A list of the Golden Concordians assigned to the electiob of the expedition leader and your Silver Concord competitors, made by agent Teran Keton

The following are the rest of the electors, other than the chancellor.

Elaras San Barondi

Owner of a large number of diamond mines and member of one of the most influential families of the city of Zolanberg. Extremely talented negotiator, even for a gnome, and incorrigible womaniser. Has been associated with quite a few scandals


Ulfara Doldarun

A very influencial warlord. Her campaigns against the trolls, ogres and other threats have given her great political influence. It is said that a recent troll raid, of all things, on a Doldarun caravan has made her temper even shorter.

 



Bishop Wayn Ballingar

The church of Kol Korran is very popular in the Mror Holds. The Lord of commerce and Wealth personifies virtues that mean a lot to the souls of our dwarven friends. You know what misers they can be. Rumours say that the Bishop has his hands on a million schemes-and pockets.



Sigh

And the great enigma, Haemmarastus Krox. Owner of an inn owned by the Krox family for 7 generations, We assume that his connections are great, but we still do not know how he became an actual member of the Golden Concord. What made them accept him? How did he rise so high? His inn is not that large or profitable to support that. We do know that House Ghallanda tried to buy him out and failed. Tey put pressure on him through the Spiked Gauntlets, a local gand, and two days later they lacked two thirds of their members.

As for your competitors...



Convis-Rakkhar

A Dragonborn chieftain and a former adventurer from the jungles of Q'barra, of all things, and a sorceror. His tribe has gathered much tribute from House Tharashk in order to grant them access to their fields, rich with Eberron Dragonshards. A hothead and a brutal but effetive leader who has managed to absorb three smaller tribes to his rule. He even brought his three respective captives, all daughters of the absorbed tribes' leaders, with his entourage.


Aniunkhara



Extraplanar pirate queen. She has made raids in the past against the Mror Holds, yet we believe that a member of the Iron Council, unfortunately unknown,  has offered her his clan's support, protecting her from hostilities. You can guess to whose coffers a large part of her booty ends up.





Horan ir' Gallathos

Ir' Gallathos used to be a major of the Karrnathi military, honorably discharged two years ago. We believe that he retains his considerable ties both to the army and to the Ministry of the Dead. A grim man with a great hatred of the elves, logical for a former commander of Fort Bones, which the elves of Valenar have often attempted to sack.



Wyvern's Fang

That's right, a sentient weapon is one of your competitors. A malignant and greedy but intelligent item, it actually rules its own gang. It is suspected that it has mind bending properties.

Dr. Vacarin ir' Welas was a human about ten years older than D'Eston. He used to be paunchy and not particularly athletic(although when the group met him he had become much thinner and grwon a Cyran moustache), but burned with dedication to his studies and research.

During one of the many sieges of Eston, it was observed that the enemy was employing a large number of very potent fire-based offenses and defenses. D'Eston was hired by a crew to get into the Academy and try to raid it for ritual scrolls, potions, artifice, or items that might help those in need fight and deal with the firey assault. The Academy itself seemed to be within a small circular area that seemed almost completely unburned, so it was thought to be safe to approach.

On the way in, the group D'Eston was with passed some magical lava pools that had somehow bubbled up in the streets. They appeared to be arranged almost in a circle surrounding the academy at a distance of a few blocks. A tiefling who was with the team thought that the pools might have been placed there deliberately and reached his hand into one to check something. Suddenly he was pulled all the way into the lava and disappeared. A hellhound leaped out and attacked the crew, killing several of them, but taking a wound from D'Eston's sword before disappearing back into the pool.

The crew, much diminished was determined to push on. They encountered no more resistance on the rest of the way to the Academy building and got inside. They found the Planar Studies building abandoned and counted themselves lucky. They found some good stores of anti-fire items - potions, alchemical weapons, alchemical curatives, scrolls, ritual books, and the like - and loaded up their packs. D'Eston fascinated even then with magic, got a bit distracted and explored further into the building. He felt heat wafting from the basement and when he snuck down to investigate he saw in one room a man talking quietly to a hellhound next to a pool of lava, with a badly burned tiefling unconscious between them. The tiefling was the one that had been with D'Eston's crew, and the hellhound bore a deep cut from D'Eston's blade.

The conversation ended and the man turned away to another pool in the corner of the room, gesturing dismissively to the hellhound. The hellhound licked its chops and was preparing to feed on the injured tiefling when a bottle of acidic frost smashed across its face, blinding it. D'Eston followed after the alchemical grenade, landing a punch on the creatures snout and causing it to tumble back into the lava. He scooped up the tiefling, just as the man was turning.

The burning pools turned the man's pasty face a devilish red, but that's not why D'Eston gasped. He recognized the man as Professor Vacarin ir'Welas, a well-known professor of planar studies at the Academy. His area of expertise was Fernia and he had been praised throughout Cyre for his contribution to the country's advancements in tapping into extraplanar resources and knowledge. Yet here he was, apparently assisting the enemy. D'Eston might have known; the flame-based attacks of the enemy forces seemed overly powerful for this time of year, with Fernia very distant. Dr. ir'Welas had done a lot of work in the area of resonant conjunction and off-orbit manifestation. D'Eston understood nothing about these theories except that they potentially allowed access to the influence of a plane even when it wasn't close to Eberron. Of course ir'Welas would have figured out how to apply this knowledge to Fernia first.

Now he used this knowledge in the service of Eston's enemies. Why? D'Eston wasn't prepared to find out. He scattered a handful of holywater ampules into the nearest pool, causing a sudden cloud of steam, and he escaped in the cover.

D'Eston and his group got out. He was able to report ir'Welas to the authorities and he was captured easily. Perhaps he believed that the forces he'd helped would soon take Eston and free him, but as always the city rallied and pushed back the attackers. The traitor was tried and given a heavy sentence.

It is implied that Ir'Weals' was one of D'Eston's tutors in the Art.

• The Royal Eyes of Aundair are one of the continent's most active organisations. They reflect their nation's emphasis to all things arcane, numbering many practicioners of magic in their ranks and specialising in divination magic in order to gain the edge required to achieve their goals.

• The Dark Lanterns are the heirs to the united kingdom of Galifar's agency. Their training and resources are certainly amongst Khorvaire's elite. Unorthodox tactics and poison are common themes when it comes to them. Claim to be the leaders in the field.
• Karrnath is not supposed to maintain a central intelligence organisation. Intead, has agents of his own under his or her command. It is suspected, though, that King Kaius's agents have infiltrated most if not all of those groups. Karrnath may not have an agency, but it certainly has a puppeteer. And there are rumours of something called a Dark Cabinet-still unverified.
• Thrane's Siver Torch is the youngest of them all. They are still lacking in numbers and training but it is assumed that in emergency situations they can call on the Templars and Inquisitors...and they are anything but.
• The Trust is part intelligence and part secret police. They are the reason that the Zil gnome maintain a tiny army and no watches...they do not have to. They're the epitome of the Zil-subtle, cunning, well-learned, experts in magic and alchemy and incredibly ruthless.  The Trusts tend to keep a low profile but it is assumed that their network is secnd to none. And don't forget...They never play fair.
• The elven Houses of Shadow, Phiarlan and Thuranni are the continent''s leaders in the arts and entertainment...and so much more. These dragonmarked families have been the masters of espionage and assassination since millennia. Many of the best agents are theirs, whereas their resources and network rival, if not surpass, those of any nation.
• The young House Medani, bearers of the Mark of Detection, are experts in counterintelligence. These half-elves have thwarted the plans of many spies...while keeping who knows how many secrets for themelves while in the process. As all dragonmarekd houses they are supposed to be neutral, although Baron Trelib's personal friendship with King Boranel of Breland has led many to doubt that fact.

Of course, that's still not the entirety of the players in this shadow war. It is safe to assume that the rest of the  Dragonmarked houses, most important noble lines, powerful organisations like the Emerald Claw and the rest of the Korvairian nations employ agents of their own. And then there are the seldom mentioned but much feared supenatural forces out there...

Do Something Cool
You do something cool.
Encounter (Special)
Free Action (Special)
Trigger: You have a cool idea you'd like to try.
Effect: You do something cool.
Special: This power recharges when you think of something cool.

I'm a big believer in saying yes, in enabling player ideas. I don't feel that this needs to mean throwing the rules out the window, or not retaining a necessary amount of DM control, so the above power is a guideline and reminder I use in my face-to-face game.

Basically, this power is for cool things that you think your character should be able to attempt, but doesn't necessarily have the powers or feats to accomplish. It's an encounter power, so it's not intended for constant use the way a feat or at-will power is. It's for "cool" actions. "Cool" can mean a lot of things, but when something is rare, exciting, thematic, risky, and timely it's usually at its most cool.

So, enjoy this power. Try it out. Some things it can accomplish automatically; for example, reaching a location you don't quite have enough movement to reach, or reaching it in an unusal way. Some things will require some coordination with me or other players, such as special combinations of effects of powers. If you want to do something that should require a skill roll, such as sensing the world in an unusual way, we'll be using the table found at the following link for DCs appropriate to your level: wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drdd/...

It's essentially quite vague. It's almost an utterly blank check, and as such requires some trust and responsibility, but I trust you to be responsible, and I hope you trust me. For you see, the obstacles you'll be facing will have this extra power as well....