The Fading Dream (Thorn of Breland #3, Eberron by Keith Baker review

THE FADING DREAM by Keith Baker is the third and final novel of the Thorn of Breland series. I’m quite fond of this series due to it being spy fiction in a high fantasy setting. Thorn is an agent for the Brelish government but ever since a disastrous mission where she was infused with several magical rocks, she’s been doubting her commitment to the cause. She’s also developed a link with a powerful long dead (?) dragon named Sarmondelaryz.

I was very excited about The Fading Dream due to it covering two of my favorite topics in Eberron: The Mourning and Cyre. The Mourning for those unfamiliar is a magical cataclysm that destroyed an entire nation of Eberron and brought an end to the Last War. Cyre was the nation that was destroyed and turned the entirety of its survivors into homeless refugees. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a book that isn’t quite about that. It’s still but both aspects are more background than forefront.

The premise is that Thorn has returned from her mission to kill the Son of Khyber in the previous book but been demoted to bodyguard duty because of the manner it ended. After an assassination attempt is foiled, Thorn gets a chance to redeem herself by going out into the Mournlands to make contact with the mysterious eldarin. A group of powerful elves from Thelanis, the eldarin claim they know the cause of the Mourning and how to repair it. Thorn thus sets out with the aid of an immortal child to discover whether this is true or just another theory about the Mourning’s cause.

Fans looking for concrete answers to the Mourning and Cyre’s destruction will sadly be disappointed. Keith Baker has been clear in other sources the true origin of the Mourning will always be left up to the Dungeon Master. However, it presents a theory even as the protagonists remain skeptical. Personally, I wish they had leaned heavier into this aspect and I was disappointed Prince Oargev (hereditary ruler of Cyre’s survivors) had remained a part of the adventuring party for the entire book.

Essentially, this book feels a great deal like an advertisement for 4th Edition’s attempt to insert the eldarin as a PC race into most Dungeons and Dragons settings. Keith Baker takes the bull by the horns and gives the eldarin a massive history connected to the giants, quori, possibly the Mourning, as well as the plane of Thelanis (Eberron’s equivalent of the feywild). They are alien, mysterious, and driven by stories in a way that is quite incomprehensible to the normally cynical and pragmatic Thorn. I admit I preferred the realpolitic of The Queen of Stone and the cynical analysis of revolution in The Son of Khyber but Keith Baker is always entertaining.

Fans who have been wanting a resolution of Thorn’s connection to Sarmondelaryz.will get all the answers they need. I’m a bit iffy about this because while I like the plotline, I also feel like Thorn was always a strong enough character to carry the plot without her being linked to a red dragon who sometimes felt like a deus ex machina. James Bond is cool. Dragons are cool. James Bond as a dragon isn’t necessarily cooler than either individually. I also wished we’d received more follow up on Lei, Pierce, and Daine after their mentioning in Son of Khyber.

In conclusion, The Fading Dream is a good book but I find the eldarin less interesting than the gritty dark side of Eberron. The Queen of Stone had a lot of diplomacy and intrigue while the Son of Khyber thrived on its moral ambiguity. The Fading Sun is a more classical adventure tale with heaps of mythology as well as world-destroying supervillains that could have fit into something like the Forgotten Realms. Keith Baker is, as always, a great writer and I hope he’ll return to writing novels in a fantasy setting some day. Would I read more Thorn, though? Absolutely.

8/10 

Available here 

Son of Khyber (Thorn of Breland #2, Eberron) by Keith Baker review

    SON OF KHYBER is the second novel in the Thorn of Breland series, which follows the adventures of the titular Thorn as she does black ops for her fantasy nation. They are spy novels that just so happen to take place in a fantasy world of airships and industrialized magic. I tend to describe them as steampunk but they're like a magical Great Depression with swords and wands instead of machine guns. I really enjoyed this books return to Sharn and the handling of some heavy topics like systematized oppression.

    The premise for Son of Khyber is that Thorn has been sent to infiltrate House Tarkanan, an organization that represents the disenfranchised aberrant dragonmark bearers. In Eberron, you either belong to the megacorporation-like Twelve or are a monstrous outcast hunted by them. They've recently moved from being a purely criminal organization to violent political activism (read: terrorism) and the Twelve want Thorn to kill their new leader. The Son of Khyber is also a name that roughly translates as "The Son of Hell" in-universe so he's probably not a nice guy or so Thorn thinks.

    Essentially, this book is kind of an Eberron version of Homeland or Lioness. Thorn has gone deep undercover and starts sympathizing with the Tarkanans a lot more than she expected to do so. This is especially the case due to the fact Thorn is rather empathically devoted to Breland above all things (subtly critiquing nationalism as we, the audience, know that her belief it should won the Last War to rule everyone else is an insane viewpoint). 

    Part of Thorn's discomfort is due to the fact she has some dangerous new powers of her own but it's also because Thorn hates the Twelve buying her government's assistance. Yes, they're strong allies to Breland but it's very much the Military Industrial Complex giving orders to the CIA (as happened in RL, except it was the fruit and oil companies). Thorn thinks of herself as one of the little people so the Son of Khyber's rhetoric resonates with her. 

    Ironically, it's also situational as I winced in RL when Thorn planned to blow up an illegal Creation Forge (that make the living golems of the setting) and all I could think was how it was a crime against all warforged that just want to continue their race. 

    Keith Baker doesn't make the mistake some other D&D fiction might have by making House Tarkanan just a bunch of unfairly maligned do gooders, just as he doesn't depict them as one dimensional terrorists either. Being oppressed doesn't automatically make the Tarkanan good people and there really are reasons people are wary of them. Aberrant dragonmarks are dangerous to outsiders and unbalances the mind when wielded. It just also makes it clear that the persecution of aberrant dragonmark wielders drives them to become the very danger the Twelve claim they are. As said in my Supervillainy Saga books, "It turned a potential fight [with superhumans] into a certain one."

    In conclusion, I really liked this book and my only complaint about it is that the Son of Khyber's identity spoils the ending of The Dreaming Dark and potentially nullifies any potential follow up. It's still a fantastic story and one that really captures what makes Eberron different from other DND settings. Some of the impact will be lost if you haven't read The Dreaming Dark but I still recommend it as a continuation of Thorn of Breland series.

9/10 

Available here 

The Queen of Stone (The Thorn of Breland #1, Eberron) by Keith Baker review

    THE QUEEN OF STONE by Keith Baker is the first novel in the Thorn of Breland series. I was a big fan of his The Dreaming Dark trilogy and very excited to see him continue writing novels in the setting he, himself, established. After all, no one does it better than the creator. In this case, this is a series about an agent of the Brelish Dark Lanterns. More or less MI6 for the fantasy set, this is a spy novel set in the fantastic steampunk (or dungeonpunk if you prefer) world of Eberron where sorcery has been used to roughly immitate 19th century technology with a few additions like airships.

    The premise is that Thorn starts the adventure on a mission to recover an ancient book from a goblin merchant who has made the questionable decision to steal it from one of the Daughters of Sora Kell. The Daughters of Sora Kell are three powerful Baba Yaga-esque evil witches (or “hags”) that rule the unrecognized “monster” nation of Droaam. Unlike Mordor, Droaam is actively seeking recognition of its status as a nation of laws and treaties with diplomats from all over the continent coming to discuss the issue.

    I really like when fantasy settings get into the legal trappings of things like international relations and embassies. In this case, there’s just something that tickles me about the concept of a bunch of evil sorceresses trying to wine and dine other nations. This is not the main focus of the story, though, as Thorn has her spy mission with this as a backdrop. She must find the legendary hero, Harryn Stormblade, and free him from his state of petrifaction at the hands of the Queen of Stone.

    Part of what I like about this book is it gives us a look at the kind of heroes who existed in Eberron before the Last War. Galifar is basically a more typical Dungeons and Dragons setting with heroic knights and wizards battling evil in far off lands but Eberron deconstructs this setting. The lands of evil remember these knights as murderers coming to slaughter them for existing. Harryn Stormblade is not just a subversion of heroic knights, though. The book implies heavily he was a lot more complicated figure than history chose to remember him as.

    Thorn is a great protagonist because in addition to being a snarky heroine, she’s also severely flawed. Thorn is passionately loyal to Breland when nationalism is far more ambiguous in its morality. She is also bigoted against warforged and monsters, holding opinions similar to the majority of humans in the setting. Equally good is her awakened dagger, Steel, who serves as her handler and is even more devoted to Breland than her. It’s very subtle political satire and all the more effective for the fact it is applicable to any number of real life attitudes.

    Droaam is a fascinating mix of being an "evil" kingdom full of cannibalistic monsters and ruled by cackling witches but goes into the fact that these people are still going about their day. It asks, 'what would Mordor be like on any given day and if it was trying to be at peace with its neighbors?' If you could be at peace with a land full of monsters, shouldn't you be or is such a thing impossible by the nature of the differences? The hag monarchs certainly don't help their case with the fact they can't NOT act like they want to kill Dorothy and Toto.

    I was very fond of the characters Harryn Stormblade and Sheska too. The legendary hero out of myth is understandably confused about waking up to find out his kingdom is divided by civil war, a nation of monsters is trying to emerge, and betrayed by a most unusual love. Harryn Stormblade is not just a typical heroic knight, though. The book implies heavily he was a lot more complicated figure than history chose to remember him as.  Sheshka, the Queen of the Medusa, is perhaps the biggest sign that Eberron's monsters are not what they appear to be. Like the original Medusa in our world, she is a character maligned by Eberron history as a monster but perhaps due for a reevaluation.

    In conclusion, The Queen of Stone is a great novel and I enjoyed it even more than any of The Dreaming Dark novels. The plot is just a little bit juicier, the characters a bit richer, and the setting more intriguing. I’m a big fan of Droaam and the fact it interrogates a lot of attitudes built into more standard D&D settings works well with it. I think this would also work well as a beginner’s introduction to Eberron.

9/10 

Available here 

The Gates of Night (The Dreaming Dark #3, Eberron) by Keith Baker review

    THE GATES OF NIGHT is the third and final book of The Dreaming Dark Trilogy by Keith Baker. I’ve always felt the Eberron books were underrated examples of Dungeons and Dragons fiction, getting lost in the shuffle of so many other campaigns when WOTC was re-orientating its business model. I’m still waiting for the big Baldur’s Gate style RPG (or even a Rogue Trader style) video game RPG with all the airships it deserves. In this case, this is the conclusion of the adventures of Daine, Pierce, and Lei. For now.

    The premise is that our heroes were left in a really bad spot at the end of The Shattered Land. They were trapped in an ancient giant’s research facility, surrounded by fire-worshiping drow, the enemy had gotten away with a priceless artifact, and some murderous warforged wanted to talk with Pierce about his loyalty to the meatbags in the group. Without spoiling too much, they manage to find a way out but that just dumps them in the feywild.

    The Feywild and D&D have a long history but Eberron had its own version long before it became a major part of the main setting. In Eberron, it is called Thelanis and it is the Plane of Stories where humanity’s collective imagination deals with archetypes from its cultures. This has an extra humorous effect on our heroes as Daine never grew up with any fairy tales, Pierce has no childhood, and Xu comes from a wildly different cultural background than the other heroes.

    Thelanis is fully realized in this book and our heroes struggle to deal with its obscure rules as well as dream-like logic. At one point, they find themselves bargaining for a night at an inn to recover their strength where the innkeep wants one of their voices rather than any payment in coin. Just how bad an idea it is to bargain with the fae is realized with the fact that the inn’s fire is warmed with human bones.

    I really enjoy the new character of Xu and it’s easy to see her as a replacement for Jode’s character in an ongoing D&D campaign. The drow in Eberron are wildly different from the ones over in the Forgotten Realms and she plays the role of the outsider in the party. I also liked the fact that despite the feywild being European coded, she’s far more savvy about its nature than Lei who considers herself an expert.

    Much like The Shattered Land, The Gates of Night is depicted like a D&D campaign that consists of a lot of encounters before getting into the central plot. In this case, it is a road trip where our heroes just desperately want to get home. A goal that is interrupted by the inconvenient fact that they have to save the world from the Dreaming Dark. I was actually surprised at how quickly the stakes escalated as I’d been enjoying the street level adventures our heroes had been engaged in until this point.

    The ending was a bit frustrating, though, because the book ends on a cliffhanger that is only loosely picked up in The Son of Khyber in another series by Keith Baker. The story is not lacking for climaxes or dramatic revelations, though. Keith Baker has said that he’ll never reveal the true cause of the Mourning but this book shows numerous secrets of House Cannith as well as the fact that, whatever the Mourning was, some people saw it coming.

    In conclusion, The Gates of Night is a fantastic story conclusion that shows Thelanis in all its surreal glory. The character interaction is top notch and I’m disappointed we’ll probably never get a novel with the cast of characters. Keith Baker did a lot to make it one of my favorite Dungeons and Dragons series in a short amount of time. If you are looking for a fun read to introduce you to the Eberron setting then The Dreaming Dark trilogy is easily the best place to start.

Available here 

The Shattered Lands (Dreaming Dark #2, Eberron) by Keith Baker review

    THE SHATTERED LAND by Keith Baker is the second volume of The Dreaming Dark trilogy set in the Eberron universe of Dungeons and Dragons. Try saying that three times fast. Eberron is a fantasy steampunk (or "dungeonpunk" if you want to be one of *those* guys) setting where airships and lightning rails substitute for planes and trains while wands replace guns. It's a great setting and I rank it up there with Vampire: The Masquerade and Call of Cthulhu for my all-time favorite places to visit in my imagination.

    The previous book was a noir detective story about investigating a mysterious serial killer of dragonmarks operating in the fantastical city of Sharn. Lei, Jode, Pierce, and Daine are a group of exiled Cyreans whose country was eradicated by a mysterious magical disaster that has left them refugees. It dealt with topics of racism, classicism, prejudice, and corruption without being tied to any real life events. Overall, I really enjoyed it and was anxious to see what the second volume would tackle.

    To my mild disappointment (but only mild), The Shattered Land bypasses all of the seedy underbelly of Sharn and politics of Khorvaire to go on a mission to the continent of Xen'drik. Xen'drik is every pulp adventure jungle story combined with it being the place that Eberron's fantasy Indiana Jones and Lara Croft would inhabit full time. Daine is dying of a constant assault on his consciousness by a dream demon called a quori and his acquaintance, Lakashtai, says his only hope lies in the far off land.

    Xen'drik is kind of fascinating in that it's the primary means that most people will encounter Eberron out "in the wild" due to being the place where Dungeons and Dragons Online was set and the video game Dragonshard. I suspect because it would take a lot more effort to realize the more mechanized continent of Khorvaire (Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magics Obscura is the closest RPG available right now and its decades old). Anyway, we get the corrupt city of Stormreach, meet multiple feuding drow tribes, and also get some insight into the lost giant civilization. 

    The real appeal of the Dreaming Dark trilogy is the characters, though. Daine, Pierce, and Lei have a great dynamic between them even if Jode's absence is noticeable. Daine is the cynic who refuses to believe in anything bigger and wider than himself but is still a good friend. Pierce is the loyal follower but starting to think that life is more than just obeying orders. Lei is the most curious and idealistic but also suspicious of anyone who gets too close to Daine. We also have the mysterious Lakashtai that really surprised me with so many unexpected twists regarding her.

    I think this is definitely Pierce's book as we see him deal with warforged who are clearly traumatized by their time of slavery and want to punish humanity for their crimes. Seeing Pierce lured in by that, not because he hates humans but because he's desperately lonely for the camaraderie of his own kind, is an interesting commentary on radicalization. It also has an entirely sexless romance that appealed to me as he connects with his own mechanical version of a femme fatale.

    I think if you're looking for how to play the cultures of Xen'drik and its societies then this is the book for you. The drow not being Underdark dwelling evil matriarchs was a choice I really enjoyed. Here, they're every secret native group protecting or trying to break open ancient evils that you see in things like The Last Crusade or The Mummy. They also have their own unique attitudes far removed from the typical morality or ethics of the Khorvaire but understandable given their situation.

    In conclusion, The Shattered Land is a fantastic follow up to The City of Towers. Do I miss some of the fantastic noir sensibility of the previous book? Yes. I definitely hope Keith Baker will someday return to the mean streets of Sharn. However, we get to see a proper pulpy jungle adventure here as well as insight into drow that don't worship the Spider Queen. I'm definitely reading the sequel.

9/10 

Available here

Thirteen Fictional Books for Eberron

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15. 13 Fictional Books for Eberron 

In-universe fiction is something I quite enjoyed in the Elder Scrolls and it inspired me to add a bunch to my Eberron games in order to help expand the world. After all, a pseudo-19th century world is bound to have plenty of books that literate PCs have read.  

1. ADVENTURE! magazine by Various: A cheap publication that is made by a orphan House Sivis editor, Ketler Sprocketsworth, and a collection of dedicated magewrights with some old House Cannith printing machines (supposedly) salvaged from the Mournland. Adventure Magazine publishes heavily embellished travelogues and supposed "true stories of adventure" that occur across Eberron plus some actual fiction. The latter is for deniability because a surprising amount of their content is highly controversial, changing names and fictionalizing places to disguise they tell the stories of Eberron's "heroes." 

Ketler is anti-Next War, Anti-Twelve, and a believer in a variety of apocalyptic threats to the world that the people have to come together to face. Ironically, his politics mostly get ignored because of how sensationalized the stories are and their fanservice-heavy art. Ketler pays for a typical story about 10 to 30 GP but has an audience across multiple kingdoms. A typical installment of the magazine costs ten copper pieces and comes out quarterly. He is about to switch to a bimonthly model and has plans of creating variant magazines dedicated to specific topics like Xen'drik (EXPLORATION!), Mournlands (HORROR!), and mystery (INQUISITIVE!).

2. The Rights and Justifications of Khorvaire by Unknown: A banned book that has, nevertheless, been rapidly spread across Breland in part because of its censorship. It is essentially the holy text of the Swords of Liberty that describes the failures of monarchy, the Treaty of Thronehold, and the changing nature of the economy. The original book is notably anti-racism and argues for a new pan-continental society to replace Galifar but the pamphlets made from it are frequently far more reactionary. 

The book does, however, paint Breland as a nation that has a far better system than the other nations as well as argues it is a model they should all follow. This is heavily implied to be by force if necessary. The actual book, when found, is about 30 CP but the pamphlets are either free or only a CP when distributed by Swords sympathizers.

3. The Secrets of Goblinkind by Maxwell Freed or "The Red Book": One of a series of publications but generally only known for the first volume. The Secrets of Goblinkind is a centuries-old libelous book that collects nightmarish stories about goblins and their horrific practices against humans. Essentially, it suggests that virtually all of their communities are riddled with Dragon Below worshipers and they're an innately evil species that should never have been liberated from slavery. The book is quite readable for those inclined to its politics and was preserved for posterity by an Aurrum dwarf who paid for its regular republication. This is ironic because one of the latter volumes was a not particularly flattering look at dwarf clans. A typical copy costs about 20 CP but is often found in libraries where supporters have donated it.

4. Kaynith's Calamitous Constructs by Rikel Kapec: A "magic futurism" House Phiarlan play that was written before the creation of the warforged but has since been popularized by it. It has since been adapted to novels and a few graphic serials. Essentially, the story is about the creation of sentient golems by the barely fictionalized dragonmarked house that proceed to rise up and destroy humanity. Due to the play's content, it is possible to view it as both pro and anti-warforged depending on what elements you emphasize. Most warforged find the play worth discussing even if they find unintentional comedy with Haydee the Warforged that looks like a human girl. It was a favorite of Lei D'Cannith's parents. House Phiarlan is willing to license copies of the play for 50 CP.

5. Illmarrow by Pierre Aundair: An incredibly popular books that has unfortunately inspired quite a bit of violence by Emerald Claw agitators who consider it blasphemous (and has done nothing to reduce its popularity). Illmarrow has also been adapted into plays and has numerous knock offs that change details. The book is essentially "sexy lich" fiction and created an entire genre about the evil sorceress who terrorizes a bunch of minor aristocrats before being ultimately destroyed by the power of love. Some have attempted to read political or religious meaning into the story but most agree the author just stole a mythological figure's name before writing vaguely risque prose about her. What Erandis D'Vol, herself, thinks of it is unknown.

6. The Khyberian Codex by Flavius Dorvac: A highly sought after book that supposedly teaches black magic related to the summoning of demons, daelkyr, and quori as well as predicts the end of the world by the rising of the overlords. Many Dragon Below cults possess this book and it is banned in Thrane as well as Karrnath both. Scholars of the occult are frustrated by this book and its ubiquitous because it is almost certainly a hoax written less than thirty years ago. 

Certainly, none of the rites work and a large chunk is wildly inaccurate. The great irony, though, is that the book's description of the quori is almost completely accurate and many people who had never heard of them otherwise would find a lot of information related to their destruction of the giants. A first edition copy of the book runs about 200 CP while knock offs are about 30 to 50 CP. Frequently, hucksters attempt to sell an "uncorrupted" copy of the book for 500 GP or more.

7. Manners and Marriages by Louise ir'Preston: A wildly popular book set during the heyday of Galifar and published fifty or sixty years before the Last War. It is the story of a poor young Brelish aristocrat with a strong will who falls in love with an arrogant Aundarian dragonhawk rider. One of the classics of the romance genre, it been adapted by House Phiarlan many times. The books fell out of popularity during the Last War's worst period but are gradually returning to popularity.

The book's popularity seems to be primarily due to the fact it's stories about trivial social problems ("Oh no, Lord Grathias has lost the ring!") when actual life seems so burdensome Post-War. Others believe it was a masterwork of satire and class consciousness that resonates today. You can argue it in the Morgrave Literature Department. A new copy costs about 20 CP but you can easily pick up a used one for 5 CP or from a local library. They are often used in public education.

8. The Silver Prince of Thaliost by Randal Kraaghammer: A rousing series of adventure novels set around a dashing Aundair nobleman, his artificer companion, and a beautiful changeling cat burglar in the titilar series. The books are largely considered to be harmless unless you're a Thranish or Silver Flame adherent due to the fact that the Church of the Flame is depicted as entirely consisting of evil zealots. Kraaghammer was a dwarf citizen of Thaliost driven out of it during the Last War and longs for the day the Silver Flame can be driven out of it. Ironically, the books are good enough that most people consider criticisms to be overreactions. 

9. The Ecology of Monsters by Brother Vaudin: A mammoth tome that is often divided into smaller volumes for publication but depicts the research conducted by Silver Flame monk Brother Vaudin and his brother, warrior wizard, Arnaud, as they spend fifteen years in the lands that would eventually become Droaam. The book is about five hundred years old and single handedly responsible for a huge number of stereotypes regarding everything from Aarakocra to Zartan. 

Vaudin generally divides his research into "good", "evil", and "natural" monsters with his one-page summaries of their culture accompanied by methods to slay them as well as what benifits can be derived from them alchemically. Bizarrely, Vaudin thought that he was contributing to peace between the species by dispelling misapprehensions. He certainly did not think monster hunters would be using his books as guidebooks. The complete guide costs 5 GP and fills a bookshelf. Antique copies can go for hundreds due to their historical importance as well as value to collectors.

10. The Demon Queen of Cyre by Publius Suetonius: A century old book written by a former courtier for Cyre that was royal historian before fleeing the country for various reasons that are either a half-elf maid's unexpected pregnancy, financial misappropriation of funds, or a principled stand against tyranny. The book is essentially a shockingly lurid depiction of Queen Mishaan ir'Wynarn as a mad woman guilty of every imaginable perversion as well as tyranny. 

The book was heavily promoted by Wroan of Breland and Kaius I's supporters as a justification for their rebellion at the start of the Last War. It has since become synonymous with anti-Cyrean bigotry despite its author being Cyrean himself. The book is presently out of print and costs about 2 gold for a copy to be made or 5 GP for an original copy. Most libraries no longer carry it but it is available at Morgrave University on request.

11. The Wizard's Primer by Angus Shackleton: Essentially, the foundational book for magical study in Eberron. The Wizard's Primer explains in the most basic language possible how magic functions, its various forms, and instructions on preparing the mind as well as the body for the casting of basic cantrips. Studying the book generally takes three or four months and doesn't lend itself to mastery by itself but is something almost all arcane magic users have done if they didn't learn directly from a mentor. Despite its importance, it is expensive at 5 GP and every magic school insists on users paying for their copies. Used copies are barely any cheaper and any at a library is frequently stolen. Shackleton's great-grandson, Argyle, would write The Artificer's Primer.

12. Tally Ho!: The Road to the Crown by King Boronal ir'Wynarn: The autobiography of Breland's king, it was scandalous when it was released last year due to how boisterous and grandiose it was. Ironically, Boronal (or at least his ghost writer) was good enough to make sure he didn't come off as a braggart or liar. The book chronicles his days as prince, his hunts, and military experience. It also heavily details his romance and tragic loss of his wife, Chaseva. The books only controversial point being a chapter dedicated to explaining why he took in Cyre's refugees. Otherwise, it is beloved by all Brelish. The cost for a copy being 20 CP but it was made in such large prints, it is easy to get a second hand copy for 10 CP.

13. The Automated Consciousness by Merrix D'Cannith: Not a novel but a recorded series of monologues by the self-proclaimed head of House Cannith. Much to the surprise of almost everyone who knows his reputation, the works are extremely practical discussions of warforge construction and psychology. They were presented at the Treaty of Thronehold as evidence for warforged emancipation and while Merrix's dry, clinical discussion of them is hardly endearing, it presents an extremely persuasive argument for their personhood. Moreover, someone who listens to the monologues and understands artifice can develop a basic understanding of how to bestow consciousness to objects. Limited as this may be. The monologues are about fifteen hours long and cost over 200 GP to get a copy from House Cannith.

Thirteen Tips to Running Eberron in 5th Edition

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15. 13 Fictional Books for Eberron 

Eberron is one of my favorite D&D settings but describing it to potential fans is hard. What elements separate it from the Realms or other settings? What is the feeling that makes a game in Khorvaire different from one on Krynn? You can do a typical D&D game in the Five Kingdoms but that misses out on a lot of what makes the place special. So here are thirteen tips as a longtime Eberron DM and player to capture the feel of the fallen kingdoms of Galifar. Unlike Planescape and Dark Sun (which has now been set for release), Eberron does have a 5th Edition supplement in Rising from the Last War but I hope these will give my thoughts as a third edition die-hard.

1. Eberron is having a Magical Industrialized Age 

Eberron's biggest difference from other Dungeons and Dragons settings is that it has hit its version of the Industrial Revolution with magic substituting for science. House Cannith and the Artificer class means that there are limited production factories producing countless devices that are finding their way into the hands of ordinary mortals. The cotton gin is less likely to exist, though, that a family of weavers using cantrips daily to make money in place of doing it by hand. 

Guns don't exist (unless the ST wants them to) but who needs them when your +3 crossbow can rapidly reload and pin a guy against a wall like a rail gun or you possess a wand of magic missiles? In simple terms, it has a lot of D&D elements like swords and sorcery but the equivalent of technology bouncing between the 19th and early 20th century. Magic is less practical than technology in some ways but can also do things machines can't. Plus, one of the player character races are mass produced sentient constructs called warforged.

2. Good and Evil are real but complex 

Good and evil are things that exist in Eberron with the forces of Khyber representing wholly destructive corruptive forces that will never be any good. However, the difference between supernatural evil versus mortal evil is very different. In Eberron, there's no such thing as Always Chaotic Evil and while hobgoblin society may be martial and brutal, that doesn't translate to malevolent. In Eberron, orcs are a naturalist primal species with a history of fighting the forces of darkness with druidic magic. 

But on a simple level, mortal evil doesn't necessarily translate to "smite" for most people on Eberron. An evil innkeeper pinches pennies and abuses at his staff but he's not plotting world domination. You may have an evil counselor on your staff but that man may be absolutely loyal to you as well as your cause. Even the most fanatical religions believe that mortals should be redeemed if possible versus executed (unless they have committed crimes due to their alignment). Good and evil is also difficult to gauge as Know Alignment can be easily fooled with all priests of a "good" god registering as good.

3. The Gods are Mysterious, if they exist 

The gods are far more remote in Eberron than they are in typical D&D settings. You cannot visit the home of Dol Arrah and if the Keeper has a lair, he's probably not physically there. This actually makes religion far more important as you can't just ask the divine what they want. You have to interpret the signs and anyone who claims to have heard the voice of the Silver Flame has to be investigated because he could have been hearing from the demons inside it.

The Overlords are an exception and are the imprisoned Great Old One-esque beings that if they are freed will end the world. So far, the world has managed to keep them inside their prisons but it's an easy source of adventures that your players may have to do a globe trotting campaign to stop a cult from releasing them.

4. Level scaling is lower than higher

A thing to understand is that PC levels are rare in Eberron and a person who is a level 1 fighter is like saying, "Level One Special Forces Operative." By the time the PCs reach 8th or 9th level, they'll be among the most talented people on Earth and those who reach 12th or 13th level will be world-shaking forces. You can theoretically reach 20th level in this game world but if you do then you are definitely the kind of legend who will shape the politics for centuries to come.

Related to this, the PCs are the stars of this setting in a way that other settings do not support. The highest ranking benevolent NPCs are Oalian and Pontifex Jaela but they are limited by their places of power. Heck, Oalian is a talking tree. Whereas Drizzt Do'Urden is a Balor slaying badass, Daine of Cyre has trouble with a half-dozen city watchmen. No one is going to upstage the PCs if they decide to plan a populist revolution or plan to found their own kingdom. It's also up to them to save the world if there's a threat because no one else is.

5. The Shadow of the Last War 

What does a group with a goblin, warforged, elf, dwarf, and a human all have in common? In Eberron, they might have all been part of the same unit serving the same country. Almost every adult man and woman has a connection to the hundred year conflict in Khorvaire over who would rule the lost empire of Galifar (answer: no one). 

While racism exists to an extent in Eberron, national ties are a lot more prevalent because the continent has been relatively cosmopolitan for the past thousand years. Those who wish to create racial nation states like Darguun and Valenar are reactionary with questions of whether they're chasing dead civilizations' glory. Everyone has a shared experience and if you want to hate someone as a Brelander, you're probably as likely to despise Aundarians and Karrnath of all species as goblins or elves in particular.

Even more so, the Last War's biggest shadow is when it will resume rather than if. It has only been two years since it officially ended and no one thinks the detente will last. The Treaty of Thronehold satisfied no one and few are working to heal the wounds leftover from a century of war. Sound familiar?

6. Pulp Hero, Cosmic Horror, and Spy Novel Adventures

Your typical Dungeons and Dragons game is Frodo, Conan, Elric, and maybe some Discworld or Monty Python and the Holy Grail depending on your group. Eberron, by contrast, is a mixture of Tarzan, the Shadow, Phillip Marlowe, James Bond, and Titus Crow. You can do the Three Musketeers in Thrane and explore just as many tombs as Lara Croft or Indiana Jones but the big cities are part of nation states with all the complications that entails. This allows you to steal from, I mean adapt, a whole new set of stories if you want to stay in-theme for the setting.

Hugo Drax, the exiled Karrnath nobleman Emerald Claw member, may be planning to build a gigantic airship that will cover all of the city of Thaliost with a Cloudkill spell. James Bond, Dark Lantern, can team up with a beautiful half-elf agent to stop Drax's plan only to figure out that said agent is working for the Aurum to steal the airship for themselves. Want to do a gunfight at the OK Corral? Well, now its crossbows at the halfling ranch where they herd dinosaurs. Eberron gives you permission to get weird as long as its big and dramatic. 

7. The Mystery of the Mourning 

The Mourning is the most consequential event that most Khorvaire will have in their lives. Just like you can probably think of one news event in your lifetime that redirected the course of your country's history and possibly the world's. The big thing about the Mourning is not that it is something that necessarily directly effected a character (unless they're from Cyre) but that they almost certainly were indirectly affected by it and have an opinion on it. It's after all, an event equivalent to, say, France being eradicated by an asteroid (or nuke) during WW1.

Everyone wants to know what happened on that fateful day and the consequences of a concrete answer could be cataclysmic. If it was an accident of nature, say a convergence of the moons, then people will want to develop a defense but also feel okay with going back to war. If it was the work of one of the nations, others will want to duplicate the work or perhaps feel inclined to give their unconditional surrender. The fact no one has taken credit or accepted blame means that it is just a big unknown that shows even the strongest nations are vulnerable. 

8. The Golden Rule: He Who Makes the Gold Makes the Rules 

George R.R. Martin said (paraphrase) one thing he complained about the Lord of the Rings was that he didn't know Aragorn's tax policy. Most D&D settings do not have more complex an economy than, "kill goblin for gold, use gold on wenches and ale." By contrast, Eberron is a fully formed economy that drives a huge amount of characters' actions. The Dragonmarked Houses are like megacorporations in cyberpunk, controlling vast wealth and power via their magical monopolies. The Aurum are based on Bond villains, working against the Dragonmarked Houses with their own fiendish plans. This is in addition to all the various greedy individuals from mob bosses to nobles that you might run into.

There is simply way more to buy, sell, and trade in Eberron. Player characters can set up their own trading companies or be penniless sell swords depending on the way the DM or players want to go with their activities. Money has a power in Eberron even if, sadly, the people who have the most of it aren't easily robbed and you'll have to do a heist in the Mror Holds to get at their cash.

9. Transportation is it's own adventure 

In the various Dungeons and Dragons settings, you tend to either travel by horses, sailing ship, or portals. Taking a page from steampunk or Final Fantasy, airships are a huge deal in Eberron. Virtually all of my games have the players sailing the skies in one of these elemental vessels. However, there are also Lightning Rails for those who feel like doing a magical train heist. Lightning carriages also exist but they haven't yet reached a point where highways exist in this world. Thankfully, we have hippogriffs and other flying creatures for even more fun with transport. Because of this, the journeys in Eberron can be as exciting and random encounter filled as you want or they can also be practical.

10. The Future is Yours

Eberron is eternally set in the year 998 YK and this has both its ups and downs. While I love the various metaplot driven timelines like the Old World of Darkness, Forgotten Realms, and Rokugan, they also mean that player characters are forced to essentially go along with existing changes that may not reflect what they've accomplished or become disconnected from a canonical timeline. In Dragonlance, you'll always have the War of the Lance hanging over your characters' heads. 

In Eberron, what is going to happen is always subject to the players' actions and however the ST wishes things to shake out. The Second War may happen within a year or be averted entirely. The Mourning may have been a diabolical demon plot or the sad result of overuse of war magic in an environmental parallel. Some mysteries will never be officially solved and the frozen timeline means that their answers will always be at the DM's discretion.

11. The Planes are always Close

One element that Eberron does better than just about any other setting than Planescape is that it incorporates the Outer Planes extremely well. Through manifest zones, any plane can be interacting with the setting at any given time. You can have places that are incredibly haunted, at war with hordes of angels and demons, or possessed of flying cities without really having to explain why. There's simply places that are extradimensionally touched. The exception to this is the realm of dreams and that is an entire continents worth of adventures.

12. Magic is ubiquitous but not powerful 

One thing I like about Eberron is the fact that it is a setting where large amounts of loot isn't game breaking. Yes, it's my inner munchkin talking about if your character is a magic gunslinger with wands in their holsters as well as a bunch of potion vials around their belt, that is perfectly normal in the setting. It's a good setting to fill up with mass produced weapons, armor, and consumables without feeling like you're aping a video game. 

13. Don't hesitate to use new races 

The Warforged are the most popular of the new creations for the setting as they offer a unique player experience as living constructs. However, that doesn't mean you should ignore the other new options of the setting. Shifters have a complicated history as relatives to lycanthropes that were purged from the world by the Silver Flame (possibly unjustly). Changelings offer fantastic opportunities for stories about palace intrigue but also potentially stories of identity as well as culture. Changelings can pass for everyone but maybe they want something for themselves and to be accepted as themselves. Which, admittedly, is why every changeling I ever play ends up as Mystique from the X-men. Frontiers of Eberron also gives the chance to play such unique monsters as harpies and medusa.

The City of Towers (The Dreaming Dark #1, Eberron) review

    EBERRON is my favorite Dungeons and Dragons setting and also the most difficult to describe with the possible exception of Planescape. It's kind of a magical steampunk 1920s where the Last War stands-in for World War One and you're all closer to Pulp heroes or detectives that do battle with goblin gangsters, fascist necromancer knights, or Cthulhu-like cultists. It's full of elemental airships, trains, and the occasional carriage with no guns but plenty of wands. If I had to recommend any media 'like' Eberron then I'd recommend The Legend of Korra, Netflix's Arcane, and the Garrett PI books by Glen Cook.

    THE CITY OF TOWERS by Keith Baker is the first book of the Dreaming Dark Trilogy. The premise is pretty good for explaining what Eberron is all about with the last day of the Last War. Rather than victory, it ends with the catastrophic destruction of Cyre, a nation that was one of the main participants in the war. I say rather than victory because no one knows who or what did this so every other nation signs an uneasy peace treaty that satisfies no one. Because that always works in real life.

    The protagonists are Daine, Lei, Jode, and Pierce. All of them are survivors of the Mourning (as it comes to be known) and have spent their past couple of years in a Mad Max hellhole trying to survive before arriving in the neighboring country of Breland. They're remarkably well-adjusted for this and it's commented on that they seem to have only a vague memory of their ordeal. Unlike Dragonlance or even the Legend of Drizzt, our heroes are not primarily interested in fighting evil upon their arrival. Instead, they need coin for survival and dealing with the fact they're homeless refugees hated by the Brelish.

    Yes, The City of Towers is fantastic noir and really does invoke a lot of the same beats as detective fiction with goblins and Mourners standing in for minorities despised by the human majority. It's not really about racism, though. That's just the backdrop for the murder mystery of Lei's betrothed that was supposed to be their meal ticket as a party. Hadran D'Cannith was a vastly wealthy man that ends up knocked off not a few minutes after finding out Lei is alive and heading his way (in the opening chapter). From there, the plot involves betting on flying animal racing, body horror cults, and a sphinx giving a prophecy in a ratty old, abandoned church.

    One thing this book deserves credit for along with Eberron in general is the fact that it was one of the first settings to throw out a lot of D&D unquestioned tropes. Goblins, harpies, and other "monster" races live in the same city as humans or elves. Daine gets an earful when he treats changelings as innately suspicious because they're shapeshifters. Level scaling in-universe is also well done with very few NPCs having the kind of world-shaking power that Elminster or even Drizzt has. Daine is a very tough fighter, but he is shaken down by five or six corrupt city guards. Despite this, low-level magic is ubiquitous with Sharn providing most guard with Feather Fall tokens so they don't end up falling over the side of lifts like stormtroopers (have you considered railing?).

    This is Keith Baker's first novel but functions well as a contrast from the typical "popcorn" fantasy of Dungeons and Dragons. Expect a lot of fight scenes and weird creatures but that's why I come to these novels. It's occasionally awkward when Lei explains things that her fellow party members should already know about the world like how Dragonmarks work (which is extra ridiculous given two turn out to be members of the houses themselves). However, if you want a good "starter" book for Eberron, it's hard to say this is a bad choice. Even if you aren't familiar with the tabletop RPG setting, you'll get a good sense of the fantastic Great Depression in a city of giant towers.

8.5/10

Available here 

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Eberron is my favorite D&D setting in the stiff competition of Planescape, Ravenloft, and Dark Sun. It is a steampunk-adjacent (or dungeonpunk) setting where magic is used to replicate technology up to a 19th century level. The Last War has devastated the continent of Khorvaire but is finally over, which leads to the bigger question: what now? 

1.    While traveling on an airship, the PCs find themselves under attack by a renegade Lyrandar corsair that has been corrupted by the Dragon Below.

2.    See #1. The PCs find that the airship has a Lyrandar apprentice who is happy to pilot the second vessel for them as he's terrified of going "home" given what he did under his unwilling boss.

3.    A traveling sideshow salesman has a massive dragonshard with the head of a prehistoric Warforge inside it. He wants the PCs to guard him as he transports it to a buyer.

4.    See #3, the object is real and from Xen'drik, which terrifies the owner. 

5.    See #3, the object is a fake but a very well made one that was created by a warforged trying to create a pre-war history for his kind.

6.    See #3, the object's buyer is Merrix D'Cannith who wants to revive the warforged head for its secrets. 

7.    The PCs are hired to investigate a nationalist militia that has been specifically targeting veterans of the Last War.

8.    See #7, it is a recruiting place for the Emerald Claw that uses charm spells and nonmagical conditioning to create the goons that they use in all of their missions. The washouts are killed and made into undead.

9.    See #7, it is a recruiting place for the Swords of Liberty who are preying upon the disaffection of veterans in hopes of creating disruption that they can take advantage on a national scale.  

10.    See #7, their employers are Dark Lanterns who suspect one of their former members is the one responsible for this.

11.    A House Valdis outpost has gone dark and the PCs are hired by their discretion to investigate it. It turns out that it was a magebred facility that has been corrupted by Daelkyr cultists. The PCs will be paid extra if they destroy all the evidence, including the survivors.

12.    A fire giant from Xen'drik has escaped a traveling circus and set himself up in a nearby farm where he's eating the local livestock. The PCs don't have to slay him but he doesn't speak the local language and was not taken to Khorvaire voluntarily. He very much would like to go home but that may be impossible.

13.    The PCs are hired by House Cannith to recover a strange mechanical part. The part is a Creation Forge part that could be used to repair one of the destroyed ones. It is in the hands of a group of warforged renegades.

14.    A family of shifters claims that a fanatical Thrane knight wants to slaughter them and has been harassing them for weeks.

15.    See #14, they're a family of lycanthropes and the paladin wants to confirm it before slaying them.

16.    See #15, they are in fact lycanthropes but are Lawful Good werebears.

17.    See #16, this doesn't impact the paladin's plans to slaughter them as diseased monsters.

18.    The PCs are contracted to serve as couriers in a secret set of negotiations with Prince Oargev and King Boranel. They're supposed to do this at a ball and relay letters as well as messages while no one is the wiser. Dancing, food deliveries, and other oddities are afoot.

19.    See #18, the negotiations are Prince Oargev being offered to be made Duke of New Cyre but giving up his claim to Galifar's throne. Which multiple parties would rather Oargev die than happen.

20.    See #19, King Boranel actually wants to fund New Cyre settlers in Xen'drik or Q'barra or "elsewhere" with the profits of this all for New Cyre but meant to keep their numbers in Breland low.

21.    See #20, it is a marriage contract to one of his daughters (or sons). Which would tie them intristically together.

22.    A dying Dark Lantern agent has discovered the identity of the murderer of King Boranel's wife. The PCs have the encrypted message but the people trying to kill the agent are Dark Lanterns themselves (or appear to be at least).

23.    Once a year, Pontifex Jaela is allowed a day off and the PCs are asked to provide security lest the church see her doing things that are fun like riding dinosaurs or watching clowns. The Cardinal simultaneously considers this a massive state secret and vital for her spiritual health.

24.    A riot has broken out in Thaliost over the murder of a citizen by the Church's Templars. Possibly. Who was killed and why seems to constantly change based on who is doing the telling. If the flames (no pun intended) are not put out soon, it may turn into a full-fledged uprising.

25.    See #24, the riot was organized by the spirit of the Overlords and designed to merely cause as much misery and horror as possible. 

26.    See #24, the riot was done by a Aundair Duke who plans to "restore" order and claim the city for Aundair once more despite how likely this is to reignite the Last War or at least a Thrane-Aundair war.

27.    See #24, the riot is just a naturally occurring one but Cardinal Krozen is letting it play out because he wishes to justify a violent suppression followed by property confiscations to replace Aundair-loyal citizens with Thranish ones.Surely that will work out fine.

28.    A mysterious tablet is recovered from an archaelogical site in Droaam. It is then stolen by the Emerald Claw in full Indiana Jones villain glory. A beautiful Morgrave University researcher needs the PCs help to recover it! According to her research, the tablet is legendary magic that can bestow a WISH.

29.    See #28. The archaeologist is Emerald Claw herself and working directly for Lady Illmarrow. The WISH tablet is the only way she might be restored to her living status and give her back her Dragon Mark. The Emerald Claw renegades worry she will betray her undead followers then.

30.    The PCs end up drugged and wake up enslaved on a massive dreamlily plantation by an obsese member of the Aurum with the aid of his Inspired allies. They are on the borders of Droaam and have been slaving both humans and monsters both to create as much of the drug as possible. They also play the two groups of slaves against one another to keep then in line.

31.    See #30, the Daughters of Sora Kell know about this atrocity but are bribed into letting it happen. They will just blame human evil if it is discovered after all and have even been selling some of their dissidents to it.

32.    A Cyrean Avenger attempts to recruit the PCs to kill a Valenar warlord visiting their location. The Avenger claims that the warlord massacred thousands of Cyrean refugees fleeing the Mourning. Whether the PCs agree or not, he ends up dead and the Avenger both in unrelated murders that trigger a massive dust up between the Cyrean locals and the visiting Valenar delegation. It is actually a member of House Lyrandar who arranged this. The warlord wanting the Lyrandar to no longer administrate their lands in Valenar or, worse, pay higher tribute.

33.  A Cyrean Avenger wants the PCs to come across the border to murder every overseer and guard in a slave plantation in Dargunn to liberate the Cyreans held in bondage for decades. It potentially risks retaliation but these people have been held in bondage for years. As an ironic twist, the Lesh actually will look the other way as eliminating pro-slavery warlords helps his position.

34.    An insanely rich and well-respected Lyrandar noblewoman has been working with House Cannith for decades on the ultimate airship variant: a void ship that she intends to reach the moons with. This "Spelljammer" is something that is about to launch and she wants the PCs to help guard it against sabotage.

35.    The PCs are approached with an offer by House Sivis to buy the rights to their adventures. If the PCs agree, they soon find a large number of printed stories across the continent with incredibly inaccurate (bordering on exploitation) versions of their adventures with sleazy covers. It does massively improve their reputations in...some ways.

36.    The Bloodsail fleet successfully surrounds Dreadhold, seizes control over the location, and threatens to release the worst prisoners unless Saeria the Lich is returned to them. Which confuses a bunch of people as they were under the impression they were in Dreadhold.

37.    A Cyrean refugee claims a Lightning Rail is transporting a huge amount of stolen goods from the Mournlands to their Aurum buyers. It's time for a train robbery!

38.    See #37, the people guarding the train are adventurers who recovered the loot themselves and consider it finders keepers.

39.    See #37, the loot is actually on its way to Prince Oargev and the "refugee" who wants to steal it back is the man supposed to recover it but tired of living in desperate poverty.

40.    A patriarch of House Kundarak has died and his goods are needing to be recovered from his trap-filled dungeon vault since he left no heirs. The PCs are thus hired to recover it with the House neglecting to mention they'd hired a second team of evil adventurers who have decided to keep the contents for themselves.

41.    House Cannith and House Phiarlan have created a device called the "Magical Moving Lantern" that can store illusionary recordings of performances in dragonshards. The financial benefits from this are beyond imagination. But someone has stolen the prototype!

42.    See #41, it's a member of House Thuranni who are tweaking their sister house's nose.

43.    See #41, it's a member of House Phiarlan who believes this will ruin the market for live shows.

44.    See #41, it's the inventor who knows it doesn't work because the dragonshard is rapidly used up. 

45.    See #41, it's all of them in a comedy of errors.

46.    The Emerald Claw is seeking to unleash a biological plague that can turn people into zombies via a bite and are demanding a king's ransom not to do it. House Jorasco are willing to pay the PCs a vast sum to assault their fortress and destroy all samples. 

47.    See #46 because House Jorasco was the group that created the plague and the fortress is their secret lab.

48.    It's the Race of Eight Winds time again and the PCs are asked to serve as their jockey's bodyguards as this one is going to be particularly nationalist. Mobsters, spies, and more will be all attempting to influence the race.

49.    See #48, Prince Oargev is also planning to fix the race to win a vast amount of money that he'll use to help the people of New Cyre...or so he says.

50.    See #48, if one of the PCs is a skilled rider, they must take the place of their patron when they're discovered to have been poisoned before they even became their bodyguard. 

51.    Gadzooks! Strange unidentified flying objects are circling around farmlands, leaving mysterious circles, and kidnapping locals! Is it Illtihids? Githyanki? Aboleths?  

52.    See #51, it's a bunch of fairies having fun.

53.    See #51, it's actually a group of gnome illusionists covering up an illegal dragonshard mine and kidnapping locals to serve as slaves. They plan to bury everyone alive once they've cleared out the vein.

54.    Two dinosaur barons in the Talenta planes are feuding over grazing patches for their thunder lizards. They've escalated to everything short of murder and the townsfolk want the PCs to meditate the issue. A war between them would destroy the economy.

55.    A non-Cannith artificer has figured out a way to used spent dragonshard powder, charcoal, saltpeter, and a long metal tube to allow non-magic users to create a very cheap wand of magic missles or staff of eldritch blast. The only downsides are you have to aim it. He'd like the PCs to be angel investors in his possibly terrifying weapon of war.

56.    A gnoll warlord in Droaam claims he has a new dragonmark and is the founder of a new House. Hehas begun gathering an army around himself while the Twelve declare him an Abberant.

57.    See #56, he is actually a reincarnated Deneith mercenary who has come to love the people who he identifies with now. This is his misguided plan to get them some more respect.

58.    The Swords of Liberty are employing a renegade Sivis scribe to print pamphlets across the kingdoms that are full of horrific libel. They're designed to exploit existing divisions and rouse the populace into violent lynch mobs as well as riots. King Boronal is not interested in fighting words with words and offers the PCs a sum to find their print shop as well as writers before slaying them.

59.    See #58, the actual reason for this is that one of their insane theories is actually correct but which one?

60.    The Boromar clan of Sharn has invited the PCs to the wedding of one of their daughters. This actually isn't a trap or some weird way to make a job offer, the daughter is just a huge fan of the PCs adventures. Then, of course, House Daask decides to kidnap her.

61.    House Tarkanan has had multiple members of their clan murdered and dissected in horrible ways. They believe the Twelve are hunting them. Others attribute it to a deranged serial killer.

62.    See #61, it is a deranged copper dragon wanting to study the abberant marks.

63.    See #61, it is a Cult of the Dragon Below who is attempting to harness their power.

64.    See #61, it is a member of House Tarkanan attempting to seize power by blaming the Twelve while he eliminates his rivals.

65.    The Galifar Aquila is a dragonshard relic of incredible value to the Royal Family and has been lost for centuries. A series of murders and thefts put the object in the hands of the PCs with a House Daask troll, a beautiful elven femme fatale, and a weasally halfling all after it. But does it belong in a museum or, perhaps, a particular royal family?

66.    Morgrave University is showing a display of orcish native art at a gala when it is attacked by a bunch of drow warriors to recover them. Weirdly, they're interrupted by another group of orcs who fights them. Both groups claim one of the relics in the collection is a prison for a powerful demon while the other is trying to free it.

67.    See #66, both are lying and the relic contains a map that leads to a House Tharashk payroll transport the orcish mercenaries robbed before turning on one another. The fact they can't find it is a sign its magically warded or something has gone catastrophically wrong.

68.    See #66, that's because the idol IS a prison for a demon and he's promised the prize to whoever frees him.

69.    One of King Kaius' brides is making a legal challenge on vampire persondom in the Brelish court systems. She knows his true nature but is hiding it even as many individuals want vampires to remain legally dead. The PCs can side with or against her.

70.    An Eldeen Reach village wants to hire the PCs to hire them to proetct them against a group of a few dozen bandits. The PCs would be accompanied by a few other oddball characters.

71.    See #70, the bandits are actually the mercenaries the villagers hired to clean out a nearby forest of monsters before cheating them. 

72.    See #70, the village is a bunch of Dragon Below cultists and the "monsters" were Gatekeepers. They hope to have more slaughter so they can awamen the creature in the now-unprotected forest.

73.    The PCs are sent into the Mournlands to recover the Crown Jewels of Cyre from Metrol, only to find an apocalypse cult of cannibals devoted to the Devourer and other survivors engaged in a low grade civil war. They can side with any of the factions they want or none of them to get in and out. 

74.    See #73, there's a mad artificer from House Cannith who claims he can reveal the secret of the Mourning if the PCs rescue him.

75.    A changeling claims to have had the PCs baby from a short relationship or one night stand. If the PC is dragonmarked, they have the dragonmark despite being a changeling. The changeling is very nervous about the safety of their child and will die if they leave the PCs sight for more than a day.

76.    A radical group of Kalashtar want to sabotage trade negotiations between Karnath and Reidra. They reveal the whole Dreaming Dark conspiracy.

77.    See #76, King Kaius knows about the Dreaming Dark but Reidra offers the chance to gain food independence from Aundair. This year will be a particularly harsh winter too.

78.    Mordain the Fleshweaver removed the brain of a particularly annoying psionicist into a self-sustaining jar. It has since gone on to become a powerful crime lord, escaping with its newly enhanced powers. "The Brain" of Sharn is believed just to be a metaphor but he's gradually dominating more and more to his cause with the ability to maintain simultaneous control over ever greater numbers of people.

79.    Of all things, the PCs inherit a hotel with an airship dock from one of their admirers. It is a perfect base for their activities but they soon find out House Ghallanda drove the previous owner to ruin before he was mysteriously assassinated.

80.    See #79, the Ghallandra who did this wasn't doing it for the House but because there was a hidden treasure inside the hotel when they were adventurers.

81.    House Sivis and House Kundarak are going to work together to do real-time trades on ventures at a former stockyard (nickname the Stocks). Almost every other house thinks this is a fantastically bad idea.

82.    A group of vampire hunters have successfully killed a powerful Karnath Lord and looted his castle. His daughter is now seeking revenge as a paladin of the Blood of Vol. She is notably not undead herself but possesses some vampiric abilities. 

83.    An dwarvish artificer is terrified of House Orien coming after him and claims he has an invention that they will stop at nothing to acquire. The invention being a weird black goop that makes roads very smooth and thus much more practical for House Orien vehicles.

84.    See #83, the easiest way to resolve this is just make a mutually beneficial contract.

85.    A young woman is running away with her half-orc boyfriend despite the fact that she is astoundingly beautiful and does not seem to care that much for him. They offer a shockingly large amount of money for their safe passage. Soon, monsters will start hounding the PCs as she attempts to flirt with any interested. She is a granddaughter of Sora Kell and on the run from her mother who wants to marry her to Gorodan Ashlord.

86.    A religious heretec claims that he derives his power from the "Vestige" of Siberys and that will enough believers in him, the Dragon God can be resurrected.

87.    See #86, It's a Radiant Idol that has a particularly effective scam going on.

88.    See #86, It's a Gold Dragon who sincerely believes this will work.

89.    See #86, It will work...after a mass sacrifice of the faithful.

90.    A local village is haunted. Literally. Dozens of horrible ghosts are wandering around the area, tormented and harrassing the living. Some of them look famous individuals who suffered suspicious deaths.

91.    See #90, it is a manifest zone to Dolurrh that used to be bound by Blood of Vol cultists who kept the spirits appeased with candy and costumes. This tradition was banned the previous year by the local Sovereign Hosters.

92.    See #90, a necromancer has grabbed an assassin who used a keeper's fang to kill their lover and are torturing both killer as well as the artifact to try to bring back their spirit from the Keeper's Vault.

93.    See #91, this is an ASTOUNDINGLY bad idea and creating a Manifest Zone to Khyber below.

94.    There's a gang war going on in a famous "party" town between House Phiarlan courtesans, a group of half-vampire prostitutes, and a changeling brothel that pretends to be a Silver Flame nunnery (the Thranish government was not amused). It used to be peace between the groups but the local ordinances have stated only one can remain open.

95.    This is actually a plot by House Ghallanda to replace the town with their own inns and "cheaper" entertainment.

96.    Queen Diani of Thrane is getting married and entertaining a variety of suitors including one of Boranel's children, Prince Oargev, an Aundair lord, and a Lhazaar Pirate Prince. 

97.    See #96. This is part of an attempt to gain support for her restoration of the monarchy and Krozen has hired an assassin to do her in

98.    See #97...or so someone wants the public to think. Diani wants the PCs to thwart the threat so she can force the High Cardinal into disgrace.

99.    See #98, the Cardinal knows this and has substituted a real assassin. He'll just blame Aundair.

100.    See #96, Diani actually wants one of the PCs to marry her (or at least be engaged to her) as a popular hero would be better for forcing the public sentiment against the Church versus a foreign invader.

101.    A Dhakaani ruin has been seized by several goblin clans that have claimed it in the name of the revived empire. The Dhakaani do not recognize these individuals as their brethren and are sending a group of troops to slaughter them. The local authorities sees this as a self-solving problem.