Athas Questions (Dark Sun Campaign Setting Spoilers)

[MesiDoomstalker]

Ok, so I know the general backstory of Athas, with the Dragon (who's name escapes me) and the Sorcerer Kings, with the genocide and the defilling and all. My question is, why did the Dragon want Halfing's as his chosen race? I only got an abridged version, so I'm rather confused as why he chose Halflings.... and then had the Sorcerer-Kings (who were human) do his bidding, instead of some powerful Halfllings. And in general, whats the story of the origin's of Athas? I think the version I got was dreadfully lacking in details.

Side question: how many 4e Dark Sun books are there? I have the campaign setting book, and I want to save up to get the other book(s).

[Tiki Snakes]

The Dragon is formerly one of the Sorcerer Kings, not the one who orchestrated the whole thing. The person who trained the Sorcerer Kings and set them loose to do his bidding, specifically concerning killing everyone who wasn't a halfling or a human, was a Halfling. I think. His name was Rhajat or something I think?

He's no longer around, on account of they figured out Humans were just going to be the last ones to be purged.

[Tegu8788]

The Dead Dragon is formerly one of the Sorcerer Kings, not the one who orchestrated the whole thing. The person who trained the Sorcerer Kings and set them loose to do his bidding, specifically concerning killing everyone who wasn't a halfling or a human, was a Halfling. I think. His name was Rhajat or something I think?

He's no longer around, on account of they figured out Humans were just going to be the last ones to be purged.

The original guy used humans because they were more powerful, until they betrayed him and trapped him, in the Gray I believe. Rhajat is a more powerful Dragon, and depending on what other books you read, a number of other Kings are secretly Dragons.


As for the origins, at least in terms of 4E, the Gods defeated the Primordials, but were either killed by the Primal Spirits or by the Primordials. Either way, the Gods are dead, and the Primal Spirits are now the biggest power in town. However, given the massive defiling of Athas, they are greatly diminished.

[ghost_warlock]

I'm pretty sure that Rajaat wasn't a halfling. :smallconfused: He was, however, mental out of his gourd. :smalltongue: So far as I know, there's never really been an explanation for why he chose halflings, other than him apparently thinking that they were more "pure" than other races. Maybe he thought they were cute?

Being a dragon in Athas isn't completely an all-or-nothing deal. Back in the setting's origins, anybody who reached 20th level as a wizard and then 20th level as a psion (or vice-versa) could undergo a ritual where they'd slowly transform into a dragon over another 10 levels. However, each stage had a number of other requirements that had to be fulfilled before the stage could be completed. Nevermind the increasingly massive number of XP that needed to be acquired:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/alex_smalltalker/dragons_xp_zps907f2ab2.jpg

Each of the sorcerer-kings that run the city states in the Tablelands are former students of Rajaat and they're all at various stages along this transformation process. The Dragon of Athas is the only one who's completed the transformation to full-fledged, max-level dragon.

[Ceiling_Squid]

Actually, in 2e lore, weren't halflings the original humanoid race before the others emerged? Back in the Blue Age of Athas, if I recall, when it was an ocean world. I think Rajaat wanted a return to the Blue Age.

If I recall properly. I played Dark Sun in 4e, only just got to skim some 2e material at a used bookstore.

I'd use 2e lore to fill in the blanks, so long as it doesn't conflict.

[ghost_warlock]

Halflings and thri-kreen were the original races and, yes, Rajaat wanted to return the world to the Blue Age.

And, of course, the way to return the world into an ocean planet would be to defile the whole thing into a desert trying to exterminate all races that aren't halfling or thri-kreen.

I'm thinking Rajaat didn't really think his plan all the way through. :smalltongue:

[MesiDoomstalker]

So lemme get this straight.

In the beginning, there were gods, primordials and primal spirits. The gods killed the primordials and the primal spirits killed the gods. Athas was an ocean world, populated by Halflings and Thri-Keen. Something happened, making it no longer an ocean planet. Cue Rajaat and his insane plan that backfired and wouldn't have worked anyways.

What happened initially to make it no longer an ocean planet? Or was it an ocean planet when Rajaat started his thing, after other creatures popped up, and his plan caused the whole mass desertification.

[ghost_warlock]

How about I just link you to a timeline? (http://darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Category:History) :smalltongue:

[MesiDoomstalker]

Thats.... alot. Thank you. Based on what I see there compared to my 4e book, some amount of the most recent stuff has been retconned. Well basically everything after Tyr was freed.

[UndertakerSheep]

Side question: how many 4e Dark Sun books are there? I have the campaign setting book, and I want to save up to get the other book(s).

There are two books: Dark Sun Campaign Setting (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/253870000) and the Dark Sun Creature Catalog (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/253880000). There's also a Dark Sun adventure called Marauders of the Dune Sea (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/253890000).

Also of note: there was a organized play for Dark Sun at one point, and apparantely you can get pretty much everything from that for free (http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3078191).

[Ceiling_Squid]

Thats.... alot. Thank you. Based on what I see there compared to my 4e book, some amount of the most recent stuff has been retconned. Well basically everything after Tyr was freed.

Yes, the designers specifically wanted to return to the fresh-slate that was the first Dark Sun box in 2e, ignoring the material that came after. Probably for the better, in my opinion.

There's a LOT of stuff that changed in the world due to a series of novels that came out (called the "Prism Pentad". I think there was a recent reprint if you're interested). Multiple sorcerer kings died, Rajaat showed up, all sorts of world-changing stuff happened. Some additional setting books in 2e updated a lot of the material to be in line with that chain of events.

Which is all fine and dandy, but it centered on a bunch of NPCs in their own adventuring party, making a lot of sweeping changes to the setting that PCs would have to contend with. It's the same issue with Forgotten Realms - because of the novels, that setting has to be constantly updated in plot, and a DM has to make sure that PCs aren't being outshone by the setting's main NPCs.

For Dark Sun, the setting just got a single five-novel series, so the changes were relatively easy to revert. I think the 4e designers did a good job of reverting everything to the world of the core box set, and found a workable way to shoehorn in 4e concepts into the general milieu. I do wish they went more in-depth in the setting. Digging into 2e material might be your best bet, if only for inspiration.

The 2e supplements are pretty fluff-heavy, so even without 4e crunch, they will be of good use to you in fleshing out the world further.