D&D General Fun Experiment: Post a cool bit of (mostly) unknown lore from your favorite setting (+)

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

We've had a lot of negative threads on this site lately, so I wanted to make something unique and fun. Hopefully, people engage.

To summarize, this thread is about sharing small, minute pieces of lore from your favorite setting that you think most people don't know about and that people on this forum would enjoy.

Here's an example from my favorite official setting, Eberron:

The Mournland is a magical wasteland that was created by a mysterious magical disaster that destroyed an entire country. In the Mournland, there's a bunch of different magical anomalies and strange effects, but there's one that I want to focus on. In the original 3.5e version of the setting, all conjuration-based healing magic did not work in the Mournland. However, Goodberry is a healing spell, and it's transmutation, not conjuration. This was almost definitely an oversight by the designers, but instead of changing the effects of the Mournland to include blocking Goodberry, the designers later included a group of Druids that sell wine made out of goodberries to adventurers that journey into the Mournland, being the only form of a "healing potion" that works there. I thought that this piece of lore was cool because it shows how the designers engage with the setting and that "exploits" are embraced and built into the world instead of retconned out of existence.

What minute parts of cool lore from your favorite settings do you know? Please share!

Edit: I forgot to do this before, so I'll do it now. Please acknowledge that this is a (+) thread. This is a positive discussion, don't threadcrap or argue with someone about the lore that they post. If you like the lore, let them know through liking or replying to the post. If you don't, ignore it. Also, don't post anything that you know is controversial in order to stir up a debate or make people upset. Please, just behave.

 

[JEB]

The egarus, from the Planescape setting (Monstrous Compendium Appendix III, to be precise). A bit of fungus stuck to the shoes of a Material Plane adventurer who visited the Abyss; when he returned home, the fungus grew out of control, and turned out to be nearly indestructible to boot, with even magic only having limited success against it. Eventually, the gods intervened, and opened portals to the only place the fungus could be safely disposed of: the Quasiplane of Vacuum. But somehow, despite being deprived of anything to feed on, the egarus managed to survive, adapting to feed on nothingness itself. Now, fully acclimated to the void, the egarus is actually hostile to anything that intrudes in the Quasiplane of Vacuum, seeking to destroy it and restore the emptiness it craves...

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

In the Nentir Vale, the major dwarven stronghold is not a mine or a keep: its a open-air necropolis full, a maze of mausoleums, cairns and catacomb where the ancient dwarves buried their dead. The dwarven citizenry even share the town with the (mostly) good spectral undeads ''living'' in the city. Even best, the city was were a major battle between orcs and dwarves happened, until both side were asked by their gods (IIRC) to lay down their weapons to stop the bloodshed. As of that day, orcs have the right to enter the city and even inhabit it to visit the resting place of their forefathers.

 

[jasper]

Elf Bane Dragons were created by a wizards who got tired of elfs refusing to be charmed. They have a 90% chance of charming any elf. The also have a wild magic sorcerer ability.

 

[tetrasodium]

Bit of a twoforone...

The Dark Powers With Proper Caps are explicitly described on page 178 of Exploring Eberron & the results are gloriously fitting.

 

[Bolares]

In Eberron (by Kanon) the Kuo-Toa live half dreaming all the time, and because of that they experience both the material world and Dal-Quor (the plane of dreams) simultaneously. What other races may think is them being incoherent and mad most likelly is just them reacting to something happening in Dal-Quor at the moment.

By experiencing Dal-Quor in such a direct manor Kuo-Toa developed an inate ability to shape and bring to reality their dreams and nightmares, what makes them really scary when the nightmares come to life.

It’s rumored that they dreamt their gods into the material plane and their power to shape dreams makes them a perfect foil to the quori and the dreaming dark, and for that reason the quori avoid the Kuo-Toa at all costs.

 

[Hussar]

The Citadel of Light lies in the darkest reaches of the Shadowfell. Rumours that it is either some sort of prison or possibly the vault where all of the light of the Shadowfell has been stored.

 

[ersatzphil]

The Astral plane has a truly huge cloud of nonintelligent undead drifting through it - the Bone Cloud. As movement on the Astral is based on one's intelligence, they can't move under their own power, and just drift through the expanse. You'd think this would be a thing to be avoided, but some have carved out hollows in the huge mass of undead, and use them as a defensive measure.

 

[Hussar]

The Astral plane has a truly huge cloud of nonintelligent undead drifting through it - the Bone Cloud. As movement on the Astral is based on one's intelligence, they can't move under their own power, and just drift through the expanse. You'd think this would be a thing to be avoided, but some have carved out hollows in the huge mass of undead, and use them as a defensive measure.

Whoa. That's COOL. YOINK, that is definitely going into my Spelljammer campaign.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Eberron: King Kaius III is not King Kaius III.

He’s Kaius I, who is a vampire, pretending to be his grandson.

Unless you dig deeper, and maybe he is actually Kaius III in league with his immortal grandfather, spending his days pretending to be his grandfather pretending to be himself. All to keep Kaius’ vampiric sire, and said sire’s master Erandis Vol, from controlling Karrnath.