The Shardborn

🏛️ Basic Info

Type: Decentralized Ideological Movement / Survivalist Confederacy
Purpose/Mission:
To embrace and thrive within the fractured state of Eladris. The Shardborn believe the Sundering was not a catastrophe, but a liberation — a breaking of false unity that revealed the truth of chaos, freedom, and personal potential. They reject efforts to "repair" the Veil, asserting that the world's current form is not broken, but evolving.
Headquarters: None central; major enclaves exist in free zones along the Shardline, and aboard drifting shard-fleets in the outer Reach
Notable Members: Drex Tolveran (Skyflame Raider), Veshella (Shardchanter), Iron-Kin Korr (Forge Apostle)
Allies/Rivals:
- Allies: Independent shard-divers, free-sky guilds, rogue artificers
- Rivals: The Veilbinders, RoB Governance (especially containment factions), The Cult of the Final Frequency (ideological extremism)

Founding Story:
The Shardborn were not founded — they emerged. As the world cracked, so did its institutions. Survivors who refused to submit to restorationist doctrine or arcane containment built communities in unstable spaces: floating shard-reefs, broken cities, abandoned forges. What began as desperate survival hardened into a belief system — one that praised fragmentation as divine opportunity.
Major Conflicts/Involvements:
- Fought a guerrilla campaign against early Veilbinder operations attempting to stabilize a major rift in the Ember Break
- Raided several RoB Governance research barges during the Tether Wars, stealing data on artificial resonance manipulation
- Offered sanctuary to Echo-touched exiles, leading to rumors that they shelter dangerous phenomena intentionally
Current Status:
Growing in number, especially among younger generations disillusioned with institutional control. While officially labeled as non-compliant, many Shardborn enclaves are tolerated due to their strategic trade routes, mercenary companies, and deep knowledge of Echo-churned terrain. Their refusal to centralize has made them nearly impossible to suppress.

Leaders: No formal leader. Local figureheads rise and fall with influence and strength.
Key Locations:
- Vereel’s Hollow – A crater city built around a rotating shard-cluster
- The Blade Drift – A mobile shard-fleet built from the wreckage of pre-Sundering sky-forges
- Unmoor – A planar slip-haven said to appear only during specific Resonant pulses
Artifacts:
- Shardbound Tattoos – Magically reactive sigils that stabilize the bearer in fractured environments
- The Spitehelm – A rumored sentient helm forged from a fallen RoB war construct, now worn by a Shardborn raider-priest
- Echo-Caged Hearts – Pendants holding stabilized Echoes, used for memory imprinting, bargaining, or fuel