D&D: New Dawn Incarnate Monsters In ‘The Radiant Citadel’
Composed out of gemstones and stories, Dawn Incarnate creatures are one of the dazzling new monsters in Journeys through the Radiant Citadel.
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, D&D’s new adventure anthology written entirely by black and brown writers using stories based on their cultures and experiences, features many new pieces to slot into your existing games of D&D.
From 13 adventures that come with pre-built hooks to connect, not just to one of D&D’s worlds, but for fitting in to your own homebrew campaign (a first for a D&D book), to dozens of new monsters, there’s a lot in this book. Today we’re looking at the Dawn Incarnates.
In the Radiant Citadel, Dawn Incarnates are somewhere between avatar and repository. But what are they exactly? These are mythical creatures in a new sense of the word. Let’s take a look.
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, Dawn Incarnates
In the Radiant Citadel, adventurers might find their way to an area known as the Preserve of Ancestors. It is both a wildlife preserve and a place of almost primordial gathering. But this isn’t a sanctuary for wildlife. It’s a sanctuary for stories. The stories and spirits and legends from the cultures of the Radiant Citadel gather here.
They manifest at first as gemstones. Their facets reflect different parts of the societies connected to the Radiant Citadel. And with 27 different cultures and organizations to pick from, there’s a lot of gems to be found. But over time, the gemstones collect, manifesting into a Dawn Incarnate–an avatar of sorts that embodies the spirits and stories from a distant land.
In essence, these creatures are living breathing embodiments of a culture’s soul. As project leads Wes Schneider and Ajit George explained, Dawn Avatars are walking reflections of history and tales. They are living breathing myths.
Without stories, these beings wouldn’t exist. But in the Preserve of the Ancestors, they ensure that though people may be lost, their spirit lives on. What does that mean for adventurers, though?
Well if you’re looking to learn about a culture, perhaps one of the 12 “lost” civilizations that used to be a part of the Radiant Citadel, they’ll help you. Players can learn about specific locations or stories. Information needed to follow clues or to find adventure becomes more mythic when delivered through these beings.
These are only some of the new creatures introduced in the book, but with 13 adventures you can expect to see a lot more.
Happy Adventuring!
