A
Source of Inspiration
Disclaimer: Eberron is property of Wizards of the Coast. I am
not an employee of Wizards of the Coast, and any answers given
here are in no way sanctioned by Wizards of the Coast. This is
NOT official material, and may be contradicted in future Eberron
sourcebooks or articles. My answers are in this forum my
opinions and reflect how I might run a situation in MY personal
campaign – nothing more.
August 4, 2206
QUESTION: What sex were Khyber, Siberys and
Eberron, the original dragons of the creation myths?
It is generally accepted that Siberys is
male and Eberron is female. However, the legends disagree about the
gender of Khyber. Some say that Khyber is female, and that the fiends
and monsters of the underworld are her children. Others say that Khyber
is male, and the abominations attributed to him were born from drops of
his blood, or that he spat this corruption into the world as a lesser
dragon breathes fire.
One key point here, however: the creation
myth is commonly accepted to be metaphor. Even for those who believe it
to be literal truth, understand that Khyber, Eberron, and Siberys were
cosmic entities with little in common with the "true" dragons of the
modern day… so it's pointless to say "Was Eberron a red dragon?" If you
believe the legend, Eberron created the ENTIRE PLANET with her body,
while the remains of Siberys are a ring circling the world. This is a
world of magic, and it's possible that they were once living creatures
with draconic traits – but for an adventurer to fight one would be the
equivalent of trying to attack the Earth itself with a sword.
So given this, why are they called
dragons at all? For one thing, dragons are among the most majestic
creatures in the world, blending raw physical power with innate magical
talent. In a world where gods don't walk the earth, elder wyrms are
almost godlike in their power; and as such, they're an easy model for
people to use for the progenitors. Second, the dragons are the oldest
civilization (well, aside from the scattered Lords of Dust) in
existence, so essentially it's a case of people living with a draconic
vision of history. The first versions of the progenitor myth were likely
passed to humans by dragons; note also that the deities of the Sovereign
Host are often depicted as dragons, suggesting an early level of
draconic inspiration. The dragons themselves claim to be the first
children of Eberron and Siberys; again, only you can decide if this is
truth or metaphor!
QUESTION: What does Baron Merrix d'Cannith look
like?
Unfortunately, strange as it may seem, I
can't answer this question. His appearance hasn't been defined in any
official source, and as such, anything I write here would be certain to
be contradicted when someone does finally present Merrix in a sourcebook
or novel. However, there are things than can be deduced. As of 970 YK,
Merrix is still described as a "boy." I see him as being around 38 years
old today, which is actually fairly young considering the position he
holds.
Beyond trivial details of hair color, eye
color, and the like, what I think defines Merrix is his force of
personality. He has the sort of genius that you can feel when he
pins you with his gaze. He is also extremely dispassionate, and rarely
shows any sort of emotion; I suspect many people say he has less of a
heart than the warforged he creates. This is not to say that he is a man
without emotions… rather that he never reveals his thoughts to
others. By contrast to his forceful personality, I think he is
physically unimposing. He's not a strong man, and has never felt a need
to be; he has devoted his life to finding magical solutions to problems.
So, what does he look like? I can't tell
you. But he is a middle-aged man with an intense personality and a cold
demeanor. In D&D terms, he has an exceptional demeanor, but this is from
sheer force of character as much as appearance. If you're going to use
him as an NPC, I'll point out that he is supposed to be a true genius –
in other words, considerably smarter than most of us. It's hard to
represent true intelligence in D&D terms; this is more than skill points
and checks. Outwitting Merrix should be an exceptionally difficult
challenge, and the DM may have to cheat to represent this; a DM may fail
to recognize what the PCs are planning, but Merrix might have been
prepared. This doesn't mean that its impossible to pull something
off on him (especially for exceptionally skilled characters). But there
are no good rules for reflecting genius, and the DM should bear his
intelligence in mind.
And as a final note on that subject,
people may say "If he's such a genius, why is he only a 9th-level
artificer?" To begin with, in Eberron 9th-level IS a
remarkable level of skill. Second, intelligence and experience are to
separate things. Merrix still has much to learn about the skills of the
artificer, but he should make exceptional use of what he does know; he
does far more with his levels than other artificers of the house (a
subject I'll cover in the next installment). Third, if you want to use
Merrix as a recurring character in your campaign, you are certainly
welcome to have his level increase over time. There's nothing wrong with
raising his level to stay just a little ahead of the average levels of
the PCs, especially if you want to use him as a potential
antagonist/foil for the PCs. And finally, it's important to remember
that even the printed material is there for you to use or ignore. If you
WANT Merrix to be a 20th-level artificer… or a 1st-level
magewright with an overblown reputation… that's your choice!
Ask the
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