How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Eberron
Xen'drik
This continent south of Khorvaire was the homeland of the giant race and the stage for the Age of Giants and the Quori Giant War. Today, it is occupied by mostly uncivilized giants and the various drow cultures, with the exception of the town of Stormreach and Dar Qat in the north.
To the west, the gigantic Menechtarun Desert dominates the landscape, with an area larger than Breland. Xen’drik’s travelers encounter the strange phenomenon known as the Traveler’s Curse.
During the fall of giant society, the dragons cast a powerful and long-lasting curse called Du’rashka Tul or “madness of crowds” in the Giant tongue. The curse is subtle and only known through historical documents. The curse lies in wait until a certain number of sentient beings gather in a confined area (scholars put the number between 20 and 100,000). Within a few weeks, the gathered beings are struck with severe paranoia and aggressive tendencies, and before a month has passed, the community has ripped itself apart. The curse was documented among giants who tried to rebuild their society after the dragons’ assault, only to tear themselves down over and over again. This vicious cycle has brought the giants down to the uncivilized, unstable point they inhabit today.
Xen’drik ruins are a pull for many adventurers, but the natural resources are what most businesses seek to exploit. Kuryeva berries are used to make the popular Kuryeva gin, crysteel is mined by the Riedrans for their hanbalani, long corn and gur’kash flesh are used for long-lasting rations, and tilxin birds and dreams serpents have magical properties in their blood and skin. But the most sought-after resource are the Siberys dragonshards, which fall from the Ring of Siberys unto the equator of Eberron. Since most of the equatorial landmass is in Xen’drik (and Argonnessen is much less accessible), it makes a prime territory for shard prospectors.