Eberron Primer

Eberron 980 A.G.

Geography: The Five Nations of Khovaire were largely settled and tamed during the thousand years of peace that was Galifar. During the heights of Galifar; it was all endless masses of farmland, beautiful towns, and the occasional small city spread throughout the countryside. The Last War has largely changed that with most of the smaller villages having been either destroyed or abandoned in the wake of the century of conflict. Entire cities lie in ruins with them having been sacked and their populous fleeing to more secure locations like the capital.

These ruins are routinely the home of squatters, vagrants, bandits, and members of races that do not have any place to go to in the Five Nations. The Four Nations are eager to reclaim these locations but progress is going slowly as it is difficult to encourage citizenry to leave their lives to reclaim the shattered homes of their grandparents. Karrnath is having the swiftest time doing so as they employ masses of undead in slave labor to handle the chores in the meantime. Countless fields have been overgrown with new folliage or simply left to rot. The once glorious Galifar Imperial Highway has fallen to disrepair and disuse.

Randomly, individuals will see remnants of either Galifar's once grandiose culture of the Dhakaani. Often, these remnants will mix as the later built on many of the former sites of the once great Goblin Empire or converted their great statues and works of art to their use.

Technology Level: It would be incorrect to say that Eberron is very scientifically advanced. Science never really got very far on Eberron. However, Scientiffic Theory and Philosophy were more or less co-opted by Magicians so that all engineering and other discoveries were mostly made easier by magic. Eberron's arcanotech is equivalent to the height of the Victorian Era. Enchanted Crossbows do as much damage as a gunshot and go as far. Elementally powered ships move as fast as steamships and have just as much resistance to damage. The Lightning rail functions as a train on the few remaining tracks that are still intact or have been repaired.

Indeed, it is appropriate to say that Eberron contains elements of even higher technology levels due to the nature of magical development. Regular newspapers are printed in most cities, Lightning carts fill the role of automobiles but they are mostly tools of business or the rich, and Airships function in a practical way that Zeppelins never did in the real world. Magical Wands and similiar devices produced many of the horrors of World War 1 but this is considered 'advanced technology.'

Occasionally, but solely as part of the effort of one superior wizard or another, a Eldritch Machine is produced. These fill the role of Pulp and Vernesian Science. Submarines, Rocket Ships, Floating Islands, Brain Switching Devices, and Ressurection Machines. These are all unreplicatable works of art that are solely the product of the inventing genius who discovered them.

Cultural Level: While Eberron's technology is a fantasy mixture of 19th century and early 20th century elements. It's social moores remain firmly rooted in the Chivalric era and some even lag fully behind in the Medieval Era. Galifar fulfills the role of a idealized Rome for most Khovairians with a Senate acting in conjunction with the Emperor, something only Breland bothers to ape now.

Aundair forwards the principles of Divine Right and Autocracy for the monarchs while also keeping the idea of noble obligation as something all aristocrats are to follow. Karrnath is a thoroughly Medieval ideal with the peasantry expected to take whatever the nobility dishes out and like it. Thrane's nobility has largely been replaced by the Church that is an austere and unbending institution but rarely cruel. Only Breland forwards the radical idea of checks and balances mixed with a weakened Monarchy. Only in Breland and Q'Barra do people even remember Limited Representation was a right of the people in Galifar.

Cultural mores differ from nation to nation but a swift rundown of the closest analogues gives a vague idea of fashions and expectations.

Languages: The major languages are Common (A mish-mash tongue pretty similiar to English that's spoken almost universally in Breland), Aundair (French), Cyrean (Italian), Karrnath (German), Thranish (Spanish). High Galifarian is Latin and spoken by no one except scholars or in courts even in Q'Barra. Dwarves speak Karrnath. Gnomes and Goblins generally speak Brelish. Valenar usually speak Cyrean in addition to their native tongue of Aerenese (Tolkien elvish). Lhazaar (Arabic) and Sarlona (Chinese) have their own languages. The Reachers speak a mixture of Aundair and Brelish so one has to know both languages to really understand their conversations.

Religions: While The Church of the Silver Flame is very Catholic seeming, it covers several other groups as well. This includes Protestants, Puritans, and even Eastern Orthodox as one drifts further from Thrane. Since there's no Martin Luther equivalent, all of the churches generally acknowledge the power of the Keeper. From a distance if possible.

The Sovereign Host is a varied religion that is made up a dozen feuding sub-churches that compete for worshipers and forward their own variants on the existing religions. Almost everyone agrees on the names of the gods but no one agrees on the way to worship them. The most common variants treat the Sovereign Host in a Roman/Olympian fashion with worship to them to interfere in your daily life. Dol Arrah has a very Athena like presence and has several organized churches and knighthoods that would like to convert the entire world to her worship. By force if necessary.

The Blood of Vol is almost completely unorganized and handled in weird cult like fashions with everyone afraid of Kaius' dictates against it.

The Cult of the Dragon Below is every single group from the Book of Vile Darkness and then some.

Monsters: Eberron doesn't fear random monsters so much as it fears bandits, cults, demons, infestations of the undead, foreign agents, pirates, secret societies, and werewolves. No one fears magicians anymore than people fear scientists. Yes, someone might be concerned that Doctor Madness is building something horrible in his basement but it's not fear of the unnatural. Racism is very common against humanoids and mild racism is displayed against most demihumans.

Five Nations

Aundair- Louis the Sun King's France with Queen Aurala's court having all the pagentry of Elizabeth the First.

Breland- 17th Century Colonial America with elements of Pulp New York in Sharn. Wroat is very London in nature.

Cyre- Venetian and High Italian Courtly life with a strong trend towards Borgian Intrigue amongst the Nobility.

Karrnath- A mixture of Czarist Russia and Kaiser Germany. Karrn folklore is very fantasy Transylvania with assumptions of monsters around every corner.

Thrane- A fusion of Papal States Rome with Catholic Spain. Curiously, is the big assumption that the only people they DO torture or burn at the stake really are 9/10 the bad guys the Church claims them to be.

Exterior Nations

Argonessan- I have this odd image that on Argonessan, the Dragons are ridiculously advanced but keep it all hidden so the entire place looks like a bunch of mountains and rolling hills.

Aerenal- Is just so out there, it just IS what it says it is. Death masks, weird sacrifices, creepy necropolis, and bizarre temples have elements of Egypt and Aztec culture but not close enough to warrant anything but what it says.

Adar- A Tibetian/Shaolin style culture. The armies of Sarlona have yet to make much progress here as almost everyone is trained as a warrior to defend against their ranks. The Adar fight the "wuxia" style resistanec against the Dreaming Dark.

Dargunn- Hobgoblins are very civilized and living a Tokugawa Era Japan existence as they struggle to rebuild Dhakaani. Everyone else I'm pretty sure is just a bunch of barbarian goblins with massive slave gangs and decadent but disgusting luxury.

Demon Waests- One of the few completely lawless places in Khorvaire. The only authority is the Lords of Dust who despise all, includeing each other. When in the waests think of a huge barren patch of earth, littered with the skeletal remains of monsters and other horrible beasts. Throw in evil barbarians who mutilate themselves along with the good barbarians who try to stop them and you have the waests.

Eldeen Reaches/Droam- Mixture of Medieval Scotland and Celtic fantasy. A very fairy ridden land of Druids, goblins, and witches.

Lhazaar- Filthy Carribean ports of the Khovaire next to glorious Arabic themed cities.

Mror Holds- Pretty much your standard issue Dwarfland. Couldn't think of anything new to do with it.

Q'Barra- Oddly, I tend to treat it as the Swampy New Orleans substitute. Very high courtly french culture plopped down in the middle of no place any man has a right to be.

Talenta Planes- Very Native American themed. Particularly, Apache and Wild West.

Serens- I figure a bunch of Vikings who pose no real threat to the rest of the world but think they do.

Sarlona- I go with the idea that everything here is very Courtly Chinese with ridiculous amounts of luxury heaped on the Inspired and everything given a pleasant looking Chinese edge with the God-Kings. Almost makes you want to rethink resistinge eh?

Valenar- Valenar Horse culture is very Khanate based and Mongolian with the conquered territories being somewhat civilized by adopting Cyrean trappings.

Xen'drick- Well we all know the South American/Lost Continent Africa had to go somewhere.

Shadows over Cyre