Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days: Encounters of the Week in Eberron

Tags eberron Encounter Of The Week EOTW Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days

The next D&D hardcover is Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and releases on November 19th, 2019 on D&D Beyond. This campaign setting describes the war-torn continent of Khorvaire, as well as other regions of the world of Eberron. Additionally, it contains monster statistics for dozens of new creatures unique to this world, as well as magic items, mystical Dragonmarks, and other supernatural elements that set Eberron apart from other D&D settings. Indeed, Eberron is a world where magic has been used to create technology somewhat analogous to the real-world era of the First World War—with some additional fantastical elements, like the living constructs known as warforged.

This encounter series, called Around Khorvaire in Fifty Days, is a whirlwind tour of Khorvaire, the thematic heart of the Eberron campaign setting. It’s a perfect place for new players to enter the campaign setting, as it introduces and highlights many of the elements that make Eberron stand apart from other campaign settings, like the Forgotten Realms. This series elaborates on all the immediate details you need to run this adventure.

However, if you suspect that you’ll need to improvise new adventures beyond these encounters (as most DMs have to do), you may need to know more about the world of Eberron before Rising from the Last War is released. You can purchase Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron, a fifth edition-compatible playtest product that will form the backbone of the upcoming hardcover, from the D&D Beyond Marketplace. Alternatively, you could purchase an older edition of the Eberron Campaign Setting from the DMs Guild, though some of the setting information will be out of date, and its game mechanics were designed for an earlier edition of Dungeons and Dragons.

Background

An illustrious explorer named Angelica Estrella d’Sivis has planned a journey around all of Khorvaire in attempts to create a map more detailed and magnificent than any created before. She has hired academics, crew, and mercenaries to join in her journey, and you’re one of them! Whether you’re here to help her in her cartography, run the ship, or protect it from danger, simply traveling aboard the Celeste Noir will be one of the greatest adventures you’ve ever embarked upon! Together, you will travel around the continent of Khorvaire in fifty days, stopping at various cities and points of interest to rest, refuel, and explore.

This journey begins in Sharn, the famous City of Towers known across Khorvaire. Sharn is a city of ideas, of invention, of fabulous wealth and staggering poverty and crime, and everything in between. Though Khorvaire was devastated by a war to end all wars, Sharn has survived and thrived in these uncertain and heady postbellum days. Surveying the continent is exactly the sort of thing a wealthy Sharnite seeking fame and fortune might do—but even now, people might wonder if such a person might have an ulterior motive. There are those who would wish to uncover terrible secrets lost in the Last War and profit from them. No one won the Last War. What if someone were to begin it anew—and rise to stand atop a world of ashes?   

This encounter series will take place over the course of eight weeks, up until the release of Eberron: Rising from the Last War. This week’s installment, Departure from Skydock Six, is the beginning of the series. If you want to dedicate time to explaining the Eberron campaign setting before this session begins, it might help your players feel more comfortable playing in this new world. On the other hand, if your players are okay with learning new information (that their characters “should” already know) and adapting to it on the fly, you can start without any preamble.  

Encounter Summary

The characters gather in the offices of Angelica Estrella d’Sivis, a cheery gnome and an eccentric explorer with a dream of creating a new map of Khorvaire that details the changes the continent has seen since the beginning of the Last War just over a century ago. She introduces herself to the characters (and the characters to each other), and welcomes them aboard her state-of-the-art airship, the Celeste Noir. Just as the ship takes off, however, they are ambushed by unknown assailants. If the heroes survive the fight and grill Angelica on who the attackers were, she reveals an unpleasant fact she had wished to keep secret…but is she telling the whole truth?

Combat Encounter: Departure from Skydock Six

A roleplaying scene that sets up this encounter series precedes a combat encounter suitable for 1st-level characters.

The characters are in Upper Dura, a district in the sky-scraping city of Sharn. The sky-scraping towers of Sharn are stratified by wealth and social class, with those of wealth and means at the top and those without below. However, Dura Quarter is the city's oldest and poorest district. As such, even its highest point, it’s still a middle-class neighborhood, comparable to Middle Menthis or some other middle-tier ward. The characters have just arrived in Upper Dura, possibly by taking a lift from below or by walking across a bridge from a wealthier neighborhood—or even by hiring a carriage! They gather outside of Angelica d’Sivis’s flat, whose exterior is festooned with wind chimes, weathervanes, and other bits of eclectic paraphernalia. You can ask the players to describe how their characters arrive.

This is like the opening scene of a movie, so by allowing the players to describe their characters’ arrivals, you give them the opportunity to show the other players a little bit about their characters. Do they travel in style? Do they dress simply and travel quietly? What’s their reaction to the strange decorations outside of Angelica’s apartment?

Once the characters are gathered, read or paraphrase the following:

A small crowd of adventurers have gathered outside of this eclectic flat. After a moment of awkward tension, the door springs open, and a sprightly gnome appears. Her silver hair is pulled back into a messy bun, and a pair of oversized, circular spectacles magnify her tiny eyes. A glimmering symbol, almost like a tattoo, sparkles on her left temple. “You’re here for Angelica Estrella d’Sivis, Explorer Extraordinaire, right? Speaking. Please, come in.”

The interior of Angelica’s flat is just as cluttered with glittering esoterica as the outside. She sits them down on well-worn armchairs and lays out the terms of her contract. In short, Angelica is conducting a cartographical survey of Khorvaire to note how the landscape has changed in the hundred-odd years since the beginning of the Last War, noting new settlements, abandoned towns, arboreal growth or shrinkage, and most importantly, the potential spread of the Mournland—the inhospitable wasteland in the continent’s center that was once a nation called Cyre. She is also testing the power of a brand-new, state-of-the-art airship provided to her by the engineers of House Cannith known as the Celeste Noir. They claim that this fabulous craft can circle Khorvaire in fifty days—or fewer! She intends to put this claim, and her navigational skills, to the test with the Celeste Noir’s maiden voyage.

In exchange for aiding her in her survey—either as crewmembers, mercenary guards, or fellow surveyors—they will be provided meals and lodging, paid a weekly stipend, and allowed to keep any objects they find over the course of the expedition, provided they aren’t vital to Angelica’s research, of course. She produces a simple, easy-to-read contract to her prospective employees. A character that succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence check recognizes that this contract is clean and straightforward, without any tricky clauses that could come back to bite them later.  

Angelica’s Dragonmark

Angelica Estrella d’Sivis is a member of the dragonmarked House Sivis. The dragonmarked houses are known throughout Eberron, and wield tremendous magical and political power. As Angelica is an heir of House Sivis, she bears House Sivis’s dragonmark: the Mark of Scribing. This dragonmark grants her special powers of communication, which she uses to great and unusual effect as a cartographer. If asked, she proudly explains the nature of her mark. Dragonmarks and the dragonmarked houses are described in greater detail in Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron and Eberron: Rising from the Last War. 

Onward to Skydock Six

Once the paperwork is out of the way, Angelica leads the characters to Skydock Six, where the airship Celeste Noir is docked, at the edge of Upper Dura. The dock overlooks the sea many hundreds of feet below, but the airship’s majesty and sleek, black hull is enough to distract anyone from the dizzying drop beneath their feet. The characters board the craft, its engines fire up (creating a blazing ring of elemental fire around the center of the craft, which could pose quite a shock to characters unused to flying on magical aircraft), and the Celeste Noir departs Sharn.

The crew of the Celeste Noir, such as its pilot, will be described in later installments of this encounter series. The ship’s pilot, a half-elf named Demetrius d’Lyrandar, is the only member of the crew who possesses the Mark of Storms, and thus is the only person who can fly the airship.

The ship moves with incredible speed, traveling miles in the span of only a few minutes. Within a mere twenty minutes of taking off, however, danger strikes. A group of three kalashtar thugs flying upon three pteranodons soar up onto either side of the ship. These pteranodons are under the effects of a potion of growth; they are Large instead of Medium, and remain this size for three more hours. The kalashtar leap from their dinosaur steeds onto the deck of the Celeste Noir. One of them declares, “Lady of House Sivis! Surrender your vessel, or your life.” Angelica looks to the characters and declares, “I’m no fighter! Please, protect the ship, and I’ll explain everything later!” She then zips belowdecks to hide.

The kalashtar direct their dinosaur companions to attack in tandem.

Kalashtar

Kalashtar are beings that appear humanoid, but have a powerful supernatural connection to the Plane of Dreams. A quori spirit—a being from the dream-realm of Dal Quor—has a supernatural connection to the kalashtar's soul, in an attempt to guide their kalashtar host towards greatness. A kalashtar can’t directly commune with the quori that guides them, but it influences their lives in subtle ways. The kalashtar that attacked Angelica are members of a sect known as the Dream Raiders, and they hate Angelica d’Sivis in particular for a grave crime she committed against them. They fight to the death, but if they are captured and questioned, this is all they are willing to divulge. Kalashtar are described in greater detail in Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron and Eberron: Rising from the Last War.

Angelica’s Secret

Once the kalashtar assailants are defeated, Angelica Estrella d’Sivis emerges from hiding and thanks the characters with wide-eyed surprise. If asked why she was attacked, she sighs and reveals that she has a secret. She tries to demur by saying that, “She would rather not get the characters involved.” However, if pushed once more, she sighs and explains:

  • She once killed a kalashtar while he was meditating and trying to commune with his quori spirit guide.
  • Angelica once served with a group of sky pirates, and the kalashtar she killed had apprehended them.
  • The group that attacked them, the Dream Raiders, have hunted her for years. She is trying to reform her ways, but her past has a way of catching up to her.

A character that makes a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check is reasonably confident that her story is true. A character that succeeds on this check by 5 or more also has a suspicion that there’s more to the story that Angelica isn’t saying. If pressed a third time, Angelica simply shakes her head and says, “I’m sorry, there are some secrets that I need to keep. If that’s a deal breaker, I understand. I can drop you off next time we make port.”

The depths of Angelica’s secrets will be revealed in future installments of this encounter series.

From here, the Celeste Noir travels eastward towards Zilargo, towards a treacherous storm. Why attempt this journey? Angelica claims she needs important data from atop one of the peaks...

Where in Khorvaire do you want to travel to while sailing upon the Celeste Noir? Let us know in the comments!

Eberron: Rising from the Last War releases on November 19th, 2019. Preorder it now on the Marketplace!

Did you like this encounter? If you want to read more adventures, take a look at the other encounters in the Encounter of the Week series! If you're looking for full adventures instead of short encounters, you can pick up the adventures I've written on the DMs Guild, such as The Temple of Shattered Minds, a suspenseful eldritch mystery with a mind flayer villain. My most recent adventures are included in the Electrum Bestseller Encounters in Avernus, a collection of over 60 unique encounters created by the Guild Adepts, which can be used to enhance your campaign in Avernus or elsewhere in the Nine Hells.

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of  Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.

Comments

  • To post a comment, please or register a new account.
Posts Quoted:
Reply
Clear All Quotes