Characters
Bufo
The dockmaster of Sestone, this little frog-creature helped the heroes make passage to Aelmor Island for the first time, using his magecrafted lanterns. In restoring Mufi to life, he died, but according to both of his close friends Solsta Norgin and Kronko of Moonstone, he has died before and returned.
Bufo created a perfectly functional replica of one of the Four Lamps of Monosis, possibly using a powerful machine he is rumored to have built and hidden somewhere on the coast around Sestone. According to Solsta, he came from Aelmor Island, dazed, babbling in a strange language, and having no knowledge of Eberron or its people. She advocated for allowing Bufo to stay in Sestone, and helped him learn the language and acclimate to the culture.
Perhaps when he returns from life, he can answer many of our questions.
bulp
neutral good
Daria Daggerholt
Yes, I am the sole author of this section of the book, though I welcome contributions. Don't worry about the pen name or the title; I assure you, this is a book of solid research and thoughtful perspective. Also humble observations.
human
neutral good
Kronko
A boatwright living in Sestone, Kronko received help from the group when the Constable, Buzz, attempted to shake him down for protection money. In return, he related what he knew of Bufo, including that he had been a buyer of Bufo's magecraft lanterns for a long time, but more amazingly, that Bufo had told him he had come from a world "beyond the rings of Siberys," and was trying to find a way home.
Kronko has a long scar on his face and neck, and probably most of the right side of his body that he claims to have received when he was traveling through Darkstone Pass, and met the Blue-Eyed Storm. He saw her face and received the scars, which the heroes witnessed come to life with lightning flashes when he became too agitated at Buzz and his thugs.
Kronko is one of Bufo's close friends who claims he cannot die, at least not for long. He expects the bulp to reappear any day now.
human
lawful good
Tarnillo
Grand Druid of the Circle of Monosis, Tarnillo dwelt in seclusion in the Duskthorn Forest with the remnant of his tribe until the heroes, pursued by the Seekers of the Hand cult, tracked him down.
He revealed the history of Aelmor Island, the Welling of Worlds, the Rahthta Falu, and Narkul the Collector. What's more, he revealed that only he and those he had instructed-- at this time, only his exiled daughter Zaharel, knew the secret of the dream-walk, by which one could enter the realm rift safely.
Despite this claim, when escorting two of our heroes into the awful city that seems to exist inside the realm rift, he managed to alert two monstrous quori who seized him, severed limbs from him, and ended the journey for the others prematurely. We still do not know whether Tarnillo is alive and severely maimed, a prisoner of Narkul, or if we simply witnessed a murder on the streets of Dreamwalk. We do know that without his knowledge, we may never be able to safely enter the realm rift and end Narkul for all time.
shifter
neutral good
Guthber Tomund
The source of the troubles that drew the attention of the heroes, Guthber played a small part in this centuries-long tale. Having traveled the world in search of a means of healing his brother Heleste, he eventually came upon the legends of the Hand of Narkul and its fate in the vaults beneath Aelmor Monastery. Using his training learned from the Royal Eyes of Aundair, he delved into the ruin and found the Realm Rift. Sadly, spending so much time near the rift warped poor Guthber's mind and physical form, and he began to kidnap fishermen from Sestone to send into the rift in hopes that even one could take hold of the Hand of Narkul and bring its power back to Eberron for Guthber's personal gain.
He received execution at the hands of Lord Ulfwyn Turval of Sestone because of these crimes.
change-
ling
neutral evil
Narkul the Collector
An ancient and powerful quori, Narkul's failed attempt to enter Eberron through the Welling of Worlds at Aelmor Island centuries ago cost him his hand, which tore away from the planar shear. Now, diminished and hateful, Narkul seeks a way to open the rift, regain his hand, and lead an invasion of monstrous quori to Eberron.
Long-lived and deliberate, he almost certainly has other plans in motion. He has been known, in typical quori fasion, to infect the dreams of his opponents with strange signs and nightmarish visions that can cause physical fatigue, and he can somehow even possess the minds of some and take over their bodies. He epitomizes the alien, uncaring mind of the darkness at the center of Dal Quor.
quori
lawful evil
Aurelius Vorden
Lord Vorden's advanced age and wealth suggests a large amount of political power. He travels continually in the company of capable bodyguards. The first encounter with him came when he rewarded Klaatu's bardic performance with a pouch of extremely old, pre-Galifar coins. Later, he met the heroes on the road east toward Duskthorn Forest, where he gave helpful advice on how to navigate the terrors within.
Strangely enough, Vorden has not brought much of his actual influence to bear on the threat presented by Narkul. Perhaps his idiosyncrasies will not allow it, or perhaps he simply has lost interest in the politics of Aundair, or Khorvaire at large.
In a fragment of a journal written by Anthomodus recovered by Piecemeal, the monk claimed he had originally received the Hand of Narkul from a man named Aurelius Vorden, but that must have happened at least two hundred years ago. Not to mention, the reliability of the maddened Anthomodus cannot readily be assumed.
human
unknown
Gemmana Lucillum
An emissary of the Arcane Congress of Aundair, apparently sent to Aelmor Island to study the realm rift. She is said to be a specialist in fire magic, though how that qualifies her to study planar phenomena, I couldn't say.
human
unknown
Heleste Tomund
The heroes first met Heleste in Aelmor Monastery, where he had taken up residence in an underground laboratory, researching the effects of the realm rift on villagers his brother Guthber had sent into the warping vortex.
At first, Guthber had pretended to be Heleste, so after some convincing, Heleste convinced the group to allow him to help them stop Guthber's madness, though he asked them to preserve his brother's life. He fled Sestone before he could be accused by the authorities, but has reappeared several times shadowing the heroes.
We have learned Heleste, along with Guthber, made up the "Iron Glove," a spy persona that had been partially responsible for the persecution of the Eldeen separatists during the war. After being captured by the remnants of the Circle of Monosis in Duskthorn Forest, he received an ironic curse, his right hand being malformed into a twist of useless thorns, by Tarnillo. His desire to be restored led him and his brother to first begin researching the Hand of Narkul, though Heleste abandoned the pursuit once he learned of the evil influence of the quori over the artifact. He remains a wild card in the entire plan to close the realm rift and defeat Narkul.
change-
ling
chaotic neutral
Kydos Vorden
Commander of the Bronze Legion in the Storm Coast, as the Sestone/Moonstone area is known, Kydos' friendly, heartily sincere manner has won him many friends both among his fighting companions, and among patrons at court. He has long dreamt of capturing the Blue-Eyed Storm, who he believes to be responsible for many murders in his domain. His dream came true only recently, when he captured the sorceress in a magecraft capacitor, though he did not keep her for long, having left an opportunity for Captain Galdan d'Lyrandar to prematurely depart in his airship before the cargo could be unloaded.
Kydos spends much of his time seeking other dragonborn to invite to join the legion, particularly dragonborn who match his bronze or other metallic dragon lineage. He doesn't talk about his origin or birthplace, but most people believe dragonborn come from a continent wholly separate from Khorvaire!
dragon-
born
unknown
Marlhy d'Sivis
A dragonmarked scion of House Sivis, Marlhy joined the adventurers as a chronicler upon the request of Lord Ulfwyn the Fair, who gave the heroes the choice of taking along a member of House Cannith or House Sivis.
To her credit, Marlhy does little to influence the group for good or ill, and her record-keeping has proven exquisite, though her studious, quiet nature has made no friends during our journeys. Still, she has always been available, and remains so, I assume, to copy notes, keep reminders, and otherwise be a better-than-average historian when needed, even if she's little help in a fight. I have asked her to contribute to the lorebook in the extremely rare cases where I may not be reliably objective.
I still have little information defining why Ulfwyn wanted her to tag along, but perhaps he was just a smart man who valued the preservation of history. I, of course, was not available in Sestone, at the time.
(Marlhy's Note: Neither do you belong to a prestigious house, neither do you have the Mark of Sivis that allows excellence in scholarship as I do. And there's your potential alcoholism.)
gnome
lawful neutral
The Blue-Eyed Storm
Believed to be an ancient storm sorceress, this being has a castle in the peaks of the mountains of Darkstone Pass. Legends surround her, usually warning travelers away from her domain, or relating some misfortune that befell a person who encountered her. Almost no one has seen her face, for it is said that to do so is death. Perhaps as a mercy, then, she appears only when cloaked in lightning and stormclouds.
Strangely, the Blue-Eyed Storm appeared when the heroes were returning from Aelmor Island after defeating Guthber Tomund. Tossed by the sea storms, their very lives might have been lost except for her appearing to deflect the winds and guide the boat into port. She has not been seen in person since.
According to Kronko of Moonstone, she rules over a nation of bulps who dwell in the rain-drenched caverns beneath the mountain pass. In fragments of a journal made by a monk at Aelmor Monastery, she was present during the madness of Anthomodus, though she did not intervene, and the monks had been ordered to steer clear of her.
unknown
unknown
The Gaoler
It guards over the "Prison Spire" in the city called Dreamwalk. It is served by horrors such as grell and intellect devourers. It murdered Taberta Blackworth, took over her body, and ran Moonstone through her puppeted flesh. This is no ally, but could it be bargained with?
unknown
lawful neutral
Zaharel
Exiled from the Circle of Monosis by her own father for her inability to keep their existence a secret, Zaharel met the heroes while serving Guthber Tomund reluctantly. Believing his lies, she had divulged her background to him, all the way down to the location of the remnants of the Monosis in the Duskthorn Forest. After helping defeat Guthber, she fled Sestone to avoid the same fate as he.
Before her father, Tarnillo, died at the hands of quori, he revealed that Zaharel, as a chieftain's daughter, had been taught the correct spells needed to use the Four Lanterns of Monosis to travel into and out of the realm rift. Naturally, we are still trying to find some sign of her, for if all the Lanterns can be united, she must be the one to take us into the rift to destroy Narkul and his dread hand forever.
shifter
chaotic neutral