Ixalan

Ixalan is a mid-size plane notable for its exotic fauna and exceedingly ancient ruins. Galactic visitors may be drawn to Ixalan by its pristine beaches and pleasantly warm climate, but past the shores, gigantic beasts stride through the jungle, the likes of which are seldom to be found elsewhere.

## Fauna

While Ixalan does contain some animals familiar to the galaxy at large, the vast majority of the fauna present on the plane belong to the clade Dinosauria. Ranging in size from a few centimetres to dozens of metres, these reptiles fill almost every niche of the food chain (including the top spots normally reserved for sapient species). Stories of Ixalan's dinosaurs echo throughout the Astral Sea: nearly every spaceport has a grizzled captain recounting the legends of titanic beasts with the strength to rival a hundred orcs. Notably, these dinosaurs appear to be much more primal than those found on Eberron: zoological opinion is divided on whether Ixalan's are a savage strain of Eberron's, or vice versa. Despite their great strength and ferocity, the Sun Empire has developed a reputation for domesticating and training them, for everything from mundane tasks to war steeds. These attempts at training are mostly limited to the herbivorous dinosaurs, although very skilled warriors will sometimes ride raptors. The mightiest of these creatures remain unbowed and roam the jungle as terrifying reminders of the supremacy of the wilds.

## Politics

Ixalan's political landscape is dominated by the **Sun Empire**, a theocratic absolute monarchy that claims dominion over all land. In reality, this claim rings somewhat hollow, as very little of the unending jungle has been explored. Nonetheless, the Emperor Apatzec Intli's armies command considerable respect from the other powers on Ixalan, not in the least because of the Empire's long history of taming and riding dinosaurs. The Empire is united in their worship of the Sun in three aspects: Kinjalli, the Wakening Sun, ordered and structured, and believed to be the origin of sapience; Tilonalli, the Burning Sun, passionate and ferocious, patron of love and war; and Ixalli, the Verdant Sun, warm and communal, who fosters growth in all things. Together, they form the Threefold Sun, the dominant religion on the plane.

Rivalling the Empire is a loose confederation of smugglers, scammers, grifters, and pirates known as the **Brazen Coalition**. Much of this group is composed of offworlders who seek a fortune in the legends of cities of gold, or in the much less mythical but much more dangerous career of dinosaur smuggling. The Sun Empire considers the Brazen Coalition to be heretics, stealing the bounty of the Threefold Sun for personal gain.

The **Veiled Thorn** is the shattered remnants of a vampiric culture from across the sea. As the legend goes, they were once prosperous and dominant. But their lands were devastated by an unknown cataclysm that brought about the transformation of all their citizens into vampires, as well as leaving their continent sunken beneath the waves. Despite an attempt at forging a new empire, the ascension of the Sun Empire shattered their colonial reign. They now exist as hidden figures in the night, preying on those they catch unawares. Rumour holds that they seek to restore their dark god of night and overthrow the Threefold Sun.

Other groups include roving tribes of merfolk, various dinosaur-worshipping kobold cults, and the rare but notable tieflings of unknown provenance that nonetheless secure positions of great power within either the Coalition or the Empire.

## Ruins

Those who seek deep within Ixalan's jungles may come across ruins. To the unobservant, they are quickly dismissed as old Sun Empire pyramids, or perhaps remnants from the Veiled Thorn's brief reign. But looking closer reveals irregularities: entire buildings carved from a single block of stone, strangely beautiful structures that resonate with the calls of the dinosaurs, and the odd metallic ruin that bears a striking resemblance to the latest hypothetical designs for spelljamming vessels, but with an age that places them well before the invention of interplanar travel. These ruins are considered sacred by the Sun Empire, and so research on them is highly limited. Nonetheless, several universities have expressed extreme interest in mounting an expedition to them, most notably Skaihame University's chancellor, Socks Fuzzworthy.