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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9399773" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/5M0NXu5.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Aartuk: The goblins and gith were not the only ones whose civilizations were destroyed by the daelkyr. The aartuk are one of the more unusual example, being sentient mobile plants infused with radiant energy. Their numbers vastly reduced, the aartuk survivors are a warrior society who worship a deity they call the New Star, who some sages theorize to be an aspect of Dol Arrah. Native to the Astral Plane, they recently learned of Eberron’s existence, and more importantly the existence of daelkyr sealed in the depths of Khyber. Viewing the Gatekeepers as having merely delayed the inevitable, several aartuk expeditions made their way to Khorvaire, eager to build alliances with natives to conduct underground raids to finish the job.The aartuk’s strange forms, requirement of psionics among their higher-ranking castes to speak other languages, and otherworldly origin makes most Khorvairans uneasy around them at best. Ironically they found the warmest welcome in Droaam via myconid translators. House Tharashk, who has its share in prospecting operations and monstrous mercenary work, were all too happy to exploit their murderous anti-daelkyr desires and hire them as private security in high-risk dragonshard mining projects. A dwarven clan from the Mror Holds recently hired them in reclaiming portions of Sol Udar, finding an alliance against a common enemy more than agreeable.Most aartuk in Khorvaire are serving in some martial capacity, although the psionic capabilities of the higher-ranking ones have some broader focus. An elder’s ability to cast the equivalent of a sending spell once per day is ideal for long-distance communication, particularly in the depths of Khyber where House Sivis Sending Stones won’t be present. And while myconids are preferred to have on-site, a Starhorror’s ability to use the equivalent of the tongues spell lets them speak and understand other languages for a relatively short amount of time.* Overall they are slow, but their ability to climb sheer surfaces and use of elongated tongues to pull heavy objects and creatures lets them help others vertically ascend for spelunking. Their radiant pellet attacks also make them good fighters against undead foes, albeit this function hasn’t seen much use in the field yet, given that most are on contract in areas where aberrations are the major threats.*The Spelljammer errata replaced this spell with Speak With Plants, which is of more limited function in most campaigns. I think Tongues is a better power.Due to their worship of a starry entity, the Vol’shera (blindheim) hate and fear the aartuk, convinced that they are soldiers of Dol Arrah sent to punish them and reclaim their light-vision. The aartuk themselves have no strong opinions one way or the other regarding the Vol’shera, as they still find much of the Material Plane and its people unknown variables to form any strong biases yet. After a few tragic misunderstandings, House Tharashk quickly learned to never have aartuk and Vol’shera mercenaries hired for the same job or in areas where they’re likely to run into each other.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/cYCq9wC.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Half-Ogre: Chasei’ras, or “people of many lineages” in Goblin, is the commonly-accepted term for half-ogres in Droaam, Darguun, and the Shadow Marches. Much like half-elves and half-orcs, half-ogres aren’t solely born of unions from an ogre and human parent. They also include descendants of ogre-goblinoid and ogre-orc couplings and generations’ worth of lineages among the four peoples to the point that they’re a distinct group on their own. Chasei’ras come from hobgoblin and bugbear heritage specifically: goblins are too different in size from ogres to be reproductively compatible.While humans are rare in Droaam, orcs and goblinoids are some of the most populous groups, and ogres are a common sight in the nation and beyond. Marriage and relationships between the groups occurred from continued proximity in the Barrens, and ogres in particular were favored in order to produce strong children. Ogre chibs ruling over orc and goblinoid clans often had spouses and concubines drawn from their subjects as well as their own race. Ogres who grew old, became chronically injured, or were exiled from their fellows could find a welcome among smaller folk, where their relative weakness was less of an issue. In particular, several communities of Gaa’ran orcs have been known to take in ogres who tire of a violent lifestyle.The Chasei’ras frequently have ties to people beyond their own local communities, and are the most likely race in Droaam to be multilingual in Goblin, Giant, and/or Orc.* Additionally, they have greater relative freedom of movement in being conspicuous among communities of the three peoples. While Droaam’s largest cities are diverse, most smaller companies are still monoracial. An orc in a goblin town may look out of place, but a half-ogre would not, for passersby are more likely to assume that they’re a relative of one of the locals. It was these qualities that the Daughters of Sora Kell seized on for their project of uniting the region into a nation. Chasei’ras have heavy representation in Droaam as couriers, guides, merchants, and translators, and so they found ample employment in the Dragonne’s Roar, House Tharashk’s middleman service for vetting monstrous mercenaries.*If using Kanon sources such as Exploring Eberron, Goblin is already the lingua franca of the three groups, so their linguistic diversity can be excised while still keeping their role as multicultural ambassadors.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/oioarCA.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Xorn: The presence and use of xorn is a growing yet controversial issue within Droaam. These elementals typically find their way to Eberron by accident, stumbling through manifest zones linked to Khythri or summoned by mages. Their ability to harmlessly swim through earth and rock, as well as being able to smell nearby sources of precious metal and stone, makes them valuable assets as treasure hunters. Unlike khargra they do not suffer harm or are shunted out should they lair in the stone for a bit, and they can smell non-ferrous as well as ferrous metals.The biggest hindrance holding xorn back from widespread use are several factors: they don’t like staying in Eberron for long, they eat gems and precious metals (their waste doesn’t produce substances of equivalent value), and they’re willing to resort to violence to obtain such things if starving or they feel slighted. Would-be miners often make deals with xorn ahead of time for finding mineral veins, where a portion of product is set aside as “Eberron’s share” to feed the elemental. As gems and metals given to xorn more or less vanish and thus cannot be put into circulation, this negatively impacts the economic value of mining operations long-term if xorn are allowed to persist for too long.The more underhanded use of xorn is by rival mining companies seeking to drive their competition to financial ruin. When a vein, dragonshard, or gemstone deposit is discovered, saboteurs summon xorn to let loose into the mines to have their fill and attack any miners who try to stop them. Given how valuable mining is as a resource for Droaam, there’s been discussion among the chibs to reign in xorn summoners. But at the moment, the nation is still too young and decentralized for anything systemic to be done. Whatever must be done will have to be at the local level, likely by adventuring PCs.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/GuqnQS3.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Important Note: Xvart are very much a comic relief monster. As humor is subjective and this may not tonally fit everyone's campaign, this is more of an "optional" entry than the others for this homebrew. I still wanted to incorporate their setting-specific lore into a way that works in Eberron while preserving their silly nature.Xvart: During the Age of Demons, there was an Overlord known as Raxivort. The weakest among his kind, he got lucky in finding out the couatls’ plan to trap the other Overlords within the Silver Flame. A weak and fearful being by archdemon standards, Raxivort did everything in his power to find a way to avoid being bound. In fact, he hoped that with the other Overlords trapped, he would be able to rule Eberron uncontested.Only half of Raxivort’s plan worked. He was able to tap into a powerful ritual that would let him evade the watchful eyes of dragons and couatl and thus remain free, but in so doing scattered his essence across the world. The first xvarts were created from the countless shards of the former Overlord, individually infinitesimally weak to the point that they don’t register as fiends to conventional magic.Raxivort’s name and legacy has since passed into history, forgotten  even by the dragons who considered the whole idea ridiculous. But the xvarts never forgot, and praise their demonic ancestor as the only one clever enough to avoid imprisonment. That their societies never rose to the heights of legend doesn’t dissuade them, as the xvart people have faith that they will summon Raxivort again and become the true masters of the planet. Other civilizations pay them little mind, unconvinced that such a weak and meager race could be the favored inheritors of such a powerful and evil being.Most xvarts live on the fringes of society given that their size, poor judgment skills, and relative lack of magical power makes them easy pickings for other groups to chase off or otherwise take advantage of them. In spite of their open and proud fiend worship, xvart have a history of inadvertently aiding the forces of good. The other Overlords are regarded as competition for their god, and they have a vested interest in seeing the Silver Flame maintained. As for the daelkyr, they’re regarded as newcomers and opportunists making a mess of their master’s carefully cultivated world. In regards to more mundane evils, xvarts prize Darwinistic treachery and frequently sabotage their superior’s plots in the belief that this will help them climb up the hierarchical ladder by making their superiors look weak in comparison. Waldorf Fragerman, Khorvaire’s most famous xvart, accidentally achieved status as a Brelish national hero this way by pushing a necromantic terrorist of the Emerald Claw off the top of Sharn’s tallest tower during the middle of her magically broadcast ransom message.Some xvart clans made pilgrimages to the Shadow Marches and Thrane, offering to form alliances against greater evils. The Gatekeepers assigned them to weed duty, which the xvarts gleefully interpreted as carte blanche to commit floral mass murder on account of druidic teachings that every living being has a soul. As for the Church of Silver Flame, they didn’t know what to make of them and put the xvarts in a prison/school in hopes of converting them to a more wholesome religion. The xvarts interpreted these efforts as having successfully infiltrated the Church in order to learn all their secrets, and so are more than willing to play the role of eager converts.For useful abilities, the xvart’s universal method of speaking with bats and rats gave them leverage for unique societal niches. Many cities and towns employ xvarts to persuade rat infestations to leave or be corralled somewhere else for slaughter, which is indispensable in minimizing and avoiding the spread of plague. In regards to bats, they are some of the most prolific guano farmers in Khorvaire, and during the Last War many magical battalions made use of xvarts to supply material components for fireball spells. Their inability to speak with mice is a source of great anger and shame, and xvarts believe the animals to be treacherous servants of rival Overlords.When it comes to relations with other cultures, xvarts are quick to declare them their rivals and seek to outdo them, but only for Small and Tiny races that can’t easily overpower them. The propensity of some gnomes to communicate with small beasts causes the xvart to chide them for trying to “make too many friends with too many people,” suggesting that they “settle with a few trusted companions, like my lil’ buddy Bubonic.” While for goblins, they are quick to claim that ancient Dhakaani poetry and siege weapons are “but a pale shade of the victory-screeches and rat-slings of our Overlord Raxivort.” No matter how powerful or grand some other group of people are, a xvart will find an excuse to see their shortcomings.</blockquote>

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