A General History of Eberron

The Present Is Shaped by the Past

Eberron is a world shaped by the rise and fall of great ancient civilizations. The shadow of the Last War hangs over Khorvaire, setting the stage for conflicts ahead. But Khorvaire also bears the marks of struggles far more ancient. The goblins in Sharn's slums are descended from the founders of a mighty empire, and they rightfully feel that humanity stole their homeland. The purging of lycanthropes in the ninth century strains relations between humanity and shifters. The Church of the Silver Flame was founded at the end of the third century, but it is simply the latest manifestation of a conflict that began at the dawn of time — a battle still fought in the shadows by the fiendish Lords of Dust and the dragons of the Chamber.

The earliest ages are reconstructed from binding sites, extraplanar studies, and ruins whose builders no longer exist in any recognizable form. The later ages are better documented, but "better" is relative. Even the most recent centuries carry gaps, competing narratives, and the persistent suspicion that the forces shaping history operate on timescales mortal scholarship is not fully equipped to comprehend.

Scholars at Morgrave University call the last five thousand years the Age of Humanity, contending that its defining trait is the rise of human civilization and its spread from Sarlona to Khorvaire. The gnome sages of the Library of Korranberg call it the Dragonmarked Age, asserting that the appearance of the dragonmarks and the achievements of the houses are more significant than mere human achievements. Most people dodge this debate by simply referring to it as the modern age.

"Ask a Morgrave historian when history started and they'll say 'when humans arrived.' Ask a Korranberg historian and they'll say 'when the marks appeared.' Ask a Dhakaani dirge singer and they'll stare at you until you leave." — Kolbert Thorp, Sharn Inquisitive, column on academic bias

The Ages

The Dawn of Creation

Period: Before recorded time

No one knows what came before the world's creation. Some accounts hold that Xoriat once encompassed everything; some cults of the Dragon Below assert that the daelkyr are simply trying to restore the original balance of reality. Others contend that there was nothing before creation — that the Progenitors descended from a higher level of reality, the same unknowable realm that lies above and beyond Dolurrh.

Almost all cultures agree on what happened next. Three beings — the Progenitor Wyrms, or perhaps titans of some other kind — wove the thirteen planes into existence, then used those concepts as the foundation of the Material Plane. After completing their work, Khyber struck Siberys without warning and tore him apart. Eberron coiled around Khyber and became a living prison, forming the world itself. Thus Eberron exists as the intersection of Siberys, Eberron, and Khyber: the Dragon Above, the Dragon Between, and the Dragon Below.

Scholars of Khorvaire have yet to find any relics or records from this time before time. If an object from a deeper past were ever recovered, it would possess vast power and be of tremendous scholarly interest.

Main article: The Progenitor Dragons & Dawn of Creation

The Age of Demons

Period: More than 100,000 years ago

In the first days of the world, the children of Khyber — fiends, aberrations, and other monsters — rose up from the darkness and claimed dominion. The greatest among these were the overlords, immortal archfiends embodying the evils that plague mortals. Each overlord shaped the world to match its nature, and no civilization could challenge them. It was a time of chaos that lasted for untold millennia.

The Age of Demons ended after an extended war between the overlords and a group of champions — now known to the faithful as the Sovereign Host, though many scholars believe these myths are based on the deeds of heroic dragons. The rebels raised an army of dragons allied with the couatl, native celestials said to embody the last light of Siberys. As the immortal overlords could not be destroyed, countless couatl sacrificed themselves, their spirits combining into a prison of pure celestial energy. Even today, the overlords remain bound and the world protected by this force, now known as the Silver Flame.

Whether the champions were gods or dragons — or something else entirely — remains one of the most debated questions in Khorvairian theology. The practical consequences, however, are not debated at all. The overlords are real. They are bound. And if they ever break those bonds, the consequences would be catastrophic.

"The Age of Demons didn't end. It was contained. There is a meaningful difference, and the people who understand it tend to sleep poorly." — Three Rivers, Gatekeeper elder, Eldeen Reaches

Main article: The Age of Demons

The Age of Giants

Period: ~80,000–40,000 years ago

In the wake of the Age of Demons, the dragons were the most powerful force in Eberron. Some helped guide lesser creatures, including the giants of Xen'drik, in their mastery of arcane magic. But as the dragons' increasing dominion caused a surge in the power of the Daughter of Khyber, they were forced to withdraw to isolation in Argonnessen, where they remain to this day.

Multiple nations of giants arose on Xen'drik. The Sulat League specialized in elemental binding and magebreeding — they created the drow as living weapons against rebellious elves. The Group of Eleven was an alliance of eleven city-states, each led by a powerful empyrean mage. The Cul'sir Dominion sought to dominate all reality, exploring the planes as well as the world. The Cul'sir fought an extended war with the quori of Dal Quor, and ended the conflict by destroying one of the moons of Eberron with cataclysmic magic, severing Dal Quor's connection to the Material Plane permanently.

These actions had devastating repercussions. In the upheaval, the elves — both those oppressed by the Cul'sir and warrior elves who had never been conquered — launched the largest uprising in Xen'drik's history. When the Cul'sir threatened to draw on their most dangerous magics once more, the dragons emerged in force from Argonnessen. They utterly devastated the civilizations of Xen'drik, then laid curses on the land that are beyond the comprehension of the modern age. The Traveler's Curse warps space to this day and prevents any advanced civilization from rising again.

"They destroyed a moon to win a war. Then the dragons destroyed them for being the kind of people who would destroy a moon to win a war. I teach this in my first lecture every year. Most of the students think it's a metaphor. It isn't." — Provost Hammond Faurious, Morgrave University, planar history

Main article: The Age of Giants

The Age of Monsters

Period: ~40,000–5,000 years ago

After the destruction of Xen'drik, the dragons remained isolated in Argonnessen. The most dynamic civilizations of this period formed on and around Khorvaire.

The elves, fleeing the devastation of Xen'drik, settled on Aerenal — "Aeren's rest" in Elvish — and founded the Undying Court, establishing the cultures that would become the Aereni and the Tairnadal.

On Khorvaire, the goblinoids rose to prominence. The Empire of Dhakaan was founded approximately sixteen thousand years ago and expanded over the next ten millennia to dominate all of central Khorvaire. The Dhakaani slowly drove all competitors to the fringes — the mountains, the wastes, the marches. They clashed with the dragonborn of what is now Q'barra, the dwarves of the Realm Below, and Orcish tribes, but none could stop their advance. The golden age of Dhakaan lasted over five thousand years, with goblins ruling over the lands that would later be claimed by Galifar.

It ended when the daelkyr led armies of aberrations through portals from Xoriat. The daelkyr destroyed Dhakaani cities and transformed goblinoids into aberrations such as dolgaunts and dolgrims. After a long and bitter struggle, Dhakaani champions and Gatekeeper druids turned the tide, sealing the daelkyr in Khyber. But the damage was irreparable. The daelkyr had unleashed more than monsters — Dyrrn the Corruptor created a psychic contagion that severed the goblinoids from the Uul Dhakaan, the shared dream that had united their civilization. Within generations, the empire collapsed into civil war. What remained on the surface were ruins and chaos.

Most major cities of the modern age are built on Dhakaani foundations. There are tunnels and warrens beneath them that have been largely ignored by the human inhabitants. The Heirs of Dhakaan — the surviving kech clans who retreated underground — are stirring, and they consider the surface their birthright.

"Humans built Sharn on top of a Dhakaani city. They built that Dhakaani city on top of an older Dhakaani city. Every time you dig a new basement in that city, you find someone else's ceiling. Eventually you learn to stop digging." — Braum Hareth, Sharn architect, municipal planning hearing

Main article: The Age of Monsters

The Modern Age

Period: ~5,000 years ago to the present

The modern age encompasses the arrival of humans, the appearance of dragonmarks, the rise and fall of Galifar, the Last War, the Mourning, and the fragile present. Each of these periods has its own article; what follows is an overview.

Human Migration

Around three thousand years ago, the adventurer Lhazaar led a wave of human settlers from Sarlona to the eastern shores of Khorvaire. From there, humans spread across the continent — aggressively, and at the expense of goblinoids and other native populations. Human settlers followed established routes, fertile land, and frequently former Dhakaani infrastructure. Roads built by goblinoid engineers carried human settlers to territories that goblinoid armies had already cleared.

The early human city-states — Daskara, Korth, Metrol, Thaliost, Wroat — competed constantly. Karrn the Conqueror seized control of Korth and established Karrnath, then unsuccessfully attempted to conquer the rest. Political authority was personal and territorial. Borders shifted with every succession dispute. The period produced heroes, legends, and cautionary tales, but few durable states.

During this period, dragonmarks began appearing among several races: the Marks of Hospitality and Healing among halflings, the Marks of Shadow and Death among Aereni elves, the Marks of Scribing among gnomes, and eventually marks among humans, half-elves, and dwarves. The establishment of the Twelve — the formal alliance of dragonmarked houses — and the subsequent War of the Mark reshaped the political and economic landscape of the continent.

Main article: Human Migration and the Dragonmarked Houses

The War of the Mark

Approximately 1,500 years ago, the Twelve launched a campaign to eradicate aberrant dragonmarks. House propaganda amplified the perception of aberrant marks as dangerous and uncontrollable. Fear progressed to violence. The title "War of the Mark" implies two even sides, but this was more of a purge than a struggle of equals. In the final stages, the aberrant champion Halas Tarkanan and the Lady of the Plague seized Sharn and declared it a haven. When the forces of the Twelve besieged the city, Tarkanan shattered the towers with his mark's power over the earth. The Lady of the Plague called vermin up from the depths and spread disease in the ruins. Both sides perished, and Sharn remained in ruins for centuries.

Since the Mourning, aberrant marks have been appearing in greater numbers and with greater power, for reasons no one can explain.

Main article: War of the Mark

The Kingdom of Galifar

Galifar Wynarn, born in Karrnath, succeeded where Karrn the Conqueror had failed. Through conquest and clever diplomacy, he united the Five Nations under one crown. He abolished slavery, instituted laws that promised justice for all, and over time the kingdom promoted public education and the rise of the merchant class. He renamed the five provinces after his children and established the Korth Edicts, which kept the dragonmarked houses politically neutral while granting them regulatory power and industrial preeminence.

The Kingdom of Galifar endured for nearly nine hundred years. Its institutions — the Arcane Congress, the King's Citadel, Rekkenmark Academy — were originally dedicated to the common good of a unified state. Its systems of law, currency, taxation, and infrastructure were robust enough to outlast the kingdom itself.

Galifar can be faulted for his precarious system of succession: the children of the reigning monarch served as governors of the five provinces, with the eldest governing Cyre. This system led to multiple rebellions over the centuries. The Last War was simply the largest and last of them.

"Nine hundred years. Name another enlightened political system that lasted nine hundred years. Now name what replaced it: a century of war and a country-sized hole in the ground. That is what succession crises cost." — Genara ir'Moot, Brelish political theorist, public lecture

Main article: The Kingdom of Galifar

The Last War

In 894 YK, King Jarot — the last ruler of Galifar — died. Three of his children rejected the succession of Mishann. The conflict spiraled into outright war between the Five Nations.

The Last War lasted over a century. It was a bitter struggle marked by shifting alliances, years of stalemate interspersed with periods of intense battles. Aundair fielded the greatest number of wizards. Breland produced floating fortresses and engines of war. Karrnath embraced necromancy and animated hordes of undead soldiers. In the final decades, House Cannith created the warforged — tireless soldiers formed of metal and other materials. The dragonmarked houses remained neutral and made considerable profit selling their services to all sides.

Over the course of the war, the map of Khorvaire was redrawn many times over. The Mror Holds declared independence. The Eldeen Reaches broke away from Aundair. Tairnadal mercenaries seized eastern Cyre and declared the elf nation of Valenar. The hobgoblin mercenary leader Haruuc led a rebellion and established Darguun. House Lyrandar perfected its elemental airships. House Thuranni split from House Phiarlan. The first warforged titans were deployed, then replaced by the modern warforged — living constructs designed for war who now struggle to find their place in a world at peace.

"Everyone says they want peace. What they mean is they want to win, and then have peace." — Dasha Yare, Cyran refugee, Breland resettlement camp

Main article: The Last War

The Mourning

On 20 Olarune 994 YK, the nation of Cyre was consumed in a magical cataclysm. No one knows what caused it. Competing theories include a century of war magic accumulating beyond safe limits, a Cannith research project gone catastrophically wrong, the release of an ancient overlord, or intervention by the Chamber or the Lords of Dust in pursuit of a prophetic thread. No theory has been confirmed. No theory has been ruled out.

The Mourning destroyed an entire nation. What remains — the Mournland — is a wasteland of dead-gray mist, twisted magic, and undying soldiers still fighting battles that ended years ago. No one has claimed responsibility. No one has provided an explanation.

Shock and fear brought the nations to the negotiating table. The Treaty of Thronehold officially ended the Last War in 996 YK, recognizing twelve sovereign nations and establishing the fragile peace that holds today. House Cannith was ordered to destroy all creation forges. The surviving warforged were granted the rights of sentient beings.

No one won the war. The mystery of the Mourning is the only thing holding the warmongers at bay. If someone proves the Mourning cannot happen again — or if its power could be harnessed as a weapon — war will erupt anew.

"It has been less than four years since the Mourning and less than two years since the Treaty. Most people want to move on. But the scars of a century of war cannot be erased so quickly. And the dead-gray mist at the border has not advanced, but it has not receded, either." — Corporal Mathus Shaw, Brelish border warden, annual report

Main article: The Mourning

The Present Day

The year is 998 YK — two years after the Treaty of Thronehold, four years after the Mourning.

The Five Nations remain the largest and most powerful countries in Khorvaire, but they share the continent with nations born in the war: Darguun, the Eldeen Reaches, Valenar, the Mror Holds, Q'barra, and the unrecognized nation of Droaam. Aundair yearns to reclaim the Eldeen Reaches. Breland watches the monstrous kingdom of Droaam. Many mistrust the Valenar elves. Within the Five Nations, anger remains over how the final borders were drawn — Thrane still holds the ancient Aundairian city of Thaliost, seized during the war.

The dragonmarked houses emerged from the war stronger than ever, with the divided nations dependent on their services. Before the Last War, united Galifar imposed many restrictions on the houses. Today, no single monarch can afford to break ties with any of them.

Although many call it the Last War, most believe it is only a matter of time until conflict begins anew.

"The Treaty didn't end the war. It paused it. Everyone at that table knew that. They signed it anyway, because the alternative was finding out whether the Mourning could happen twice." — Jayda Ceris, Aundairian diplomat, private correspondence