–3,100 YK
The Great Druid Oalian Awakens: The two-hundred-and-ten-foot-tall greatpine Oalian, the future Great Druid of the Eldeen Reaches, is awakened to sentience through the primal efforts of the orcish Gatekeepers. Oalian will eventually become the leader of the Warden of the Woods druidic sect in the Reaches but will remain a font of primal wisdom for all of the druidic sects of Eberron.
–2,200 YK
The First Dragonmarks Appear: The first dragonmarks appeared among the intelligent races of Khorvaire over three thousand years ago. For centuries, the dragons and other explorers of Eberron had known that Prophecy marks were formed by such seemingly random forces as coral growth, lava flows and earthquakes. These were always the symbols of the draconic Prophecy studied by the dragons of Argonessen. Yet beginning three thousand years ago, such symbols, called
dragonmarks, began to appear on the bodies of various related lineages of elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, humans and half-orcs. Like the earlier Prophecy marks, the dragonmarks represented primal forces that were tied to both the thirteen moons of Eberron and the planes of existence. As such, a dragonmarked heir was actually a pawn of the Prophecy: a tool that could be used to shape the future. The dragons could no longer ignore the “lesser races”—that they were intended to play a greater role in the Prophecy had now been made manifest by the will of the Progenitors.
Among the first dragonmarks to appear was the Mark of Hospitality among the nomadic halflings of the Talenta Plains, which eventually lead to the formation of House Ghallanda twelve hundred years later during the time of Karrn the Conqueror (see below). For those accustomed to the hard life of the plains, the powers of the mark were a real boon. The halflings knew nothing of the draconic Prophecy and concluded instead that the dragonmarks were a divine blessing and that those so blessed were obliged to use this gift to help others in need. The majority of marked halflings chose to follow this call and came together to form a new tribe. A number of ancient Talenta legends
involved blink dogs who came to the aid of stranded travelers and the tribe drew on this tradition when they adopted the name of Ghallanda, a word in the Halfling tongue that roughly translated into Common as “helpful hound who appears where needed the most.” For centuries after the
magically conjured food and shelter to the needy. They sponsored glorious feasts for the heroes of the plains, standing apart from feuds and tribal conflicts. The helpful hounds were welcome in every camp and assisted Talentans of all the tribes.
At the same time as the Mark of Hospitality was emerging in the Talenta Plains, the Mark of Shadow and the Mark of Death appeared among the elves of Aerenal. It was at this time that the dragonmarked families of elves began to use the d’ prefix before their surnames (as in d’Phiarlan) to indicate their marked status. This convention would later be adopted by all of the dragonmarked houses of Khorvaire after the War of the Mark.
The dragons watched in awe and horror as the Prophecy began to unfold among the “lesser races.” To deal with the emergence of the dragonmarks, younger dragons petitioned the Conclave of Argonessen for the right to create an organization that would study and secretly interact with the peoples of Khorvaire to learn more about their role in the Prophecy. The Conclave gave its
conditional approval for the creation of this organization of relatively young dragons—known as the Chamber—and for the creation of a territory where its members could operate that was formed from the Vast of Argonessen. This area was renamed the Tapestry. The Chamber became a highly
influential—and almost completely secret—power group in the political affairs of Khorvaire over the next three millennia, seeking to manipulate the common races of Khorvaire to bring about certain outcomes of the Prophecy. But even the members of the Chamber sometimes pursued wildly different agendas.
The dragonmarked families would eventually form themselves into noble houses that were the most important elements in the magical economy of the continent of Khorvaire. Communications, transport, crafting, animal husbandry, security—the cornerstones of Eberron’s pseudo-medieval economy were all effectively owned by the dragonmarked houses. The wealth and influence of the present-day dragonmarked houses extend far beyond the power of the dragonmarks, however. Though the unique magical abilities of the Mark of Making might have given House Cannith smiths an edge over their mundane competitors in centuries past, the spell-like abilities of the dragonmarked were hardly novel in a society where divine clerics, artificers, magewrights and other spellcasters were far from rare. However, it was the carefully crafted histories and reputations of the
dragonmarked houses in future centuries that was responsible for their commercial dominance in present-day Khorvaire. The skillful manipulation of magic and artifice allowed the houses to use their marked heirs as the keys by which even greater magic was controlled. House Sivis’ speakingstones, the lightning rail of House Orien, the airships of House Lyrandar and the creation forges of House Cannith all kept the dragonmarked houses at the center of Khorvaire’s economic, military and social
development. As a result, the dragonmarked would come to enjoy a status in Khorvaire that “mundane” wizards and artificers could never match.
-2100 YK to -200 YK
The Founding of Io’vakas and Io’lokar in Argonessen: Throughout their long history, the dragons of Argonessen built no cities for their own kind. However, over thirty centuries ago, a great nondragon city called Io’vakas, the Gate of Knowledge, was founded by the Warders—a group of a dozen dragons dedicated to improving the lot of Argonessen’s humanoid “lesser races,” many of whom had been transplanted from their ancestral homes across Eberron by the dragons to act as their servants. With dragon magic and the labor of nondragon subjects collected from across Eberron, the Warders built a walled enclave deep in the south of the region of Argonessen known as the Vast. Under the tutelage of their draconic lieges, the citizens of Io’vakas—the “Gate of Knowledge” in Draconic—became enlightened dragon worshipers with an advanced understanding of nature,
science, and magic. Today, Io’vakas is a mass of shattered stone jutting up from ground made barren by dragon fire. But each morning as the sun rises above those ruins, it reflects off distant towers against the slopes of a bare peak to the west. This place is still very much alive; it is Io’lokar, the City of Knowledge—risen from the ashes of Io’vakas a thousand years ago.
The creation of Io’vakas thirty centuries ago was preceded by centuries of debate and anger among the dragons of Argonnessen. With the Chamber still in its infancy, most dragons opposed the Warders’ plans for empowering the lesser races. The idea of sharing even a small amount of draconic knowledge was anathema to many dragons, the fate of Xen’drik still sharp in their memories. In the end, though, the Warders prevailed. Io’vakas was built in the Vast with the tacit blessing of the Conclave and the Eyes of Chronepsis, and for almost two thousand years, the city thrived. Then the yuan-ti came from Sarlona, fleeing the strength of Riedra and the Inspired, and the doomsayers proved correct. When the serpent folk arrived in exile, the best among them were invited to Io’vakas. There, they joined the other nondragons of the city in a bountiful life that included
worship of the fifteen ascended spirits of the Sovereigns5—a gift of faith to the nondragons from their dragon masters. However, at least one sect of the Io’vakas yuan-ti sought more power than the
Sovereigns could grant. In secret, this group claimed the direct worship of the Dragon Gods of Thir— and the deepest mysteries of draconic magic—for themselves. When this blasphemy was eventually discovered in -200 YK, the dragons who opposed the Io’vakas experiment demanded a swift and
5
The draconic Sovereigns are identical, save in name, to the fifteen divine entities who comprise the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six pantheons worshipped by most other cultures of Eberron, but particularly among the humans of Khorvaire.
final response. Refusing to distinguish between those who transgressed and the bulk of the loyal yuan-ti, or even the Io’vakas citizenry as a whole, draconic might was unleashed with the tacit consent of the Conclave of Argonessen. Under a storm of lightning, frost, and fire, Io’vakas was leveled to the ground. A dozen or so yuan-ti escaped to the catacombs beneath the city; the rest of that serpentine race, including all the priests, were destroyed. From ruined Io’vakas, a pathetic few nondragon survivors fled to the plains beneath a sky darkened by gathering rogue dragons, anxious to add these so-called scions of knowledge to their own herds of humanoid servants.
Then Arnaarlasha, a noble gold dragon great wyrm of the Warders, descended to the wasted plain. She and a dozen elder dragons loyal to her formed a protective cordon around a thousand desperate survivors of the city. On foot, they shepherded their charges across hostile territory to the slopes of Mount Erishnak, a granite peak in the center of Arnaarlasha’s own adjacent territory. To the assembled rogue wyrms and dominion lords of the Vast who had pounded Io’vakas and her inhabitants to rubble, Arnaarlasha declared the surviving nondragons free subjects of her dominion in the Vast. Over the year that followed, high on the mountainside, Io’lokar, the City of Knowledge, was raised. Arnaarlasha never spoke of what drove her actions that day on the plains, nor did she ever do so. Four hundred years ago in 600 YK, the great wyrm’s death marked the city’s darkest hour, and a turning point.
Within a day, Io’lokar was besieged by a coordinated attack of rogue dragons intent on claiming Arnaarlasha’s territory and razing the city. Beneath arcane defenses honed over six centuries, the city’s mages stood fast. Alongside the Warders and the Arnaaracaex, the stone giants who served as the city’s first line of defense, flights of wyvern riders called the Spear launched themselves from the city’s surrounding Moontowers, harrying rogue dragons in the air as they rained arcane fury against their reinforcements on the ground, while the city’s militia, the Shield, held Io’lokar’s walls. After four days, the rogue dragons retreated. Io’lokar stood fast, and its victory in the Battle of Arnaarlasha’s Fall is celebrated to this day.
Throughout the great battle, the draconic law enforcers known as the Eyes of Chronepsis and the draconic army called the Light of Siberys were conspicuous by their absence, a display of
indifference they maintain to this day. As long as the Io’lokari are careful to stay within the boundaries of behavior proscribed for them when Io’vakas was new, the Conclave of Argonessen now seems content to leave the city be. However, both the Io’lokari and the Warders accept that the city exists at the Conclave’s whim. If any nondragons seek the forbidden lore of dragonkind once again, or should any yuan-ti presence be again tolerated, no force of will or lesser magic will be enough to save them.
In the twelve hundred years since its founding, the City of Knowledge has grown from a mountainside fort (part of what is now the Freeward of the city) to its present form. Within its walls, scholars, crafters, and artisans from a dozen humanoid races live side by side in common cause and culture. Though the Warders long ago stepped back to let the Io’lokari run their own affairs, the city remains dedicated to allowing nondragon culture to flourish on its own terms. Even after three thousand years, however, many of the city’s sages believe that the Warders had a deeper purpose in their creation of a nondragon city within the dragon continent. In the same way that the dragons are said to shun the continent of Sarlona because they have seen that land’s destruction in the unfurling of the draconic Prophecy, some suggest that the Prophecy predicts the eventual destruction of all nondragon life on Eberron. Whether this destruction will come at the hands of the quori, some unknown magical or natural disaster, or through the actions of the lesser races themselves remains unknown.
Either way, Io’lokar (and Io’vakas before it) might have been created as a safe haven for humanity and the other mortal races—a place in which the scions of Sarlona, Xen’drik, and Khorvaire might live on. Today, the city is home to the some of the finest crafters, artisans, and spellcasters in the world. However, commerce does not drive the art, craft, and magic of Io’lokar as it does in Khorvaire. Though the city has no effective monetary limit, coin has no value there. Gems have use as currency only if they appeal to an individual Io’lokari’s eye for aesthetic reasons. All Io’lokari work toward the continued survival of the city and the betterment of their own lives.
Like their draconic patrons, the Io’lokari are an insular society—many live their whole lives without ever setting foot outside the city’s walls. Those who travel typically do so for scholarly pursuits, journeying across Argonnessen and beyond. Io’lokar is hardly a prison, however, and powerful citizens often leave the city to take up positions as advisers or scholars with benevolent dragon lords or agents of the Chamber. Although the powerful people of Io’lokar would no doubt have little trouble each establishing themselves as lords in Khorvaire or Xen’drik, those lands have little to offer. A powerful Khorvarien might dream of wealth or power. A powerful Sarlonan might dream of ending the injustice of the Inspired’s rule. Io’lokari dream of peace, friendship, and the pursuit of ever greater knowledge. Their city is already the best place to achieve that.
Io’lokar’s population of 46,000 people has been effectively stable for nearly four hundred years, even with a steady number of immigrants. The city has high standards, and those unable to meet them usually have little interest in embracing its philosophies in the first place. Powerful individuals sometimes flee here from the holds of other dragon dominion lords in the Vast, typically infuriating their former masters. Often, refugees from the Vast come to Io’lokar in greater numbers
than the city can handle. Once such folk are returned to health, it is thought that the Io’lokari quietly teleport them to the holds of more benevolent dragon lords, but this has never been confirmed.
Of all those who seek the City of Knowledge, only yuan-ti and half-dragons are denied entry. Although the Io’lokari know that examples of nobility exist even among the serpent folk and the dragon scions, the dragons’ dedication to destroying these creatures makes their presence in the city too great a risk. It is rumored that persecuted half-dragons often pass through Io’lokar on their way to better lives in exile in Khorvaire or Xen’drik, but the Io’lokari shun the half-dragon cultists and crazed dragon hunters common in Argonnessen.
No matter what their moral bent, the Io’lokari take a decidedly neutral approach to the affairs of Eberron. Like the Warders who first brought their ancestors here, the folk of Io’lokar are
emphatically devoted to the Prophecy. However, unlike the dragons of the Chamber, the Io’lokari are content to watch history unfold on its own terms. A group of heroes seeking aid in Io’lokar to prevent some Khorvaire-wide catastrophe and another group hunting the epic magic with which to cause that catastrophe would likely both be met with indifference.
This is not to say that Io’lokar is inhabited solely by distant aesthetes or self-obsessed scholars. The folk of the city are a rich and varied lot, and Chamber sympathizers, sages skimming secrets from their colleges, and adventurers who have developed a taste for profit can all be found here. The appearance of a band of Khorvarien adventurers causing trouble might be all it takes to bring such people out of the shadows.
–2,000 YK
Lhazaar Begins the Human Migration to Khorvaire: The great Sarlonan maritime explorer (and some say pirate) Lhazaar lead a migration of several thousand humans in a ragtag flotilla of ships across the Sea of Rage from Sarlona to the eastern shores of Khorvaire almost three thousand years ago, marking the start of a mass migration of Sarlonan humans to the new continent over the next few centuries. Lhazaar’s expedition reached the easternmost territories of Khorvaire that would later be named for her, the Lhazaar Principalities. Lhazaar and most of the other settlers who sailed with her were natives of the western Sarlonan nation of Rhiavhaar. Current archeological findings indicate that Lhazaar’s expedition left from what is now a ruined, pre-Sundering Rhiavhaaran port city called White Water Harbor. The sailors of Rhiavhaar often took to slaving and piracy, and Rhiavhaarian ships—as well as Lhazaar herself—were feared on both sides of the Sea of Rage. Lhazaar’s flotilla was secretly accompanied by the black dragon Vyssilthar in her half-elven form,
who left her mate behind in Sarlona because she had foreseen the momentous role Lhazaar’s expedition would play in the draconic Prophecy and the future of the world.
The Lhazaar Principalities region draws its name from this Sarlonan explorer and pirate whose flotilla directly colonized the islands of Greentarn, Orgalos, and Cape Far. Despite her fame, Lhazaar was neither the first nor last pioneer to settle along the eastern coast of Khorvaire. Over two dozen large islands are in the Principalities, and a remarkable range of people have found their way to the eastern shore. Gnome explorers from their homeland of Zilargo claimed the isle of Lorghalen long before Lhazaar made her crossing with the Sarlonan humans. Elf refugees from the Aereni civil war and the destruction of House Vol found solace in the icy solitude of Farlnen. Dwarves and orcs from the Ironroot Mountains migrated to the eastern shore, laying the foundations of Tantamar and Cliffscrape. And dozens of human expeditions followed in the wake of Lhazaar, with most being led