The Story of Eberron

[Xenostrata]

(Full eberron map)

DISCLAIMER: Certain crucial events are skipped in this amalgam of Eberron lore, due mostly to the fact that Eberron campaigns were written to normally take place in Khorvaire and that DDO takes place on Xen'drik. Hence, such events like The Last War are skipped.

When I judge a game, one of the first things I look for is how good the story is. This is one of the (many) things DDO has done incredibly well. The only caveat is that it is sometimes hard to figure out what the story is; however, this is because the story can be easily ignored by those who aren't interested in immersion, which is a respectable reason. I can handle people skipping all the dialogs in quests, it just made this a bit harder to come up with .


Note: Some of the plot I explain here was received through the use of extrapolation, hints, and guesswork, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of it, however, isn't, particularly the section on the history of Eberron. Enjoy!

The Beginning of Everything

In the beginning, there was only chaos, a mixture of energy and matter in which nothing and everything existed. The rulers of this universe were called the Progenitor Wyrms, and they were the most powerful divine beings to have ever existed. Of the Wyrms, three sisters stood out as the most powerful: Golden Siberys, Gentle Eberron, and Cruel Khyber. Together, these three beings represented the various powers of existence. Siberys was the master of all magics, both arcane and divine. Eberron was the master of life. Khyber was the master of knowledge and darkness. Using their combined talents, the three Progenitor Wyrms fashioned the Draconic Prophecy, a detailed description of the future of all existence. Following this prophecy, the three sisters worked together to create a world out of the churning chaos.
At first, all was well. The Astral Plane was separated from the chaos first, followed by various other astral and elemental planes. However, as these regions were created, the difference between the two more powerful siblings became more and more pronounced. Khyber wanted creation to reflect more mightily on her own views of cruelty and selfishness, and fashioned the planes Kythri, Mabar, and Xoriat. Siberys responded by creating Daanvi, Fernia, and Irian. Eberron, the least of the three sisters, tried to pacify the other two by creating neutral planes. This attempt was unsuccessful, however, as Siberys and Khyber marked the planes that Eberron created to more match their own beliefs, Siberys claiming Thelanis and Khyber claiming Dolurrh.
As the 13 planes were finished, the sisters turned towards creating the center world around which all the other planes would orbit. They began with a simple sphere of rock, crafted from the chaotic matters of the beginning. They then set this sphere on an orbit around a sun, linking the sun to Fernia. Finally, they crafted 13 moons and set them to orbit the nondescript sphere, linking each moon with a plane.
As the sisters turned towards the last piece of creation, Siberys and Khyber began to argue over what the center world should be like. Neither would compromise with the other, and in a fit of rage Khyber lashed out at her sibling, tearing a fatal wound into Golden Siberys' side and scattering her essence across the sky. Eberron, faced with a fight she had no hope of winning, instead embraced her cruel sister and merged with the planet everyone had been fighting over. Taking her own essence, Eberron created life on the planet that she had become a part of. Remembering the importance of the Prophecy that started it all, Eberron scribed the signs of the prophecy on rocks all over the world. Siberys became the golden ring that sparkles in the sky. Khyber became the underworld, trapped where she could do no more harm... yet.

Life in Eberron

At first, the only life on the newborn planet was the primitive life that Eberron had created. However, as the blood of Siberys fell from the sky, it spawned a race that combined the aspects of Eberron and Siberys magnificently: Dragons. Wherever a drop fell, a dragon would be created, and as the various dragons were formed, it became quite obvious that these were beings of great power. Capable of the divine and arcane magic that Siberys embodied, dragons roamed the world freely, exploring the lands and examining the inhabitants. The only competition the dragons had were the mysterious couatls, a draconic race formed from the blood of Siberys before it came in contact with Eberron. Effectively immortal, the couatls did not have the taint of mortality that Eberron had gifted her creations with. However, this purity also meant that the couatls were much more emotionally detached from the new world, keeping almost entirely to their home of Sarlona, leaving the dragons unopposed everywhere else. This continued for an unknown amount of time, an era in which dragons ruled all and very little changed.
Cruel Khyber, however, eventually found a way to interfere with the creations of her sisters. All of a sudden, an army of horrors erupted from the Underdark that Khyber resided in. This army was lead by the Overlords, demonic beings of almost god-like power. The dragons, not unified and prone to infighting, were no match to these creatures, and were enslaved for more than a hundred thousand years under the rule of the Overlords. Followed primarily by legions of Rakshasa, the Overlords were just as immortal as the Couatls and faced no opposition.
Then, a blue dragon named Ourelonastrix and a Couatl named Hezcalipa began discovering odd signs left on various rocks around the world. Working together, these two became the first to read a part of the Draconic Prophecy, left to them by Eberron. This prophecy showed the two how to defeat the the overlords, and they began to spread the message to others to prepare for war.

The War and its Aftermath

At first, the war seemed hopeless. The Overlords pride had lead them to spread themselves thinly across the world, meaning only one had to be fought at a time. However, every time an Overlord was killed, it would rise again shortly after. Faced with impossible odds, Hezcalipa convinced his people to sacrifice themselves in order to permanently destroy the Overlords. The couatls, also a race of immortals, used their own essences to create the Silver Cataclysm, a force that managed to imprison the Overlords where they could do no harm. Without their godly leaders, the remaining forces were easily handled by the dragons and a few remaining couatl. The dragons became the only powerful beings left on the face of the world. With significantly fewer numbers, but a new sense of racial unity, the dragons retreated to Argonnesen, creating new rules and laws to prevent future wars.
Faced with an age of solitary peace, the dragons devoted themselves to further studying of the Prophecy and developing the magical powers that had grown enormously during the war. However, as millenia passed, the dragons began to express interest in the outside world that they had fought so hard to protect. When they finally set out to see how the world had changed, they found dozens of new civilizations. The most advanced were the giants of Xen'drik, and some dragons decided to give this civilization the secrets to magic. Most other dragons decided instead to conquer as much of the world as they could, which lead to extreme internal conflicts. As dragons began fighting each other, one of the original Overlords began to awaken: Tiamat, the true Daughter of Khyber. All dragons, essentially nephews of Khyber, carried a piece of her corruption inside of them, and Tiamat's power was to awaken this corruption. From her underground prison, Tiamat corrupted hundreds of dragons, and when these dragons laid their eggs, the Spawn of Tiamat hatched into an army. Faced with imminent destruction, the dragons quickly reunified and destroyed all of the tainted dragons and their broods.
In order to better understand how an Overlord had managed to spread so much influence, the dragons turned to the Prophecy for much more intense study. What they found, they refused to share with anyone but the very elite of the dragon race, except for one thing: the sudden spread of draconic conquest lead to Tiamat's rise. After the incident, all dragons were called back to Argonnessen, leaving the subjugated races to face the newly magical Giants.

Reign of the Giants

As the dragons left, so did their enforcement of the laws on magic. The dragons were a very traditional race, and had followed certain restrictions on how magic was to be used, most of which had been written by Ourelonastrix. Once the dragons left the giants alone with their new knowledge of the arcane arts, the giants began to explore into areas the dragons had forbidden, particularly blood spells and planar magic. However, the dragons now feared what would happen if they became involved in outside matters, and resolved to simply watch as the giants began to conquer the rest of the world. The giants used the enslaved elves as laborers, and soon became the undisputed rulers of all of Xen'drik.
Elsewhere in existence, troubles were arising. Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, has a very strange life cycle. The alignment of the plane is directly tied to the alignment of the Material Plane, and every time there was a major shift, all of the Quori would effectively die and be reborn with new memories and ideals. Understanding that something in the Material Plane was about to cause a massive change, the Quori invaded Xen'drik and destroyed anything that they thought would help cause the shift. Faced with complete destruction, a dragon known as the Truthful One disobeyed his race and forged an alliance with a giant leader known as the Stormreaver. Using an impressive display of magic, the two managed to knock the plane of Dal Quor out of its usual orbit around the Material Plane, making it impossible for any Quori to manifest. The Stormreaver vanished, and with the nation of giants incredibly weakened against the onslaught, their slaves began to revolt. In the end, the elves succeeded in freeing themselves, some setting off for Aerenal and others remaining to become Drow.
Also, after seeing what happens when "lesser beings" made use of their magic, the dragons of Argonnessen instituted a new law: No secrets can be told to non-dragons.

The Daelkyr War and the founding of the Cults of Khyber

As the new Elven nations began to develop, they began to develop an interest in magic. After thousands of years of studying, the Aerenal elves managed their crowning achievement: the use of Necromancy, powered by the plane of Irian, to create the Undying Court, an alliance of completely immortal elves with powers close to those of the Overlords. Faced with yet another power that could rise against them, the dragons began an assault on the elvish forces. It became quite apparent that the dragons did not have their heart in the war, however, as very little of their force was committed to the fighting. The war has continued on and off up to the present day, mainly made up of long periods of peace and short, sudden bursts of fighting.
Then, one day, a black dragon named Vvaraak foresaw a terrible danger coming. Faced with a stubborn council that refused to help the other races prepare for the onslaught, Vvaraak left Argonnessen and began teaching the humanoids druidic magic in preparation for what was coming. These druids became the Gatekeepers, and Vvaraak had less than a century of teaching before she mysteriously vanished from the face of the planet.
Some 7000 years after Vvaraaks dissappearance, a new threat appeared: the Daelkyr, beings from Xoriat with incredible powers of creation and destruction. The Daelkyr are the supreme rulers of their plane, and each one created his own personal race of abberation to reflect his personal preferences. As these demigods flooded through with their minions into the continent of Khorvaire, they were met by the now strongly established Gatekeeper druids. The war raged for millenia, destroying most of the continent and ruining the powerful Dhakaani civilization, until the Gatekeepers managed to kill or banish all but 6 of the Daelkyr lords. These were the most powerful of the Daelkyr, and were barely defeated by the druids. However, before they could be entirely imprisoned in Khyber like the Overlords, the final Daelkyr lords created the Cult of the Dragon Below and reinvigorated the cult of the Lords of Dust, in the hopes of being released later.
The Cult of the Dragon Below serves Khyber, and seeks to break the balance in power between the creatures of Siberys and those of Khyber to release all those captured in the depths of the world. Should they reach their goals, hell would literally break loose over Eberron, as the god-like Overlords would be realeased without any hope of being defeated or reimprisoned without couatls.
The Lords of Dust is primarily made up of the surviving Rakshasa from the Great War between the Overlords and the dragons. This organization is much more selective and secretive than the Cult, and is known for infiltrating organizations around the world (including the Cult) to pursue their ultimate goal: the release of the Lords of Dust, the most powerful of the Overlords trapped in Khyber.
Both the Lords of Dust and the Cult of the Dragon Below are opposed by the Gatekeepers, who maintain the seals on the prisons of those imprisoned. While attempts have been made, none have been successful so far to release the immensely powerful beings that could bring the world into a new age of terror.

The Discovery of Dragonmarks, and the Eradication of Vol

As the dragons watched the destruction in Khorvaire without action, they also continued studying the ever-important Draconic Prophecy that promised to explain everything. Then, around 2000 years after the end of the Daelkyr War and the fall of the Dhakaani empire, the signs that Eberron had inscribed into the rocks began dissappearing, much to the alarm of the dragons. Even more alarming was the realization that the marks were not dissappearing, but shifting onto the faces of some "lesser beings." Confronted with the fact that the humanoids were also a part of the prophecy, the dragons began to argue heatedly over what they should do with the newly marked creatures. The Light of Siberys, the army of Argonnessen that had been formed after the Great War, wanted to kill anyone who had a dragonmark to prevent any of their enemies (namely the Lords of Dust) from using the information against them. Others argued that this was the will of Eberron, and that killing them would be blasphemous at the least or world-threatening at the most. The final decision would be to waive the rules of non-intervention in humanoid affaris to create The Chamber, a group of select dragons that would observe and interact with the dragonmarked races.
With the introduction of truly unique power in non-dragons, some dragons became interested in what would happen with a dragonmarked dragon cross-breed. A group of green dragons approached the house of Vol, and in the end the half green dragon Erandis Vol was created. Claiming success, supporters of the project spread the word that it was an attempt to end the elf-dragon fighting. In the end, it did, as both the elves and the dragons worked together to kill anyone marked with the sign of Vol. In the end, Erandis Vol's mother sacrificed her life in order to turn Erandis into a lich, cutting off access to her dragonmark and saving Erandis from persecution. Erandis Vol has spent the rest of her existence trying to reestablish her dragonmarked powers, and has formed the Blood of Vol as a religion to aid her.
Later, the Emerald Claw is formed as an additional cult that tries to follow in the footsteps of the original Emerald Claw: Erandis Vol's father. Their goal is to merge different races with magic to form the perfect race, and the members are all loyal to Erandis.
The remaining 12 dragonmarked houses become well established, and DDO starts in this time.

Present Implications

A lot of hints in the past have yet to be implicated in the present (though they may not be included in DDO, just PnP Eberron). Vvaraak, the creator of the Gatekeepers, never explicitly stated that the danger she foresaw was the Daelkyr invasion, and hints have been made that she actually saw something much worse that hasn't happened yet. The increased activity from The Chamber has lead to Tiamat stirring again, and her influence is beginning to become apparent on some of the chromatic dragons. Nothing is mentioned of what happened to the few remaining couatls, which could be our next good NPC race. Erandis Vol's goals are not yet apparent beyond that she wants her dragonmark back, and no reason has been given for her opposition of the Black Abbot's ascension to power. Especially for those unfamiliar with Eberron lore, a GREAT new endgame story line could involve the Overlords themselves, and it would thematically work well if it came out in the same update as Druids. I personnally see an introduction of some of the final 6 Daelkyr, with the newest adventure pack being focused so heavily on Xoriat and the creation of new races of abberations (edit: Hey, I was right!)

Up next: The DDO storyline, and how it fits into the rest of this.

(Main Source: http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/. Check it out!)

[Xenostrata]

Sorry this one took so long to update, I'm a terrible procrastinator.

DDO has three main storylines (at the moment. I count any storyline with 3 or more adventure packs in it as "major"). These are:

• The Conflict of the Planes
• The Draconic Prophecy, aka Return of the Stormreaver
• The Dream Invasion

When a part of the following story includes a title in Red, that means it pertains to the Devil Invasion story line. The same is true for Blue and Purple (history - color coded for YOUR convenience!). Story lines with questionable links to a major plot arc will be colored in Stripe patterns.
Currently, the most prominent story line is the Devil Invasion plot arc. However, looking at Eberron history, I believe that the Draconic Prophecy story will become the major plot arch, and that the Quori Incursion arc will merge with the Draconic Prophecy arc (and, possibly, so will all the other lines to create one cohesive major plot line).

Note that the devs have declared that the order of the story is determined by the pack level, and not the order in which the packs were released. Certain exceptions apply, especially here:

It all started one day...

The First Invasion

One day, portals to Shavarath started to appear randomly around the marketplace and small bands of devils would come through. At first, they were easily repelled by the adventurers that did their business there. Then, a huge vortex appeared over the marketplace bazaar, forcing the merchants there to evacuate to a nearby inn. The number of devil invaders increased monumentally, and they quickly overwhelmed and took control of the bazaar. They erected a magic barrier around the bazaar, and set up guards and scouts to protect their newly acquired territory.
At this time, Veheer, a Wizard of the Twelve, set up a floating island above the marketplace to observe. Hoping to find out what the devils were after and how to stop them, Veheer tasked a number of other wizards with setting up a magical assault on the vortex above the bazaar. The number of individual magical attacks merged, leading to a huge beam of power that did successfully close the vortex. It also ended up destroying the bazaar, leaving nothing but a large crater and a small hole guarded by a magic field.

Pursuing the General
At first, the field seemed impossible to breach. However, a number of NPC- *cough* mysterious strangers gathered around it, and offered to help construct a ritual to bring down the barrier. After gathering a number of Red Dragonshard Fragments, Giantcraft Totems, Baatezu Runes, Quori Stones, and Tanar’ri Runes, the ritual commenced and the field vanished, leaving a hole to strange ruins directly beneath the marketplace.
After some brief exploration, a group of adventurers is informed that Delvarrion has had a nightmare/evil vision. He says that he saw House Deneith collapse into a vortex similar to the one that appeared over the marketplace, and asks that the adventurers further explore the “Subterrane” to find the cause of the vision. Quite experienced at following plot hooks at this point, the intrepid band of adventurers ventures even further into the underground maze and finds a devil fortress, guarded by several gates. After sorting out how to open each of the gates, the band of heroes finds a portal, and, through that, the inside of the devil fortress. Within the fortress was Devil General Suulomades, the original architect of the marketplace invasion. After a prolonged battle, Suulomades was defeated, and his essence was banished back to his home plane of Shavarath.

Troubles in Korthos

While the Devil Invasion may have been the start of the DDO story, the story of the Player doesn't start until a ship bound for Stormreach is attacked and destroyed by a White Dragon, leaving only one survivor.
This brave adventurer, unaware of what the future holds for him, is found unconscious by a rogue that may or may not have taken all of his gear. Led in an unnecessarily complex manner to the town of Korthos, the adventurer (shortened from here on in to PC) finds that the small island civilization is having severely harsh times. Korthos was normally under the protection of the Heyton family, a line from the Cannith Dragonmarked house. However, the last living Heyton, Lars, has vanished, and the town is being assaulted by a horde of Sahuagin and the renegade White Dragon that destroyed the PC's ship. As if things could not get any worse, the Sahuagin have been capturing and brainwashing townspeople into Cultists, setting them as pawns to attack their friends and families.
Given some time to explore, the PC discovers that the only reason the town has lasted so long was due to a strange Cannith power crystal, warding off some amount of the danger. After discovering that Lars is not in the village, dead or alive, the PC finds a scroll giving crucial information on the Dragons (after completely destroying all of the town's remaining supplies) and goes out into the wilderness to search for the last person that might be able to help.
Lars Heyton is finally found inside an abandoned Cannith Workshop, where long ago the Warforged were created (Important plot point for later!). After being saved him from a Sahuagin assault, he agrees to meet the PC in Misery's Peak, the mountain where the White Dragon has been living. Along the path to the Peak, the PC stops a Sahuagin attempt to wake up an ancient power that had been imprisoned by Giants millennia in the past (possibly important in future updates?), rescues a travelling representative of House Jorasco, and frees some captured Korthos villagers before they could be brainwashed into joining the Cult of the Dragon Below (see above).
Once inside the Mountain, the PC discovers that the reason for all of Korthos' problems is that a Mindflayer is using a Quori Mindsunder Artifact (Another important plot point!) to control the Dragon. Given a fairly straight forward task, the PC destroys the Mindsunder, freeing the dragon to kill the Mindflayer and return to its home elsewhere.

Important Plot Points for Later: Quori Mindsunder and the "Cannith" creation forges, Aussircaex the White Dragon.

A Man Named Baudry Cartamon

The PC is contacted by a desperate businessman, who is having troubles with a Gangster named Hazadill.
At first, Baudry simply wants his merchandise protected from Hazadill's raiding kobolds. However, after the PC has performed this task, Cartamon asks him to go raid Hazadill's warehouse and destroy some of the stuff the Gangster has stolen off of a (now deceased) adventuring party. This turned out to be a ruse set up by Hazadill, who stole the crate that was originally being protected while the PC was smashing crates in his warehouse.
Whatever was in that crate was extremely valuable, and Cartamon sends the PC back into Hazadill's warehouse to steal it back. This relatively easy task is accomplished fairly quickly, and the merchandise is returned to Baudry Cartamon before Hazadill has a chance to do anything with it.

Important Plot Points for Later: The valuable merchandise is hinted to be a Dragonshard. This could be a stretch, but Baudry's dragonshard could have been sent to House Kundarak for safe-keeping, starting a whole new chain of problems.

The Lost Seekers

A pair of young treasure hunters have vanished deep within the sewers under Stormreach, and the PC has to find out where they are and why.
The first hint the PC has is one of the Stormreach guards, who says that they were dragged off by the Clan Gnashtooth kobolds, a group of kobolds that are considered weak by Adventurer standards. Venturing into the heart of Clan Gnashtooth, find chief Eechik, who reveals that only one of the seekers was caught by the Gnashtooth. Arlos was taken into the Gnshtooth prison, and is being guarded there by the real leader of the Clan - Eechik has no power over his subjects and so cannot help you further.
Once inside the prison, Arlos reveals that his partner Venn was taken by the significantly more cruel Tunnelworm Kobolds. Venturing into Clan Tunnelworm territory, the PC finds sights of terrible horrors, and Venn is found tortured to death in a Tunnelworm prison cell. However, Venn wrote something in his own blood - "The Seal of Shan-to-Kor".

Important Plot Points for Later: The Seal of Shan-to-Kor is another quest chain, and probably what Arlos and Venn had been looking for. Unfortunately, they were looking in the wrong place.

Catacombs of the Silver Flame

The PC is tasked with finding a Friar of the Silver Flame's niece.
When first looking for the niece, the PC discovers the impossible: Undead have invaded the Catacombs of the Silver Flame, somewhere that had been warded powerfully against such an incursion. After bringing this news to the Leader of the Church, Archbishop Dryden, he reveals that the only possible way that this could have happened was that someone began to activate The Duality, a book hidden in the Church's library that would give the user unknown powers over life and death. The Archbishop then sends the PC after the Duality in hopes of finding out what is wrong. When the book is found, however, their is a crucial inscription missing, and so the PC must travel even deeper into the catacombs to find it on the tomb of Gerard Dryden.
Once the Duality is completed, the Archbishop sends the PC to ward the Catacombs against further undead attacks; specifically against one particular wraith: Marguerite Dryden, the daughter of the Archbishop and the niece the PC was originally tasked to find. After the wards are placed, the Archbishop sends the PC to take care of Marguerite's wraith.
Once Marguerite is met, however, she reveals that it as in fact her Father who did this to her in an attempt of unlocking the secrets of the Duality for himself. Once the Archbishop is confronted, it is revealed that he is possessed by Arkasic Dryden, who is attempting to return himself to the living and seize the power of the Church of the Silver Flame. Once Arkasic and his undead minions are destroyed, the PC returns to Friar Renau for his reward - in exchange for the PCs silence.

Important Plot Points for Later: Just the weakness of the once strong Church of the Silver Flame. Its numbers reduced by the undead invasion, and demoralized about the possession of its leader, the Church will again ask for the PCs help on later matters that it might have handled itself otherwise.

The Seal of Shan-to-Kor

The PC is tasked by a Wayfinder, a member of an organization of explorers, to find and take the Seal of Shan-to-Kor from a group of Goblinoids.
Given this reasonably straight forward task, the PC descends into the sewers and finds a horde of kobolds blocking his path. Dispatching them more or less easily, the PC descends deeper to find a city defended by Hobgoblins. Once the leader of the hobgoblins, Hetman Shaagh, is found and killed, the PC finds a note revealing that he planned on selling the Seal to a Fire Giant for some unspecified purpose. Journeying deeper underground, the PC discovers a large Golem guarding the seal, and after destroying it the PC is free to return the Seal back to Wayfinder Dael.

Important Plot Points for Later: Hetman Shaagh's note about his plans for the Seal become more important in a later pack. Wayfinder Dael is also encountered later on, but not in a particularly plot-fulfilling manner.

Assault on Splinterskull

The PC is tasked with returning the Leadership of the Darguul to Chief Ungurz.
Another fairly straight forward adventure, the PC goes through multiple attempts to reach the center of Splinterskull fortress and kill the current leader, Yarkuch. Along the way, the PC rescues several prisoners and kills the Witchdoctor Zulkash before he can kill Ungurz with his magic.

Important Plot Points for Later: None. Plot-wise, this one is fairly unexciting.

The Sharn Syndicate

The Coinlord Yorrick Amanatu wants the PC to stop various plans made by the Sharn crime syndicate in the Marketplace.
Another straight forward adventure, the PC is tasked with defending a shop keeper, destroying a money laundering operation, stealing a painting, returning the stolen painting, and killing the Stormreach head of the Sharn Syndicate. Of interesting note is that, while stealing the painting, if the PC decides to try to rob other lock boxes in the House Kundarak vault, he will be attacked by a horde of zombies, including one of Vanya Amanatu, who may be the sister/wife/mother/cousin/etc of the quest giver.

Important Plot Points for Later: None, though if you pay close attention you will find out that Kear is in fact a Dragon in elven form.

Three-Barrel Cove

The PC is tasked with various pirate-themed adventures.
Again, these adventures are mostly unrelated plot wise and involve straight forward tasks without much influence on the issues troubling Stormreach.

Important Plot Points for Later: None whatsoever.

The Malificent Cabal

The PC is tasked with fighting off a group of Tieflings (half-devils) who are trying to interfere with House Phiarlan.
The Phiarlan representative, Rouge, has a few issues and needs some help with them. First, the PC is sent to recruit a Giant to play the role of the Stormreaver in Phiarlan's eponymous play. The previous actor was a Dwarf, which enraged many of the critics, so the PC is sent into the forest to find Brawnpits and convince him to become an actor. A number of Tieflings try to stop the PC, but the Giant is eventually lead back to House Phiarlan to take his role.
Rouge quickly sends you to a House Phiarlan event in order to protect the Viceroy from assassins. At this event are a number of important characters (Talk to them all for some interesting plot points), and the PC easily stops all three attempts on the Viceroy's life with help of Cyan, a secret agent.
Upon hearing news of the Tiefling involvement, Rouge sends the PC to a local inn to interrogate a halfling that might know something about what's going on. Once confronted, this Roderic uses a strange wand to repeatedly summon help for fighting you. Once cornered, he uses his wand for a final time, summoning a red Abishai. Because the Abishai appeared behind him, Roderic doesn't notice and offers to sell you information on "Malicia", but is quickly killed by the Abishai for breaking some deal. The Abishai then turns on the PC, but is killed and banished back to Shavarath.
Finally, Rouge sends the PC to the Traveling Troubadors Circus, where it is suspected that the Succubus Malicia has set up shop. The PC has little trouble dealing with the Devil Mistress, ending the Tiefling threat to House Phiarlan.

Important Plot Points for Later: Malicia's attempt to control House Phiarlan was just the first (not counting the invasion) attempt of the Devils to take control of Eberron. Also, there is an interesting optional in the Big Top in which you decide whether or not to help a Devil who wants to stop Malicia, proving that not all the Devils are acting in concert.

The Litany of the Dead

The PC is sent to stop a Lich from ascending into godhood.
In the Necropolis, a large graveyard filled with crypts and mausoleums, the Silver Flame and the Emerald Claw, two groups that normally kill each other on sight, are working together to try to prevent the Black Abbot from completing a ritual that would make him a god. At first, the information is extremely limited: There are three vampires, of which only one has a well-known past, and they are guarding something that would allow the Lich to ascend.
The first, an alchemist named Brother Salasso, guards the Heretical Path, the first book in the Litany of rituals that would help the scheming Abbot. Once the Brother is found in the Bloody Crypt, the PC must find and destroy his heart before attempting to kill Salasso - he is invulnerable without it. Once Salasso is defeated, the PC obtains the Heretical Path. However, the Abbot has already had a chance to use this book.
The second, a Vampire named Nerezza, guards the Twisted Apocrypha. He hides in the maze that is the Shadow Crypt, and after solving the maze the PC finds that it must face the Shadow Council - a group of wraiths that keep Nerezza immortal. After defeating Nerezza, the Twisted Apocrypha is obtained, but this book has also already been used by the Black Abbot.
The third, Maldetto, is a master of charms, and he guards the final book in the Litany: the Black Prophecy. Maldetto has dominated a group of Silver Flame warriors, and plans on using them as cannon fodder to prevent the PC from reaching him and the book. However, Maldetto is eventually defeated, and the Black Prophecy is obtained. However, like the others, the Black Abbot has already used this one, and is nearing the completion of his ascension.

The Abbot, sensing the approach of the PC, placed guards in order to prevent anyone from interfering wit his Ascension. Unlike the vampires, these guards were coerced into their job, and have no wishes to help the Abbot reach his goal. However, they cannot leave their posts, and the crystals that they defend are unreachable any other way.
The PC learns of the first guard through the dreams of an Emerald Claw member. This Holton Kisane says that he dreamed of his Mistress, Erandis d'Vol, and that she told him of her High Priest being trapped by the Abbot in what was once her temple. Once inside the temple, the PC can defeat a group of angry Maruts - the high priest of Vol is a vampire. Once the Maruts are defeated, and other obstacles are removed, the PC must confront the priest. His bodyguards will attack, but once they are defeated the vampire will agree to help the PC stop the Black Abbot's plans.
The second guard is a Chaotic Good Fleshcrafter named Mentau, who has been tasked by the Abbot to make an army of Flesh golems. Once he is freed from his laboratory, Mentau is more than willing to help fight against the Abbot.
The third guardian is kept in a dungeon that is suspended between Eberron and the Inferno of the Damned, a hellish fire dimension. Using portals that link the two realms, the PC finds and frees the cinderspawn Cinnis, and after defeating it is promised its aid in the quest againist the Abbot.
The final guardian, a Lawful Good Doomsphere named Cholthulzz, is imprisoned in the Abyss underneath a Weeping Tree. Once freed, he is forced to attack the PC, but once defeated agrees to help fight against the Abbot.

While seeking the help of the guardians, the PC completed a Sigil meant to open the Black Mausoleum, the only path to the Crystals that are preventing the PC from confronting the Abbot. However, the Abbot has now forced the would-be allies into directly defending the crystals, and the PC must kill them each individually in order to access the Abbots chamber.
Once the crystals are shattered, the PC enters the Halls of Ascension. Inside, their is a large pedestal, on which is the final altar. Surrounding the pedestal is a lake of water that has a direct link to Dolurrh, the pane of death. A single touch of the water sucks the soul out of one's body. In front of the Pedestal is a giant statue of the Abbot, and standing on it is the Lich itself.
After a short battle, it becomes apparent that the Abbot has completed parts of his ritual: he is invincible. However, destroying his Sarcophagi leaves him vulnerable, and with the Abbot's destruction the ritual is averted. However, the blast of power released from the destroyed ritual causes tremors in the very fabric of reality.

Important Plot Points for Later: The destroyed ritual causes an imbalance in the Planes, which will be exploited later.

More to come later.

[karnokvolrath]

Was googling and reading alot of ebberon lore and found this, so here a free bump and a +1, cant wait to read more.

[Littoface]

This was interesting to read. I'm with you on that, stories in games are among the most important thing to me.

[GuntherBovine]

Thanks! I have read some of the Eberron novels, but there is a lot here that I have only see little hints about

+1 rep

[RangerOne]

Thanks.
My first exposure to Eberron was a game called Dragonshard. I picked it up because it was DnD and it was cheap. It was a a cross between Battle for Middle Earth and Warcraft. You mined shards, built a town, wiped out the opposition. I didn't quite understand the Eberron references, but the game was fun. Your history was well done.

[DnD3]

Pretty nice read, I enjoy reading things int hese forums that arent related to my class does more dps than your class.

[Sleepsalot]

Very Nicely done is great that you took time to do this Good Job. +1 and thanks

[Xenostrata]

After 3 months (Sorry!), I've added maps for part one and most low level quests to part two (as well as the entire litany chain).

Feel free to point out spelling/factual errors, I'm stuck with a small keyboard at the moment and can't remember some key details (the name of the fire giant that the Seal was going to be sold to, for instance).

[GuntherBovine]

Great stuff! Please keep it coming. I can't give you a +1 rep right now

Errors:
* "Troubles in Korthos" has both purple and white letters (may be WAI)
* "Marguerite's ghost" should be "Marguerite's wraith"
* "previous actoor" shouold be "previous actor"
* "Catacombs of the Silver Flame" is in read and probably should be in white

[Xenostrata]

Great stuff! Please keep it coming. I can't give you a +1 rep right now

Errors:
* "Troubles in Korthos" has both purple and white letters (may be WAI)
* "Marguerite's ghost" should be "Marguerite's wraith"
* "previous actoor" shouold be "previous actor"
* "Catacombs of the Silver Flame" is in read and probably should be in white

Yeah, my intro addressed some of this stuff.

• Quests that can be tenuously linked to a chain without being a crucial part (all imho, of course) are written in Stripes of the white and the plot arc color.
• Ghost, wraith... meh. I'll fix it later when I go to add more.
• EEEPC + large hands = inevitable typos. Thanks for the spell check
• Yeah, that one should really be striped red and white.

Thanks for the feedback! Bring me moar!

[sstaten]

The Sharn Syndicate is also mentioned /involved in the Cerulean hills.

[Tarrell]

Eberron is probably the most boring, bland, generic, cookie cutter, uninteresting DnD world ever created. I only play for the gameplay.

If Eberron was the winning entry for that create a new world competition, I'd HATE to see some of the losing entry. Ugh.

Magnify Eberron a thousand times and it would never be as epic or well written as Greyhawk, Darksun, Krynn or Forgotten Realms.

[Xenostrata]

The Sharn Syndicate is also mentioned /involved in the Cerulean hills.

Yeah, in the captives someone says something along the lines of "no on can find out about Sharn's involvement!"

However, since this wasn't part of a quest chain and had no impact on further plot lines, I decided it really wasn't worth mentioning.

[karsion]

Love to get to know more about Eberron so plus 1 for Xenostrata

[tfangel]

Eberron is probably the most boring, bland, generic, cookie cutter, uninteresting DnD world ever created. I only play for the gameplay.

If Eberron was the winning entry for that create a new world competition, I'd HATE to see some of the losing entry. Ugh.

Magnify Eberron a thousand times and it would never be as epic or well written as Greyhawk, Darksun, Krynn or Forgotten Realms.

Sorry, but Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms aren't generic?? I find those horrid, fully of stereotypes and bland history. Eberron is what a world would be with if the magic in the game world was used by everyone. I love it, and love it even more when i find out more about it. For examples of what it does differently, you might want to read this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Eberron

Edit:
And oh yeah, great job on the post, that must have taken ages.

[senorsenor1]

(the name of the fire giant that the Seal was going to be sold to, for instance).

Dungeon Master): The note reads: 'Seal is hidden deep in Halls of Shan-To-Kor. Soon we use it to bargain with Bergthrym.'

ran it just for you!

[Xenostrata]

Dungeon Master): The note reads: 'Seal is hidden deep in Halls of Shan-To-Kor. Soon we use it to bargain with Bergthrym.'

ran it just for you!

Thanks, +1 rep

[yawumpus]

Sorry, but Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms aren't generic?? I find those horrid, fully of stereotypes and bland history. Eberron is what a world would be with if the magic in the game world was used by everyone. I love it, and love it even more when i find out more about it. For examples of what it does differently, you might want to read this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Eberron

Edit:
And oh yeah, great job on the post, that must have taken ages.

Yeah, that Gygax guy couldn't come up with an RPG that was just like everyone elses'...

[note, I suspect that almost all Greyhawk material was created after he was forced out. I have the original setting, but it is little more than a huge map with small hints as to what each nation is.

Forgotten Realms may be TSR's idea of post-Gygax generic fantasy (and ever so useful to any DM addicted to NPC-ex-machina), but Greyhawk is something else.

[Pintail]

So what happened during the war between the Giants and Dragons to cause them to become crystalized? Not to mention the whole area. Sorry if obvious to everyone else I've never quite got how or why that happened.