Il-Yannah
From Sky Pirate Time
The Path of Light is integral to kalashtar civilization. The struggle between light and darkness is not a question of faith for a kalashtar; it is a fact of life, the conflict that gave birth to the entire race. Quori religion and history are closely linked, but a few central concepts must be examined if the quori and the kalashtar are to be understood.
Quor Tarai: The Dream of the Age
Dal Quor has a deep and fundamental link to Eberron, and the spirits of mortals travel to the Region of Dreams when they sleep. Dal Quor is a mutable realm, and the fringes of the plane are shaped by the minds of the mortal dreamers. The center of the realm is shaped by a force more powerful than any mortal mind. This force is vast and alien, and even its children—the quori—cannot communicate with it directly. The heart of Dal Quor is shaped in the image of this unseen dreamer, and its essence permeates all things. The quori call this force Quor Tarai, “the Dream of the Age.”
There are multiple quori castes, with the tsucora being just one example, but all quori are aspects of the Quor Tarai. The quori are immortal. They do not reproduce, but they can be killed; the total population always remains the same, however. When a quori spirit is destroyed, a new spirit eventually appears fully formed in the heart of the realm. This spirit is generally of the same caste as the spirit that was slain, but it does not possess the memories or personality of its predecessor. So it would be impossible for an adventurer to kill all of the tsucora; there will always be more. But a hero could at least eradicate a particularly hateful quori personality.
While the Quor Tarai is a force with the power to match any god, it is not immortal. Quori sages have reached the conclusion that the current age is the third incarnation of the Quor Tarai—and that, eventually, the current Quor Tarai will pass away. When this occurs, the realm will implode, only to explode outward with the birth of the next Quor Tarai. This cataclysmic event will destroy all of the quori. The sages speculate that the spiritual energy that is the essence of the quori will remain and that a new host of spirits will be formed from this force, but no one can say what those spirits will be like, and in any case the personalities of the living quori will be destroyed.
The Dreaming Dark and the Path to Light
If the Quor Tarai is the dream that shapes Dal Quor, then that dream is a nightmare. The center of Dal Quor is a realm of horrors, and the quori are terrifying monstrosities. At the very heart of Dal Quor is a pit of shadows, filled with impossible and terrifying visions. The sages say that this is the core of the current Quor Tarai. They call it il-Lashtavar, “the darkness that dreams,” or more commonly, “the Dreaming Dark.” When quori are slain, the newborn quori emerge from this opening. While quori cannot communicate directly with the darkness, many feel an intuitive bond to it and feel its desires. Chief among the quori is the spirit known as the Devourer of Dreams, the only quori to have ventured into the maw of the Dark and returned. Most quori revere the Dark as the force that has given them life, and they revere the Devourer of Dreams as the voice of the Dark.
While most of the quori were creatures of their age, a few felt that their very spirits were at odds with the Dark, that they did not belong to this age. One of these, a spirit named Taratai, proved the theory of the ages. She determined not only that the Quor Tarai would eventually be reborn, but that it would be reborn in a vastly different form; that this was an age of darkness, and the next age would be a time of light and joy. Taratai and her followers immediately began to study the history of the realm to try to find a way to accelerate the change. This was their doom. The other quori had no desire for change and feared the thought of their world being transformed. The Devourer declared that they would find a way to stop the turning of the age. The first step was to eliminate Taratai and her followers, with the hope that their essence would be reborn with more compliant personalities. This led to the events of the exodus and the birth of the kalashtar, as described later in this chapter.
This is the key to understanding the quori and the kalashtar. The kalashtar want to reshape Dal Quor, and they believe that with their continued devotions they are doing so. The current residents of Dal Quor—the agents of the Dreaming Dark—are determined to maintain the current age and to break the cycle. It could be hundreds of thousands of years before the change is destined to occur, but the issue remains the same: the desire to find a path to an age of light set against the determination to maintain an age of darkness.
Kalashtar Holidays
The holidays of the kalashtar are all tied to history and typically involve dance and meditation in remembrance of past events. The most important holidays are described below.
The Days of Remembrance: A total of sixty-seven quori reached the world to form the kalashtar race. Each of those spirits has a five-day period each year in which its memory is honored. During this period, kalashtar of the spirit’s lineage pause to reflect on the memory of their quori ancestor. Generally it is a quiet affair, but at the apex of the festival, the line holds a celebration for the other members of the community, with thoughtsongs commemorating the achievements of the line and stories dating back to the exodus. Few kalashtar communities have representatives from more than ten lines, so in any given community there isn’t a celebration every week.
Roleplaying Application: During remembrance days, you should deeply savor your bond to your quori spirit. If you are adventuring during the apex day of your ancestor’s Days of Remembrance, you should pause to tell your companions about the history of your line and their accomplishments in the long war against the Dreaming Dark.
The Void of Taratai: While sixty-seven quori spirits reached Eberron, only sixty-six are still in existence. The lineage of Taratai has been completely eradicated. The five days that were originally set aside for Taratai’s line have become a period of mourning for the entire kalashtar race. During these five days, all kalashtar gather to remember the exodus and the birth of their race, and to ensure that they never lose another line. Recently, the atavists have made an extra effort to strike out against the Dreaming Dark during the Void, to take vengeance for the soul that was stolen.
Roleplaying Application: This is a period for somber reflection or righteous vengeance against the Dreaming Dark. You can decide which approach to take, but you should certainly acknowledge the Void in some way.