Athas is a dangerous world where hope
dies, wilting under the burning sun. Every
day, its people face starvation, slavery,
and tyranny. The burnt world of Athas is
literally forsaken by the gods, and there
is precious little hope of respite from its
dangers. Why, then, would so many
of its inhabitants cling to their meager
lives when promise of rebirth is not so
far away? All the people of Athas need
to do is finish the job that was started
long ago and destroy what is left of their
surroundings—clearing the rubble of a
ruined world so that a new one can be
raised in its place.
At least, that is what the Broken Builders believe.
The Broken Builders hold firm to the belief that the
destruction of Athas up to this point has been merely
a precursor to an even greater change, one that will
occur only when the world has been utterly and completely devastated. Once that time comes, the ruins of
Athas will be brushed aside and a new, verdant, cool
world built where life is good and easy.
The Broken Builders originated in Raam as an
elemental-worshiping cult. Followers worshiped elemental powers of all kinds. This was one of the many
religions that Ablach-Re attempted to wipe away
when she had her supposed revelation. When this
happened, the cultists believed that Ablach-Re was
specifically targeting them, which in turn reinforced
their belief that, for some reason, their city-state’s
ruler feared the elemental powers. The cultists fled
into exile where, over the course of many generations,
they came to believe that the reason Ablach-Re feared
the elementals they worshiped was because, one day,
elemental forces would clear away the ruins of Athas
and rebuild a more perfect world. These cultists came
to be known as the Broken Builders. Though the cult
remains secretive, it has spread over the years so that
it now has cells in each of the seven city-states.
The basic philosophy held by the Broken Builders is simple: they must do their best to ensure that
the world becomes so utterly devastated that the
elemental beings can fully shatter it in preparation for
rebuilding Athas the way it was meant to be. Unlike
most people on Athas, the Broken Builders have no
quarrel with defilers. They believe that defiling magic
was a flaw in the creation of the world. Flaw or not,
defiling magic is reality on Athas, and although it is
the reason for the sorry condition of the world, it is
also a tool that the Broken Builders can use to bring
about the remaking of the world by the elementals.
Defiling magic will unravel Athas the way a loose
string unravels a poorly-woven rug.
Furthermore, the Broken Builders believe that
the world itself imprisons the elemental powers and
limits their ability to remake Athas. In the Broken
Builders’ view of the world, those scholars who label
elemental forces as chaotic bringers of destruction do
so from a fundamental misunderstanding of reality:
the elementals are not bent on causing destruction,
they are trying to free themselves—albeit violently—
in order to make a better world. Rumors from Urik
tell that some of Hamanu’s templars broke up a cell
of Broken Builders and uncovered a plot to free a
trapped elemental that has lain imprisoned since
before memory.
From their beginnings as exiles from Raam, the
Broken Builders have been forced to hide their true
beliefs and affiliations in order to survive in the
city-states. Part of what makes the Broken Builders
so dangerous is that they look like anyone else; the
merchant in the market, the templar, and the nobleman alike could be members of the Broken Builders.
They come from all walks of life and are united only
by a singular philosophy that transcends status. They
aren’t necessarily evil people or malicious agents
of chaos. Most are intelligent citizens who see little
reason to cling to a world that is devastated beyond
repair; they would rather see it ended entirely and
reformed anew.
The Broken Builders have little in the way of identifiable practices, though most cells do some of the
same things. Broken Builders offer shelter to arcane
spellcasters, including defilers, and hide them from
the templars. They use what resources and influence
they have to encourage arcane spellcasting of all types.
Broken Builder cells often have among them elemental priests, to whom they funnel resources in order
to increase the presence of elemental power in the
city-states. Cells with wealthy patrons (nobles or members of the merchant houses) sometimes set up secret
schools where elemental priests teach other members
of the cell to harness elemental and arcane power.
More active groups of Broken Builders take a
stronger hand in bringing about their goals. Some
have been known to openly attack templars and other
servants of the sorcerer-kings in the hope of provoking an overwhelming, destructive response. Others have staged attacks on dune traders, merchants, and
ordinary citizens in order to cause panic and set off
riots. Other activities including summoning elementals in the middle of crowded areas, hunting down
and attacking members of the Veiled Alliance (the
Broken Builders seek the destruction of the Veiled
Alliance in order to make themselves the only viable
shelter for arcane spellcasters), and using rituals to
call forth powerful bursts of elemental magic with the
sole intent of causing as much damage as possible.
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