1 CREDITS Designer: Griffin Fredette Template: Simple Microsoft Word Template by Laura Hirsbrunner Cover Illustrator: Background by Nimgyu, Art by Marcel Budde DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. pp This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. Some Artwork copyright Marcel Budde (used with permission) Interior illustrations by Jonathan Barker (Ink Robot), provided by Wikimedia commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 license All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Griffin Fredette and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Credits .................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents.................................................................. 2 Introduction: Xorforged Mercenaries ......................................3 Shtalev ............................................................................................ 4 Al Vath ............................................................................................. 5 Ashtahag ......................................................................................... 5 Athath ............................................................................................. 6 Ajac .................................................................................................. 6 Delatatha ........................................................................................ 7 Tathatara ........................................................................................ 7 Taka ................................................................................................. 8 Thalkata .......................................................................................... 8 Rilath ............................................................................................... 9 Shashak ........................................................................................... 9 Hathatha ........................................................................................10 Kesheth ..........................................................................................10 Khashar .......................................................................................... 11 Khethe ............................................................................................ 11 lajapal ............................................................................................. 12 Shajapa........................................................................................... 12 Shatal ............................................................................................. 13 Shatho ............................................................................................ 13 Shtaral ............................................................................................14 Tharath ..........................................................................................14 Tala ................................................................................................. 15 Tholaka .......................................................................................... 15 Jatasht ........................................................................................... 16 Player Options: Augmentations ............................................... 17 Base Race Replacements ...................................................... 17 Augmentations ....................................................................... 17
3 INTRODUCTION: XORFORGED MERCENARIES “The creature appeared as a Shtahka, nothing we hadn’t encountered before and an obstacle we didn’t expect any trouble from, how wrong we were. To this day, I don’t know what caused it to be so mutated and so powerful, but this was no mere Shtahka, it was independent, intelligent, and seemed to have molded its own body to make itself even deadlier. Avoid at all costs, not to be trusted.” -From the notes of Sotan, Feyforged explorer The Xorforged, and the fear that name carries, weight heavily in the minds of many Feyforged, and those who inhabit the jungles of Xen’Drik, often seen as beasts, twisted by long forgotten powers and left to rot, but not all Xorforged are mere monsters, among them are a select few humanoids, intelligent and dangerous who act independently of any power known to Feyforged or anyone else. The Mercenaries, known as the shalath among the feyforged, are Xorforged either of previously known species, or of unique varieties that act only in their own self-interest, answering to no one but coin. In their own way, the Shalath are more frightening than many other adversaries a feyforged might face, as their loyalty can turn on a dime to the highest bidder. In this pamphlet you will find notes on some of the prominent mercenaries who can be found across the continent of Xen’Drik, and truthfully wherever the Feyforged can be found. Most of these creatures have custom made forms, built to be deadly and unique and formed from the pieces of their prey.
4 SHTALEV Among the most powerful of the mercenaries is Shtalev, the shadow. Shtalev is, for many mercenaries, the only force they would be willing to answer to, sometimes a leader of the Shalath, but more often an independent and fearsome opponent, Shtalev hails from a lost clan of Feyforged, forgotten to time and left behind following the war between the Quori and the Giants. Separate from other feyforged, his clan altered their bodies in strange ways, many of them taking on extra limbs, or incorporating biological components of creatures they hunt. Shtalev is said to have the eyes of a beholder, combined with components of a Lata of disintegration to create a powerful blast that can tear through most matter.
5 AL VATH Al Vath is Shtalev’s right hand man and the most loyal to the shadowed one, he is almost never found anywhere but by his leader’s side and knows only to defend him. While still independent, Al Vath is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and prefers to defer to the leadership of Shtalev rather than venture off on his own. It’s said that Al Vath is from the same lost village as his leader and adapted his form to gain the power of flight. Shtalev doesn’t think especially highly of Al Vath, but sees him as useful, and the two are inseparable. ASHTAHAG A fearsome adversary on both land and in the water is Ashtahag, an amphibious humanoid with fearsome claws. Brutal and solitary, Ashtahag has spent most of their life beneath the waves, carrying out attacks on vessels when hired to do so.
6 ATHATH Among the oldest sentient Xorforged to ever exist is Athath. Wise, stoic, and insanely strong, Athath is one of the most feared enforcers of the Shalath and a constant companion of Shtalev. Athath has been known to work for multiple different organizations and people, but rumor has it he’s currently in the process of searching for fragments of the lost legendary masks in Eberron, but few know who hired him to do so. AJAC A self-modified version of a Shtaka, Ajac is a rogue mercenary who answers to nobody, not even Shtalev. Ajac works alongside several other Shtaka who similarly modified themselves and now act in an anarchic band, sometimes hired for dirty deeds but often not trusted to do so.
7 DELATATHA Delatatha are not one individual but a family of creatures, all formed around the same time from corrupted Dragonforged. Both dragon, parasite, and construct, the Delatatha are unique for having incorporated important pieces from other Xorforged into their bodies, having pieces of Jashelat within them that give them fearsome stings. 8 Delatha exist within this family and tend to travel together in groups of at least 2, they are often used as a last resort for other mercenaries when a client refuses to pay their dues. TATHATARA The result of an experiment the Shati similar to how their created the Lata, Tathatara is a highly intelligent symbiote with acute elemental powers. Tathatara posseses a custom built warforged shell gifted to her by the Shati with fearsome blades to defend her symbiote form inside.
8 TAKA Different from many other Xorforged, Taka is not a former warforged shell infected with a parasite, but a former Feyforged who gave in to the darkness of the Daelkyr himself. Taka is a former windformed and retains some of the powers of his past life but now alongside incredible strength and body mass. Taka is the brawn to his partner Thalkata’s brain, and the two are always together. THALKATA The more cunning half of Taka is Thalkata, another former windforged, formerly among the most powerful of her people, she was turned to darkness by Taka, and remains in the business reluctantly to help her meat headed partner. Thalkata retains much of her mastery of air, as well as the powerful mind of a tactician.
9 RILATH Opting to augment their body with physical add-ons rather than any special powers, Rilath is a unique being, covered in claws, blades, and stringers and capable of unleashing rapid fire attacks on opponents, as well as track and hunt creatures with ease. SHASHAK Shashak is a being who chose not to take just one augmentation from his base form as a Xorforged, but to take all of them. After witnessing the powers someone else exhibits, he can do the same perfectly, but only briefly. Shashak is an effective but selfless mercenary, seeking very little in self-gain, and claiming to work on behalf of a loved one he won’t name.
10 HATHATHA Created as an underpowered version of the Shati, Hathatha broke rank with them at some point in her life to pursue her own goals, having never been respected by them. What she lacks in domain over darkness, she makes up for in resilience and knowledge of the inner workings of the Shati. KESHETH Fueled greatly by their own rage and bloodthirst, Kesheth is not the most intelligent of the Shalath, but among the most fearsome. To most, Kesheth might resemble a beast, or a standard Xorforged monster, but they are intelligent and dangerous.
11 KHASHAR One of the most individually focused and least augmented of the Shalath is Khashar, a creature with only two augmentations that stray from his base form, granting him minor abilities to paralyze foes as well as extra legs, but Khashar relies primarily on his own natural skills and his trusted weapons. Khashar has very little time for other mercenaries and only works alone. KHETHE The horrific result of a would-be necromancer combining the lifeless husks of a fireforged and an earthforged, Khethe is a physically strong but damaged creature, more mechanical than organic at this point, Khethe is deadly and methodical.
12 LAJAPAL Bent on destruction, Lajapal is a fearsome opponent and valuable asset for the Xorforged mercenaries. Almost perfectly designed to fight those more capable than him, Lajapal is able to adapt to new situations and destroy the equipment of those who could best him. SHAJAPA Once a heroic Earthforged, Shajapa was mutated by the mists of the mourning and left to rot in former Cyre. Enraged by his new form and of the loss of his former friends, Shajapa is now near bestial, unable to speak and filled with pure fury.
13 SHATAL Shatal is a famously self-centered mercenary, using his status with the others as a tool to further his quest to find some of the legendary masks scattered in the world. Shatal’s loyalty is to himself first, and he stands on the line between individual and part of the Shalath. SHATHO Shatho is the most loyal of the mercenaries, and this is because earlier in their life, their memory was erased by Shtalev, and now they know only to fight for Shtalev and defend him. Shatho is abundantly loyal, acting on Shtalev’s behalf at all times.
14 SHTARAL Shtaral is one of the oldest Xorforged known to Eberron, and his origins are a mystery, his loyalties are complicated, and he tends to dislike mercenaries in and outside of the xorforged world, choosing to work with them for his own reasons, some thinking out of spite against the heroes of the Feyforged who would come to overshadow the early xorforged. THARATH A former feyforged hero, Tharath felt betrayed by his comrades in his days as an adventurer and now eagerly fights among the mercenaries. Very little is left of his form as a windoforged, and his form now creates an aura of putrid air that can be smelt from a mile away.
15 TALA A deformed version of a warforged with foggy origins, Tala is a massive creature from beneath the earth who turned to mercenary work after a magical mutation caused them to develop into an entirely new creature. THOLAKA Tholaka was once the ruler of a small band of intelligent xorforged before becoming a mercenary, never content with his status, he was rather unpopular among his peers, and attempted to impose his power on others. He’s since gone off on his own, and his location is unknown.
16 JATASHT Among the most fearsome and the most stoic of the mercenaries is Jatasht, he is known to work for the mercenaries and for the Shati. Jatasht’s knowledge is beyond what anyone knows of him, and his exact capabilities are a mystery to everyone but himself.
17 PLAYER OPTIONS: AUGMENTATIONS It is possible to play a feyforged or xorforged who has undergone augmentations similar to those of the mercenaries detailed here, select a feature from the following list to replace a feature from your base race (features to replace will be listed here based on race, you may select any new ability to replace the listed feature. BASE RACE REPLACEMENTS The following features can be removed in favor of a biomechanical augmentation, based on your race/subrace: Hedet: Defense Curl Shtaka: Organic Hybrid Lata: Elemental Affinity Shati: Transformative Feyforged: Any Subrace Specific Ability Base Warforged: Integrated Protection AUGMENTATIONS The following can replace one of the above features from your race. You may only select one augmentation: Relay Blast: Choose an elemental damage type (fire, lightning, cold, thunder), whenever you take damage of this type, your next attack using the same damage type deals an additional 1d4 Integrated Weapon: You have some kind of weapon built into your body, its appearance is up to you. This weapon deals 1d8 damage if it’s melee and 1d6 if ranged and can be considered versatile Dissolving Touch: Your touch can cause nonmagical items to corrode, any nonmagical material you touch that you specify as a target for this ability will dissolve to liquid in 1d6 turns if your contact with it is not broken Toxic: Unarmed strikes and weapon strikes you make deal an additional 1d4 poison damage Mobility: You gain a swim speed, flying speed, or climbing speed equal to your walking speed
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