The City of Towers: The Dreaming Dark - Book I (50 page)

Arawai
is the Sovereign of Life and Love, and she brings good harvest to the land and fertility to the living. Nature is her domain, and she also holds influence over the weather. Farmers and sailors alike ask for her blessings on their endeavors.

Aureon
is the Sovereign of Law and Lore, the source of order and knowledge. He gives guidance to rulers and those who pass judgment, guides the scribe and the student, and is said to have devised the principles wizards use to work their spells.

Balinor
is the Sovereign of Horn and Hunt. He is the lord of the wild world and those who venture within. The hunter and the hunted are both his charges. He is seen as a protector of the natural world but gives guidance to the hunter who acts in moderation and takes only what he needs.

Boldrei
is the Sovereign of Home and Hearth. She lends her strength to the family and the community, bringing people together in times of need. Boldrei is the patron of marriage and mediation, and her wise words can help her followers set aside their differences and become part of a greater whole.

Dol Arrah
is the Sovereign of Sun and Sacrifice. She is a patron of war, but she fights her battles with words and cunning strategy as well as steel. She is a god of light and honor, and her holy paladins seek to bring her sunlight to the darkest places of the world. In addition to soldiers, she is seen as the patron of diplomats, generals, and those who make sacrifices to serve the greater good.

Dol Dorn
is the Sovereign of Strength and Steel. He is the lord of war and patron to all who raise their arms in battle. He is the patron of physical arts, and the greatest sporting events of the year are held to mark his holy days. His followers are not held to the same standards of nobility and sacrifice as those of his sister, Dol Arrah, but he still encourages honorable conduct. Those who rely on treachery to win their battles must turn to the Mockery for aid.

Kol Korran
is the Sovereign of World and Wealth. Merchants, miners, and any who desire to improve their lot in life trust that Kol Korran will help them achieve their dreams, while the wealthy often sacrifice to the Sovereign in the hopes that he will maintain their fortunes.

Olladra
is the Sovereign of Feast and Fortune. She is the bringer of luck and joy, and her priests are skilled entertainers and healers, who can salve the wounds brought by misfortune and spread cheer with song and music. She is the patron of bards, gamblers, and others who live by their wits and their words, though
those with only malice in their hearts should look to the Dark Six for a patron.

Onatar
is the Sovereign of Fire and Forge. He is the patron of both smith and artificer, lending skill to those who follow the traditions of old and wisdom to those who seek to develop new ideas.

The Dark Six are not named and are known only by their titles.

The Shadow
is said to be the literal shadow of Aureon, stripped away and given a life of its own as a price for Aureon’s study of magic. It represents the darkness that lies within magic, and its power corrupts both life and soul. Most worshippers of the Shadow are wizards or sorcerers who are willing to make any sacrifice for arcane power, but it also has a following among many of the monstrous races, some of whom see the Shadow as the founder of their species.

The Devourer
represents the destructive power of nature. He is strongly tied to the sea and the mystery of the deep waters, but earthquakes, avalanches, and tornadoes are all his children. Once a member of the Sovereign Host, he was cast out after raping his sister Boldrei and thus fathering the Fury.

The Fury
is the embodiment of passion and madness. While she can bring love and joy, her touch all too often leads to despair and murderous rage. Nonetheless, some artists seek to draw on the Fury for inspiration, and there are those who are willing to risk madness to bring passion into their lives.

The Keeper
is the embodiment of greed and decay, hunger so great that it lets all else fall to rot and ruin. While he amasses gold and jewels, the Keeper covets the souls of the living. He seeks to snatch the spirits of the dead as they pass to Dolurrh, hoarding these souls and gloating over his treasures.

The Mockery
is the lord of terror and treachery, patron to thieves, assassins, and tyrants. He is said to be the brother of Dol Dorn and Dol Arrah, but he was flayed and driven from the Host after he betrayed his siblings. The Mockery has one of the largest followings among the Dark Six, as many criminals and warriors seek his blessing on their endeavors.

The Traveler
is the most mysterious of the Dark Six and cannot
be tied to a single form or gender. It is the embodiment of deception but also of cunning and wit. Both bards and artificers may call upon the Traveler for inspiration. Its followers include changelings and doppelgangers who wander the world in a thousand shapes, carrying out strange and subtle plans that often seem benevolent but bring harm in the end. This has spawned a number of proverbs. When dealing with strangers, one is warned to “beware the gifts of the Traveler.” Someone who is argumentative for no reason is often said to be “taking the side of the Traveler.”

The Church of the Silver Flame

The Church of the Silver Flame was founded in 299 YK. When an ancient evil rose from Khyber, an army of fiends threatened Galifar itself. This darkness seemed unstoppable, until a woman named Tira Miron challenged the demon king and gave her life to bind him below once more. Tira was guided and empowered by an ancient force of spiritual energy—a silver flame that had been forged to bind the demons. In death, she became a conduit for that force, allowing other noble warriors to touch the Silver Flame and use its power to drive evil from the world.

The Church of the Silver Flame has grown exponentially since that time. It is based in Thrane, where a font of silver fire rises from the point of Tira’s sacrifice, but it has spread across all of Khorvaire. Only the Sovereign Host has more worshippers, and the followers of the Flame are typically more fervent in their beliefs.

In principle, the Church of the Silver Flame is a benevolent entity, a powerful force for good. Village priests seek to spread humanitarian values, while the knights of the Flame battle the physical manifestations of evil. However, as the church has grown in size and influence, some of its followers have strayed from the path. Many truly believe in the nobility of their actions but allow their zealotry to justify acts of ruthless brutality. Others—particularly in the Brelish branches of the Church—have allowed the lure of gold and power to draw their eyes from the true path of the Flame. While
the ideals of the Silver Flame are noble, all too often its followers fail to live up to them.

Traditionally the militant warriors of the Church are sworn to protect the innocent against supernatural threats—werewolves, demons, ghosts, and other monsters. During the Last War the forces of the Church of the Silver Flame played an integral role in the nation’s defense, and ultimately the people of Thrane set aside the monarchy in order to place the rule of the land in the hands of the Church. The Silver Flame has worshippers in many other nations, but Thrane is the seat of its power.

The Blood of Vol

Those who worship the Blood of Vol refuse to bow to the power of death. Drawn from the traditions of an ancient line of elven necromancers, the Blood of Vol seeks to abolish death. They revere vampires and other undead creatures as champions in this struggle. This tradition is especially strong in the nation of Karrnath, and while it is not inherently evil, there are subsects—notably the infamous Order of the Emerald Claw—that have turned the battle against death into a struggle to dominate the living. As a result, throughout most of the Five Nations the common image of a follower of the Blood is that of a crazed necromancer leading an army of zombies as part of some mad scheme. As a result of the actions of extremists, the Church of the Silver Flame takes a particularly hard stand against followers of the Blood, and knights of the Flame may assume the worst when dealing with acolytes of Vol.

The Cults of the Dragon Below

According to ancient legend, the dark wyrm Khyber was bound within Eberron and became the underworld, giving birth to fiends and demons. Later, the fiends known as the Daelkyr were
bound in the depths of Khyber, adding to the dark legend of the subterranean realm. Over the millennia, many have come to worship the darkness that lies beneath the world. These cults have little in common, save that they are dangerous and prone to madness. Some believe that a promised land lies beneath the earth, but that pilgrims must earn their passage with the blood of the innocent. Others ally themselves with one of the malevolent forces bound beneath the earth, forming a bond with the rakshasa or servants of the Daelkyr, gaining power in exchange for unholy service. The cults are most often found in the Shadow Marches, where different cults fight one another as often as they battle the forces of light, but they can appear anywhere where there is greed or madness—and in the wake of the Last War, both of these things are easy to find.

The Undying Court

Although the elves of Aerenal live far longer than humans, they were not content with this span, not willing to let their heroes slip away into Dolurrh and the mystery of death. In time, the elves found a way to preserve their ancestors beyond death, anchoring them to the world of the living through devotion and spiritual sacrifice. These deathless elves inhabit Shae Mordai, the vast necropolis in the center of the island of Aerenal, and from this city of the dead they continue to guide their nation. Unlike the vampires of the Blood of Vol, the elves of the Undying Court are not undead in the traditional sense. They are sustained by the devotion of their descendants and have no need of blood or life energy. Followers of the Undying Court despise the Blood of Vol and those undead creatures that prey on the living, seeing these as abominations and perversions of the ways of the Undying Court.

While the members of the Undying Court are not gods, they are ancient, wise, and powerful. Just as a paladin can draw on the pure essence of the Silver Flame to lend strength to his sword,
the members of the Undying Court can lend their power to those priests who honor their memory.

The Druidic Sects

The druids worship Eberron itself, as the embodiment of the world and nature. While they share certain common features—reverence for the creatures of the wild and the natural order—there are a number of different sects, each with its own unique beliefs. The Gatekeepers seek to defend Eberron from unnatural forces, such as the Daelkyr and other fiends of Xoriat. The Wardens of the Wood fight to preserve the balance between nature and civilization, protecting each from the other. The Greensingers have a strong bond with the fey of Thelanis and are typically seen as tricksters. The Ashbound believe that arcane magic is a violation of nature and often use violence to stop its use. The Children of Winter embrace death as a natural part of the cycle of life. They believe in a coming apocalypse that will cleanse the world, and many actively seek to bring about this devastation.

The Path of Light

The kalashtar are a mysterious race—humans touched by spirits from another world, and are an enigma to the people of the Five Nations. They believe in a celestial force they call il-Yanna, “the Great Light.” The followers of the Light engage in meditation and strict physical discipline, preparing mind and body for battle against a force they call the Dreaming Dark. However, the nature of this conflict is difficult for outsiders to understand. While the kalashtar occasionally engage in physical combat with their foes, the true struggle is one based around philosophy and dreams-something that cannot be seen with the eye.

The Paths of Magic

Magic permeates Eberron. Its energy is all around us. The Seren Tablets say that it is the breath of Siberys, released when that great dragon was slain by Khyber in the battle that formed our world. Skeptics and scholars claim it is a natural force like the lightning and the wind. Regardless of its origin, its presence cannot be questioned. The force is there, and there are many ways it can be shaped and controlled.

The oldest road is that of faith, the adept and the cleric. Those who believe claim that the gods and their celestial servants work miracles on behalf of their chosen, allowing the priest to minister to the wounded, protect those in need, and smite the enemies of his faith. Skeptics say that the cleric works his miracles through will alone, the pure strength of his belief reshaping reality to meet his desires. Whatever the truth, it is a path that requires no knowledge of esoteric laws and formulae. All that is required is faith and will, but in such quantities that few men possess.

However, those who lack faith can make up for it with cunning and skill. Scholars and sages saw the powers of the pious priests and were determined to unlock the secrets of this force that granted miracles. In time, they succeeded, decrypting the codes of the universe itself. This arcane magic still requires willpower above all things, but where the priest calls upon his god to smite his foes, a wizard visualizes a force of fire, speaks an ancient word embodying the flame, and flings a pinch of sulfur into the air. This combination of gesture, incantation, thought, and substance summons the fire from the air, drawing on the invisible energy to make thought reality. The true wizard can master any spell he can find, but these gifted sages are few. The most common spellworker is the magewright, who may only master a single spell or two over the course of his life—the augur, the mender, the blacksmith who shapes his steel with magic. Between these two extremes lie the bard and the sorcerer, both of whom possess more power than the magewright but lack the wizard’s talent to master every spell.