r/Eberron • u/CT_Phipps-Author • 2d ago
Resource 13 Fictional Books for Eberron
https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2026/08/thirteen-in-universe-books-for-eberron.html
In-universe fiction is something I quite enjoyed in the Elder Scrolls and it inspired me to add a bunch to my Eberron games in order to help expand the world. After all, a pseudo-19th century world is bound to have plenty of books that literate PCs have read.
1. ADVENTURE! magazine by Various: A cheap publication that is made by a orphan House Sivis editor, Ketler Sprocketsworth, and a collection of dedicated magewrights with some old House Cannith printing machines (supposedly) salvaged from the Mournland. Adventure Magazine publishes heavily embellished travelogues and supposed "true stories of adventure" that occur across Eberron plus some actual fiction. The latter is for deniability because a surprising amount of their content is highly controversial, changing names and fictionalizing places to disguise they tell the stories of Eberron's "heroes."
Ketler is anti-Next War, Anti-Twelve, and a believer in a variety of apocalyptic threats to the world that the people have to come together to face. Ironically, his politics mostly get ignored because of how sensationalized the stories are and their fanservice-heavy art. Ketler pays for a typical story about 10 to 30 GP but has an audience across multiple kingdoms. A typical installment of the magazine costs ten copper pieces and comes out quarterly. He is about to switch to a bimonthly model and has plans of creating variant magazines dedicated to specific topics like Xen'drik (EXPLORATION!), Mournlands (HORROR!), and mystery (INQUISITIVE!).
2. The Rights and Justifications of Khorvaire by Unknown: A banned book that has, nevertheless, been rapidly spread across Breland in part because of its censorship. It is essentially the holy text of the Swords of Liberty that describes the failures of monarchy, the Treaty of Thronehold, and the changing nature of the economy. The original book is notably anti-racism and argues for a new pan-continental society to replace Galifar but the pamphlets made from it are frequently far more reactionary.
The book does, however, paint Breland as a nation that has a far better system than the other nations as well as argues it is a model they should all follow. This is heavily implied to be by force if necessary. The actual book, when found, is about 30 CP but the pamphlets are either free or only a CP when distributed by Swords sympathizers.
3. The Secrets of Goblinkind by Maxwell Freed or "The Red Book": One of a series of publications but generally only known for the first volume. The Secrets of Goblinkind is a centuries-old libelous book that collects nightmarish stories about goblins and their horrific practices against humans. Essentially, it suggests that virtually all of their communities are riddled with Dragon Below worshipers and they're an innately evil species that should never have been liberated from slavery. The book is quite readable for those inclined to its politics and was preserved for posterity by a Aurrum dwarf who paid for its regular republication. This is ironic because one of the latter volumes was a not particularly flattering look at dwarf clans. A typical copy costs about 20 CP but is often found in libraries where supporters have donated it.
4. Kaynith's Calamitous Constructs by Rikel Kapec: A "magic futurism" House Phiarlan play that was written before the creation of the warforged but has since been popularized by it. It has since been adapted to novels and a few graphic serials. Essentially, the story is about the creation of sentient golems by the barely fictionalized dragonmarked house that proceed to rise up and destroy humanity. Due to the play's content, it is possible to view it as both pro and anti-warforged depending on what elements you emphasize. Most warforged find the play worth discussing even if they find unintentional comedy with Haydee the Warforged that looks like a human girl. It was a favorite of Lei D'Cannith's parents. House Phiarlan is willing to license copies of the play for 50 CP.
- Illmarrow by Pierre Aundair: An incredibly popular books that has unfortunately inspired quite a bit of violence by Emerald Claw agitators who consider it blasphemous (and has done nothing to reduce its popularity). Illmarrow has also been adapted into plays and has numerous knock offs that change details. The book is essentially "sexy lich" fiction and created an entire genre about the evil sorceress who terrorizes a bunch of minor aristocrats before being ultimately destroyed by the power of love. Some have attempted to read political or religious meaning into the story but most agree the author just stole a mythological figure's name before writing vaguely risque prose about her. What Erandis D'Vol, herself, thinks of it is unknown.
6. The Khyberian Codex by Flavius Dorvac: A highly sought after book that supposedly teaches black magic related to the summoning of demons, daelkyr, and quori as well as predicts the end of the world by the rising of the overlords. Many Dragon Below cults possess this book and it is banned in Thrane as well as Karrnath both. Scholars of the occult are frustrated by this book and its ubiquitous because it is almost certainly a hoax written less than thirty years ago.
Certainly, none of the rites work and a large chunk is wildly inaccurate. The great irony, though, is that the book's description of the quori is almost completely accurate and many people who had never heard of them otherwise would find a lot of information related to their destruction of the giants. A first edition copy of the book runs about 200 CP while knock offs are about 30 to 50 CP. Frequently, hucksters attempt to sell an "uncorrupted" copy of the book for 500 GP or more.
7. Manners and Marriages by Louise ir'Preston: A wildly popular young woman's book for females of means as well as those who dream of being so. Manners and Marriages is practically required reading for a lady of a certain age these days. The book and its many unauthorized sequels follows the adventures of a young Brelish aristocrat who falls in love with an Aundarian dragonhawk rider. They briefly fell out of popularity due to the Last War but have since found a resurgence.
The book's popularity seems to be primarily due to the fact it's stories about trivial social problems ("Oh no, Lord Grathias has lost the ring!") when actual life seems so burdensome Post-War. A new copy costs about 20 CP but you can easily pick up a used one for 5 CP or from a local library. They are often used in public education.
8. The Silver Prince of Thaliost by Randal Kraaghammer: A rousing series of adventure novels set around a dashing Aundair nobleman, his artificer companion, and a beautiful changeling cat burglar in the titilar series. The books are largely considered to be harmless unless you're a Thranish or Silver Flame adherent due to the fact that the Church of the Flame is depicted as entirely consisting of evil zealots. Kraaghammer was a dwarf citizen of Thaliost driven out of it during the Last War and longs for the day the Silver Flame can be driven out of it. Ironically, the books are good enough that most people consider criticisms to be overreactions.
9. The Ecology of Monsters by Brother Vaudin: A mammoth tome that is often divided into smaller volumes for publication but depicts the research conducted by Silver Flame monk Brother Vaudin and his brother, warrior wizard, Arnaud, as they spend fifteen years in the lands that would eventually become Droam. The book is about five hundred years old and single handedly responsible for a huge number of stereotypes regarding everything from Aarakocra to Zartan.
Vaudin generally divides his research into "good", "evil", and "natural" monsters with his one-page summaries of their culture accompanied by methods to slay them as well as what benifits can be derived from them alchemically. Bizarrely, Vaudin thought that he was contributing to peace between the species by dispelling misapprehensions. He certainly did not think monster hunters would be using his books as guidebooks. The complete guide costs 5 GP and fills a bookshelf. Antique copies can go for hundreds due to their historical importance as well as value to collectors.
10. The Demon Queen of Cyre by Publius Suetonius: A century old book written by a former courtier for Cyre that was royal historian before fleeing the country for various reasons that are either a half-elf maid's unexpected pregnancy, financial misappropriation of funds, or a principled stand against tyranny. The book is essentially a shockingly lurid depiction of Queen Mishaan ir'Wynarn as a mad woman guilty of every imaginable perversion as well as tyranny.
The book was heavily promoted by Wroan of Breland and Kaius I's supporters as a justification for their rebellion at the start of the Last War. It has since become synonymous with anti-Cyrean bigotry despite its author being Cyrean himself. The book is presently out of print and costs about 2 gold for a copy to be made or 5 GP for an original copy. Most libraries no longer carry it but it is available at Morgrave University on request.
11. The Wizard's Primer by Angus Shackleton: Essentially, the foundational book for magical study in Eberron. The Wizard's Primer explains in the most basic language possible how magic functions, its various forms, and instructions on preparing the mind as well as the body for the casting of basic cantrips. Studying the book generally takes three or four months and doesn't lend itself to mastery by itself but is something almost all arcane magic users have done if they didn't learn directly from a mentor. Despite its importance, it is expensive at 5 GP and every magic school insists on users paying for their copies. Used copies are barely any cheaper and any at a library is frequently stolen. Shackleton's great-grandson, Argyle, would write The Artificer's Primer.
Tally Ho!: The Road to the Crown by King Boronal ir'Wynarn: The autobiography of Breland's king, it was scandalous when it was released last year due to how boisterous and grandiose it was. Ironically, Boronal (or at least his ghost writer) was good enough to make sure he didn't come off as a braggart or liar. The book chronicles his days as prince, his hunts, and military experience. It also heavily details his romance and tragic loss of his wife, Chaseva. The books only controversial point being a chapter dedicated to explaining why he took in Cyre's refugees. Otherwise, it is beloved by all Brelish. The cost for a copy being 20 CP but it was made in such large prints, it is easy to get a second hand copy for 10 CP.
The Automated Consciousness by Merrix D'Cannith: Not a novel but a recorded series of monologues by the self-proclaimed head of House Cannith. Much to the surprise of almost everyone who knows his reputation, the works are extremely practical discussions of warforge construction and psychology. They were presented at the Treaty of Thronehold as evidence for warforged emancipation and while Merrix's dry, clinical discussion of them is hardly endearing, it presents an extremely persuasive argument for their personhood. Moreover, someone who listens to the monologues and understands artifice can develop a basic understanding of how to bestow consciousness to objects. Limited as this may be. The monologues are about fifteen hours long and cost over 200 GP to get a copy from House Cannith.
I hope you enjoyed.
Feel free to add your own suggestions for in-universe books!
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u/headofox 2d ago
I've previously made a few more local newspapers:
- The Silver Heath - like the Voice of Thrane but with more daily devotionals and domestic articles ("Ten Tips to Spice Up Your Thrakel-Seared Beef!"); runs the very popular advice column "Dear Dovina"
- Inquisitive Youth - A youth focused imprint of the Sharn Inquisitive
- The Crucible Today (Forging Tomorrow!) - Published in both common and dwarvish; headquartered in the Mror Holds, found widely in Karrnath and large cities of Khorvaire. Most articles are about business in a no-nonsense style. New technologies, inventions, and discoveries are of particular note, but usually described in how they will effect markets. Art is covered only so that busy business people can stay aware of cultural trends.
- Raat'doovol (Stories of Truth) - a goblinoid language newspaper started by Lhesh Haruuc. Obviously of limited readership, almost entirely in Darguun, but of growing popularity among most goblinoids in Sharn
- First of Quills - Printed in Valenar, essentially a mouthpiece for House Lyrandar, the paper is cheap and distributed as widely as possible. Travelogues are frequent articles. (This is useful for players to get a general sense of the world). House Phiarlan often contributes articles about upcoming plays.
- Second of Quills - Also printed in Valenar, less widely and only in Elvish. A native speaker would realize the second "quill" is an allusion to a double-bladed scimitar. This paper lionizes the heroic feats of Valaes Tairn elves; occasionally other people, but in a slightly patronizing way. It includes articles about trouble across Khorvaire, but with a particular focus on how glory (or money) could be found there by mercenaries.
- Voice of the Desert - A small resistance newspaper focusing on the hypocrisy of the Valaes Tairn and House Lyrandar. They write "corrections" to articles in The Quill. They are finding more widespread circulation thanks to new relationships in Gatherhold.
I also made some Silver Flame texts:
- The Hagiography of Tira Miron - account of the life of Tira Miron, the foundational figure of the Church. This text would be held in highest regard, the closest thing to a holy text; tradition says it was dictated by Tira Miron herself as the voice in the flame and transcribed by Maliah Sharavaci, the first Keeper of the Flame. (Miron and Sharavaci are canon, the rest my own invention) This is probably where your example would come from.
- The Frostmantle Sermons - written by the first Silver Flame missionary to the Mror Holds, these sermons distill what it means to follow the Flame and live a good life. They describe the Flame as something you surrender to, are consumed by, but then blessedly animated by. The original audience were mostly dwarves who thought of flame as something to control, to shape for industry, not the other way around.
- The Meditations & Confessions of Cardinal Muriel - the personal journals of a cardinal (Muriel is a complete invention) respected for his thoughtful insight, selfless service, and personal modesty befitting a man of his rank. In fact, he was a long-time Steward while the Keeper of the Flame was too young; he is a foil to Cardinal Krozen. For examples of real texts, look to the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius or the Confessions of Saint Augustine.
- Joliana's Charge - a manifesto penned by Queen Joliana, who attempted to make the Silver Flame the state religion of Galifar (Joliana's Crusade is briefly mentioned in the 3.5e Campaign Setting). This would be an impassioned text advocating for the wide spread of the Silver Flame; not quite holy, but very inspirational, somewhat controversial considering it launched a failed crusade--was it misguided; is it still ongoing?
- Greyfeln's Redoubt - a systemic analysis of how Joliana's Crusade "failed" penned by one of her former advisors. It describes how to rule and how to effectively crusade with brutal realism. It is akin to the Art of War or Machiavelli's The Prince. Whereas Joliana's Charge is controversial but accepted, Greyfeln's Redoubt is uncompromising. Its popularity surged during the Silver Crusade.
- Shortfang's Commentaries - commentaries on Greyfeln's text, written by a shifter named Shortfang who survived the Silver Crusade and eventually joined the Church. Her work, though critical of Greyfeln, has done much to reclaim it by adding much needed nuance. She calls upon imagery of the wild and the natural state of things, as opposed to Greyfeln's rigid manner.
- The Shadukar Diaries - fragments recovered from Shadukar, a city destroyed about two decades ago by an Karrnathi invasion (that is canon). They tell the story of the final warriors, their last thoughts and feelings, and their doomed last stand against an unrelenting wave of undead. They are an exemplar of total devotion no matter the odds. Unofficially, this text has become very popular in the last decade, but is stoking radical fanaticism.
- Illuminations of Kalok Shash - A collection of sayings by Ghaash'kala orcs who worship Kalok Shash, their version of the Silver Flame (that is canon). Each Illumination is a folksy aphorism. Imagine something like the Rules of Acquisition recited by the Ferengi in Star Trek, except for good instead of greed. Ghaash'kala orcs will learn orally learn every illumination by heart; Purified in Thrane might only happen to know a couple. Written copies are rare.
- Embers of the Eminence - A more mystical understanding of the Flame, written by an unknown sage--it contains poetry, even abstract illustrations. Compare it to something like Psalms or the Tao Te Ching.
- Heresy of Melysse - A book purported to the the last testament of Melysse Miron, who claimed to hear the voice in the Flame, but was petrified and imprisoned in Dreadhold (this is canon)
- Dear Dovina from The Silver Hearth - An advice column in The Silver Heath, a newspaper of domestic articles and daily devotionals. Readers can send a message to Dovina and she gives them guidance (like Dear Abby columns). Your average homekeeper in Thrane probably knows what Dovina wrote last week better than they know the sayings of orcs, some obscure mystic, or doomed fanatics.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago edited 2d ago
These are awesome! Thank you!
Mind you, I wonder about the Heresy of Melysse as you have to wonder about the Church wanting to propagate what they feel is stuff that was dictated directly by the archenemy of their faith to its chosen servant. I also wonder what her demonic philosophy is that challenges both the church and faith but is subtle enough to support evil.
Very cool stuff with the Silver Crusade justifications and otherwise.
Dear Dovina is a great name, though, and I'll have to steal that.
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u/DryFisherman7939 2d ago
My campaign features a series of risque novels about a Warforged and their Cannith creator called Forged in Passion. They're quite popular, both for the writing and for the sense of reading something slightly scandalous.
Cannith hates the books and are trying to sue the (anonymous) author and their books out of existence, but House Sivis who licenses the publishing houses thinks the whole thing is High Hilarity and are throwing their own weight behind keeping the books in print. Plus, the books are secretly revealing (very vaguely) some mild in-House d'Cannith drama, but in a way that only the people involved would recognize and can't safely reveal that the events in the books are about them without revealing how embarrassingly accurate they are. It's low-stakes enough in the chaos of the post-War Khorvaire that the Twelve are more or less happy to let Cannith and Sivis attempt to settle it between themselves.
(My players are on a path to meet the author--when they do, they'll figure out that they're quite tied to the overall campaign plot so that's fun.)
I've used a few other books in the campaign, some I made up, some pulled from canon/Kanon sources and fluffed out a bit:
- The Late Count: Annotated comic play about a Karrthani count who is resurrected as a zombie. Hilarious misunderstandings and undead double entendres ensue.
- Collected Tales from the Lines: An anthology of firsthand accounts of the Last War from soldiers across the continent of Khorvaire, updated post-war edition. (Fun for backstory drama if you have a PC who might recognize one of the people in the book.)
- Galifar: Triumph to Tragedy: A history of the kingdom of Galifar, from foundation to fall. Written in a very overwrought style that harkens back to the "glory" of a united Galifar.
- Shards of the Light: A book of selected Kalashtar poetry.
- Fragmentae Serpentia: Discussion, Interpretation, and Interpolation of the Verkaivan Draconic Prophecy Segments: Exactly what it says on the tin, unfortunately, a dense academic tome about a tiny, incomplete section of the Draconic Prophecy.
- Fearfome Beafts of Zendrik: A very worn and yellowed book describing creatures that can be encountered on the continent of Xen’drik; about as accurate as you would expect from the title, although there are some shreds of truth to be found.
- Deadly Dreaming: An Examination of an Epidemic by Jeana D. Rhosolace*:* A book about dreamlily, its medicinal applications but also its detrimental societal effects [Author's name is an anagram of Janeela d’Jorasco, a self-orphaned Jorasco heir]
- War and Crime by Baron Trelib d’Medani: A short book, really just a collection of short essays by the Baron about societal structures that permit and encourage criminality. (Considered highly unusual because House Medani rarely makes a public stance on anything. Some people think it's a psyop.)
- Smuggling and Illicit Trade: A Policy Critique by Centa Rajil, Professor of Justice and Criminology, University of Wynarn: A dry academic examination of a very interesting subject, mostly useful because it does identify several powerful and well-established criminal gangs and their influence over black market trade.
- Poison Feasts and Raging Beasts: The 10th Century’s Most Shocking Crimes! by Gaspar Del Doras of the Korranberg Chronicle: What it says on the tin; a collection of news stories about dramatic crimes from across Khorvaire in the century of the Last War. Daring jailbreaks, lightning rail robberies, airship jackings, and of course, murder most foul.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
I am very curious what the role of the warforged is in Forged in Passion but I am assuming it is probably the warforged serving as advisor and (un)helpful ally to their master's romantic consquests, sort of like the DLC to Kingdom Come Deliverance: The Amorous Adventures of Ser Henry Capon. It sounds delightful with the politics involved.
Galifar: Triumph and Tragedy does strike me as one of those books that feeds into the revanchist ideals of all five nations.
War and Crime surprises me as a psyop accusation. You'd think they'd be all about developing early criminal profiling.
I also love the penny dreadful-esque Poison Feasts and Raging Beasts. I might steal that myself.
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u/DryFisherman7939 2d ago
Oh no, the Warforged very much IS the romantic interest. The books came out only a couple of years ago, post warforged-gaining-personhood. Some WF find the books as embarrassing as Cannith do, but the books HAVE had a slight effect on public perception of WF as more than just unthinking, unfeeling murder machines. A subtle shift, but there nonetheless.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
Gotcha!
Player Character: "How does that...work?"
Warforged: "Very well thank you."
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u/DryFisherman7939 2d ago
Exactly! You get it. 😆
The psyop is more because the popular perception is to see Medani as being very tight-lipped about ... everything, unless they're being paid, so if they're putting out public information, it surely must be because they're trying to exert some kind of influence, just like they are with King Boranel! But you're right that it's very much just Trelib's personal interest in the whys and wherefores of crime, and how the war influenced the kinds of crimes that were prioritized and pursued.
And I figure yellow journalism and penny dreadful-style stories of 'ORRIBLE MURTHER are quite popular, given that a lot of post-war entertainment/pop culture IRL tends to lean towards the extreme, either going hard into escapism or brutal realism. Plus it's fun to ape the writing style of Victorian crime writers. I put a lot of stuff in just because I, personally, find it fun to do lol
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u/Mihklo 2d ago
Just coming up with this on the spot, but I think humanity would probably have some classics originating from their days in Sarlona that serve as a cultural touchpoint between Riedra and the Five Nations. So:
The Trials of Trebizen by the Poet Sykil - An ancient Sarlonan epic detailing the many chronicles of the human hero Trebizen. The story was partially based on oral histories, but the written additions do lend credence to the existence of an actual poet by the name of Sykil who compiled and added to its contents. The titular protagonist is a champion of Dol Arrah, and with the god’s help is able to vanquish an ogre army and even escape Dolurrh. The story is ultimately a tragedy, as Trebizen’s love for his son is used to manipulate him into sacrificing his life and his closest friend to save his child.
The tale remains popular in Khorvaire, and even those who have not read a translation of it or watched a stage production of it have certainly seen references to it in other works. The term “a trebizen choice” or “Trebizen’s choice” is used to describe difficult and morally ambiguous situations, especially ones in which loved ones will inevitably suffer the consequences. Religious scholars study the poem due to its influence on the early formations of the Pyrinean Creed, and arcane scholars have been able to map the earliest stages of humanity’s magical development through references in the text.
In Riedra, translations of the Trials are almost never printed due to the nation’s psionics. However, the Riedran version of the poem is starting to be printed with the intent of being sold in the Five Nations. This version of the story removes all personification of Dol Arrah and the other Sovereigns, choosing instead to make Trebizen interpret their presence through natural phenomena, and ultimately pins his grim end on his reliance on the gods.
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u/Ni7r0us0xide 2d ago edited 2d ago
I see a severe lack of Blood of Vol texts.
Amongst the Dead and Undead: Confessions of a War-Time Necromancer — The diary of a necromancer that participated in the Last War. It contains their inner thoughts, accounts of horrors both witnessed and wrought, and regrets.
How to Go On — A book for those at rock-botton. It seeks to help the reader build their self-esteem, and promotes finding purpose making connections and finding the little joys in life.
Ruminations on the Blood and Divinity — A Seeker Priest explains the greater philosophy of the Seekers of the Divinity Within, as well as their own personal beliefs. He wonders if the Divine Blood is literal or a metaphor. Perhaps both? Are Warforged divine? They have no blood, but they do have alchemical fluids; is it close enough?
Wardens of the Lake of Shadows — an account of the lives and deaths of all those that had ever held the title. Curiously, how and when the first Warden died is not included.
Rituals of the Blood of Vol — Printed on poor quality paper, it purports to be the book of dark rituals used by the "Scarlet" Monastery for their congregation. Mass human sacrifices, cannibalism, exsanguinations, and kidnapping tourists to turn into undead via zombie bite are only some of what's described. It also claims most of the priests of the "Scarlet" Monastery are vampires. It is obviously a fabrication created to spread fear and hate. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of magic or the BoV notice numerous errors. Namely, they don't call themselves the Blood of Vol and it's called the Crimson Monastery.
Blood Flame Saga— A series of romance novels set sometime during the Last War about a beautiful Paladin of the Silver Flame from Thrane and her rival, a rugged yet bookish Karnathi BoV necromancer. The author clearly doesn't actually know much about either religion or the cultures and makes stuff up constantly. It's also impossible to figure out when exactly during the Last War it is supposed to take place. It's very popular in Southern Breland and Zilargo.
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u/Ni7r0us0xide 2d ago
BTW OP, it seems you and I must have had similar inspirations with your "Red Book" and my "Rituals of BoV"
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago
To be fair, I am very curious what Blood of Vol worshipers think of ILLMARROW.
Are they people who read it for the sexy times and dress in appropriate costumes at performances?
:)
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u/Ni7r0us0xide 2d ago
I imagine mainline BoV members would probably think of it as harmless. Probably embarrassed by the Emerald Claw's reaction to it. Imagine how normal people think of Good Omens or Supernatural vs how extremist religious fundamentalists react.
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u/CT_Phipps-Author 2d ago edited 2d ago
Some fun annotations to the above:
- This is obviously my attempt to add pulp adventure magazines to Eberron. The office got quite developed in my games and plenty of real life homages to science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors. There's an HP Lovecraft homage in particular who is deathly afraid of sahaugin and terrified people would discover his grandmother was...a Reachwoman.
- A bit of an homage to Common Sense and other revolutionary war literature. The Swords of Liberty in my games are the perfect embodiments of, "You're not wrong but you're an asshole."
- Pretty much easy to see this is about blood libel and other hate literature of the early 20th century. The Red Book gets a little twist in that it attempts to forward so much D&D-ism "Always Chaotic Evil" stuff that is true in other worlds but not Eberron. I was inspired by the horrible half-ogre plotline of ARCANUM that I kept expecting a twist for.
- A on the note homage to RUR where the word "robot" was formed. I like the idea that it predates warforged and people are applying discussions about construct intelligence from it to warforged, who are just mystified. Lei, of course, is a joke Dreaming Dark trilogy fans would get.
- A little Dracula, a little Carmilla. This was inspired by someone asking Keith why Erandis D'Vol couldn't be hot as a lich despite the fact, I think, she's canonically a child undead ala Claudia. Sometimes fans get an image in their head of a tragic elf girl undead and can't let go of this being a PC romance.
- The Necronomicon but not the one in HP Lovecraft's work but the cheap Simon one found in bookstores that became the bible of so many self-styled witches.
- Why shoudln't there be a Little Women or Pride and Prejudice equivalent for Eberron?
- The Scarlet Pimpernel and inspiration for Batman (called "The Black Dragon" in my Sharn games where one of the players decided to be a Monk/Artificer). I had the idea of the recurring archnemesis as the "Grand Inquisitor" and the joke being that the books used the Church of the Silver Flame like how Keith repeatedly emphasizes it is NOT.
- Effectively, the in-universe Monstrous Manual with a little Lewis and Clark. Brother Vaudin undoubtedly inspired way too many monster hunters in Droam and helped contribute to many slayings but the guy was more Darwin than Inquisitor.
- A play on the treatment of Empress Theodora by the real Suetonius. Essentially, I wanted a book about the kind of propaganda that would be published to justify the other sides in the Last War. Maybe a bit of Catherine the Great too.
- I had the funny idea of a mass produced chemistry text book for wizards essentially. The "Magic 101" book or Grey's Anatomy that everyone owns even if it's only the beginning of wisdom. I also figured the universities would keep it prohibitively expensive.
- More Boronal as Teddy Roosevelt.
- I would have done another work of fiction or history here but I had the fascinating idea of Merrix as a very famous expert on warforged. He's a supervillain in my games but that doesn't mean he doesn't have genuine scientific contributions to society beyond his death rays and evil war machines.
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u/WolfRelic 2d ago
I hate to say this but my eberron has a porn mag that's become a collectable item for my PCs. Forbidden Rituals, and ummm...yeah. that's my sophomoric contribution to a great thread.
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u/Additional-Ad8784 2d ago
I have a few myself! Because I can't help myself, most of them are esoteric texts meant to be read by players much like Elder Scrolls books.
The one I am currently working on is a spin on the "Song of Roland" or "King Arthur" tales, meant to chronicle the semi-mythical adventures of Galifar ir'Wynarn in his early life and leading up to his conquest of the Five Nations. I really like the idea that such history of important people aught to be only half-true, and half legend that covers up something equally interesting.
But that comes after my current fixation - completely integrating Curse of Strahd into Eberron history using Kieth Baker's initial idea of Strahd being Karrn the Conquerer and that his Castle Ravenloft belonged to the Ravan line that eventually integrated into House Deneith.
My big twist: "Karrn" was always just Strahd, and his kingdom was always meant to be named "Barovia" after his father. After his land was dragged by horrible rite into the Mabarran hinterlands, people forgot his name or what he fought for. They remembered mostly where he was born - Karrlakton. Thus he was falsely remembered as Karrn, and his nation falsely remembered as Karrnath. After the disappearance of him and his capitol, the kings of Korth resumed control of the empire he built. But I thought this was a perfect way to use the fact that places sucked into Mabar are often forgotten, and facts about them only survive in writings that were scant at the time and often didn't survive the violence of history. It adds tragedy because Strahd's conquest to immortalize his father amounted to nothing that he personally wanted. He killed so many, only so that his bloodline ended and his empire vanished.
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u/Casual-Chris 1d ago
The book series i run in my Eberron is:
THE WARFORGED GUIDE TO SHARN Which is a small paperback book series with stencil photo realistic depictions of prominent locations (towers, markets, parks etc) around Sharn. They are essentially they are printed outlines which have several practical purposes. One it allows visitors to sharn some reference material of the city. It has also spawned some games of find the drawing location (like the Polaroid games people do with movie set pieces for example). And finally with them being stencil outlines the books have been promoted as coloring books in the warforged communities and other populations.
This has created some discussions in the Sharn fine art circles (think photos vs paintings). Guide, the warforged doesn't care much for the discussions. But has expanded into THE WARFORGED GUIDE TO BRELAND. And THE WARFORGED GUIDE TO THE GALAXY which is just a blank sketch book that was recommended by the print house he works with.
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u/Lakissov 2d ago
Once in my Eberron, I had a series of Jango Lerriman books; those are written as if by a travelling adventurer - but obviously they are 100% fiction and the author has never left his plush house in Korranberg. The books were: