Eberron Campaign: The Breath of Siberys [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron Campaign: The Breath of Siberys [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dragonmarked
01-18-06, 09:01 PM I'm starting a new campaign with my gaming group this Saturday. Our PCs are seventh level and consist of a human mystic theurge, a human artificer, a kalashtar psion (telepath), a half-elven bard/windwright captain, and a human ranger/barbarian. The PCs operate out of Arcannix in Aundair where the mystic theurge and artificer are professors and do research on various magic items and artifacts. Once they've discovered something worth going after, the windwright captain takes them to the location in his airship and the ranger/barbarian guides them through whatever wilderness is between them and their goal.

The campaign I have in mind will last quite a while and will be pretty epic in scope, with the possibility of plunging Aundair and maybe even all of Khorvaire into war. I'm also hoping to present the PCs with some moral decisions and have them question their loyalties. Oh yeah, there are dragons too. . . ;)

Summary: The PCs are asked to recover some books from a ruined city on the western border of Aundair. Destroyed by guerillas of the Eldeen Reaches, retrieving the books will be risky. Once they've completed the task and returned home with the books, a new discovery will be made- a battered and burned journal will reveal the suspected location of an ancient artifact called The Breath of Siberys- an immense dragonshard that can absorb fire and release its energy in the form of a powerful Meteor Swarm spell. The journal alludes that The Breath of Siberys is located deep within the jungles of Xen'Drik at the base of a massive volcano and may be guarded by a tribe of Drow.

The PCs will have to make their way to Xen'Drik and retrieve Siberys' Breath- either of their own will or the will of their superiors. Adal ir' Wynarn covets the artifact and promises to greatly reward the PCs if they return with it. Either through political pressure or promise of riches, it's likely the PCs will make their way into Xen'Drik to acquire The Breath of Siberys.

After travelling to Sharn and then to Stormreach, the PCs will have to gear up for an expedition through the harsh primordial jungles of Xen'Drik to make their way to Khyber's Wound- a huge volcano within which a tribe of Drow live and guard the Breath of Siberys- which they worship as a deity. Unwilling to give up the artifact, the PCs will have to fight to win it. However, after the Breath of Siberys is removed from the volcano, it will cause Khyber's Wound to errupt! Siberys' Breath had been absorbing all of the energy from the volcano and without it, nothing can stop the destruction.

Once they've (narrowly) escaped with Siberys' Breath, they must make their way back to Stormreach- all the while guarding a powerful artifact that is difficult to hide. After setting sail to return to Khorvaire, another player arrives on the chessboard- a dragon who is awakened by the erruption of Khyber's Wound and refuses to see Siberys' Breath in the hands of the lesser races- perhaps because of a fulfillment or disruption of the Dragon Prophecy. Only by using the artifact against the dragon will they be able to escape and only then will the sheer power of the Breath of Siberys be known to the PCs. Will they put it in Adal ir'Wynarn's hands knowing that the continent could be plunged into another war? Will they keep the artifact themselves knowning that it's likely that a flight of dragons will die before they will allow them to possess it? Or will they destroy what is almost assuredly one of the most powerful weapons on Eberron to keep the peace?

A pretty barebones idea at this time. Some help on fleshing it out would be great. Thank in advance.
Ringmereth
01-18-06, 11:30 PM It's a good premise, but offhand, my advice is to include giants. This artifact might not have been around when the giants ruled-but if it was, they likely would have found it. Making it a lost relic of the giants and a tool of the drow to rule over their former oppressors (or vice versa, or one tribe of giants ruling over others) would be a more interesting twist, and a little less cliche than 'ignorant savages worshipping an artifact as a god'.

Beyond that, my judgement of an epic (lower-case epic, I mean) campaign is the degree of its involvement in the unanswered questions of Eberron (who caused the Mourning, the origins of the Warforged, the fate of the Mark of Death, etc) and the amount of groups and individuals contributing to intrigue in the story. The story, as-is, lacks both, but there's plenty of potential to insert some.

First off, your group is based in Aundair. As stated in the ECS, Queen Aurala's ambition is to build up Aundair's strength during peace to make an eventual grab for the throne of Galifar. Needless to say, this artifact would be an awesome weapon for her armies, and she would be unlikely to let a handful of researchers and treasure-hunters hold onto such a potent artifact. Involve her.

Other than that, you're involving the Draconic Prophecy. As it happens, the Arcane Congress has an observatory in the Starpeaks, and its description implies that it could be used for charting the Prophecy. Come up with a snatch of prose foretelling doom or similar, and you've got the seeds of a conflict between this rogue dragon awakened by the erruption, the older dragons of Argonnesson, the Chamber, and the Arcane Congress.

Finally, you might want to consider creating similar dragonshards relating to Eberron and Khyber with some cosmic connection and significance... if you want to focus on dragons, the discovery of such enormous dragonshards with a direct connection to the Prophecy might even provoke large-scale direct draconic involvement in the world.

Run with the idea-it's a good start.
Dragonmarked
01-19-06, 12:44 AM While I wasn't planning on exposing any secrets of Eberron, I did want to put a heaping helping of political intrigue in the campaign. The Queen will definitely make an appearance. I think I'll give the PCs a choice on who they want to side with.

I think you're right about the giants, also. That makes more sense than Drow.
Thramzorean
01-19-06, 01:39 AM Had to look after I saw the thread name. I'm running a PBP in WotC Real Adventure Forums called Blood of Khyber and was wondering if there was any tie-ins...nothing more to say at this point, heh. For sure a few of those players will be sniffing around ;) (yes, that's you MarkB :P )

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dragonmarked 01-18-06, 09:01 PM	I'm starting a new campaign with my gaming group this Saturday. Our PCs are seventh level and consist of a human mystic theurge, a human artificer, a kalashtar psion (telepath), a half-elven bard/windwright captain, and a human ranger/barbarian. The PCs operate out of Arcannix in Aundair where the mystic theurge and artificer are professors and do research on various magic items and artifacts. Once they've discovered something worth going after, the windwright captain takes them to the location in his airship and the ranger/barbarian guides them through whatever wilderness is between them and their goal. The campaign I have in mind will last quite a while and will be pretty epic in scope, with the possibility of plunging Aundair and maybe even all of Khorvaire into war. I'm also hoping to present the PCs with some moral decisions and have them question their loyalties. Oh yeah, there are dragons too. . . ;) Summary: The PCs are asked to recover some books from a ruined city on the western border of Aundair. Destroyed by guerillas of the Eldeen Reaches, retrieving the books will be risky. Once they've completed the task and returned home with the books, a new discovery will be made- a battered and burned journal will reveal the suspected location of an ancient artifact called The Breath of Siberys- an immense dragonshard that can absorb fire and release its energy in the form of a powerful Meteor Swarm spell. The journal alludes that The Breath of Siberys is located deep within the jungles of Xen'Drik at the base of a massive volcano and may be guarded by a tribe of Drow. The PCs will have to make their way to Xen'Drik and retrieve Siberys' Breath- either of their own will or the will of their superiors. Adal ir' Wynarn covets the artifact and promises to greatly reward the PCs if they return with it. Either through political pressure or promise of riches, it's likely the PCs will make their way into Xen'Drik to acquire The Breath of Siberys. After travelling to Sharn and then to Stormreach, the PCs will have to gear up for an expedition through the harsh primordial jungles of Xen'Drik to make their way to Khyber's Wound- a huge volcano within which a tribe of Drow live and guard the Breath of Siberys- which they worship as a deity. Unwilling to give up the artifact, the PCs will have to fight to win it. However, after the Breath of Siberys is removed from the volcano, it will cause Khyber's Wound to errupt! Siberys' Breath had been absorbing all of the energy from the volcano and without it, nothing can stop the destruction. Once they've (narrowly) escaped with Siberys' Breath, they must make their way back to Stormreach- all the while guarding a powerful artifact that is difficult to hide. After setting sail to return to Khorvaire, another player arrives on the chessboard- a dragon who is awakened by the erruption of Khyber's Wound and refuses to see Siberys' Breath in the hands of the lesser races- perhaps because of a fulfillment or disruption of the Dragon Prophecy. Only by using the artifact against the dragon will they be able to escape and only then will the sheer power of the Breath of Siberys be known to the PCs. Will they put it in Adal ir'Wynarn's hands knowing that the continent could be plunged into another war? Will they keep the artifact themselves knowning that it's likely that a flight of dragons will die before they will allow them to possess it? Or will they destroy what is almost assuredly one of the most powerful weapons on Eberron to keep the peace? A pretty barebones idea at this time. Some help on fleshing it out would be great. Thank in advance.
Ringmereth 01-18-06, 11:30 PM	It's a good premise, but offhand, my advice is to include giants. This artifact might not have been around when the giants ruled-but if it was, they likely would have found it. Making it a lost relic of the giants and a tool of the drow to rule over their former oppressors (or vice versa, or one tribe of giants ruling over others) would be a more interesting twist, and a little less cliche than 'ignorant savages worshipping an artifact as a god'. Beyond that, my judgement of an epic (lower-case epic, I mean) campaign is the degree of its involvement in the unanswered questions of Eberron (who caused the Mourning, the origins of the Warforged, the fate of the Mark of Death, etc) and the amount of groups and individuals contributing to intrigue in the story. The story, as-is, lacks both, but there's plenty of potential to insert some. First off, your group is based in Aundair. As stated in the ECS, Queen Aurala's ambition is to build up Aundair's strength during peace to make an eventual grab for the throne of Galifar. Needless to say, this artifact would be an awesome weapon for her armies, and she would be unlikely to let a handful of researchers and treasure-hunters hold onto such a potent artifact. Involve her. Other than that, you're involving the Draconic Prophecy. As it happens, the Arcane Congress has an observatory in the Starpeaks, and its description implies that it could be used for charting the Prophecy. Come up with a snatch of prose foretelling doom or similar, and you've got the seeds of a conflict between this rogue dragon awakened by the erruption, the older dragons of Argonnesson, the Chamber, and the Arcane Congress. Finally, you might want to consider creating similar dragonshards relating to Eberron and Khyber with some cosmic connection and significance... if you want to focus on dragons, the discovery of such enormous dragonshards with a direct connection to the Prophecy might even provoke large-scale direct draconic involvement in the world. Run with the idea-it's a good start.
Dragonmarked 01-19-06, 12:44 AM	While I wasn't planning on exposing any secrets of Eberron, I did want to put a heaping helping of political intrigue in the campaign. The Queen will definitely make an appearance. I think I'll give the PCs a choice on who they want to side with. I think you're right about the giants, also. That makes more sense than Drow.
Thramzorean 01-19-06, 01:39 AM	Had to look after I saw the thread name. I'm running a PBP in WotC Real Adventure Forums called Blood of Khyber and was wondering if there was any tie-ins...nothing more to say at this point, heh. For sure a few of those players will be sniffing around ;) (yes, that's you MarkB :P )