Adar

Among the hills and valleys of Adar, the ancient past sleeps overgrown by lowland forests, partially buried by landslides, or ground away by the tireless inertia of a passing glacier. Massive or strangely sized for humanlike creatures, these places hold clues to the battle fought here during the Age of Demons. Most Adarans shun ruins near their homes, fearing the ire of the Storm Guardians. Little do they know that feathered shulassakar still live among or below some of the ruins, working to keep Adar safe. Disappearances near such occupied sites are often due to the shulassakar finding a new and willing ally.

A psionic shroud covers Adar. It is believed that Adar’s leaders created the shroud as an additional means of protecting the area from the the intrusions of the Inspired. The shroud is said to prevent travel from other planes into Adar and hinder attempts to use scrying rituals on people and places within its lands.

The first line of defense for the exiles of Adar, the Shroud is an energy field generated by a set of massive crystals, one in each of the eight monastery-fortresses hidden throughout the mountains. As long as all eight shroud resonators (see page 141) are active, the Shroud provides two effects—a dimensional lock that prevents all forms of extradimensional movement into, within, or out of Adar, and a nondetection effect that hampers all scrying attempts within Adar. The lock does not prevent summoning spells, nor does it hamper spells that send creatures back to their home planes, such as dismissal.

The resonators require constant psionic power. Should a crystal fail to receive any psionic power for 1 hour, it shuts down and the Shroud is weakened. The dimensional lock and nondetection effects become less reliable. If one shroud resonator is inactive, any effect the Shroud normally blocks has a 20% chance of penetrating it instead. If two shroud resonators are inactive, the chance rises to 50%. When three or more resonators are inactive, the Shroud shuts down.

Each of the eight main monastery-fortresses in Adar has a chamber in which a shroud resonator is set. All monasteries have a rotating group of psions that maintains and powers the resonator. Most resonators are placed in areas that are difficult to get to even if the surrounding citadel is breached. All shroud resonator chambers are built for defense.

Shroud Bubbles

Small areas of Adar remain unprotected by the Shroud—a fact Adar's defenders are aware of and the Inspired could exploit. One who knows exactly where two of these bubbles are can travel between them using teleport or similar effects. Since travel within the Shroud is only possible between bubbles; psychoportation or teleportation into Adar is still not possible. It is feasible, however, that some device could be fashioned to function as a beacon to allow travel into a Shroud bubble from outside Adar. Adarans haven't created such devices, and fortunately for them, if the area where a bubble exists is not "very familiar" to someone using teleport, the effect functions as if the user had a false destination. The arrival point in such a case is never within Adar.

Each monastery-fortress has a lesser resonator, which allows its inhabitants to rehearse psychoportation powers or spells that require extradimensional travel or elements, or to conduct emergency transport. Lesser resonators are kept in special areas of a monastery, heavily guarded. Such areas are too small for any group larger than a couple dozen humans to crowd into.

A character powering a shroud resonator can sense shroud bubbles within a mile of the device and shut them down at will. The Shroud reaches less than a mile beneath Adar at sea level. Farther underground is one big Shroud bubble. This weakness is hard to exploit, however. Dangerous creatures dwell in the deeps of Khyber, and the dromites that live below Adar are hostile to Riedrans and suspicious of strangers.

Other Shroud bubbles occur in manifest zones, especially those tied to Kythri. Such bubbles are wildly unreliable in their location and length of existence. Those who power shroud resonators can do little about these bubbles, since the bubbles often reopen immediately after being closed. Natural Shroud bubbles could prove to be a weak spot in Adar's defenses if Riedran forces were to discover one they could use consistently. They'd still have to devise a means of crossing the Shroud to the bubble, however, and most wild bubbles are deep within Adar.

Adar’s geography and weather aren’t natural. As if some supernatural force raised the land from the ocean floor, the coast is a line of sheer cliffs a mile high plunging into a sea full of hidden stone spires. Although Adar has pleasant, fertile valleys, most of the land is arid. The wind blows constantly, and ferocious storms arise suddenly.

Adar has strong connections to the planar realms of Lamannia and Kythri. These connections could explain Adar’s strange weather.

Adarans believe that dragons drove Adar up out of the sea to bury a great evil. Ruins from the Age of Demons support this claim. Some dragons live among the highlands, and the greatest among them are called the Storm Guardians of Korrandar.

Riedra does not welcome the dissidents of Adar, and has closed its borders to that wild area. The kalashtar explain that Adar means “refuge” in the Riedran tongue. The kalashtar know that the Inspired aim to annihilate their race, but the formidable terrain, supernatural weather, and Adaran guardians keep the Riedrans at bay. The strongest of these guardians gather in temple-keeps, which are hidden citadels dedicated to martial training, arcane practice, mental powers, and the Path of Light.

Adar is a sparsely populated nation of those descended from exiles, mystics, and hermits, as well as hardy mountain tribesfolk. No central authority rules the “Land of Refuge.” Each settlement has a council of elders who see to the needs of its citizens and the defense of Adar. Each council communicates with the others and offers aid when needed.

Kasshta Keep, the most prominent temple-keep, houses an order known as the Keepers of the Word. The Keepers maintain ancient magical traditions from Sarlona’s past, but their citadel includes magicians of other traditions. The Keepers have spread to other temple-keeps to prevent their ways from disappearing if Kasshta ever falls.

Elders of this order form the Council of the Wise and have always been considered the spiritual leaders of the land. The head of the order is called the Speaker of the Word and is the most influential being in Adar. The current Speaker is Chanaakar, a human.

Tumbled ruins of draconic origin dot Adar, obvious evidence of the wars fought during the Age of Demons. Adarans avoid these ruins, although many are sized for humanlike creatures and are rumored to contain ancient treasures. Unknown to most Adarans, some of these ruins are inhabited by the shulassakar—a race of yuan-ti with brightly colored feathers, kin to the yuan-ti of Krezent. Servants of the forces that protect Eberron from Khyber’s demons, the shulassakar in the ruins work secretly to keep Adar safe, and most who discover them willingly join their mission.

The earliest tribesfolk who made a home in the deep mountains and valleys called their land Sthanadiv (Land of Earth-Sky). To this day, Adar is a land of extremes. Korrandar is one of Eberron's tallest peaks, measuring 32,495 feet at its storm-shrouded peak. Nearby gorges plunge to below sea level, filled with the raging waters of glacial and storm runoff. The ocean off Adar's southern horn is extremely deep, and the whole coast has none of the normal shelf found around most other lands. Instead, the sea floor is toothy with mountains.

Less than half of Adar's land is below 12,000 feet, and much of that is forested with stout, tough evergreens. The regions above the tree line are arid and windswept, useless for farming or herding. Glaciers creep across the high passes. As the mountains give way to Adar's plateau, alluvial hills and stretches of green valley appear, making about 20% of the land arable. The temperatures in deep valleys can be tropical, though usually mild in humidity, and the flora and fauna in such places are abundant. Trees can grow tall here, and some bear succulent fruit. On the high peaks, nothing lives aside from supernatural creatures. In these places, the cold, clouds, and wind are constant.

A stiff breeze is always blowing in Adar, so the wind is continuously moderate or stronger (DMG 95). When rolling for weather in the land of refuge, use the Temperate column of Table 3-23 (DMG 93) and roll d% twice. Take the higher roll. In windy Adar, it is never foggy, though rolling clouds might make it seem so at higher elevations. Precipitation is always rain, snow, sleet, or hail—often more than one kind at a time. Powerful storms are common, as are avalanches, earthquakes, flash floods, and mudslides.

Most of Adar is trackless mountains or hills. Altitude sickness can be a problem, but many of Adar's inhabitants are acclimated to the high peaks. The mountains are also twisting and treacherous, reducing spotting distance (DMG 90) more often than increasing it.

Planar Elements: Adar has many manifest zones to Lamanni a and Kythri. In a few of these places, such as Ahdryatmin (Mountainsoul), crossing the planar boundary is possible. The Shroud often interferes with such passage, but manifest zones are also places where the Shroud's power can weaken (see Shroud Bubbles, page 35). Elementals are common in Adar. The land is home to strange creatures from Lamannia and Kythri, including PC races.

Getting There

Getting to Adar is not easy. If one survives the fury of the Sea of Rage or the calm of the Barren Sea, deadly storms swirl around Adar's borders and over its peaks regularly, making any sort of air or water travel treacherous at best. The mountains seem to shoot right out of the sea floor. Smaller peaks hide under the waves, ready to tear open a hull. No landing spot can be found for a ship on almost any point of Adar's coast. Freezing temperatures and mists at high altitudes are fatal for airships, and spots in Adar seem to unleash elementals. People from lands across the sea who want to visit Ada r usually land in Ardhmen in Syrkarn and trek overland, but that path is fraught with peril. Dvaarnava has a secret port, but few know of it and fewer have access.

Travel is difficult at best in the mountains; the locals dearly love their small horses and ponies for their surefootedness. Also, if a trail remains along a ridge for long, gentle creatures aren't likely to be the only ones using it. Adar has no true roads.

Some people in Adar have a special relationship with a breed of magical beasts called asperis (MM2 25). These intelligent and gentle horselike creatures ride the winds of Adar easily, and they just as easily bear riders across the trackless peaks. Kalashtar have a special bond with asperis, since both races are telepathic, and asperis visit or live as allies or citizens in Adar's larger settlements and monastery-fortresses.

Reasons abound to face the risks of getting to and around Adar. Legends say Adar was as flat as much of the rest of Sarlona in the Age of Demons—the dragons and couatls drove the mountains up and stirred the winds to hide a great evil. So, many come to gain artifacts of draconic power they think must be hidden among the valleys or in the mighty, mist-shrouded Korrandar. Others come seeking the esoteric knowledge of the mystics in the mountains, such as the Keepers of the Word or the Tashalatora. A few make the journey to learn the psionic teachings of the kalashtar masters of the Path of Light.

Awoke under gloomy skies. Light wind (north). Snow today by afternoon. Meditated and paid homage to Taratai. Remembered you, Assim, my love. Planted pinah tree seeds for you and Taratai. Ran down the mountain from the cave. Assessed the near border. Discovered tracks of a Riedran patrol and followed them through the low pass. Found troll sign. Found the patrol after the trolls. Trolls lost. Riedrans suffered casualties—still too many for me. Cursed shifters. Found tracks of another group after snow started. Small squad, moving fast and light. Noted the path of the Riedrans. Followed the new group. Four foreigners accompanied by a dromite guide. Challenged them. The leader speaks Riedran. Kalashtar but pale. Seems honest, strong. Looks at me strangely. His company has a pale and tiny man (Sebadoh, sorcerer), a creature encased in metal (Arsenal, warrior), and another pale and very stout woman (Lorni, priestess). Must watch Sebadoh. Too smooth. Say they passed from the desert two days ago with Murephan. Kelki, the dromite, led them into the mountains—not to Shalquar. Murephan back to Ardhmen. I asked for help. They agreed. Camping in a high meditation cave now. Kalashtar (Voshakash) and I watch. No fire. Snowing. Light wind. Riedrans have small fire. We take them in the morning, if the yetis don't during night. Perhaps I'll see you tomorrow, my love. If I have been unwise, see you sooner.

Most Adarans are human or kalashtar, rugged mountainfolk who respect wisdom and action. A handful of halfgiant families called the pathadrik (drifting giants) wander gypsylike among the settlements and monasteries

Adarans are resilient and industrious, reserved and incisive. They care about the sensible and the mystical, and the harshness of life among the peaks has not made them grim or fatalistic. Typical Adarans are guarded with strangers but openly emotional among their friends and family. Life is too short to waste time with pretension, and the Path of Light teaches integrity and honesty.

Adarans are generally distrustful. More than a thousand years of siege has taught them to be that way. Most Adarans tend to reject the novel and the strange, preferring the known and the trustworthy. If someone manages to earn an Adarans gratitude or trust, the resultant loyalty is deep.

Normal Adarans live simply compared to the people of tamer lands. That is not to say they live without joy or comfort, but that they have access to fewer diversions and luxuries. Given this, an Adaran takes great joy in work and leisure, and similar pride in strong relationships. To an Adaran, real luxury is found in a sturdy house, loose and comfortable clothing, and another's warm arms to curl up in before sleep. An Adaran toils in the fields, drives animals in small pastures, or hunts in the mountains, then gathers with friends at night to tell stories, make beer and bread, and enjoy a smoke.

Adarans value the spiritual because they know material existence is fleeting. They respect the spirits along with their ancestors, elders, and those who show good judgment. Spirituality has its place in everything, from patterns of weaving to actual meditation.

Arcanists, martial artists, and psychics who protect Adar seek perfection in body and mind. They have to. At any moment, they might be required to offer body and soul to hold Adar against the Inspired. Even the commoners know that meditation on the Path of Light is important work, not laziness or inaction. In fact, inaction can be considered evil.

Real evil lives in Adar, though. Although the vast majority of folk are concerned with the welfare of at least their local friends and families, a few of Adar's residents are descendants of those who came to the land of refuge to escape persecution or prosecution rightly deserved. Even so, wicked Adarans try to maintain a veneer of propriety—acting honest and assiduous so they can better survive.

Religion

Traditional Adaran prayers call on Braahyn (Balinor), the god of the wilds and the moving earth, and his spouse Aarakti (Arawai), the goddess of abundance and storms. Many people also respect the spirits of nature and those of their ancestors. The Path of Light, the dominant religion in Adar, has all but eclipsed these other spiritual practices. Its message has proven preferable to the rule of remote gods and a cold and meaningless end to life in Dolurrh. It is a path of choosing one's own destiny and possibly even transcending death.

Practitioners on the Path of Light hope to change the Quor Tarai from its current nightmare manifestation of il-Lashtavar, the Dreaming Dark, to a tranquil dream centering on il-Yannah, the Great Light. Traditionally, contemplation of peace and kindness coupled with similar actions in the world are thought to be enough to eventually change the Quor Tarai. The lightbringers (yannahsur) among the Path's devotees do just that.

Direct action against evil is secondary, and opposition is sometimes seen as reinforcing malevolence by investing energy in it. It is necessary, however, to have those faithful who are prepared to take action. These believers are called shadow watchers (sheshantol). Younger kalashtar, and those of Khorvaire (under the influence of undisciplined minds or human urges, say some elders) have taken a stronger stand against the Dreaming Dark. These spiritual warriors point to the actions of Taratai, the Path of Light's greatest saint, and have begun to take the war to the Inspired.

Priests of Path of Light can be either lightbringers or shadow watchers, but all such clergy have duties to their communities that preclude constant meditation. Such priests are called lightspeakers (yannahilath). They are expected to be shining examples of the Path of Light. Adaran lightspeakers can be of any race, but most are human or kalashtar.

Adaran Style

Adaran people live modestly. Mountainfolk and monks alike see craft as a leisure activity, and the precepts of the Path of Light have reinforced this custom for over a millennium. Adaran crafts are usually functional, and they are always products of care.

Art

Adaran art is more craft than fine art. From carved knife grips to chanted meditation verses, art in Adar often serves a dual purpose. It's also very personal.

People in Adar take time to do their tasks. They make beautiful and intricate jewelry and armor, personalized carvings to hang over a house door (which aids in knowing the residents), and even multicolored crystal windows for their temples. Beauty is always coupled with functionality. A golden roof on a temple not only shows reverence, but it also never tarnishes. A mural not only recalls the past or reveres an ancient master of the Path of Light, but it also beautifies and seals the stone.

A popular art form in Adar is "earth painting." Such works, made of colored earth, are often group efforts and are usually stylized images of intertwining lines of color. The paintings are created in a ritualized and meditative way. Intended to be impermanent, such paintings are at once the product of contemplation and creation.

While storm winds howl, the warm hearth provides a place to gather and create. It's also where stories are told and dances performed. Adaran tales tend toward morality plays, extolling wisdom and survival. Their folk dances are group affairs involving rings of people switching partners or couples dancing in time with one another. The kalashtar path of shadows martial dance is derived from ancient Adaran steps.

Architecture

Buildings in Adar are made out of stone, with wood used for roofs. Built to withstand the wind, precipitation, and trembling earth, houses are usually broad and low with sharply slanted sides. To an Aundairian, Adaran living spaces would seem cramped, but a native of Adar values a house that lasts more than she does a high ceiling. Adarans take care and time to personalize their dwellings—an Adaran might spend years carving designs into the walls of her home.

Most houses have a central opening in the roof with another smaller roof built over it, like a small tower. Such openings allow light in and stale air out. Adarans believe, according to the Path of Light, that these openings are also pathways for the mind and focusers of positive energy.

Grander edifices, such as the shrines or temples that form the center of a community, are often domed. Most Adarans take pride in a well-appointed village shrine. All buildings face east when possible, or north, but Adarans never build main entrances facing south. The east invites the light and life. The north invites wealth. South is considered a direction of decay and death.

Cuisine

Food holds a special place in Adaran life. It is a requirement for life, but it is also a mode of expression, a blessing from the spirit world, and an experience. An Adaran avoids cooking and eating when he is angry or grieving, lest his emotions taint the meal.

Food is usually baked in or roasted on a clay oven built in the house, though broiling over an open fire is a common alternative. Adarans avoid using utensils. They use their hands, sometimes protected by leaves, to pick up food, intending to involve all five senses in eating. Adarans like spice. The fragrant herbs used in cooking provide taste, and many also aid digestion and fortify the body. Foreigners can find Adaran food too spicy, and Adarans often find foreign food bland.

A wide variety of comestibles can be found on the Adaran table, from broad, woody cavern fungi to the meat of mountain sheep, from fleshy fruits to the milk of oxen and goats—along with yogurt and cheeses from this milk. Some Adarans refrain from eating meat, showing their respect for the lives of all creatures. Monasteries are often more limited in fare, due to the ruggedness of the land around them. Still, the ascetics appreciate food as a manifestation of life.

Fashion

Adarans wear loose and comfortable clothes including simple sandals when it's warm. In the cold, they layer in cloth and fur. As with all their crafts, they take the time to decorate their clothes—leather and cloth are often richly colored, and patterns of elaborate lines are woven or painted as highlights. Bright colors in individualized patterns often make it possible to tell who's coming down the ridge before that person's face can be recognized.

Skin is a place for adornment as well. Intricate, temporary body art made with herbs provides a way to focus the mind while allowing one to share the results. Herbal paints or powders are also applied to indicate a spiritual or emotional condition or event, such as yellow for happiness or ash-gray for grief. Many adherents of the Path of Light paint an inverted white triangle between their brows.

The Adarans' love of craft manifests in a variety of jewelry. From glass beadwork to tiny silver plates strung together as a head covering, Adarans spare no effort in producing beautiful objects to wear. They enjoy bracelets, armbands, and torcs. Rings are also favored; Adarans wear just as many rings in their ears and noses, and on their toes, as on their fingers.

Supernatural Style

Adar has a large population of spellcasters and manifesters, which has a great influence on the crafts of the country. Although magewrights are not as prevalent as in Khorvaire, many settlements have artisans who specialize in the magical or psionic augmentation of traditional crafts. Adaran mystics take their "leisure" pursuits as seriously as common folk do, and many display pragmatic yet wondrous works.

1. Unknown. Taratai was the mysterious spirit that led other spirits into Adar to create the kalashtar, and teach the Path of Light. She is a holy mother, a guide, and a warrior. Everyone knows of her sacrifice, and many people in Adar set aside five days of winter to mourn her passing. This "holiday" is called the Void of Taratai.
2. The dragons created Adar. Adar is an unnatural amalgam of mountains and storms. The dragons and couatls created the place to make it impossible to get to an evil that sleeps beneath the land. Draconic magic still calls to the unique and the wild to come to Adar and protect it. The Storm Guardians who rule mysterious Korrandar are proof.
3. Some martial arts. Many people in Adar know a few dance steps from the path of shadows or a formalized routine from a nearby monastery. Most practice these forms as morning exercise and meditation, and many of them actually know how to fight (and have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat).
4. Actions mean more than words. Whether it's meditation on the Path of Light, stalking and killing a mountain lion that's been eating livestock, or just planting your barley on time, doing something is better than talking or vacillation. In fact, one of the precepts of the Path of Light is that the worst action to take is no action at all.
5. Death is not the end. Adherents of the Path of Light believe that nothing in the world or on any plane is eternal. Dolurrh is a place where the ego dies, but the spirit is immortal, and it returns to the Material Plane again and again. The goal of living is eventually to master the Path of Light, thereby transcending fear and false desires. Those who accomplish this become one with il-Yannah.

Some of the natives and exiles of Adar believe that the kalashtar are alien creatures not to be trusted. These fearful people see the kalashtar as Inspired in another form. Although the antikalashtar sentiment in Adar is neither powerful nor organized, it does exist. Its numbers are fortified by Riedran expatriates who see anyone or anything that traffics with the quori as corrupt. Such people are usually harmless and merely avoid the kalashtar. In the past, though, extreme examples of this paranoia have surfaced and even led to the death of a few kalashtar.

Getting the PCs Involved: In Malshashar, a fortress monastery on the northeastern border, a number of Riedran expatriates live and work. These fortunate few are among those rescued by the Summit Road, and they're the first to be blamed when a prominent kalashtar seer turns up murdered. Tensions rise as the killings continue and the Summit Road guide Murephan, an elan, defends the honor of the Riedrans. The kalashtar are forgiving and trusting, but the elan aren't among those they easily believe. What's really going on? Is one of the Riedrans a murderer? Has someone else in the monastery fallen victim to a mind seed? Or could a creature from the depths of Adar's Khyber, such as a puppeteer or an intellect devourer (EPH 209 and 202, respectively), be secretly moving among the monastery's inhabitants?