DM FOOTNOTES

 

(DM1) This is a page for me to provide extra detail without necesarily burdening the post it is associated with. I plan to use this for background info that should be assumed by those living in the world. Wish me luck! but not here. DM poosting only.

 

(DM2) Many considered the abominations that wander the Mournlands to simply be a myth until 2 years ago. reportedly 333 demons charged from the mournlands boundaries straight for New Cyre. Although many miles from the former nation, Trackers confirm that they went straight as an arrow for the town. Many of the residents were killed in the initial assault. Many homes destroyed, unspeakable things done to the families caught offguard-- men, women and children alike tortured horribly even after they were obviously dead.

Many of the surviving Cyran war heroes gave their lives holding back the creatures at the New Cyre stronghold still under construction.

Almost miraculously, a platoon of crusaders faithful to the Silver Flame literally appeared out of nowhere and provided the support needed to end the asault. Many consider this to have been more than coincidence, but no investigations have shown any link between the Flame and the creatures from the Mournlands.

Subsequent interviews indicate that the entire platoon literally awoke from sleep not in their church barracks, but in new cyre's stronghold-- completely armed and armoured.

Ultimately, Breland, New Cyre, and Thrane representatives had to simply dismiss the event as unbelieveable but valid.

 

Both fictitious and allegedly legitimate accounts are available in book format for sale courtesy of the Korranberg Chronicle.

 

(DM3) Here is a breakdown of Noble titles throughout Khorvaire... they are consistent to prevent confusion from nation to nation... a layover from before the Last War began.

Prince/Princess-- rightful leader by blood. If ir'wynarn had any brothers or sisters they would prince and princess.

Count/Countess-- second tier royalty from birth. ir'Boswane for example: born ito royalty.

Baron/Baroness-- people awarded royal titles through deeds, not blood. Baroness Kimble, for example, earned her title during the Last War.

Lord/Lady-- anyone who has provided great deeds for the peope of cyre may be awarded this title. Lady Abodeil, for instance.

Sir/Miss/Madame-- respectful terms for anyone in a formal situation lacking any official title.

 

(DM4) The Sharn Produce Consortium is one of many independant merchant collectives that operate independantly but in concert with the Dragonmarked houses. The SPC oversees and maintains the pricing, distribution, and quality of vegetable, fruit, and grains into Sharn.

Dues paid to the SPC by merchants and sub-distributers assure profitable wholesale costs without undue markup to the direct consumers. It's presence in New Cyre is indication that the Consortium anticipates profitable production from this new settlement. This is seen as both a blessing of economic potential to the Cyrans, while simultaneously condemning the Cyre people to becoming bound to the area.

 

(DM5) This question, if seriously addressed to the general public, would create a new level of paranoia amongst the neighboring nations. It is rumoured that the Korranberg Chronicle is paid a rather large stipend to NOT address that question by virtually all nations.

The Chronicle, of course, capitalized on these rumours with a trilogy released three years ago entitled, "The Devil's Dealings"-- a story of hardnosed reporters uncovering the five Nation's plot to hide a demonic invasion slowly but surely eroding the values of society.

The church of the silver flame has recently began using this trilogy as propoganda to keep high recruiting numbers into the Knights of the Silver Flame-- further perpetuating that the trilogy may be based on fact, perpetuating the rumours, perpetuating recruiting to the Silver Flame.

An interesting sidenote: The author, a little known playwright named Theodra Lightfoot from Zilargo had sold the story to the chronicle on a base commission of 3000 gold pieces. If she had instead opted to take the alternate 5% commission of sales, she would have earned to date 527,258 gold pieces.

She was found dead in her sharn flat two months ago, 1,322 pieces of the gold remained in her bank account.

 

(DM6)--Floatstone is bouyant rock detailed in MAGIC GEAR AND ODDITIES

 

(DM7)--the article offered by kreggan:

Sharn Investigator: Ecoterrorists Sink to New Lows

 

SHARN--The Wee hours of Sunday morning were broken as the North corner Apartment tower was shaken dangerously by the at-large terrorist group, "Stonebrother's Resistance"-- so named by the self-proclaimed radicalist attending, and assumed culprit of the event.

City guards were proven ineffective as they attempted to bring down the marauder-- resorting to bow fire that seemingly bounced off his body to no effect. Litterally sinking into the ground out of view, moments later, three of the present city watch were pulled into the ground like it was water.

 

Two of the soldiers were fused below the knees, while the captain of the guard invetigating sank up to his chest.

Although the two city guards bound to the knees survived the incident, the captain was somehow magically fused with the rock, stealing the breath from his lungs. The survivors are under medical tratment and expect to recover, but will not be able to return to duty until their legs can be replaced.

 

"Do not approach anyone that may be in alignment with these supernatural terrorists." said Captain Felad Rimasquik, "We don't yet fully understand the extent of their abilities, or thier true motivation."

IF anyone has any information regarding the individuals involved in the acts of terror, alert local city guards immediately.

...

 

 

(DM8)

"craft monkeys" became popular in Karrnath some 72 years ago when Talrook Ir'Malastar, a notable Dread Necromancer made the craft monkeys famous-- Talrook would sit aloft his zombie Megadon next to his "magic barrel": where his rumoured 50 craft monkeys would forge a constant supply of "crcle of doom" grenades. Commanding a full force of fifty Karrnath death soldiers and the Megadon-- he would pepper enemy troops with the "doom grenades".. killing oponents while simultaneously repairing his legion. surviving troops swear he magically amplified his maniacal laughter to demoralize opposition as his force would wade through weaker troops, raising the dead to bolster his own troops as he went..

--Karnath Dread Leutenants coined the phrase, "more fun than a barrel full of monkeys" in homage to the great strategy.

Talrook "disappeared" from Karrnath some 25 years ago. At the time, he personally held sway over 5000 undead troops with support arcanists numbering in the hundreds.

Karrnath military investigation closed the case-- marked, "unresolved". The barrel and the Megadon went missing at the same time.

 

(DM9)

In a standard Eberron campaign, we would see the Valenar Keepers of Time to be clerics and bards, but since we have incorporated the Akashic class, along with the Akasha collective memory mechanic from Arcana Unearthed, Having the Keepers actually akashic as well makes perfect sense. To be able to directly access the memories of the revered ancestors is just too good not to do.

So the majority of Keppers are Gestalt. Akashic//bard or cleric or both.

In the case of Lady D'llynnwilith, she is obviously akashic//bard. But she's also got the mark of shadow, belonging to House Phiarlan, which is unwelcome in Valenar.

I just chose this at random when buildin the character, honestly... but now that I've studied Valenar society a bit closer, This is a potentially very complex (and dangerous) character with her own motivations.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if she is truly representing Valenar interests at all. She is most likely serving the Keepers of Time, and truly working to heal the akashic record as stated, but as an Heir of Phiarlan as well... she has to have abandoned her heritage considerably. which is an unusual paradox for a Keeper.

 

(DM10)-- New 1st level infusion in MAGIC GEAR AND ODDITIES.

 

 

(DM11)-- One of the biggest problems of any large population is food and waste. without a "modern" plumbing system, and water purification process, the world of eberron has to be creative.

a few things about this...

the roads have a gutter for rain draiage, and also a separate waste drain that runs a different route to a compost area (tyhpically 3 or 4 per town, more for cities)

There is also aquaducts for fresh water to consume/ wash with.

1. aside from the tasks of maintaining the everburning torches, magewrights also clear out blockages of waste and freshen air. maintain the drainage and aquaducts.

2. waste flows to the compost areas which is typically overseen by warcraft servants (who don't have to smell the odor) or prisoners (who deserve to smell the odor)... they sift through the compost and feces, allowing it to become an enriched paste fantastic for fertilizer. This is poured into vats, which is shipped out to farms regularly to revitalize the soil where the crops are grown. Sharn has vast centres dedicated to this, considerig the massive population that are held in the bowles of the city on ground level where light is scarce. The masive fields beyond the towers are able to abosorb the wate, wroat, starilaskur... any community large enough to support wagewrights can spport this system of clean up.

Often, lightning rail train lines have "midnight runs" out to the rural areas full of this molch. it is an unpleasant ride, so it is oten at a discount rate.

 

(DM12)-- the semingly unrelated article adjacent to the Terrorist article in the paper Kreggan provided....

 

Sharn Investigator: Felons Filch Fourfold

 

SHARN--The city guards are stunned yet again as the fourth jewelry dealer in the past two months has been robbed bare in a single night. The mercantile guilds are in an unoffical state of panick.

"There doesn't appear to be any real pattern to the robberies."

stated Captain Felad Rimasquik, "Considering the cost of the mechandise, and the unique nature of so many jewels, I can't imagine it taking Diviners much longer to isolate the missing property, and the culprits involved."

 

Despite the utilization of arcane, as well as divine, magicks to solve the case, There has been remarkably little information reported, Lord Alanon Hrolholm, a reigning member of the Arcane Congress, declined commentary.

 

Total estimated wealth missing to date is apporximately 50,000 goldworth of precious gems and jewelry.

 

(DM13)If the world of elemental earth ever had a war, the rivals would be Ogremach: the Stone Tyrant and Sunnis: Earth's Mother. These two are about as diametrically opposed to each other as devils are to demons.

Where Ogremach brings earthquakes, avalanches, and mudslides, Sunnis nurtures slow erosion, revealing of precious ore, and protectin the dwarves of eberron.

The spirits of stone prefer the Earth Mother's embrace to the violence of Ogremach-- but the nature of duality is in everything. the rock deep in the cogs would have different dreams than the stones perched high in the city.

 

 

(DM14)

The starilaskur artcles that grabbed the party's eyes while speaking with Murgis the Adjuster for the Stoneworker's Alliance

 

 

Starilaskur Herald: Montinue Menace Manacled!!

 

Starilaskur-- With aid from Knights of the Silver Flame and Sharn Inqusitors, Local sherriff, Reginald Ir'Meot, apprehended the suspect charged with murdering four Noblemn over the course of the last three months. Although the true identity of the culprit has been withheld, It is confirmed the suspect has been posing as the urban legend "Montiman" during the attacks. It is suspected the criminal is responsible or numerous petty thefts in the noble's ward as well.

"The evidence looks very certain. I am sure a swift trial will end this chapter", said Sherriff Ir'Meot.

Trial is set in 10 days.

Reginald Ir'Meot's contract as Sherriff ends in 27 days, Negotiatios for extending the contract are currently underway. €

 

 

Starilaskur Herald: Criminal Charges Ring True!!

 

Starilaskur-- A rogue Warforged was recently arrested for attempting to fence stolen property smuggled from Sharn earlier this month. The criminal was identified by a local jewel merchant who had been offered the stolen property by the accused construct.

The stolen property, a platinum ring with a double amethyst inlet, was easily identified as property of the Stoneworker's Alliance-- Headquartered in Mror Holds. Dwarven militia are scheduled to remove the prisoner from Starilaskur later this week, where he will face charges in Dwarven Court, 75 years heavy labor will be the likely sentence.

Herald reporters had an opportunity to speak with the warforged known only as "Bolts" while it resides in the local cellhouse. After learning the likely length of incarceration, "Bolts" simply replied,

"I am thankful for having an opportunity to learn a trade I am well equipped for that will allow me to become a responsible member of society. After 75 years, I should have a good understanding of how that society operates."

In contrast to many attitudes throughout the Five Kingdoms, The Dwarves of Mror Holds have yet to sentence any warforged to destruction for crimes they have committed. It is estimated at least 475 such constructs currently labor 24 hours a day beneath the Dwarven mountains for various crimes. It is reported a full 75% of warforged completing their sentences under dwarven law willigly choose to continue laboring alongside their fellow convicts. Anticipate a follow up article reagrdin this remarkable figure. €

 

 

(DM15) This is an interestting doodad... The detials are listed in MAGIC GEAR AND ODDITIES

 

 

(DM16) The lanterns have developed a long range nonmagical communication similar to morsecode, but infinitely more complex, due to their ability to emit all sorts of light. various colors establish tone, mood, emotion.. patterns are similar to kana ptictographs common to asian countries like china or japan. 

It's a unique language, which is further layered with various code that is constantly evolving.  Obviously, tongues do nothing to decipher the visual language, but comprehend languages could make sense of it with a successful sense motive check based upon the layers of code used.

visual illusions that are versatile are able to duplicate the effects by simply producing a ball of light as the illusion, and a concenttration check to manipulate the light apprpiately.

as a basic language, it's a normal speak language skill-- ob ious to anyone that understands and can see it.

the code is a separate language layered on top of it.  the normal langugae skill is a prereq.

so it costs 2 languages total.

 

(DM17) Dragonshards... what can't they be used for?  In this instance, it is being used to store information.  Pretty simple. 

 

(DM18) Morgrave is a highly competitve school... lacking the high Pedigree of the Aundair Universties, Morgrave is more of a "common man" school for learning.. anyone with the money is welcome.  Especially now that the war has finally ended... what was guarnateed students in the Breland military is now back to the traditional traditional methiods of recruiting... but now in a highly unstable economy full of displaced citizens.  

As a result, competition is even more fierce than its ever been.... this layer of stress has caused more than one student to snap under the pressure of testing and studies.  Wizardry is dangerous in the hands of the mentally unstable.  the past decade has yielded three separate incidences of area affecting spells taking a total of seventeen lives.  both Sharn and breland government is placing political pressure on Morgrave to more thoroughly screen it's applicants intot he studies of wizardry.

In counter perspective, it has not gone ounnoticed that all three incidents were caused by magewrights attending night classes to "escape the mundane service magicks".  Morgrave has countered any inquiries with accusations taht the working conditions of breland magewrigths are intolerable.  this has led to four strikes of the magewright guildint he same ten year period. 

this has led to a neutral standoff between Breland and the city of towers against Morgrave.

 

 

(DM19) Information compiled from madame Crineth's resources regarding jaelith:

Name:  WF03452 "Jaelith Oakenshins"

Origin:  Warforged

Age:  functioning 32 years

Affiliations:  Greenspeakers; druidic cult, Free Nation; warforged cult, Sharn Unity for Liberation; warforged cult, Breland Society for Less Urbanization; activist group, Alliance Opposing Interdimensional Tampering; activist group, Brute Force Tactics; warforged mercenary team

Criminal Offenses:  Arson; 6 counts, Assault; 1 counts, Blackmail; 1 counts, Disorderly Conduct; 3 counts, Extortion; 3 counts, Murder; 2 counts, Resisting Incarceration; 1 count

Notes:  Pardoned by the Throne of Aundair, Pardoned by the Throne of Breland twice, Currently wanted in Karrnath, currrently wanted in Thrane 

Sentenced twice in Karrnath for two counts of Arson 2 years, 1 count of Extortion 4 years-- consecutive sentences

Escaped after 21 months.  Currently a fugitive in from karrnath, last known location in Breland.

Proflie:  Unimpressive military record.  provided labor support in breland interior.  release from servitude, initially worked with Brute Force Tactics as a mercenary laborer  later affiliation with various Warforged rights activist groups, moved into ecological activist groups, final affiliation to date with Greenspeakers. 

Nonviolent personality type; passionate regarding individual rights, and issues revolving around economic exploitation of the natural world an ddeveloping society. 

Last known operating in Sharn on behalf of the Greenspeakers regarding ecoterrorist activity to present date. 

Still awaiting official reply from greenspeakers on their involvment with Oakenshins.

 

 

(DM20) THe Tunnel

KImoko and Celestine both know of the Road to hell.  THey also know about hell in general.

SOme tunnels, are alive.   and they drink blood. 

IF fed enough blood the tunnels will "swallow".. or close.  Nothin survives the crush. 

 

 

(DM21) The Stone Minotaur

Many gods have many guises.  Ogremach, as he's known by the Gatekeepers and most druid covens, is almost universally worshipped by Minotaurs in Khyber.  This is the most openly warlike aspect of Ogremach; although it is unusual for any of the common races like humans to worship ANY aspect of Ogremach... that it would the the Stone Minotaur is even more eccentric. 

This would account for the beastial appearance of the cult members... rituals to become more like the aspect they are worshipping.