In Falconer’s Spire, a Lyrandar lord studies maps and reports. He reaches out with his thoughts, feeling the paths of the storm and considering if he wants to hold back the tempest or welcome it in.
In the slum of Dannel’s Pride, a young man studies the scroll he’s been given, marveling at the destructive power bound within its words. For an instant he feels doubt. Then he hears the cries of a starving child and the curses of a crippled soldier, and he knows what he must do.
In a harbor alley, a merchant spits blood and teeth onto the ground. As the half-giant ruffi an draws back for another blow, the wounded man sees a guard standing in the mouth of the alley, and for an instant hope surges through him. But the guard just laughs, and the merchant realizes . . . the guard is waiting for his cut.
Stormreach is humanity’s greatest outpost on the continent of Xen’drik. Established by pirates and smugglers, it has become a vital resource for those who wish to explore or exploit the shattered land. Although the culture of Stormreach has its roots in Khorvaire, it is a free city with no allegiance to any of the Five Nations. As such, Stormreach is a haven for explorers and exiles, for adventurers and criminals, for soldiers disillusioned with their former kingdoms and those who wish to continue the war. It is a beacon for dissidents and romantics, for fugitives on the run and those who need to escape their own memories. Far smaller than Sharn, it is a city where a few bold adventurers can make a difference—a place where the major players quickly come to know each other.
Stormreach was once a dangerous pirate port, but now it is a cosmopolitan trading port with residents from all over Eberron… though it's still dangerous. Located on the Skyfall Peninsula which forms the northernmost extension of Xen'drik into the stormy Thunder Sea, this city has grown up amid the shadows of ruins from the Age of Giants. Many of the ruins lie underground where their unknown passageways give the port the title "City of Dungeons." Aboveground, scattered walls and floating ruins make a fantastical landscape where pirates, merchants, exiles, and researchers all come to live in an ongoing stalemated power struggle. Stormreach is a place of flux and of opportunity for those who make the journey to this chaotic and adventurous place.
History
Stormreach was initially used as a hideout for pirates and smugglers who attacked vessels traversing the Thunder Sea to the north. From Stormreach, pirates could easily recoup, as well as trade among other pirates. In 800 YK, as the continent of Xen'Drik became an interest to scholars and the Dragonmarked Houses, the houses petitioned the King of Galifar to cleanse the area of pirates and by 802 YK, the Galifar navy had done its job.
Leadership
Despite ousting a large majority of the pirates and smugglers, a few powerful smugglers, called Coin Lords, took advantage of the reduction in competition and became the first leaders of Stormreach. Their descendents continue to govern over Stormreach to this day. Currently, Stormreach is governed by five hereditary nobles. A Harbor Lord oversees all harbor activities, while four Coin Lords maintain the rest of the city. Together, these five nobles are called the Storm Lords.
Power Groups
Although the Storm Lords hold authority over Stormreach, other nations and the Dragonmarked Houses have consulates and enclaves there. The Five Nations acknowledge Stormreach, but none claim it as their own. Instead, they simply maintain business relationships with the Storm Lords hoping to turn a profit on all that Xen'Drik has to offer.
The Dragonmarked Houses, particularly House Lyrandar, House Kundarak, House Deneith, and House Tharashk have great sway in the city, and the Storm Lords go to great lengths to make sure their presence remains.
Stormreach by the Numbers
Stormreach: Population 11,650
humans 43%,
gnomes 9%,
half-elves 9%,
dwarves 8%,
orcs and half-orcs 8%,
halflings 7%, elves 6%,
warforged 2%,
shifters 2%,
changelings 1%
other (drow, goblinoids, giants, kalashtar, monstrous races) 5%).
humans 43%,
gnomes 9%,
half-elves 9%,
dwarves 8%,
orcs and half-orcs 8%,
halflings 7%, elves 6%,
warforged 2%,
shifters 2%,
changelings 1%
other (drow, goblinoids, giants, kalashtar, monstrous races) 5%).
Authority Figures: The Storm Lords.
The city of Stormreach is built on the ruins of an ancient port from the Age of Giants and the remains of the giants' civilization are found throughout the city. The walls of the older city help to define the nine districts of Stormreach, some of which are further divided into wards. The population of Stormreach is almost entirely made of people fleeing something in Khorvaire, whether debts, crimes, memories, or simply boredom. Some of the people living in the City of Dungeons act like those of the Five Nations and some neighborhoods are dominated by specific nationalities, visitors should be assured that things in Stormreach are not at all like they are on the mainland.
Out on the edge of civilization, close enough to the drow-infested jungles that they seem like beggars on the outskirts of the city, many wonder why anyone would ever go to Stormreach. There are a number of reasons, though, that would especially attract adventurers in search of gold or knowledge.
Five Things Every Stormreacher Knows About:
The Storm Lords:
Stormreach is a small city, and the Storm Lords are prominent public fi gures. The streets buzz anytime new gossip emerges about Lord Jonas Wylkes or whenever the Lassites throw a party at Molou’s Distillery. Lady Kirris Sel Shadra maintains a low profile, but people are always speculating about the power she wields in the shadows. People might love them or hate them, yet the Storm Lords are a common topic of conversation whenever people gather.
Tall Tales of Xen’drik:
Every Stormreacher can spin tales of horrific monsters, lost expeditions, and fabled treasures found in the depths of Xen’drik. Some stories are passed down over the generations. Others are embellishments of personal experiences in the dungeons below the city or on trips to the continent’s interior. When people gather in Stormreach taverns, they typically tell tall tales, with each storyteller trying to top the one before.
Languages:
Stormreach is extremely cosmopolitan for its size. The inhabitants not only deal with a steady influx of travelers and merchants from Khorvaire but also with drow, elves from Aerenal, giants, and sahuagin. Most Stormreachers learn at least one additional language. Beyond this, a number of words and phrases from other languages have fallen into the basic vocabulary. A Stormreacher might not speak Sahuagin, but he can certainly swear in it.
No Justice:
The Stormreach Guard serves the Storm Lords and their interests. The guards are a force to be avoided, not a source of security. They arrest and sometimes execute criminals, but only if this benefits the Storm Lords; no moral principle is at work.
Gangs and Militias:
Groups described as gangs are typically criminals driven by selfi sh desires. Whether they are muggers, pickpockets, burglars, dreamlily dealers, or worse, they prey on the city’s people. Militias are armed groups based on political or religious ideology. Often they are supported by the inhabitants of their wards, who perceive them as a source of stability and vigilante justice. Whether they support or despise them, Stormreachers are familiar with the gangs and militias in their home wards.
Five Things Every Stormreacher Knows About:
The Storm Lords:
Stormreach is a small city, and the Storm Lords are prominent public fi gures. The streets buzz anytime new gossip emerges about Lord Jonas Wylkes or whenever the Lassites throw a party at Molou’s Distillery. Lady Kirris Sel Shadra maintains a low profile, but people are always speculating about the power she wields in the shadows. People might love them or hate them, yet the Storm Lords are a common topic of conversation whenever people gather.
Tall Tales of Xen’drik:
Every Stormreacher can spin tales of horrific monsters, lost expeditions, and fabled treasures found in the depths of Xen’drik. Some stories are passed down over the generations. Others are embellishments of personal experiences in the dungeons below the city or on trips to the continent’s interior. When people gather in Stormreach taverns, they typically tell tall tales, with each storyteller trying to top the one before.
Languages:
Stormreach is extremely cosmopolitan for its size. The inhabitants not only deal with a steady influx of travelers and merchants from Khorvaire but also with drow, elves from Aerenal, giants, and sahuagin. Most Stormreachers learn at least one additional language. Beyond this, a number of words and phrases from other languages have fallen into the basic vocabulary. A Stormreacher might not speak Sahuagin, but he can certainly swear in it.
No Justice:
The Stormreach Guard serves the Storm Lords and their interests. The guards are a force to be avoided, not a source of security. They arrest and sometimes execute criminals, but only if this benefits the Storm Lords; no moral principle is at work.
Gangs and Militias:
Groups described as gangs are typically criminals driven by selfi sh desires. Whether they are muggers, pickpockets, burglars, dreamlily dealers, or worse, they prey on the city’s people. Militias are armed groups based on political or religious ideology. Often they are supported by the inhabitants of their wards, who perceive them as a source of stability and vigilante justice. Whether they support or despise them, Stormreachers are familiar with the gangs and militias in their home wards.
A Place to Lie Low
Stormreach is a very remote city and some people like it that way. For adventuring parties with a few too many enemies or with some item that they'd rather keep away from adversaries, a short diversion to Stormreach can be just the thing. Unlike other ports, there are no customs officials checking identification papers in Stormreach and residents are used to not asking prying questions of visitors so there's no reason even to use your real name while here. On the other hand, some adventurers come to the City of Dungeons because their enemies take advantage of this situation. If some foe disappears and is not found in his usual haunts, heroes could do a lot worse than to see if he might have booked passage to Stormreach to drop into the anonymous crowds of the port. In this case, the very same resources that the adventurers would use to hide themselves must be overcome to continue their search.
A Gateway to Adventure
For adventurers, the reasons most stay away from Stormreach are exactly the reasons to go. Many in Khorvaire grow up reading the copper-novels about explorers looting tombs and slashing their way through the jungle. Other books depict the fantastic adventures of sailors on the storm-tossed waves of the Thunder Sea and about their quick-witted stops in a port full of pirates. The lands of Xen'drik hold many treasures but one of the most valued is the mystery that permeates the exotic land. Expeditions from the Wayfinders provide some amount of steady exploration but most of it is informal and all of it travels through the port of Stormreach. For some adventurers, the thrill of being in the City of Dungeons evokes an intangible childhood thrill which more than makes up for the danger of visiting the former pirate port.
Ancient Evils to Fight
The city of Stormreach is not the first settlement on this location by a long shot. Xen'drik has a long and twisted history that has marked the land with evils and curses that have become fodder for many hushed stories back in Khorvaire. Heroes who want to make a difference in the world can come to Xen'drik and battle some of the most pernicious evils in the history of Eberron. Bound Demon Rajahs from the battle with the dragons in the first age of the world still lie festering in their prisons in the southern continent. Rumors even say that one lies hidden near enough to Stormreach to trouble mortals but even if this were not true the warren of dungeons underneath Stormreach which give the city its epithet provide other challenges. Evil liches from the days of the giants, lurking vampires weilding elven necromancy, and other terrible denizens lurk in the dark shadows beneath Stormreach's chaos and anyone bringing the light of righteousness to them could inspire generations to come.
Chapter Two:
Life in Stormreach
The nine districts of Stormreach are divided into wards, all huddled among the giant ruins of ages past. The spit of land where Stormreach is built is surrounded by the meandering branches of the Koronoo River to north and south as well as the ocean to the east. The streets are chaotic and twisting at best, tangled and misleading at worst, and few residents are eager to see strangers lurking around their homes. Despite the riches that are regularly brought back to the Five Nations from Xen'drik, most citizens of Stormreach are poor and downtrodden. Many visitors to the city have less-than-honorable reasons for coming and, for better or worse, most in Stormreach tend to assume as much when they meet someone they don't know.
Cross
The district of Cross holds a number of transplanted Khorvairian populations and retains some of the pride of its home nations, though there is plenty of tarnish on it. It is a centralized district which gives Cross its name: the Marketplace to the west, the Harbor to the east, Southwatch to the south, and Respite and Silverwall to the north. Despite this, most of the residents of Cross are poor and rely on business elsewhere in the city while trade wagons and travelers pass through without stopping. The ward of Dannel's Pride is a place where travelers keep their heads down the most, filled with the nostalgia and anger of its Cyran population about the Day of Mourning. By contrast, Graystone is an orderly place of business with a bustling Tharashk refinery at its center. Many workers live in the quiet streets of Saltire where very few have reason to go except for the simple or clandestine of the district's population. Lastly, the Sloths is a ward of fine tailors and Brelish expatriates who avidly take advantage of any opportunity for advancing their business.
Forgelight
Forgelight is a heavily-rebuilt district with many new buildings and clean, well-off businesses. It is known by many in Stormreach to be a stronghold of Deneith House Deneith which maintains an enclave on the across a branch of the Koronoo from the city proper. Mercenaries and adventurers of all sorts are attracted to the district because of the enclave and because of the large warforged population that makes its home here. Warforged may appreciate the relative quiet of Forgelight or the Stormreach Forge which is also here.
The Harbor
In any port city the harbor is a center of all the settlement's activity and Stormreach is no exception. The Harbor area is dominated by three large structures: the Emperor statue and the Lighthouse, both from the Age of Giants, and the impressive Harbormaster's House where the Harbor Lord lives and performs his duties. Many pirates and other nefarious types also call the Harbor home making this a frequent stop for visitors.
The Marketplace
At the center of Stormreach, the Marketplace is a bustling hive of activity and business. Falconer's Spire, the local Lyrandar enclave and airship dock, is here along with Lorsmarch Palace where the the-storm-lords Storm Lords meet to decide the fate of the settlement. The Chapterhouse, a joint venture between Houses Ghallanda and Jorasco, is also located here as well as the headquarters of the Stormreach Guard but the largest and most visited feature is the massive Bazaar which contains treasures and merchants from every corner of Eberron.
Oldgate
The westernmost parts of Stormreach are called Oldgate, a mixed district dominated by Thranes and Aundairians. The former generally live in the Embers ward while the latter are found in Whitewash farther out. Despite the tensions that exist between these two nationalities in Khorvaire, the populace is relatively quiet, especially for Stormreach. Thranes in Oldgate tend to follow a calmer less militant form of the Silver Flame and Aundairians take care to keep their ward looking as bright and friendly as Fairhaven. Despite this veneer, however, fights do happen between the two wards' rival militias and gangs.
Respite
Respite is the wealthiest of Stormreach's districts, particularly the ward of Stormhaven which takes up a small part of it. Wealthy merchants make their homes here, the most powerful in Stormhaven including the Storm Lords, and the commoners of Stormreach are forcibly kept out by private guards. A House Jorasco enclave is found here as well as a number of wizard's shops but the most striking feature is Delera's Watch. This stately necropolis is named after one of the founders of Stormreach who is buried here and over the centuries the land has become a rambling collection of gravesites from citizens of many different nations.
Silverwall
Near the eastern beach, Silverwall is dominated by the interests of House Kundarak who petitioned the Storm Lords for land to build here. Their enclave is a ward unto itself called Coasthold where magical research and secret plans are undertaken. The rest of the district falls within Locksmith Square which is a hub of trading and entertainment in Stormreach. Craft shops can be found in the square as well as the strangely beautiful Eldred's Pool which depicts thri-kreen figures either dancing or fighting. The Red Ring, a gladiatorial arena and gambling venue, is also located here for those who seek more bloody entertainment than is found in the rest of the ward, though powerful rivals may be forcing the Ring out of business.
Southwatch
On the exposed southern edge of the city, Southwatch keeps much to itself and looks after its own. The Karrnathi-dominated Grindstone ward houses a temple of Vol, locally called Rosewood, and a Karrnathi militia, while Summerfield is a more cosmopolitan ward with residents from many places. Across the Koronoo, the Tents of Rushemé is a tent city where giants come to trade goods from the Xen'drik jungles including herbs, exotic resources, and even some ancient relics. Anthropologists from the Five Nations sometimes come to speak with the giants but many in Stormreach are nervous that they remain so close.
Temple District
Next to Forgelight, the Temple District houses a massive temple-fortress to the Silver Flame, built as a missionary church to savage Xen'drik. The street known as Temple Row contains a melange of other shrines and street preachers who call out prayers to the Sovereign Host, the Dark Six, and even the Dragon Below to passersby. The other side of the district is the entertainment and vice found in the brothels and taverns of the Temple District. House Phiarlan is just one of many places where those looking for sinful entertainment can be satisfied.
