Xen'drik

In Khorvaire, you might …

• Befriend a drow making their way in the new world.
• Stop the Emerald Claw from using a giant artifact to destroy a city.
• Aid a scholar in deciphering a book of prophecy found in the heart of Xen’drik and brought to Stormreach.

The tremendous diversity of the people of Xen’drik means that no single trait defines objects and artifacts from this land. The primitive drow make armor comparable to studded leather using the chitin of giant scorpions. Rumors abound of more advanced drow civilizations in the layers of Khyber that lie beneath Xen’drik. The elves lived and fought in Xen’drik before the exodus that took them to Aerenal, and elven artifacts remain scattered across the region. And the grandest treasures include the work of the giants—which can often be difficult to use because of their size. The spellbook of a giant wizard might hold priceless secrets, but the bulky tome can be quite awkward for smaller folk.

1. An intact giant skeleton thousands of years old is discovered in the jungle.
2. Unethical “guides” offer cheap Xen’drik tours, but their customers never return.
3. A volcano erupts near a primitive village.
4. Three pirate captains meet secretly in Stormreach to discuss an alliance.
5. A ship full of dragonshards capsizes in sahuagin waters.
6. A member of the Aurum’s Copper Concord seeks to increase his status by locating an enormous cache of Xen’drik artifacts.
7. Rampaging dinosaurs seem able to regenerate even after being killed.
8. A swirling cloud of lights appears at random, swallowing anyone it touches.
9. An earthquake reveals ancient underground ruins.
10. Walking corpses appear each night on the streets of Stormreach, with patterns resembling aberrant dragonmarks carved into their faces.
11. Blood of Vol cultists kidnap elf explorers and experiment on them in an ancient temple.
12. A wild thunderstorm has lasted for days and shows no sign of stopping.
13. Prospectors fi nd gold in a mephit-infested river.
14. A glacier begins growing in the heart of the jungle.
15. An airship carrying House Lyrandar magewrights crashes in the jungle after being attacked by a black dragon.
16. A Khorvaire noble seeks a rare bird found only in the Titan’s Teeth mountains.
17. An astronomer predicts that a meteor will hit Xen’drik and hires adventurers to retrieve it.
18. Everyone in Stormreach has the same dream of an ancient giant waking up beneath one of Xen’drik’s mountains.
19. A cursed dragonshard causes anyone who possesses it to die within three days.
20. An enormous tyrannosaurus attacks explorers and then disappears into the jungle, leaving no tracks.
21. A caged drow in Stormreach, charged with theft and murder, offers valuable information in exchange for being returned to his tribe.
22. A ghostly couatl with silver fl ames for eyes is spotted in the jungles of Xen’drik, causing a rush of Silver Flame pilgrims seeking jungle guides.
23. A hurricane destroys a coastal village but leaves one hut untouched.
24. Thieves steal the prototype of a new bound-elemental vehicle.
25. From the top of a giant pillar in the Menechtarun Desert, the night sky appears to hold different stars and only three moons.
26. A reclusive member of House Vadalis breeds giant bees in the jungle.
27. A multicolored dragon shimmers like a rainbow as it flies above the Skyraker Claws.
28. Something is stirring up annoying but harmless insect swarms.
29. A band of adventurers enters an ancient ruin, never to be seen again.
30. An aura of death spreads out from a weathered statue, killing underbrush and insects, and sickening nearby trees.
31. A tantalizing fruit is discovered in deepest Xen’drik, setting off a craze among the wealthy of Khorvaire.
32. A cult of the Dragon Below unearths an ancient tomb containing a powerful aberration that suddenly comes to life.
33. Terrifi ed lizardfolk fl ee their swamp home and refuse to return.
34. Anyone leaving Stormreach becomes hopelessly lost within an hour, soon returning to the city.
35. A circus master from Khorvaire pays handsomely for exotic Xen’drik animals.
36. House Cannith requires a rare type of metal found only in ancient Xen’drik mines.
37. Inspired agents manipulate shipping lines to bring certain vessels close to a Riedran outpost.
38. A talking map claims to know the way to great treasure.
39. Deep in the jungle, a rusted metal statue bears a strange resemblance to modern warforged.
40. The plant life in an area grows at ten times the usual rate.
41. An ancient elven dagger serves as a magic compass, leading the way to the tomb of an elf champion—and a ghost that waits for the dagger’s return.
42. A merchant consortium wants guides and guards to lead a massive herd of clawfoot dinosaurs from a remote outpost to Stormreach.
43. To honor his ancestors, a Valenar PC must travel to the desolate plains of Xen’drik and tame one of the wild stallions that roam the land.
44. The party comes upon an Inspired lord whose retainers have been killed in a drow attack. He seeks an escort back to Dar Qat, but will the PCs work with him?
45. A PC who worships the Silver Flame is charged with destroying a tribe of stone giant wereboars that have been preying on human settlements.
46. A mysterious migration of dream serpents brings hundreds of drow snake-hunters to Stormreach.
47. The King’s Citadel of Breland believes that a political dissident has taken refuge in Dar Qat. Can the party extract him from the fortress of the Inspired?
48. A basalt temple holds a fire weird (MM II 90–93), which tells the party that only they can recover an artifact called the cinder shard from the fire giants who stole it.
49. Traveling across the wilds, the adventurers find a symbol carved into the ground—a dragonmark almost 200 feet across. What power does it hold, and who dares to claim it?
50. A madness is spreading through the giants of Rushemé. Is it an ancient curse, or a scheme of the Dreaming Dark?
51. An eccentric sage leads an expedition to the Skyraker Claws to search for a fallen piece of the lost thirteenth moon.
52. The waters of the River Koronoo turn to blood, warning of an ancient undead power rising in the mythical Ring of Storms.
53. A strange tower of fiendish design rises out of the ground, casting a long shadow over Stormreach.
54. A bustling jungle outpost becomes a ghost town overnight.
55. An artifi cer needs to fi nd the legendary scarwood tree to complete an invention.
56. A withered stick found at the foot of an old monolith turns anything it touches into gold.
57. One of the many wells in Stormreach is the tip of a water column that rises out of an underground lake.
58. A benevolent old guide hires on with adventuring parties, then murders them in the night and skins them in tribute to the Mockery.
59. A book in the Library of Korranberg mysteriously appears in the packs of travelers bound for Xen’drik.
60. Two Morgrave University scholars seek protection on their way to an ancient ruin. One scholar intends to bring his treasures back to the university; the other plans to sell her fi nds on the black market.
61. A lost heir of Galifar supposedly lives as a wild man in the legendary Jungle of Razor Flowers.
62. Red dragon siblings fight endlessly through proxies, tricking unwitting “champions” into conflict with other explorers.
63. A group of determined halflings head into deepest Xen’drik, convinced they can fi nd the means to cure the dying Lord Boroman ir’Dayne.
64. A transparent ghost ship sails the streets of Stormreach every seven days.
65. No one has ever defeated the mummy guardians of the Tomb of Tortured Souls.
66. A troglodyte priestess is due to be married in three days, but she still needs a groom.
67. A talking raccoon claims to be the surviving familiar of a fallen wizard. It searches for adventurers to avenge its master’s death.
68. A half-dead kalashtar staggers into a bar in Stormreach, claiming to have seen a partly completed Riedran monolith in the jungle.
69. A gnome braggart claims to have found a timeless fountain. No one believes him, but the next morning he is found murdered in his bed.
70. A sentient sphere of annihilation carves a swath of destruction through the jungle.
71. An elf vampire preys on travelers who enter a mysterious glacial waste deep in the Menechtarun desert.
72. A grove of trees uproot themselves and move a mile due north.
73. An explorer drowns in a jungle lake, then rises from the waters three days later, seemingly alive and in perfect health.
74. The Festival of Six Tribes, an enormous giant celebration, occurs in one week. Giants from all over Xen’drik travel to a central mountain peak to celebrate.
75. Two flaming swords guard the entrance to the sealed palace of a rakshasa rajah.
76. An enormous wooden idol decorated with dozens of priceless jewels speaks once a year when bathed in the light of the moon Lharvion.
77. A beautiful elf soprano, the dazzling delight of Sharn society, announces that she will bring her act to Stormreach.
78. A tribe of Seren barbarians decides that traveling to Xen’drik and hunting a white dragon is the best way to honor their patron.
79. A half-elf who traces his lineage to Xen’drik embarks on a search for his heritage.
80. The stone statue of a woman sits atop a cracked marble pillar in the jungle. The statue radiates powerful transmutation magic, but no one has found a way to understand or dispel the effect.
81. A ruin-covered island sits in the middle of an enormous lake fi lled with vicious monsters.
82. PCs fi nd a stone column in the middle of the jungle, covered with rough engravings of people who look just like them.
83. Lizardfolk attack civilized settlements using primitive hang gliders.
84. Children begin to vanish from Stormreach at the same time that jungle drums are heard sounding loudly at night.
85. A pirate treasure sits in an underground cave accessible only when the tide is out.
86. The sting of a jungle insect produces euphoric effects, but too much venom is fatal.
87. A tribe of yuan-ti seeks sacrifi ces to the Devourer.
88. A panther and a tiger seem to be coordinating their attacks on explorers.
89. No one has ever found the bottom of the so-called Darkdeath Rift, but artifacts of immense power are said to rest there.
90. Legend has it that anyone who climbs to the top of hidden Shierkrag Mountain and battles the frost giant there will become as strong as a giant.
91. A hag lairs in the jungles of Xen’drik and will tell fortunes for a price.
92. An explorer who entered an enormous hollow tree emerges convinced she is a dinosaur.
93. Anyone who looks into the legendary Mirror of Uveil sees their greatest weakness and their greatest strength.
94. A primitive tribe shrinks animal heads and sells them in Stormreach, but now a human corpse with a shrunken head has been found.
95. An enormous dragon fl ies into a remote outpost and proclaims himself king.
96. Hundreds of black cats prowl an ancient ruin by moonlight.
97. Researchers studying jungle plants inadvertently waken a treant.
98. A powerful demon prowls the slopes of an active volcano.
99. Once deciphered, ancient parchments hold a code that reveals the time and location of a portal to Thelanis.
100. A wonder known as the Siberys Staircase is said to lead to the moon Zarantyr
101.  

1. Pata Anka
2. Dal Olam
3. Tlelbek
4. Stone Wing Cliffs
5. Mesa Utanda
6. Canyon of Razor Rain
7. Nerepan
8. Scora Bael
9. Burnt Flower Plateau
10. Illandyano
11. Xatepec Ridge
12. Hakeb Eza
13. Fifteen Blunted Spearpoints
14. Palen dal Caten
15. Ammultun
16. Sentan Falt
17. Queltatir
18. Ek Lamyl
19. Caverns of Coatlapec
20. Crystal Tree Plaza
21. Yaoteco
22. Kalnak
23. Say-bekna
24. Quor’tan
25. Gallina dal Sop
26. Caern of Stone Hearts
27. Maan Ulta
28. Zenzzir
29. Floating Leaf Lake
30. Xalxen Xuna

In Xen’drik, you could …

• Seek to destroy an ancient mystical weapon before it falls into the hands of villains.
• Battle savage giants in the ruins of their ancient cities.
• Match wits with cunning drow in the depths of a primordial jungle.

Any follower of the Sovereign Host knows this story about Xen’drik. In the dawn of time, the Sovereigns bound the fiendish overlords and freed the world from chaos. The mighty giants had fought alongside the Sovereigns, and in gratitude Aureon granted them dominion over the continent of Xen’drik. Aureon taught giants the secrets of wizardry, and they grew powerful. The giants built towers that touched the sky and seemingly endless cities.

The mightiest among the giants was the titan Cul’sir. His power was so great that he pulled the thirteenth moon from the sky and crushed it in a fit of anger. The giants ruled many lesser races, and eventually the elves rose up against them. Cul’sir unleashed plagues upon the rebellious elves. He made assassins of elven shadows and turned them back against their owners. Still the rebels persisted. In his anger, Cul’sir prepared to pull down the rest of the moons to hurl them at his enemies, even though he’d destroy the world in doing it. But the giants had gone too far, and Aureon set the dragons of Argonnessen upon them. The dragons destroyed the vast cities and leveled the towers. Cul’sir was slain and his people scattered.

The Sovereigns and Six each laid a curse upon the land. Aureon decreed that the creatures of Xen’drik would have no knowledge of law, and Boldrei proclaimed that no city would stand. The Traveler distorted the land so that no path followed twice. The Devourer unleashed fire and storm. And so Xen’drik remains a land of mystery, a realm that cannot be mapped, a place that holds secrets that could shatter the world.

This story bears at least some truth. The elves were once slaves of the ancient giants, and the dragons did eradicate the civilizations of Xen’drik. Great magic has warped the land. The environments of Xen’drik are extreme and unpredictable, and travelers might find a glacial expanse in the midst of a vast desert. Tens of thousands of years have passed, yet no civilization has risen to the heights of the fallen giants; some believe that Aureon’s and Boldrei’s curses ensure that any city that grows too large collapses into madness. The Traveler’s Curse twists space, and explorers might follow the same path twice only to end up in entirely different locations.

Xen’drik is a continent that defies control. Expeditions have unearthed artifacts of immense power, as well as fields of Siberys dragonshards, but once you leave a site, you might never find it again.

Giants still roam Xen’drik, but these creatures have never regained the glory of their ancestors. Tribes of drow—said to be the shadow-assassins created by the Emperor Cul’sir—linger in the darkness. These represent just a few of the threats in this vast land.

Xen’drik was home to Eberron’s first mortal civilization during the Age of Giants. Giant ruins are common, but explorers who seek them must survive the perils of that land. Pirates on the Thunder Sea have made Xen’drik their base of operations for centuries, and it was only 100 years before the Last War that the Five Nations routed these corsairs and raised the city of Stormreach on the site of a pirate outpost. This port is now the gateway through which virtually all visitors to Xen’drik pass.

Scholars are divided as to whether the giants of Xen’drik forged a single empire or maintained an alliance of independent kingdoms. Some claim that the giants’ inherent rivalries would have prevented the creation of a unified society, while others maintain that the different strains of giants in the world today developed only after their empire’s fall.

Dragon magic was the foundation of the Age of Giants, but slavery was its lifeblood. Captured eladrin from Taer Lian Doresh were the precursors of the original elves and drow—slave races whose labor allowed the giants to erect the great cities and temples that survive only as ruins in the present day.

The power of the giants was broken by the arrival of the quori, and a protracted war laid ruin to the giant nation. In the end, the conflict was halted when the giants used dragon magic to destroy the planar gateway, but the power of this magic destroyed what was left of the giants’ domain.

Even as the giants attempted to rebuild in the aftermath of destruction, they faced open revolt by their drow and elf slaves. That war of rebellion thwarted the reconstruction of the empire and drove the giants to seek the elves’ destruction with the same dragon magic that had crushed the quori.

Before that drastic step could be taken, the dragons of Argonnessen attacked, determined to thwart the potential cataclysm that the giants’ single-minded fury might wreak. In a brutal campaign, Xen’drik was laid waste and the giants’ civilization was destroyed.

The continent of Xen’drik lies south of Khorvaire, across the Thunder Sea. The most common routes between the continents go through the dangerous archipelago known as Shargon’s Teeth. The journey to Xen’drik can be as dangerous as any expedition in the continent’s interior.

The folk of Khorvaire speak of the jungles of Xen’drik, but the continent is home to a wide variety of terrains and environments. Although tropical jungle does cover the northern and eastern reaches of the continent, its western half is dominated by a blistering desert. Towering mountain ranges and active volcanoes scar the landscape, and the continent’s southern coast is an icy wasteland that merges with the Icemaw Sea and the Everice.

Xen’drik is thought to be considerably larger than Khorvaire, but no accurate surveys of this land exist. A mysterious force covers the entire continent like a shroud, defying logical or magical explanation. Commonly called the Traveler’s Curse, this effect twists time and distance. If two parties of explorers set out for the same destination along an identical path, one group might make the trip in two days, while another spends nearly a week to cover the same ground. Explorers might search in vain for a well-documented and commonly visited site, and another group might discover previously unknown ruins a day’s walk from Stormreach.

The Traveler’s Curse is thought to be a lingering remnant of the powerful arcane forces that destroyed the continent. Whatever its source, this effect makes mapping Xen’drik all but impossible, and it is notably stronger on creatures not native to this land.

The shifting zones make Xen’drik a wildly unpredictable realm, but they are not the only challenge facing travelers and cartographers. A force is at work in Xen’drik that defies even magical explanation—an effect that seems to encompass the entire continent and yet does not behave in any predictable fashion. The consensus of the Morgrave scholars is that this is a lingering effect of the ancient cataclysm that ended the quori invasion, but the first human explorers of this land had a different explanation. They called it the Traveler’s Curse, blaming the capricious deity of the Dark Six for the unpredictable nature of exploration in Xen’drik.

The Traveler’s Curse twists time and distance, both in perception and reality. Two parties of explorers set out from Stormreach in search of a specific ruin, but though both follow the same path, it might take the first group one week and the second group three weeks to make the journey. No logical explanation exists. The first group might find that it has covered the distance in an impossibly short time. The second might perceive a reasonable length for the journey, only to find on their return to Stormreach that far more time has passed. Under some circumstances, this effect can be a blessing, speeding a party through dangerous terrain. However, the Traveler’s Curse can just as easily lead explorers into unexpected danger or cause them to arrive at a different destination than the one they sought. This phenomenon is one reason why no reliable maps of Xen’drik exist, and why it is always possible to stumble into new ruins within striking distance of a settlement or in areas the party has explored before.

The Traveler’s Curse ebbs and flows, but it seems to have the strongest effect on those not native to the land. Parties led by a drow or giant guide are more likely to reach their intended destinations. Scholars have also noticed that the effects are weaker on the few established roads in Xen’drik—the paths connecting Stormreach to the closest trading outposts. Some believe that aspects of intent are at work: Knowledge of a destination holds back the effect, and a strong-willed individual might resist or even control it.

The curse has no specific game mechanics associated with it. It is an optional effect left entirely to the DM’s discretion and could change from adventure to adventure. If the PCs know their exact destination, perhaps they’ll make it there without difficulty. Simply remember that Xen’drik is a land of mystery—and that when explorers stumble onto a hidden city that has remained undiscovered only miles from Stormreach itself, the Traveler’s Curse is what makes it possible.

Whether you’re a player or a Dungeon Master, what does Xen’drik have to offer? Why make the trek across the Thunder Sea? Consider the following.

The Undiscovered Country: Khorvaire holds its share of dark places (including the Demon Wastes, the jungles of Q’barra, and the Shadow Marches), but Xen’drik is almost completely unexplored. Anything could be hidden in its interior: a lost city of gold, a dragonshard the size of a mountain, or a fountain of youth. Xen’drik is an unknown land that offers PCs the chance to be explorers as well as adventurers.

Pursuit of Legends: An ancient elf war prince, said to be the forebear of Vadallia of Valenar, once turned whole lakes red with the blood of giants—or so the stories say. It is rumored that the secretive elven sect of the Qabalrin gave birth to the fi rst vampires, and that these undead lords still sleep in hidden vaults. Some say that the titans shattered the lost thirteenth moon on a vast altar of obsidian and brass. Xen’drik is a land of legends, allowing characters to take on challenges that are larger than life.

An Untamed Land: Travel within the Five Nations is relatively safe. Characters wandering the trade roads of Breland are unlikely to encounter hydras or manticores. Xen’drik, on the other hand, is completely wild. Anything could be lurking in the shadows: feral drow, ancient constructs, rogue dragons, or worse. Xen’drik is the place for any hero in search of a challenge, or for a Dungeon Master who wants to test a party with some new and fearsome beast.

Forgotten Lore: From the fallen empires of the giants to the nomadic drow, each of the cultures of Xen’drik has its own martial and magical traditions. Whether a party seeks to wrest long-lost secrets from the ruins of Bazek Mohl or to master the arcane Ritual of Binding, Xen’drik provides explorers with opportunities they could never fi nd in Khorvaire.

Untold Power: The lost magic of the Age of Giants exceeds even the wildest dreams of the Arcane Congress or the Twelve. The titans of Xen’drik could forge artifacts and even shift the orbits of the planes. Expeditions to Xen’drik provide a chance to seek treasures far beyond the capabilities of the wizards and artifi cers of Khorvaire—artifacts that could alter the course of history.

The Evil Mastermind: A journey to Xen’drik might not be a matter of choice. The lich-queen Vol, the Dreaming Dark, the Lords of Dust—all the forces of darkness on Khorvaire hunger for the power hidden within the mysterious continent. PCs bound for Xen’drik might not be doing so for themselves, but to keep some artifact or secret out of the hands of those who would turn its power to evil ends.

War and Peace: Danger can arise from mundane sources as easily as dark cults and conspiracies. The Treaty of Thronehold is an uneasy truce, and many believe that it is only a matter of time before war begins again. Every nation in Khorvaire is preparing for the possibility of violence—and what better way to prepare than by laying claim to the mighty artifacts of the ancient giants? Adventurers might be hired by kings and queens or dispatched by agents of the Chamber to stop others from claiming weapons too dangerous to be wielded by mortal hands.

Neutral Ground: Stormreach stands outside the authority of any of the Five Nations, and the wilds of Xen’drik are governed by no one. The free city can be an excellent place to wait for trouble with the law in Khorvaire to blow over, and it offers the opportunity to deal with traditional enemies more openly.

Anything Goes: Any element in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game can be found in the EBERRON setting, and more than any other location, Xen’drik shows the truth of that statement. Between the strange magical forces that have warped the continent and the vast arcane power of its fallen civilizations, almost any spell, object, or creature could be hidden in the depths of the shattered land.

Xen’drik is a vast land of harshly contrasting environments, from the burning wastes of the Menechtarun Desert to the deep jungles of the west. However, nature is not the only force that has shaped the continent. The arcane forces used to sever the ties between Eberron and Dal Quor created mystical shockwaves that rippled out from manifest zones and quori beachheads, causing reality itself to buckle in their wake. In many ways, Xen’drik is a land drawn from dreams, and the laws of nature bend and break across the continent. Adventurers might crest a desert dune to find a vast expanse of arctic tundra stretching out before them. For the most part these regions are fixed, but in areas where the magical effects of the forty-thousand-year-old war between giant and quori still linger, reality is never entirely stable. A tropical river passing through such an area might freeze solid one day, then transform into molten lava or a sheet of glass the next. Travelers in such areas are generally unaffected, but flora and fauna native to a shifting zone often become transformed with the environment. When a jungle becomes an ice plain, a tiger might transform into a smilodon without even noticing the change.

The existence of these shifting zones is one of the main reasons explorers hire native Xen’drik guides. Identifying a shifting zone requires a successful DC 30 Survival check, with characters who have served at least five years as a Xen’drik guide receiving a +5 bonus. Of course, simply knowing the location of a shifting zone might not allow a party to avoid it; some zones are dozens or even hundreds of miles across. Ultimately, Xen’drik’s shifting zones are a tool for DMs seeking to challenge players with unusual and deadly environments.

The Hostile Land

Different wilderness environments can prove as great a challenge as any dungeon, and this is especially true in a land where adventurers are typically far from the safety of civilization. Individual DMs can decide how much of a role they want the environment to play in a Xen’drik adventure. Calculating the effects of hypothermia adds a level of complexity to a game, but also creates a sense of realism in the challenge of venturing deep into uncharted territory. By the same token, characters who insist on wearing +2 full plate of heavy fortification in the desert should run the risk of heatstroke. If the DM and the players prefer to keep things moving, though, these rules can be easily ignored.

The wild and uncivilized nature of Xen’drik also makes food and water a significant concern. With so few villages or outposts in the south, a party that loses its supplies to raiders, monsters, or ration rot moss (page 43) has to rely on the Survival skill or divine magic to ensure their safe return to Stormreach. The hliska (page 54) pose no physical threat to adventurers, but they have doomed many an expedition by stealing into a party’s saddlebags at night.

In a realistic game, the outfitters of Stormreach can be an adventurer’s best friends. Dalun Havulak can recommend cold-weather or warm-weather clothing, educate parties on the threats posed by the environment, and provide substances such as vermin ointment (page 139). If your game makes use of the Frostburn or Sandstorm supplements, Havulak Prospecting is an excellent source for the new equipment presented in those books.

The primary resource for environmental hazards is the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Pages 302–304 discuss general environmental dangers, including the effects of starvation and thirst. Pages 86–98 provide extensive information about adventuring in different wilderness environments, and any DM running adventures in Xen’drik should review this material when preparing for a game. Chapter 2 of this book provides detailed information on a number of specific environments and sites, which can be used as guidelines when conducting adventures in similar areas.

One key factor to bear in mind while creating adventures in Xen’drik is the wondrous and often primeval nature of the land itself. Terrible magic and extraplanar forces were once unleashed here, and the shattered continent has passed through tens of thousands of years of savagery. The King’s Forest in Breland is wilderness, but it remains part of Breland: Wroat and Sharn are not so far away, and the worst horrors of the woods were defeated long ago by the ancient knights of Galifar. However, no one truly knows what lurks in Xen’drik, and even the trees themselves are twisted and angry. The ruins of the giants are scattered everywhere, and explorers never know when they might stumble over a massive stone face staring up out of the dirt—a fallen monument of an empire long forgotten.

Any or all of the following environments might challenge a party seeking the secrets of Xen’drik.

Jungle: While Xen’drik is home to glaciers and deserts, the majority of those who return from it speak of its vast jungles and rain forests. Dark elves lurk in the boughs of enormous trees, and ancient ruins are hidden beneath shrouds of choking vines. Forests can encompass a vast range of environments, from chill woodlands where every tree seems to have a twisted human shape, to dense rain forests where the heat can be a threat as deadly as the creatures that hide in the shadows.

Forest environments are described on page 87 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Sidebars discussing jungle environments can be found on pages 43 and 54 of this book.

Desert: The eastern desert of Menechtarun is over a thousand miles in length, and its deadly heat has long hindered adventurers seeking to claim its secrets. Smaller deserts and burning wastes can be found across the continent. The Desert Canyons site (page 31) can be used to represent any of Xen’drik’s desert regions.

The Sandstorm supplement can be used to add additional levels of detail to adventures in Menechtarun. This vast desert is home to the bhuka and asherati races from that book, in addition to the thri-kreen of the Expanded Psionics Handbook.

Volcanic Fields: Ties to Fernia, tectonic instability, and the work of ancient magic create regions where lava flows like water and scalding heat can kill the unwary. Xen’drik also includes a number of active volcanoes, one of which might tempt a party of adventurers with rumors of ancient treasure hidden in its depths. The Volcanic Fields map (page 47) details one example of such an adventure site; see page 303 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the dangers of extreme heat.

Marsh: From humid coastal regions to murky inland fens, marshland is common in Xen’drik. Much of the ancient continent was flooded in the fall of the giants, leaving fantastic ruins and countless bodies half-buried in silt and soil. Other swamps have existed since the dawn of time, home to all manner of monstrous vermin and terrible creatures.

The Dreary Marsh site (page 33) is one example of a Xen’drik swamp. Additional information on marsh terrain can be found on page 88 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Crystal Waste: At first glance, a crystal waste appears to be a plain of smooth, glittering ice except for its coloration, often a deep red or pale purple. Closer examination reveals such plains to be massive sheets of solid crystal. Crystal wastes are inhospitable environments, even more unforgiving than deserts. They hold no oases, no place for vegetation to flourish, and no shelter for animal life. However, the Riedrans prize the crystal of the plains for its psionic resonance, and the slabs they mine there form the base of Riedran crysteel (ECS 127). Riedran mining camps dot the edges of crystal wastes, where workers quarry blocks out of the plains and prepare the material for transport to Dar Qat.

The smoothness of a crystal waste makes it treacherous terrain. Each square counts as 2 squares of movement, and the DC of Balance and Tumble checks in the area increases by 5. A successful DC 10 Balance check is required to run or charge through a crystal waste.

A crystal waste shares many of the features of a desert. If you are using the Sandstorm supplement, the information on glass seas provides additional details. The most dangerous places in a crystal waste are the fields where Siberys shards have struck the glass, shattering the crystal and creating fields of razor shards that can be whipped up to create a deadly fl aywind. Such a storm deals 1d4 points of damage each round to those caught within it (Sandstorm 22).

Arctic Environs: Xen’drik stretches to the southern pole of Eberron, and these far reaches are lands of endless ice and snow. At the same time, glaciers can be found in high mountains throughout the continent, and a shifting zone could bring an ice fl at into existence in the center of Menechtarun itself. Perhaps a city of ancient giants remains perfectly preserved within the heart of a glacier, the result of a desperate attempt at mystical selfpreservation in the last days of the empire.

Arctic environments are harsh and deadly. The Mountain Glacier site (page 39) offers a general setting for arctic encounters in Xen’drik, while page 302 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide provides information on the dangers of extreme cold. The Frostburn supplement contains a host of resources for arctic adventures, and the numerous hazards and creatures presented in that book make excellent additions to Xen'drik's frozen wastes

Khorvairian adventurers come to Xen’drik in search of ancient treasures and fantastic wealth, but a much wider range of commodities drives a healthy merchant trade between the continents. Precious mineral wealth flows north from its mines and dragonshard fields, and a variety of animals and plants are hunted and harvested in Xen’drik. Here are a few of the more notable trade goods of the mysterious continent.

Eternal Rations: Xen’drik is home to many exotic forms of flora and fauna, two of which share the same unnatural trait. Both the long corn plant and the gurk’ash beast possess a supernatural quality that slows their initial decomposition after death or harvest, allowing them to be processed into rations that never spoil. Farming and herding in Xen’drik can be a dangerous way to make a living, but such crops can earn a healthy price abroad.

Dragonshards: Xen’drik possesses the richest fields of Siberys dragonshards anywhere on Eberron, along with deep deposits of Khyber shards.

Crysteel: The key material in crysteel—a psionically resonant substance that the Riedrans use both as a building material and to create tools—is found in the crystal wastes of Xen’drik. To date, the people of Khorvaire have found little use for this crystal, but the Riedrans devote much effort to quarrying it.

Kuryeva: The berries of the kuryeva bush can be used to produce a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, most notably the gin typically called kuryeva. This drink is popular with sailors across Eberron, and it is in great demand in the taverns of Sharn and Zarash’ak.

Dream Serpents: These rare magical beasts (see page 76) have many fantastic properties. Nonnative hunters typically take only the skin and teeth of the serpent. The drow, who have hunted dream serpents for thousands of years, have also learned to extract the venom glands from the creature and to detoxify its meat. They remove the eyes and grind the serpent’s bones to powder, using both components in tribal rituals.

Tilxin Blood: The tilxin bird feeds on the nectar of magical plants, and its blood has potent properties. It is a useful component for the creation of any magic item, but it is particularly useful for haste spells. The blood of an adult tilxin can allow a character to create a potion of haste without expending experience points, or it can take the place of the haste spell (allowing a creator to make the potion without casting or emulating the spell). If it is used as an additional material component for haste, tilxin blood grants a +3 bonus to the user’s effective caster level. House Cannith pays 100 gp for live tilxin birds; as a result, the creatures have been hunted ruthlessly and are hard to find around Stormreach.

Artificers and wizards always seek rare monster parts to use as optional material components for their magical formulations. What creatures are they looking for, and why? Some suggestions follow.

Aberrations: Used in transmutation items. Examples: beholder eyestalk, chuul claw, mind flayer tentacle.

Animals: Used in items that bolster physical statistics. Examples: bear paw, tiger whiskers, snake venom.

Constructs: Used in creating other constructs, items that provide damage reduction or spell resistance, and mechanical items (such as an apparatus of Kwalish). Examples: iron golem arm, retriever eye.

Dragon: Used in artifacts and evocation items. Examples: dragon scales, dragon claw.

Elementals: Used in evocation items, items that summon creatures, and items that produce weather effects. Examples: earth elemental hide, thoqqua tail.

Fey: Used in enchantment items and items that grant bonuses to Charisma. Examples: pixie pipes, satyr horns, a lock of nymph hair.

Giant: Used in items that bolster physical statistics or that increase size. Examples: a lock of frost giant hair, a cloud giant’s fingernail.

Magical Beast: Used in items that mimic the creature’s abilities or reverse its special attacks. Examples: a displacer beast tentacle for a cloak of displacement, cockatrice feathers for stone salve, stirge beaks for a potion of lesser restoration.

Outsider: Used in items that mimic a particular alignment. Examples: angel feathers for a holy avenger, devil horns for an axiomatic longsword. Components for good-aligned items generally must be given freely.

Undead: Used in necromantic items. Examples: skeleton knucklebones, mummy bandages

Few predators that dwell in Xen’drik are fiercer than bulettes. Surrounded by a veritable banquet of prey, they rarely go hungry, rampaging through the jungle as they hunt. Many bulettes in Xen’drik have grown so accustomed to hunting through dense jungle undergrowth that they no longer lurk underground. These bulettes lose their burrow speed and instead ignore difficult and hindering terrain from plants.

As dangerous as any creature of Xen’drik but far more subtle, the plants of the mysterious continent have been known to attack and even kill those who wander into their domain, adding their fl esh to the compost heap.

One particular group of plants has become very adept at killing trespassers. Where they root along a heavily traveled path, they have littered the area around them with bones and scraps of armor from drow and explorers alike. The drow have learned to avoid this area, but inexperienced explorers might not notice the signs of danger. These plants are a trio of assassin vines (MM 20) growing in the trees around a pair of tendriculoses (MM 241). Although they often fight over food, their combined strength allows them to take down nearly any prey.

Xen’drik’s magical nature and its wide range of terrain and climate have resulted in animals spreading far outside their natural environments. Dire apes lope along the dunes of the Menechtarun Desert. Giant pythons with stony hides slither among the rock-strewn trails of the Skyraker Claws. Green-striped gray tigers with webbed paws prowl through the Marsh of Desolation.

In a Xen’drik campaign, DMs should feel free to ignore the environment line in an animal’s stat block. A few minor cosmetic changes (as suggested in the sidebar on the facing page) can produce a creature that is both familiar and disturbingly different.

The fearsome two-headed tyrannosaurus, based on the original tyrannosaurus (MM 61), is a vicious and bloodthirsty predator native only to Xen’drik. Few of these mutated specimens exist, to the great relief of explorers. Their twin heads, rather than increasing their intelligence, seem to make them twice as stupid.

Xen’drik is home to hives of insectile creatures such as abeils (MM II 22) and formians (MM 108). The center of such hives is the court. PCs must be exceptionally diplomatic to gain entry to a hive court. Those who enter by force of arms must contend with angry guards willing to fight to the death.

Abeil courts (EL 15) form around a queen. Four abeil soldiers and two elite soldiers (abeil soldiers with two levels of fighter) surround the queen, aided by four specially bred guardian wasps (giant wasps advanced to 13 HD; MM 285).

Formian courts (EL 19) form around a queen. Her ranks of guardians include four myrmarchs (MM 110), each commanding eight formian warriors.

In Xen’drik, formian queens often make deals with powers from Dolurrh. Maruts (MM 159) possess a love of law equal to that of the formians and are known to frequent Xen’drik in search of oathbreakers and other criminals fleeing the law of Khorvaire. A single marut often serves as a guardian to a formian queen.

The Marsh of Desolation is home to uncountable swamp predators that hunt and feed on each other. Of these, few are higher on the food chain than the hydra.

One crafty nine-headed pyrohydra (MM 156) uses the swamp environment to its advantage. The territory around its lair is riddled with pockets of fl ammable gas. The hydra has learned the location of these pockets and uses its breath to ignite them, creating a firestorm and roasting potential meals. Whenever the pyrohydra breathes a jet of fire, it has a 25% chance to ignite one of these gas pockets, creating an explosion of fl ame in a 10-foot-radius burst centered on one of the targets of the jet. The target creature and all others in the area take 8d6 points of fire damage (Refl ex DC 15 half).

Led by a clever displacer beast, this pack of four panthers roams the jungles of Xen’drik at night in search of prey. The displacer beast (MM 66) evaluates potential targets, preferring to attack only when the pack outnumbers its intended victims. The displacer beast prowls on the ground, while the panthers (MM 274, use leopard statistics) follow in the trees. A thick canopy of branches provides plenty of footholds for the agile panthers, while heavy foliage combined with their natural stealth allows them to remain well hidden. Treat a panther hidden in treetops as having concealment (20% miss chance).

The displacer beast hopes that frightened victims mistake the panthers for more displacer beasts, so that they either flee or forgo ranged attacks. The pack’s preferred tactic is to creep up on a party. The displacer beast attacks first and draws the party into the trees, where the panthers then pounce. Each panther targets a different individual when possible, attempting to grapple and rake. Killing the displacer beast causes the pack to flee.

For a higher-level threat, use the tactics above but replace the displacer beast with a displacer beast pack lord (MM 66) and replace the pack with dire panthers (MM 65, use dire tiger statistics).

Deep in the Xen’drik jungles, a girallon (MM 126) rules over its monkey court. The powerful girallon drank from a pool of water tainted with giant magic and was blessed with a modestly increased Intelligence of 4. Over the last few years, the creature has drawn retainers to itself and formed a primate society. It wears gold and jewelry taken from moldering chests in the ruins the court inhabits. The girallon is served by four dire apes (MM 62), four apes (MM 268), six baboons (MM 268) and six monkeys (MM 276).

The monkey court is vicious but mischievous. Its members are just as likely to throw rotten fruit at adventurers as they are to attack, and the monkeys love filching shiny items from trespassers to bring to their girallon king. The monkey court favors quick, coordinated attacks and sudden retreat, leading travelers farther into the ruins until they stand before the girallon king.

Explorers set upon by the monkey court can be overwhelmed by the deafening din as monkeys chatter, baboons bellow, apes screech, and the girallon king roars and beats its chest.

The cliff-dwelling raptorans (detailed in Races of the Wild) live in scattered pockets throughout Xen’drik. A hunting party includes four raptoran youth pilgrims (1st-level barbarians on the Walk of the Four Winds) and a single raptoran sentry (a 5th-level ranger). These NPCs are detailed on pages 183–184 of Races of the Wild. They are not initially hostile unless the PCs have intruded upon their territory.

Monstrous scorpions can be found in nearly any environment. Desert, jungle, mountains, forests, and even near-arctic climes are home to these versatile predators.

These monstrous scorpions (MM 287) respond to the call of Vulkoor’s clerics. When summoned, they march toward a signal only they can sense. A group of explorers might stumble across a scorpion march and be forced to deal with these deadly pilgrims.

Explorers traveling the waterways of Xen’drik have reason to fear the strange blue glow that rises from the riverbanks at night. Shocker lizards are not uncommon across the vast continent, lurking in marshes and along rivers and streams.

A group of eight shocker lizards (MM 224) has taken to hunting along the riverbanks, using their powerful lethal shock to bring down mighty prey (including the occasional giant). The bones of one such unfortunate hill giant have created a home for this colony. Its rusting patchwork armor provides cover (+4 AC) to any shocker lizard hiding inside it, but it does not prevent the creatures from sending shock attacks through it.

Though falling into a pit might be little more than embarrassing for a seasoned explorer, Xen’drik veterans know that swarm pits are the most repulsive traps in existence. Any animal or vermin capable of forming a swarm can fill a swarm pit. Hundreds or thousands of these creatures (most commonly centipedes, spiders, or vipers) fill the bottom third of a pit. Creatures with a fly speed never fill a pit, for obvious reasons.

Giant insects are common across Xen’drik, and the continent’s giant wasps (MM 285) are particularly tenacious. A typical nest occupies the tops of two or three large trees and is filled with winding passageways large enough for adult wasps to crawl through with ease. A normal nest holds up to twenty adults and a large number of young, while some nests feature advanced wasps of unusual size and ferocity. Such monsters often guard the nest’s entrance or hunt large prey.

A violent storm coinciding with a fading manifest zone once opened a small gate in the Thunder Sea to Lammania. Before the gate could close, a gang of water mephits (MM 185) swam through and became trapped in Eberron. The mephits soon came to the attention of a local water naga (MM 193), who amused herself by convincing the creatures that she had summoned them to serve her.

The naga always keeps one or two mephits patrolling her territory. The mephits spy on any intruders, using their excellent Hide and Move Silently skills to follow them. Should trespassers appear to merely be passing through, the mephits let them go. However, should any creatures seem hostile or head for the naga’s lair, the mephit scouts attempt to slow them down with their stinking cloud ability. They then return to the naga and report.

If the naga knows that enemies are coming, she protects herself with invisibility, shield, and protection from energ y (fire). If she has time, she makes one or two of the mephits invisible. Invisible creatures underwater create a bodyshaped bubble that grants them concealment instead of true invisibility. Underwater combat: DMG 92.

PCs aware of the naga’s presence might be able to approach her diplomatically. Although vain and proud, the water naga is not evil, and the PCs should be able to flatter her into negotiations.

A race of sinister yak folk (MM II 200) inhabits the snowy peaks of the Fangs of Argarak. While most keep to their mountain homes, enslaving only travelers or explorers who pass too close, several yak folk sorcerers have infiltrated giant tribes in the area. A yak folk puppeteer chooses a target who holds some power in the tribe but has a lower profile than the tribal leaders, then uses body meld to assume the target’s place in the tribe.

Short of using a true seeing spell, PCs who encounter such a tribe have no way of seeing through the puppeteer’s subterfuge. The puppeteer attempts to steer PCs toward the yak folk tribes (if the PCs would make good slaves) or away from the mountain (if the PCs seem too powerful for the yak folk to handle).

Missing Missionaries

A group of Silver Flame adepts recently decided to bring the grace of the Flame at last to the souls eking out an existence in darkest Xen’drik. The missionaries arrived in Stormreach two months ago and spent some time working for the established temple there. After learning of a prospecting camp five days’ journey into the jungle, three of the missionaries set out with healing kits and supplies for the miners. They planned on spending a few days in camp before returning to Stormreach.

Three weeks have passed since they left, and the remaining missionaries grow nervous. Surely their companions will return soon—unless they have met with disaster.

The PCs face three major challenges in this scenario. First, they must locate the missionaries, who stumbled into the path of a wild boar two days after leaving the prospectors’ camp. Forced to flee from the savage creature, the trio wandered lost in the jungle for some days before being ambushed and captured by a tribe of grimlocks. Once they find the captive missionaries, the PCs must rescue them. Finally, the PCs need to deal with a missionary who was infected with lycanthropy by the wereboar they believed was a regular wild boar.

The remaining missionaries in town—a human couple named Corak and Tibari—know that their companions entered the jungle three weeks ago. The group’s intent was to follow a trail for several days until they reached a river, then follow the river upstream to the prospecting camp.

Even if the PCs arrive in time to save the missionaries from their untimely fate, they still must transport the shaken trio home. Of the three, Chaed (LG male human adept 1) and Liria (LG female half-elf adept 1) are nothing more than they seem. The third, however, harbors a deadly infection. Eustech (LG male human [shapechanger] adept 1) contracted lycanthropy from the wereboar’s attack. Unaware of his own condition, Eustech is taken by surprise when he changes form during the next full moon.

Party's ship crashes against the shore, and they have to survive against hostile natives while the crew repairs the ship.

One or two small mechanical changes can make an animal’s statistics better suited for a new climate, but physical changes should always accompany these mechanical tweaks. A number of sample changes are presented here for DMs to use or gain inspiration from.

• The animal possesses camouflaging hide—white in the arctic, blue or green underwater, brown or tan in the desert, green or brown in forest and swamp, yellow or green in hills and plains, dark gray in the mountains or underground. (All terrain types)
• The animal possesses an unusually thick pelt even if it is not normally furred. (Arctic)
• The animal possesses webbed membranes on its feet. The animal’s feet are twice as large as normal to help distribute its weight over treacherous terrain or to help it swim. (Aquatic, arctic, desert, swamp)
• The animal is completely bald, its bare skin deeply tanned and wrinkled. (Desert)
• Humps on the animal’s back allow it to store fat and go for days without food and water. (Desert)
• The animal’s fur grows in clumps that resemble leaves. (Forest)
• A glistening oil coats the animal’s body. The oil acts as a water repellant, keeping the animal dry even during rainstorms or when it swims. (Aquatic, forest, swamp)
• The animal is completely bald, and its tough, brown skin resembles tree bark. (Forest)
• Long tufts of hair sprout from behind the animal’s ears, giving the impression of reeds or seaweed. (Aquatic, swamp)
• Striped patterns on the animal’s hide allow it to blend into areas of tall grass. (Hills, plains)
• The animal rolls in mud and clay daily, masking its true color. (Forest, swamp, underground)
• A second, transparent set of eyelids prevents the animal’s eyes from gleaming when they catch the light. (Underground)
• Retractable claws or pads on the bottom of its hooves keep the animal from making noise when walking on stone. (Mountains, underground)

The last time Thelanis was coterminous to the Material Plane, a faerie queen and her retinue passed through a portal to Xen’drik. Transfixed by the wild beauty of the mysterious continent, the queen chose to stay for a time and enjoy this new place.

Ellida the nymph queen (MM 197) is an achingly lovely woman with silver hair like moonlight on water, eyes the color of violets, and lips the shade of ripe cherries. She cherishes beauty above all else, and handsome mortal men especially fascinate her. Those who wish to gain her favor present her with pretty baubles and elegant trinkets. Ellida is fl ighty and selfish in the manner of all fey, but she has a sweet disposition, and her court is infatuated with her.

Tioboid the satyr (MM 219) is Ellida’s champion. Sick with love for his queen, he bears a scarred face from a confrontation with a rude mortal warrior. Ellida never looks at Tioboid as a romantic prospect, but Tioboid still devotes himself to his queen’s defense. She allows him to serve her because he is clever and charming and pipes divinely, even if he is less than handsome. Two satyrs, six grigs (MM 235), and three pixies (MM 236; one can cast Otto’s irresistible dance) make up the rest of the court