Eberron: Who in the setting would want to get rid of warforged?

[genderlich]

So I'm planning on running an Eberron campaign where a violent warforged insurgency is being manipulated into attacking cities and trying to take over Khorvaire by someone who knows they're going to lose, but wants to sow distrust and prejudice against warforged with the ultimate goal of making them effectively extinct. If I play my cards right the players will be horrified at their participation in the plot, and I'm really hoping someone decides to play a warforged for extra angst. So my question is, what powerful group or individual in Eberron would want to wipe out warforged, or would benefit from doing so? If necessary I can make up an ultimate villain myself, but if I can use an established in-world ideology as a starting point that would be a big help.

[stoutstien]

The most obvious pick for me is the il-Lashtavar/ Quori. The warforged could be the only thing stopping a full fledged take over during the aftermath of the last war.

[JackPhoenix]

Lot of common people protest against warforged because a) they are tools of war, and seen as dangerous and an unpleasant reminder of the Last War, b) they took their jobs from them. A warforged doesn't need food or many other necessities of living creatures, so they can work for less, and for longer, as they don't need (as much, they are not immune to fatigue/exhaustion in 5e) rest. That resentment can easily be used by someone for their own gain.

It could be simply someone who faced warforged in the Last War and hates them for it... they were effective soldiers, and they obeyed even questionable orders, especially before that whole "equal rights" thing, so there may be any number of atrocities caused by them, and the villain in question simply ignores that not all of them are all alike, and not all of them took part in such acts.

Then there's Thrane and Karrnath, who still think of the warforged as property. The idea of giving them equal rights may not sit well with people there, and Karrnath especially doesn't lose much by getting rid of warforged.... if anything, it removes the one thing that can compete with their undead in terms of easy war logistics.

Could be even Cannith, who doesn't like their tools being free, though warforged uprising may reflect badly on them too, so, they would need to work extra on their PR. Or other dragonmarked houses.... Deneith wasn't happy with Cannith competing in the role of the providers of military forces.

Various behind-the-scenes conspirators may have different reasons to get rid of warforged. Lords of Dusts (and the dragons) because they don't fit in the Prophecy. Warforged may be resistant or immune to being influenced by the Overlords, the Daelkyr or the Quori, so there's that.... and they are based on Quori designs, which may represent another reason to do something about them.

[Damon_Tor]

If it were me, I would probably go with a faction of House Cannith, maybe Zorlan, though he would be clever enough to keep his hands clean. The basic philosophy would be one of guilt: the belief that the Warforged are an existential threat to life and the belief that House Cannith has to be responsible for correcting the mistake of their creation. As with all good antagonists, you should make their philosophy relatable, make the players wonder if maybe they have a point. Include some excellent Warforged villains, Lord of Blades fanatics, that really make one question whether coexistance is possible.

[Evaar]

1) Certain factions of House Cannith who want them destroyed out of spite. Cannith is currently undergoing a struggle for leadership, so if the Warforged are seen to support one of the three potential candidates more than the others, then one of the other two might be manipulating them to make that a liability.

2) Prince Oargev of Cyre, who may blame the Warforged, especially the Lord of Blades, for the Mourning - rightly or wrongly.

3) House Deneith, who handles mercenary services, may see the Warforged as a threat to their market supremacy. Some Warforged might contract with them currently, but Deneith could see their very existence of the race as a long-term existential threat to their house's livelihood. Think about it like this - the Warforged demonstrate that perfect soldiers/bodyguards exist, and that Deneith doesn't control them.

4) The Lords of Dust, who may be following an obscure piece of the Draconic Prophecy. "When the last of the hollow knights is ground to dust, the rage of war will stir."

5) Some high up member of the Shadow Cabinet in the Aurum, who may just have a personal, racist grudge and lots of influence. "My daughter was on the track to becoming one of the finest knights Breland has ever known, until she was tasked with leading a cadre of those infernal constructs into Cyre. Did you know every single one of them returned alive and well? She was the sole casualty. I ask you, what are the chances of that?"

6) King Kaius III, who may see the Warforged race as a spark ready to reignite the Last War as all of the various nations recruit them into their militaries.

[genderlich]

4) The Lords of Dust, who may be following an obscure piece of the Draconic Prophecy. "When the last of the hollow knights is ground to dust, the rage of war will stir."

Oh I love that? Is that official lore or did you just pull it off the dome, and if so, do you mind if I totally steal it?

[Evaar]

Oh I love that? Is that official lore or did you just pull it off the dome, and if so, do you mind if I totally steal it?

The Lords of Dust and the Draconic Prophecy are part of the setting lore. That specific passage was off the dome, although "the rage of war" is the moniker of one of the setting's demonic overlords; I don't think there are really any canonical passages out there.

The thing to keep in mind about the Draconic Prophecy is that it is less about "On this day this thing will happen" and more a bunch of if/then statements. So "when the last hollow knight is ground to dust" doesn't mean that it's a foregone conclusion that it will happen - it's saying that if it does happen, then this other thing will happen.

[genderlich]

The Lords of Dust and the Draconic Prophecy are part of the setting lore. That specific passage was off the dome, although "the rage of war" is the moniker of one of the setting's demonic overlords; I don't think there are really any canonical passages out there.

The thing to keep in mind about the Draconic Prophecy is that it is less about "On this day this thing will happen" and more a bunch of if/then statements. So "when the last hollow knight is ground to dust" doesn't mean that it's a foregone conclusion that it will happen - it's saying that if it does happen, then this other thing will happen.

Yeah I knew about the Lords of Dust and the prophecy being in the lore, I just meant the quote. I did some research and bought an old issue of Dragon magazine for $5 that had info and statblocks on the Lords of Dust in them, so I think I have my mastermind! Thanks!

[MeeposFire]

Remember too that while you can use that prophesy and the lords of dust as your main antagonist you can use THEM to bring in other factions into this unwittingly. For instance the Lords of Dust could try to influence the Church of the Silver Flame and by extension Thrane since Thrane does not like the warforged being treated like people. This can cause additional intrigue because that will cause problems with other factions which can lead to an escalation of tension between factions and nations which would also serve the Lord of Dusts cause especially if these Rakshashas are working for that demon of war this would be very fitting.

EDIT: Also the Lord's of dust are immortal so their plans can be very long term and this is the sort of idea that will likely be long term (destroying every warforged will take a lot of time) and so they will be playing many angles to get it done.