The game is currently closed for applications. Thanks for your interest! If you'd like to lurk and read the game threads, drop me a PM.

Welcome to the Fractured Tower!

5e games, especially Eberron 5e games, are scarce on RPoL. So I will be highly selective in choosing the players for this game. My biggest criteria is writing passion and familiarity with Eberron. If you're looking for a brainless hack-and-slash, this isn't a game for you. The main focus of the game will be on one hand exploring Eberron and in particular its magic, and on the other telling a compelling story through character development

This is a 5e campaign set in the world of Eberron. This PbP iteration will be based on a game I am running for my friends as a tabletop (well, during the pandemic, mostly online). I figured it would be interesting to see how the game will develop with a different set of players. I am hoping to write it up into an adventure module and offer it at DMs Guild at some point, so this game will serve as a writing playground for that.

I will be accepting four players for this game. For your characters, you will be able to choose from a set of premade characters. The premade characters are general concepts with a brief history and a hook into the campaign. The concept sets their gender, name, class, race, Dragonmarked House and some basic information about them. You will be free to stat them out how you see fit for the game.

When applying, please supply the following information:

• What's your previous experience with DnD, Eberron, and play by post?
• How often can you post?
• Three of the proposed characters, ranked by your interest to play them.
• For each of the chosen characters, why did you choose them and what would you like to explore in game by playing them?
• One paragraph writing sample written from the perspective of one of the three characters you chose to play.

Do not waste time by already stating the characters out. You can do that after you're accepted to the game.

I will be accepting RtJs for a few days (I'm expecting an inundation of applications so I won't set a date yet when I'll stop accepting RtJs; keep an eye on this thread). I will take my time in trying to select the players who will best fit in the game.

Before applying to the game, please read the threads Information about the Twelve and Game Rules.

Mature rating of the game

This is a serious game which will explore some mature content when the story leads us there. This does not mean the game is here to engage in adult themes for their own sake; so we will not engage in explicit description of any behavior which would require an adult tag. From RPoL's mature policy:



Character concepts offered to play

These are the character concepts I am offering for you to play in the game. Each character will come with a short prelude which explains how they exactly arrived to the Twelve. All characters will be acquainted with each other at the beginning of the game (they spent a year at the Twelve) but they will not be a group of friends...yet.

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1. Wizard 3, House Sivis (gnome): Vylam Santor d’Sivis
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Foreigner to Khorvaire

Vylam Santor was born 78 years ago in Pylas Talaear on the island of Aerenal. His father held the lofty title of the only Stonekeeper on Aerenal; tasked with running the office around the Sending Stone in the Sivis outpost. Vylam was the only child of his parents (his mother was a maritime law barrister in the vast port). Vylam grew up in opulence, but in a strange world – a Sivis gnome immersed in the death-obsessed society of Aereni elves. He showed aptitude for magic at a young age, and his parents had him trained in conjuration with the elven mage Isylnor the Brash. Three years ago, Vylam finally made the decision to leave Aerenal and return to Khorvaire for the first time in his life. Since the war has ended, and considering his magical aptitude, his father pulled some strings among the Sivis Santors and secured his only son a position of journeyman-in-training at the Twelve.

Quirk: Vylam grew up among the eternal Aereni elves. He is not used to the company of short-lived races; their haste, odd views about death or the frantic industry with which they approach life. At the same time, he feels compelled to immerse himself in Khorvaire, creating an internal conflict that might rock his whole character.

Hook: The condition for his position that his father could not avoid was for Vylam to use his time at the Twelve to learn as much as he can about the Lyrandar Director, Khorvar d’Lyrandar. Vylam doesn’t know to whom his father owes this informatuon, but he will try his best to report anything he finds to his father. Of course, as a true scion of his House, he will report by sending regular letters through Sivis messaging stations.

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2. Wizard 3, House Cannith (human): Maud d’Cannith
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Warforged Advocate

Maud d’Cannith is a promising scion of House Cannith with a peculiar obsession: she wants warforged to realize their full rights and potentials outside of the yoke of House Cannith. She started her career in the Metrol Creation Forge, as one of the apprentices maintaining the complicated Creation Forge that was churning out warforged for the war effort. There she met Righteousness, a warforged bound for the Thranish army after his training. Against all odds, they fell in love in the weeks when Righteousness was trained in her corps, and they sustained their relationships through letters in the years of war that would follow. A few days before the Mourning, Maud quit her job in Metrol and hastily made her way to Thrane, from where Rightousness would soon be shipped south, to the battle lines in Cyre. They were planning to elope before the massive military action. Unfortunately, Maud was delayed and she was just crossing the border on the day when the Mourning happened. She saw the mists rolling over the land across the border. She spent the next two years frantically searching for her lost partner, and they finally met in Sharn. She found work as an apprentice in Merrix d’Cannith’s workshops. Upon learning about the illegal Creation Forge, Maud made a firm decision; she would go and stop the Cannith’s brash ambition at one of the rare places that can still hope to reign it in: The Twelve. She enrolled in the new journeyman project and found herself in Korth. Righteousness joined in her relocation.

Quirk: Maud detests her House. Not only that she detests the way most of her family treats warforged, but she also secretly blames them for the Mourning and the loss of Cyre (who else could produce such magical devastation but the Canniths?!).

Hook: Maud is looking for allies at the Twelve, someone powerful enough who could wield enough influence to first stop Merrix d’Cannith, and then maybe even reform the whole House. Who knows, maybe she could do it by becoming the matriarch herself?

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3. Wizard 3, House Tharashk (half-orc): Imsh’aashta d’Tharashk
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Tortured Soul

Imsh’aashta is an old half-orc who was born 63 years ago in Zharash’ak. His parents, both prominent scions of the House in the day, decided for their son to bring magic to the House. They sent him to study divination at the Arcanix, and the boy obliged. After arduously finishing his studies at the Aundairan college, Imsh’aashta settled in Fairheaven where he ran a small trade school for Tharashk wizards in the local enclave. He lived there for decades, teaching the young half-orcs, humans and orcs magic. This all came to an end when a portent came to him in his sleep: Go to Q’barra and serve your House there. Imsh resisted for a year, but he capitulated after the enclave suffered a flash fire and burned to the ground. He travelled to Q’barra, and against all odds, started joining the dragonshard expeditions sponsored by the Finder’s Guild. During one of the last expeditions in Q’barra, a freak accident happened that changed Imsh probably for the rest of his life. He quickly liquidated all his assets and bought a place in the journeyman program of the Twelve, to try and learn what has happened to him.

Quirk: Imsh is old, in pain and lonely. He has a brash exterior, but he’s terribly scared and feels abandoned. He will jump at the opportunity of allies or even friends; especially if they help him solve the conundrum on his body.

Hook: The freak accident Imsh was involved was an attack by a large group of kobolds. They murdered most all of his expedition except of Imsh, who they dragged to some sort of a cave temple and implanted a fist-sized Khyber dragonshard into the flesh and bone on his chest. Few weeks in captivity have passed, and the rescue party came for Imsh. They slaughtered the kobolds, leaving Imsh wondering what the shard is and why did they choose him. No healing magic managed to remove it, and the sinister object often pulsates with pain and energy, whispering into his waking and sleeping mind.

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4. Artificer 3, House Cannith (human): Detlev Barthus d’Cannith
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Seeker of the Divinity Through the Forge

Detlev d’Cannith is the youngest son of Zorlan, the Primus of the Twelve. This, however, does not provide the young man with any boons: him and his father are not on speaking terms for the past three years. Brought up in a household of devout Seekers, Detlev spent most of his life in between details of Volian theology and the artificer’s workshop. His mother, Annushka Barthus Cannith, brought up her son in a much softer, kinder faith than that of his father. And this proved to be an ultimate bone of contention between father and son. It all broke apart when Detlev overheard his father’s meeting with an emissary from Atur, spelling out fresh missives and directions from no other than a cell of the Emerald Claw. Detlev could not believe his ears. Tomorrow morning, he escaped his family’s Korth mansion and eloped first to Aundair and then to the Eldeen Reaches. There, he made a living as a tinkerer and started on his quest to come up with a way of extending his search for divinity through other ways: by building himself a new body instead of undeath his father seemed to be so keen on.

Quirk: Detlev is a brilliant but anxious young man. He is in a desperate need of allies, because it’s just a matter of time until his authoritarian father quashes his youthful ideas, and by doing so, Detlev’s spirit too.

Hook: Detlev returned to the Twelve because he figured he could only progress in his search if he faced his fears, not run from them. Besides, there was no other place in Khorvaire that could offer the facilities the Twelve had. So here he is, and he spends the nights secretly toiling on plans and formulas to start replacing his body parts with warforged magitech.

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5. Artificer 3, House Kundarak (dwarf): Zannakarak d’Kundarak
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Scholar of Dhakaan

Zannakarak d’Kundarak is quite infamous among her peers – coming from a family of powerful ministers in House Kundarak, Zanna rejected most of the privileges of her youth to join and help in the effort of the war Down Below in the Mror Holds. Of course, she offered her services as a Kundarak does, but she was there both with her heart and skin in the game, defending the dwarven ancestral homes for the decades of her youth. While the rest of Khorvaire fought the War Above, she was shoring up defenses and fighting tooth and nail below. After an outpost was lost – one that she helped defend and fortify for a decade – something broke in Zanna. She knew that they would lose if they just kept at it as is. After thinking about it for a long while, she made the trip to the Twelve, to consult with a family friend there – no other than Director Ardurnam d’Kundarak. He pointed her in a peculiar direction: the long-lost ruins of the goblinoid empire of Dhakaan. There, she would find the knowledge she was looking for to shore up the war against aberrations.

Quirk: Zanna is a weathered and experienced warrior, despite her age (she is just 73). She carries a lot of traumatic memories from the tunnels below the Mror Holds, which appear to her in her dreams or sometimes when she’s under stress during her waking hours.

Hook: Zanna’s ultimate goal is to mount expeditions to Darguun and other places that host ruins of ancient Dhakaan. She will search all Khorvaire for any and all magical knowledge or engineering that could help in their war. She is in it for a long-game: first to build up her position at the Twelve, then achieve the rank of a Grandmage and organize her own workshop and team.

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6. Sorcerer 3, House Lyrandar (half-elf): Xani d’Lyrandar
Visual Inspiration

Concept: A Refugee from Her Own House

Xani is one of the foundlings of House Lyrandar. She was born and raised in the Eldeen Reaches, in a large family of farmers. When she was a teenager, her dragonmark manifested suddenly. Her mark and her magic came together, as if they sprung from the same source. The next planting season, when the travelling raincaller visited their farm, he took her with him to the House enclave south in Wroat. They flew her out to Stormreach and she soon found work in the Windwrights Guild. She climbed the ranks fast, and within two years, she was one of the House agents aboard one of the jewels in the Lyrandar crown – an airship. The airship in question was called Khoravar’s Dream, and it was captained by the dashing Lady Nalani d’Lyrandar. Soon, a relationship developed between Nalani and Xani, and the romantic entanglements lead to Xani becoming the First Mate of Khoravar’s Dream. The following year was the most beautiful in Xani’s life – she was literally on top of the world. When it all came crashing down, she used her savings to land a position at the Twelve, hoping that the old institution’s walls would keep her safe. In her mind, only new friends in other Dragonmarked Houses could.

Quirk: Xani is a quintessential Lyrandar heir – charming, talkative, energetic and seemingly without a worry. On the inside though, she is deathly afraid of Nalani and her allies coming after her. As a foundling, she has no political clout in the complicated internal system of House Lyrandar. Nalani and her friends might not try to kill her, but they will most definitely attempt to destroy her life.

Hook: What ended the relationship with Nalani and Xani’s posting aboard her ship was Nalani inviting Xani to join the Storm Front; a secretive cult within House Lyrandar aimed at dominating the whole of Khorvaire. Xani was abhorred, and after a night-long argument (that dragged a storm above Valenar) she disembarked the ship and ran for her life.

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7. Sorcerer 3, House Phiarlan (elf): Firae Tialaen d’Phiarlan
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Lhazaraan Vagabond

Firae grew up in a travelling troupe of actors and musicians in the Lhazaar Principalities. Her uncle led the group, and besides her parents, only the three of them were elves, Phiarlans at that. They had a small ship and travelled in the archipelago earning their fare in the port cities and their taverns. She spent her first century with the troupe, even though her mark manifested at a young age. On the other hand, her magic took its time, manifesting just as she reached adulthood. The magic was overbearing, it took over her life. She could barely control it and after an episode in which she almost burned down half of the town they were staying in, she decided she needed instruction to handle this. Consulting with her parents, they first sent her to Breland, to Phiarlan’s Demesne of Shadow. She spent a year there, but no Phiarlan mage could help her with her conundrum: the magic was volatile and explosive, and often beyond her control. After that excruciating year, the Phiarlans in Wroat found a place for her in the Twelve. She soon realized she would need to learn much about Eberron’s planes to understand what has happened to her and what lead to this blessing and a curse that coursed through her veins.

Quirk: Firae is confident and headstrong. She is a daughter of independent people, who kept out of war and politics and all the usual business of the Dragonmarked Houses. At the same time, that puts her at a disadvantage: a Heir of the House only in title, she will need a lot of guidance to navigate a place as treacherous as the Twelve.

Hook: Firae’s magic has an unknown origin, and it drew the attention of one of the Grandmages of the Twelve, the Sivis planar expert Bambuk Lyrriman d’Sivis. Bambuk hopes to use Firae’s affliction as a window into the manifestation of Kythri and Thelanis on Eberron.

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8. Hexblade 3, House Medani (half-elf): Oleg d’Medani
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Accursed by the Mourning

Today, Oleg d’Medani is just nineteen years old. On the day the Mourning happened, when he was fifteen, him and his mother were on the Brelish border with Cyre. Mother was investigating a particularly dreadful murder case in this gods-forsaken village, and the boy shadowed her since he would be joining the Guild next year. He needed the training. He was sitting in an orchard, looking east, when the mists started rolling from afar. They stopped only a kilometer from where he sat, but he did not see them stop. He was already lying on the floor, in a state of catatonic shock, when his mother finally found him. He spent a month in a coma, and when he came about, his magical powers started manifesting. The whole enclave in Wroat started saying the mists had entered his soul through his eyes and were there to stay. Four years he suffered through the gossip and the scared glances of his family and kin, and after a while, he figured he could not take it anymore. He had to leave, and he had to go someplace where he could learn more about the Mourning. A perfect place crystallized in that: the institute of the Twelve.

Quirk: Oleg finally feels he can breathe again, in the relative anonymity of Korth and the Twelve. His year here passed in a breeze and he is finding himself; his temperament and character. But what happened four years ago looms large over his head, and it’s just a matter of time until it creeps its misty tendrils into his life again.

Hook: Oleg found a mentor in the strangest of people, in the Director Amadou d’Vadalis. He isn’t exactly clear why Amadou took an interest in him (maybe he just likes him?), but he’s sure not to question it too deeply. He often enjoys weekends in the Director’s dacha and libraries.

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9. Bard 3, House Orien (human): Killian d’Orien
Visual Inspiration

Concept: Purveyor of Dreams

Killian Huym Adolphus Urko d’Orien was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His mother is the Lady Seneschal of Breland in House Orien, which meant that Killian spent most of his young life in the metropolis of Sharn. He didn’t amount to much – other than manifesting a mark during a drunken race among the towers and dabbling in magic through classes at the Morgrave University, Killian didn’t have much in plan for his life, other than drink, carouse and gamble. One night, he ended up in a high-end dreamlily den where he met Lakashtari. The exotic kalashtar woman became his obsession in the months to come. She taught him something he could not imagine doing – every night, they would meet and she would lead him into a meditative sleep where they would dream together. And they dreamt of everything. One night he was a Giant Emperor in some long-lost city of Xen’drik. The other, he was a dragon soaring high above the Demon Wastes. The third, he was a deer running through the jungles of Aerenal. The dreams were opiatic, something he never dared he could experience. His adventures with Lakashtari lasted for two months, when one night, she just disappeared without a trace. He spent a small fortune of his mother’s money on finding her, to no avail. The last trace a Tharashk detective found led to the Riedran Embassy in Sharn, but their walls were impenetrable. He drowned his sorrow in a month of dreamlilly binging, but that was just a pale shadow of his time with Lakashtari. After that, when he awoke from the haze, he realized what a true Orien would do. He would take his desperate obsession and turn it into a business venture. Within a month, he was a journeyman-in-training at the Twelve, with the high hope of creating a machine that would let him dream again.

Quirk: Killian is a flamboyant rich boy. He’s also a drug addict and a dabbler in magic, music, history, planar cosmology and the history of Zil mercantile empire. He’s a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, and a handful of horrible vices too.

Hook: Most of the members of the Twelve think the young man’s mission at the institute is insane. What would it even mean to dream together? To persuade somebody with actual magical aptitude for innovation, Killian would need to find some sort of proof, or somebody with Lakashtari’s talents. Or just strike out with some sheer dumb luck.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:59, Tue 08 Dec 2020.

The game will start in 998YK. All PC characters were part of an intense one-year long program concluding in the CAMMs. The Twelve issued a call to all Dragonmarked Houses to send "scions and retainers of exceptional talent" to be trained at the institute, and if they managed to graduate through the tests at the conclusion of the year, all those willing will be enrolled as journeypersons third-class at the Twelve. This initiative was started because the Twelve Directors wanted to turn a new page in Twelve organization, moving the institute from its war-footing arms production and research to more regular lines of research.

The tests were concluded a week before game start, and all the PC characters have passed them. They will start by looking for work and supervision as the lowest ranked journeypersons at the Twelve.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:04, Fri 04 Dec 2020.