Hello, I am thinking of starting an all good party on Athas. I wrote a small history/back story of where we are when the party starts. If people are interested, it would be on a Wednesday. The time is debatable. Show of hands and D&D experience would be appreciated if you reply. Cheers. ' "Here I stand on the dunes, staring avid at the moons. The Hero's Call starts glowing red, find them or we'll all be dead."
-a clip from the moon druid prophecy. My name is Gotho. My master has given me a great
burden, to find great hero's in this land of villains and slavers. To
understand my plight you must first understand the world I inhabited.
This is Athas, a world of twin suns and never ending deserts, but it
wasn't always so. The history, as my master tells me, starts with a lush
jungle like world brimming with life. Once the major race of the world
was the halflings, a peaceful cheery race; now violent tribes of desert
cannibals. In the 4th age the nature benders started experimenting with
life and death. They soon aligned with the evil elemental clerics of
the realm. A war ensued, and the benders and cleric were defeated, but
not before turning the sun from blue to yellow; thus destroying the
halfling civilization. After the sun changed, it hailed the rebirth.
The rebirth brought the new races to the world: The Humans, Gnomes,
Dwarves, Elves, and others. The first use of Psionic powers are brought
by the rebirth and the new races. Over 300 years later came the birth of Rajaat, the
War-Bringer. He learned the secrets of preserving and defiling magic,
nearly killing himself in the process. Over 2 centuries, Rajaat refined
the use of magic and taught the new races, preserving magic openly, and
those of questionable character defiling magic. He decided that humans
have the most potential of all to suit his needs. Rajaat began a jihad
against the preservers of Athas for the next thousand years. Rajaat sent
all but a few of his students away. Using the power of the Pristine
Tower and the mysterious Dark Lens Rajaat created his Champions. Each
Champion was ordered to eliminate one specific race from the face of
Athas in an effort to bring about the return of the Blue Age. The
Cleansing Wars began. Kobolds, Goblins, Pixies, Ogres, Orcs and Gnomes
were wiped off the face of Athas forever. After 1500 years of Genocide and murder, where the Dead
Lands are born and undead stalk the world, Borys of Ebe defeated the
Dwarven king and was almost slain in the process. Hamanu told Borys of
Rajaat's true plans for Athas. After becoming aware that Rajaat intended
to wipe out all races except the halflings, Borys leads the Champions
in a rebellion against their master-from which they emerged victorious.
Despite their power, the children of Rajaat could not destroy his mortal
remains. Instead, Gallard separated the First Sorcerer's essence from
his physical form, placing each in a separate location. Aided by the
power of the Dark Lens, Gallard created the Hollow, where he placed
Rajaat's essence. Through the use of the Dark Lens, Borys rewarded the
remaining Champions by beginning their transformations into
sorcerer-kings. This process linked each of them to living vortices,
which allowed them to grant their followers clerical spells. The
Champions realized that Rajaat's prison will not hold. Even segmented,
Rajaat's power is supreme and he would one day be free. Hence, the
Champions once again used the Dark Lens to transform Borys into the
Dragon, whose power would keep Rajaat imprisoned for all time. The
transformation causes Borys to become insane, ravaging the land. Borys
emerges from his insanity and learns Rajaat's prison is on the verge of
collapse. Soon after he collects a levy of 1,000 slaves from each
sorcerer-king, using their life force to reseal the First Sorcerer's
prison on a yearly basis. Lead by Abalach-Re of Raam, the sorcerer-kings stormed
Guistenal and kill Dregoth, Ravager of Giants just before he is to
become a true Dragon. The battle destroyed the city, the land, and most
of its population. Afterwards, Hamanu threw the Scorcher into the Silt
Sea. With the aid of his high Templar Mon Adderath, Dregoth was returned
to life as an undead dragon king. The surviving populace was gathered
soon after, and construction of New Guistenal begins. With the aid of a wizard named Besteren, Oronis
(formerly known as Keltis) developed the preserver metamorphosis spell
to counter Rajaat's vile magic. The spell nearly killed him, but in the
end Oronis emerged as Athas's first avangion. Oronis gave the preserver
metamorphosis spell to a preserver/psionicist named Nerad, who became
Athas's second avangion. After revealing himself to the Veiled Alliance
of Tyr, Nerad is discovered by King Kalak, who in turn contacts the
Dragon. Borys later kills Nerad south of Tyr. In his grief, Oronis hid
all copies of the preserver metamorphosis spell. Over the next few hundred years some of the Dragon
Kings fell. Borys and others, in a panic to get the 1000 slave levy
from every city, kidnapped and imprisoned anyone who can not defend
themselves. King Kalak of Tyr was slain by the Heartwood Spear through
the combined efforts of Rikus, Agis, Neeva, Tithian, and Sadira. Tithian
became the next king of Tyr and freed all slaves. Tyr adopted the Free
Year calendar. The Prison of Rajaat is weakening and the Dragon Kings
will stop at nothing to keep that from happening. So here we are, year one of the Free year. Dregoth in
his city of necromancy, starting the zombie Apocalypse. Borys, the
Dragon, rounding up anyone not strong enough, or rich enough, to be
free. Slavers, rapers, murderers and the dread, and yet the Hero's Call
starts glowing red. I must leave you now in this wold of blistering
heat, and black hearten Sorcerer Kings, for my quest has
begun..............
"WELCOME TO THE DARK SUN"
