Population: Unknown, estimated 600
Overview: Shapeshifting village of changelings
Key NPCs: The Warlord of Lost
“The Misplaced Village” is a Brelish fairytale, a variation of the story of the Forgotten Prince. In this version, the Traveler visits a village plagued by bandits and war and offers to hide them from their enemies, promising “No one will ever find you.” The villagers eagerly accept the offer, only coming to realize, as the ritual was taking effect, that the gifts of the Traveler always have a price. And so it came to pass: The village disappeared… And no one ever found it again.
The purpose of this story is to highlight the dangers of trusting strangers and the need to consider the consequences of the bargains you make. No one in the Five Nations thought it was based on anything real… Until the Daughters of Sora Kell first summoned their chosen warlords to the Great Crag, and a changeling shifted through a handful of forms before showing its (presumably) true face and introducing itself as the Warlord of Lost. Others in Droaam were already familiar with Lost—Sora Teraza had come to the village to forge the initial alliance—but the powers of the east were surprised to learn that there was an entire community of shapeshifters they knew nothing about. In the years that have followed, the changelings of Lost have become an important part of the Daughters’ regime. Changelings often serve as Katra’s Voice or Teraza’s Eyes, gathering information or using their gifts to fill the classic role of the bard, sharing news with different communities and raising spirits.
While the denizens of Lost are part of Droaam society, Lost itself remains shrouded in mystery. Reliable accounts claim that the village is mobile and alive—that the houses of Lost are a massive form of mimic known as facades. According to the stories, these facades can assume the shapes of anything from a tent to a hut to a wagon. Thus, within moments, Lost could shift from looking like a camp of gnolls to being a wagon train, and as a train it can move to a new location. Thus, any small community could potentially be Lost. It’s also believed that the facades of Lost are naturally resistant to divination, which has helped hide the village from potential enemies.
So what’s known about Lost is that it’s a small community of changelings that can hide in plain sight and move whenever it chooses to. The changelings of Lost possess telepathic gifts that allow them to communicate silently and to read the thoughts of others, which helps them maintain their deception. They excel in the creation of mutable materials: Shiftweave, Glamoured Armor, Hats of Disguise, and anything in this vein; an assassin from Lost may have a walking stick that can turn into a rapier. Stories further suggest that at least some of the changelings of Lost are exceptional thieves, and that over the course of centuries they have stolen many interesting things from across Khorvaire; if you’re looking for a lost relic of the Silver Flame or the scepter of the Dhakaani emperor, it’s possible it’s hidden away in Lost.
The motives of the changelings of Lost remain enigmatic. Many familiar with the situation doubt that the “Warlord of Lost” is an individual, guessing that it’s a constructed identity shared by all the changelings of Lost when it’s needed. Some question if there’s any way to know that Lost is just one village, or if there could in fact be a half-dozen shapeshifting villages moving around Droaam. Ultimately, what matters is that Lost is out there—and that potentially any small village you encounter in Droaam could be Lost.