King Boranel an impostor? Impossible. Or is it? And just how are so many criminals avoiding the well trained soldiers of House Deneith. In this installment of the Secrets of Eberron Revealed we look into a possible conspiracy within the royal house of Breland where a king might in fact be a changeling and House Deneith tries to solve the mystery of how its soldiers are being detected. Is there a traitor within the house or is it something else all together?

Click on the Eberron tab above the Dungeon’s Master banner to find the previous installments in this ongoing series as well as many other great Eberron articles and resources.

The King and the Changeling

King Boranel has always been considered a radical thinker. He, more than any of the other monarchs, pushes for a democratically elected government. He’s been called radical, progressive, liberal and a visionary. But many are starting to also call him impostor. A man living in the slums of Sharn and bearing a striking resemblance to King Boranel claims to be the actual king.

Known only as Canty, this Boranel look-a-like does not seek power. He’s a docile man who only wants to be left alone. He claims that as a teenager he and a changing swapped places on occasions so that he could meet secretly with a woman. But the changeling grew too comfortable in the seat of power and refused to give up his new identity. The changeling became Boranel permanently while the real Boranel was forced to flee to the slums of Sharn to avoid death at the hands of the changeling’s assassins.

Anyone who’s met Canty realizes that he’s not just a common beggar or down-on-his-luck criminal. He exudes a radiance of Charisma that immediately makes people like him. He gives hope to the downtrodden simply by acknowledging them and shaking their hand. King or not, there is certainly something majestic about Canty.

Many fiercely loyal soldiers who love and respect their king disagree with his political agenda and long to go back to war. These men would never act against their king, but if he turned out to be a changeling in disguise… Seeking to undo the social and political changes that King Boranel has introduced during his reign, a group of Brelish soldier are now actively seeking Canty in hope to put him on the throne, real king or not.

• The PCs discover soldiers harassing a beggar and intercede. One of the PCs recognizes the beggar as King Boranel (Canty)
• The PCs are hired by the throne to find and eliminate a changeling called Canty who is parading around the slums of Sharn claiming to be the King.
• The PCs need to get into a posh party. They realize that if they clean Canty up he can pretend to be the King and get them inside. Of course, when the real King arrives there could be trouble.

Deneith Detection Device

Not long after the Day of Mourning, while House Cannith was in turmoil, a prospector met with a junior house member to try and sell the rights to the minerals he discovered in his mine. The prospector explained that he purchased the mine years ago with the hope of finding Dragonshards or gemstones. After the Day of Mourning, he discovered a vein of strange metal. He felt that Cannith might be interested in owning the rights to this rare find.

The junior house member examined the samples the prospector provided and discovered that the metal was stronger than any she’s ever examined. She immediately purchased exclusive rights to this find and Cannith has used this metal to make some of the finest blades in Khorvaire ever since.

What the prospector failed to tell Cannith during his dealings is that the metal has another unique property besides its unusual strength. When the prospector discovered the metal, he also discovered small, spider-like bugs nesting near the metal. Whenever the bugs were near the metal they glowed. The prospector also learned that if he held one of these bugs in his hand, he could feel it getting warmer as the bug got closer to the metal.

The prospector made a good deal of money when he signed on with house Cannith, but he makes even more money these days by selling the bugs. It turns out that House Cannith uses the metal in weapons sold exclusively to House Deneith. Now the criminal elements can get an early warning whenever Deneith soldiers are approaching, as long as they’ve got one of these little bugs touching their skin. When the bug gets warm, Deneith is on the way.

• The PCs are on the run from House Deneith. They learn that there’s a way to avoid detection and seek the prospector for aid.
• House Deneith realizes that many criminals are being tipped off and eluding capture. The PCs are hired by House Deneith to investigate.
• One of the PCs finds a magic blade made of the rare metal. He doesn’t understand why so many people assume he’s a member of House Deneith working undercover.

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Even though we’ve spent a lot of time discussing Dark Sun over the past few weeks we still play our weekly game in Eberron and are still committed to bringing you Eberron-specific articles. With this latest installment in our ongoing series, Secrets of Eberron Revealed, we look at how Dragonmarks are permanently removed and how Dragonmarks can be made to manifest for a short time.

• Every member of a Dragonmarked house knows that one of the harshest punishments they can receive is to be excoriated – permanent banishment from the house. But when the house brings in The Effacers the punishment becomes so much worse.
• Have you every wished you had a Dragonmark, even for just a short time? The Drakes may be able to help you.

Click on the Eberron tab above the Dungeon’s Master banner to find the previous installments in this ongoing series as well as many other great Eberron articles and resources.

The Effacers

When a member of a Dragonmarked house is excoriated there is more at stake than suffering the social indignity of being erased from the house records. Few outside of a Dragonmarked house may even know of an excoriate’s circumstance, especially if the excoriate still posses a true Dragonmark. Anyone bringing shame and disgrace to their house shall not benefit in any way from association with the house nor from a Dragonmark on their person. To ensure a complete separation of the excoriate from the house, steps may be taken to physically remove the excoriate’s Dragonmark. In these extreme cases the Dragonmark emblazoned on the excoriate’s skin is forcibly removed from their body – permanently.

In circumstances where removal of the offender’s Dragonmark is deemed necessary, the houses rely on the services of the Effacers. This secret organization ensures that family allegiances and emotional ties don’t interfere with the edict of the Dragonmarked house. The Effacers have perfected their craft over the years and perform their task as swiftly and as humanely as possible.

Should a Dragonmark be removed by traditional (and excruciatingly painful) means, the mark will manifest itself somewhere else on the excoriate’s body. This causes the excoriate a tremendous amount of physical pain and puts the house right back in the same position it was in when they started. By using various techniques (arcane, divine, primal and psychic) the Effacers ensure that when they remove a Dragonmark it does not manifest again on that person.

The Effacers rarely collect coin for their services, preferring instead to collect favours from Dragonmarked houses. When the favour is redeemed the Dragonmarked houses always comply with the request, no matter how outrageous. After all, the Effacers know the identities (and likely the current whereabouts) of former members of the Dragonmarked house. Members the house does not want anyone else to know about.

Adventuring Hooks

• A PC with ties to a Dragonmarked house is approached by an excoriate. The disgraced member of the house seeks revenge against the Effacer who robbed them of their birthright.
• A PC is asked to join the Effacers and the first task is to track down a renegade member of a Dragonmarked house. When captured, the PC will be initiated by participating in their first ritual to remove a Dragonmark.
• A Dragonmarked PC is wrongfully disgraced within his own house and is sentenced to excoriation. He must avoid capture and prevent the Effacers from removing his Dragonmark.

The Drakes

True Dragonmarks only manifest on those of carefully groomed bloodlines. Those who possess Dragonmarks are treated like royalty within their own house and are immediately accepted into the upper echelons of most societies. The Dragonmark also gives its possessor some minor magical ability.

To say that people are envious of the Dragonmarked heirs is an understatement. There are people who would give anything to have a true Dragonmark. And if you know where to look, the Drakes can help you manifest one for a short time.

The Drakes have the ability to craft potions that when consumed will cause the imbiber to manifest a true Dragonmark. The effect only lasts for a few minutes, but depending on the need, a few minutes is often more than enough time to accomplish one’s task.

The Dragonmarked houses deny even the possibility of a potion that can produce a true Dragonmark, even if it is only for a short time. Dragonmarks are not something that can be bottled and sold. But in this case, the houses are completely wrong. What they don’t know, nor does anyone outside of the Drakes, is that the Drakes and the Effacers are part of the same organization. The magic the Effacers use to remove the Dragonmarked flesh from house excoriates captures the power of the mark in the flesh. It is later used to create Dragonmark potions.

Because the flesh needed for the material component is so rare, the potions are difficult to come by and are quite expensive. After all, the Dragonmarked houses don’t go around excoriating members of their own house with great regularity. The Drakes know that if they are discover by the Dragonmarked houses, they will likely be exterminated. Therefore they rarely deal with new customers unless referred by someone they already know.

Dragonmark Potion (Level 15)

Level 15. 1,000 gp. Minor action. When you drink this potion you must expend a daily magic item use. The type of Dragonmark the potion causes to manifest is determined when the potion is created. The character chooses where on their body the Dragonmark manifests and it lasts until the end of the encounter. It functions in all respects as if the character had the appropriate Dragonmark feat. The potion offers no benefit to a character that already has a Dragonmark feat, even if the potion is for a different Dragonmark then the one they already possess (a character cannot possess two Dragonmarks). If a character that already has a Dragonmark feat drinks a Dragonmark potion he does not expend a daily magic item use, but the potion is wasted.

Adventuring Hooks

• One night in a crowded tavern something is slipped into a PC’s drink. When the beverage is consumed the PC manifests a visible Dragonmark attracting the wrong kind of attention.
• Only a person bearing a true Dragonmark can complete the task the PC’s are hired to do. They can try to enlist such a person or they can get a few Dragonmark potions and try it themselves. The only problem now is where to find the Drakes.

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In February’s issue of Dungeon (#173), Craig A. Campbell has created a three-encounter delve called Haruuc’s Tomb: A Novel Adventure based on events from Don Bassingthwaite’s fantastic Eberron novel, Word of Traitors. As a big fan of Eberron and a huge fan of this book I was very concerned about how this adventure would turn out. But before I get into the good and bad of Campbell’s undertaking I have a questions for all the players. Have you ever played an adventure that was inspired from a D&D novel?

The last time I had this unfortunate experience was way back when AD&D 2nd edition was released. In order to explain the rule changes between AD&D and AD&D 2nd edition in the Forgotten Realms, the world experienced the Time of Troubles. The Avatar trilogy gave us three decent novels (Shadowdale, Tantris and Waterdeep) that saw the gods fall from the heavens and walk the realms as mortals. When the gods returned to the heavens things changes (and we got AD&D 2nd edition). The novels were pretty good, but the adventures based on these books were horrible. If you want to see examples of how not to structure a D&D adventure, these are prime candidates.

The problem wasn’t with the encounters themselves; some were a lot of fun to play. The problem was the railroading. In order for the story to unfold as required the PCs had to do certain things a certain way at a certain time. Whenever the PCs decided to do something differently or accidentally screwed something up (like killing an important NPC or villain) the DM needed to do some pretty quick improvising. The way most DMs avoid this scenario from happening is to railroad the PCs. As soon as they start to act off-script the DM quickly blocks their path and forces their hand.

But after reading Campbell’s article on the Wizards website I realize that they found a great way to solve this problem. They didn’t try to recreate the novel as a full adventure. In stead they took one very specific encounter and treated it as a side quest. It represents only a few chapters from the book and not the entire book itself.

“Haruuc’s Tomb” is a D&D encounter for five 7th-8th level characters. It is an adaptation of events from the Eberron novel Word of Traitors. You can run this as a one-shot encounter or weave it into your campaign as part of a longer adventure.

In the accompanying article Haruuc’s Tomb: From Book to Game, Campbell walks us through his creative process. He explains how and why he set the encounters up the way he did. He gives us details about the monsters and villains and shares his process for creating their powers. He has kept very true to the encounter as it appears in the novel, but he’s altered it enough that it doesn’t seem out of place on its own. And this is why it works.

Regardless of what the PCs do or how they choose to handle each encounter, their campaign is not the story told in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy. So the DM doesn’t need to worry about forcing the PCs to take certain actions. The PCs are free to do whatever they feel is appropriate. If they want to kill an opponent or just capture them, it won’t make any difference. Even though each of these outcomes would have a very different impact on the rest of the story from the novel. In this case it simply doesn’t matter.

As an avid fan of the D&D novels I applaud Wizards for creating this kind of delve adventure. I hope this is the first of what will become a regular series. It also serves as an advertisement for the books themselves. Players and DMs who may not have read Word of Traitors may enjoy the delve enough to pick up the novel. My only real criticism about this article is that I don’t see any mention of including Don Bassingthwaite in the creative process. He did write the book and probably has some strong ideas about how his NPC would look as actual D&D characters. If he was consulted it would have been nice to give him a shout out. If he wasn’t consulted then I think Wizards missed an opportunity to use the author as a resource.

To get a better idea of the story that inspired this delve, be sure to check out our Word of Traitors Review and our three-part interview with the author, Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3).

Have you played adventures based on novels or other stories that had a predefined ending? Did you find yourself being railroaded often? If you were the DM how did you keep the party on track? What do you think of this new three-encounter delve approach to tapping the novels? Are you any more or less likely to use this in your campaign because it was inspired from a D&D novel? Are you excited about the possibility of more Novel Adventures?

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The Dragonmarked Houses try to keep some secrets of Eberron from being revealed. In this installment we focus on the best kept secret in Khorvaire – true Dragonmarks manifesting outside of the normal racial boundaries. Power and fortunes hang in the balance if Dragonmarks loose their exclusivity to a particular house or race.

In The Gorgon Returns members of House Cannith are shocked to learn that their house patriarch, Starrin d’Cannith, may not have died on the Day of Mourning. The Dragon’s Teeth act on orders from the Dragonmarked Houses to track down anyone manifesting a true Dragonmark outside of recognized bloodlines.

Click on the Eberron tab above the Dungeon’s Master banner to find the previous installments in this ongoing series as well as many other great Eberron articles and resources.

The Gorgon Returns

Starrin d’Cannith, House Cannith’s patriarch was killed on the Day of Mourning. With no clear heir, a struggle to control the house erupted. House Cannith, the most powerful Dragonmarked house, eventually split into three competing factions.

Rumours recently began surfacing that Starrin d’Cannith is still alive. Letters were sent to each faction of House Cannith from someone claiming to be Starrin. In each letter he revealed specific details about House Cannith and its Dragonmarked heirs that an imposter couldn’t possibly know.

A neutral-site meeting was arranged between representatives from each faction and Starrin d’Cannith. The Cannith heirs were shocked to discover that the person claiming to be The Gorgon, Starrin d’Cannith himself, was actually a Warforged. However, as proof of his legitimacy, the Warforged revealed his Dragonmark – a perfect Mark of Making identical in size, shape and positioning to that of the former house patriarch.

Could this Warforged indeed be Starrin d’Cannith? Cannith’s Dragonmarked heirs haven’t dismissed the possibility. If anyone could transfer his life-force into a Warforged it would be The Gorgon. After all, he pioneered the creation forges. And they cannot overlook his perfect Dragonmark.

Starrin has agreed to keep his true identity and his Dragonmark secret for the time being while House Cannith decides how to proceed. He’s not interested in returning to the position of house patriarch, but he does want the factions to come together again. Will they accept his claims of identity and embrace him or will they attempt to destroy him before he can spread his lies any further?

Adventuring Hooks

• The PCs are hired by a member of House Cannith to capture a damaged Warforged. The mysterious employer seems genuinely concerned that the mind of this poor Warforged is damaged. The Warforged is delusional and believes he’s a Dragonmarked heir. He’s even used magic to create a false Dragonmark on his body. House Cannith fears for the safety of those around this Warforged should he become more irrational.
• An emissary of the Lord of Blades contacts a Warforged PC. There are rumours that a Warforged has manifested a Mark of Making. The PC is implored to find this marked Warforged and ask him to enter the Mournland to meet with the Lord of Blades. The Lord of Blades has creation forges ready to procreate his species and lacks only a true Mark of Making to power the devices.
• A PC bearing the Mark of Marking is approached by a Warforged claiming to be The Gorgon, house patriarch Starrin d’Cannith. Starrin is trying to convince as many heirs of his identity as possible. Does the PC believe him? Does the PC report him to House Cannith?

The Dragon’s Teeth

Every Dragonmark is tied to a specific bloodline. The Dragonmarked houses go to great lengths to ensure the bloodlines remain pure. If the bloodlines are inadvertently or accidentally mixed the result is often manifestation of an Aberrant Dragonmark.

An Aberrant Dragonmark is clearly not a true Dragonmark. But the Dragonmarked houses are getting reports of true marks appearing outside of established bloodlines, and in some extreme cases even outside of the expected racial norms.

Putting traditional grievances aside, The Dragonmarked Houses have sponsored squads of elite soldiers called The Dragon’s Teeth. The squad’s purpose is to track down anyone outside of established bloodlines bearing a true Dragonmark. Special emphasis is placed on locating anyone who manifests a Dragonmark outside of expected racial boundaries (e.g., the Mark of Sentinel appearing on a non-human, the Mark of Warding appearing on a non-dwarf or the Mark of Scribe appearing on a non-gnome). Representatives from each house have volunteered to provide their unique services to ensure success.

The Dragon’s Teeth have orders to capture their targets alive. However, as most targets are killed during pursuit, it seems like The Dragon’s Teeth are more interested in preserving the purity of bloodlines than welcoming new members into the folds of the Dragonmarked Houses.

Adventuring Hooks

• A PC manifests a Dragonmark not normally associated with his race. After flaunting his mark in public (or not taking the proper steps to keep it hidden) he gets an anonymous tip that the Dragon’s Teeth are after him. Will he confront them or flee?
• The PCs are hired by an old merchant to protect his daughter until her marriage five days hence. She is betrothed to a nobleman from a distant land and the marriage will complete a lucrative trade agreement between the families. The bride-to-be recently manifested the Mark of Storm despite no Elven ancestry. Yesterday she was nearly killed in an “accident.” Her father fears another accident in the days to come.
• A party with true Dragonamarked PCs is approached by one of the Dragonmarked Houses to become part of The Dragon’s Teeth. They are offered incredible wealth to capture three people bearing marks not normally associated with their race. If they accept one of the PCs (probably the one bearing the Dragonmark) is offered an additional bonus if the targets are killed during pursuit.

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The moon is a harsh mistress. None know this more intimately than the lycanthropes of Eberron. With twelve moons, there is seldom a night when lycanthropes don’t feel the tug of their inner beast.

While 4e has changed the way lycanthropy is handled, we realized that not everyone is happy with these changes. What we wanted to consider was how would the lycanthropic transformation differ depending on which moon was full? For DMs who like handling lycanthropy as a disease that can afflict PCs and using the moon to determine the mood, we have created this resource to spice things up.

The moons of Eberron are not just satellites orbiting the planet. Each one is linked to a dragonmark and the Draconic Prophecy. Each moon in Eberron also carries a different benefit for the lycanthropes born under it. This benefit is only active while the moon in question is full. The planes in Eberron also have an effect on lycanthropes. Should a moon be full and a plane coterminous with Eberron, an added benefit is provided.

DMs may find the following resources from WotC useful: Eberron World and Planar Calendar Utility | The Moons of Eberron

Moons

• Nymm

Lycanthropes born under Nymm gain a + 1 to Diplomacy.

• Sypheros

Those born under Sypheros gain a + 1 to Stealth checks.

• Therendor

Lycanthropes born under Therendor have the healers touch and gain a + 1 bonus to Heal checks.

• Rhaan

Lycanthropes born under Rhaan have greater insight in matters historical, gaining a + 1 bonus to History checks.

• Olarune

Those born under the watch of Olarune gain a + 1 bonus to Perception checks.

• Eyre

Lycanthropes born under Eyre are hardy souls and gain 8 temp hit points after an extended rest.

• Vult

Those born under Vult gain the ability to speak Draconic.

• Zarantyr

The lycanthrope may reroll one attack roll per day as Zarantyr favours the lucky.

• Aryth

Aryth grants a + 1 to speed when in animal form.

• Dravago

Born under Dravago as a Lycanthrope you gain a + 1 bonus to Perception checks while tracking in the wild.

• Lharvion

When Lharvion is full, those born under her sights become introspective gaining a + 1 bonus to Insight checks.

• Barrakas

Lycanthropes born under Barrakas gain a + 1 to Dungeoneering checks.

Planes

• Daanvi

When Daanvi is coterminous with Eberron a lycanthrope that spends an action point may make an immediate saving throw against one condition that a save can end.

• Dal Quor

The plane of Dal Quor has not been coterminous with Eberron during recorded history and the effect it would have on lycanthropes is unknown.

• Dolurrh

Once a century Dolurrh is coterminous with Eberron for one full year. During this year lycanthropes gain + 1 to save vs. death.

• Fernia

When Fernia is coterminous, lycanthropes gain resist fire 5. Increase this to 10 at level 11, and 15 at level 21.

• Iraian

When Irian is coterminous a lycanthrope can make a saving each day to controls its form.

• Kythri

The first time in an encounter when a lycanthrope is bloodied while Kythri is coterminous a lycanthrope must succeed at a saving throw. Failing the saving throw results in the lycanthrope making an immediate basic attack against a random target.

• Lamannia

Lycanthropes gain a + 1 to Nature checks during the period that Lamannia is coterminous.

• Mabar

When Mabar is coterminous lycanthropes gain a + 1 to Stealth and Thievery checks.

• Risia

When Fernia is coterminous, lycanthropes gain resist cold 5. Increase this to 10 at level 11, and 15 at level 21.

• Shavarath

When Shavarath is coterminous with Eberron lycanthropes gain a + 1 to initiative.

• Syrania

Lycanthropes gain a + 1 bonus to all saving throws when Syrania is coterminous.

• Thelanis

When Thelanis is coterminous lycanthropes feel a deeper kinship with the natural world gaining a + 1 bonus to Nature checks.

• Xoriat

The Gatekeepers intervened the last time Xoriat was coterminous with Eberron. It is not recorded what effect this plane has on lycanthropes and it is hoped by many that we will never learn.

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If you’re looking for Eberron resources then you need look no further. Today Dungeon’s Master adds a new section to our website dedicated exclusively to Eberron-related content. The Eberron tab is easily accessed at the top of every page above the Dungeon’s Master banner. It’s a permanent, one-stop-shop for all things Eberron.

We’ve collected all the articles and resources we’ve written about Eberron, grouped them by category and made them easier to access. In addition to highlighting our own contributions to the world of Eberron, we’ve included links to other great resources from around the internet – including many from Wizards of the Coast.

There’s a lot of great material here whether you play in Eberron or not. Many of our articles provide ideas and inspiration you can easily add to any existing non-Eberron campaign with only a few minor tweaks.

We’ll continue writing new Eberron articles in the coming weeks and months (expect a new Secrets of Eberron in early March). If there’s an Eberron topic you’d like to see us cover, please email us or leave a comment.

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More secrets of Eberron are revealed as we discover political plotting within The Twelve and we reveal the Mournland Express. Changes are coming for House Cannith. The ongoing internal family power struggle within House Cannith scares members of other Dragonmakred Houses. Other house scions plot to unify House Cannith by whatever means necessary. Take a trip on the mysterious Mournland Express, a secret subterranean lightning rail that travels safely beneath the Mournland.

Discover more Secrets of Eberron Revealed in our previous installments in this ongoing series.

• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 1)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 2)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 3)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 4)

The Twelve

Founded by the Dragonmarked Houses, the Twelve is an institute of learning. Nominally run by the Committee of Twelve, recent events during the last war have expanded the committee’s membership to fifteen members. Here representatives for the various Houses vie for control and resources. Each House puts its own ambitions above the needs or concerns of others. This is nothing new, but the fracture of House Cannith and the split of House Thuranni from Phiarlan has become a cause for concern with some committee members.

They fear that the fracture within these Houses may be perceived as a sign of weakness from the populace. Worse, they worry that a feud may erupt within House Cannith and between House Thuranni and Phiarlan. The results of such a feud could be devastating. While not as bloody as the War of the Mark or as devastating as the Last War, such a conflict could destabilize all the Dragonmarked Houses.

Several members of the Committee have gathered in secret. Their purposes, to force the merger or dissolution of some aspects of these severed Houses. Of particular concern is the split within House Cannith. The split within House Cannith has the potential to cripple the economy of several nations and cut into the profits of the Dragonmarked Houses.

Tornil d’Medani and Davin Lyrim d’Sivis are the leaders of this plot. So far they have not expanded beyond themselves. Their plan is to find or fabricate evidence that will severely weaken one of the factions of House Cannith. When the other Houses discover this evidence they will force that faction’s leader to surrender control to another area of House Cannith.

Adventure Hooks

• The PCs are contracted to infiltrate a faction of House Cannith and sabotage its operations.
• An unknown party has requested that the PCs plant damaging evidence against a faction of House Cannith. After the evidence is planted the PCs are attacked, as the employer wants to eliminate all knowledge of tampering. Will the PCs report on what they have discovered or track down their mysterious employer to return the favour.
• The PCs are affiliated with House Cannith and have discovered a plot to discredit the House. The PCs are requested to find those behind the plot and remind them why tampering in House Cannith affairs is not a wise idea.

The Mournland Express

It’s well known that House Tharashk made a name for itself by locating Khyber Dragonshard deposits buried deep underground. What is not as well known is that during a routine expedition to locate Dragonshards shortly after the Day of Mourning, members of the Finders Guild discovered something much more valuable.

South of Vathiron, near the border between Breland and the Mournland, Tharashk prospectors discovered a series of natural underground caverns. What made this find so remarkable is that the passages go directly beneath the Mournland. None of the unusual activities that are present on the surface of the Mournland seem to occur so far beneath the surface. House Tharashk immediacy set to work mapping the cavernous expanse. It didn’t take long to discover that they went all the way from Breland to the Talenta Plains.

House Tharashk quietly struck a deal with House Orien and the two houses worked together to create a safe travel route beneath the Mournland. Confident that the route was secure, they contacted Artificers from House Cannith and have created a subterranean lightning rail that rockets beneath the Mournland. They are still performing test runs, but are almost ready to go public.

If the new lightning rail becomes fully operational and is proven safe and reliable many fortunes stand to be made and lost over night.

Adventure Hooks

• House Lyrander just lost a lucrative contract to ship goods by airship from Gatherhold in the Talenta Plains to numerous cities throughout Breland. They know that House Orien has secured the contract. What they don’t know (and can’t understand) is how House Orien was able to under bid them. The PCs are hired to find out what House Orien is up to and how they were able to make such outrageous promises.
• The PCs are contacted by House Tharashk, House Orien or House Cannith. They are told about the Mournland Express. The houses are about to go public with their latest venture, but have experienced some difficulties on the last couple of runs. They want the PCs to travel the whole route and “handle” any problems. If any of the PCs are members of one of these houses they realize the importance of this missions and know that their participation is not optional.
• A group of Warforged emerge from the Mournland seeking an audience with House Orien. They represent the Lord of Blades and speak on his behalf. He’s learned about the Mournland Express. As ruler of the Mournland he demands tax on everything that pass though or beneath his country. The PCs are asked to enter the Mournland and negotiate a reasonable solution with the Lord of Blades.

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Son of Khyber
(Thorn of Breland, Book II)
Keith Baker

An Eberron Novel

Keith Baker’s latest novel, Son of Khyber, will appeal to you if:

• You’re a fan of the Eberron setting
• Your D&D campaign takes place in Eberron
• You’re fascinated by the Dragonmarked Houses and political intrigue
• You’re interested in learning more about the mysterious House Tarkanan and the aberrent dragonmarks its members possess.

So in other words if you’re a die hard Eberron fan, this book is an absolute must-read.

The novel begins three months after the events in The Queen of Stone, book 1 in the Thorn of Breland series. We join Thorn in the worst areas of lower Sharn, where she’s apparently living on the streets after being expelled from the King’s Dark Lanterns – her manifestation of an aberrent dragonmark making her a social outcast. But we quickly learn that this is just a cover for her latest mission. She’s to infiltrate House Tarkanan.

Until recently the self-proclaimed thirteenth dragonmarked house had been a minor nuisance to the powers of Khorvaire. But when the house’s new leader, and man calling himself the Son of Khyber, takes charge things begin changing. The Son of Khyber plans to strike against the twelve recognized dragonmarked houses. Thorn’s mission is to locate this new leader, determine if there’s a legitimate threat and if there is, to stop it – killing the Son of Khyber if necessary.

I’ve always like the Rogue class in D&D and reading Thorn’s exploits reminded me of just how cool Rogues are. She demonstrates her versatility by performing a wide variety of tasks. During one encounter she’s a dangerous melee combatant and during another encounter she’s the stealthy Rogue who has to break into the fortified home of a Dragonmark heir. Her wit and social graces make it clear that she’s both smart and charismatic as well.

As a Dark Lanter she’s been equipped with a magical, intelligent dagger called Steel. Steel is a cool magical item, but I found myself disliking him as a character more and more. The dagger seemed to know too much too often. It always seems to have the answer Thorn requires or an ability that gives Thorn an edge she desperately needs. I understand why this kind of item helps from a storytelling point of view, but it got really tiresome really fast.

I really liked how Thorn struggles with her mission objective. House Cannith asked Breland to have the Dark Lanterns investigate the Son of Khyber and House Tarkanan. Thorn has to constantly remind herself that what’s best for Breland may not be what’s best for House Cannith. Seeing this conflict through Thorn’s eyes was certainly one of the high-points of the story for me.

As Thorn is accepted into House Tarkanan and learns more about who they are, we get to see Keith Baker’s take on the thirteenth house. These details are subtle and provided as background, but it’s still fascinating.

I enjoyed Son of Khyber, but I don’t think this book is for everyone. I didn’t like it as much as The Queen of Stone. If you meet the criteria I listed above then you won’t be disappointed if you pick this up. If you’re not part of that niche group you’ll probably find this book typically average and full of fantasy clichés and stereotypes. They didn’t bother me at all, but I’m a pretty forgiving audience.

I’ve read all five Eberron novels Keith Baker has released to date. They’re all filled with great details about the world of Eberron including the people, places and politics. As a DM who plays in Eberron every week I love all of these little details, but as an avid reader I have to admit that these are far from the best Eberron stories out there. I’ll continue to read Keith Baker’s stuff and I genuinely look forward to reading The Fading Dream (coming in Fall 2010) which is the next book in the Thorn of Breland series. However, if you’re not a hardcore Eberron fan you’ll probably find the Son of Khyber just on the good side of average.

Son of Khyber: 7 on a d10
The Queen of Stone: 8 on a d10

Today we complete our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about The Tyranny of Ghosts, the third novel in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy, inventing the goblin language and who he would cast in the movie versions of his books.

Although the interview is presented in print and in multiple parts, we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download in November’s Month in Review article.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the other installments, be sure to check out An Interview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1) and (Part 2).

Interview – Part 3

When does The Tyranny of Ghosts, the third novel in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy come out?

It comes out in June 2010.

What can you tell us about it without giving away too many spoilers?

Word of Traitors ended with some big changes and big events. A lot of The Tyranny of Ghosts (beyond wrapping up the trilogy) is the characters dealing with the consequences of what has happened, especially Geth. All of the characters have a little bit of something going on. I’ve set this up with Geth and I’ve set that up with Ekhaas the duur’kala, and resolving those was really a lot of enjoyment.

One of the things is that a lot of Word of Traitors really took place in the city setting of Rhukaan Draal. A big part of The Tyranny of Ghosts is bringing the characters out of the city again, which was nice.

I learned some things when I was writing this trilogy about what I enjoy writing and maybe what I enjoy writing a little less and how things work. One of the things I found with Word of Traitors was that writing intrigue is really difficult to do well. Getting away from that with The Tyranny of Ghosts, for at least a bit (not all of it), was a lot of fun too. A lot of it was wrapping up the story. I’m trying to think of what else I can say without giving too much away.

Do you leave yourself with options should you want to continue telling the stories of some or all of these characters?

Yes. Yes I do. I mean for some of them I wrap up their story arc. Having written some of the characters for six books now it’s like “You know what? I’m fine leaving them in a place where I don’t have to tell another story about them.” I could, but there are other characters who it’s like, “Yeah, I would like to pick their story up and tell a little bit more about them.”

Going back to the Dragon Below trilogy, I would go back to Singe and Dandra. I could write a little bit more about them but I didn’t. They don’t appear in Legacy of Dhakaan. I may not write anything else about them, but I could if I wanted to.

If given the opportunity, are you interested in going back and writing about characters we already know in a time before the events we’ve already seen?

There are some of them that I would enjoy going back too. For example, Singe and Geth had a history before the events of The Binding Stone back during the Last War, and I think that would be a great story to write. So if I had the chance to go back and write Last War stories I think that would be a lot of fun, writing things in the past.

Do you envision this story as a short story in an anthology or perhaps as another trilogy?

I think if I was going to do something it would probably be a stand alone novel, especially because it’s difficult to sustain a story over three novels. And especially when you’ve got the future fixed. It’s hard to create a sense of danger when we already know that the characters survive. There are ways of getting around that. I can see maybe writing from the perspective of a third character during that time period. And then you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to them.

When I wrote The Binding Stone there were some names of characters from Singe and Geth’s mercenary unit that I threw out and I had it in my head that “Ok, this is who that character is,” very rough sketches. It would be fun to revisit that. But at the same time there are other stories where I don’t know if I’d ever write them.

Geth, after he’s left the mercenary unit in disgrace has wandered for a period and he’s found this new home in the Eldeen Reaches. The hamlet of bull hallow with the druid Adolan. I don’t think I’d write stories set around that because it’s sort of a quiet period in Geth’s life. And I know in my head there’s nothing that really happens there. So maybe a short story would work but not too much. So it would be further back then that.

I’d write about Geth and Singe and other characters. I can’t remember how this came up but I realized most of my other character’s I can’t write a prequel for because they don’t exist. They live in isolation or they don’t exist. The character Dandra (here’s a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t read the Dragon Below trilogy) is a psicrystal. So she doesn’t really get around too much. There are limits. There are some stories I’d tell, some stories I wouldn’t.

There are some stories that come up in the new trilogy, Legacy of Dhakaan that I’d love to tell more about like the character Keraal, the disgraced warlord who becomes a hero. I’d love to write more about that. I would definitely like to write more stories about him. We’ll see. And the whole goblin arc, a military company that he becomes associated with, I always thought “Yeah, I could do more with them.” But we’ll see.

In your novels the goblin characters use a lot of goblin terms. How did those come about? Were you given a list or did you make it up as you went along?

I started it on my own. Doing the language

In the back of the novel The Binding Stone there’s a list of prefixes and suffixes. Was this provided by Wizards of the Coast or did you create it?

No, it’s mine. I did it. When I started writing it I went through the products I had and I looked for goblin words. I made up a master list of them. I consulted with Keith Baker a bit on this some of his words. And then I sort of followed that pattern and built things out of it. So most of it, I came up with on my own. Part of my anthropology background has a little linguistics component, so I have an idea of how it’s going to work.

What would a linguistics expert think if they read your book?

They would probably mock me for taking a very simplistic approach. But it’s not done willy-nilly. I try to maintain consistency. I try to keep the same sound patterns, the repeated vowels, which isn’t just a spelling thing, it’s an extended vowel sound. You can try to hear the language with it. But it also reflects concepts. It’s like some of it’s random and others this makes sense.

I decided goblins never say thank you. And I’ve caught myself. Usually when I finish the book I go back through and do a word search on “thank you” or “thanks” and any time a goblin says it I’m like “oh crap” and take that out. They’ve got a substitute word that’s an acknowledgment of an action but there’s no gratitude involved. Other things have just sort of come up.

There are no goblin plurals, as such. That was a weird one. It came out of duur’kala the dirge singers. Keith Baker sort of started it. Duur’kala seemed to be the same for singular or plural and so I copied that. There’s no difference in words between singular and plural anywhere in the goblin words.

But yeah, I just try to be consistent with it. As I make it up I keep the list. When I do similar grammatical things I make a note “Ok, this is how this is formed.” Guul is strong, guulan is strength. And I’ve got a couple of other similar things like that. It’s all in there. I just try to be consistent because that’s how it works best. It looks good. People can follow it and figure it out.

If they ever turned your book into a movie and you could pick anyone you wanted to play the main roles, who would you cast?

Let’s start with Geth since he’s the main character. There are two that come to mind. One of them is Ray Park who did Darth Maul and he was Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe and Toad in the X-men movie. I picture Geth’s fighting style as a lot of sweeping motions and whirling partly because the sword he uses doesn’t have a point so I have to consider that in all the moves he makes. So there’s that for the visual appeal.

And then there’s Liev Schreiber who was Sabretooth in the recent Wolverine movie. Visually that’s sort of what I picture him like. He’s got to be someone who looks fairly bulky and stalky and hairy, because Geth’s got a lot of hair and it would be difficult to picture some people with all that hair. Like Ryan Reynolds. No, I can’t picture him as Geth.

Female characters. I’ve tried to picture who would play Ashi, for example, and it’s a more difficult match because you want someone who plays a very strong fighter kind of role but has a sort of innocence. When Ashi is fighting she’s all about the fighting. But then you put her into a social situation with the dragonmarked houses and it’s something new and novel to her. She’s got to be able to play innocent too.

Kate Beckinsale is sort of standard. Eva Mendez kind of has the look but is a little short for the role. Physically the person who I think could carry it off is Rebecca Romijn. She did Mystique in the X-men movies, so she’s got that, but she’s got the size. I can sort of picture her.

They’re the ones I sort of think of. Some of the non-human characters, like Ekhaas the hobgoblin, is hard to say. Although I had the draft cover for Tyranny of Ghosts recently and it features Ekhaas on the cover and she looked a lot like Beyoncé. Unfortunately I had to say “Can we tune that back just a little bit.” You hate to say it, but she looked too pretty for the role. It was like “You’ve got to dial it back just a bit.” It would be Beyoncé under a lot of make-up, unfortunately.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers? Or anyone who wants to work for Wizards of the Coast?

They hold rare open calls and that is probably your best way to get in. Write something and put it before them. You’ve got to be a little bit persistent. Not too persistent. And keep at it.

Be respectful. “I’ve got something for you and I’d love to know if you think you’ve got an opening for me. I’d be willing to write this and write that.” You have to be flexible because they, or any company, are going to have people who are already working on a line and if you’re attached to that line you might not get it. But if you’re offered another line you should take it.

And don’t get too attached to your stories because chances are you’re not going to get to write what you want. At least not initially. Always do the best work you can. Hit your deadlines. Write well. And that’s pretty much it.

But if you can’t get into that write other stuff too. Write your short stories, write whatever. With the media tie-ins right now there are a lot of big name authors who are recognizing there’s money there, and they’re coming into it and they’ve made their name somewhere else. And the same thing applies for anybody. Make a name, do good quality work it gives you a stepping stone for writing whatever.

I’d like to once again thank Don for letting us interview him. If you haven’t already picked up Don’s laters novel, Word of Traitors, I stongly reccomend you put it on your Christmas list. It’s a great read.

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We continue our interview with Eberron author, Don Bassingthwaite. In this installment Don talks about how much D&D’s game rules impact his writing as well as some of the challenges he experienced when 4e came out.

Although the interview will be presented in print and in multiple parts, when we’re finished we’ll make the complete interview available as an audio download.

You can read all about Don and follow him at his own website DBassingthwaite.com. You can also visit the Don Bassingthwaite page at Wizards of the Coast. It has a mini bio as wells as a list of the Forgotten Realms and Eberron books he’s written. They also provide sample chapters of his recent works for download.

If you missed the first installment, be sure to check out An Inteview with Eberron author Don Bassingthwaite (Part 1).

Interview – Part 2

You’ve written for both Forgotten Realms and Eberron, do you have a preference? Or is it just I write whatever they tell me to write?

Partly it’s I write whatever they tell me to write. It’s a business. But that said I like Eberron better then Forgotten Realms because it’s got that sort of that dark fantasy, noir edge that Forgotten Realms doesn’t necessarily have. And it’s also a lot of fun being in on the ground floor. Forgotten Realms has a ton of lore behind it which is really fascinating, but it’s not the same as being right in there with Eberron and getting to create some of it.

Are you a gamer? Do you play D&D regularly?

I have not played for a long time, unfortunately. I don’t feel like I’ve got enough time to play any more for one thing. But through high school and university I was big into it. I loved it. And I’ve sort of carried on. I’ve never let the involvement with gaming lapse. For a while I was a gaming editor for Black Gate magazine. I love reading the stuff. That’s sort of where I’m with it right now. I haven’t had a chance to play for a while, but I sort of stay on top of what’s happening with everything.

Is your reason for not playing simply because you don’t have people to play with?

No, it’s more time and responsibility. There was a period about 10 years ago, when for about a year and a half I was back in with a group and we were back playing fairly regularly, but all of our schedules didn’t work. We just didn’t have time any more.

When you’re writing a D&D novel do you take into consideration what class and level the characters are? Or is this question somewhat irrelevant since you’re not actively playing D&D?

Not actively playing right now doesn’t make a difference, because I’ve got the gamer “head set.” Way back when, I co-wrote a book for White Wolf called As One Dead with horror writer Nancy Kilpatrick. She’d never actually played the role-playing games before so it was walking her through that sort of mind-set of how they work. But no, when I’m writing, you sort of have to keep the rules in mind. I tell people “You have to keep them in mind, but you want them to be invisible.” It’s like writing for the real world except instead of using a tour book as your source of information you’ve got a game set and these are the rules about how that world works. You don’t want people to see it.

So yes, I think of my characters in terms of “this is the class they are” and “this is the race they are” and “this is approximately the level they are” and that dictates what they can do. You sort of have to play fast and loose with that because the rules are meant for the players, not the characters. If I need a character to do a particular thing and it’s reasonably within the bounds of what they can do I’m going to say “Yeah, they can do that.” And then if I have to, later I’ll figure out “Ok, this is the rule that lets them do that” or I’ll just say “Nah” and fudge it a little bit.

So what you’re saying is that you’d never restrict the actions of a character just because the rules say you can’t do it.

That’s right. When it comes to the whole level thing, you sort of have to think of them more as people then as batches of numbers. So if a whole pack of goblins comes after a character who’s killed a dragon and it’s like “Ok this shouldn’t be that difficult.” It’s like “He’s killed a dragon before so he can take on goblins.” But the goblins still have to be a threat. So there’s a lot of fudging there. You have to think of it in terms of what’s going on right in that scene that makes these goblins a threat. There’s a lot of them and he can only fight so many at a time, so no matter what the rules say he could do about it you sort of scale that back and you play in the scene.

If my PCs are the heroes in a points-of-light D&D setting, how do you see them in relationship to the heroes from the novels? Do you see the characters from the novels as the heroes to my heroes?

One of the things about Eberron is that if you read the foreword, you get the sense of what the game is about. They’ve always emphasized that your characters are the heroes of the world. And that’s why, unlike the Forgotten Realms, there aren’t a lot of really high level NPCs running around. And the way I tend to think of the books is these are the heroes of my campaign.

So I wouldn’t necessarily say that my heroes are the heroes to your heroes. They could be, if you want to use them in your setting they could be that. They could be the people stories are told about. I call them “my heroes” and that’s how they sort of fit within the framework.

Recent updates to the Character Builder have included character sheets for some of Wizards of the Coast’s most popular heroes. If they were to stat out the characters from your novels, how much input would you have in that process?

No one’s come to me yet for that. I suspect they would come to me because I’ve got it in my head that this is how the breakdown works. They would probably come to me and say “what’s the general information?” I like to think that the way I write is in game terms of what the characters are or what they’re doing.

My personal example is the character Singe from the Dragon Below trilogy who is essentially a fire Wizard. He uses a lot of spells that seem fairly similar if you don’t know what they are. It’s like he’s throwing fire around here and there. And I can say, “Well no, at this point he’s using scorching ray, burning hands or fireball” and all that sort of thing. I don’t come out and say that, but maybe I describe the effect a little bit differently. Mostly they all look fairly similar and that’s just what they are. So it doesn’t really give you a hint of level as such.

So essentially someone who doesn’t know the game can just enjoy the book and someone who does know the game can say “Oh, he’s doing that.” I do have in my head what the characters are. It’s just that no one’s asked me. I generally don’t like to stat them out myself, or at least publish stats for them anyway, because it limits what you can do in the book. Like if you say “this” then you’ve nailed it down. And if you want to shift things a bit it’s harder to do it later.

How has the transition from 3.5 to 4e affected your characters?

The transition from 3.5 to 4e just completely changes how you conceptualize the characters. Under the 4e rules they can’t do certain things any more. The Bard is a pretty good example. I’ve established what the character can do in this sequence and it’s like “She can’t really do that any more.” Word of Traitors was affected to a lesser extent because it was pretty much done by the time 4e came out. “I can’t change it now, it’s done.” But for The Tyranny of Ghosts, the third book in the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy, it’s unfortunately this bizarre blend of 3.5 and 4e rules. If you’re looking at things you say “Ok, this character is doing something that is distinctly a 4e power, but this character is doing something that’s kind of 3.5” and it’s a real hodge-podge.

So for the whole thing I was just going with the concept “Let the story take prescience.” And next time, whatever I write for Wizards of the Coast, I want to do it in just 4e. Those are the rules I want to use and it’s going to change how I write because you want the book product to reflect the game product. And there’s the twist. 4e has a different feel to me than 3.5.

It’s a hard transition to make. You want to include things like Tieflings and Eladrin but at the same time it’s hard to do it. I think writing for Eberron you’ve got an advantage over Forgotten Realms. Where Forgotten Realms the transition from 3.5 to 4e was a setting changer: the spell plague. With Eberron they didn’t advance the timeline with the new books they just sort of re-booted it. It stays the same event. So essentially, you could look at it and say, well Eladrins and Tieflings have always been there and now we’ll just start mentioning them a little bit. It’s a tricky thing to do.

Visit Dungeon’s Master next week when we continue with part 3 of our interview with author Don Bassingthwaite.