Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 1)

Eberron is a world awash in intrigue and danger. The Last War is over but many of its secrets linger on. Armies continue to skirmish and raid across the borders. Royal Courts are awash with deception. Dragonmarked Houses vie for continued economic and political power.

The Day of Mourning may have brought the open conflict to an end, but the silent cold war continues. As the war waged on discoveries were made and secrets were kept. The House Sivis Repository and the Blood Fields of House Tharashk are two closely guarded secrets that came out of the war.

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

• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 2)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 3)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 4)
• Secrets of Eberron Revealed (Part 5)

This is the first in a series titled Secrets of Eberron. These are ideas that you can use to enhance the intrigue and adventure in your own Eberron campaign.

House Sivis Repository

It is no secret that House Sivis handles the majority of communication for the people of Khorvaire. During the war the House handled the delivery of many sensitive communications between nations and armies. While the House has always advocated neutrality and confidentiality regarding the documents it delivered and transcribed, House elders weren’t so naïve as to believe that this information wouldn’t one day prove useful.

In 967 YK House Kundark was contracted to build a vault beneath the House Sivis enclave in Korranberg. Once the vault was completed House Sivis introduced a new secret feature to all sending stones. Any time a message was sent, a duplicate copy was sent to the Repository for filing by scions of House Sivis. The information is stored in a manner similar to the archives at the Library of Korranberg. Here, every piece of communication from throughout Khorvaire, no matter its origin, is stored awaiting the day that it might be required against an external threat.

The Repository is managed by Gwarm d’Sivis, a former Marshall with The Trust, the secretive police force that protects Korranberg. Only members of House Sivis bearing the Mark of Scribing may serve in the Repository, protecting its knowledge and cataloguing its data. House members are forbidden from accessing the information. Failure to comply with this directive results in the member being removed from the House and the forcible removal of their Dragonmark. The Repository is further protected by high ranking members of the Trust who are also members of House Sivis. Even the mention of the Repository on the streets of Korranberg results in that individual’s swift disappearance.

Adventure Hooks

• An excoriate of House Sivis has come to the party with knowledge of the Repository. She is bitter that the House stripped her of her Dragonmark and seeks revenge. She asks the PCs to infiltrate the Repository and steal some information. Anything else they might learn is up to their own initiative.
• The PCs are contacted by an unknown third party who wants the PCs to infiltrate the Repository and destroy a secret communication that is particularly damaging to their benefactor.

The Blood Fields of House Tharashk

House Tharashk rose to prominence during The Last War because of their control of the dragonshard trade and their introduction of monstrous mercenaries from Drooam. As the leaders of the Five Nations met to sign the Treaty of Thronehold, House Tharashk discovered a dragonshard field on the edge of the Demon Wastes that rivaled all the finds it had made during the last ten years combined. With the signing of the treaty demand for dragonshards fell sharply. The House Tharashk elders new that even the knowledge of this field would reduce the price of dragonshards.

The elders met with House Lyrander who provide transport to House Tharashk with their airships. The proposal was simple, in order to ensure the continued prosperity of both Houses the field needed to be hidden. Members of the Raincallers Guild raised a thick mist to conceal the dragonshard field. Due to the proximity of the field to the Demon Wastes the mists were tainted red.

Today members of the Raincallers Guild maintain the mists while mercenaries from Drooam patrol its border. Should any hapless adventurer stumble into the mists and escape they will find House Tharashk bounty hunters tracking them relentlessly.

Adventure Hook

• House Cannith approaches the PCs with a request that they investigate a strange mist that appeared near the Demon Wastes. The Elders of the House believe that the area may contain magical energy that can be collected. This energy they explain will improve the forges the House uses to construct every day items and would be a boon for all residents of the Five Nations. The House will send along an artificer to assist in the collection of the energy. Of course the artificer is along to verify the rumours of dragonshards and will teleport back to the House enclave in Sharn once the rumour has been verified. Leaving the PCs to deal with House Tharashk on their own.