Kalashtar

*The following is the Adventurer's Guild's explanation for fitting the lore of the Kalashtar from Eberron: Rising from the Last War into the Forgotten Realms.*

## The Slumber of Merrshaulk

Long, long ago, the cobra-headed god Merrshaulk entered into a deep sleep. Neither the praise of his worshipers nor the plots of his enemies could awaken him from this slumber, so for centuries, the serpent god slumbered uninterrupted. In time, the deity began to dream. He dreamt of an ethereal, nightmarish realm- a dreamscape poisoned by the deity's wicked mind. With the passing of centuries, this dreamscape began to coalesce into a demiplane of its own; a realm of waking, serpentine nightmares crawling across an ever-changing world and tormenting each other endlessly. These nightmare spirits would eventually come to call themselves quori. In the fullness of time, some of the quori began to tire of the cruel nature of their domain and began poking and prodding at the boundaries of their home. Investigating the fabric of reality that separated their realm from the rest of the world, they eventually discovered holes- gateways to places entirely new to them.

## The Waking World

Eager to leave the nightmare that was their world behind, these curious investigators quietly slipped away from the quarrels of their kin, and into the Prime Material. There, they discovered a bright, exciting new world, filled with a thousand new sensations. Delighted by their discovery, these quori scattered themselves to the wind, intent on exploring their new world and experiencing the wonders it beheld. In time, however, the quori began to learn a saddening lesson. Made of immaterial dreamstuff, their forms could not interact with the real world. They could not taste, nor smell, nor feel, nor even truly see the lights that other creatures so enjoyed. Dispirited by this discovery, the spirits searched for a way to overcome this disability, and quickly found it in the bodies of humans.

## The Children of Dreams

By possessing humans, the quori could interact with the world as they did. This decision came at the price of robbing humans of their own free will and ability to experience the world. While a few quori ignored this high moral cost and freely controlled humans to experience their world, the rest made a harder choice. Merging themselves with willing humans, the quori melded into their minds, becoming a presence at the back of their mind. Eventually, these humans bore children with symmetrical features, glowing eyes, and the faintest presence of the quori in the back of their mind- the first Dreamwalkers, called Kalashtar amongst themselves, and Dreamfolk by the Rashemi.

## Kalashtar Homelands

Scattered around Toril, there are few places where the Kalashtar gather. They tend to stay away from populations of yuan-ti and their serpent cults, who are more than happy to sacrifice these mortal vessels to Merrshaulk. In all of Faerun, there is but one place where the Kalashtar gather and express their true nature- Rashemen. Here, the Rashemi are more used to people touched by spirits and spiritual forces. The Wychlaran of Rashemen are even known to take advantage of the Dreamfolk's wisdom and council, asking their aid in interpreting dreams.