Secrets of Power

Since common Athasians are forbidden to read or write, few people know the annals of their world. They do know that Athas used to be lush and green, rich with water and thronged with cities and realms. This knowledge is no secret; any traveler can see the evidence of the former world crumbling in the deserts. Ancient bridges span empty watercourses, dilapidated castles sag on hilltops over deserted towns, shrines to vanished gods lie dusty and silent, and the ruins of great cities are filled with sand and monsters—all remnants of the time known as the Green Age. Fleeting tales whisper of eras that preceded the Green Age, leaving older and even more mysterious ruins, but no definite knowledge of such fantastically ancient days remains in the world unless the sorcerer-kings know more.

The circumstances that ended the Green Age are unclear. Some say that the kingdoms of that era fell into centuries of vicious conflict, wars in which spells of nightmarish power spread destruction throughout the world. Others say that the fearsome Dragon of Tyr came to Athas in a falling star and laid waste to all domains. What is known for sure is that the Red Age followed, centuries of chaos and suffering in which the civilizations of the Green Age died. Cities such as Bodach, Celik, and Waverly fell during this time. Eventually, the wars of the Red Age guttered out, leaving a blasted and desolate world that endures today. Many people refer to the current period as the Desert Age.

The details of the calamity that befell Athas are not the only facts in dispute. Some say the Desert Age began a few centuries ago, while others claim that it is two or three thousand years old. In some stories, the current sorcerer-kings are the same immortal rulers who battled one another long ago. According to other accounts, they are the descendants of the sorcerers who put an end to the Red Age wars and founded the known city-states in the few habitable spots left in the world.

Psionic power is prevalent on Athas, and many natives practice the psionic arts. Widely known as “the Way,” psionics serves the same purposes that arcane and divine magic serve on other worlds. It offers a potent weapon against enemies, a sturdy shield against harm, and the ability to perceive hidden things. Most nobles and merchants employ talented psionic masters to advise them, spy for them, and foil the efforts of masters who work for their rivals. Poor or nomadic Athasians who miss the chance to train their powers formally can develop wild talents, psionic abilities that can be surprisingly powerful. More than one gladiator has died in surprise after a foe in the arena used a wild talent to telekinetically grab a discarded weapon or teleport a potion fruit to a wounded ally.

Arcane magic is dangerous and uncommon. Without taking special care—by using the technique of “preserving”—an arcane spellcaster can defile the immediate surroundings by casting a spell. Fundamental vitality is leeched away: Plants wither, animals and people suffer crippling pain, and the soil at the site of the casting is drained such that nothing will grow in that spot again. Because of this harm done to the world, those who use arcane magic are hated and persecuted across Athas. They must practice their arts in secret or seek the patronage of a sorcerer-king and gain the ruler’s sanction for their spellcasting.

Primal magic is more widespread than arcane magic, although it is rarely practiced in the cities. Out in the barrens, wielders of primal magic serve as healers and defenders of their villages or tribes. Shamans, druids, wardens, and other primal wielders are regarded with deep suspicion by the templars, who dislike the notion of magic that lies outside the control of their tyrannical overlords.

Divine magic is virtually unknown on Athas. The gods of old have been silent for dozens of centuries. The ruins of ancient shrines and fragments of crumbling texts in the sorcerer-kings’ libraries suggest that the gods were more active in the past. In the absence of true divinities, Athasians turn to other types of gods. Some sorcerer-kings pretend to godhood and build false mythologies, encouraging their subjects to worship them. Other Athasians venerate the primal spirits of the world or turn to cults of demons or primordials. Unfortunately for worshipers, a primordial makes for a grim and uncaring deity, taking little notice of its mortal servants.

Most Athasians know nothing of the worlds and planes that exist beyond their own. Very few scholars have studied such topics at length, and their writings are locked away in the vaults of the sorcerer-kings.

All Athasians know the night sky and its familiar constellations, and many peoples assign different meanings to the motions of the stars and planets. Athas has two moons, Ral and Guthay. Ral, a mottled green in color, is the closer of the two. Sages who have scried Ral report that it is covered in great green seas and mountain-islands of dizzying heights. Guthay, the smaller and more distant moon, is a golden orb mantled in steaming mists beneath which lie scarlet jungles and marshy seas. Stories tell of ancient moongates on Athas that lead to both Ral and Guthay, but they function only at unpredictable intervals.

Travelers in the wastes tell of the Lands Within the Wind, an otherworld of magic and enchantment that exists alongside the material world. Known in some ancient texts as “the Feywild” or “the Kingdoms Invisible,” this otherworld seems to be an echo or reflection of Athas. It is absent from most places around the planet, but pockets of this realm lie in remote deserts and mountains, especially the Forest Ridge. These pockets are small; scholars believe that the total amount of the plane remaining in existence, combining all fragments scattered across Athas, would fit inside the walls of Tyr. The Lands Within the Wind are home to the eladrin, an elflike race of mysterious powers. A traveler could walk right past an eladrin palace and never see it because it lies in the other plane instead of on Athas.

The Gray is another echo of Athas, an otherworld of shadows and ghosts. In this realm, the restless spirits of the dead linger amid the haunted ruins of great cities. Some sources call this otherworld “the Shadowfell” or “the Plane of Shadow.” Like the Lands Within the Wind, the Gray is home to strange and powerful creatures, including mighty shadow giants, fearsome nightmare beasts, and a race of devils that traveled to the Gray when the connection between their home plane and Athas withered. Unlike the eladrin of the fey realm, the denizens of the Shadowfell are much more hostile to mortals who venture into their domain.

Many erudite thinkers believe that the Gray acts as a barrier between Athas and other realms beyond, and that long ago, the domains of the gods could be found in starry seas beyond the Gray. But the Astral Sea has been empty for ages. No godly domains remain within reach of mortal travelers, and the easy connections between the plane and Athas have been severed. The few Athasians who have journeyed beyond the Gray into the depths of the Astral Sea (usually agents of the sorcerer-kings, dispatched to seek long-lost treasures) have found little more than desolate ruins and terrible abominations.

Underlying the rest of existence is the Elemental Chaos, a vast, churning realm from which all the energy and elements of the world were formed. Some sources call this realm “the Elemental Planes” or “the Inner Planes.” In cosmological terms, Athas is close to the Elemental Chaos, and vortexes such as volcanoes, sand gyres, and desert flats known as “anvils” link the planet to corresponding parts of the seething realm. Elemental influences grow steadily stronger and more chaotic as one travels farther away from the Tyr Region, suggesting that the presence of civilization or natural life holds true elemental power at bay (or that in the distant past, the region was shielded from unchecked elemental manifestations). In the depths of the Elemental Chaos lies the Abyss, from which come the demons that plague Athas when they are summoned by reckless rituals or planar rifts

Source: Dragon 408

The gods of ancient Athas are dead—if they ever lived. The inhabitants of the burned world of Athas have no concept of what a god is, other than from stories planted in their minds by the malevolent sorcerer-kings. Yet in the deep deserts, in hidden subterranean realms, in the jungles of the forest ridge, and in other remote and undisturbed reaches of the world, long-forgotten shrines remain from a time so ancient that it is miraculous any part of them survives. These ancient structures once held worshipers, though divine magic—and by extension, true divinity—is so long gone from the world that scholars debate whether or not divine power ever existed. They have nothing to debate over except fragments of lore overlooked by the sorcerer-kings. What would have been the purpose of structures meant to house worshipers? What was the purpose of worship, for that matter?

These temples are few and far between; explorers who have visited a temple from the distant past are unlikely to visit another, nor even learn of the existence other shrines. Of course, the sorcerer-kings attempt to eliminate any knowledge of the location of such temples, fearing that what might be discovered within could be used as a weapon against them. Interestingly, Veiled Alliance cells, like the sorcerer-kings, also attempt to destroy such knowledge. They fear that there might be another terrible power slumbering the eons away within these shrines to whose tyranny and power the sorcerer-kings pale in comparison. Discovering an ancient holy site, and then announcing that discovery, is a good way to make sure that both templars and Veiled Alliance agents come hunting for you.

The interiors of these ancient shrines have been so worn away by the ravages of time that little true knowledge can be gleaned from exploring them. At best, explorers become looters, plundering a few ancient relics to sell off as archaeological marvels to nobles with an interest in the past. Reliefs, statues, and tablets have been worn down by sand, heat, and wind, tomes and accoutrements turned to dust centuries ago, and many structures have collapsed under the ravages of time. The interiors of these ancient temples are incredibly dangerous, because they are unstable and threaten to collapse at the slightest disturbance.

Yet despite the dangers associated with finding and entering them, ancient temples still draw explorers eager to discover the secrets they hold. Although the vast store of knowledge once held within these temples is long gone, explorers might occasionally find a miraculously preserved artifact within. Usually, this amounts to little more than a curiosity—perhaps a preserved book written in a language alien to Athas, statuettes of completely unknown creatures, or metal weapons so decorated and adorned that they are useless in combat. Rarely, however, an explorer might discover a shred of true knowledge about the ancient world, and it is this that the sorcerer-kings most fear.