Introduction

[reefwood]

This thread will provide background information for the campaign.

[reefwood]

“The Draconic Prophecy called upon blood and turmoil to create the world, and so shall it be undone. The Last War was but another thread pulled loose. One of countless steps marching our very existence toward its own unraveling.”
-Kreetar Drash'gol, Fifth Scroll of the Arcane Congress


The Draconic Prophecy is shrouded in mystery. Who authored it? What does it reveal? Where is it found? How can it be deciphered? The dragons of Argonnessen spend their seemingly unending lives seeking out signs of the prophecy and studying their meaning. Why?

The most common legend of how the world was formed tells of the struggle between three progenitor wyrms who first discovered (or created?) the Prophecy:

Siberys danced through the void, setting the stars in their place. Khyber prowled behind, consuming stars nearly as fast. Eberron sang, apart from the others, and life sprouted in the void. Eventually, Siberys turned to confront Khyber. The two tore at each other viciously across the cosmos until Khyber shattered Siberys into a million fragments. Having tasted blood and thirsty for more, Khyber lunged toward Eberron - who deftly dodged every blow. They danced in this way until Khyber was exhausted and then enveloped by Eberron. Both slumbered and hardened into earth and stone. Thus the world was born. Khyber the Dragon Below imprisoned by Eberron the Dragon Between encircled by the fragments of Siberys the Dragon Above. Drops of Siberys' blood fell to the earth and sprouted to life as dragons - red, gold, silver, white, blue, bronze, copper, green, brass, black. They found that Eberron had formed them a paradise in which to dwell, and so began the Age of Dragons. This, however, did not bring an end to the conflict.

Deep underground, the blood of Khyber festered and fermented until it spat out its own dark life. The fiends - rakshasas, night hags, and other monstrosities - slowly clawed their way through Eberron to break free and seek vengeance. They emerged from cracks, erupted from volcanoes, bubbled up from the sea, and war between dragons and fiends ravaged the world. As Khyber triumphed over Siberys, so did the fiends drive back the dragons to usher in the Age of Demons. Millions of years passed in ruin and horror with the dragons hiding in their strongholds on Argonnessen and the rest of the world enslaved. Until the Prophecy was rediscovered. It lifted the dragons from a primitive state, and they united with other draconic species, most notably the couatls, to oppose the fiendish overlords. The rebellion grew into an all out war which spanned another million years. It was the couatls who finally brought down the fiends. They discovered that only bonds of pure spirit could hold the mightiest fiends - the rajahs, so the greatest of their kind sacrificed themselves to trap their most powerful foes in spiritual coils. With the ruling fiends imprisoned, the lesser fiends were soon vanquished. Victory had come but at a high and painful cost. The remaining couatls mourned and devoted themselves to guarding the prisons of the rajahs. The dragons faired better but were left weak and somber by the long struggle, so most returned again to Argonnessen to continue studying the Prophecy.

[reefwood]

“We are feeling without hands in the dark for the answer to a question unknown.”
-Vandria ir'Lain, Starpeaks Observer


What is the purpose of Draconic Prophecy? Theories abound. It will set the stage for a new beginning. It will usher in the final everlasting age. It will bring an end to the world. Whatever the outcome, most theories point toward the transformation of the world as we know it.

While all aspects of the Draconic Prophecy are subject to debate, there is some consensus to be found among scholars. It is believed that signs and portents can be found everywhere. In the stars placed by the Dragon Above, in the life and land of the Dragon Between, and in the whispers and nightmares of the Dragon Below. A daunting canvas in which to look for clues, but it appears evident that that dragonshards - or perhaps more importantly, the dragonmarks within them - play an important part in following the Prophecy. They fall from the fragmented body of Siberys that forms a ring in the sky around the center of the world (sunmotes - yellow or gold). They are encased within geodes buried in the soft soil of Eberron (bloodgems - pink or red). They grow from volcanic caverns deep within Khyber (nightjewels - dark blue or black). These clear crystals contain swirled veins which glow and lend their color to the shard. Additionally, glowing swirls similar to those found in dragonshards have appeared throughout the ages across the world - within clouds, on the sides of mountains, at the bottom of lakes, in the walls of caves, and so forth. All of these swirls have been dubbed dragonmarks for they are vaguely reminiscent to Draconic script, and three-thousand years ago, they also began appearing on living canvas - on the peoples of Khorvaire.

How does one decipher dragonmarks? Do they directly reveal knowledge to those who can read them? Do they only appear at a significant time or place? Or do they merely point the way for those who can make sense of them? The dragons of Argonnessen have followed the Prophecy for ages, and many believe that centuries of study are required to properly translate dragonmarks and fully understand what they reveal.

[reefwood]

“The root that pierces stone. The salmon that swims upstream. The seemingly impossible are achieved through patience and persistence. So must we press on with conviction to forge our own path.”
-Quill, Warforged Civil Rights Activist


The world will be forever changed when the Draconic Prophecy is fully unveiled and completed. This is what most can agree upon. It is also widely believed that the world is a living text in which passages are revealed. Never more than one chapter, or a single paragraph, or even just a few words at a time. However, many other aspects of the Draconic Prophecy are widely contested:

• -It is a script set in stone which allows one to prepare for what is to come. In order to gain wealth and power. In order to be protected from danger and doom. In order to accept and appreciate whatever befalls you.
• -It is a script that directs what may come to pass. In order to preserve that which is required to ensure its completion. In order to spur on that which is needed to bring it into being. In order to prepare that which must be in place when it comes to a close.
• -It is a script that must be recorded. To learn lessons from the past in order to progress. To find patterns that repeat themselves in order to predict the future. To document history as a means of preserving the world when it is gone.

Despite the great variety of opinions on the matter, one belief that many share is that the Draconic Prophecy is an unstoppable force. That it will reach its end no matter what the means, and when this happens, the world will be altered as never before. Permanently. Yet, there are a few who do not succumb to such inevitability, and a fewer still who dare to work against it. In hope of maintaining their freedom. In hope of shaping their future. In hope of preserving the world. These brave souls belong to a secret order that was established before the current age by a dragon, fiend, and undying elf. An unlikely union between ancient foes who had separately devoted their seemingly immortal lives to studying the Prophecy but were all equally disturbed by their various findings, and it was in their efforts to thwart the Prophecy that they were brought together.

The findings made by the founders focused on different parts of the Draconic Prophecy, and brought together, they revealed common themes revolving around advancement followed by devastation, often linked to dimensional ruptures as well as involvement by the dragons:

• -The rise of the giants was propelled to wondrous heights by arcane teachings from the dragons. Later, the giants used cataclysmic incantations to stop a Quori invasion by forever severing the connection to Dal Quor (Realm of Dreams), which also resulted in devastating effects to themselves. Yet they turned again to this dangerous power to quell an elven slave rebellion but were prevented from unleashing such destruction a second time by an earth-shaking dragon assault that crumbled what little remained of giant civilization.
• -The rise of the elves was sparked by the draconic magic they learned at the feet of the giants. Their freedom was ensured by the destruction of giant civilization at the hands of the dragons. The elven kingdom's greatest achievement was the creation of the Undying Court, which resides where connections to Irian (Realm of Eternal Day) are believed to be thinnest, and ever since, the dragons have intermittently but unsuccessfully waged war to crush the elves.
• -The rise of the goblinoids began soon after the giants fell, and while it had no direct ties to the dragons, their claw marks were all over its fall. When the greatest of goblin empires emerged, the dragons chose not to prepare them for the impending doom. Instead, they taught the orcs - tremendously smaller in number - to watch for signs of disaster and fend off corruption. The orcs did succeed in ending the Daelkyr invasion from Xoriat (Realm of Madness) by sealing off its connections, but not before the vast goblin empire was decimated, and the orcs themselves were left shattered by the war.
• -The rise of the dragonmarked houses began slowly but not too long after the collapse of goblinoid civilization. The first to be eliminated was the Mark of Death carried by the elven House Vol, along with the line of green dragons that assisted their attempt to breed half-dragon elves. More marks were wiped out when the predominant houses launched the War of the Mark to establish their economic foothold, and their power was further cemented when they sided with Galifar in his successful War of Unification. The Last War saw their influence rival that of the royals because the dragonmarked houses remained neutral in the sense that they would sell their services to all sides, and no side dared risk losing their often critical support, so profits soared until the Day of Mourning destroyed Cyre and brought the war to an end.

The exact or complete cause of the Day of Mourning remains a mystery, but it is suspected that Kythri (Realm of Churning Chaos) - the most difficult dimensional plane to chart - began approaching the world as the Last War started, and it bled into Cyre on the Day of Mourning. The order gleaned that great danger was approaching this region, so teams were sent to investigate and act as necessary. What became of them is unknown. They may have failed to stop the destruction of Cyre, but perhaps their efforts prevented it from spreading further.