Dark, but by and large these natives of other planes are
exclusively concerned with where they live. As such,
player characters are more likely to encounter celestials
and fiends that are native to Eberron, spawned by Khy
ber or Siberys, rather than extraplanar entities.COUATLS
Couatls are a celestial race born from Siberys at the
dawn of time. Along with the dragons, they battled the
fiendish overlords of Khorvaire and Sarlona. Ultimately,
the couatls sacrificed most of their number and com
bined their souls to form a prison to hold the overlords.
Scholars have theorized that their combined souls even
tually became the force that is worshiped by the Church
of the Silver Flame. The church is ambivalent on the
topic, preaching that regardless of how the Flame was
first kindled, there is a place within the Flame for all
noble souls.
The few couatls that remain on Eberron are devoted
servants of the light. They are most often found guard
ing the prison of the ancient fiendish overlords, and in
dividuals sometimes act directly to aid adventurers who
fight the forces of darkness.FIENDS
The mightiest of the fiends born from Khyber are crea
tures of immense power known as the overlords. Doz
ens of overlords were imprisoned by the Silver Flame
at the dawn of time; two of them, Rak Tu lkhesh and
Sul Khatesh, are detailed in chapter 6. Another-Bel
Shalor, the Shadow in the Flame-is bound within the
Silver Flame itself in the great cathedral in Flamekeep
in Thrane. You can adapt other evil gods or archfiends
for an Eberron campaign (assuming you don't want
Eberron to be connected to the wider multiverse) by
recasting them as overlords. For example, Tiamat could
be an overlord embodying the pride and potential for
evil within dragons, Lolth could be an overlord who
preys on the elves, and Asmodeus the insidious maker
of profane bargains.
Any fiend-whether devil, demon, yugoloth, or some
thing else-could be spawned by Khyber if it suits your
story. Such fiends might be bound to an overlord, or they
might be independent incarnations of evil unleashed on
the world. Two other races of fiends, though, play im
portant roles in its history.
Night Hags. Night hags have been around since the
Age of Demons, when they often served as ambassadors
and carried messages between the fiends and the drag
ons. Today, they remain impartial mediators, and ad
venturers who are about to deal with outsiders or other
planes of existence might want to seek the advice of a
night hag-although one can be quite difficult to find.
Rakshasas. As the primary agents of the fiendish
overlords, rakshasas once dominated Khorvaire and
Sarlona. When the overlords were defeated in the first
age of the world by the combined might of the dragons
and the couatls, the rakshasas largely disappeared into
Khyber as well. The Lords of Dust are made up largely
of rakshasas, scheming in the shadows-many trying to
free their imprisoned overlords, others looking for a way
to claim their masters' power for their own.
TRAVEL
Thanks to the industrious innovation of multiple dragon
marked houses and workshops full of magewrights, the
people of Khorvaire can cross the continent in a week
or less using magical means. The lightning rail and
vessels powered by bound elementals and operated by
the dragonmarked houses, can carry passengers as far
in an hour as a horse can walk in a day. This section dis
cusses issues related to travel in an Eberron campaign
and presents the Gold Dragon Inns, a chain of hotels
that offer consistent accommodation for travelers any
where in Khorvaire.
As described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's
Guide, it's up to you whether you gloss over travel in
your campaign or narrate it in more detail. If the point
is to get the characters to their destination so they can
get the adventure underway, it's fine to assume that their
journey (whether it's by lightning rail, airship, or more
mundane means) passes without incident. After all,
the people of Khorvaire make such trips every day, and
most of them reach their destinations safely.
The alternative is to make the journey an important
part of the adventure. Travel can play a crucial role in a
story, and when it does, you should give it as much time
at the game table as it needs.ELEMENTAL VESSEL S
Long ago, gnome artificers and specialists from House
Cannith discovered and developed a means of magical
travel. The heart of the process is a set of techniques
for binding elementals that uses Khyber dragonshards.
This closely guarded procedure requires delicate engi
neering, arcane skill, and rare materials from around
the world, and different workshops employ varying
esoteric techniques. Building a new vehicle can occupy
a workshop for months while magical energy is pains
takingly inlaid into the vessel's hull. Such work is a
complicated task requiring the labor of many; it is not
something that can be undertaken by a lone wizard for
any amount of compensation.
The construction of elemental vessels requires the use
of two kinds of dragonshards. A Khyber dragonshard
of the largest size and finest quality is required to bind
the elemental to the vessel, and a Siberys dragonshard
is needed to craft the vehicle's helm. Production of new
vessels grinds to a halt without a steady supply of both
kinds of dragonshards, and a workshop with an order
to fill will pay a handsome fee to adventurers who can
find them.ELEMENTAL MATRIX
Every elemental vessel is imbued with an invisible,
arcane matrix. This magical essence extends from the
containment chamber at the core of the vehicle to the
binding struts, then through the rest of the vehicle's
hull. When a Khyber dragonshard holding a bound
elemental is placed in the containment chamber, the ma
trix comes alive. The unsuppressed elemental emerges
from the shard and flows along the matrix in the way
that blood moves through the arteries and veins of a
living creature.CHAPTER 4-/ BUILDING EBERRON ADVENTURES
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