By Keith Baker (taken from
here)
The scrying pool was a mirror of the sky, and the glittering Ring of Siberys stretched across its surface. Tielanthraxa whispered and the image grew, moving closer and closer until she could see the individual stones that made up a particular section of the ring. The shards were silhouetted against the lunar sphere of Rhaan, and the image was unmistakable: Khyber's Claw, surrounded by the light of the crimson moon.
The dragon hissed in frustration. For days, she had watched the signs appear in the heavens, cross-referencing the omens with the Codex of Alaraxus and the movement of smoke and water. This was the final piece in the puzzle. The Lord of Fire would rise again in the City of Illusions, and only three could return him to his prison: the child of storms, the shaper of steel, and the hand of the Keeper. Tonight she would head to Khorvaire; tomorrow she would begin the search for her soldiers of destiny.
The most ancient legend is the tale of the three progenitor dragons: Khyber, Eberron, and Siberys. Some say that Khyber slew Siberys, only to be bound by Eberron; the three dragons became the world (Eberron), the darkness within (Khyber), and the ring in the sky (Siberys).
Most people are familiar with this legend; most religions commonly accept it, with other deities and powers rising in the age that followed. But few tales explain the reason behind the legend. Some scholars say that Khyber and Siberys learned of a secret tied to the fate of the universe itself, and that they fought to control this power.
No human knows the truth of this legend. But the dragons of Argonnessen are far older than humanity. They are the true children of Siberys, and they have devoted tens of thousands of years to studying the ancient mystery -- the Draconic Prophecy.
While the Prophecy illuminates the future, it rarely presents a single path. Take the example at the beginning of this article. After considering various signs, the sage Tielanthraxa concludes that "The Lord of Fire will rise again in the Demon Wastes, and only three can return him to his prison." Only three people can defeat the demon described in this piece of the Prophecy.
However, the Prophecy doesn't say whether they SHOULD defeat the demon -- only that they can. Most dragon scholars collect this knowledge but do not act upon it; the elders believe that the purpose of the draconic race is to chronicle the Prophecy. The younger dragons of the Chamber wish to shape the future, but they don't always agree on the path it should take. As a result, one faction within the Chamber may try to guide the three destined warriors in the defeat of the demon. Another may work to handicap the three; these wyrms have unearthed a different passage in the Prophecy that ties to the demon, and the dragons want the fiend to remain free until this prediction has come to pass. Neither faction cares about the demon, or for that matter the warriors; the main questions are who controls the future and whose interpretation will become fact.
This allows the DM some latitude when using the Prophecy to drive a storyline. According to the Prophecy, the player characters are the only people who can defeat this rakshasa rajah. But this particular example doesn't say exactly how or when they will defeat it. This sets the wheels of adventure in motion -- but leaves room for interpretation and failure. If the party fails in their first attempt, they'll simply have to try to come up with a new approach. Perhaps they can't beat it alone -- but they can play a key role in uniting the Church of the Silver Flame and the paladins of Dol Arrah against this common foe. The DM must decide how detailed the relevant section of the Prophecy is -- which in turn determines how creative the party can be while still fulfilling the needs of destiny.
Pieces of the Prophecy
No character -- or Dungeon Master -- will ever find a complete text of the Draconic Prophecy. Through interaction with the Serens and dragons themselves, sages have learned that the dragons do have dragonshard texts recording pieces of the Prophecy, the most notable of which are the Codex of Alaraxus and the Talash Siberys. However, to a large degree, these are accounts of events that have already come to pass or incomplete fragments that are useless on their own. The keys to completing these fragments are written on the world. The Prophecy unfolds in the sky -- in the movement of stars and shards. It reveals itself in the depths, when strange markings are found on the walls of chambers untouched by any living creature. And these are simply the most obvious signs. A dragon sage may draw inspiration from the whispering wind, the patterns of an avalanche, or the shifting sands of a desert. The level of complexity is almost unfathomable to the human mind, and even for a wise and cunning dragon it takes centuries to learn to read these signs.
Over the past three thousand years, the Prophecy has found a new canvas: the inhabitants of Khorvaire. The dragonmarks resemble the designs that previously appeared only in bones of the world: on cavern walls and ocean reefs. Dragon sages have devoted millennia to determining the meaning of these manifestations. Some believe that each house has a role to play in the Prophecy, while others see each dragonmarked individual as representing a specific variable. A member of the Chamber who is attempting to enact a particular passage of the Prophecy may feel that a reference to "Storm" requires the involvement of all House Lyrandar, any member of House Lyrandar, or to a particular heir of the house, whom he has identified as the "Child of Storms."
Player characters may encounter pieces of the Prophecy in a variety of forms.
Translated Text: The party receives an intact (though undoubtedly cryptic) section of the Prophecy. A member of the Chamber may relate a specific passage to the party to justify her actions. A character could intercept a scroll being transported by a Seren courier -- who might be killed by Aereni spies, agents of the Lords of Dust, or even opposing members of the Chamber. In this situation, interpretation of the Prophecy could be critical to survival.
Landmarks: Before the first dragonmarks ever appeared on living beings, they appeared on the land itself. A mark could be carved into a cavern wall, a coral pattern shaped as a mark could form on the ocean floor, or the path of a twisting river could form a mark. These marks appear only at certain times and become visible only under the light of a certain conjunction of moons; a mark might even appear in a lava flow that lasts for only a few hours.
These landmarks are complex patterns that resemble the dragonmarks found on living creatures. Interpreting the general meaning of such a mark requires knowledge of Draconic and a successful DC 30 Knowledge (arcana) check. However, the deeper meaning can be understood only when it is placed in context with the geographic location of the mark, its relationship to the moons and the Ring of Siberys, and the lore collected by the seers of Argonnessen over the course of eons. When an adventure involves a landmark, the goal is rarely to translate it. Instead, the challenge will be finding the mark, duplicating it or moving it, and quite possibly destroying it before it can fall into enemy hands.
Living Prophecy: While any player character may have a role to play in the Prophecy, characters with dragonmarks are integrally tied to it. By simply moving around the world, a dragonmarked character is serving as a living parchment. Whenever he meets another dragonmarked character, that interaction may have oracular significance. As a result, the Chamber could stage elaborate scenarios just to get two dragonmarked characters in a particular location at the same time. This is especially relevant if the party has a recurring villain or rival with a dragonmark -- perhaps an unknown destiny links hero and villain together.
False Prophecy: The Lords of Dust despise the dragons of Argonnessen, and they have had tens of thousands of years to scheme. A cunning fiend may create a false passage of the Prophecy. While an elder wyrm might see through the deception, a naïve younger member of the Chamber could be led astray, and a party of adventurers could be caught up in this treachery.
The ShapersMany scholars have heard of the Draconic Prophecy, but many believe it of interest only to the dragons -- that only the seers of Argonnessen can decipher its many twists and turns. In fact, a number of different groups are watching the Prophecy, and any of these could be the driving force behind an adventure.
The Chamber: These dragons are the most active agents of prophecy. The members of the Chamber are determined to bring the events of the Prophecy to fruition -- even if this takes eons to accomplish. However, different factions within the Chamber may support different interpretations of a given section -- and a party of adventurers could be caught between these warring wyrms. Likewise, the Chamber has little regard for human life: Members of the common races are simply tools that the dragons are required to use. As a result, a Chamber patron may assist the party one day and send them into a death trap the next.
The Chamber has emerged only recently. Few of its members are over 600 years old, and most are considerably younger. Bronze, silver, and gold dragons are the most common agents, since the alternate form power allows these dragons to move among humans unseen, but other dragons can use polymorph to accomplish the same effect. The Chamber also operates through Seren agents or employs members of other races -- so not every Chamber operative will turn out to be a dragon.
The Elder Wyrms of Argonnessen: As a rule, the great wyrms of Argonnessen believe that dragons should record the outcome of the Prophecy. They willingly let the children of the Chamber push the future in one direction or another -- but if they feel that any force is truly placing the outcome of the Prophecy in jeopardy, they act decisively and with terrible force. While the elders may act directly, they also make use of Seren agents and observers.
The Undying Court: The deathless elves of the Undying Court are among the only beings old enough and wise enough to decipher the Draconic Prophecy. What remains unclear is whether the elves wish to use the Prophecy for their own ends -- or to destroy it to cripple the destiny of the dragons. This is thought to be the cause of the perennial conflicts between the dragons and Aerenal.
The Lords of Dust: These immortal fiends are the oldest beings on Khorvaire. The ancient dragons defeated the rakshasa rajahs, and the remaining Lords of Dust enjoy nothing more than interfering with the descendants of their enemies.
Independents: Flamewind the sphinx (Sharn: City of Towers, page 72)and Sora Teraza (Eberron Campaign Setting, page 166) may reveal pieces of the Draconic Prophecy to party members, setting them on a particular path. Powerful wizards like Mordain the Fleshweaver (Eberron Campaign Setting, page 167) or Erandis d'Vol(Eberron Campaign Setting, page 186) could uncover specific fragments of the Prophecy relating to their plans. In particular, Vol could be working with rogue elements of the Chamber in her quest to restore the Mark of Death.
Essentially, the Draconic Prophecy is a living changing fortune telling device plastered all over Khorvaire in many forms. The way it works is it sets out a few conditions, and if those are met, a specified result is ensured. So, the future is not set entirely in stone, but there are a finite amount of paths that it can go down, and the prophecy acts as a map.For example; if you want to rule over Droam, harvest all tidbits of the prophecy until you find the one relating to Droam. It says something along the lines of "In the twentieth cycle of Barrakas, after the great disaster, the hags will leave Droamm. If the dragon killer hero, son of the forge is killed before they return, the Horned one shall rule." So, when the time comes, if the hags do indeed leave droam, any adventurer who has killed a dragon and bears a Cannith bloodline better watch their backs because the Horned One, if he has any knowledge of this particular piece of the prophecy, is going to have him killed to ensure his plans of succession pass. The reason for this coming true may be simple or quite complicated. Perhaps the d'Cannith Dragonslayer had a magic item that the Hags needed to be immortal and rule over Droam forever, and by killing him the Horned One denies the hags that which they might have stolen for themselves.The Prophecy has other mystical powers as well, which are as many and as varied as it's own manifestations. Some people, through their understanding of the prophecy, actually gain mystical abilities and a clarity that normal men can't imagine.
Using the Prophecy
A strange pattern appears on the wall of a deep cavern — a spiraling series of lines, vaguely reminiscent of Draconic characters.
A child is born to two full-blooded members of House Cannith, but even at birth she bears an aberrant dragonmark.
The moon Aryth eclipses Lharvion at the precise moment that the plane Thelanis becomes coterminous with Eberron.
When a dragon sage gathers all these facts, she nods. With a few words, she records her conclusions in the spellshard that lies before her. One more path to the future — one more piece of the draconic Prophecy — has been revealed.
The Prophecy is a core element of the Eberron campaign setting. Dragon and fiend battle over its outcome. It might call for a reluctant adventurer to take on the mantle of hero — or it might warn of dire consequences if adventurers slay a hated foe.
Few outside the dragon lands of Argonnessen know of the draconic Prophecy. Most common folk of Khorvaire view the long-lived dragons with fear and mistrust, when forced to think of them at all. However, the dragons shepherd vast and intricate plans toward fulfillment, plans that have at their heart the sacred Prophecy. Some enlightened individuals among the “lesser races” have gained an understanding of the Prophecy, or at least of its existence. A rare few scholars have even attempted to study the Prophecy. Such research is typically shortlived, however, because dragons do not tend to look kindly on those seeking to meddle in any fashion with the Prophecy. Some of these researchers simply disappear, while others develop a sudden interest in some other project.
A few members of the lesser races have learned something of the Prophecy. After the emergence of dragonmarks, the dragons realized that, just perhaps, humanoids have some important role to play in the unfolding Prophecy. Many dragons believe that observation of the bearers of dragonmarks, especially those that find some greater purpose in life, is enough. But a few dragons decided several hundred years ago that they desired an insider’s perspective.
But what is the draconic Prophecy? And what are effective ways to use it in a campaign?
Source and PurposeNone can question the power of the draconic Prophecy. Its power as a tool of divination has been proven time and again. But philosophers and sages — human and dragon, celestial and fiend — have long debated the source of its power. How can the paths of the future be mapped out on stone and sky? Is this proof of divine intervention … or does such a concrete cosmic plan defy the existence of free-willed gods?
Tens of thousands of years of debate and divination have produced no clear answers. Here are a few of the popular theories; only the DM can decide if any of these are true.
The Prophecy is a reflection of the ongoing struggle between Khyber and Eberron. The Progenitors shaped reality at the beginning of time, and the Prophecy reflects their divergent desires for their creation. This is the central belief of the dragon religion Thir.
The Prophecy is the work of the dragon deity Chronepsis, master of fate. The core doctrine of Thir says that Chronepsis is the scribe of the Progenitors. However, certain dragons believe that Chronepsis alone chooses the path of the Prophecy.
The Prophecy is the creation of Aureon, Sovereign of Law and Lore. This is the popular theory of followers of the Sovereign Host. The doctrine of Thir acknowledges Aureon — Ourelonastrix — as the first prophet, but not as the creator of the Prophecy.
The Prophecy is a divine force, not unlike the Silver Flame. It draws its power from all living beings. It is shaped by their desires, and it channels their wants. This is how it can predict the future, because it influences people to act in accordance with its predictions.
Each of the thirteen Outer Planes has an underlying consciousness. Eberron is where the planes converge, and the Prophecy is the result of the debate between these planar voices.
The Prophecy is the ultimate source of magical energy. Magic has the power to reshape reality, and the draconic Prophecy is the ultimate expression of this. Even those who agree on the nature of the Prophecy argue about its purpose. For much of the history of Argonnessen, the followers of Thir have held to the belief that the Prophecy is the record of creation, and that the purpose of the dragons is to watch and record until creation runs its course. This means they can prevent others from tampering with the course of destiny, but should not manipulate it themselves.
The dragons of the Chamber counter that Ourelonastrix and Hezcalipa used their knowledge of the Prophecy to defeat the Overlords in the Age of Demons. These dragons claim that the Prophecy is a tool, a gift to allow those wise enough to read it some control over the future. In their view, dragons should be on guard against other forces who seek to control this power. The Lords of Dust have always sought to use the Prophecy as a weapon against their foes. The elves of the Undying Court have unraveled many of its mysteries. Now, some among the lesser nondragons seek to use the Prophecy as a tool, if they can only master its secrets.
Ultimately, the Dungeon Master must decide if mortals are meant to tamper with the Prophecy. The consequences of this decision are explored below.
The Nature of the Prophecy
The draconic Prophecy has existed since the dawn of time. Dragons and demons have sought its power. But what is the Prophecy? What form does it take? How can people fight over its outcome? And how can an infallible prophecy work in a game that is, ultimately, defined by player choices?
The key is that the draconic Prophecy is a living thing. It has never been fully recorded because it is constantly growing and evolving. The Prophecy is a map showing many paths that the future might take, and revealing dependencies. Consider the following:
If the King of Breland is assassinated on the day of the gargoyle's first victory, there will be war in the west. If there is war between Droaam and Breland, and if the last child of the storm faces the three daughters, the first hag will return.
This is the nature of the Prophecy. It is a web that is constantly unfolding, and the future is formed by threads from thousands of evolving events. This is how the Chamber and the Lords of Dust use the Prophecy as a weapon. Find an outcome you desire, then trace back the path of events that will make it happen. If the Lords of Dust want Sora Kell to return, they must see to it that King Boranel is slain on the same day that Carralag the gargoyle wins the Race of Eight Winds in Sharn. This will lead to war … and that paves the way for the next convergence they wish to control. Meanwhile, if the Chamber can prevent Carralag's victory or Boranel's death, it has staved off this fate … though it might have set another path in motion. This is the trick to dealing with the Lords of Dust and the Chamber; both groups are often working toward long-term goals that can't even be seen without the use of the Prophecy. The Chamber might help stop a massacre, or it might cause a massacre — in either case the dragons care nothing about the victims. They are concerned only with the chain of events that are set in motion, and it might take years, decades, or longer for matters to play out.
Form of the Prophecy
Typically, adventurers encounter the Prophecy in one of three ways.
Signs and Portents: A convergence of moons and planes. A symbol revealed by an earthquake. Three dragonmarked heirs slain by fire. These are some of the ways in which the Prophecy is made manifest. But taken alone, none of these manifestations have meaning. It's like glancing at tea leaves or seeing two crows on a dead oak tree — without proper training, the omen cannot be interpreted. And the draconic Prophecy is far more complex than tea leaves or tarot cards. In the examples given above, all three of the events could be linked together. Moon, rune, and deaths are all pieces of the puzzle, and knowledge of past events might be just as crucial to success. Most creatures require decades to learn to interpret the simplest signs of the Prophecy, and it takes centuries to truly understand it. Even among the long-lived dragons, few have the patience and intelligence required to become true prophets. As such, adventurers rarely find a piece of the Prophecy that they can interpret on their own; instead, they need to find someone who can help them understand its meaning.
In the past, the symbols that appeared on the earth were called dragonmarks. These days, they are usually called Prophecy marks. The design of these marks is quite similar to those found on flesh, but every mark is different; each line has meaning to one who knows how to read them. If a character who speaks Draconic makes a DC 30 Spellcraft check, she gains a hint about the meaning of a mark, to a maximum of five words. For example, she might recognize the concepts of "king," "victory," and "moving stone." Although interesting, this hint rarely provides full meaning, and might actually be misleading.
A small Prophecy mark might be the size of a human fist. The largest marks are so big that they can be seen properly only from a great height. All marks radiate a strong aura of universal magic and occasionally shimmer with a blue-green radiance similar to the color of dragonmarks. Prophecy marks slowly repair themselves if damaged. It's possible to remove a small mark whole, but if a mark is simply damaged, it eventually re-forms.
The true nature of Prophecy marks is as mysterious as the Prophecy itself. In Xen'drik, explorers have found eldritch machines from the Age of Giants that seem to use Prophecy marks as a source of power, and many forces in Khorvaire — notably House Cannith, the Twelve, and the elemental binders of Zilargo — are working to unlock this secret.
Translations: A Prophecy mark on a cavern wall won't provide much insight into the Prophecy. The personal notes of a dragon scholar who has spent centuries collecting pieces of the Prophecy? That's another matter. The challenge for humans is that dragons typically use spellshards (ECS 265) to record knowledge. A spellshard formed for a dragon is the size of a small boulder. Some dragons prefer to carve their thoughts in stone; many lairs have a chamber of words, and adventurers could find insights about the Prophecy written there. Although few mortal nondragons have truly mastered the draconic Prophecy, a number of sages have studied it, and collected the writings of dragon prophets. Adventurers might find useful translations in the journal of, say, a dead cataclysm mage (EH 58).
The dragons of Argonnessen have created many records about the Prophecy. A translation could simply record events of the past — the shape the Prophecy finally took — but even this can be an important tool for interpreting future signs. Some records reveal possibilities — multiple paths that the future can take, depending on what events come to pass. Other dragon writings focus on a single chain of possibility — the path that the writers are working to achieve.
The precise form of these writings varies based on the author. A translation of the Prophecy could take the form of poetry, a formal treatise, or a few cryptic words. It has meaning to the author, but it might still puzzle the random reader.
Prophets: The simplest way to read meaning into the Prophecy is to know someone who can read its signs. The role of the dragon prophet has already been discussed, but other options exist. A deathless elf or disguised rakshasa could offer insight into a path of the Prophecy. A scholar might piece together a translation — imperfect, but something to work with. Or a dragonmarked character could have a sudden and vivid prophetic dream. A gift of Chronepsis? Insight flowing directly from the source of the Prophecy and through his dragonmark? Or part of a devious quori scheme?
The Prophecy As Adventure HookHaving considered the origin of the Prophecy and the forms it takes, a question remains. Why use it? What does it bring to an adventure?
Destiny: The draconic Prophecy is one way to establish certain adventurers as people who have a special destiny. The fact that player characters possess action points already suggests that they are favored by fate; the Prophecy can take this a step farther, cementing the fact that they are the only ones who can accomplish certain tasks. This helps even low-level adventurers stand out in the world. They might not be ready to take on the tarrasque now, but they know that some day, they are destined to battle it.
Control: The Prophecy is a tool that holds mighty forces in check. Both the Lords of Dust and the dragons of Argonnessen possess power that dwarfs that of most adventurers. But their knowledge of the Prophecy handicaps them in many ways. For example, the Prophecy could reveal that if the dragons defeat the Dreaming Dark, Tiamat will be released; but if the adventurers accomplish the same task, the Daughter of Tiamat will remain bound for another thousand years.
Choice: The Prophecy can be a tool to help the Dungeon Master choose the direction of a campaign. A prophet seeks out the adventurers and reveals that they are at a crossroads of fate. If they follow one path, war arises between Droaam and Breland. If they take the other path, they discover a lost kingdom in Xen'drik, and one among them dons a crown. So … do the players want a war campaign? Or an extended adventure in Xen'drik? The prophet doesn't tell them how events will play out — who will wear a crown, or if they will all live or die — but she gives them the opportunity to pick a direction for future adventures.
Battling Fate: Another possible path for a campaign is to reveal a piece of the Prophecy that the adventurers want to prevent from coming to pass. A warrior is destined to kill the one he loves the most. A wizard will unlock the secret of the Mourning … and destroy the Five Nations. Is it possible to avoid this fate? Or will the adventurers' attempts to change their destinies actually be the cause of their undoing?
In working with prophecy, ambiguity is a powerful tool. An adventurer will wear a crown … but does this mean he will rule a kingdom, or could it be a cursed crown that will give an undead spirit possession of his body? Likewise, a DM could rely on cryptic titles instead of being obvious from the start. The Prophecy might mention the "child of the crimson storm" … but it could take time to prove that this is in fact the Lyrandar heir in the party.
INCEPTION OF THE DRAGON PROPHETS
Overtures were made to specific individuals the dragons had observed for some time. Some bore dragonmarks themselves, but most did not. The individuals in question were all of an arcane bent, much like dragons themselves, and they were tasked with being the eyes and ears of their draconic masters, seeking signs of the Prophecy and occasionally acting on behalf of the dragons in causes in which the dragons were interested. In every case, these individuals acted to further the dragons’ understanding of the Prophecy. In the process, they gained some insight into its mysteries themselves and began to manifest strange new abilities reminiscent of the great dragon deities. These individuals collectively came to be known as dragon prophets (see page 63 for information on the dragon prophet prestige class).The dragon prophets have learned much from their draconic mentors (or masters, depending on the specific relationship involved), many dealing directly with a greater understanding of the draconic Prophecy. These abilities focus on the insight of the complex Prophecy, as well as a greater understanding of the world at large. As a prophet gains more of a grasp on the Prophecy, she begins to see everything around her in a different light. Many find themselves able to predict the future, while others simply become more aware of their surroundings.
DRAGONSHARDS AND THE PROPHECYThe dragons of Argonnessen are convinced that dragonshards are essential to understanding the Prophecy. The dragons read the true meaning of the marks within the shards, and realize that some marks are only truly understood when combined with or exposed to other marks.
Eberron shards, in particular, seem responsible for the manifestation of dragonmarks on the humans, elves, and other races of Khorvaire. Many sages believe that the dragonmarks were brought about due to long exposure, over many generations, to the Eberron dragonshards that lie just beneath the ground. Of course, those sages are unable to explain why no dragonmarks manifested among the orcs of the Eldeen Reaches or the goblinoids of the great Empire of Dhakaan during the millennia that passed before human, elf, and dwarf colonization.Many dragons spend every night for centuries looking up at the Ring of Siberys. The ring shifts subtly over time, as some of the dragonshards that comprise the ring fall to Eberron as Siberys showers. The dragons feel that signs and portents from the ring represent omens from the spirit of Siberys, guiding the dragons so that they can be prepared if the spawn of Khyber once again emerge to dominate the world.
Tales are told of great Khyber caverns, whose walls are covered in markings of all sorts, and yet those markings shift and fluctuate if a strongly attuned dragonshard is carried through the cavern. Some of the markings seem to shirk away from Eberron shards, yet they crowd toward a powerful Khyber shard. The effect is subtle, however, and only those possessing the great patience and attention of the dragons can truly appreciate these mark manifestations. Only the dragons and those versed in the Prophecy, such as dragon prophets, can gain any insight from the sigils deep within Khyber.
A few nondragons have been exposed to slivers of the Prophecy. Some deranged Dragon Below cultists who worship Khyber, the progenitor wyrm, believe that Khyber dragonshards bind the ancient dragon within the depths of the world. These cultists strive to remove or destroy Khyber shards through magical rituals designed to break the binding forces. Still another cult faction believes that the dragonshards represent the physical form of the dragon itself. These cultists are convinced that if a large enough concentration of Khyber dragonshards were collected, Khyber could find the strength to rise again. These cultists have amassed secret caches consisting of tens or hundreds of Khyber shards.Other, more scholarly types have suggested that the dragonmarks represent the dragon Eberron expressing its will through the dragonmarked races—races Eberron has chosen. What the races have been chosen for is unclear. Perhaps a cataclysmic showdown is inevitable, with the dragonmarked races battling the aberrations, fiends, and other forces of Khyber, as well as the dragons, the chosen of Siberys. This theory is but one of many regarding the relationship of dragonshards with the Prophecy.
