Any suggestions here? What have you done in your games?
In my opinion, Karrn represents a rise in an era that had fallen into decline over the centuries since humanity crossed from Sarlona. Lhazaar's compatriots - such as Malleon the Reaver, best known for slaughtering the goblins of the south - were largely pirates and other undesireables, so the issue is that even if they were coming from more advanced cultures in Rhiavaar, what they created in Eberron was hardly the height of human civilization. So I'm fine with the idea of Karrn as late Iron Age, and his discipline and work serving to advance military technology on the time.
As long as we're on the subject of history, I'll also point out that I consider the modern magic we're familiar with - the magic available to the the PC wizard (be it 3E or 4E) to represent the fruits of long research. People may say "So what has the Arcane Congress done?" Well, among other things, they've managed to make a magic missile that can be cast as a first level spell; a thousand years ago, it might have been a fifth level spell. This also ties to the "How did anyone ever think to use bat guano with a fireball?" Well, you can find old texts with the crappy fireballs used by the wizards of Galifar's army; they were harder to cast (higher level), shorter range, etc. Through a thousand years of study, mystic scholars developed the words of power used in verbal components, learned efficient ways to channel effects with somatic gestures, and efficient materials to create arcane sympathies. Essentially, in the past, you HAD to learn Still Spell and Silent Spell before you could cast any spell, and had to cast it using that higher level slot.
On of the central ideas of Eberron is that magic is a science, and science doesn't stand still - so when dealing with historical campaigns, bear in mind that things have changed. With that said, different cultures develop different techniques. The sorcerer-kings of Corvagura and the mystic theurges of Ohr Kaluun had powers that equaled or exceeded those of the modern wizard of Khorvaire, and Lhazaar and her followers may have brought weapons forged in Ohr Kaluun or Khunan. The Aereni have sat at their current level of magical development for a long time, and Dhakaani smiths knew secrets of weaving magic into metal lost when the empire fell and their people turned to savagery. So you can certainly find potent treasures in the ruins of Khorvaire - but magic is a living thing, and it has evolved along with use of iron and steel.
Would it be fair to cast Karrn the Conqueror, founder of Karrnath over two thousand years before the current day, as an "Iron Age" War Leader?
This raises another interesting question: were the Analects of Karrn (mentioned in the ECS and Five Nations, I think) written by a contemporary, or a generation or two after the fact? In my campaign I've viewed the Analects as a cross between Hammurabi's code and Sun Tzu's Art of War-- sort of a "Here's how I almost conquered Khorvaire, and how I administered it." Such a thing could have been written by Karrn himself, or it could have been written later as a collection of attributed accounts. What's the difference? Karrn writing the Analects himself suggests to me that whatever the technological level of the day, his "court" at least had basic record keeping-- which implies at least enough architecture to build a "cool, dry place."
/library sciences student
To me, it shouts war and conquest better than any piece I've seen, and it has that faded, historic look.
So, Karrn as sort of a Charles Martel or Charlemagne, huh? Neat idea...
The Barrow mound is in Breland, and contemporary with Karrn's time, so it's more likely to be one of Malleon's descendents or something along that line, some proto-Brelish Thug-King who had a barrow left. But I look at those history rolls often and wonder how they fit in with what's "modern day 998" and have a hard time making analogues. Thanks, all!