Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent and welcome to Eberron Explained.
A new series where I dive into the lore and history of the Eberron Campaign Setting.
Since this is the first episode I feel it’s always best to start with creation mythology.
The beginning of Eberron is fantastic and magical.
It could be how the world and universe of the Eberron Campaign Setting was created,
or it could be a myth believed by the folk of Eberron.
It’s really up to you to decide, which you’ll learn that Eberron leaves bits of lore and
history opened ended for you the Dungeon Master and player to fill in the blanks.
Deciding for yourself, for your table, how the world of Eberron exists.
Or leave it ambiguous because that’s fun too.
One of the important rules for Eberron is “if there is a place for it in D&D there
is a place for it in Eberron;” just perhaps not how you might think.
Let’s get started.
To the locals Eberron is known as the Dragon between.
It is the ground under the feet of the people of Eberron.
The beginning of this setting starts with three mighty dragons, the first dragons that
ever existed.
These dragons were large god like beings that had power beyond measure.
The three dragons were Kyber, Siberys, and Eberron.
Together these dragons crafted the planes at the dawn of time, and decided to rest in
the space that lies between them.
According to the Adventurer’s Guide to Eberron the three dragons were able to live in peace
until the discovery of a mysterious prophecy.
I’m not sure what this prophecy is as I couldn’t find anything other than it was
a prophecy but it shook things up.
Evil Khyber fought the others to control this prophecy.
Khyber destroyed Siberys who was torn to pieces and became known as the Dragon Above.
A ring of glowing shards that encircles the world of Eberron.
Khyber then fought Eberron who in this combat realized he could not win.
So he wrapped himself around Khyber and trapped him.
Their bodies formed the planet, Khyber became the world below, a monster filled maze of
caverns that fills the planet.
Eberron became the surface world, the dragon between.
In the 4e cosmology this was changed slightly.
Siberys became the Astral Sea, Eberron the Prime Material Plane, and Khyber the Elemental
Chaos.
Remember all things in D&D have a place in Eberron, so the new 4e mythology was adapted
for Eberron.
Some like to think of it like this, others think Eberron is more isolated and that Siberys
is the dragon above, a broken ring that encircles the planet.
Eberron the dragon between, the ground we live upon.
And Khyber is more of a reflection of the Underdark than a place like the Abyss or the
Elemental Chaos.
Regardless Khyber is where all the fiends, devils, and strange monsters of the world
come from.
Eberron is where all the natural species live, and broken Siberys hangs above; who’s blood
is the source of all magic.
Eberron has twelve moons and seven continents surrounded by oceans and a vast underworld.
The continents are named (and please forgive me I couldn’t find a pronunciation guide
for this): Aerenal, Argonnessen, Everice, Frostfell, Khorvaire, Sarlona, and Xen'drik.
According to myth the blood of these great dragons created all the races of Eberron.
Life sprang from the dragons’ blood that spilled in the initial great battle.
Siberys created the dragons, Eberron created humanoids and other “lower races,” and
Khyber created the demons of the world.
Demons in the sense of terrible monsters not necessarily the hard D&D definition of a creature
native to the Abyss.
The early history of Eberron isn’t well documented.
But there were four great ages past after the creation of the world.
First the Age of Dragons, which we talked about was the three dragons creating life
in the Universe during a great battle until they became the sky, land, and tunnels below.
Next is the age of demons.
Evil creatures from the depth of Khyber broke free and overran the world.
The dragons who lived on Eberron fought back with the help of the couatls.
Couatls are radiant, winged serpents born from Siberys’ blood.
The Couatls seeing no end to the conflict sacrificed themselves to bind the 40 greatest
demons (known as the dark lords and eventually known as the Lord of Dust) and imprison them
beneath Eberron.
Today the Couatls are virtually unknown and appear only in myth and legend.
Next was the age of Giants.
The Giants built an advanced society on the continent of Xen’drik.
The giants ruled because there was nothing more powerful to oppose them.
The dragons could have but they were in hiding researching the prophecy that started the
great battle between the three Progenitor dragons.
The giant civilization rose up from the war between the dragons and demons.
They enslaved many of the elves in that region.
The elves rebelled with the help of an invading race known as the Quori.
Now the quori are living nightmares from beyond the world.
An extra planar location known as Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams.
It was the aftermath of the fighting with the quori that the elves, and drow saw their
chance to rebel.
The giants were prepared to use some cataclysmic magic to thwart their slaves and the quori
but the dragons decided to intervene.
They stopped the giants and when they were done nothing was left of the once-great giant
civilization.
The ruins of said civilization can still be found in Xen’drik.
The final age was the age of Monsters.
After the fall of the giants lesser races found room to thrive.
Elves, Goblins, and Orcs began to develop larger settlements, even cities.
Their cultures blossomed.
On Khorvaire, one of the seven continents, a great goblin civilization arose known as the
Dhakaani Empire.
It marked the rise of Khorvaire being the dominant continent in the world.
Part of their success was the absorption of other goblin nations into the Dhakaani Empire.
It steadily grew larger and larger, more organized and powerful.
Remember all aspects of D&D are in Eberron but might not be what you expect.
A smart, powerful, organized and thriving goblin empire is one of them.
The Orcs at this time were mostly nomadic, and the Elves ran from the goblin empire to
create their own cities on other continents.
In fact the Elves attempted to take Khorvaire from the goblins but lost a bloody and long
war with them.
They left back to the continent of Aerenal defeated.
The fall of this goblin empire occurred when portals were opened to the Realm of Madness.
Creatures known as daelkyr came in and just decimated the goblin cities from within.
Where they couldn’t outright kill they sowed seeds of chaos among goblins leading to a
civil war.
Eventually the Orc Druids stepped in and were able to close the portals but the damage had
been done to the goblin civilization.
A civil war left the Dhakanni Empire in shambles.
It was around this time that halfings were able to start building societies.
Until now they had been under the firm thumb of the goblins and orcs.
And that’s where we will end for today.
Next time I’ll discuss the rise of Khorvaire and it’s civilizations.
I’m still learning as I go but I super appreciate you taking this journey with me.
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Until next week take care everybody.