Eberron: The Last War

[Krellic]

OK – I’ve read through the Eberron book and I’m favourably impressed by what I’ve seen. I speed-read so I may have missed some points and if I have I apologise in advance but I have been pondering various aspects and feel the need to get a little other impact.

The Last War is the pivotal event of the setting and the crucible by which much of ‘today’s’ Khorvaire has been forged. So what kind of war was it?

It lasted a hundred years or more, so was it like the Mediaeval Hundred Years War, a stop start affair driven by the will and whim of various monarchs? More like the Thirty Years War, with more or less constant warfare only the flashpoint changing? Or even like World War One with week-long battles being fought over semi-permanent fortifications.

Given the high magic of the setting, what effect would that have had on warfare? Would all sides have used elemental skyships much like they’ve all utilised warforged? What terrible weapons might have been banned in the recent peace treaty?

Beware I may have follow up questions!

 

[Cthulhudrew]

The Last War is the pivotal event of the setting and the crucible by which much of ‘today’s’ Khorvaire has been forged. So what kind of war was it?

I get the sense that it's like the Hundred Years' War, like you mention. It started when the successors all decided that they didn't want to relinquish control to any one person, but then all sorts of other factors played into things. The Valenar elves, for instance, deciding suddenly that they were going to carve out their own territory. Or the hobgoblins claiming their own lands, etc. So, I'd say it wasn't constant fighting all the time, or even fighting in one region, but spread out over the 100+ years in various locations for various reasons, with ever shifting alliances.

Given the high magic of the setting, what effect would that have had on warfare? Would all sides have used elemental skyships much like they’ve all utilised warforged? What terrible weapons might have been banned in the recent peace treaty?

Well, you can see one of the effects of that magic in the Mournlands. I don't get the sense that there is that much "Uber" magic, so much as there is a lot of little "hedge" magic sort of things going on. Also, bear in mind that the "big" stuff like skyships and the lightning rail are owned/operated by the dragonmarked Houses, which were more or less neutral in the war- they aren't politically affiliated, though they probably profited from the war as much as possible (and were probably hurt by it as well). I don't see the skyships being hired out for combat, per se.

 

[Stormborn]

Both the Warforged and the skyships seems to be fairly recent developments on the time line, so they may not have had any great impact in the war, or may have lead to its escalation and culmination. Generally, it seems to have been a civil war with 2 general sides: those in favor of maintaining the empire (but unsure how) and those who wanted to go it alone. Without the book in front of me i can't give specifcs, but I imagine a lot of it has been left vague so that either a) GMs can build whatever they need on it or b) a future supplement can cover the details. Regardless, i imagine we will get bits all along in the supplemental materials already scheduled.

 

[MarkAHart]

The warforged seem analagous to the introduction of tanks into the latter years of WWI...

This is just an assumption, but the Last War would almost have to be filled with long pauses, interspersed with skirmishes, and then now and then a big battle. ALthough Eberron exists at a higher "tech" level than is usual for fantasy settings, they nonetheless lack large industrial base and population bases to sustain a truly massive, century-long conflict. WWI involved millions of soldiers, drawn from nations with tens of millions of citizens, over (for the most part) a smaller area of land.

Add to that the fact that transportation remains a critical challenge. Cthulhudrew points out that the Dragonmarked Houses owned the skyships and the lightning rails, and such would not have been used in the war much since the houses remained neutral -- a very reasonable assumption, given their independence and power overall. That being said, troops and supplies would still need to be moved overland by beast or by marching. A slow process, given the distances involved on the continent of Khovaire.

 

[Krellic]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I think that getting too hung up on the magical nature of the world is probably the wrong thing to do. I take the point that large scale war magic may not have that prevalent.

This is how I see the war developing. It starts out in very 'Mediaeval' fashion. Nobles leading their knights to war who in turn lead their retinues and raise levies/militias to form up the bulk. It seems that none of the battles are as conclusive as some of the early Hundred Years' War battles but campaigns lurch on year upon year and the flower of chivalry becomes jaded and thinned by constant carnage.

There's probably a few battles that are swung by the clash of turning coats...

Gradually the focus of military service switches from turning up with your retinue to providing professional soldiery. Armies become professional regiments raised by rulers and supplemented by similar groups made up of professional mercenaries.

Mercenaries bring a more ruthless edge to things and their employers struggle to keep them paid and loyal. Outrages and atrocities increase with number, the practice of ransoming nobles has now died out.

As the deadlock bites and the war continues to drain resorces the various leaders cast around for weapons that will break the impasse. Arcane colleges offer various alchemical shot for artillery. The rise of the artificier class brings eternal wands to intensify and regularise an otherwise internittent eldritch factor.

The warforged become the weapon that will end the war and everyone struggles to purchase soldiers that fight without getting tired or needing food. The lightning trains revolutionise logistical support and skyships offer a deadly if expensive means of delivering troops and ordnance.

Already a terrible and deadly affair, weapons of mass destruction are turning the battlefield into an even more horrific affair. What is more research is going on into even deadlier and more powerful weapons.

Then the Cyre/Mournland disaster acts as a wake-up call to the various rulers and almost overnight the first overtures for peace are going out.

I think that the dragonmarked houses would struggle to keep such obvious weapons as skyships out of the hands of the military. Just like the warforged though I'm sure these and other marvellous advances were quite neutrally sold to everyone.

A reasonable assessment? Anything I've missed?

 

[Staffan]

The lightning trains revolutionise logistical support and skyships offer a deadly if expensive means of delivering troops and ordnance.
[snip]
A reasonable assessment? Anything I've missed?

Seems reasonable, except that the lightning rail predates the war.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I think that getting too hung up on the magical nature of the world is probably the wrong thing to do. I take the point that large scale war magic may not have that prevalent.

This is how I see the war developing. It starts out in very 'Mediaeval' fashion. Nobles leading their knights to war who in turn lead their retinues and raise levies/militias to form up the bulk. It seems that none of the battles are as conclusive as some of the early Hundred Years' War battles but campaigns lurch on year upon year and the flower of chivalry becomes jaded and thinned by constant carnage.

There's probably a few battles that are swung by the clash of turning coats...

Gradually the focus of military service switches from turning up with your retinue to providing professional soldiery. Armies become professional regiments raised by rulers and supplemented by similar groups made up of professional mercenaries.

Mercenaries bring a more ruthless edge to things and their employers struggle to keep them paid and loyal. Outrages and atrocities increase with number, the practice of ransoming nobles has now died out.

As the deadlock bites and the war continues to drain resorces the various leaders cast around for weapons that will break the impasse. Arcane colleges offer various alchemical shot for artillery. The rise of the artificier class brings eternal wands to intensify and regularise an otherwise internittent eldritch factor.

The warforged become the weapon that will end the war and everyone struggles to purchase soldiers that fight without getting tired or needing food. The lightning trains revolutionise logistical support and skyships offer a deadly if expensive means of delivering troops and ordnance.

Already a terrible and deadly affair, weapons of mass destruction are turning the battlefield into an even more horrific affair. What is more research is going on into even deadlier and more powerful weapons.

Then the Cyre/Mournland disaster acts as a wake-up call to the various rulers and almost overnight the first overtures for peace are going out.

I think that the dragonmarked houses would struggle to keep such obvious weapons as skyships out of the hands of the military. Just like the warforged though I'm sure these and other marvellous advances were quite neutrally sold to everyone.

A reasonable assessment? Anything I've missed?

The Dragonmarked houses were fully realized monopolies before the war started. The war may have changed the focus of "government spending", but Artificer's and Mercinaries (for example) already had a strong role in sociaty.

Military can seize an airship, but who would fly it? Plus the dragonmarked house which uses airships is the one that CONTROLS WEATHER. Think about it.

 

[Krellic]

So the lightning trains existed before the war, I think I've read in one of the other threads Keith Baker stating that the network was once far more extensive than it remains now. This seems to suggest that certain routes suffered during the war, possible destroyed due to their military significance.

I doubt any military regime would be short-sighted enought to seize a skyship or anything else from a dragon-marked house, but I also doubt that given the immense profits to be made they could resist leasing or renting such out. I'd imagine that they would do so to both sides in the effort to appear "neutral".

Whilst I'm sure that mercenaries and artificiers pre-date the war I can't help but think that the long conflict has helped encourage the proliferation of such.

I think what I'm trying to suggest is an increasingly ruthless and bloody conflict that started out possibly with a few chivalric ideals but which reached almost WWI levels of bloodbath towards the end. Only the Cyre/Mournlands disaster has been enough to make rulers step back and look at some of the measures and risks they themselves were preparing to take in the search of victory.

So now we have the memory of an intense and hellish war that has scarred the psyche of a continent together with the dreadful realisation that it also didn't solve anything. Sooner or later it's all going to happen again.

It certainly gives the setting a refreshingly dark twist and adds a little frisson to character creation. What did your character do during the war?

 

[Morgenstern]

The ruler of Karrnath is instrumental in the peace. He has a little more perspective on the cost of war than most of his peers, and just plain got tired of it, choosing to call the whole thing off as it were. It no longer had any real possibility of benefiting his people. Cyre's obliteration just helped things along. He probably didn't have anything to do with that though... Right?

 

[megamania]

Neutral or not, many nations proberly figured the houses to be helping or giving favoritism to foes. This can lead to "accidents" like the striking down and sinking of air ships or derailments of transports. Also, it may not have been a nation's choise. Perhaps a crazed general or would be super patriot did things that would not be acknoeledged by from their superiors. ( the James Bond / 007 thing).

This is something I hope to tinker with once I start up my Eberron game and following Story Hour.