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GATEKEEPER CAMPAIGN THEMES
The Gatekeepers are the remnants of an ancient order.
Once they saved the world. Now they are all but forgot
ten, and the world needs saving again. The surviving
Gatekeepers might not have the strength to win the fight
alone, and that's where adventurers come in. Gatekeep
ers can serve as patrons or advisors, providing crucial
information or setting the adventurers on the proper
path. They can also come to the rescue of adventurers
who are close to being overwhelmed by mind flayers or
dolgaunts.
At certain points in a campaign, the Gatekeepers
might seem to be villains. The druids' mission to protect
their seals and to oppose the rise of aberrations is of
the utmost importance. Anyone who threatens a seal
or assists the machinations of the daelkyr, no matter
how unwittingly, risks making relentless enemies in the
Gatekeepers. A simple shift in circumstances, such as
the death of a noble that causes ownership of a trackless
parcel of land to change hands, could bring the charac
ters into sudden conflict with the Gatekeepers.
GATEKEEPER ADVENTURE HOOKS
Gatekeepers can be at the center of any number of po
tential stories. The Gatekeeper Adventure Hooks table
offers some options.
GATEKEEPER ADVENTURE HOOKS
d8 Adventure Hook
While pursuing rumors of lycanthrope activity, the
characters discover a good-aligned werebear that is
working with the Gatekeepers to stop an incursion
from Khyber.
2 A Gatekeeper seal in the form of a stone tablet falls
into the characters' hands. They must return the seal
to the Gatekeepers before its magic fades.
3 A logging operation is moving close to the area pro
tected by a seal, and the party must convince the
loggers to relocate before their work touches off a
conflict with the Gatekeepers.
4 Working with an agent of the Chamber, the Gatekeep
ers are convinced the actions of the characters will
bring a daelkyr one step closer to freedom.
5 The characters discover evidence suggesting that the
rituals performed by the local Gatekeepers are weak
ening their seal, not empowering it.
6 Pilgrims traveling through a forest draw the attention
of Gatekeepers, who think they are spies sent to sabo
tage the nearby seal.
7 One of the kidnapped victims who was rescued from
a marauding band of aberrations turns out to be a
Gatekeeper initiate.
8 The adventurers are sent to the Mror Holds to investi
gate the activity of Dyrrn the Corruptor and uncover a
daelkyr cult among the dwarves.
CHAPTER 4 I BUILDING EBERRON ADVENTURES
Goblinoids (Heirs of Dhakaan)
War drums are sounding in the depths beneath Dar
guun. Bugbear champions hone their adamantine
greatswords, and hobgoblin dirge singers call the le
gions to battle. The warriors of Dhakaan are preparing
to reclaim their stolen lands, and the nations of Khor
vaire have no idea what's coming.
During the struggle with the daelkyr, some Dhakaani
leaders saw the madness spreading among their people
and knew it would destroy their civilization. They led
their forces into deep subterranean chambers and sev
ered all contact with the outside world. In recent years
these ancient clans-who call themselves the Kech
Dhakaan ("bearers of [the traditions of] Dhakaan")
have finally returned to the surface.
The Dhakaani are utterly devoted to war, matched
only by the Valenar elves in their devotion to the martial
arts. Their weaponsmiths and armorers know tech
niques that even the artificers of House Cannith cannot
duplicate. Throughout the Last War, no nation faced any
other force that had the skill and resources of the resur
gent Dhakaani.
But there is one obstacle to their rise: the Heirs of
Dhakaan have no emperor. The goblinoids are divided
into clans, and each clan, or kech, believes its leader has
the right to control all the others. And so the champions
of Dhakaan continuously compete with each other to
prove their right to rule. The Kech Sharaat (Bladebear
ers) believe that leadership is best achieved through
force of arms. The Kech Volaar (Wordbearers) believe
that knowledge is the greater weapon, and they seek to
recover artifacts and weapons that were lost when the
empire fell. These and several less influential clans are
competing for overall leadership, while the spies and as
sassins of the Khesh'dar (Silent Folk) remain neutral in
the struggle, gathering information on the modern world
and serving every clan.
At the moment, the Heirs of Dhakaan are maintaining
a low profile. They fight most of their battles under
ground, and occasionally dispatch small squads to carry
out missions on the surface. Humans usually don't know
enough about goblins to tell the difference between the
Dhakaani and the people of Darguun. The truth of the
matter is gradually spreading within Darguun, but no
one yet realizes the power of the force that lies beneath
their nation.THE HEIRS AND THE WAR
The Last War caused the Heirs of Dhakaan to finally
stir and emerge from their deep vaults. They recognize
that humanity has been weakened by its self-inflicted
wounds. The rise of Darguun and the proliferation
of that nation's Ghaal'dar mercenaries enables the
Dhakaani to move around Khorvaire without drawing
undue attention. And the Mourning, ultimately, demon
strated that the races of the Five Nations could not
be trusted with ruling Khorvaire. It was time for the
Dhakaani to return and subjugate the other races to
their firm hand once again.