Q'Barra

**Q'Barra** is mostly a dangerous frontier nation recognized by the Thronehold Accords. Originally founded by Duke Ven ir'Kesslan, a Cyran refugee, the few civilized settlements continue to struggle against tribes of lizardfolk, Valenar warbands, Lhazaar raiders and Kobold marauders from the Endworld Mountains not to mention disease riddled swamp lands, dire and horrid lizards and dinosaurs. Q'barra is a land for the brave and the tenacious.

## Location

Lying on the eastern front of the Endworld Mountains and the long expanse of The Dragonreach it is easy to see why Q'barra remained untouched by civilized settlements for so long. The steamy jungles and sprawling swamplands that encompasses most of the landscape is a perfect habitat for dire and horrid animals as well as dinosaurs. The small shard of land is not completely inhospitable, however, as a small strip of fertile land lies in the southeast and other open expanses peel away from the jungle in places around the country.

## Society

Among the civilized races there are three distinct communities in the Adder Valley of Q'barra. New Galifar the last shattered bastion of the old empire shares the space with Cyran and Last War refugees. The New Galifarans are ruled by King Sebastes ir'Kesslan from the city of Newthrone with the help of a handful of noble lords. Refugees of the Last War have found themselves in a region known as Hope located in the southwest of Q'Barra. Here Elder Nevillom a veteran of the Last War acts as nominal leader over the community of refugees. Wyrmwatch is the most established city of this area having existed for about three years. Finally Cyran refugees carve out existance in both of these communities.

In addition to the civilized races there is a large contingent of lizardfolk tribes spread across Q'barra. The Blackscale Lizardfolk are hostile to the common races in Q'barra and bully the other lizardfolk tribes of the nation. They reside in the jungles around Haka'torvhak devoted to the black dragon Rhashaak. The Poisondusk Lizardfolk are spread throughout the northern regions of Q'barra and also revere Rhashaak, however their relationship with the Blackscales is more a humbled respect to the chosen warriors. Lastly the Cold Sun tribes are a coalition of 24 lizardfolk tribes that live in the north and east of the nation. Only seven of these tribes have territories that border the civilized settlements. Their relationship with the civilized races varies from tribe to tribe some embracing the civilized settlements and others living in fear of them. The Cold Sun tribes have an intense hatred for the Blackscale Lizardfolk, but are wary of going to war with them, however the Lords of Dust are attempting to fan these hostilities into flame.

### Power Groups

* Blackscale Lizardfolk
* Cold Sun Tribes
* The Dreaming Dark
* House Tharashk
* The Inspired
* The Lords of Dust
* New Galifar
* Poison Dusk Lizardfolk
* Rhashaak

## History

### The Age of Goblins

During the time of the Dhakaani Empire the lizardfolk resided on the Talenta Plains. The goblins drove the lizardfolk across the Endworld Mountains and into the unamed, uninhabited area of Q'barra. The lizardfolk begin to live in the Basura Swamp region sticking closely to the Torva River. Some scholars believe that these were the members of what are now the Cold Sun tribe and that both the Poisondusk and Blackscale Lizardfolk had their origins in Xen'Drik, this could explain the deep seated hostilities between these two sects of the same race, as well as their physical differences.

### Under Galifar

During the reign of Galifar the region called Q'barra by the Lhazaar princes was mostly ignored. Seen as an inhospitable territory dominated by lizardfolk and without any desirable resources many were content to leave Q'barra alone. During this time the lizardfolk tribes spread across Q'barra and established their tenuous peace after many long decades of guerilla fighting.

### The Last War

When the Last War began many who had put their loyalties in one united Galifar were psychologically shattered. Unwilling to profess their allegiance to one nation these patriots set out to found a new region that would hold to the old tennants of Galifar. Duke Ven ir'Kesslan petitioned for rights to settle the previously uninhabited region known as Q'barra. He was granted those rights and he took a flotilla of ships set out along the coastline to find a place to settle the first of what they believed would be many cities to come. The journey was doomed from the start. Rough seas and piracy thinned the number of flotillas down by nearly a third. Finally the beleagured caravan sojourned up Adder Bay and founded Adderport.

Over a decade Adderport slowly grew in size and the numbers of settlers swelled as more individuals, disenfranchised with the Last War sought refuge. As Adderport grew it quickly outgrew it's territory and new settlements spread out into what the people believed to be uninhabited Q'barra. They soon found that they had traveled over sites sacred to the Lizardfolk tribes. In 969 after 41 years of relative peace the settlements were attacked by the Cold Sun Tribes. The battles were bloody and suddenly those who sought refuge from the neverending conflict of the Last War found themselves thrown into an altogether new fight. Veterans of the Last War took charge as field commanders and trained up militia. After a year of bloody conflict the settlers managed to repel the lizardfolk with magical skills, advanced weapons and superior tactics. Five years after the Twilight Walkers, one of the Cold Sun Tribes, approached the capital city of Newthrone and sat down with King Sebastes ir'Kesslan. At first the nobles were skeptical but after a long week of discussions the two parties had come to a tenuous accord known as the Vhak Za'shata. Since then the Twilight Walkers have acted as a liason between the human settlements and the Cold Sun Lizardfolk tribes.

## Cities and Settlements

* Adderport
* Hope
* Ka'rhashan
* Newthrone
* Pitchwall
* Whitecliff
* Wyrmwatch

### Other Notable Features

* Adder Bay
* Basura Swamp
* Crimson River
* The Dragonreach
* Endworld Mountains
* Haka'torvhak
* Torva River

## External Links

* Keith Baker (05/16/2005). The Lhazaar Principalities, Part 2. *Dragonshards*. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.

* Keith Baker (04/18/2005). The Role of Dragons. *Dragonshards*. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.

* Keith Baker (08/08/2005). The Reach of Riedra, Part 1. *Dragonshards*. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.

* Keith Baker (03/21/2005). The Kobolds of Khorvaire. *Dragonshards*. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.

## Notes

**RFrenchJr**: Some parallels can be drawn between Q'barra and an old school New Orleans feel. Certainly the swampy terrain lends itself to the comparison, but also you have a struggling sense of high courtly order. Attempting to maintain a feudal society in a world where quite honestly that time has come and gone. Also you have the refugees hiding out beneath the polished veneer of the New Galifarans. A seedy underbelly beneath an austere court. Throw in the feel of an untamed frontier like the American West and you've got a good feel for what Q'barra is like.

## References

* ***Eberron Campaign Setting***.

Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, and James Wyatt (2004). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.

* ***Five Nations***.

Bill Slavicsek, David Noonan, and Christopher Perkins (2005). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3690-8.

* ***Player's Guide to Eberron***.

James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson, Steven Brown (2006). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3912-5.