(Morgrave Miscellany)
Merrix d’Cannith pioneered House Cannith’s use of automatons during the Last War, but it was his son, Aaren d’Cannith, who created the first true warforged. Aaren was a philosopher searching for meaning, but House Cannith was only interested in weapons. Succeeding in repurposing Aaren’s work, the moniker “warforged” was Merrix’s invention, and cemented the martial purpose of the beings in their very identity. Aaren d’Cannith protested what he saw as the abuse of his creations and fought to prevent the production of warforged soldiers. For his efforts, Aaren was excoriated from House Cannith in 970 YK and disappeared into the shadows of Khorvaire.
Despite his best efforts, Aaren lacked the resources to change the course of House Cannith and he was furious that his creations were being condemned to the drudgery of lives in a state of endless war. His obsession with stopping the war led him to prioritize his remaining assets toward further research, working to understand the warforged he had created more fully. Any spare time was devoted to his second love, the Draconic Prophecy, and over time these two obsessions blended together in more than philosophical terms. Aaren located a rare convergence of planar influence somewhere along the borders of Cyre and constructed a hidden forgehold, which he would later dub the “Dragonforge” in his notes. He experimented with unusual materials, blending dragon scale and bone into the construction of the warforged, and timing the moment of creation to align with the planes and moons. In 993 YK, he created the first of his dragonforged. He continued to develop and train these living constructs, but his efforts were brought to a sudden halt by the devastation of the Mourning.
Rumored to have been away from his Dragonforge on the Day of Mourning in 994 YK, Aaren hasn’t been seen since. The location of his forgehold and the creation process of the dragonforged remain entirely unknown, save for scattered pages of partial notes found by relic hunters and scavengers across the wastes and craters of the Mournlands. Treasure seekers believe the presence of these notes would indicate that the Dragonforge was lost in the devastation of the cataclysm, its workshops collapsed, and enchantments broken or transformed into deadly living spells that wander the badlands.
However, the existence of these dragonforged, all seemingly unaffected as the Mourning obliterated Cyre, and their inability or unwillingness to recall the events surrounding their appearance, leave some to wonder if they are simply agents of a conspiracy to misinform any possible explorers, or to keep House Cannith from corrupting this contribution as Aaren’s father did before. In the wrong hands, a Dragonforge might recalibrate the draconic prophecy, possibly altering Eberron’s future in unimaginable ways.
Regardless of whether Aaren d’Cannith returns, or if the Mourning buried the Dragonforge in rubble and forced the dragonforged, alone and afraid, into the shattered lands of Cyre, these draconic constructs have been left to find their own way in the world, and not even Aaren knows if they will fulfill their part in the Prophecy.
As a dragonforged, you were created for a purpose. This purpose is a part of your essence, tied to your moment of sentience, and the energy that grants you life. Whether it was Aaren, or one of the dragonforged only months your senior, your progenitor was working with you, training you for something, but the Mourning came before that training was complete. As an adventurer you must discover and fully harness your hidden talents. You believe in your purpose, but you know that you need to develop your skills and resources to make a difference in the world.
Each of the dragonforged has a broad purpose, but a few of them believe a deeper destiny awaits them. Aaren was one of the most prolific scholars of the Draconic Prophecy, and some of the dragonforged believe that each of them is tied to a particular passage of the Prophecy, but, like most interpretations, not all of them agree on the predictions of the passages. As a dragonforged character, you might believe that it is your destiny and duty to ensure that the future follows a particular path. If this is true, it is something you will have to discover as your story unfolds. It is also something that could draw you into the ancient struggles between demons and dragons. The question is whether the dragon’s visions of the future included your kind and if they will see you as a useful ally or as the work of a human meddling to be eradicated. Find inspiration for your journey from the Dragonforged Purpose Table to find out what you might have been made to do.
| d6 | Dragonforged Purpose |
| 1 | Bringer of War. Your task is to fight a war and win it. There’s just one problem: The Mourning came before you learned which war you’re supposed to fight. Now you search for conflicts that feel justified to you, hoping to find the war you’re meant to win. |
| 2 | House Breaker. You are charged to bring down one of the Dragonmarked Houses, or potentially, all of them. This could simply be a matter of breaking their monopoly, or it could require you to shatter the entire institution. |
| 3 | Pioneer of Artifice. Aaren was a brilliant artificer, and your task is to follow in his footsteps, but to what end? You're just beginning to master your skills, and before you're done you want to create something that will change the world forever. |
| 4 | Seeker of Knowledge. It’s your duty to uncover secrets and to share hidden knowledge with the world. You could be focused on a particular subject, exposing the plans of the Lords of Dust, for example, or you might be devoted to advancing knowledge in any way you can. |
| 5 | Unifying Force. Your purpose is to reunite the Five Nations. It’s up to you whether this means restoring the monarchy of Galifar, or whether you should forge an entirely new united nation. This is a vast and lofty goal, but in the meantime, you feel compelled to resolve conflicts and strengthen relationships between nations however you can. |
| 6 | Warforged Defender. Your task is to find a way to protect and preserve the warforged. You must help them find a peaceful and secure place in the world, free from House Cannith or the nations that denounce their sentience. At the moment, warforged have no way to reproduce, and if you want to ensure their future, you’ll have to find an answer to this. |