Shadow Marches

When most people think of the Shadow Marches, they imagine a fetid backwater where illiterate humans mingle with orcs and other foul creatures, practicing strange rites by the light of the moons. While flawed, this vision isn’t entirely inaccurate. The Shadow Marches are a desolate land of swamps and moors. The homeland of the orcs, it was scarred in the ancient conflict with the daelkyr. These fiends left twisted creatures and aberrations in the swamps, and sowed seeds of madness that linger to this day. There are indeed moonlit rituals in the Marches: some to honor the daelkyr, others to maintain the wards that keep them trapped in Khyber.
Humans came to the Marches long ago, refugees fleeing a war in the distant land of Sarlona. Over time the two cultures merged, forming the Marches as they exist today. The Marches had little contact with Galifar or the east until a few hundred years ago, when a House Sivis expedition made two discoveries: the region contained valuable dragonshards, and a number of clans had manifested the Dragonmark of Finding. This led to the foundation of House Tharashk, as these clans joined together to master the economic potential of their mark and leverage their mineral wealth.
The Shadow Marches aren’t a nation. No one voice speaks for the clans and tribes, and most of the tribes have no interest in dealing with outsiders. House Tharashk is the largest faction in the region, and their city of Zarash’ak is the center for commerce. House Tharashk is the main point of contact between the Shadow Marches and the outside world. Tharashk aside, it remains a collection of tribes and cultists following their ancient traditions in the shadows of the swamps.
Interesting Things About the Marches:

• The Gatekeepers are a druidic tradition that began in the Shadow Marches. The defeated the daelkyr in the past, and they are sworn to protect Eberron from unnatural and extraplanar threats.
• The Cults of the Dragon Below are wildly diverse, and often driven by madness. Many worship daelkyr or have ties to aberrations.

Type

Political, independent

Power Structure

Autonomous area

Location

Khorvaire