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Khyber is the area beneath Eberron and said to be the body of one of the three Progenitor Dragons that created the world of Eberron.[2] It contains both mundane caverns and demiplanes to otherworldy realms.[2][3][4]

Geography[]

Khyber is a massive subterranean realm that is filled with fiends, aberrations, the daelkyr, bound overlords, and other monsters.[1][5][6] While the upper layers of Khyber are stone and dirt, the lower levels are a vast array of demiplanes with all sorts of strange contents.[2]

Geographical Features[]

Khyber is an alien world sprawling beneath the lands and oceans of Eberron, a labyrinth no surface dweller can hope to fully map. Its twisting tunnels and vast caverns defy reason, hiding designs that only madness could create. Great chambers serve as pastures for monstrous creatures, while immense chasms shelter forgotten cities carved or grown from the rock.[1]

Deeper beneath the surface lie horrors from ancient epochs, bound since the Age of Demons. Overlords remain imprisoned in dragonshards or arcane cells, while the daelkyr, remnants of Xoriat’s invasion, carve out their own warped kingdoms. Mind flayers and aboleths stalk these depths, commanding thralls and dreaming of dominion over the surface. Khyber’s depths are a breeding ground for unspeakable plans, as its denizens seek to shatter the sunlit world and plunge it into endless chaos.[1]

In the deepest reaches, Khyber twists reality itself. Its laws are not those of Eberron; colors unseen by human eyes glow from alien crystals, rivers of molten stone defy physics, and darkness becomes a living, oppressive force. Here, the very essence of the world warps, creating a realm of madness and wonder, an endless domain where nightmares roam and the eternal dark reigns supreme.[1]

Passageways to Khyber[]

Passageways to Khyber are rare, but not unknown. Both cultists of the Dragon Below and those who search for Khyber dragonshards below have reason to dwell on finding access to this place.[3]

Known passageways include but are not limited to:

History[]

Legends speak of a cosmic battle between three great dragons: Khyber, who slew Siberys, and Eberron, who bound Khyber within her coils to form the world. Eberron is seen as the nurturing earth, Siberys as the heavens, and Khyber as the dark depths—the progenitor of fiends, aberrations, and various horrors.[9]

In the Age of Demons, Khyber’s children ruled the land until they were imprisoned by powerful magic. The overlords (also known as "rakshasa rajahs" by the rakshasa who serve them, immortal and godlike fiends, remain trapped in dragonshard prisons, their influence seeping into the dreams of worshipers. Yet, deep within Khyber, other terrifying powers stir—less mighty than the rajahs but no less fearsome.[9]

Rumors & Legends[]

Khyber is believed to be a realm of endless darkness with sunless seas, demons, madness, and other horrors beneath.[3]

The Cults of the Dragon Below are infamous for their chaotic and deranged schemes, each born from the maddened minds of those devoted to the powers bound in Khyber. Their plots include spreading infectious madness, hosting grotesque feasts for aberrant patrons, and wielding forbidden artifacts like the Black Book, which curses its readers with taint and draws pseudonatural horrors.[10]

Some cultists aim to feed their monstrous creations, believing failure could unleash city-leveling horrors, while others seek power or mythical realms like Draaka’tarn. Many worship the daelkyr—alien lords like Belashyrra, Dyrrn, or Kyrzin—though their existence remains as much a question of faith as madness.[10]

Half-dragon aberrations are said to lurk in Khyber, the creations of a mad red dragon devoted to a Cult of the Dragon Below.[11]

Notable Locations[]

See also: Category:Locations in Khyber
  • Arak Yor: The city of Arak Yor rises within a vast chasm, its humanoid dwellings surrounding alien spires and pod-like structures of mind flayer design. Now long abandoned, legends speak of a being neither daelkyr nor overlord that is imprisoned atop the central spire, so maddeningly powerful it drove even the illithids to abandon the city. The abandoned city is now occupied solely by golems and other ancient constructs.[7]
  • Citadel of Lidless Eyes[7][12]
  • The Darkest Tides: A city of aboleth on a sunless sea who scheme to recover their lost lore and reclaim the seas of Eberron for themselves.[7]
  • New Noldrunthrone: The abandoned dwarven city of Noldrunthrone hides a thriving subterranean settlement far beneath it, where pale descendants of the Noldrun dwarves trade with outsiders beneath towering fungal groves. However, those who remain during the monthly Balatham's Feast risk becoming sacrifices to a dark power, facing hordes of cannibalistic zealots.[7]
  • Vale of the Inner Sun: A fabled realm that grants its inhabitants immortality under the light of an alien sun, while warping those dwelling there body and mind into aberrations.[4][5]
  • Zi'til'natek: A community of dromites connected to the surface of Adar.[13]

Inhabitants[]

See also: Category:Creatures found in Khyber

Khyber is populated by grimlocks, mad dwarves, and other ancient races, these shadowed enclaves thrive in darkness, cultivating towering fungi and harboring alien thoughts. While some communities trade with outsiders, even a small misstep can provoke fatal consequences, with visitors sacrificed to the powers of eternal night.[1]

Fiends and aberrations and foulspawn (such as dolgaunts, dolgrims, and dolgarr) wander the realm beneath.[3][5][6] Daelkyr are bound to their prison demiplanes, while Overlords lie in a torpor.[3][6]

Notable Inhabitants[]

See also: Category:Inhabitants of Khyber

Appendix[]

Further reading[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 James Wyatt and Keith Baker (2009). Eberron Campaign Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 199. ISBN 0-7869-5099-4.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Keith Baker, Jeremy Crawford, & James Wyatt (2019). Eberron: Rising from the Last War. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 135. ISBN 0786966890.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 David Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb (2009). Eberron Player's Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 150–151. ISBN 0-7869-5100-1.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Keith Baker (August 2012). “The Vale of the Inner Sun”. Dragon #414 (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 1–4.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Keith Baker, Jeremy Crawford, & James Wyatt (2019). Eberron: Rising from the Last War. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 283–284. ISBN 0786966890.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Keith Baker, Jeremy Crawford, & James Wyatt (2019). Eberron: Rising from the Last War. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 302. ISBN 0786966890.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 James Wyatt and Keith Baker (2009). Eberron Campaign Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 201–202. ISBN 0-7869-5099-4.
  8. David Noonan, Rich Burlew, & Frank Brunner (2005). Explorer's Handbook. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 93. ISBN 0-7869-3691-6.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Keith Baker (June 2005). “Touched by Madness”. Dragon #332 (Paizo Publishing), p. 39.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Keith Baker (June 2005). “Touched by Madness”. Dragon #332 (Paizo Publishing), pp. 41–42.
  11. James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson, Steven Brown (2006). Player's Guide to Eberron. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 45. ISBN 0-7869-3912-5.
  12. Keith Baker, Jeremy Crawford, & James Wyatt (2019). Eberron: Rising from the Last War. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 286. ISBN 0786966890.
  13. Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Glenn McDonald, and Chris Sims (2007). Secrets of Sarlona. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7869-4037-0.
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