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The Mror Holds
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Artist: Julio Azevedo
Artist: Julio Azevedo
Tol kollan! Some say our ancestors came from a place of ice, but we all know that's nonsense. Our ancestors were the mountains themselves. The dragons were jealous of their mighty stature, so they cast a spell that put them all to sleep, and that's where the mountains come from. We dwarves? We're the sweat from their brow. Don't believe me? Go take a look at the Face of Mror! No one could carve something like that, my friend; that's the mountain's original face. As for the others, well, they just went to sleep face down. That's the tale I had from my father, and you wouldn't want to call him a liar!

Despite their long lives, the Mror dwarves are surprisingly unconcerned with recording the past. They care deeply about family. They cling to property, whether it's land or more portable possessions. They're fierce in protecting the things that they care about. But as the bard Kessler said, "The Mror care deeply about their stories, but facts just get in the way." Mror talespinners have an endless supply of stories about the mighty deeds of clan heroes, but when it comes to specific dates or verifiable facts, things often get muddy. Records of debts, marriages, adoptions—these things are written down by Sivis scribes. But general history is largely trusted to the passed-down tales of the spinners, and they make history interesting. A particular story could be placed in three different centuries by three different clans, and the villain of one tale could be the hero in the neighboring holdfast.

Mror History
Dwarves aren't native to Khorvaire, but no one knows exactly how or when they arrived. Most spinners concur that the dwarves came from a land of ice and frost, though as seen in the epigraph opening this section, not all stories agree. While that's enough for the Mror, other scholars continue to debate where they might have originated and how they traveled to Khorvaire. The most popular theory is that the first dwarves came from the Frostfell, traveling by way of a demiplane passage through Khyber. Proponents of this idea believe that there may be an undiscovered dwarven civilization—or ruins of it—waiting to be found in the Frostfell. A second popular theory is that the dwarves originated in the Tashana Tundra of Sarlona, sailing to Khorvaire and landing in the Lhazaar Principalities millennia before human settlers. However, the modern Akiak dwarves have little cultural overlap with the Mror, and there's no evidence that they ever built ships. The most exotic story is that the dwarves of Sarlona and Khorvaire both came from Risia, and that there may still be a grand hidden civilization deep in the Risian ice. While origin stories vary from clan to clan, the talespinners all agree on the broad eras of Mror history that followed.

Sol Udar: The Realm Below
Wherever the dwarves came from, they sunk their roots into the soil of Khorvaire. Dhakaani dirge singers sing of battles between dwarf and dar that took place in vast halls below the earth. Dhakaani records—which are more accurate than those of the dwarves—show that the Dhakaani encountered dwarves late in the golden age of the Dhakaani Empire and drove them east, eventually reaching a stalemate. The ancient dwarves lacked the numbers or resources to threaten Dhakaan, but they established a line below the Ironroot Mountains and held it against countless onslaughts. The dar had no need of the territory, and in time, decided the effort of conquest wasn't worth the rewards. This was the origin of what the dwarves call Sol Udar, the Realm Below.

Mallanok: The Exile
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The next major era in Mror history was Mallanok, the Exile. At some point—whether years or centuries later is unclear—a group of dwarven warriors were exiled from the Realm Below, and found a new home in the mountains above, along with their families and followers. The reason for the Exile depends on who you ask. Mroranon talespinners say King Mror of Sol Udar couldn't decide which of his thirteen heirs should inherit his throne, so he pushed these heroes out onto the mountain to prove themselves worthy of his kingdom. The Soldorak say that King Mror was a weak tyrant, and he exiled the thirteen heroes because he feared an uprising. Professor Melian Mit Davandi of Korranberg has advanced the theory that the ancient dwarves may have exiled criminals to the surface world instead of maintaining prisons, and the founders of the Mror Holds were a broad assortment of criminals and undesirables. The truth is buried beneath the weight of thousands of years and may never be known.

Dul Krok: Bloody Stones
The Exile was followed by Dul Krok, Bloody Stones. When humanity came to Khorvaire, the Ironroot Mountains were divided between thirteen powerful clans of dwarves. These mountain dwarves were proud and warlike, but they were mired in feuds—and these ancient conflicts kept them from substantially advancing their culture or their influence in the world. Even as humans spread across the land, the dwarves continued to devote their energy and resources to their own ongoing vendettas. While they were unquestionably fierce warriors and made fine weapons, their deep division prevented any progress. The Ironroot dwarves weren't the only dwarves on Khorvaire; some had spread east into what's now the Lhazaar Principalities. It was largely these Lhazaar dwarves who integrated with humanity, spreading west with them, though there were also a few Mror who left their feuds behind to help build the foundations of the new kingdoms.

Bal Dulor: The Great Sorrow
As the Five Nations took form, humanity largely shunned the Ironroot Mountains and left the dwarves to their feuding. Following the rise of the united kingdom of Galifar, Prince Karrn finally made a concerted effort to pacify the mountain dwarves. This time is known as Bal Dulor, the Great Sorrow. The soldiers of Galifar were disciplined and took advantage of the existing feuds, isolating the clans or pitting them against one another. The central fortresses of the holds were impregnable, but Galifar held the surrounding lands; the compromise that followed left the dwarves as lords of their territories, but as subjects of Galifar, forced to pay tribute and taxes.

Ironroot or Hoarfrost?
The Mror Holds occupy the mountainous region that separates Karrnath from the Lhazaar Principalities. The Mror dwarves occupy this entire region, and they call it tra Mroreln, the Iron Roots. When humans first came to Khorvaire and settled the Lhazaar Principalities, they called the foreboding range to the west the Hoarfrost Mountains.

Today, the Mror and most others refer to the entire region as the Ironroot Mountains. However, the people of the Lhazaar Principalities still call them the Hoarfrost, and some people use this term to refer to the mountains east of Mirror Lake.

Korran Hal: Korran's Blessing
While the Great Sorrow was a source of deep shame to the dwarves, it brought a forced end to their violent feuds and forced them to raise the funds to pay their tribute. Warriors became miners, and the Ironroot Mountains proved to be an astonishingly rich source of mineral wealth. Mror talespinners say that the Sovereign Onatar had his forge in the mountains, and that Kol Korran kept his hoard beneath it; other scholars have speculated that there could be a more unsavory supernatural force at work, an overlord tied to greed bound beneath the peaks. Whatever the truth, this led to the period known as Korran Hal, Korran's Blessing. Even with the taxes owed to Galifar, the Mror prospered and built a thriving society. While the ancient feuds were never forgotten, violence was no longer their first answer. The bearers of the Dragonmark of Warding, Clan Kundarak, were drawn into the Twelve and became House Kundarak. Working closely with House Sivis, Kundarak parleyed its wealth and the power of its dragonmark to establish the Banking Guild, and the influence of Kundarak helped to drive a further wave of cultural advancement.

Tra Halor: the Revelation
As the dwarves expanded their mines and fortress holds, they'd occasionally find tunnels and outposts that seemed to be tied to Sol Udar—outposts that appeared to have been abandoned many thousands of years ago. The dwarves continued to dig deeper toward the Realm Below, and this led to a wave of breakthroughs in the early tenth century, an event broadly known as tra Halor, the Revelation. Miners and masons found evidence of a vast, wondrous subterranean empire, with enormous city-halls below all of the modern holds. Early explorers found finely crafted treasures, along with evidence of even deeper mines and fortresses. It was clear that these cities had been built by dwarves, and it speaks to Mror character that rather than pondering the fate of the builders of this abandoned realm, the dwarves simply embraced this as a miraculous stroke of fortune and proof of their collective destiny.

Mror Solu: The Realms of Iron
By this time, the Last War was underway. For the last decade, Karrnath had been steadily raising taxes and demanding troop levies. But the dwarves were conquered long ago by Galifar, whereas Karrnath was just a piece of that broken kingdom. Inspired by Sol Udar and recognizing how far their people had come since the Great Sorrow, the lords of the holds convened in Mror Aulan, the Iron Council. The lords of the Iron Council affirmed their union and declared the sovereignty of Mror Solu—the Realms of Iron—a name which even the Mror themselves usually translate into Common as the Mror Holds. It's worth noting that in calling themselves the Mror, dwarves aren't professing fealty to Clan Mroranon or the ancient king of Sol Udar; rather, they're simply calling themselves "the Ironfolk."

Dol Udar: The War Below
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The time that followed was initially known as Aul Aur, the Age of Gold. While Karrnath engaged in retaliatory actions during the Last War, it was struggling with famine and against its neighbors, and lacked the power to stop the rebellion. The dwarves expanded and explored Sol Udar, reclaiming wondrous relics and facilities. But soon they learned what had become of the ancient dwarves of the Realm Below, and why the kingdom had never reached up to the exiles. The ancient dwarves had been wiped out thousands of years ago by the daelkyr, for Sol Udar abutted on the demiplane prison of Dyrrn the Corruptor, one of the mightiest of the daelkyr. The first explorers found curious tools formed from flesh and bone—and then they discovered the creatures that made them. Dolgrim hordes rose from the depths. Entire colonies were lost and consumed by illithid corruption. While the Five Nations fought the Last War, the Mror fell into Dol Udar, the War Below, discussed in more detail later in "The Realm Below" section.

Today, the Mror Holds are in a stalemate against the aberrations below, and remain balanced between the Age of Gold and the War Below. Even with their current holdings, the dwarves continue to draw vast wealth from their mines. Clans take pride in the treasures reclaimed from the depths, and Mror artificers continue to learn from studying ancient artifacts. Though the dwarves are few in number, their economic power and strong fortifications have deterred any Karrnathi retribution, and no one challenged their recognition under the Treaty of Thronehold. The dwarves are proud and prosperous—and yet, old feuds linger. The Realm Below remains both a glorious lure and a deadly threat. And tensions are further exacerbated by the other treasures recovered from the depths—tools made not by dwarves, but by the daelkyr.

What Defines the Mror?
Dwarves aren't human. In creating a Mror character, it can help to reflect on the ways dwarves differ from humans. Clan plays a significant role in Mror culture; especially in the wake of rediscovering the Realm Below, a Mroranon dwarf is quite different from a Soldorak dwarf. But there are a few common things that can be borne in mind for any Mror character.

Biology
While the dwarves of the Realm Below may have spent their entire lives below the surface, the Mror dwarves were born on the surface of the Ironroot Mountains. Mror dwarves appreciate sunlight and color, and their buildings typically have windows, but dwarves don't need light. Absolute darkness impairs their darkvision, but this is merely inconvenient, not unbearable, and many mine tunnels and stretches of the Realm Below have no light sources.

Resulting from this, the circadian rhythms of dwarves are more flexible than those of humans. While it's important to maintain a regular schedule, day and night have little meaning for the Mror. Mror communities are active at all hours, and major Mror businesses are continuously open. "Nightlife" isn't a concept in Mror society, and entertainment can likewise be found at all hours, so traveling Mror are often frustrated by the limited opportunities in human communities.

The War Below
Characters from the Five Nations are shaped by the Last War, and similarly, Mror are shaped by Dol Udar, the War Below. Currently, this conflict is simmering, but there has been no victory and the threat remains. When the war was at its height, all Mror lived in daily fear of aberrant attacks and society's resources were devoted to the war effort. The Mror Holds are smaller than the Five Nations, and the impact of the conflict was intense. All civilians engaged in combat drills in preparation for dolgrim assault, and everyone was expected to contribute to the war effort—repairing or producing arms and armor, maintaining fortifications, or fighting. For the Mror, this is the source of the Weapon Training and Tool Proficiency racial features. For example, if you are proficient in brewer's tools, you may have been involved in creating supplies for the soldiers.

In creating a Mror character or NPC, consider how the war affected you and how this is reflected by your class and proficiencies. A few questions to consider...

Did you fight on the front lines, battling aberrations in the depths? If so, what's the most terrifying thing you saw in the conflict? Are you scarred by your experiences, or does nothing scare you anymore?
If you didn't fight in the Realm Below, did you serve on any civilian support brigades? Did you spend your childhood sharpening axes and repairing armor? Were you kept out of the conflict by family connections, or did you refuse to serve?
Who or what did you lose to the conflict? Did you have a stake in a colony or mine that had to be abandoned? Do you have a sibling or lover lost in the depths—and if so, are you sure that they're dead, or could they be prisoners of Dyrrn?
Do you dream of delving deeper into the depths, or would you rather see the Realm Below sealed away forever?
Family First
The Mror Holds are a feudal society, comprised of holds, spires, and families. There are twelve active holds, each governed by a ruling clan, which gives its name to the hold—so Droranathhold is ruled by Clan Droranath. Each hold is then broken up into smaller territories known as spires, each ruled by a clan; there are ancient ties of kinship and marriage between clans and the ruling clan. Within a spire, families maintain tenant relationships with the local clan. Land is held by a clan or family, and most businesses are family businesses. Families are long established, and the creation of a new family is an extremely rare event.

The Mror engage with their history through stories, and clans and families are the characters in those stories. Typically, a Mror tale refers to heroes and villains solely by their family names. So in Mroranon and the Troll King, it doesn't matter exactly when the story took place or which specific Mroranon it was; it's a story about Mroranon. In one tale, he is a heroic youth, and in another, she is a battle-scarred veteran, and yet they're depicted as the same Mroranon. And in both cases, all Mroranon dwarves should strive to live up to that example. Where the Tairnadal elves seek to emulate specific ancestors, Mror dwarves view their family as a greater whole. Your family is a direct extension of your identity; it's only natural that you'd help a family member in need, and betraying a family member is like stabbing yourself in the hand. This drives feuds and alliances; if you're wronged by a Hronnath dwarf, the blame lies with Clan Hronnath, not simply the individual. To draw another comparison to the elves, the Aereni preserve their ancestors as deathless undead. In contrast, the Mror don't feel that need to preserve individuals; you preserve your family by living up to its character and by adding to its story. The Mror also aren't as particular about precisely following the traditions of ancestors, as shown by the clans that are embracing symbionts; what you do is less important than how you do it, the values you stand for, and the lines you refuse to cross.

This doesn't mean that Mror don't take personal responsibility for their actions or feel pride in their personal deeds. The deeds of living dwarves are generally acknowledged by name, but when they take their place in history, their names are unlikely to be remembered. Instead, every dwarf hopes that their grand deeds will be added to the trove of stories told of their family—and that they won't shame their family with the memories of their misdeeds.

In creating a Mror character or NPC, consider your family. Are you part of a clan or ruling clan? If so, are you close enough to power to take the noble background, or are you a lesser heir? Are you from a tenant family, and if so, what is your family's business? Even more crucial, what is your family's character? When people tell stories about your family, what are the virtues they highlight? Are there any particular things your family is known for, any celebrated deeds you might emulate, or anything a member of your family should never do? Some families have specific taboos; a Tronnan must never break their word, while a Holladon never turns away a guest. Does your family have any such traditions?

Also consider how your family was affected by the Dol Udar. Did they invest deeply in the depths, only to suffer grievous losses when the horrors rose? Did they fight on the front lines, or largely remain above? Do they have a family treasure recovered from the Realm Below—a legendary item or artifact you might someday have the honor to wield? Are they willing to embrace symbionts, or are they disgusted by the tools of the daelkyr?

Finally, what is your standing with your family? If it's good, consider why you left the Mror Holds; chapter 1 of Eberron: Rising from the Last War includes a table with suggestions for this. If your standing is bad, what happened? Is it a situation you hope to fix, or have you turned your back on your family? As a player, talk to your DM about the role your family might play in a campaign; do you want to have cousins showing up in need of assistance or to be drawn into new feuds, or would you rather your family remain in your backstory?

Long Life and Treasured Stories
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The Mror attitude toward family is one example of how they deal with their long lives. A dwarf can live to be up to 350 years old; intellectually, they mature at about the same rate as humans, but they generally aren't considered to be full adults until around 50 years of age. This ties to the fact that dwarves have a low fertility rate and their reproductive peak is between 50 and 120. While under 50, a Mror dwarf is usually learning the family trade and working directly for their parents, uncles, or aunts; at 50 and above, a dwarf starts thinking about starting their own branch of the family tree and the family trade.

In stark contrast to the elves of Aerenal, the Mror dwarves deal with their long lives by largely ignoring the passage of time: they intentionally don't record every detail or remember every person, instead simply holding on to the best moments and ideas. To them, the story matters more than the concrete facts. Individuals come and go, but the family remains, and the story continues. And the Mror deeply love stories. Like the dar, they prefer stories to be based on fact as opposed to being absolute fiction—but to the Mror, a story should always be entertaining, and as long as the spirit is true, it's fine to exaggerate the details. So while the talespinner bard serves as a keeper of history, their role as entertainers is as important—if not more so—than their role as sage.

Mror dwarves can be seen as boastful by outsiders, quick to share tales of their exploits. However, they don't seek to dominate every conversation with their tales, but expect others to share their stories as well—and if others don't, Mror are quick to boast about the deeds of their companions. Anyone who spends much time around Mror quickly grows used to the phrase Tol kollan—or the Common translation, "That reminds me of a story." Mror hate quick meetings; any gathering should have time for tales. In playing a Mror character, you might come up with a few stories you love, as well as taking joy in dramatically retelling the story of your adventures—the deeds of both you and your fellow adventurers—celebrating and highlighting your finest moments.

Mror Families and the Dragonmarked Houses
Most Mror businesses are family businesses passed down over generations. However, families can and do adapt to deal with changing circumstances. In particular, the arrival of the dragonmarked houses forced many families to change their paths or to find a way to work with the houses. The Jolnar family of Toldrathhold had been healers for generations, but they couldn't match the healing capabilities of House Jorasco. Over time, the Jolnar shifted their focus to cultivating medicinal herbs and other supplies needed by Jorasco. They are still devoted to the health of others, but they've found a way to work with Jorasco instead of directly challenging it.

In short, Mror families are more flexible than the Tairnadal or Aereni. They are willing to change their specific traditions or techniques to adapt to changing times; what matters is remaining true to the core values of the family.

Grand Gifts and Storied Treasures
The Mror are known for their love of objects—their love of treasure. In part, this ties to a deep appreciation of quality work. The dwarves appreciate beautiful things, but durability and functionality are far more important—as shown by the willingness of many dwarves to embrace grotesque symbionts. However, the dwarves are not greedy hoarders; while there are certain families known for their thrift, generosity is an important virtue to the Mror. As much as they value their treasures, there's joy in giving the perfect gift—showing that you can afford to give away a treasure, and that you recognize someone who will appreciate it and make good use of it. A common tradition at a grand feast is for each of the greatest heroes present—typically, the scions of ruling clans—to offer a gift to the host along with a tale of how they came by the gift; the one who gives the finest gift is served first at the feast.

While you may not have many feasts, consider this tradition when you have time and opportunity. Is there a chance to give a comrade a perfect gift? Is there a treasure you possess that might be better suited to one of your companions?

The Mror are deeply interested in objects with stories of their own. Every family has their own family treasures. Sometimes these are the most powerful magic items the dwarves have acquired, notably the case with artifacts and legendary items that have been recovered from the Realm Below over the last century; part of the pride of the ruling clans is derived from the treasures they can boast of. But a family treasure can also be a mundane item that has been a part of many epic stories. As noted earlier, no one cares which specific Mroranon heir was the hero of Mroranon and the Troll King. But if the house still has the bracer that hero made from the troll king's nose ring, carrying this relic is a tremendous source of pride. As a Mror adventurer, when you find treasures, you want to know the stories they already carrying—who forged this flame tongue shortsword and what battles has it seen? Also consider the items you possess that you feel a strong attachment to—how are their stories evolving along with yours?

Fashion
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Clothes tell a story, and Mror dwarves love to tell tales with them—of clan and family, faith, and personality. As with most Mror possessions, the quality of clothing comes first. Because of this, dwarves from lesser families may only have a single set of clothing, but these are durable and well made. Though their basic outfits may be few, Mror place great stock in accessories, and a Mror outfit typically has elements that can be reversed, shifted, or removed. Brooches have important cultural significance, and can depict family crests, the seal of the ruling clan, the symbol of a Sovereign whose favor is sought, or even moods; some brooches mean "leave me alone" or "looking for company." Other forms of jewelry—rings, chains, bracelets—are commonly worn by dwarves of both genders; this is an opportunity to show wealth, but decorative ornaments of iron are also worn by common folk. The dultar—blood blade—is a dagger worn both as a utilitarian tool and as a statement of allegiance; each of the ruling clans has a distinct style of dultar. Any Mror dwarf can immediately identify another dwarf's clan from their dultar; for an outsider to recognize one, it requires a successful DC 13 Intelligence (History) check.

Many Mror clans favor a martial aspect to their attire, especially in the wake of Dol Udar. However, not everyone wants to wear heavy steel all day, and the Mror generally use light alloys and thin layers of metal to craft their armor. Many Mror wear decorative armor that uses the statistics of light armor, but evokes the general flavor of a heavier breastplate—though anyone proficient in medium or heavy armor immediately recognizes the decorative nature of it.

Facial hair is common among the Mror, but styles vary by clan and family. Some families prefer neatly trimmed beards. Many clans weave beads into beards, with the design of the bead invoking the favor of a Sovereign or honoring a clan. Hair dye is often used as a form of personal expression.

Clans that have embraced the use of symbionts—notably Soldorak, Toranath, and Narathun—have developed many exotic fashions over the last century. For such dwarves, wearing symbiont clothing or accessories is a sign of courage and power, much as a hunter might wear the hides of animals they've defeated. Living clothing typically has a texture similar to leather, though chitin plating or hornlike protrusions are possible. Patterns or colors may shift to reflect the mood of the wearer, and a living cloak may ripple or billow of its own accord. Living clothing is self-cleaning and mending, and feeds on the excretions (primarily sweat) of the host. Narathun currently has the finest artisan-breeders working with living clothing, and styles are constantly evolving

Cuisine
Mror dwarves have exceptional constitutions and are resistant to poison, and thanks to these traits, they enjoy cuisine that others might avoid. The dwarves live in high mountains and subterranean settlements; while some of their meats and vegetables are familiar to the people of the Five Nations, they also use a wide variety of mushrooms and moss. Red pudding is a form of peaceful ooze raised as livestock and used in a variety of dishes. Mror stew can sicken creatures with more delicate stomachs, but it's entirely harmless to any creature resistant to poison damage, and many stout halflings of the Talenta Plains enjoy Mror cuisine.

Alcohol is also a form of poison, and Mror spirits have to be exceptionally strong for sturdy dwarves to enjoy their mindaltering properties. Mror brewers often use mushrooms to produce alcohol, and also produce mushroom-based beverages with light hallucinogenic effects. The drinks of the Five Nations are extremely weak by Mror standards, and some consider the ability to brew personal supplies to be a basic survival tool when traveling in foreign lands. And when outsiders visit the Mror, their hosts are careful to keep these travelers from buying drinks that could kill them.

Religion
Mror talespinners maintain that the dwarves are the original chosen people of the Sovereigns, especially Kol Korran and Onatar. It's a curious coincidence that kol is the Dwarvish word for "commerce," while dol means "war," and the talespinners say the Traveler stole the names of the Sovereigns from the dwarves during the Exile. The priests of Krona Peak say that Kol Korran came to the hero Mroranon and promised the dwarves wealth if they remembered his name and followed his path, while the talespinners of Doldarunhold swear that the hero Doldarun was the son of Dol Dorn and Dol Arrah. The records of the Library of Korranberg show that Zil missionaries were active in the Ironroots in the centuries before Bal Dulor, and some sages assert that these tales may have been the work of clever missionaries. Whatever the truth, the Mror already had shrines to the Sovereigns when young Karrn led his forces to conquer the holds.

While the Mror broadly acknowledge all of the Sovereigns, Kol Korran and Onatar are the most beloved; Boldrei and Olladra are also often invoked. Clan Doldarun, Mroranon, and Soranath are especially devout, while Droranath, Soldorak, and Toldorath are the most pragmatic. The Blood of Vol and the Dark Six have small followings in Narathun.

The Mror Dwarves and the Zil Gnomes
While humanity largely ignored the Mror until after the foundation of Galifar, Zil explorers came to the mountains well before Bal Dulor. The characters of the Zil and Mror complement each other; the Zil are fascinated with abstract knowledge and love keeping records and accounting, while the Mror prefer story and emotion to dull fact. Resultingly, Zil scribes quickly became a standard feature in clan courts.

As the Mror embraced banking and international business, this partnership grew. The Mror Holds and Zilargo are strong allies, and the alliance between House Kundarak and House Sivis is the strongest of the Twelve.

The Realm Below
Each clan holds dominion over a spire, with the ruling clans laying claim to all remaining land within a hold. Critically, a clan holds domain both over its territory and all that lies below it. Early in the tenth century, miners in multiple holds broke through to the Realm Below. Wide tunnels shaped by elemental magic led to grand halls and subterranean cities crafted with techniques far beyond those of the modern Mror earthmovers. Avenues were lit by continual flame, and environmental enchantments ensured purity of air and comfortable climate. One might think the dwarves would have been more curious about the fate of the builders, but the ancient halls were entirely empty, with no signs of blood or bone. To those who discovered them, these empty halls were not foreboding, but a gift from the Sovereigns—a wondrous realm waiting for residents.

Clan leaders proceeded with caution, but were lured in as greater wonders were discovered. Ancient forges held the promise of forgotten techniques that could yet be reclaimed. Explorers returned with ornaments of gold and silver, found simply lying around the avenues for the taking. And there were mines—mines far safer and grander than those above, yet still containing riches. In time, explorers would realize that some of the richest mines were not entirely natural—that some shafts connect to demiplanes where the rules of reality don't always apply, like mines where emeralds grow like moss. This, too, could have been a warning, but the clan rulers were dazzled by wonder and opportunity. Expeditions moved into these upper levels, establishing colonies in the Realm Below. Miners began working the ancient veins, and smiths brought some of the forgotten foundries back online.

The War Below
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For a time, it seemed like a golden age. No one knows exactly what brought it to an end. It may be the fault of adventurers and explorers who pressed too deep, ever searching for greater treasures. Or it could be that Dyrrn and its minions were watching the Mror expansion all along, waiting for the civilian population in the subterranean colonies to reach a critical level. At first, scouts brought back reports of newly exposed tunnels and chambers, of passages coated with unnatural fluids and strange things growing among mushroom gardens. Then the scouts stopped returning and the first wave of attacks began. Squads of dolgrims. Chokers lurking in the shadows. Soldorakhold faced howling mobs of derro—possibly the twisted survivors of Noldrunhold, the Lost Clan (described later in this chapter). Strange plagues and implacable oozes spread through the sunken colonies of Londurak. It was a time of terror, but also determination: whatever this unknown threat was, it must be held in the depths at any cost.

Armies were rallied, clans sending their finest soldiers into the depths, while every citizen trained with axe and hammer in preparation for dolgrim raids or a more dramatic surface assault. While some clans considered withdrawal, pride and a hunger for the wealth and wonders still hidden kept the dwarves fighting. They believed if they didn't hold them below, the aberrations would merely follow them to the surface. The years that followed were a time of endless terror and uncertainty. As the horrors were driven back in one hold, they would strike with redoubled force in another. New threats appeared with alarming regularity; dolgrims and derro were common foes, but there was no telling when a previously unknown danger would rise.

Two major discoveries shaped the second decade of the war. The first was the revelation of the enemy the Mror faced: the daelkyr known as Dyrrn the Corruptor. In 943 YK, the illithid Dyrrashar seized the colony below Loran's Gate in Soldorakhold, and broadcast a psychic message known as Dyrrn's Promise. This telepathic message didn't take the form of words, and attempts to transcribe it have produced widely varied translations. But the thrust was this: "You have drawn the gaze of the Overmind. You walk the Foul Labyrinth. Everything will change." Clan Soldorak eventually retook Loran's Gate and forced Dyrrashar to retreat, but the illithid general has risen elsewhere and remains at large today. None who experienced Dyrrn's Promise can ever forget it.

Even as Dyrrn's Promise spread fear, a second discovery brought hope. Following grave losses, Clan Londurak withdrew its forces to the surface. The Londurak prepared their defenses for a surface attack... but it never came. This pattern was repeated in other spires and holds; though the reasons are unclear, Dyrrn's forces won't pursue their enemies beyond Sol Udar.

Stalemate in the Depths
Nobody's sure why the aberrations avoid attacking the surface in force. Sages theorize it's tied to the wards that bind Dyrrn within its demiplane, and the aberrations only venture so far from the realm of their master. Or perhaps it's just a tactical choice. Regardless of the reason, the war has been in a stalemate over the last few years. But many sages believe that complacency is foolish, and until they know with absolute certainty what keeps Dyrrn's forces from rising to the surface, they can't know their protection will last. And even if the dolgrim hordes won't leave the tunnels and there's no threat of a large-scale assault, the Slithering Lord could be unfolding more subtle schemes.

Londurakhold and Tordannonhold have both pulled back from the war, fortifying all passages to the Realm Below and forbidding any traffic with the depths; they ignore the Realm Below, believing that if they don't poke the stirge's nest, the aberrations won't threaten them. Most of the other major clans maintain lines in the depths, defending claimed mines and colonies with steel and blood. These territories are secured by heavy fortifications, strong enough to repel attack, though serving on the line is a dangerous job. But the dwarves aren't trying to press beyond their current lines, for if they venture across it, their fate is unknown.

The future of the war remains unclear. Many of the clan lords yearn to press deeper. But there have been all too many casualties over the past few decades, and there is still considerable fear that the current lull is a trick—that Dyrrn is building forces for a renewed assault. And no one knows if there is a way to win the war once and for all, or if it's just a matter of advancing the line another hundred feet. Ultimately, it's up to the DM to decide whether the war remains as a lurking threat, or if it heats up and dominates the story.

Ripples on the Surface
While the aberrations have yet to come to the surface in force, the war is ongoing, and it can be felt on the surface. Individual aberrations occasionally come to the surface; a lone choker might carry out a spree of killings, or an illithid could rise to work with a dwarf cult. Psychic attacks, unnatural diseases, and other threats can emanate from the depths.

In the past three decades, the touch of Dyrrn has become seen even in the children born to the Mror dwarves. Very rarely, an infant born to ordinary parents is different. Known as ruinbound dwarves, these unusual infants are born with a personal symbiont bound to them, along with other unnerving mutations—and unexpected powers. Chapter 6 contains more information about ruinbound dwarves (and their reception amongst the Mror), along with a playable subrace.

The Influence of Dyrrn table gives examples of threats that could arise either in a subterranean colony or on the surface itself. These things aren't common, and clan soldiers are ever wary to repel threats, but these ideas could drive a story set in a Mror community.

It's important to recognize the scope of the conflict in the depths. No one knows the full size of the Realm Below, though it appears to stretch across the Ironroot Mountains, and connects to multiple demiplanes in Khyber. There's a good chance it exists below every major Mror city, but not every spire has broken through and made a connection to Sol Udar. When creating adventures in a Mror city, decide if there is an established passage to the Realm Below; if so, is it a simple passage, or is there a subterranean fortress or colony? In a spire with no known connection, a cult could be secretly digging to try to reach their aberrant masters. Or a clan could have opened a passage beneath its keep but lacked the courage to explore it—a job for adventurers.

Artist: Dean Spencer
Artist: Dean Spencer
Venturing Below
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To an outsider, the idea of pressing into the Realms Below may seem like madness, but several factors drive the ongoing Mror presence in the depths. The first is a hunger for the wonders that lie below. The ancient dwarves possessed the ability to craft legendary objects and artifacts. They understood Khyber's systems of demiplanes in a way even the Dhakaani haven't mastered; many clan lords dream of bottomless mines or resources that can't be found in the natural world. Beyond the innate desire for these things, for the Mror, it's a matter of pride. Sol Udar is the work of their ancestors. The knowledge that it holds, the untold wealth, this is their birthright. It's a burning reminder that they could be more than they are now—they could be greater than the Five Nations or the Aereni. Additionally, many dwarves are driven by their desire to know the story—to understand who their ancestors were and what became of them.

If a player character is a Mror noble, the Realm Below can be a tempting opportunity for advancement. The clans hold all lands below their territory. If a noble with a stalwart band of allies can secure an outpost in Sol Udar and fortify against the forces of Dyrrn, they can claim it as their personal estate. This could be a remarkable keep for a party of adventurers—if they are powerful enough to maintain it! The Realm Below Story Hooks table contains some more ideas for why adventurers might delve into the Realm Below.

The lines between regions secured by the Mror and those held by Dyrrn's forces are clearly marked. As the aberrations generally don't come to the surface, there are places where the uppermost passage has simply been sealed with magic and steel. In other places where the dwarves have established colonies, the edge of the colony is heavily fortified and patrolled by soldiers, ever alert for some new attack. In most cases, soldiers won't prevent someone from proceeding into the depths—but anyone returning goes through careful scrutiny to ensure they haven't been infected by unnatural influences. And if an explorer has returned with treasures, it's considered polite to offer a gift to the guardians.

Into the Silent Halls
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The Realm Below blends the civilization of Sol Udar with the alien touch of the daelkyr. The dwarves of Sol Udar were an advanced civilization employing arcane science beyond that currently possessed by the Five Nations. The halls were shaped by elemental magic—an improved form of the move earth spell—and reinforced to be stronger than any natural stone. Barring any alien influence, the air is renewed by magic and remarkably fresh; a permanent prestidigitation effect keeps these halls clean after thousands of years and untold conflicts. Ultimately, venturing into this environment can be somewhat eerie: though there may have been a brutal battle there just months ago, the halls are silent and pristine.

Widespread magic was a part of daily life in Sol Udar. Explorers might find a chamber where illusory music begins to play as soon as someone enters, or discover a theater still performing ancient entertainment. Many doors are sealed by arcane locks, and high-security areas may have self-restoring glyphs of warding or more sophisticated security. The people of Sol Udar weren't warlike by nature. Their halls contain great forges and foundries, but many of their wonders are utilitarian. An Udar kitchen has tools that replicate the heating, chilling, and flavoring effects of prestidigitation, and might have a builtin alchemy jug to dispense whatever liquids are needed. Of course, not all enchantments are automatically noticeable, and many effects require some form of command word or gesture to activate; modern colonists who have settled in the upper levels of Sol Udar are still struggling to understand the full capabilities of their new home.

The dwarves of Sol Udar also took advantage of the many demiplanes that lie within Khyber, identifying passages to them and building around them, just as the people of the surface build around manifest zones. A typical demiplane portal is clearly marked and heavily secured, of great potential value—and danger—as they can break the laws of the natural world. Demiplanes are entirely unpredictable in size, some no larger than a town, with others the size of Khorvaire itself. Within a demiplane, time might run differently. Gemstones could grow on trees. A demiplane can have its own sun, and provide vegetation and other resources that couldn't be found in any natural cave. But a demiplane could also hold strange curses, unnatural diseases, or deadly creatures—or in the case of Dyrrn's prison-realm, all three.

The Realm Below isn't one single contiguous community. It was an entire nation, one that stretched at least the length of the Ironroot Mountains. There are major cities, small outposts, and long passages connecting them. The Realm Below likely had some form of rapid transit: Teleportation circles? Something similar to the lightning rail? A system tied to demiplanes? Whatever this was, it has yet to be discovered, and may lie on the lower levels held by Dyrrn's minions. In creating a section of the Realm Below for an adventure, the DM should think about the purpose of this particular area. Was it an industrial center? A residential community? A hospital? A prison? If it contains a passage to a demiplane, the nature of the demiplane should relate to the function of the community; if it's a hospital, perhaps the local demiplane has alien vegetation that has remarkable medicinal properties. But what unknown threats could dwell in the demiplane—threats the ancient dwarves knew to avoid?

Denizens of the Deep
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Dyrrn's minions have spread throughout the lower reaches of Sol Udar. Areas inhabited by aberrations are generally easy to spot. Often, organic matter covers the surfaces of the buildings. Explorers have encountered fleshlike coating, with tendrils of muscle spread out like spiderwebs; organic fluids that move along the walls, a harmless form of living ooze; floating, bioluminescent globes that could be neurons in a vast brain; and other, stranger things. There are strange smells and sounds. People often experience telepathic static, hearing thoughts of people around them or having flashes of alien imagery. Areas infested by the daelkyr may use any of the traps found in the Dungeon Master's Guide, but in this realm, hazards are generally alive. A falling net is a web-like membrane secreted by the ceiling. Poison darts are chitinous stingers grown by the walls. These traps can still be evaded by the standard methods, though at the DM's discretion, unusual skills could also apply; perhaps an organic poison needle trap could be disarmed with a Dexterity (Medicine) check instead of using thieves' tools.

Dyrrn's specialty is corruption, both mental and physical. Thus it has created creatures like the dolgrims and dolgaunts—goblinoids physically transformed into monsters, the most prolific denizens of the dark—as well as the derro, who still bear some resemblance to the dwarves they once were, but whose minds have been altered.

Dolgaunts often command units of dolgrims, but dolgaunts can also be found acting alone or maintaining strange shrines. The statistics presented in Eberron: Rising from the Last War represent the typical creature, but unique dols can have greater abilities. Dols are capable of acting with surprising discipline and precision, but their strategies are often unorthodox and enigmatic.

Derro aren't aberrations, but are believed to be dwarves twisted by Dyrrn's power. There may be derro whose roots go back to the ancient dwarves who built Sol Udar; however, the common assumption is that the derro are the descendants of the lost dwarves of Noldrunhold. Other derro could be more recent victims, created from Mror settlers captured in the Dol Udar. The derro are nomadic scavengers who remain in constant motion, roaming the deep tunnels of the Realm Below. They completely ignore Dyrrn's aberrations, and seem to be ignored in turn; one scout reported seeing a derro band walk through a dolgrim camp, without acknowledgment from either side. Some scholars believe that the derro can't perceive the aberrations, and that some believe themselves to be in a reality in which Sol Udar is still in its time of glory, and the derro are its lords. They don't appear to serve Dyrrn directly, but they definitely see all outsiders from above as enemies. A derro warlord calling himself Lord Mror has repeatedly attacked Mror colonies; however, it's unclear if this is a single powerful derro with followers across the realm, or if several derro savants use this title.

The daelkyr often hold the most important areas of an Udar site; as such, these dungeons contain both treasures created by the dwarves and the organic tools of the daelkyr. However, the purpose of areas claimed by Dyrrn's forces varies widely. In some cases, there's a clear logic to what these creatures are doing: dolgrims could have seized an ancient foundry and begun forging weapons. Explorers could find some sort of spawning pit where new aberrations are being produced. But the behavior of aberrations is often alien and inexplicable; a chamber could contain a giant, beating heart that serves no apparent purpose, or a pool of liquid that reflects another location. The inhabitants of the depths are unpredictable, and aberrations may not have the same biological needs as natural humanoids; for example, dolgrims don't need to work subterranean farms for food.

Some aberrations are permanently settled in a region, but others may spill out of portals to Dyrrn's domain, and others may be grown on the spot by the organic matter spread throughout infested regions, or created from the corpses of foolish explorers. A gibbering mouther may whisper with the voices of the dwarves who ventured into the depths last week.

While mind flayers can be found serving any daelkyr, Dyrrn the Corruptor is their creator. Sol Udar is thus a logical place to encounter mind flayers or any creatures associated with them: intellect devourers, ulitharids, neothelids, and the like. Bear in mind that these creatures may serve a very different role in Eberron than in other settings, as they are the creations of Dyrrn; a neothelid may be an intentional creation, as opposed to an accidental abomination. Elder brains are tools used as telepathic anchors, linking local mind flayers, while the elder brains are linked to Dyrrn itself. In general, mind flayers serve as Dyrrn's emissaries and lieutenants—directing lesser aberrations or humanoid cults, or engaged in inscrutable research. The most infamous mind flayer is Dyrrashar, the ulitharid who delivered Dyrrn's Promise. It has appeared multiple times since then, often leading subtle attacks against Udar colonies.

Most other threats are encountered in isolation, and almost any sort of aberration could be found in the darkness; you can also use unusual variations of aberrations or monstrosities, shifting the creature to fit your story. For example, beholders primarily serve Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes, but Dyrrn could have beholder servitors with beaks surrounded with tentacles, as opposed to toothy maws.

The Spoils of War
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A tool's a tool. I don't care if my axe is made of steel or bone; I care about its edge. Our people found gold and iron beneath the mountains. We seized that opportunity and we prospered. Now we've dug deeper, and found something new. You may see monsters and be broken by your terror—I see only opportunity, and I intend to take it.

—Lord Halarak of Soldorakhold

The first Mror dwarves to explore Sol Udar were amazed at the treasures they found. While there was no sign of the original inhabitants, their possessions remained. Early explorers found remarkable jewelry, intriguing artwork, and caskets of coins—but magic items were often the most valuable. Many of these are like those found in the Five Nations, with a focus on practicality—items such as the alchemy jug, bag of holding, or decanter of endless water. While similar items are produced in the Five Nations, the arcane techniques used are intriguing, and some items displayed superior qualities; one team of scouts found an alchemy keg that's bulkier than the standard jug, but can produce twice the amount of liquid each day—and the alcohol it produces is far more potent than that of a standard alchemy jug. The Sol Udar Trinkets table presents some interesting items, both magical and mundane, that might be found adventuring in the Realm Below.

Beyond the minor curiosities scattered throughout Sol Udar, there were far greater treasures—legendary magic items and artifacts, things that can't be created in the present day. Only a few of these wonders have been found, and these have become a source of immense pride for the clans that possess them. It's common for a clan to declare such items to be the work of their ancestors, though this is typically a talespinner's fancy. Little concrete scholarship has been done on most of these treasures, and despite the commonly accepted myth of the dwarven exile, there's no reason to think that the ancestors of the modern Mror were all distributed evenly around the mountains, their descendants just happening to have remained exactly above their ancestral homes. Nonetheless, these relics are seen as proof of the power and potential of a clan, and most clan leaders don't look kindly on outsiders questioning their stories. Surely even more powerful and precious artifacts remain to be found in the deeper layers of the Realm Below, but the Dol Udar has kept the Mror from claiming these wonders.

While battling aberrations and making expeditions into infested layers, the dwarves recovered another unusual treasure—symbionts, living tools crafted by the daelkyr. Chapter 7 presents eight new symbionts that might be found in the Realm Below. Many clans want nothing to do with these foul things; Doldarun dwarves always burn symbionts with the corpses of the creatures that carry them. But not all dwarves share this distaste. Some clans see symbionts as just another form of treasure from the depths. The Toldorath and Droranath dwarves have no fear of symbionts, and a warrior may carry a hungry axe (as described in chapter 7) without protest from their clan; but these clans haven't embraced symbionts beyond keeping the trophies taken from fallen enemies. Both Soldorak and Narathun have gone further; in addition to using salvaged symbionts, these clans have spent decades studying the science behind these items and creating their own symbionts. In some cases, they are replicating existing items, but Soldorak fleshcrafters have also created unique symbionts, integrating the principles of daelkyr magic with their own arcane traditions. Those clans that favor such tools call fleshcrafted items dolaur—spoils of war. On the other hand, those that despise them often call symbionts and those who use them dularash—foul blood—a term often used to refer to spoiled meat or corrupted bloodlines.

Many existing magic items can be reflavored as symbionts. A Soldorak artificer might create a cloak of elvenkind, but formed of leathery, living flesh that shifts in hue like a chameleon. A Narathun rope of climbing isn't rope at all, but a coiled tentacle that follows the commands of the creature holding it. The Soldorak have created lighting bugs—identical in function to everbright lanterns, but able to cling or detach to a surface on command. These bugs need to be fed a few drops of blood each day, and in communities that use these, the former lamplighters now walk the streets to feed the bugs from their own body.

Outsiders may be horrified by these living tools, but the motives of dwarves that use them are rational to many of their people. To many Mror, these items are trophies, concrete proof of Mror victories over the daelkyr: "If you took a magic axe from a fallen foe, you'd be a fool to throw it away. So what if it moans when it kills? It's a powerful weapon, and it's mine by right of conquest!" Many Mror also see carrying these tools as a sign of their courage, proudly demonstrating they aren't afraid to put on living armor. They may bask in the fear that their treasures instill in their enemies. In addition, both Soldorak and Narathun are ambitious clans, and leaders hope that by unlocking the secrets of fleshcrafting, they can increase the power of their clans.

Those clans that revile symbionts say that fleshcrafting is an abomination and an affront to Aureon and Onatar. The Narathun counter that Onatar is the master artisan and can work with any material; it is the doubters who insult Onatar by thinking his servants can't master this new medium. This argument has found supporters in Clan Soranath; while the Soranath dwarves don't fully embrace symbionts as the Soldorak and Narathun do, they are interested in the science of fleshcrafting and have been studying these techniques.

The clans that embrace these techniques say that there is no danger, that this is just another form of science, while Doldarun dwarves insist that there can be no traffic with the daelkyr without corruption. The DM will have to decide the truth—can Soldorak benefit from their exploration of fleshcrafting, or are their warlocks and artificers being corrupted by Dyrrn? Whatever the truth of it, tensions between those clans who embrace these tools and those who revile them continue to rise.

A character exploring the fleshcrafting techniques could be an artificer, describing their spellcasting as being tied to organic tools. Other arcane scholars who explore the techniques of the daelkyr become warlocks, typically using the Great Old One as their patron. In creating a Mror warlock, consider whether you're bargaining with Dyrrn itself—are you a cultist of the Dragon Below, willing to serve the daelkyr to gain power? Or have you gained your powers from studying the daelkyr and their methods, but instead of serving them, you're essentially stealing their techniques and hacking their systems? If you follow the latter path, you might not have a literal patron at all, or your "patron" could be a cabal of other dwarves studying the same techniques, and their requests help all of you learn more about fleshcrafting. Or if your DM is willing, perhaps you can even tap into the telepathic network of Dyrrn and the elder brains to steal their secrets; rather than receiving requests from your "patron," you gain flashes of insight or information about them—attacks that are going to happen, plans you might stop—that could drive your actions.

The Ruling Clans
The Mror Holds are divided into twelve holds, each bearing the name of the ruling clan that exercises authority within that region. These twelve clans are the foundation of Mror culture, and every citizen owes allegiance to one of these clans. This section provides an overview of the twelve ruling clans, including their most remarkable mineral resources, their established feuds, and the virtues they assign to their mythic founder—and thus, the virtues they strive to embody. It's worth noting that almost all Mror value many of these virtues, but in their stories, one founder is acknowledged as the best at that thing. Clan Doldarun certainly values strength, but in the story, Doldarun's defining feature is his courage and integrity, while Droranath is known for his untamable strength. Likewise, while each clan includes suggestions for possible character classes, any character could come from any clan; in particular, talespinner bards and entertainers are found in every clan.

While all Mror are bound to one of the ruling clans, there are many lesser clans, and below those, tenant families. In creating a Mror character, it's up to you whether your character is tied directly to a ruling clan or if you're part of a lesser family. While many Mror take inspiration from their ruling clan, they don't all share the same virtues; in creating a Mror family of your own, you can decide what their celebrated virtues are.

Among the Mror, the dwarven subraces largely reflect their culture and personal aptitude, not bloodlines, and a Mror dwarf can take any subrace. For example, mountain dwarves have expanded martial training, likely due to militia service in Dol Udar, while dwarves with the Mark of Warding have a blood tie to House Kundarak in their family tree.

Clan Doldarun
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Capital: Silverblade Keep

Primary Resources: Iron, silver

Enemies: Kolkarun, Narathun, Soldorak

Celebrated Virtues: Courage, honor, skill at arms. Resist Corruption.

The talespinners of Clan Doldarun say that their legendary founder was the child of Dol Dorn and Dol Arrah, and the dwarves of Doldarunhold take this to heart. Doldarun soldiers have always been among the best-trained and mostdisciplined warriors among the dwarves, and they're the most inclined to place their lives at risk for the good of all. There are countless tales of Doldarun facing terrifying monsters, fiends, and undead; if you need an exorcist in the Mror Holds, Doldarunhold is your best bet.

Doldarun suffered heavy losses in the War Below; in part because it was the clan most determined to win the war instead of accepting the current stalemate, many Doldarun soldiers died in bold strikes against the foul enemy. The clan maintains a garrisoned colony below Silverblade Keep, and is building strength for a new offensive. In the meantime, Doldarun draws a hard line against trafficking with the daelkyr or any form of fleshcrafting, and any outsider carrying symbionts receives a very hostile reaction in Doldarunhold. Clan Doldarun has an ancient feud with Clan Soldorak, and denounced Narathun twenty years ago over Narathun fleshcrafting.

Doldarun characters are likely to be acolytes or soldiers. This is an excellent clan for clerics, fighters, or paladins—especially War clerics and Oath of Devotion paladins. Rarely, perhaps once in a generation, the line of Doldarun produces dwarven Host aasimar. They attribute this to their mythical founder, child of the gods; chapter 3 has more information on playing aasimar of non-human descent while using human racial traits.

Clan Droranath
Capital: Stonespire

Primary Resources: Mercenaries, furs, meat

Enemies: Toldorath, Tordannon, the Jhorash'tar

Celebrated Virtues: Strength, confidence. Embrace the wild.

Doldarun is known for courage, while Droranath is fearless. What's the difference? A talespinner says that Doldarun is afraid, but even knowing that fear, chooses to stand their ground; in contrast, Droranath never sees any reason to be afraid to begin with. Droranath dwarves value confidence and optimism, and are certain that their strength can carry them through any challenge.

The Droranath dwarves value tradition, and their culture is the closest to the original Mror path before being conquered by Galifar. The Droranath never became miners; they are hunters, farmers, and above all, fierce warriors. Droranath youths have always trained with axe and hammer, long before Dol Udar made the practice common among the clans, and hide armor is standard fashion among the clan. Some Droranath develop the skills of the stealthy hunter, striking down enemies from afar, but most Droranath warriors prefer to look their enemy in the eye and to see their fear. Droranath warriors perfect a technique called tra dolhass—the battle cry—a wild howl as the warrior charges the enemy, summoning their adrenaline and fury. The Droranath love battle, and for centuries they have sold their services as mercenaries through House Deneith. The "Mror Howlers" are valued as shock troops and vanguard warriors. They are one of the smallest and poorest clans, in part due to their violent lifestyle and refusal to embrace many modern advances, but they continue to hold their lands.

Droranath has fought the Jhorash'tar orcs since the first days of exile. They accuse the orcs of countless atrocities, many of which may have indeed occurred—centuries in the past. Droranath talespinners insist the Jhorash'tar were responsible for the destruction of Noldrunhold, and now claim the orcs are in league with the horrors of the Realm Below. In addition to ongoing skirmishes between Droranath dwarves and the Jhorash'tar, this has led to a bitter feud between Droranath and the clans that support the Jhorash'tar—Toldorath and Tordannon.

The Droranath dwarves aren't miners, and they haven't opened paths to the Realm Below in their territory. However, Droranath mercenaries have served other clans, and brought back trophies from their battles. It's Droranath tradition to claim the arms and armor of fallen foes, and the Droranath have no qualms about using symbiont weapons, though they don't celebrate them as Soldorak and Narathun do.

Droranath characters are often outlanders or folk heroes, as they are always willing to take risks to help friends. Rangers and barbarians are sound choices for Droranath; rangers are usually hunters, while those who practice tra dolhass might be berserkers or ancestral guardians.

Clan Kolkarun
Capital: Lake Home

Primary Resources: Copper, silver

Enemies: Doldarun

Celebrated Virtues: Diplomacy, flexibility, pragmatism. Never miss an opportunity.

The Kolkarun dwarves aren't the wealthiest clan, but they are skilled negotiators and are one of the more active clans in the wider world. Some Kolkarun dwarves believe that their mythic founder was Kol Korran, though they don't like to brag about it. They've established strong ties to Aundair, Karrnath, Zilargo, and the Talenta Holds, and Kolkarun diplomats played a critical role in securing Karrnathi support for recognition of the Holds. Kolkarun has had many alliances and feuds over the centuries, but always manages to trick others into fighting its battles. Rivals say "Kolkarun's mother was a gnome," and assert that Kolkarun dwarves are cowards and opportunists. The Kolkarun shrug and respond, "Only a fool passes up an opportunity." Currently, they have strong ties to Mroranon, which relies on their support in the Iron Council and makes use of Kolkarun as ambassadors and spies, and they have maintained strong ties to Soldorak since the Exile. Many of the most powerful members of the Aurum are Kolkarun dwarves.

Kolkarun dwarves are the most adept sailors of the Mror. While they don't focus their efforts on fishing, they have long been the primary sailors ferrying goods along Mirror Lake and facilitating trade and transit within the holds. However, House Lyrandar produces better ships than the Mror ever did, and today Kolkarun sailors are often licensed by Lyrandar.

Kolkarun was quick to explore the Realm Below before the threat was known, but even they proved unable to negotiate with the horrors of the deep. Kolkarun holds a few outposts in Sol Udar—often with the help of Droranath mercenaries—but hasn't made strong offensive moves in recent decades.

Kolkarun dwarves are among those most likely to travel, and Kolkarun entertainers, sailors, and merchants can be found across Khorvaire. Most of the Iron Council's spies are Kolkarun; the charlatan background works well for both clever merchant and freelance spy. Bard is a reasonable choice for a Kolkarun character, and they're among the few dwarves with a true interest in lore.

Clans Lanarak and Londurak
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Capital: Greenspire (Lanarak), Bounty (Londurak)

Primary Resources: Agriculture, fish, alcohol

Enemies: Each other

Celebrated Virtues: Common sense, stoicism, enjoying life. Work hard and don't complain.

In the tales of the Exile, Lanarak and Londurak are siblings. Farmers and brewers, they're all but indistinguishable to outsiders, but the two are constantly striving to outdo each other. This mythic pattern remains true today. These holds lie on opposite sides of Mirror Lake, and they're both devoted to farming and fishing; many of the mountain clans rely on these valley clans for sustenance. But despite their deep similarities in outlook and lifestyle, these two clans are constantly feuding. This rarely escalates to violence, instead typically driving them to find ways to perform better than their rivals, though there have been times where one clan has actively sabotaged the other. Despite this, both Lanarak and Londurak proclaim to possess vast common sense—to prefer fishing to fighting, and to always be able to find a simple solution to complex problems. Dwarves from these clans established inns across the holds; these days, most of these inns have been bought up or licensed by House Ghallanda, but there's a decent chance that if a bartender's a dwarf, they're from one of these two clans.

While Lanarak and Londurak don't mine metals, both traditionally farm mushrooms and red pudding in deep caverns, and both were drawn into the War Below. Londurak quickly pulled out of the war; they have sealed all passages and forbidden anyone from venturing into Sol Udar. Lanarak still tends its gardens on the upper levels. This has given Lanarak an edge over its rivals, especially as traditional Mror spirits are made with mushrooms. However, Lanarak has also suffered several significant supernatural attacks over the last few decades—outbreaks of the Frenzy and similar threats. It's rare for dwarves from these valley clans to take risks or to leave the holds, but a remarkable folk hero or sailor could hear the call of adventure.

Clan Mroranon
Capital: Krona Peak

Primary Resources: Iron, mithral

Enemies: Soldorak

Celebrated Virtues: Charisma, leadership, wisdom. Lead the way, but lead wisely.

Clan Mroranon has always been the largest and strongest of the ruling clans. The mythical Mroranon is said to have been the son of the last king of the Realm Below, and to have rallied the exiles to establish the Mror Holds. Talespinners say that it was Kol Korran's bargain with Mroranon that ensured prosperity for the dwarves, and Krona Peak is home to both the Iron Council and Kol Korran's Throne, the largest temple dedicated to the Sovereign in Khorvaire.

While Mroranonhold has a wide variety of mines, it's best known for iron and mithral. It has established strong ties with House Cannith, though all of the Five Nations import Mroranon steel. It has the strongest general industrial base of the holds, and Krona Peak is the largest single city in the region.

Mroranon dwarves are proud of their skills as warriors and negotiators, even if they acknowledge Doldarun and Kolkarun to be the best in those fields. What sets the Mroranon apart is leadership. Mroranon sees the future and inspires others to follow. Mroranon unites, and makes wise decisions for the good of all. This ties to the mythic story of Mroranon as the leader—Doldarun is a mighty champion, but Mroranon has the vision. Mroranon are strong supporters of the Sovereign Host and believe that the dwarves are blessed; many of the most devout Mror priests and powerful adepts hail from Mroranonhold.

With the largest and most industrialized territory, Mroranon has the deepest investment in the Realm Below. It has multiple colony outposts, including one tied to a demiplane mine and another holding an ancient fortress, and is holding a firm line while building power for another surge. Mroranon and its vassal clans have recovered many legendary relics and artifacts from the depths. While they don't oppose symbionts as strongly as Doldarun, they refuse to make use of dularash items and assert that any contact with the daelkyr or their creations is dangerous.

Acolyte, noble, and soldier are common backgrounds for Mroranon dwarves. While paladins are more likely to be found in Doldarun, clerics (especially Knowledge, Trickery, or Life), fighters, and bards are all sound choices for Mroranon. With its big cities, it's also a reasonable option for criminals and rogues.

Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Artist: Franz Vohwinkel
Clan Narathun
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Capital: Shadowspire

Primary Resources: Precious Stones, wizardry

Enemies: Doldarun, Droranath, Toldorath, Tordannon

Celebrated Virtues: Arcane knowledge, beauty, mystery. Solve mysteries, but remain unknown.

Narathun is a small clan, but has always had power. The mythic hero Narathun was the lone wizard of the exiles, and their people hoarded this knowledge. Narathun was renowned for its magewrights, especially its oracles; while they draw rubies and sapphires from their mines and produce beautiful jewelry, secrets have always been one of Narathunhold's primary exports. Narathun dwarves appreciate tragedy and sacrifices. The clan is known for its artists and its bards; its work is unquestionably beautiful, but certainly more morbid than that of other clans; it's no accident that its largest city is called Shadowspire.

In the modern age, the dragonmarked houses and traditions of Galifar have brought magewrights to all holds. But its oracles are still respected, and the Ebon Library of Shadowspire is the one of the finest schools of divination in Khorvaire. Narathun sages have always asserted that no knowledge should be forbidden, and Shadowspire holds temples both to the Shadow and to the Blood of Vol. Clan Narathun is fascinated by the Realm Below, though it lacks the forces to push as deeply into Sol Udar as it would like, and Narathun patrons might well employ adventurers willing to risk their lives in the depths. Narathun artificers have embraced the study of fleshcrafting; while they are no match for Mordain the Fleshweaver, they have made remarkable developments over the past few decades.

Narathun dwarves hold long grudges. They have never forgiven Tordannon and Toldorath for thefts that occurred before Bal Dulor, and despise Droranath for a murder that occurred eight centuries ago. Doldarun has long condemned Narathun for its "foul practices," and its pursuit of fleshcrafting has exacerbated this. However, the other clans value its jewels and its knowledge, and others have always stood in between Narathun and Doldarun. Soldorak and Narathun are staunch allies, reinforced by their interest in the Realm Below.

A character from Narathun lends itself more to introspection than interaction and bargaining, and Narathun dwarves are more likely to be artificers or wizards than warlocks. Narathun entertainers and bards produce haunting works; the College of Whispers is an appropriate choice. This is also an excellent clan for hermits, acolytes, or clerics tied to the Dark Six or the Blood of Vol. Despite the propaganda spread by Clan Doldarun, Narathun dwarves are no more likely to be evil than any others.

Clan Soldorak
Capital: Solangap

Primary Resources: Gold, platinum

Enemies: Doldarun, Mroranon

Celebrated Virtues: Independence, cunning. Question authority and find your own path.

In Dwarven, sol dorak means "defender of the realm." While most Mror legends present the legendary Lord Mror as a wise and powerful leader, the talespinners of Solangap say that Lord Mror was an iron-handed tyrant—that the hero Soldorak challenged Mror for the good of the common people, and it was this that led to the Exile. In all of the stories, Soldorak supports underdogs and challenges outdated systems and oppressive authority. In some ways, this is at odds with the fact that Soldorak remains part of the feudal system that has defined the holds for a thousand years. However, Soldorak is more flexible than the other clans. Tenant families have a path to become freeholders, and much like the Aereni, Soldorak seeks to draw the most talented dwarves from all walks of life into the ruling clan. However, this is a knife that cuts both ways; people can also be expelled from the ruling clan, and heirs are expected to constantly prove their worth and cunning, not to simply rest on the power of their name.

This principle is the cornerstone of the Soldorak character. "Power must be earned. The ends justify the means." They believe the common concept of "honor" is a trick that serves those in power; true honor lies in using your wits to defeat impossible odds. It was this principle that led clan nobles to found the Aurum, originally as a nexus for acts of rebellion against Galifar; today it continues to counterbalance the influence of foreign aristocrats and dragonmarked houses.

Soldorak is one of the most populous holds, and one of the richest. Its fortune lies in all manner of precious metals, especially platinum and gold; coins from the Soldorak Mint circulate across Khorvaire, and Soldorak has many foreign investments. It has invested deeply in the Realm Below and is second only to Clan Mroranon in its subterranean holdings. However, Soldorak has embraced the use of dolaur—symbionts—and continues to explore the alien powers of the daelkyr even while it recovers dwarf artifacts. Soldorak has also embraced the path of the warlock. These dwarves have less patience for arcane study than their allies in Narathun, and are less likely to become artificers or wizards. But bargaining for power, earning supernatural gifts with your wits and will? That's the Soldorak way. Soldorak maintains that this tradition is entirely safe—that Sol warlocks can tap the power of the daelkyr without serving them—but Doldarun is certain that all Soldorak dwarves are corrupt, and Mroranon sees this foul practice as another way to discredit its rivals.

While it's home to nobles and soldiers, Soldorakhold also has more than its fair share of charlatans and criminals. It's a haven for all manner of rogues and warlocks, especially Great Old One warlocks manipulating the powers of the daelkyr. While outsiders view the Soldorak as evil, they are primarily about challenging tradition and refusing to accept unearned authority; a Soldorak folk hero could champion underdogs anywhere in Khorvaire. Soldorak dwarves are typically skeptical of organized religion; there are relatively few temples in the region, and clerics and acolytes are uncommon.

Clan Soranath
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Capital: Blackhammer

Primary Resources: Artisans, Eberron dragonshards, manufactured goods

Enemies: None

Celebrated Virtues: Industry, innovation. There's always a better way to do things.

When the exiles were driven from the Realm Below, it was Soranath who made them weapons. Clan Soranath is one of the smallest clans, but its influence reflects the talents of its artisans. Other clans have mines and fields—it's Soranath who takes what they produce and makes wonders.

Not all artisans are from Soranath, just as not all of the denizens of Soranathhold are artisans. Most blades in Mroranonhold are forged by Mroranon smiths. But Soranath artisans are unmatched in their techniques and their work ethic. Rather than being bound by secrets of the past, Soranath smiths are always looking for ways to improve their techniques, searching for new sources of inspiration. While this sounds impressive, Soranath is a small hold with limited resources, without the capabilities either in research or production of House Cannith or the Arcane Congress. The artisans of Clan Soranath won't change the world with their works, but they produce remarkable things for those who can afford it.

Soranathhold is small, with only three spires. Its families are tightly knit, and the divide between tenant and clan is a thin line. Industry is the prime virtue of Soranath, and its people work hard and live austere lives; for Soranath dwarves, a job done well is more satisfying than any luxury. Soranath has abundant deposits of dragonshard geodes, and thus isn't dependent on Tharashk, but doesn't seek to challenge Tharashk as an exporter of shards. Due to its otherwise limited resources, Soranath is dependent on other clans for many things, including protection. Soranath artificers are fascinated by the potential of the Realm Below and what they could learn both from the Udar artifacts and the symbionts of the daelkyr, and Grayroot Spire has been experimenting with fleshcrafting. However, they are artisans, not warriors; they must hire others to venture into Sol Udar on their behalf.

The Soranath dwarves are devoted to the Sovereign Host, especially to Onatar; they are quick to assign credit for any great work to the Sovereign of Fire and Forge. There may also be a cult of the Traveler within Soranath, perhaps in Grayroot Spire; if so, it keeps its true devotion well hidden.

Soranath dwarves are generally guild artisans, acolytes, or sages. Artificers (primarily Battle Smiths) and clerics of the Forge are both logical classes for Soranath dwarves.

Clans Toldorath and Tordannon
Capital: Frosthaven

Primary Resources: Copper, medicinal supplies, livestock

Enemies: Droranath, Narathun

Celebrated Virtues: Empathy, generosity, loyalty. Always willing to help a friend in need, and always willing to make a new friend.

Like Lanarak and Londurak, the mythic founders of Clans Toldorath and Tordannon were siblings. Unlike their fellow exiles, Toldorath and Tordannon never quarreled. They followed the same path, shared the same labors, and even built their holds adjacent to one another; the city of Frosthaven lies directly between the two holds and serves as the capital for both.

Toldorath and Tordannon had many skills, though they were masters of few. They were hunters and herders, warriors and miners. But above all, they were the most gifted healers of the exiles, ready to help anyone in need. Before Bal Dolur, Frosthaven healers were found across the holds. This changed with the arrival of House Jorasco. Today the finest healers in the Mror Holds are halflings, but dwarves still serve in the healing houses. More importantly, the farms of Toldorath and Tordannon are a primary source of many medicinal herbs and flowers that drive Jorasco operations across Khorvaire.

At a glance, Toldorath and Tordannon have much in common. They mine copper and herd mountain tribex and other beasts on the fields surrounding Mirror Lake. They're stoic warriors when they must fight, but they never start a quarrel unless driven to it. In other ways, they are quite different. Tordannon dwarves are devoted to the Sovereign Host, while the Toldorath are ambivalent about religion. Tordannon suffered grievous losses in the War Below; they shun symbionts, have sealed off their deep passages, and live in fear of the next assault. In contrast, the Toldorath are intrigued by symbionts and keen to delve deeper into Sol Udar. Despite these differences, they support one another. Loyalty is one of the prime virtues of these clans—to family, clan, and the holds themselves.

But there is one thing that makes these two Frosthaven clans stand out: their support for the Jhorash'tar orcs. A story says an orc shaman taught the healing arts to Toldorath and Tordannon in the first days of the Exile. This could be pure fantasy—the modern Jhorash'tar aren't particularly adept healers—but regardless, these two clans have always sought peace between orc and dwarf. This has brought them into bitter conflict with Clan Droranath. There have also been times when the Frosthaven clans have themselves suffered at the hands of the orcs, when a tribe has struck a Tordannon spire in retaliation for perceived treachery. But the clan lords remain committed to building a bridge between the two peoples. Over the last century, they have promoted the concept of giving the orcs a seat on the Iron Council. Toldorath has employed Jhorash'tar mercenaries to help secure its colony in the Realm Below, and is seeking to expand this force to drive a new offensive.

Toldorath and Tordannon have no specialty that calls out a specific style of adventurer, but this just means that any character could come from Frosthaven. They have soldiers and fighters, hunters and rangers. What drives these clans is loyalty and kindness, their belief that it's always better to make a new friend than to dismiss someone as an enemy.

House Kundarak
Capital: Korunda Gate

Primary Resources: Gold, copper; dragonmarked services

Enemies: None

Celebrated Virtues: Insightful, perceptive, trustworthy. Offer sound advice and protect your friends from harm.

The mythic founder of House Kundarak was a stonemason who built the first shelter for the exiles. While House Sivis estimates that Kundarak's dragonmark appeared less than three thousand years ago, in the stories, Kundarak had always borne the mark and used its powers to protect their people. Dwarves of all clans relied on Kundarak, both for wise counsel and their expertise in building. Kundarak laid the foundations of the fortresses that stood against the armies of Galifar.

But soon after Bal Dulor, Clan Kundarak became House Kundarak, expanding its influence across Khorvaire. While they held onto their ancestral lands, the Korth Edicts required Kundarak to sever its ties to the other clans, putting the interests of its clients ahead of those of the Mror. While this caused initial tension, it also brought an influx of gold and influence, and served as a bridge between the holds and the outside world. Kundarak helped bring dragonmarked services to the Mror Holds, and also helped build connections between houses and clans—House Deneith and the Droranath, House Jorasco and the Frosthaven clans. So while there was some estrangement, the clans generally accepted Kundarak's new role—though Soldorak has long decried Kundarak as abandoning traditional values and selling out the dwarves.

House Kundarak has no seat on the Iron Council and is not considered a Mror clan. Kundarak has done its best to stay out of the War Below, though Kundarak engineers played an important part in building defenses during the War Below, and were well paid for their services. Despite the lure of treasures and the mysteries of the past, Kundarak has no interest in courting disaster beneath the very seat of its power; it has fortified all deep portals beneath its spires. Should it choose to send expeditions below, it would do so with extreme care and caution.

Ideas about building House Kundarak characters are presented in chapter 1 of Eberron: Rising from the Last War.

Noldrunhold: The Lost Clan
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There are twelve holds in the Mror Holds, including House Kundarak—but there were thirteen exiles in the stories. Noldrun was clever and curious, an explorer who was always finding new things. Noldrunhold was never a large clan, but its greatest mine—Korran's Maw—was a rich source for a seemingly impossible array of minerals, including Eberron and Khyber dragonshards. This made it a strong ally of House Kundarak and Zilargo, and brought tremendous wealth to the clan.

And then, approximately four hundred years ago, Noldrunhold fell silent. Messengers sent into the hold never returned. Noldrun had previously fought many fierce battles with the Jhorash'tar, and blame immediately fell to the orcs; but none could explain how the Jhorash'tar could have achieved such a massacre.

The fate of Noldrunhold remains a mystery to this day. Most contemporary records of what explorers found were passed down orally and are unreliable. In some accounts, corpses were skinned; in others, there were no corpses, as if the Noldrun had all simply vanished. Some suggest that the Noldrun all gathered together and descended into Korran's Maw; others say the Jhorash'tar killed them and threw the bodies into the Maw. Neighboring clans Soldorak and Droranath both sought to expand into the abandoned territory and claim the empty spires, but all attempts were abandoned—again, the stories of why are unreliable. Some say the new settlers killed each other in an irrational frenzy, others say they simply disappeared. The Droranath blame the Jhorash'tar orcs, and mysteriously, there are tribes of Jhorash'tar still living on old Noldrun lands, though even they shun the empty cities and Korran's Maw.

Today, many assume that the Noldrun must have been the first victims of the War Below—that they dug too deep and were destroyed by Dyrrn. Some assume the derro found in Sol Udar are the remnants of the Noldrun dwarves. But that's all just conjecture. Perhaps it was the work of a fiendish overlord imprisoned in the region. Perhaps it was an early impact of whatever caused the Mourning, or some sort of Cannith experiment. Or perhaps it was the Jhorash'tar after all, and the orcs possess some hidden power they have yet to reveal.

Artist: Tomasz Jedruszek
Artist: Tomasz Jedruszek
The Jhorash'tar Orcs
The Jhorash'tar are an alliance of orc tribes that have dwelt in the Ironroot Mountains since before the arrival of the dwarves. The Jhorash'tar have no written records, but their tales suggest they once held most of the Ironroots, and that many of their tribes were annihilated in the early days of the Exile. However, others suggest that the orcs might have been eradicated by the civilization that built Sol Udar. Indeed, the existence of the Face of Mror—a mountain sculpted to resemble a dwarf king, a feat of engineering far beyond the capabilities of the modern Mror—implies the dwarves of Sol Udar were active on the surface of the mountains at some point. Whatever the truth, by the time of Bal Dulor, the bulk of the Jhorash'tar had been pushed to the southwestern regions of the Ironroot Mountains, where they continued to clash with Clan Droranath and Clan Noldrun.

The Jhorash'tar orcs have a distinct culture, with nothing in common with the Ghaash'kala orcs of the Demon Wastes or the Gatekeepers of the Shadow Marches. There are at least six distinct tribes, each split into smaller bands; the DM can add details to a particular tribe to suit the story. Some dwell on the surface of the mountains—often in caves along canyon walls—while others dwell underground, in the same layer the dwarves mined for centuries before breaking through into Sol Udar. The Jhorash'tar have never formed large communities, and usually split when a band has a hundred or more adult members, or whenever a bonecaster—their spiritual leader—advises it.

The primary spiritual tradition of the Jhorash'tar is called the Path of Bones. Bonecasters are their priests and diviners. They can speak with the dead and temporarily conjure spirits to produce magical effects, but traditionally they don't create lasting undead. A player character following this path might be a cleric with the Grave domain, though the typical bonecaster doesn't have access to all the spells and features of a cleric. Bonesworn are elite champions strengthened by spirits; a player character following this path could be an Ancestral Guardian or Zealot barbarian. The Jhorash'tar believe that the ghosts of the fallen linger, and continue to guide the living through whispers and dreams. Tribes often decorate the entrances of their dwellings with the bones of their own fallen warriors, believing that the spirits of the fallen protect them.

The Jhorash'tar don't work metal, though some are willing to use metal weapons and armor acquired from the Mror. Bonecaster rituals allow them to shape and harden bone, and they often incorporate bones in weapons and armor. While they often use the bones of large creatures, it's also common for one of the bonesworn to carry a weapon or token that incorporates an ancestor's bone. The Jhorash'tar also work with other natural materials, including wood and stone. They have no equivalent to heavy armor, but can combine bone and leather to create armor that offers similar protection to a breastplate or scale mail.

Many of the Jhorash'tar tribes wish for peace with the dwarves, and are working with the Frosthaven clans to reach an understanding. For the most part, these tribes don't want to live alongside Mror in their cities, but wish for their own recognized lands, and want the right to gather the bones of other orcs from across the holds. However, there are also tribes hungry for vengeance, driven by the cries of their fallen. Such tribes continue to engage in guerilla war and to spread terror however they can. As far as the Mror know, the orcs have had no contact with the Realm Below or the forces of Dyrrn—but it's possible that a tribe has been touched by the Corruptor, and could emerge with unusual powers or even allied with aberrations.

It's up to the DM whether the Jhorash'tar were involved in the destruction of Noldrunhold. Whatever the truth, Jhorash'tar tribes live safely in Noldrun territory, though they shun its cities.

The Thunder Sea: The World Beneath The Waves
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Artist: Vincentius Matthew
Artist: Vincentius Matthew
The people of the Five Nations only think of the world in terms of the things they've seen, the lands they can visit. Forests and farmland, valleys and hills. But there's another world a Brelish farmer can't even imagine, a land of wonders a league below the water's surface, lit by bioluminescence and cold fire. This is no empty wilderness. There are civilizations in the oceans, cultures older than even those of the giants of Xen'drik.

Eberron is home to ten seas, as diverse as the continents of the world above. Each of the seas is home to powerful nations, deadly creatures, and hidden secrets. This section focuses on the Thunder Sea, beginning with an overview of the region and delving into the major cultures found there.

In general, there's little traffic between the people who dwell on land and those who live in the ocean depths. Just as a common Brelish farmer cares little about the ocean's denizens, a typical merfolk kelp-tender knows nothing of Breland and has no interest in the surface dwellers. But anyone who sails the Thunder Sea needs to know what—and who—lies below. The nations of the depths maintain their borders like any other nation, and someone who blunders into the Eternal Dominion without proper authorization faces sahuagin wrath. Most major port cities—including Sharn and Stormreach—host representatives of nearby aquatic nations, and envoys on the docks can help plan and authorize travel through their domains. As a result, most sailors know at least a little about the cultures of the waters they pass through, and every Lyrandar crew includes a "sea speaker" who knows Sahuagin and Aquan.

Open Waters
The Thunder Sea lies between Khorvaire, Xen'drik, and Aerenal. It takes its name from the unnatural storms that rage over some areas, never-ending tempests fueled by the elemental power of Lamannia. As dangerous as these waters are, this is a crucial crossroads for trade, and there's a constant stream of ships flowing between Sharn, Stormreach, and Pylas Talaer. It's here that the sahuagin first arose, the seat of their greatest civilization.

In the dawn of time, the Thunder Sea was the domain of the Lurker in Shadow. This overlord embodies the fear of the unknown, of the evil that could be lurking just beyond sight, and the fear that our friends could be secretly scheming against us. The Lurker created the aboleths, who conquered and dominated creatures of the deep—giants, dragons, and sahuagin. The struggle against the overlords played out beneath the water just as it did above. Dragons battled krakens and giants fought aboleths, while the sahuagin consumed the fallen on both sides. The wrath of the Lurker shattered the ocean floor. Dragons were impaled on spires of demonglass. But in time, the overlords were bound and the aboleths fled into the deepest abysses.

Today, the sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion are spread far and wide across the floor of the Thunder Sea. Their mightiest cities are built around—and into—massive slumbering creatures known as kar'lassa, "great dreamers." The merfolk live in the upper waters above the sahuagin. Their permanent settlements are tied to manifest zones, and they perform rituals to contain the threat posed by these zones. The other major power in the Thunder Sea is the Valraean Protectorate, the domain of the sea elves. These elves laid claim to the waters around Aerenal, conquering the local sahuagin and other species, and bending them to their will. The Dominion sahuagin despise the Valraean elves, but thus far, the power of the Undying Court has repelled every assault.

What will bring your adventurers to the Thunder Sea? Will you delve into the depths to explore ruins built by long-dead giants? Will you negotiate with sahuagin and work to prevent a war between land and sea? Or will you struggle to survive after you're pulled down by the aboleths and the ancient evils that lurk in the ultimate darkness?

Ports and Travel
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The Thunder Sea is a critical path for trade. Any traffic with Xen'drik crosses the Thunder Sea. In addition to the ships of House Lyrandar (both elemental galleons with dragonmarked captains and mundane ships licensed by the house), the Thunder Sea sees traffic from Aerenal, Zilargo, Breland, and Riedra. The most important ports include Pylas Maradal (Valenar), Pylas Talaer (Aerenal), Sharn (Breland), Stormreach (Xen'drik), Trolanport (Zilargo), Wyvernskull (Darguun), and Zarash'ak (Shadow Marches).

These major ports see both commercial, diplomatic, and military traffic. Aereni merchants carry shipments of exotic lumber, Riedran vessels are laden with crysteel and dragonshards, Lyrandar ships carry all manner of trade goods, and smugglers sneak barrels of kuryeva and tilxin blood into hidden coves. While the standard map of Khorvaire focuses on these major ports, there are also countless smaller ports and fishing villages scattered along the coastline.

The masters of the Thunder Sea—the sahuagin—don't want dryskins blundering through their territory. Traveling directly along the coastline is reasonably safe, and local fisherfolk don't need to negotiate with sahuagin every time they set sail; the sahuagin don't lay claim to the waters within 6 miles of Khorvaire's coast, and permit fishing an additional 20 miles beyond that. But crossing the Thunder Sea is an entirely different story. Setting aside the territorial claims of the sahuagin, the sea is filled with deadly hazards—endless storms, demonglass spires, and hungry monstrosities.

The Eternal Dominion has established specific routes that captains must follow, safe from hazards and monitored by the Dominion. Captains who wish to use these routes must obtain beacons of passage—common magic items that tell the sahuagin their travel is authorized, charged to last for a set time. Even with a beacon, there are places—such as Shargon's Teeth—where a wise captain pays for the services of a sahuagin or merfolk guide.

Some brave (or foolish) souls deviate from these approved routes, whether desiring speed or avoiding the cost of local customs and the price of a beacon. The Thunder Sea is nearly the size of Khorvaire itself, and the sahuagin aren't everywhere; however, those regions shunned by the sahuagin and merfolk are usually avoided with good reason, and smugglers may face dangerous environmental hazards or hungry monstrosities.

Fantastic Oceans
Venturing underwater can be a challenge for adventurers. They'll need assistance just to be able to breathe. Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide presents additional rules for underwater adventures; swimming is exhausting, it's hard to see underwater, and many attacks suffer disadvantage. At the same time, it can seem as though things aren't limited enough. Shouldn't something strange happen when you generate lightning damage underwater? Shouldn't spells that deal cold damage freeze the water? And even if you can breathe underwater, if you go to the depths where the sahuagin are, thousands of feet under the surface, won't the pressure crush you?

It's certainly possible to come up with more complicated rules that address all scientific concerns. But ultimately, the goal is to have a fantastic pulp adventure, not to realistically model a deep-sea dive. So it's okay to follow the rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide and not worry too much about the science—perhaps the magic allowing you to breathe underwater also protects you from changes in pressure.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh also presents extensive options for running ocean adventures; many of these may offer inspiration as you build your undersea world. Regardless of the rules you decide to use, remember that the Thunder Sea isn't on Earth. In addition to the environmental effects of manifest zones, you have the aftereffects of conflict between giants, dragons, and archfiends. You have flora and fauna that don't exist on Earth, which have their own effects on the environment. A story should focus on creating an interesting, exciting environment to explore, even if it isn't a realistic match for true marine ecology.

The Power of Lamannia
The storms of the Thunder Sea are legendary. Beyond wind and rain, tales speak of maelstroms that drag down even the largest vessels and masses of vegetation that rise from the water to entangle ships. All of these are very real threats, even more so because these dangers don't obey simple laws of wind and water. The Thunder Sea is home to a wide range of manifest zones, but the most powerful and numerous are those tied to Lamannia. The endless fury of the First Storm lashes ships with lightning and storm winds, and great maelstroms can pull a ship down into the Endless Ocean. The vast masses of vegetation are tied to the Twilight Forest, fueling unnatural growth that can latch onto a vessel and trap it in the sargassum. Though the influence of Lamannia is most strongly felt here, it's also possible to find an unexpected region of icebergs surrounding a manifest zone tied to Risia, boiling waters around a Fernian zone, or a region tied to Mabar where the shadows of sailors turn on the living.

As any skilled ocean navigator can tell you, manifest zones are stable, physical locations. While a manifest zone's influence extends beyond its focal point, the worst storms of the Thunder Sea remain confined to specific areas. However, when the plane linked to a manifest zone is coterminous, its impact is dramatically enhanced, with storms extending beyond their usual radius and becoming far more powerful. This is why knowledge of the sea is vitally important for sailors; if you venture off the approved trade routes, you need to chart a course that will avoid the storms.

Lamannian manifest zones often release elementals into Eberron. An eternal storm may contain air elementals, while water elementals can be found in the region around a maelstrom. Such elementals aren't intentionally cruel, but they're driven to express their elemental drives—which often makes them dangerous to ships, which they perceive as alien invaders. Manifest zones can also produce dire beasts—octopi, sharks, and other creatures of remarkable size.

The merfolk of the Thunder Sea (discussed in more detail later in this section) serve as planar shepherds, tending manifest zones and helping to contain and mitigate their effects. This isn't absolute; the merfolk can't entirely disperse the power of the First Storm, or stop the growth of the Twilight Forest. But they seek to direct it, choosing to vent its power at times when there is minimal danger to innocents. Even when a region has especially bad storms due to a manifest zone, those storms could be far, far worse if the merfolk stopped performing their rituals or were driven away entirely.

The Teeth
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Throughout the sea, vast spires of stone and coral rise up from the bottom of the ocean—in some cases, over a mile in height. Some reach the surface, while other clusters lie hundreds of feet below it. While these spires formed naturally, they're often interspersed with a more dangerous—and unnatural—substance. Demonglass is similar to obsidian, but virtually indestructible. These demonglass spires—commonly called "needle teeth"—can pierce the hull of a swiftly moving ship despite being just a few inches in width. The spires in this region were created by the Lurker in Shadow during the First War (though it wasn't responsible for the demonglass found elsewhere in Eberron, such as Ashtakala in the Demon Wastes).

The region known as Shargon's Teeth—a Common adaptation of the Sahuagin name for the Devourer—lies directly between Sharn and Stormreach, and is the most infamous manifestation of these hazardous needle teeth. Stone spires and demonglass spikes of all sizes are scattered between this chain of islands. Only the most seasoned navigators can plot a course through the Teeth without the help of a sahuagin guide; as a result, the islands have long been a haven for smugglers and pirates, preying on ships that founder on the Teeth.

Throughout the Thunder Sea, needle teeth are a dangerous hazard for those who stray from the established trade routes—but they also provide an opportunity to interact with creatures of the sea. Any number of aquatic monstrosities may make a lair in the upper reaches of a spire. The sahuagin also often colonize the larger teeth, carving tunnels throughout a spire. High teeth thus serve as outposts projecting up to the upper waters where light can reach, allowing travelers to visit a sahuagin outpost without having to descend to the absolute depths.

Kar'lassa: The Great Dreamers
The greatest wonders of the Thunder Sea lie deep below the surface, all but unknown to the people of Khorvaire. The kar'lassa are enormous beasts—miles in length—half-buried and sleeping in the floor of the Thunder Sea. Not even the dragons of Argonnessen know the origin of the kar'lassa. They've slept since the beginning of recorded history, and are immune to all forms of divination magic. They could be creations of Khyber trapped before they could rise to the surface, or they could've been crafted by Eberron to guard against some future threat. Perhaps they are young progenitors, and when they finally wake, they will create new worlds.

All that's known for certain is that the kar'lassa are massive, immortal monstrosities... and that each is bound to one of the planes. Each kar'lassa radiates the effects of a powerful manifest zone, extending up to 13 miles. The appearance of each kar'lassa reflects the plane they're tied to; the kar'lassa of Shavarath is a massive draconic beast with steel scales, while the kar'lassa of Fernia is a serpent of embers, water forever boiling against its skin. But the strangest aspect of the kar'lassa is their dreams. As described in chapter 5, when mortals dream, their spirits are usually drawn into Dal Quor. However, when the kar'lassa dream, they don't dream in Dal Quor. Instead, each kar'lassa dreams in the plane it's tied to—and more wondrous yet, each great dreamer draws in the spirits of dreaming mortals. Any creature that dreams within 13 miles of a kar'lassa—including unwary sailors passing above, if any are bold enough to go off the approved travel routes—is pulled into the behemoth's dream, instead of dreaming in Dal Quor. So, for example, anyone who sleeps in the Dominion city of Hal'iri dreams their dreams in Irian. While dreaming in this way, a creature is only present as a spirit, and is immune to the negative environmental effects of that plane; so a mortal dreamer isn't hurt by the extreme heat of Fernia or the cold of Risia. Even if a dreamer dies in their dream from other causes, they just wake up. This is still dreaming; unless the dreamer is capable of lucid dreaming, they have little control of their actions and will likely only remember fragments of the experience. But if they do have tools or training that allow lucid dreaming (as with the uul'kur in chapter 7), this can be an interesting way to explore the planes.

Kar'lassa, Dar, Kalashtar, and Elves
When the dar dream, they are drawn to the Uul Dhakaan, the shared dream of the empire—but when anyone dreams within 13 miles of a kar'lassa, they're drawn into its dream. So what happens if a golin'dar dreams near a kar'lassa? These ancient primordial forces trump the work of Jhazaal Dhakaan, and the dar are pulled into the dream of the kar'lassa instead of to Dal Quor. However, all of the dream-tools crafted by the Kech Dhakaan—the kra'uul and uul'kur—function normally within the dream of a kar'lassa.

What about kalashtar? Their connection to Dal Quor has been completely severed, but they do dream; when a kalashtar sleeps, they create dreams within their own mind, drawing on their memories and their quori spirit. However, if kalashtar find themselves within the range of a kar'lassa, they're pulled into its dream, as with the dar.

The sea elves of the Valraean Protectorate are aware of how the kar'lassa influence the dreams of "lesser" races. Though the Protectorate hasn't yet captured any Dominion cities, they take great pride in their belief that because they don't sleep, they would be above the influence of the kar'lassa—but this belief is wrong! It's true that elves trance rather than sleep, entering a deep meditative state much like a lucid dream, self-directed and untouched by the influence of either Dal Quor or a kalashtar's quori spirit. However, this process is physiologically similar to a human's dreams and can likewise be hijacked by the kar'lassa—which would be a startling experience for an elf who's never dreamed before!

Twelve kar'lassa have been discovered; one for each plane, aside from Dal Quor. The sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion have built their largest cities around eight of these great dreamers, though they've shunned the kar'lassa associated with Mabar, Xoriat, Thelanis, and Risia. The sahuagin harvest biomatter from the kar'lassa, and these substances are the fuel that drives their industry.

The kar'lassa are a source of wonder, not monsters to be fought. To all tests, they appear to be immortal, and regenerate damage quickly. Spells such as stone to flesh or disintegrate only work on a tiny sliver of the kar'lassa, and even that's quickly restored. If one of these ancient slumbering monstrosities were to rise, it would be an almost unstoppable force of destruction, and destroy the Dominion city in the process. If one of these vast creatures emerged onto land, it could easily devastate cities without even meaning to.

Titanic, unstoppable monstrosities that could threaten entire cities? That sounds a little like the tarrasque. And indeed, a simple way to introduce the tarrasque into Eberron is to present it as a kar'lassa rising from its slumber and threatening Sharn or Stormreach; just add the effects of a manifest zone to the region around it. The tarrasque is small for a kar'lassa; most are miles long, large enough that the sahuagin build cities around them. But it's possible a small kar'lassa might be the first to wake—can the heroes who oppose it find a way to return it to its slumber before the others wake? If a DM chooses to explore this plotline, they'll have to decide the truth about the origins of the kar'lassa. If they're the children of Eberron, they might not want to destroy innocent creatures; they could have an important purpose as yet unfulfilled. On the other hand, if they're tools of the overlords or the Devourer, their rising will spell disaster.

Krakens
The Thunder Sea is home to the ancient evil of the aboleths, who yearn to dominate the minds of all creatures. It holds the sleeping kar'lassa, who could devastate cities or nations if they rose from slumber. Where do the krakens fit in this hierarchy?

Krakens are children of Khyber, born in the Age of Demons. Unlike the aboleths, they weren't created by a fiendish overlord and they don't serve any overlord; each kraken is a power in its own right. Krakens enjoy exercising their power and being worshipped by lesser creatures, and each one carved out a domain within the chaos of the Age of Demons. The binding of the overlords didn't adversely affect the krakens; however, many feared that the alliance that had formed to defeat the fiends might well turn its attention to them next, so they chose to go into hiding and sleep, waiting for an age when the champions of the Age of Demons were dead and the oceans were free.

Krakens are spread across all of the oceans of Khorvaire. For the most part, they don't work together, in part to avoid the interest of Argonnessen. One kraken dominating an island of humanoids is of no concern to the dragons; an alliance of krakens is another story. However, multiple krakens have occasionally joined forces. Tens of thousands of years ago, five krakens devastated the previous civilization of the sahuagin of the Thunder Sea. Despite their power, they were eventually overcome; their remains are preserved in the city of Hal'shavar.

There are a few krakens in the Thunder Sea, but they avoid the Eternal Dominion, dwelling either in its fringes or in dangerous places that are shunned by the sahuagin. The kraken Bastyreth has established a sanctum below the kar'lassa tied to Mabar; it's raising a legion of undead minions and preparing to take vengeance on the Dominion.

Haunted Ruins and the Deepest Darkness
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The Thunder Sea is vast and ancient. The sahuagin call their civilization the Eternal Dominion, but in truth, it's risen and fallen multiple times. The Lurker, as well, has nearly risen several times, and aboleths have set the sea devils against one another in vicious civil wars. There are a handful of storm giants in the depths, but any nation they once possessed was destroyed long ago. Remnants of these conflicts are spread across the Thunder Sea. Explorers could find an ancient temple haunted by the ghosts of the storm giants that built it, an overgrown sahuagin fortress from a previous age of the Dominion, or the tomb of a dragon sealed tens of thousands of years ago.

Most dangerous of all are the deepest abysses, strongholds of the surviving servants of the Lurker in Shadow. These cracks in the ocean floor might hold mighty artifacts forged during the Age of Demons, but they're home to aboleths, fiends, and even more terrifying creatures.

What Roams the Sea?
When dealing with the Thunder Sea, remember that it's just as civilized as the Five Nations. It does have wilderness regions with feral beasts roaming at will, and you might find wild plesiosaurs, a scheming sea hag, or a hungry scrag. But in the areas above and around sahuagin city-states, such beasts have been tamed or destroyed. All cultures of the Thunder Sea farm fish like the people of the land farm sheep or cattle; a pod of whales may be carefully managed and cultivated, and their farmers will be quite angry with dryskins who poach their ichthyic livestock. There are sharks—and giant sharks—in the wild waters, but in the civilized zones, the sahuagin use them much as humans use hounds. Dragon turtles serve different roles depending where they're found; in the Dominion, dragon turtles are forced to serve as beasts of burden and living engines of war, while the merfolk form alliances with dragon turtles and consider them partners in a community.

Later sections explore the relationships between the major cultures of the Thunder Sea. Here's general information about other sentient aquatic creatures in the region:

Locathah are subjects of both the Valraean Protectorate and the eastern regions of the Eternal Dominion. The locathah never had a civilization as advanced as the sahuagin, and have been subjects of the Dominion for thousands of years. However, there could be bands of free locathah on the edges of the Dominion, potentially hiding in the territorial waters of Khorvaire.

Storm giants once had a presence along the coastline of Xen'drik. After devastating conflicts with several sahuagin nations, they were all but wiped out. Today, they're generally known only through the ruins and tombs they left behind, usually protected by powerful magic and left alone by the Eternal Dominion. There are still a few storm giants in hiding; most are shadows of their former glory, but there may still be a few hidden giants who have preserved their ancient powers.

Dragons have much the same relationship with the Thunder Sea that they have with Khorvaire. There are a few rogue dragons (black, bronze, green, or gold) who pursue their personal goals in isolated regions of the Thunder Sea. Elsewhere, the Chamber monitors the Dominion just as it watches humanity, intervening only if its interests are threatened.

Artist: Dean Spencer
Artist: Dean Spencer
Kuo-toa have no significant presence in the Thunder Sea, though they are found elsewhere in Eberron.

Koalinth were developed by the goblinoid Empire of Dhakaan to defend the coastline, though the dar never sought to cross the sea. These aquatic hobgoblins were exterminated by the sahuagin following the collapse of the empire, though koalinth tribes are occasionally discovered in remote locations. It's possible a more sophisticated clan of koalinth went into deep seclusion at the same time as other Kech Dhakaan; if so, this could be an interesting ally for the Heirs of Dhakaan.

Random Discoveries
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What might a vessel find if it leaves the sanctioned trade routes and ventures into forbidden territories? The Thunder Sea Surprises table provides a few possibilities.

The Eternal Dominion: Sahuagin
Any sailor in Stormreach can tell you that the sahuagin worship the Devourer, who they call Shargon. But this is only part of the story. Sahuagin storm priests tell the common tale of how gods and demons fought in the first age, but their story doesn't end with the binding of the overlords. Once the fiends were defeated, the Sovereigns were determined to take their place and rule as tyrants. The sahuagin Sha'argon was a bold hunter and mighty warrior. He stalked the Sovereigns of the natural world, Arra'ai and Ba'alor. Sha'argon trapped them and consumed them, claiming their power as his own. The other Sovereigns were angry, but none could outwit Sha'argon, and he already had the power of two gods; so they fled to the world above and beyond, and to this day, they flee when the mighty hunter draws near.

Sha'argon is the greatest of the gods. He sets the laws of the world, and they are cruel. Life is an endless struggle. The weak will perish in the storm or be consumed by the mighty. Those with cunning and courage can conquer the world itself, and the victor has the right to devour their vanquished foe. The sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion take these messages to heart. There is no foe they cannot conquer, no power they cannot claim. They have forged a dominion from the bones of krakens and the blood of the kar'lassa, an empire that will never end.

If the Dominion wished to conquer the surface world, it could do so easily—or so the sahuagin say. But to what end? Dryskins are pathetic barbarians, weak in both body and mind. The Eternal Dominion seeks grander prey, power worthy of Sha'argon. Some seek to consume the overlords; others plan the conquest of worlds beyond the world. Is this pure arrogance? Or can the Eternal Dominion gain mastery over reality itself?

Biology
The sahuagin dwell on the floor of the Thunder Sea. They possess an uncanny ability to rapidly adapt to changing pressure, and can ascend from the depths to the surface with no ill effects. Darkvision allows them to see even in the blackest depths of the ocean, though they require at least a little light to function at full efficiency. Their tough skin is as tough as leather armor, and their claws and teeth are deadly weapons.

Human scholars are aware of the existence of sahuagin "mutants," but few realize these aren't random mutations; they're the most visible products of a system that touches every sahuagin in the Dominion. From the moment they emerge from the spawning pools, young sahuagin undergo a regimen of diet, mystic rituals, and training that shapes them for their intended purpose. Sahuagin aren't clones, but a sahuagin warrior is imbued with strength and fury, and a sahuagin assassin is swift and deadly—each by design. The sahuagin create their sorcerers. All Dominion sahuagin go through this initial process of shaping, and those who prove themselves worthy can go farther still, undergoing the rituals that produce champions such as the four-armed barons and the malenti. But these are just two examples of what the sahuagin magebreeders can achieve. The Claws of Sha'argon—presented in chapter 8—are another example of these magebred champions.

What do sahuagin eat? Whatever they want, and often, whoever they want. Sahuagin are voracious omnivores who demonstrate their mastery over things by consuming them. Food brings great pleasure to the sahuagin, and they take pride both in the preparation of food and in the diversity of their diet; they farm both fish and flora, and hunt creatures that can't be farmed. Eating a locathah servant can either be an act of punishment or a great honor, depending on how the meal is prepared and consumed. Like the gnolls of the Znir Pact, it's common for a sahuagin to eat at least part of a fallen enemy, though this is more to seal the victory than to honor the spirit; you haven't truly defeated someone until you've consumed them. With this concept in mind, a DM may wish to give sahuagin NPCs advantage on saving throws against any sort of ingested poison and resistance to poison damage from such poisons.

Victory Above All
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Life is conflict. All things must eat or be eaten. Flee if victory is impossible in the moment, but never surrender

Sahuagin culture is deeply aggressive; in any situation, they look to see how they can win. This combines with a deep sense of cultural unity; what matters isn't that I defeat the foe, it's that we defeat it. So while sahuagin frequently compete with other sahuagin, seeking to advance in rank and earn evolution into a higher form, this is about strengthening the Dominion, not simply personal pride. Sahuagin don't seek to cheat their way into positions they believe they don't deserve. Similarly, weakness can't be tolerated, and they spare no time on sentimentality. The sahuagin are children of the Devourer: the point of storm and sickness is to cleanse weakness and strengthen those who survive. Anyone who grows too old or infirm should be challenged by those below them—but this is rare in practice, for a sahuagin who realizes they can no longer perform their role will usually abdicate before they're challenged. It's common practice for a respected retiring leader to be consumed by their subordinates, so their spirit and skills will remain part of the Dominion. The sahuagin warrior who has grown too old to serve has no regrets about being consumed; they lived well, and now they give what strength they have left to nourish those who will come after them. A single life is fleeting; the Dominion is eternal, and your spirit lives on in your comrades who consume you. On the other hand, those seen as having no value—who are best excised from the Dominion—will simply be fed to the sharks.

Stemming from this, the people of the Eternal Dominion are extremely industrious. Sahuagin never relax, and don't understand why anyone would—if you stop moving, you're dead. They're always looking for something to do, a challenge to overcome. However, this leaves them little time for abstract reflection, romance, or whimsy; life is war, and there's no time for poetry. Some would also say this limits innovation, and the Dominion is indeed slow to change its methods. Sahuagin are austere in their needs and desires, and don't seek comfort, luxury, or personal wealth. This isn't to say the sahuagin don't enjoy life or seek entertainment—but rather, what drives the sahuagin is victory. They don't care for music or theater, but they enjoy gladiatorial combat and other forms of aggressive sport, such as public debates and arcane duels. They also love to eat, as this is a symbolic victory over whatever they're eating. Symbols of all kinds are important in sahuagin culture. Their armor, weapons, and architecture are designed to intimidate enemies and show off one's rank and status.

Social Structure
Sahuagin have no families nor concept of personal property. Your loyalty is to your city, and then to the Dominion as a whole. You were born in the spawning pools of your city and assigned a purpose and a shiver—the group of sahuagin you trained with as a child, to whom you may have a personal attachment. From there, you worked your way up to prove your value and earn a higher rank. All positions are based on merit; while the title of a military leader is often translated as "baron," the position is earned, not inherited. The city gives you equipment and lodging based on your position, though you can earn trophy items through sporting victories. Sahuagin always look for ways to prove themselves and earn advancement, but never at the expense of your shiver, your city, or the Dominion. Sahuagin find criminal behavior and those who betray their people for personal gain to be repulsive, a sign of an inferior species.','The society of the Eternal Dominion is split into three primary forces:

The Ra'har ("body") is the military. The sahuagin view life as conflict, and are zealous about maintaining a strong military. When there is no active conflict, they engage in war games and engage in gladiatorial combat—both locally, and in a league against the other cities—to entertain the people.
The Ta'har ("mind") are the scholars, scientists, and priests—which, among the sahuagin, are all branches of a single path. Alchemy and sorcery are core sciences in the Dominion. The sahuagin recognize divine magic as a resource, and excel at the aggressive cultivation of the faith required to channel it. Ta'har scholars advise the Ra'har, using the lessons of history to drive military strategy, while Ta'har artificers work with the Su'har to maintain the infrastructure of the cities.
The Su'har ("heart") maintain the civic infrastructure. They maintain and expand the cities, ensure the steady flow of supplies, and organize the spawning pools and the education and evolution of the young. The Ta'har develop new techniques, but it's the Su'har who turn the wheels of industry.
Artist: Daren Bader
Artist: Daren Bader
Each city is governed by a Sha'rei—Council of Three—with a leader from each force. Councilors add the prefix "kar" to their force, so the Kar'ra'har is the military leader of a sahuagin city. Cities coordinate through the Sha'lassa—Council of Dreams—as described in the "Harvesting the Dreamers" section. The priesthood of the Eternal Dominion follows one of two paths. The razh'ash—storm priests—are devoted to Sha'argon, and serve as the primary spiritual guides of the people. They teach the harsh lessons of the Devourer, while also wielding his might in battle when needed. The second path is that of the lass'ash, "dream priests"; their work is important and they support the Su'har, but they don't preach to the people.

Territory
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The Eternal Dominion claims the entirety of the Thunder Sea as its territory, and maintains outposts across the sea, often carved into stone spires that rise up to the surface. However, most of their population is concentrated in the great cities of the Dominion. These lie on the seafloor, thousands of feet below the surface, far beyond the reach of sunlight—yet illuminated by sahuagin-engineered bioluminescent coral. Each city is named after the kar'lassa it's built around, and the kar'lassa in turn are in turn named for the plane they're bound to.

Hal'daan (Daanvi). The city of Hal'daan is the administrative heart of the Dominion. Here, the leaders of the Su'har develop the civic models used throughout the Dominion. This city also holds the bureaucratic archives of the Dominion.
Hal'dol (Dolurrh). The smallest of the great cities, Hal'dol is a center for necromantic research. The skulls of great leaders and priests from across the Dominion are preserved in the Bone Library, where sahuagin mediums can use speak with dead to consult with them.
Hal'fer (Fernia). This region has an abundance of geothermal vents, and due to Fernia's influence, it's also a source of pure elemental flame that burns underwater. Hal'fer is an industrial center working with heat and steam; it's the primary source of metal goods, and mints the currency used with surface dwellers.
Hal'iri (Irian). This is a stronghold of the Ta'har, driving mystical research and holding the largest temples in the Dominion—both in reality and in the kar'lassa's dream. Many priests train in Hal'iri, and its people have grand dreams of what the Dominion can become. It's a center for exploring lofty goals, such as defeating the Valraean Protectorate, consuming the overlords to gain their power, and perhaps even conquering the planes (as discussed in the "Story Hooks" section).
Hal'kyth (Kythri). The influence of Kythri supports magic tied to change and transmutation, and these are vital to the society of the Dominion. Hal'kyth is the heart of the alchemical industry. While all great cities harvest the blood of the kar'lassa (as discussed in the next section), it is Hal'kyth that has the greatest capacity for refining it. Though the Dominion is slow to innovate, the artificers of Hal'kyth are an exception, and they continue to develop new techniques; the plasmids discussed in chapter 8 were first magebred in Hal'kyth.
Hal'laman (Lamannia). The flora and fauna of this region are unnaturally fertile. Hal'laman is a center for all forms of animal husbandry, and also holds the largest spawning pools of the Dominion. When Lamannia is coterminous, growth rates spike dramatically; it's always a struggle to keep the city safe during these times, with aggressive beasts swept into frenzies and vegetation becoming shambling mounds.
Hal'shavar (Shavarath). This is the military seat of the Dominion, where the finest barons and strategists are trained. Here, the Ra'har of Hal'shavar establish the military traditions used throughout the Dominion. Mock battles and other grand spectacles are carried out in the grand arena of Hal'shavar.
Hal'syra (Syrania). This is the center for commerce and trade with other cultures. Hal'syra even has a rarely-used quadrant enchanted so surface dwellers can breathe within it. This city is the source of the ambassadors, envoys, and merchants who deal with surface dwellers and other cultures, and it's here that the scholars of the Ta'har study surface dwellers and debate the best ways to deal with them.
These major cities are each home to hundreds of thousands of sahuagin, and the total population of the Dominion is well into the millions. Farms and other small communities scattered between the great cities are often largely inhabited by locathah, with a core group of sahuagin overlords. In between, there are large stretches with no humanoid population; here, ruins of the giants and remnants of other fallen civilizations might be found.

Harvesting the Dreamers
The eight greatest cities of the Eternal Dominion are built around kar'lassa, each tied to a different plane. The sahuagin harvest biomatter from the slumbering behemoths, and this is the driving fuel of the Eternal Dominion. Pipelines channel the blood of the beasts, and workers dig muscle and bone out of mines carved into their flesh. The eldritch energies sustaining the kar'lassa regenerate damage at a remarkable rate; the Dominion has been harvesting them for over a thousand years, and so far, they haven't come close to taxing these resources.

All biomatter from the kar'lassa is infused with arcane energy, and the sahuagin use these substances in the same way the Five Nations rely on dragonshards. In addition, the biomatter of each kar'lassa has unique properties and potential due to the plane it's tied to. The scales of Hal'shavar can be forged into powerful armor and weapons. The steam-breath of Hal'fer is an extremely powerful catalyst for evocation magic. The blood of Hal'kyth is an exceptional conduit for transmutation. These are just a few examples of the potential of the kar'lassa, and the Dominion itself is still discovering new uses for these resources. The Five Nations have never had an opportunity to work with this biomatter and know nothing of the kar'lassa. If a group of adventurers recovered a significant amount of biomatter—or secured a trade deal with the Dominion—House Cannith could produce strange new wonders.

So the kar'lassa are priceless resources and sources of power for the sahuagin; their biomatter drives Dominion industry, and cities benefit from the effects of their manifest zones. Only eight of the twelve kar'lassa have cities built around them, due to the dangers of the manifest zones extending from the kar'lassa tied to Mabar, Xoriat, Thelanis, and Risia. But even in the cities of the "safer" kar'lassa, the sahuagin pay a price for the power they've harnessed. When the people of these cities sleep, their spirits are drawn into the dream of the local kar'lassa—a vast alien dream that takes place in its bound plane, rather than Dal Quor. Most sahuagin aren't lucid dreamers, and don't remember their dreams with any more accuracy than most humans do. But this experience has a notable impact on the personality and aptitudes of the people of each city; the people of Hal'shavar are the most aggressive of the sahuagin, while the people of Hal'syra are the most conciliatory.

The lass'ash—the "dream priests"—are an arm of the Ta'har devoted to the kar'lassa of their cities. These priests treat the kar'lassa both as divine beings and as servants; they believe that it's their rituals and devotions that keep the dreamers safely asleep, allowing the Dominion to continue to harvest their biomatter. At the heart of each temple lies the Or'lassa, the First Dreamer—a sahuagin priest sustained by direct infusions of kar'lassa blood. These infusions cause physical mutations that often reflect the shape of the kar'lassa and the plane it is tied to, as well as keep the First Dreamer in a comatose state. Their spirit permanently resides in the kar'lassa dream, where they anchor a temple formed from their pure will. Dream priests are trained in lucid dreaming, and they use these temples as a base both for planar research and to maintain communication across the Dominion. While they reside in different planes, the temples are mystically linked through the kar'lassa, and rituals allow the priests to spiritually travel between the dream-temples, carrying messages to the other cities. And it's in the dream of Hal'iri that the spirits of the Or'lassa meet to coordinate the actions of the Dominion; this is the Sha'lassa, the Council of Dreams.

Tools and Traditions
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The Eternal Dominion is an advanced civilization that employs both arcane and divine magic as part of everyday life. It's generally more sophisticated than the Five Nations, but less advanced than Aerenal. Though the Dominion possesses capabilities beyond the Five Nations, its approaches can vary dramatically; for example, while the Dominion could generate continual flame, light is largely provided by engineered bioluminescent coral. While the sahuagin employ all schools of magic—generally influenced by the resources of that city's kar'lassa—the Dominion's greatest advances are in alchemy, transmutation, and magebreeding.

The Dominion has an exceptional talent for producing potions, allowing Dominion forces to temporarily boost their capabilities. But their technologies go far beyond temporary alterations, as the Dominion specializes in magebreeding all manner of creatures. The sahuagin themselves are carefully engineered to excel at the tasks chosen for them. In particular, the Dominion creates magewrights and sorcerers. This process isn't quick, taking place over the course of a sahuagin childhood, and including training as well as ongoing rituals and an unusual diet. The blood of the kar'lassa is used as a transformative catalyst, combined with the sahuagin principle, "If you consume a thing you gain its power." As a result, creating a Draconic Bloodline sorcerer requires a young sahuagin to consume the flesh of a dragon—so there's a concrete limit on how many of these sorcerers the sahuagin can create.

In addition to these basic techniques that guide the evolution of a young sahuagin, the Dominion can also induce dramatic secondary mutations; many sahuagin are highly motivated by this prospect of attaining a higher form. The malenti and the four-armed barons are the best known of these, but they represent just a fraction of the Dominion's magebreeding abilities, and the DM can create additional mutants to suit the story. For example, the Claw of Sha'argon (presented in chapter 8) possesses a secondary mutation that's granted to powerful priests. These forms of ascension require rare resources and a significant amount of kar'lassa blood (drawn from a particular dreamer based on the type of transformation sought), and are only granted to sahuagin who prove themselves worthy.

In addition to altering themselves, the sahuagin put many enhanced beasts to good use. Enhanced mantas are a common mount, possessing a swim speed of 90 feet. Mutated giant sharks and eels are used as larger vehicles, sometimes with seating areas formed upon their backs, other times with bony handles protruding from the beast's hide, allowing multiple riders to cling to the side. In place of warships, the Dominion fields dragon turtles with siege staffs embedded into their shells. The sahuagin have also created entirely new forms of life. The alchemists of Hal'kyth used the blood and biomatter of the kar'lassa to create plasmids: protean creatures similar to mimics, but capable of replicating the texture of inanimate objects as well as shape. Plasmids can be guards—often serving as living doors to secure chambers—but they're also a useful tool of industry, as a trained plasmid can itself become the tools a sahuagin artisan needs to perform its work.

Skilled Dominion magewrights can cast fabricate as a ritual, shaping raw materials into their desired form through magic. The Dominion also uses a substance called korlass ("dream stone"), formed from dreamer biomass, as an industrial material; it can be sculpted like clay, then fixed in its shape by a magewright ritual. Korlass has the strength of steel, with a texture similar to shell, though its appearance varies depending on which kar'lassa it's drawn from.

When considering the abilities of Dominion sahuagin, it's likely that storm priests are Tempest clerics or Conquest paladins, while dream priests are Knowledge clerics. Sahuagin artificers are usually Alchemists, and the most common forms of arcane spellcasters are sorcerers (either Storm Sorcery or Draconic Bloodline) and magewrights. Sahaugin warriors are typically Battle Masters or Champions, but some embrace the blood frenzy of barbarians. Bards, druids, wizards, and warlocks aren't supported by the traditions of the Dominion and are rarely encountered.

Subject Races
"Dominion" isn't just a title; the sahuagin dominate other creatures, from other aquatic humanoids to mighty dragon turtles. Before the rise of the Eternal Dominion, there were six locathah nations spread across the Thunder Sea; in the last thousand years, these have all been conquered and assimilated by the Dominion. Locathah laborers are now found in all of the great cities, and there are farming communities across the seafloor where locathah are ruled by sahuagin overseers.

The locathah are the most widespread subjects of the Dominion, but other creatures have been forced into servitude as well. The sahuagin of Hal'laman may have merfolk subjects. There could be a small population of subjugated koalinth near the coast of Darguun, or a city where there are still a few storm giants compelled into service. Typically, creatures that are Dominion subjects know the Sahuagin language, either instead of Common, or in addition to it (if they have regular contact with dryskins).

The Kalamer merfolk of the Thunder Sea (discussed later in this section) have largely been allowed to remain independent, as long as they continue to serve the needs of the Dominion. The Kalamer provide a valuable service, containing the impact of dangerous manifest zones and serving as intermediaries between the Dominion and the Valraean Protectorate.

Foreign Relations
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The people of the Five Nations know little about the Eternal Dominion. Ambassadors and envoys have visited Hal'syra, so there are stories drifting around that the sahuagin city is built around a massive, mysterious creature. This experience and the occasional clashes when people have challenged the territorial demands of the Dominion have taught the Five Nations and the houses to respect the Dominion, but they still know almost nothing about it, aside from the fact that they worship the Devourer. The Aereni have greater knowledge of the Dominion, and have seen its power in the long conflict with the Valraean Protectorate. They know about the kar'lassa, but because of the ongoing conflict, haven't actually explored its lands or visited its cities. So any adventurers who venture into the Dominion are pioneers, exploring unknown realms; academic institutions and dragonmarked houses alike will surely want to hear about their exploits.

For their part, the sahuagin have little interest in the affairs of the dryskins. At this time, the Dominion has no interest in conquering the surface world, and they don't believe the dryskins pose any threat to their rule of the sea. However, the proud sahuagin don't want surface-dwellers bumbling through their territory or polluting their waters. They enforce their territorial waters as a show of strength, demanding that travelers pay tolls and follow the established trade routes.

The Dominion remained neutral in the Last War. Trade between the sea and the surface has been limited, but has expanded in recent years. In particular, Merrix d'Cannith has discovered that the sahuagin have a surplus of Siberys shards; the shards fall into the ocean, but the Dominion economy is based on the blood of the kar'lassa as opposed to dragonshards, and they have little use for them. As such, the Dominion has much to offer Cannith, and securing a steady supply of Siberys shards would strengthen Merrix's position within his house. The trick is finding something the Dominion wants in return, and he's currently pursuing this. Merrix (and other dryskins) are as yet unaware of the vast resources of the kar'lassa; if they were discovered, and Cannith found a way to harness them, it could change the face of industry in Khorvaire.

The Dominion despises the sea elves of the Valraean Protectorate, and in the past, they've launched full-scale campaigns against them, but the power of the Undying Court has thus far repelled all assaults. Currently, it's a stalemate; the Protectorate can't expand beyond the Undying Court's sphere of influence (as discussed later in this section), and the Dominion can't drive them back.

Sahuagin and Malenti Adventurers
The sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion aren't driven by the desire for gold that draws many humans to the path of adventure. Most are fiercely devoted to the Dominion—but what if your duty to the Dominion requires you to venture onto dry land? Perhaps you need to negotiate with the dryskins. Maybe you're seeking information on a force that's meddling with the Dominion—is it House Cannith or the Lords of Dust? Perhaps you're pursuing your peoples' goal of consuming an overlord or conquering the planes. Maybe you've been sent to study the dryskins themselves, to decide whether they're worth conquering. Or you might just be an exile or a rebel, a rare outlier who opposes the ambitions and actions of your people.

While this book doesn't include racial traits for sahuagin, you can use the locathah traits from Locathah Rising (available on the Dungeon Masters Guild), and simply describe the character as a sahuagin. The Blood Frenzy trait of sahuagin NPCs is a special feature magebred into sahuagin soldiers, and not possessed by the general population (though you could represent this trait by playing a sahuagin barbarian).

However, there are two significant challenges to adventuring as a sahuagin. The first is that you're an alien, a creature with a face few recognize, and that those who do typically view with fear. The second is the Limited Amphibiousness trait possessed by both sahuagin and locathah—a need for regular immersion in water can be a crippling requirement when an adventure leads to the Blade Desert. However, the sahuagin have developed a solution that solves both of these problems. While most people of the Five Nations have never seen a sahuagin, that doesn't mean they've never met one. Scholars who study the sahuagin know of malenti, sahuagin that are born indistinguishable from sea elves; the common belief is that this is a random mutation that occurs when sahuagin and sea elves live in close proximity. The sahuagin are happy to support this myth, because the truth is far more disturbing: Malenti aren't born, they're made. One of the sacred rituals of Sha'argon allows a sahuagin priest to guide a subject through ritually consuming a humanoid—and in consuming the creature, the sahuagin becomes that creature, taking both their form and their powers. People know about sea elf malenti, as they've been caught and exposed in the Dominion's long war with the Protectorate. But unbeknownst to the Five Nations, there are human malenti in Sharn, dwarf malenti in Stormreach, malenti passing as many races and traveling the surface wherever the Dominion needs eyes and hands.

Chapter 6 provides a malenti background that could be coupled with any race, along with additional story hooks for malenti adventurers. Using this background, you can secretly play a sahuagin who's assumed the identity of the person they appear to be. While the Dominion has carried out a few targeted replacements to get malenti into influential positions, often malenti are just replacing people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time: smugglers, fisherfolk, or pirates who strayed into Dominion territory. The purpose of this replacement isn't to take advantage of the character's previous life, but rather to place agents who can breathe on land and move freely without drawing attention. So as a malenti you might have been a sailor or a pirate—but now you're an adventurer traveling the world!

Other Sahuagin
The sahuagin of the Eternal Dominion are an advanced and ancient culture that has little interest in the surface world. Its people generally wouldn't randomly attack a fishing village. But what if you want an adventure where the sahuagin attack?

The Eternal Dominion is a culture, but the sahuagin species extends beyond it. In Khorvaire, you have humans of the Five Nations, but you also have humans of the Shadow Marches and humans of the Demon Wastes. Similarly, the Eternal Dominion hasn't extended beyond the Thunder Sea, and sahuagin in other waters may be very different; perhaps the sahuagin off the shores of the Demon Wastes have been twisted by their devotion to fiends. Even in the Thunder Sea, the border sahuagin are wilder than those of the inner Dominion, and you could find sahuagin in the fringes that have never accepted the traditions of the Dominion. The Eternal Dominion is a sahuagin culture, but it's not the only option. With that said, the secondary mutations—the barons, the malenti, the Claws of Sha'argon—are created using Dominion rituals and the blood of the kar'lassa, and these should be tied to the Eternal Dominion.

Story Hooks
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The Eternal Dominion has no interest in conquering Khorvaire—at least for now. But the sahuagin believe life is conflict, and if you aren't moving forward, you'll wither away. This section contains story hooks and major aspirations of the sahuagin that might drive an encounter—or an entire campaign.

The Valraean Cold War. The sahuagin hate the sea elves and yearn to hold dominion over the entirety of the Thunder Sea. The power of the Undying Court protects the elves from any direct assault, so the sahuagin must find another answer. They've been embedding malenti agents into the Valraean Protectorate for years. What's the next step? Will they launch a decisive first strike from within the Protectorate? Will they target Shae Mordai itself? Might they be willing to forge an alliance with a dragonmarked house or a dryskin nation to bring down the Protectorate?
Consume the Overlords. The sahuagin don't need more land, but they're always hungry for more power. The most powerful beings in Eberron are the overlords of the First Age. These archfiends have lingered in their prisons since the dawn of time—while they can't be destroyed, could they be consumed? Could a sahuagin champion follow Sha'argon's path to divinity by somehow devouring the essence of an overlord, thus taking its spirit and strength? This goal could bring sahuagin agents to the surface if they determine the most vulnerable overlords are imprisoned on land. This is no simple task; it could require eldritch machines, planar alignments, and a particular unfolding of the Prophecy. Rak Tulkhesh is bound to multiple shards; perhaps the sahuagin have found a way to consume these one at a time, and now seek each shard. What will happen if a sahuagin champion completes this ascension?
The Conquest of the Planes. The kar'lassa give the Eternal Dominion a foothold in eight planes, and they've been learning new ways to exploit this over the last century. Now, some among the Ta'har wonder if they could expand their influence, using the kar'lassa as an anchor from which to conquer a layer of a plane. This idea is unprecedented—is it even possible? Success could depend on recovering artifacts created by the Cul'sir giants during their war against the quori, and the sahuagin would need a way to bind the immortal spirits of that plane. Which plane will they try to conquer? What would happen to Eberron if they succeeded?
Strange Trade. A group of adventurers could accompany a Cannith delegation sent to Hal'syri to negotiate for Siberys shards. Or they could be sent to the ocean floor in search of kar'lassa blood or forgotten relics from ancient ruins.
Deadly Shortcuts. A vessel could run afoul of Dominion forces when it strays into forbidden territory, adventurers finding themselves bound for Hal'shavar, compelled to battle in the great arena. Or perhaps a dragonmarked heir could change their fate, bargaining with the sea devils and initiating an alliance with their house.
The Lurker in Shadow. The schemes of the Lords of Dust threaten all people. When aboleths serving the Lurker in Shadow threaten a coastal community, the adventurers could end up working alongside Dominion champions to fight the archfiend. Perhaps an aboleth uses sahuagin thralls to try to start war between the surface and the sea; can the adventurers expose the plot?
Locathah Rising. The locathah were conquered long ago, and toil as subjects of the Eternal Dominion. But a resistance could be forming within the locathah, drawing adventurers into the conflict. Some locathah may possess the gift of lucid dreaming, allowing them to meet secretly within the dreams of the kar'lassa; they have no weapons in the waking world, but they could be building schemes and supplies in their dreams.
Karakala: Merfolk
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Children of the Endless Ocean of Lamannia, the merfolk have been drawn into Eberron time and again during grand convergences between the planes. Merfolk can be found across the seas of Eberron, and every kara—tribe—has its own traditions and customs. The primary merfolk culture in the Thunder Sea is Karakala, whose members call themselves the Kalamer.

The Thunder Sea has many strong manifest zones to Lamannia, the source of the endless storms that give the region its name. Nearly two centuries ago, an unusually strong convergence amplified the effects of the manifest zones. Both the Valraean Protectorate and the Eternal Dominion were lashed by the power of Lamannia, and there were fears that the barrier between worlds could be permanently damaged. At the height of this disaster, Kalamer merfolk were pulled through from Lamannia; finding themselves without a means to return home, they used their rites and rituals to contain and repair the damage. These wild zones in the upper waters have always been a threat, and once it became clear that Karakala could mitigate the danger, both the sahuagin and sea elves agreed to give them freedom to travel in the upper waters, so long as they managed the manifest zones. Today, many Kalamer consider the Thunder Sea their new home, and travel from zone to zone, practicing their primal traditions. In a sense, they're nomadic gardeners, preserving the wild. As they're recognized as neutral by both the Dominion and the Protectorate, they often serve as messengers, couriers, and mediators, carrying news and negotiating on behalf of these powers—an important role, as the sahuagin refuse to speak directly to the sea elves. The reach of Karakala extends along the southern coast of Khorvaire, and the arrival of a Kalamer bard is often a celebrated event in small Brelish or Zil fishing villages; more than once, they've managed to settle disputes between fisherfolk and the Dominion.

Overall, Karakala is a neutral force, concerned above all with traveling between the manifest zones—which they call the roots—and performing the rituals that keep them stable. However, there are Kalamer pods who quietly despise those who bend nature for their own benefit—dryskin, sahuagin, and sea elf alike—and especially oppose the use of elemental binding; these have come to see House Lyrandar as their foes. There are Kalamer who dream of someday cleansing the oceans of all traces of industry, of unleashing the full power of the manifest zones instead of keeping them contained. To date, Karakala has maintained its peaceful course, but it's always possible that their darker impulses will rise to the fore—that they'll show House Lyrandar and the nations of the world the true power of the storm.

Culture
The Kalamer are a primal people, feeling the currents, tides, and winds in a profound way; some say that the ocean sings a song. Consider these philosophies when dealing with merfolk of Karakala:

"The water is always moving; follow it, let the currents guide you." Kalamer prefer to remain in motion, and deeply rely on instinct and intuition.
"Flow around a problem or away from it." Kalamer value flexibility over pride and aggression.
"Keep only that which lifts you up, not what drags you down." Kalamer avoid anything that anchors them too strongly to one place or mood, including property and vendettas.
"Make no judgment until you know the story." Kalamer are naturally curious and seek to understand the people and things they encounter.
Karakala is a culture rather than a nation. There are approximately ten thousand Kalamer spread across the Thunder Sea, but they claim no territory and have no single leader. Most live in small pods, following a pattern of migration between the manifest zones of the upper water. When they reach a manifest zone, they remain there for a week or so, performing primal rituals that stabilize the zone. They prize manifest zones to Lamannia, and time spent at a Lamannian zone is a time of celebration. However, they travel to all manifest zones, and their rituals can contain the harmful effects of any manifest zone.

The Kalamer don't worship deities, but revere the forces of nature and believe the world speaks to those who listen. While outsiders might view this as worshiping Eberron, the Kalamer don't need to anthropomorphize nature for it to be worthy of reverence. The Kalamer value wisdom over strength, and the leader of the pod holds that position because the others trust their instincts; often they're an elder, but age isn't a requirement.

In general, Karakala is peaceful; this is one reason both the Dominion and Protectorate allow the Kalamer to move freely. Most merfolk seek to understand any threats they encounter, to see if they can find a way to coexist—or failing that, to simply move past the danger. However, they can be dangerous foes when they're forced to act or encounter a true threat to the balance of nature.

Kalamer fashion is simple and functional. It's rare for Kalamer to wear anything heavier than leather armor, and most just wear leather straps to hold their tools and personal possessions. Many carry small tokens—shells, stones, bones—that remind them of a place or moment. Sometimes humans describe hearing the sound of the ocean in a shell; however, many Kalamer truly receive primal impressions from natural objects.

Kalamer speak Aquan, their native tongue from Lamannia. Most of them also speak either Elvish, Common, or Sahuagin, depending on where their route takes them, and merfolk bards may speak all of these. Any Kalamer capable of casting at least one Druidic spell can speak Druidic, which they consider to be the language of the wind and water.

Territory
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The merfolk of Karakala can be found across the Thunder Sea; Kalamer pods follow migratory patterns, while wandering sirens let intuition guide them. The Kalamer remain in the upper waters where sunlight allows photosynthesis. There are no Kalamer cities, but they establish simple outposts along their migratory paths, often in masses of floating vegetation (which are especially common in Lamannian manifest zones).

Many pods bond with a dragon turtle, which serves as the locus of the pod; the merfolk strap themselves to the turtle when they sleep. Unlike the dragon turtles of the Eternal Dominion, this is a symbiotic relationship; the merfolk help their companion find food and keep the dragon turtle entertained. Other pods bond with gargantuan beasts that have passed into Eberron from Lamannia.

Artist: Kelly Brown
Artist: Kelly Brown
Tools and Traditions
Karakala has no tradition of wizardry or artifice. However, most Kalamer possess at least a touch of primal magic, and can shape water or strike a foe with a thunderclap; this can be reflected by giving Kalamer merfolk a cantrip or single-use spell from the druid or ranger spell list. Kalamer with greater gifts are called stormcallers, and can summon lightning and wind; these are discussed in more depth in chapter 8. Kalamer champions could possess the abilities of rangers or druids, and might be able to assume the forms of deadly sea creatures.

Other Kalamer hear music in the motion of wind and water and become bards. Kalamer sirens can weave illusions with their words, or cloud the minds of enemies. These sirens often travel alone, sharing news and songs both with Kalamer pods and with all other ships and communities they come across. While most Kalamer bards seek to bring joy to everyone they encounter, there are stories of sirens turned bitter after the destruction of a pod or witnessing great cruelty; these merfolk may turn their powers to punishing those they see as evil. Kalamer bards generally rely on their voices as opposed to using instruments, and can sing while submerged.

The people of Karakala create their tools from natural materials—stone, shell, leather, bone. Their magic items—mostly potions, amulets, and charms—produce primal effects.

Foreign Relations
Karakala is politically neutral, holding no nation or people above any other. A siren or pod may have a strong bond to a particular fishing village, but that affection doesn't extend to the dryskin nation that claims it. Generally, Karakala tries to ignore the actions of nations, focusing on its never-ending pilgrimage, though individual Kalamer—sirens, triton champions—may become more actively involved with a single nation.

While they maintain their neutrality and serve as messengers and couriers between all the people of the sea, Karakala doesn't like the Eternal Dominion or the Valraean Protectorate. The Kalamer dislike seeing any creature held in bondage, and they may help renegade locathah or smugglers sailing beyond approved Dominion routes. However, while they may help peaceful smugglers, they dislike cruelty and greed; violent pirates can find that the merfolk are just as dangerous as House Lyrandar or a Dominion patrol.

To date, Karakala has been a passive, mediating force, trusted by all. But the fact remains that Kalamer dislike all forms of industry in the sea. If it were an option, many Kalamer would destroy all dryskin shipping and shatter the cities of the Dominion and Protectorate alike. Currently, they work to contain the manifest zones of the Thunder Sea and to keep peace; but if they chose, they could instead release the power of these zones to terrible effect. Hostile Kalamer could begin by calling elemental tempests and megafauna beasts from Lamannia and unleashing them into shipping lanes, increasing the dangers of the sea—with plausible deniability as to their source. By coordinating rituals with coterminous periods, the Kalamer could dramatically enhance the effects of manifest zones. Using the Lamannia zones in this way, they could create devastating hurricanes and tsunamis. Could tidal waves devastate Stormreach, or elemental hurricanes topple one of the towers of Sharn? Karakala has no interest in conquest; if the merfolk pursued this course of action, it would purely be to drive commerce and civilization from the sea.

Merfolk Adventures
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Kalamer are at home in the water, and rarely have any interest in walking on dry land. However, a few do hear the wind calling them to emerge from the water. A Kalamer who embraces this path can gain the ability to transform into a fully humanoid form—that of a triton—able to operate freely in dry land.

Most Kalamer tritons have a strong sense of purpose—a call that's drawn them to leave their pod and the sea behind. In general, the Kalamer work to protect the balance of nature; a triton might be drawn to investigate the Mourning, to help the Gatekeepers battle aberrations, or even to oppose the dragonmarked houses. Such a champion of nature might be a coastal druid of the Circle of Land, a ranger (likely a Hunter, Monster Slayer, or Horizon Walker), or even a paladin with the Oath of the Ancients.

The Kalamer triton could also be a bard; sometimes it's easier to investigate the Mourning or fight dragonmarked houses with words instead of primal magic. Triton bards are likely to follow their people's drive to help bring people together and settle disputes. The College of Glamour could reflect the enthralling song of the siren, but the College of Lore is also an option for a bard.

As a Kalamer triton, you've left your entire world behind you. Do you miss your pod and the songs of the ocean? Or are you following the basic drives of Karakala—to always move forward, and not to let the anchors of the past pull you down? As someone born in a wild, primal world, how do you deal with the intense civilization of a city such as Sharn?

Variant Rule: Kalamer Triton
Kalamer tritons use the triton racial traits provided in Volo's Guide to Monsters, with two changes. These replace the Languages trait of the standard triton:

Kalamer Transformation. When you finish a short rest, you can change your form. You can either take on the two-legged form of a triton, or the form of a merfolk with a tail. While in merfolk form, your base walking speed is reduced to 10 feet, and your swimming speed is increased to 40 feet. When you assume merfolk form, you can choose whether equipment and clothing worn on your legs falls to the ground, or whether it's merged into your body until you resume your triton form. The transformation has no other effects.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan.
Story Hooks
The Kalamer aren't conquerors. What could draw them into a story? Consider the following ideas.

The Traveling Siren. As adventurers visit a coastal town, they hear a beautiful, clear song rising from the harbor and see people running towards the pier. The arrival of a Kalamer siren is a celebrated event along the southern coast; even the Ghaal'dar welcome friendly sirens. These bards bring news and stories of the sea—of ships in the area, storms, or even just gossip from the next village down the coast—combined with enthralling song. Aside from being an interesting scene, the siren could bring news that's directly relevant to the adventurers—perhaps news of a ship they were waiting for that was sunk offshore, or perhaps they'll share a story of a ruin hidden off the coast. As sirens act as intermediaries, a bard could also come carrying a message for the adventurers from a powerful figure in the Dominion or Protectorate.
Salvation at Sea. Perhaps the characters' ship leaves the safe trade routes and runs afoul of an endless storm. Or maybe they're simply crippled by pirates, or by a forgotten weapon of the Last War. A pod of Kalamer can save the characters, using primal magic to allow the dryskins to breathe underwater, helping them to safety. But do the Kalamer need something in return? A powerful monstrosity could be lurking around a manifest zone, preventing the pod from performing their rituals. Or an aboleth serving the Lurker in Shadow may have captured members of their pod; they need help to defeat the beast.
The Vengeful Storm. Though Kalamer are peaceful, the stormcaller Llaratala can no longer share the water with House Lyrandar and its oppression of elementals. She and her pod are targeting elemental galleons, shattering Lyrandar ships and freeing the bound spirits. The house hires the adventurers to find out who's responsible for the destruction of their vessels. How will the characters track the merfolk mastermind, and what will they choose to do?
Druidic Allies. A Kalamer hails the druid of the party while the adventurers are on the coast or on a ship. The stormspeaker addresses them in Druidic, as a fellow defender of the natural world, asking them to help deal with an unnatural threat. This could be an aboleth or aberration, or a danger posed by a manifest zone—such as Mabar or Fernia—that's experiencing a wild surge and steadily growing worse. Can the druid and their companions help contain the threat?
Intermediaries. The Kalamer act as couriers and envoys between the Valraean Protectorate and the Eternal Dominion. While sailing, the adventurers come upon a dead Kalamer. The message it was carrying could be the key to stopping a new outbreak of war between these two nations. Can the characters find a way to deliver it?
The Valrean Protectorate: Sea Elves
Long ago, the waters along the western coast of Aerenal were inhabited by peaceful locathah. The sahuagin of Sha'argon's Kingdom—a predecessor to the Eternal Dominion—steadily advanced toward Aerenal, conquering and assimilating the locathah. Concerned by the obvious aggression of the sahuagin, the Sibling Kings acted to secure the waters around Aerenal, establishing a buffer zone that would ensure that Sha'argon's Kingdom posed no direct threat. The line of Valraea was chosen, and through the power of the Undying Court, its nobles were physically transformed into sea elves, gaining iridescent skin and the ability to breathe beneath the water.

Initially, the line of Valraea served as protectors and advisors, organizing the locathah and helping them construct superior defenses. Then the attacks began. The conflict slowly escalated; the harder the locathah fought, the more it drove sahuagin determination to claim the region. Valraean priests brought the full power of the Undying Court to bear against the attackers, and Sha'argon's Kingdom couldn't match their transcendent might. A generation later the sahuagin returned, and the elves retaliated, using the divine power of the Undying Court to seize the Sha'argon border fortresses. It was at this time—when the region claimed included both sahuagin and locathah lands—that the elves officially declared it the Valraean Protectorate. According to the proclamation, the Undying Court would protect all peoples of the Protectorate and the line of Valraea would provide them with guidance and security... all of which was a gentle way of saying that the people were now under Aereni rule and would be forced to embrace Aereni customs. While this decision was driven in part by a desire to ensure the island's security, it may have also been tied to the discovery of dragonshard deposits along the seabed—both fallen Siberys shards and indications of deep Khyber shards.

The next thousand years brought chaos, as the sahuagin—first Sha'argon's Kingdom, then the Eternal Dominion—continued to attack and the Valraean elves continued to retaliate by conquering additional sahuagin territories. But the power of the Undying Court is geographically limited. While clerics can draw on the power of the Court to cast spells anywhere in the world, the transcendent might that can repel dragons or defeat sahuagin armies has a limited range. When the elves pressed beyond that, they suffered terrible losses; and yet, the Dominion couldn't challenge the elves within the Court's sphere of influence. This began a long stalemate that continues to this day. The Eternal Dominion has launched numerous attacks over the last few centuries, testing the power of the Undying Court, but thus far, the might of the deathless has been sufficient to repel every sahuagin assault.

Artist: Olie Boldador
Artist: Olie Boldador
Culture
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Most subjects of the Valraean Protectorate are locathah and sahuagin; despite this, the Protectorate is modeled after Aereni society in many ways. In Aerenal, any elf can prove themselves worthy of joining the noble line. In the Protectorate, subjects likewise strive to prove their worth—but in this case, they seek to be worthy of serving the elves of the noble line. Valraean subjects are raised to believe that all elves are semidivine beings. They're ancient and wise, masters of powerful magic and remarkable skills... and most importantly, only elves can ascend to join the Undying Court.

The sea elves of the line of Valraea live in the midst of this enforced adulation. They're idolized and adored from birth, and have been playing the role of divine guardians and guides for so long that many have come to believe it: they were shaped by the Undying Court to be the guardians of the sea, and they do stand above their adoring subjects. But while the Valraean sea elves are often arrogant and overconfident, they generally strive to live up to that vision, to protect anyone in their charge, to be the noble and gracious rulers that (most of) their subjects imagine them to be. They aren't petty tyrants; they believe in ensuring the safety and security of their people—but they also feel no qualms about the fact that their subjects are ultimately trapped in their lives, with all positions of power held by sea elves. They consider their privilege logical and natural; and so do the overwhelming majority of Valraean subjects, who believe the elves, with their long lives and deathless ancestors, are more capable than other mortals could ever be with their fleeting lifespans.

Meanwhile, Valraean subjects believe they too are elevated above all outsiders, lower than the elves, but still blessed to receive the guidance of the elves and the living (or rather, deathless) gods of the Undying Court. And most subjects strive to prove themselves worthy of this blessing. All subjects of the Protectorate receive an education and learn trades. Its people engage in simple industry that no Aereni elf wants to dirty their hands with, as well as laboring to provide an important source of dragonshards for the mainland. In all of this, Valraeans are generally honest and industrious, trying to emulate the Aereni and perfect their skills; but they're taught that they'll never be as gifted as elves, since an Aereni elf spends an entire locathah lifetime in just their initial studies. This reflects the cornerstone of Valraean culture, which is, boiled down, that elves are glorious and better at everything than you. As a Valraean you're just lucky to be near elves, to have their guidance and protection. It's your duty to honor the Undying Court, because without it, you would be torn apart by the vicious sahuagin in the cruel world outside the Protectorate. And while no non-elf has ever proven worthy to join the Undying Court—how could they, with a paltry century to perfect their skills—maybe, just maybe, if you keep working hard enough and become the best person you can be, you might be the first.

While many members of the line of Valraea believe their own propaganda, the simple truth is that the benevolent Protectorate is an oppressive regime, sometimes brutally so. The line of Valraea has long worked to stamp out all traces of the native cultures, replacing the local languages with Elvish and eliminating the locathah religion. Few subjects publicly challenge elven rule, but those who do are quickly silenced. But despite these efforts, there are those among the masses who resist the Valraean propaganda and seek to reclaim and preserve their ancient traditions. Rebel sahuagin may work with malenti and support Dominion espionage. The locathah have a more difficult path, as for their kind, life in the Dominion would be even worse than in the Protectorate. But the locathah resistance still clings to hope, believing that as long as they are free in their hearts, they may yet find a way to overthrow all of the tyrants.

Valraean subjects are split into houses, each of which includes members of multiple species; this, in part, serves to deemphasize the importance of direct family. Each house has a patron in the Undying Court. They are taught to idolize this patron and believe that it personally protects them; in some cases this may actually be true, though many deathless councilors pay no attention to their Valraean devotees. Regardless, the Valraeans' ongoing adoration of the Undying Court provides a valuable source of positive energy for the Court itself.

Valraean fashion largely mirrors that of Aerenal, though using different materials. Fine leather takes the place of cloth, and Valraeans generally wear less clothing than their counterparts on the surface. Coral, ivory, and bloodvines (described in Tools and Traditions) are often used as ornaments. As in Aerenal, masks are important accessories; elves wear full face masks, while accomplished non-elves generally wear masks that cover their lower faces.

All subjects of the Protectorate speak Elvish. This replaces Aquan among locathah and Sahuagin among sahuagin. Those who dream of resistance work to preserve their ancestral languages, but they're not spoken where elves can overhear them.

Valraea and the Undying Court
The sea elves of the Valraean Protectorate are Aereni elves, though they use a different subrace. They still have cousins on the surface, take vacations on Aerenal, and travel to Shae Mordai to consult with the Deathless Councilors. So while there's some cultural divergence, they're still loyal to the fundamental principles of Aerenal and think of themselves as Aereni. And most of all, it is possible for sea elves of the line of Valraea to become deathless. There are deathless sea elves in the Valrean Protectorate—soldiers and councilors who protect and guide the people—and a few ancient sea elves sit on the councils of Shae Mordai.

Some remarkable locathah and even sahuagin have been preserved as spirit idols, and these are held up as paragons to the common people; this is immortality you can attain! While the hope that a non-elf could become deathless has long been dangled in front of the people, it's never been done, and isn't something any elf believes is possible. However, the possibility is explored in Story Hooks later in this section.

Territory
The Valrean Protectorate extends approximately 150 miles from the coast of Aerenal. Within this radius, the Undying Court wields great power; it can control the weather and produce other dramatic environmental effects. As a result, the Protectorate truly seems a blessed land; the waters are peaceful and the weather is beautiful. The Protectorate includes settlements along the shelf in the upper water and on the ocean floor.

The Protectorate has fought many wars with the Eternal Dominion and its predecessors. Ultimately, the transcendental power of the Undying Court holds enemies at bay, but over thousands of years, the Protectorate has developed and fortified defenses on the border of their territory. A series of bone-coral towers stand along the front, connected by rune-lines—glowing patterns engraved in the sea-bed that help focus and channel the power of the Court when it is needed. The region contains spirit mines—floating ivory spheres that conjure angry ghosts into any ship that comes too close—and other defenses. All shipping is wise to follow the sanctioned routes for entry.

The manifest zones in this region are mostly tied to Irian and Mabar. However, there are a few manifest zones tied to Lamannia, and those in the upper waters are prone to the violent surges seen in zones across the sea. While the Undying Court can contain these surges, this is an expenditure of energy on their part; as a result, the Valraeans welcome the merfolk of Karakala, whose rituals stabilize the zones.

Tools and Traditions
Valraeans of all species practice the same traditions as the elves of Aerenal. Though magic is widespread in the Protectorate, Valraean subjects aren't taught the higher arts, so the overall level of common magic is more on par with the Five Nations, with greater wonders seen in the coral palaces of the line of Valraea. The common populace of the Protectorate includes magewrights and adepts, with a handful of gifted wizards. While all subjects are taught to worship the Undying Court, the actual priests are sea elves.

Sea elves of the line of Valraea typically focus on divine or arcane magic. The sea elves are encouraged to think of themselves as divine champions, and many do become clerics or paladins. Arcane spellcasters are typically wizards, and the strengths of the Protectorate are divination, abjuration, and necromancy. There are also a handful of artificers among the line. While the power of the Undying Court defends the region, the line of Valraea maintains the many wards and monitors the seas for sahuagin activity, or any other threat that might arise.

The artisans of the Protectorate work with the exotic woods of Aerenal, but they use other exotic materials as well. Leather is the primary material used in clothing, both fine, thin leather for simple fashions, and tougher hides for armor. Bone-coral is a form of coral that is artificially grown and hardened using arcane techniques, used for everything from buildings to ornaments. Bloodvines are an aquatic form of Aereni livewood; they draw sustenance from any creature in contact with them (though not so much as to be noticeable in any way) and thus remain alive, even when shaped into ornaments or armor.

The artificers of the line of Valraea are curious about the arcane potential of kar'lassa biomatter—the foundation of Dominion arcane magic—and are always eager to acquire it. Valraean sahuagin don't have access to the magebreeding and alchemical techniques of the Eternal Dominion; as a result, they develop as any other creatures would, instead of being guided down a particular path. This also means the Protectorate doesn't have any of the secondary mutants—such as barons, malenti, and Claws of Sha'argon—found in the Dominion.

Foreign Relations
The Valraean Protectorate is an extension of Aerenal, and diplomacy with surface nations is conducted by the elves of the islands. Generally, the only time surface-dwellers encounter sea elves or Valraean subjects is at customs checkpoints when approaching Aerenal; thus, sailors may be familiar with them, but most people of the Five Nations have never seen a sea elf or a locathah. Aerenal takes the security of its coastal waters seriously, and ships must adhere to specific shipping lanes or risk running afoul of spirit mines and other traps.

Today, the Valraean Protectorate remains at a chilly impasse with the Eternal Dominion of the sahuagin, as Valraea strengthes its defenses and the Dominion works to place ever more malenti agents within the Protectorate. Both refused to engage in direct commerce or diplomacy with each other, though the Dominion allows Aereni vessels to use their shipping lanes (at a price). Karakala serves as an intermediary between the two, carrying messages and conducting simple trade.

Valraean Adventures
Elves of the line of Valraea rarely leave the Protectorate. They have important duties to tend to, and issues in the surface world are generally dealt with by the elves of the island. However, the line of Valraea is devoted to the Undying Court, and an adventurer could be following a direct mandate either from the court itself or from a specific deathless sea elf. Such a character could use the sea elf racial traits from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes; you might be a cleric using the Life or Knowledge domain, or a paladin following the Oath of the Ancients or the Oath of Devotion. In any case, this character would likely be proud; in your eyes, you're a celestial in the service of the divine.

Or you might be a sea elf who questions the traditions of the Protectorate. Perhaps you feel that the Protectorate—and Aerenal as a whole—should be emulating the spirit of innovation of the Five Nations rather than just holding to Aereni arcane traditions. As an artificer or wizard, you could be determined to study as many other systems of magic as possible; you don't believe that the defenses of the Protectorate will hold forever, and you want to develop something new.

Alternatively, you could play a locathah from the Valraean Protectorate (using the racial traits presented in Locathah Rising). Locathah are all but unknown on Khorvaire. As a Valraean locathah, you have the benefits of Aereni education, and may have adopted many elf mannerisms. Are you a proud champion of your nation and a loyal servant of the Undying Court? Or were you exiled after you opposed the Aereni oppression of your people? If so, are you acting in the interests of Valraean locathah now? Do you want to find a way for your people to develop their own deathless? Or are you following your own path in the world, leaving the Protectorate in your wake?

Sea Elves Beyond Valraea
The line of Valraea are the sea elves of the Thunder Sea, but they aren't the only sea elves in Eberron. If you want to play a sea elf but don't want ties to the oppressive Protectorate, there are two additional options you can explore.

The Line of Maraen. The Valraean Protectorate guards the Thunder Sea and holds the line between Aerenal and the Thunder Sea. But that's not the only aquatic border of Aerenal. Along the eastern coastline, the elves of the line of Maraen are the sentinels of the Dragonreach. This isn't a colony, but rather, a military operation. In the wake of the last draconic incursion, Valraeans were conscripted to serve the Maraen line, but in the Dragonreach, they're not subjects, but soldiers and equals. Here, Maraen sea elves scout and fight alongside sahuagin and locathah. They hold firmly to the meritocratic principles that underlie Aerenal, and have formally adopted some of their non-elf soldiers into the line. They have yet to nominate a non-elf for admission into the Undying Court, but it's certainly a path they may pursue.
The Lhazaar Exiles. The conflict between the Undying Court and the line of Vol shook Aerenal. While most of the line of Valraea were staunch supporters of the Undying Court, there were some among both Valraea and Maraen who saw the persecution of Vol as unjust and fought against their kin. After Vol was defeated, they went into exile with other supporters of the line, traveling north to the Lhazaar Principalities. A few dwell off the coast of Farlnen, where they have adopted the necromantic traditions of the Bloodsails. The rest followed their elf kin to Orthoss, where they are a proud part of the Wind Whisperer principality.
Story Hooks
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The Valraean Protectorate is an isolated part of a hidden nation. What could bring it into a story? Consider the following ideas.

The Cold War. Whether on land or sea, adventurers could stumble into a Dominion plot to wreak havoc in the Protectorate. Thousands of innocents will die if they do nothing; what'll they do?
Fish Farm. The adventurers are on a ship that is drawn off course (by hijackers? a freak occurrence?) and runs afoul of Valraean defenses, crippling the vessel. The characters are rescued by a group of Valraean locathah who maintain a farm on the edge of a small island. While waiting for someone to retrieve them, the adventurers get to know these locathah... and perhaps discover a dangerous secret hidden on the tiny island.
Deathless for the People. A group of Valraean visionaries—locathah, sahuagin, and sympathetic sea elves—are determined to develop sahuagin or locathah deathless, their first step to establishing equality within the region. These revolutionaries are searching out scattered tombs that tie to the creation of deathless, along with artifacts that channel the power of Irian. Are their methods peaceful or violent? Will the adventurers assist them or oppose them?
Dead or Alive? To strengthen their support among the common people, the line of Valraea proclaims that a locathah hero has been raised to the Undying Court—the first non-elf to be admitted. But is this true, or is it a lie to placate the masses? The adventurers are hired to investigate, and if it's a hoax, to expose it. Are their patrons members of the locathah resistance, or might they be unknowingly working for the Eternal Dominion?
The Quest for Hal'thela. The Protectorate is eager to tap the power and the potential of the kar'lassa, and the best candidate is Hal'thela—the kar'lassa bound to Thelanis. But the kar'lassa is deep behind enemy lines. Can the adventurers help find its location and lead a team there? Why do the sahuagin shun it? Is it simply that they can't control the capricious fey? Or is the entire region touched by a fey curse—something that must be lifted before anyone can explore it safely?
Aboleths: The Darkest Depths
There are places where even sahuagin fear to swim. Like all the overlords, the Lurker in Shadow couldn't be destroyed, only imprisoned. It's bound in Khyber, deep below the center of the Thunder Sea. But there are passages to its prison spread across the region, in vast rifts and lightless tunnels. The servants of the Lurker linger in these places, building their strength and watching the world above.

The chief servants of the Lurker in Shadow are the aboleths. Though driven from the sea itself, they've maintained a shadow empire in the tunnels below the seabed. Across eras, they've collected their subjects—locathah, sahuagin, withered storm giants, people of the Five Nations stolen from their ships. Those aboleths with little interest in humanoids instead craft aberrations and monstrosities, like the chuul. While the aboleths have no direct ties to the Lords of Dust, there are fiends among their allies—shadow demons and other spirits created by the Lurker in Shadows.

The aboleths also possess untold riches and powerful artifacts from the Age of Demons—tools they can use to arm their allies, or to motivate with greed and bribery when direct mental domination isn't an option. The aboleths have risen en masse in the past, bringing down previous civilizations, fomenting war between the sahuagin and the giants. There have been dark centuries where the aboleths have ruled the sea—though these days were long before the rise of Galifar, and humanity knows little about the threat.

Today, the aboleths are spread across the ocean, and it's up to the DM to decide how powerful they are. Are they a hidden empire preparing to shake the world? Or are there just a few in hiding, preying on forgotten fishing villages and stealing thralls from shipwrecks? Consider the following ideas.

The Pirate King. A new wave of piracy spreads across the trade lanes in the vicinity of Stormreach. The villain is Red Daskia, a Cloudreaver captain from the Lhazaar Principalities. But she has fiendish allies and artifacts from the Age of Demons that let her vessel outrun even Lyrandar vessels and disappear in fog. When the adventurers finally confront the pirate queen, it becomes clear that she's merely the agent of an aboleth mastermind; can the characters stop the true villain?
Sahuagin Assault. The adventurers are caught in what seems to be a Dominion attack on a coastal community or peaceful vessel. An aboleth has seized control of a Dominion outpost and is seeking to cause conflict between the Dominion and the surface; it might also stage dryskin attacks on Dominion bases. Can the adventurers get to the bottom of it?
Civil War in the Sea. A cabal of aboleths have gained control of the leaders of Hal'shavar. They use this power to foment unrest across the Dominion, turning city against city. These conflicts could spill out to peaceful travelers; a major assault could even affect Sharn or Stormreach. Could this bring down the entire Dominion? At first, the adventurers only encounter the side effects of the conflict, until a student of the Draconic Prophecy realizes that if the Dominion collapses, the Lurker in Shadow will be released. Can the adventurers end this civil war?