The Queen of Air and Darkness

The Queen of Air and Darkness, in the D&D universe, is supposedly the sister of Titania of the Seelie Court. She was once a good little Fey princess, who everyone loved etc., but then one day she was accidentally presented with a gift intended for Titania - the black diamond. The diamond ate away her physical body and corrupted her, leaving her incorporeal, invisible to the regular naked eye and pretty scornful. Her true name has been lost in the passage of time along with any warmth she once possessed.

This is all dandy, but also boring as all hell. I prefer to refer back to her origins as the Queen Mab referenced in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. By Mercutio (i.e. the biggest badass in that entire work) nonetheless.

... And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O’er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a’ lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice

So even before she was corrupted, Mab's powers were always strongest in the darkness. Moreover, illusions were her bread & butter. These are the Queen's memories from life, which have now twisted to suit her new desires. The Queen of Air & Darkness is, surely, above inflicting mere oral herpes in her wrath. Rather, she tortures and controls beings with darkness and turns friends, allies and lovers against one another with her illusions. She seeks to expose anyone whole to the corruption which robbed her of her inheritance and happiness. This is just small scale entertainment, however. The real goal is to destroy Titania, Oberon and the Seelie Court. The Unseelie Court does not possess the power to do this, so a new queendom needs be established. One where the Fey deities of the Seelie Court will be severely weakened should they attempt to intervene.

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Mab is often thought to be an agent of insanity by the Seelie Court and its worshippers. Whilst her actions seem to drive people towards madness, the common deduction is incorrect. The Queen of Air and Darkness is an enemy of madness. She is unable to comprehend it in its association with not only destruction but creation as well. She fears madness, as it continually threatens to overwhelm her. This was ingrained into her when the Daelkyr came from Xoriat the Realm of Madness to the natural plane and almost completely destroyed Mab's influence in Eberron without even being discernibly aware of her presence. As a product of corruption herself, the Queen links the Daelkyr with her fall from grace and is compelled by her fear to destroy them completely should they ever roam the lands of Eberron again. It has been foretold that the battle between Madness and Darkness will destroy the world as it is known.

On the left is supposedly a daelkyr, but one can take any form it chooses, though all are somehow grotesque

It has been an age since the Queen had numerous worshippers residing in Eberron. Unwary adventurers may, on the oft occasion, stumble upon a long abandoned shrine to the evil Queen. One will likely consist of only an altar and, perhaps, one of the Queen's mortal servants who stands vigil, waiting for any Fey creature that can be either sacrificed or converted. Achieving either will strengthen Mab's influence in this world, yet this is not enough. It is merely the beginning.

The Queen of Air and Darkness must manifest herself in a Fey body belonging to the realm of Eberron in order to further her ambitions. The Idol of Air and Darkness (denoted by its black diamond eyes) is the necessary artifact to link Mab to a physical vessel. Sentient in its own regard, the Idol seeks out a healthy Fey body to bestow upon its master, but will also have an effect on any creature that comes into contact with it. Anyone carrying the artifact will gain knowledge of the Elven language, +3 to all Intelligence checks, darkvision and the ability to freely manipulate (basic manipulation; no shadow puppets) and move between shadows (movement in a 1-mile radius of the original shadow). If the host body is of Fey origin and cannot already read and speak Elvish (as is the case with the Drow in Eberron, as former slaves of giants), they will retain permanent knowledge of the language even after they separate from the idol. Any Fey with at least semi-intelligence must make a DC 17 Will save (Wisdom save in 4e, because this is active resistance) to resist being controlled by the idol. Creatures of non-Fey descent have a weaker resistance (DC 19 Will save) to the idol's influence, but this is not always to the Queen's advantage; lesser non-Fey beings may lose their minds to the overwhelming hatred, becoming some of the toughest serial killers that the authorities have had to deal with. Should the bearer both make their Will save and decide to hold onto the idol, they will have to make a Will save every 3 hours to continue resisting the influence of the artifact. Non-Fey barbarians have a natural immunity to the idol's mind control, but are similarly unable to wield the power of the idol; it might work well for bashing in skulls, though.

Throughout history, there have been those of particularly strong will that were able to permanently stay independent of the idol's mind control. However, prolonged contact with the Idol of Air and Darkness dissolves the mind of the host, regardless of whether they have control over their senses. The host will find it increasingly difficult to contain his or her anger at even the smallest of infractions as time passes. Once benevolent and wise rulers have been known to become the cruellest of dictators. It is surprisingly the orcs of the Shadow Marches that remember this best. Many doppelgangers are still doing their utmost to forget, which often involves taking the lives of anyone who could serve as a reminder.

Moreover, any Fey body which the Queen manages to possess cannot sustain the her corrupting effect. As such, the body will gradually dissolve away over the course of a year, though some vessels may be able to last as long as three years. After the vessel has completely dissolved, the Queen of Air and Darkness can still remain on the natural plane as an incorporeal and invisible entity as she does in her own court. This form will last for one month, sustained by surrounding magical energy from the environment, until she is able to find another vessel. If a new vessel cannot be procured, this form will dissipate, severing the Queen's physical link with the natural plane.

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As per Romeo & Juliet, woe be to whoever goes to sleep with the idol within 3 feet of their self. As derived logic would have it, the Queen of Air and Darkness is perpetually seething with a barely restrained rage. Those with the gumption to resist her will likely never wake up again. Nor will their comrades in the near vicinity. A dreaming vessel is almost as good as an empty one. Finding themselves as heroes in the dreamscape, those in the natural world will see a host as a literal sleeping killer. DC 19 (for Fey) and DC 21 (for others) passive Will save to resist whilst asleep.

Rumours say that a servant of the Queen, seeing the potential for the artifact to fall into the wrong hands during the Last War(for many ways exist to wield power), sealed it away inside an altar on the continent of Khorvaire. It is likely hidden somewhere in either Aundair or the city of Sharn in Breland, where the presence of strong magic would not be strange.

Setting the Stage

About my current most active game: my uni group does its best to run once per week. There are six players and then myself as DM in this D&D 4e (boo hiss) Eberron campaign.

Eberron's pretty swanky, as far as settings go, though I'll be damned if my group evokes a realm akin to anyone else's Eberron out there. With werewolves, cults of the Dragon Below, royal family conspiracies, chaotic evil swords, the warforged and the Queen of Air and Darkness, we've still managed to sit staring down the less magic, more P.I. barrel. Airships and artifacts go down a treat, but the real magic - the gritty 'hurts to think about it' magic - of our world lies in the shadows underground. Obviously both figuratively and literally speaking.

Should be like this

But it's more like this

And this

This too, why not

Set 10 years after the Last War. The nation of Breland thrives, though tensions toward both the Houses and King Boranel grow strained: corruption grows on trees, the warforged have resurfaced and Houses Jorasco and Lyrandar both have atrocities to answer for. Doubtful as to whether the latter will ever happen in Sharn, where the government was felled with the axe that is exploding airships and wrestling warlocks.

The cults of the Khyber thrive as the seeds of doubt grow in Brelish citizens by the week. Releasing the Son of Khyber from his prison could end the tyranny of the Houses, but then one could argue that the Twelve would be the lesser of two evils in this scenario.

Werewolves, once troublesome, have been purged by a party that's still trying to figure out its place in the big, wide world. This wouldn't be a problem if it didn't mean unleashing the Queen of Air and Darkness and a drow servant of Vulkoor the scorpion god who has dubious alliances. The Queen, of course, was whiling away her time in the Unseelie Court, whilst the ever-unknowing adventurers decided to leave her a body that she could use. Nice.

Where the Queen of Air and Darkness and magical books are involved, no NPC can truly be trusted. Her black-eyed idol ties her to her vessel and channels her powers of darkness and illusion magic: few can resist as darkness captures Aundair in its entirety. As of yet, no fire can be considered holy, with the Silver Flame's home of Thrane lying in the carnage of the Queen's wake. Shadow creatures serve her Majesty and the darkness cast by flames only bolsters them.

The Queen cannot be held solely accountable for the recent instability of the continent of Khorvaire; King Boranel's family and the government of Breland in Wroat are moving. The king's life was taken by his precious foster daughter, but naturally only the party has the privilege of knowing this. They've been on the run ever since. In saying so, several potential allies across the continent stand to benefit from Breland's weakened capacity. That is, if they manage to avoid the wrath of the Queen and find a way through the darkness that threatens to swallow Khorvaire.


The Party

Sammy J the human rogue - he's got a weakness for the ladies and only wine & hard liquor can strengthen him

Mako the genasi swordmage - tried stoic but never made it. Instead has to deal with his chaotic evil sword

Kai the doppelganger hybrid (changeling in 4e terms) - investigator extraordinaire with an ever-growing network of vagrants

Xena the dragonborn barbarian - captains an airship and wears magical reading glasses despite being illiterate

Hope the tiefling bard - an orphan with serious belonging issues, he tries to convince everyone else that he deserves to handle super important powerful items for the sake of spinning a bloody good yarn

Ephraim the pixie warlock - the cigar-smoking first mate to Xena, he just really likes being an asshole with his pixie dust


Specific region profiles/happenings posts to come in due course, but I'll mix things up a little with other tidbits that could work for any D&D game first.