Page 194 - Eberron -Rising from the Last War_Neat

D R AG N S in century-spanning games of cat-and-mouse with their
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fiendish counterparts. In general, the Chamber seeks to
The dragons of Eberron are much more than mere maintain the status quo and opposes demons, so agents
monsters; adventurers will rarely barge into a dragon's of the Chamber can often be useful allies or patrons.
lair in search of its treasure horde. Dragons in the world But ultimately humanoids are just pawns in the dragons'
are either aloof and unapproachable, or they are curious eyes, and they readily sacrifice any of those pawns to
and manipulative, pulling strings behind the scenes or ensure the sanctity of the Prophecy and the defeat of the
trying to influence the world in arcane ways. Lords of Dust.
Most dragons live on the mystery-shrouded continent
of Argonnessen and avoid contact with those they see as THE CHAMBER AND THE W A R
lesser creatures. They are obsessed with the Draconic The lives of humanoids and the welfare of their nations
Prophecy, which is a map of possible futures rather mean little to the ancient dragons. A member of the
than a clear-cut prediction. Its paths are revealed in the Chamber who is friendly now might turn out to be little
motion of planes and moons, in the actions of the drag­ more than a war criminal, responsible for horrible atroc­
onmarked houses, and in dozens of other more subtle ities while directing critical events of the war to ensure
manifestations. Most dragons that are active in Khor­ that a skirmish or an untimely assassination didn't de­
vaire are part of a cabal known as the Chamber. rail some crucial stanza of the Prophecy. An even more
A dragon in Khorvaire that isn't part of the Chamber disturbing prospect is that the Mourning might have
could be an exile driven from Argonnessen for some been orchestrated by the Chamber, either as part of its
crime or a scholar pursuing independent research. struggle against the Lords of Dust or even directly in
Some orphaned dragons grow up in Khorvaire without response to the dictates of the Prophecy.
contact with Argonnessen, and some dragons have Whatever the truth, the Last War's impact on the
been twisted by the daelkyr or corrupted by fiends; any Chamber was small in the grand scheme of things.
of these could be an antagonist if the adventure you're Planar observatories were damaged here and there,
crafting calls for a cruel dragon. humanoid servants died in droves, and the clash of
The dragons of Eberron aren't restricted in align­ armies derailed short-term plans. But even the effects of
ment-good red dragons and evil gold dragons are a hundred years of war are minor in the context of plans
equally common. Most dragons tend toward neutrality. that span continents and millennia.
Even those with good alignments often don't consider
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the impact of their actions on lesser beings; if a Cham­ P L ANAR B S E R VATORY
ber dragon must destroy a human village to foil the A planar observatory is a structure at the heart of the
plans of a demon, it will do so without hesitation. Chamber's efforts to divine the meaning of the draconic
THE C H A M B E R Prophecy. The observatory consists of great chambers
of crystal and metal, lined with huge orreries that track
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Conspiracy theorists insist that a network f dragons and align with the planes and the Ring of Siberys.
is hidden in Khorvaire, and these mighty creatures use
powerful magic and humanoid agents to work their will PLANAR OBSERVATORY FEATURES
across the continent and beyond. These claims are usu­ Map 4.2 shows what a planar observatory might look
ally dismissed as madness, but they are in fact correct. like. These immense locations are constructed by and
The Chamber is a cabal of dragons that have monitored for dragons. The orreries that surround the central
Khorvaire for thousands of years, treating humanoids space track the courses of the planes as they shift to­
as pawns in an ancient game. ward and away from Eberron. All about the observatory
First and foremost, the dragons of the Chamber are are enormous dragonshards of all three kinds (Eberron,
observers, gathering information about new aspects Khyber, and Siberys).
of the Prophecy and sharing it with their elders in Ar­ Each observatory must be built in a location that is
gonnessen. They are also charged with stopping any balanced between Siberys and Khyber; finding such a
creature that seeks to use the Prophecy for its own ends. site might take years of careful study and surveying, and
This responsibility sets them against the Lords of Dust, these places are typically remote. Several are located
who must manipulate the Prophecy in order to release in Argonnessen; those in Khorvaire are usually found
their fiendish overlords. It also leads them to recruit in mountain ranges and hidden forest clearings. Many
or eliminate any humanoid who learns too much about have crystal roofs, or domes that open with the aid of
the Prophecy. great mechanisms to allow an unobstructed view of
The Chamber is loosely organized. Each dragon mon­ the night sky, since the movements of Eberron's moons
itors its own small corner of the world and maintains a are thought to correspond to the shifting relationships
network of humanoid agents. Although the mission of among the planes.
the Chamber is one of observation, individual dragons
often have their own agendas. Some seek to manip­ PLANAR OBSERVATORY ADVENTURES
ulate the Prophecy personally, directing the future The characters might find their way to a planar obser­
along a particular path. Others conduct experiments vatory as unwitting minions of a Chamber observer, as
on dragonmarked humanoids, trying to understand the a destination in their struggles against servants of the
connection between these creatures and the Prophecy. Lords of Dust, or even accidentally. The Planar Obser­
Still others are obsessed with the Lords of Dust engage vatory Adventures table presents some possibilities.

CHAPTER 4 I BUILDING EBERRON ADVENTURES
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