User:Mkill/Eberron 1200

This idea for a campaign setting takes the world of Eberron but moves the clock 200 years forward.

Technology

The main change is the advance of technology. In 200 years, Eberron has reached the stage of almost modern technology, roughly equivalent to the Fin de Siècle (end of the 19th century, that is).

In an age of invention, physics, chemistry and engineering have seen a fast development in Eberron, and have challenged the monopoly of artificers and dragonmarked houses over technology. It has steam engines, factories, railways and ocean liners, oil rigs and early motor cars, explosives and firearms, newspapers, stock exchanges, the telegraph and even zeppelins.

Natural ressources

With the rise of technology, more conventional ressources like timber, ore, coal and oil have become increasingly important, with dragonshards reduced to an eccentric luxury item. Mines, sawmills and oil rigs have spread over the continents, and nations vie for productive territory.

This new crave for ressources has sparked resistance. The orcs with their strong druidic traditions fiercely resist the exploitation of their forests. Oil is seen as the "blood of Khyber", and is surrounded by many superstitions.

Social development

This technological advances brought huge social changes. The demand for cheap labour has brought migration of orcs and goblins, and even lizardfolk to the human-dominated cities, creating a class of nonhuman urban poor.

The dragonmarked houses have seen a huge fall in power. Their magic is seen as a quaint pasttime activity of gentlemen, but nothing that drives the economy anymore. The houses do still have information networks, financial ressources and political clout, but they are but one player on the field.

Warforged

200 years after the Last War, nearly all of the warforged veterans have seized functioning and were disassembled for spare parts. With the creation forge technology thought to be lost, only few warforged remain. Even the Lord of the Blades has not been heard of, unless you want to believe the fantastic stories of the tabloids. The last Warforged were desperately seeking a future for their race, but this quest appears to be abandoned. They refuse to talk about it.

Religion

A religious war has split the sovereign host. While several churches hailed the advent of technology, others declared it a heresy and tried to stop it, maintaining the old "social harmony". The pantheon broke apart, with each church blaming another for the shism. Two different popes emerged, claiming to reunite the church, but all they managed was to reinforce their own sides.

Magic

The advent of technology came with a worldwide weakening of magic. How the two are related is unknown, and theories abound. While the everyday magic of magewrights and scharlatans appears to be unaffected, powerful mages have found it increasingly difficult to produce truly world-shaking magics, and powerful artifacts have become fickle.

Politics

Khorvaire

With 200 years of somewhat stable peace on Khorvaire, disturbed only by minor battles that serve as armwrestling between the nations, the continent has turned into an economic powerhouse. As nations find not much to be gained on their home continent, they have turned their attention elsewhere. A steady stream of merchants, immigrants and conquerors have found their way to the other continents.

Karnath

With peace going on for roughly 200 years, Karnath has found war dead in short supply. The famous undead armies are slowly falling apart, turning to skeletons and even falling to dust. Increasingly powerful magic is necessary to keep the country running. The vampire king, tired of eternal ruling, has retreated to a huge mausoleum north of the capital, and left politics to a bickering council of nobles. He still runs the country behind the courtains.

Northern Lhazaar

On the northern isles of the Lhazaar principality, a group of Shifters has driven out other humanoids and created a safe haven for themselves and the few lycantrophes that survived the onslaught by the silver flame. What started as a colony is slowly developing into an independent nation.

The Mournland

The curse over Cyre has weakened, and life is slowly croaching back into the Mournland. While the inner heart is still a desolated and deadly wasteland, courageous settlers and hardened bandits populate the outer rim. It is not a paradise, but for some it is the only place left to go.

Rumour has it that the cult of the Lord of the Blades has created a city of machines in the heart of the Mournland. Travellers claim to have seen a well-defended border, that no flesh-being is allowed to pass.

Xendrik

Colonies have been founded on the Xendrik north coast, slowly driving back the jungle. The colonies have been increasingly independent and are only nominally controlled by their founding nations.

Aerenal

For the elves of Aerenal and their Deathless leaders, merely a generation has passed. Yet, they have seen increasing attempts by humans to force access and trade on the continent. A human delegation was allowed to the court in 1123, an event that ended in frustration for both sides. Tensions increased, and Aerenal decided to completely close off the borders and drive away ships from Khorvaire. The humans answered with joint attack from steamboats and armored flying vessels, dealing a crushing blow to the elven navy. Now, several Khorvaire nations have opened treaty ports in Aerenal.

Argonessen

Commercial dragon hunting has evolved, with dragon skin, dragon blood and even dragon meat exploited as a ressource. It has even been seen as a "gentlemen sport".

With the victory over Aerenal, human nations have become cocky, and decided they could make their advance into Argonessen. The dragons, too focused on their millenia-spanning prophecy, were slow to see the sudden danger, and human forces made a first, successful advance into the continent, slaying a few younger dragons who were unable to build a coordinated defense. This was, until the Council of the Ancient decided to take action. The dragons elected Khamazzor, a Black Great Wyrm and cunning strategist, and one of the few to recognize the human threat, as Tribun to organize the defense of the continent. A united dragon army wiped out the human exploration force, and is currently preparing for a retributive strike on Khorvaire.

THE DRAGON WAR HAS BEGUN.