A common story about Lamannia tells of an explorer who passed through a manifest zone and found herself on a vast mountain peak. Pressing up the mountain, she was exploring a mysterious thicket when she was set upon by rats the size of wolves. She fought the rats, but was on the verge of being overwhelmed . . . until a giant beak flashed down and snapped up a rat in a single bite. The wide “thicket” wasn’t natural briar; it was the nest of a gargantuan roc, one of Lamannia’s many impressive denizens.
Beasts
Lamannia’s primary inhabitants are beasts—both ones that you might encounter in the wilds of Eberron, and massive creatures that can be seen as iconic representations of their type: the idealized incarnation of Bear or Wolf. Any natural creature can be found in Lamannia; indeed, some sages assert that the presence of a creature in Lamannia is what defines it as “natural.”
For the most part, Lamannian beasts are no smarter than their counterparts on Eberron. However, some animals possess intelligence similar to that granted by the awaken spell, though even these beasts generally follow their natural instincts and live wild lives. While the giant owls of Sharn may own shops and run for city council, the giant owls of Lamannia are content to hunt the beasts of the Twilight Forest. So it’s possible to find creatures in Lamannia that speak Common or a Primordial dialect, but most have little interest in long conversations.
The beasts of Lamannia generally fall into the following four categories.
Mundane animals are identical to their counterparts in Eberron. Any natural creature can be found in a layer with an appropriate environment. If such beasts are the first things adventurers encounter in a visit to Lamannia, they might not even realize they’ve traveled to another plane.
Dire animals are creatures of remarkable size. Such creatures are more common than mundane animals; in the Twilight Forest, most owls are giant owls, and they prey on giant weasels and rats. The Monster Manual has a few examples of “dire” and “giant” beasts, but any natural beast could have a dire counterpart in Lamannia.
Megafauna are gargantuan beasts. The roc is an example of Lamannian megafauna; those found in Eberron have been drawn through manifest zones or slipped between planes during coterminous periods. The DM can create a wide range of megafauna; a pack of gargantuan wolves could hound the adventurers, or they might meet a megafauna serpent that uses the statistics of a purple worm—perhaps even a megafauna dinosaur! While these creatures are similar in form to beasts, they are typically classified as monstrosities. Between their vast size and their connection to the plane, they’re immune to most effects that target beasts, and you can’t charm a roc with a simple animal friendship spell.
Totems are beasts that are beyond the tactical scale— creatures that can be measured in miles. The gnome explorer Tasker tells a tale of an island in the Endless Ocean that turned out to be an enormous turtle; another of his stories features a pack of lycanthropes living in the fur of a massive roaming wolf. Such totems aren’t natural creatures and don’t need to eat. Their origins and purpose are unsolved mysteries, but most sages believe that they are immortal spirits projected by the plane itself. Some claim that the totems are connected to all creatures cast in their image. Others believe that the totems are sources of primal power, and barbarians, shifters, and druids can receive power and guidance from them. All that’s known for sure is that they’re immune to common spells, and there are no accounts of anyone successfully harming or communicating with a totem.
Elementals
After beasts, the most common inhabitants of the plane are elementals. Unlike the genies, mephits, and anthropomorphic elementals of Fernia and Syrania, Lamannia’s elementals are the pure, living essence of the elements, unburdened by any humanoid desire. These include the standard earth, fire, air, and water elementals, but they can come in a wide array of sizes and forms. Adventurers exploring the Broken Lands could encounter tiny globs of lava crawling across the land, while the leviathans of the Endless Ocean and the elder tempests of the First Storm are forces of apocalyptic power.
The Zil gnomes commonly summon and bind the elementals of Lamannia, using them to propel lightning rails and airships. While intelligent, these elementals are utterly alien. They have little concept of time and perceive the world purely through the balance of elements. The sole desire of most elementals is to express their element: to burn, to flow, to fly. Many have an antagonistic attitude toward spirits of other elements, which drives the deadly conflict between them in the Broken Land—this poses an obstacle in dealing with elementals, as they tend to perceive humanoids as globs of water. While it’s possible for a character that speaks Primordial to talk with a Lamannian elemental, it’s usually difficult to establish any sort of common basis for negotiation. Still, there are legends of wandering druids who “befriended earth and air,” so anything is possible!
Humanoids
There are merfolk in Eberron—such as the Kalamer of the Thunder Sea—but their people began in the Endless Ocean of Lamannia, and are still found there. These primordial merfolk remain close to their elemental roots and instincts. They wield druidic magic, but don’t craft tools or structures. Other humanoid natives of Lamannia are much the same; any race with a strong primal connection could be tied to Lamannia, but they’re driven by instinct and avoid the trappings of civilization. There could be tabaxi dwelling in the branches of the Twilight Forest, but if so, they’ll seem wild.
Over a century ago, during the Silver Crusade, there were many lycanthropes who fled to Lamannia. As long as they remain on this plane, a lycanthrope can’t spread the curse to anyone other than their offspring, and the unnatural impulses of the curse—the drive to prey on innocents, the bloodlust that can cause a victim of lycanthropy to lose control of their actions—are suspended. Meanwhile, primal instincts are amplified; Lamannian werewolves remain predators and take joy in the hunt, but they aren’t driven to evil, and remain in full control. Packs and communities of lycanthropes are scattered across the layers. Most are descended from lycanthropes who fled Eberron to escape both the templars and the dark power whose corrupting influence led to the crusade; these shapeshifters embrace their primal nature and rarely assume humanoid forms. But there are also packs descended from afflicted templars who chose exile over death, and who strive to preserve the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors.
A handful of druids and rangers have crossed into Lamannia and chosen to remain in this primal paradise. Many run with lycanthrope packs, embracing their feral instincts and spending their days in wild shape. Others act as planar shepherds, seeking to minimize the impact of dangerous manifest zones and help unwary travelers.
Greater Powers?
There are no celestials or fiends in Lamannia. Yet explorers often report a feeling that they are being watched, and there are times when random events seem to be guided by an unseen hand. When outsiders have sought to establish industries in Lamannia, they’ve been attacked by megafauna or elder elementals, or struck by especially vicious turns of weather. It’s possible that this is the work of the totems, and that they have great influence over their layers. Or there could be a greater power that watches over the entire plane. Some scholars assert that the moon Olarune is the consciousness that governs the plane, and Eldeen shifter traditions that predate the practices of the Wardens of the Wood also reflect this belief. Shifter druids suggest that Olarune created the shifters, and the first lycanthropes were her champions.
Achaierai, animals (all), arrowhawk (all), belker, celestial animals, bebilith (demon), hellcat (devil), air elemental (all), earth elemental (all), water elemental (all), fiendish animals, djinni (genie), avoral (guardinal), leonal (guardinal), hellwasp swarm, invisible stalker, lycanthropes (all), air mephit, dust mephit, earth mephit, ooze mephit, salt mephit, water mephit, nightmare, thoqqua, tojanida (all), vermin (all), xorn (all), yeth hound.
Manual of the Planes: dao (genie), marid (genie), ooze paraelemental (all), smoke paraelemental (all).
Monster Manual III: Avalancher, battlebriar, dust wight, gulgar, wood woad, woodling creatures.
Dread Blossom Swarm
Dread blossoms are native to the plane of Lamannia, the Twilight Forest. They gather in the jungles of Aerenal. Millennia ago, elf sorcerers living on Xen’drik brought the first dread blossoms to Eberron to plague their giant masters. Dread blossom swarms continue to ravage the inhabitants of the jungles of Xen’drik and Aerenal. The elves of Aerenal have been accused of deliberately transplanting and unleashing dread blossom swarms upon their enemies, most recently the orc tribes of the Shadow Marches.
Gulgar
In the EBERRON campaign setting, gulgars originally came from Lamannia, the Twilight Forest. They are most often encountered near the eastern peaks of the Mror Holds, bordering the Lhazaar Principalities, although wyverns and manticores pose a constant threat. They periodically trade with the Mror Holds dwarves, offering livestock in exchange for crystals.