded in the
Mar'saval ScrollsTens of thousands of years ago, the dragons of Argon
nessen established a garrison of dragonborn in what is
now Q'barra. These warriors were assigned to protect
the region against the influence of the Lords of Dust.
Over time they drifted away from their duties, building a
nation in eastern Khorvaire and clashing with the gobli
noids of the Dhakaani Empire.
This dragonborn nation came crashing down when
one of the ancient fiendish Overlords stirred, unleashing
fiends and corrupting many of the dragonborn them
selves. Their nation in ruins, the dragonborn retreated
to the darkness of Q'barra. They have remained there
ever since, guarding against corruption and fighting the
evil forces of the Poison Dusk-which is sometimes de
scribed as a cult devoted to a dragon, and sometimes as
an army gathering in the name of a fiendish Overlord.
To date the dragonborn have largely ignored the hu
mans of Q'barra, and the few humans who've encoun
tered dragonborn believe they're some exotic type of
lizardfolk. If you're a dragonborn, what has caused you
to emerge from Q'barra? Are you on a quest to help your
people or to oppose the Lords of Dust? Are you driven
by wanderlust or curiosity? Did you serve as a merce
nary in the Last War? How might your travels tie to the
fate of your people?DWARVES
GOLD IS THE GIFT OF THE MOUNTAJNS, BUT IRON COMESfrom blood and bone.
-Mror ProverbThe origin of the dwarves is shrouded in mystery. Some
of their legends tell of a great migration that led the
ancient dwarves to Khorvaire from "a land of endless
ice." Many believe this refers to the arctic lands of the
Frostfell, while others claim that the first dwarves must
have come from the frozen plane of Risi a. Wherever
their roots, these migrant dwarves established a mighty
nation beneath the surface of Khorvaire.
Most dwarven legends, unconcerned with the ques
tion of origin, dwell on the mighty artifacts and priceless
treasures crafted by ancient deep-dwelling dwarves,
and of the bloody wars they waged against the goblin
Empire of Dhakaan. Dwarves today cherish the memory
of this ancient nation, for all dwarves in Khorvaire are
descended from exiles driven from the realm below
which was later destroyed by the daelkyr. Particularly
in the Mror Holds, many dwarves cherish the idea of re
turning to the subterranean reaches and reestablishing
their ancient nation, restoring them to a greatness they
have all but forgotten.DWARVES OF THE MROR HOLDS
The dwarves of the Mror Holds are defined in part
by their relationship to the ancient Realm Below. In a
desperate effort to rediscover and reclaim the holdings
of their old nation, the dwarves have recovered many
weapons of war created in the final days of the empire.
Some of these weapons were forged by the dwarves to
wield against the daelkyr, but others were made by the
daelkyr for the use of their minions-strange symbiotic
items (some of which appear in chapter 5) that use the
life force of their hosts to power their magical abilities.
Some clans have banned the use of these symbiotic
weapons and any exploration of daelkyr magic, notably
the prominent Clan Mroranon. Others, particularly Clan
Soldorak, have embraced this magic to use against the
daelkyr. Defining a relationship to these discoveries
can be an important element of your character's back
ground; you might be a Mroranon paladin or ranger
dedicated to expunging any trace of daelkyr magic from
the Realm Below, or a Soldorak warlock drawing on the
magic of Xoriat in pursuit of your own power, as well as
glory for your clan.
Another important question to consider in playing a
Mrorian character is why you have left the Holds. The
Leaving the Mror Holds table offers some suggestions
that might spark further ideas.DWARF IVITH A
TENTACLE WHIPCHAPTER 1 I CHARACTER CREATION 1
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