Eberron Update: The Order of the Emerald Claw and Zombies

I said I was going to try to post one Eberron FAQ a week. Well, apparently the week starts on Tuesday. Enjoy.

QUESTION ONE

The Emerald Claw as a group, are they criminals and outlaws in all of Khorvaire or just Karrnath?

The Emerald Claw is essentially an onion… an organization with many layers.

At its heart you have the members of the original chivalric order – elite  soldiers, wizards, and necromancers dedicated to Karrnath and the Blood  of Vol. These people were some of the finest soldiers in the war. From the 4E ECG: “Its members have been praised for bravery, innovation, and toughness as often as they have been accused of flaunting tradition and  fomenting treason… none could dispute their discipline, training, and  readiness to give their lives in defense of the kingdom of Karrnath.” The Seeker chivalric orders – The Emerald Claw, the Ebon Skull, and others – played a vital role in the defense of the kingdom. But they were loyal first and foremost to the Queen of the Dead, and this made them a threat to the power of the Karrnathi crown… and every victory gave them and the Blood of Vol greater influence in Karrnath. Thus when they were no longer needed Kaius and Moranna turned on them and framed them, portraying them as fanatics, traitors, and criminals.

So at the heart you have the survivors of that unit. These are elite and deadly soldiers who served with distinction in the war. They have been branded as criminals, but the fact of the matter is that without their help, the shape of modern Karrnath could be quite different. There’s not a lot of these guys. They aren’t mooks or minions. They are enemies to be reckoned with. And they have every right to want vengeance on Kaius.

At the next layer you have the Karrns who have joined the Order since it was outlawed. These are Karrnathi patriots or loyal Seekers. Some of them despise Kaius for accepting the current peace. Others hate him for betraying the Blood of Vol after the faith saved the kingdom from defeat. Others simply believe that the Queen of the Dead will raise Karrnath to its rightful place in the world – or defeat death itself. So MANY Karrns have turned against the Order – but it still gets new Karrnathi recruits every day, and in a place like Sharn, the Karrnathi community is where members of the Claw are most likely to find support and shelter. This group forms the bulk of the Order, and these guys are the mooks and minions – anyone who’s willing to grab a sword and shout a slogan can join the fight.

And finally, you have the outermost layer – recent recruits from outside of Karrnath. The majority of these are veterans who feel (often rightfully so) that they have been abandoned by their own countries. Some are just in it for power and gold; others are nihilists who believe that it is time for the Queen of the Dead to reign over Galifar. This latter approach is one that often appeals to Cyran refugees. Their nation is a charnel pit; let Death reign over all.

Most of these people are fanatics who are truly dedicated to their cause. However, there are also the rotten spots on the onion. These are the people who care nothing for the proclaimed goals of the Order or the principles of the Blood of Vol, but rather seek personal power. This includes many necromancers who are drawn to the Order because it is one of the greatest knowledge bases for necromantic magic. Many of the leaders of the Order – including Erandis herself – fall into this category. The Order is simply a tool to these people, and the fanatic faith of their followers a convenient tool.

While the majority of the EC have sound motives for their actions, and while they have indeed been betrayed by Kaius and Moranna, the EC wasn’t ever intended to be one of the morally gray forces in the world. The EC pretty much exists to fill the role of pulp bad guy. They’re COBRA, or the Nazis in Indiana Jones movies. They may believe in what they are doing, but whatever it is, odds are good you don’t want it to happen. Thus, when you run into the Claw in Breland, it’s not their status as war criminals outlawed by the King of Karrnath that people will care about; it’s their status as an international terrorist organization that’s likely struck all of the Five Nations at one point or another. So you’ll generally only see them walking around in full regalia in public in a lawless city like Stormreach or Graywall… or when they are on a mission.

QUESTION TWO

Does anyone have lore on the creation of Karnathi Zombies?

For those who don’t understand the question, the Eberron Campaign Setting introduced Karrnathi skeletons and Karrnathi zombies. While similar to traditional undead, the Karrnathi undead possess superior skills and hit dice… and most important, they are intelligent. They are capable of speech and can make tactical decisions. But where do they come from?

As far as I know, there’s no canon answer to this. What the ECS clearly states is that they are “created from the remains of elite Karrnathi soldiers slain in battle” and treated alchemically. I’ve always maintained that the ritual involved is a secret of the Blood of Vol and that it is a ritual. Regardless of what system you’re using, this is an extended process in which the remains must be soaked in alchemical fluids; this isn’t something you do on the battlefield. Beyond this, let’s look at each piece of that canon description.

…created from the remains of elite Karrnathi soldiers slain in battle…
Karrnathi undead are far superior to the rank and file soldiers, who in Eberron are 1st level commoners or warriors. They have more hit dice. They have superior skills. They have damage reduction. They don’t eat, they don’t sleep, and they have darkvision. If you could slaughter your peasants and get an army of Karrnathi undead, you’d be a terror. Unfortunately for you, you can’t. The Karrnathi undead can only be created from the remains of elite soldiers – In my opinion, this requires a soldier whose level was equal to or greater than the hit dice of the undead you are trying to create. Thus, you have to lose an elite soldier before you can make an undead replacement.

…created from the remains of elite Karrnathi soldiers slain in battle…
Not only does he have to be an elite soldier, he has to be YOUR elite soldier. You can’t raise your opponents. Why? More on that later.

…created from the remains of elite Karrnathi soldiers slain in battle…
Your target has to go down fighting. You can’t slaughter him and bring him back, so no quick undead army for you. The element of his giving his life for your cause – going down on the battlefield, weapon in hand – is critical. If he dies outside of battle, the essence isn’t there.

Why could this be? In my opinion, it’s tied to speak with dead. SWD doesn’t interact with the spirit, but rather with the residual memories on the corpse. I see the same thing here. Residual elements cling to the corpse – devotion to the cause, experience with war, death in battle. The priests channel that and return the corpse to fight again.

With that said, Karrnathi undead are not in any way the people they were in life. They are intelligent and can speak, but they do not have the memories of the people they once were. This is why all Karrnathi skeletons possess the same skill set. In my opinion, Karrnathi undead should feel eerie and inhuman. They have returned to fight for the nation. They are, in essence, incarnations of war – slain in battle and returned to fight again. War is all that they care about. There’s no love, no “why am I here”, none of the “who am I” you can get with the warforged. There are no questions in the minds of the Karrnathi undead; they exist to kill the enemy. This is what ultimately makes the Karrnathi undead inferior to the warforged: they are not alive. They have no curiosity and are largely incapable of learning. They possess the same skills… and while a few can develop different skills, those would be strange exceptions developed for a particular story.

In selling the Karrnathi crown on the idea of using undead soldiers, the Blood of Vol assured Kaius that the undead are driven by loyalty to Karrnath – which is why you have to use the corpse of a Karrnathi soldier. With that said, it’s entirely possible they were lying. It’s just possible that they are motivated by loyalty to the Blood of Vol… or that there’s a switch that could be flipped when Erandis is ready. Kaius is no dummy; he doesn’t want to give up these troops, but he has isolated them in places like Fort Bones. So it’s a lingering threat, but one that would not come as a complete surprise.

With all this said, bear in mind that the Karrnathi military – both Blood of Vol and the secular Corpse Collectors – employ normal zombies and skeletons in addition to the elite Karrnathi undead. So they DO use skeletons and zombies made from the corpses of enemies, and you can find a first-level band of the Emerald Claw using normal, crappy 1 HD zombies. The Karrnathi undead are superior forces, created from superior corpses.