Stormreach

An oasis of Khorvairian civilization before one reaches the wilds, Stormreach is known as the Gateway to Xen’drik. It is the starting point for nearly all exploration into the Continent of Mysteries
Stormreach is a rapidly expanding frontier city nestled on the eastern coast of the Skyfall Peninsula in Xen'Drik. Stormreach is an important city because of its location, allowing easy docking access to travellers wishing to enter Xen'Drik. The city also acts as a centre for trade and commerce for all who visit the lost continent of Xen'Drik. Stormreach is known by some as the "City of Dungeons" because it was built atop an ancient city from the long-lost Xen'Drik civilization of giants.

Demographics

Stormreach’s population is an eclectic mix of races, with styles and fashions from across the world. Natives of Xen’drik prefer various forms of spirit or ancestor worship, whereas immigrants from Khorvaire continue their worship of the Sovereign Host, the Silver Flame, or occasionally the Blood of Vol.

Government

Following a coup less than 4 years ago, the city is now ruled by the Council of the Storm. The head of the Council is the Storm Lord, Yorrick Amanatu a dwarf who turned on the other Storm Lords in the coup to seize power. Second to the Storm Lord is the Harbour Lord who is elected by captains of all the ships that call Stormreach their home port.
The Council is also made up of three Dragon Lords, representatives from House Lyrandar, House Deneith & House Ghallanda. Finally there is the Ward Councilers, nine councilers selected from each ward of the city.

Law & Order

Stormreach Guard: The Guard are still coming to term with the new status quo. For the most part, they're a lax group, who will do the minimum that their job requires.
The Iron Watch: An elite group of warforged, they were instrumental in the coup. After the war, many warforged found themselves without a place in society, and much resentment from the public at large, some of them moved to Xen'Drik to create new lives for themselves. A few of those bound together to form the Iron Watch, to secure their place in this new world.

History

A community of some sort has existed in Stormreach’s location since time immemorial. The current city was constructed under the aegis of the Kingdom of Galifar and the dragon marked houses after they managed to clear out a pirate sanctuary, which in turn was built on ancient giant ruins that still protrude from the city’s foundation. Buildings of wood and stone that would seem at home in any city on Khorvaire stand beside ancient monoliths and repurposed pyramids. The city is divided into districts and wards, each with a unique culture and story.
The city started as just a port built atop the ruins of an ancient giant city. This port was once a haven for the pirates and smugglers who plied the Thunder Sea intercepting the earliest expeditions from Khorvaire to Xen’drik. The kingdom of Galifar drove the pirates from the peninsula, and the city of Stormreach was founded in 802 YK. For many years it was ruled by "The Storm Lords", five pirate lords who held almost absolute power and passed down their title hereditarily, though they worked in close association with the Dragonmarked Houses.

The Last War

During the last war, many fled, most refugees went to Q'barra or even The Eldeen Reaches, however, some wished to flee Khorvaire entirely. Those that wished to and who could afford to, Stormreach made a reasonable destination. One of the few Khorvairan settlements that was truly neutral and very separate from the war. They built a small community for themselves.
Following the Mourning the number of refugees skyrocketed, Cyrans looking for a new homeland, others fleeing the chance of a second Mourning and of course war criminals hoping to escape retribution. The city grew wilder and wider.
Then, magic began to weaken and fail, it was long known that dragonshards enhanced and strengthen magic. It was also well known that Xen'Drik was richer in Dragonshards than anywhere else in Eberron, it wasn't long before a shardrush started and a whole new influx of people was flocking to Xen'Drik. The skyrocketing price of dragonshards, and the lack of stability in the city quickly lead to a massive increase in crime. The dragonmarked houses, who were the primary buyer of these shards were unhappy with this arrangement, so with a single Storm Lord they launched a coup in the city in 997YK, installing a new government system much like that of Sharn.

Architecture

Many of Stormreach’s buildings and monuments are ancient, but while many old cities are built upon the refinement and expansion of a style, Stormreach is built upon change, upon necessity, upon the mixture of many styles, both ancient and modern.

Broken Pillars

Stormreach is full of broken pillars of various degrees of antiquity, though few remain standing. Those that do are significant landmarks. These snapped-off columns once supported the roofs of giants’ dwellings or decorated the outsides of their temples. Now they serve other purposes. Some have been turned into watchtowers, helpful in spotting fires and directing firefighting efforts. Others have become so encrusted with ropes and ramshackle dwellings that they resemble a rock covered in mussels. Most, however, have suffered the fate of being quarried for stone to pave roads, patch city walls, and build new dwellings.

Floating Ruins

The magic of Xen’drik is legendary, and the faded glory of the past can still be seen in Stormreach today. The city had a number of floating fortresses, mansions, and towers in past centuries. Time, war, and disaster broke them, but remnants float in place or drift in patterns above the city, and sometimes beyond.
Some of the ruins remain serviceable, albeit ramshackle, and a few wealthy citizens have claimed them for their own, patching and rebuilding them. Other floating chunks of masonry are treated like islands, built upon by enterprising people. Under a few of the larger chunks, wooden homes hang perilously and are reachable by knotted ropes and ladders, which can be drawn up, affording the inhabitants a secure, if precipitous, existence.

The Narrows

The ancient city was laid out according to a plan devised by the giants, but few signs of that plan remain. Each occupying culture has complicated it, and each collapse has wrought new chaos upon what was once an ordered city.
The ancient city’s decline and the organic, unplanned development of its successors have turned the streets into a tangle, which changes with every wave of immigrants, every flood, and every fire. The city is further reconfigured by the occasional collapse of sewers, tunnels, and caves beneath it.
The upshot of this for visitors is that aside from a few broad streets the Storm Lord keep clear by decree, the city is a mess of narrow and ever-changing streets. Getting lost is easy, especially in the residential districts where the layout is far more complicated.

The Rigging

Stormreach was not originally built for the people who live there now. For much of its history, it was occupied by giants, and its buildings recall that past, from its enormous drains to its high steps and towering columns. A human or elf, let alone a halfling or gnome, would have a difficult time climbing over and around these edifices were it not for “the rigging.” When citizens mention the city’s rigging, they mean the steps that have been carved into some massive stones or the wooden ladders and staircases bolted into or leaned against others. Or they mean the nets and knotted ropes they use to scramble over the ruins or the rope bridges, high above the streets, that crisscross the city. Where the ropes and bridges are especially dense, shanties are suspended in the air, often from the underside of a floating ruin.

Notable Locations

The Chapterhouse: This joint venture between House Phiarlan and House Ghallanda provides accommodations and entertainment, and it is a favourite spot for information peddlers and high-priced mercenaries. The Chapterhouse is the place to find out what ships have recently arrived in or left port, what they were carrying, who was on board, and what their business in Xen’drik is.
The Citadel of the Twelve: This arcanists’ enclave is jointly owned and operated by all twelve thirteen dragonmarked houses.
House Jorasco Enclave: The Healers Guild maintains what is essentially an urban hospital near Stormreach’s harbour. It provides the best medical attention on the continent.
Temples: Numerous faiths are represented in Stormreach, and temples are spread across the city. The keep of the Silver Flame is the largest, and it was established before the beginning of the Last War. The church sends numerous missions into the Xen’drik heartland in an attempt to spread the faith of the Flame to the settlers and prospectors there.
Smaller temples are dedicated to the deities of the Sovereign Host or the Dark Six. However, more than a few shrines feature those familiar deities in strange guises, including a pantheon of ancient giant gods that bear a striking resemblance to the Sovereign Host.
The Red Ring: The civilised nations of Khorvaire may frown on blood sports, but the cosmopolitan peoples of Stormreach have no such scruples. An astonishing array of events occur in this arena, as gladiators do battle with giants, fantastic beasts and each other. Not every battle is fought to the death, but in combat with the creatures of Xen'Drik, anything can happen. The participants in the area are called the bloodbound. Some participants choose to join the bloodbound for glory. However, the Storm Lords often sentences criminals to become bloodbound.
The Black Wrack: In a city known for drinking and colourful characters, no establishment has more of the two than the Black Wrack. Proudly declaring itself Stormreach’s biggest tavern.
The tents of Rushemé: This tent city is home to a shifting assortment of nomadic giants as they come to trade with the city.

Maps

• 

  Stormreach

Alternative Name(s)

The Gateway to Xen'Drik, The City of Dungeons

Type

City

Population

38,200

Included Locations

• The Chapterhouse

Owning Organization

Storm Council

Characters in Location

• Adrastea Mercury
• Birne d’Deneith
• Erias Shol d'Phiarlan
• Heren d’Ghallanda
• Korbek Ghedin d'Kundarak

Related Reports (Secondary)

• In from the Wilds

Related Historical Events

• 997 YK
  Stormreach Coup