The name daelkyr stirs fear in the heart of any goblin who heard tales of the Dhakaani Empire as a child. These creatures nearly destroyed Khorvaire during the Daelkyr Invasion, and brought about the end of the Empire even though they were defeated by the Gatekeepers.

Madness is the only adjective to truly describe the daelkyr. They come from Xoriat, a plane of constant flux and dimensions and perceptions that no mortal mind could process. All records of the daelkyr describe them as having a human appearance with an otherworldly appearance and bodies covered in symbiotes. In their native plane they are known as the “artist-kings,” a euphemism for the way they treat their kingdoms like canvasses, paint broad strokes of chaos across the landscape, reshaping reality according to their aesthetics.

In the Realm Below, mostly accessible beneath the Mror Holds, dwarf have found extensive stores of daelkyr magicks and biological artifice, most commonly symbiote. Only some clans regularly use and experiment with these strange creatures (notably Soldorak and Soranath), but most either avoid the technology or outright denounce it.

Over the last decade dwarven children (called “Ruinbound” by outsiders, but “Gifted” by more accepting clans) have been born with daelkyr influences in their blood, birthed with symbiotes attached to their infant bodies. Unscrupulous organ traffickers chase after these rumors, hoping to start a black market for symbiotes and replacement organs.