As far as most Athasians are concerned, Tyr has always existed. Certainly it has endured through the entire Desert Age, and even with the fall of its sorcerer-king, it seems likely to endure for centuries to come. And throughout all the long years of its exis tence, it was a city-state enslaved. That has all changed. In the courts of the other city-states, rumors of King Kalak’s overthrow are only whispered, but in Tyr, the repercussions howl through the streets.

Many scheme to succeed Kalak, and the templars and other power groups vying for control struggle to keep the city-state from disintegrating into anarchy at the hands of people eager to enjoy their freedom. Nobles and merchants clamor for influence, and commoners and freed slaves openly celebrate, challenging civic authority and social boundaries at every turn.

HISTORY OF ATHAS

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 descen dants 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.

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).

En esta ilustración de la cosmología athasiana; sobresaltan los planos transitivos, y coterminales--aparecen Lo Gris, Lo Negro y El Vacío. Todos junto al cristal que representa Athas, como enfoque secundario, todos descansan en el mar Astral. Ademas de Athas, se pueden observar las dos lunas, Ral y Guthay.


















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 orbmantled in steaming mists beneath which lie scarlet jungles and marshy seas. Stories tell of ancient moon gates on Athas that lead to both Ral and Guthay, but they function only at unpredictable intervals.

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 Shadow fell 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.

Detalle de una Raya-Nube, criatura propia de Athas.

Arenas Sombrías de Athas.