DARK SUN
& SPELLJAMMER
DARK SUN
& SPELLJAMMER
RHUL-O
Size G ~ Irregular ~ Water Body
('Rhulisti' is the term used to define the Rhulisti race as a whole, while the inhabitants of Rhul-O call themselves 'Rhul-Os'. In practice, an Athasian or Khet-tahn Rhulisti refers to himself as ‘Rhulisti’, while a Rhul-O Rhulisti refers to himself as ‘Rhul-O’. Furthermore, in the Rhulisti tongue, the pronounced ‘O’ is indicative of the number ‘1’. Therefore, to a Rhulisti, Rhul-O is actually ‘Rhul-One’).
Rhul-O is not just another Rhulisti world. They claim it is their homeworld. Larger than any other Athaspace body (but the Dark Sun), Rhul-O is shaped like a giant, demented DNA strand of water. It turns on a strange but regular path, revolving dozens of times at dozens of angles each cycle. It is not a live world (or at least, the Rhul-Os didn’t make it), and evidence exists to suggest it was once much, much larger. In fact, the astronomers of Kel-tahn say that they can see the visible shrinking of Rhul-O each passing year. The Dark Sun is a cruel mistress. The ancient Rhul-Os point to this as proof that Rhul-O was once the first and biggest body in the multi-verse, but the planet's gradual deterioration could also suggests a recent birth.
Whatever the case, the Rhulisti of Rhul-O have developed a culture far beyond that of any other prime-world in the Known Spheres. Their aquatic cities stretch the breadth of Rhul-O, and their state of technology is dozens of millenia beyond what was once practiced in Blue Age Athas. Their spelljamming ships (while slow) are powered without magic or life-energy, and the Rhul-Os possess the ability to put a body in suspended animation for long journeys. Their high level of technology also allows them to travel the planes, although they rarely do so, and their weaponry exceeds anything in the Known Spheres. The Rhulisti could eradicate life in ‘Rhul-space’ and start a major war in the Known Spheres if they wished. For now they prefer to watch.
In their view, Athas is something of a ‘progeny-world’. Their legends (recorded perfectly to a word for thousands of centuries) speak of a time when they travelled the Spheres alone, discovering the nuances of life in a hundred different crystal shells. They colonised these worlds and used their life-shaping art to expand and nurture their ecosystems. The Rhulisti found many animal species, and created many more.
During this time, they colonised Athas, a perfect world of endless blue oceans. They lived on Athas for untold generations, until they made a mistake. The oceans were destroyed in the Brown Tide, and the Blue Age reached an end. The Rhulisti disappeared from Athas, never to be seen again.
They still exist, though. For fourteen millenia they have watched Athas from their homeworld of Rhul-O. They have witnessed the coming of the Dragon Kings, and the Browning of Athas. They saw the crimes Rajaat commited in their name, his attempts to return Athas to the Blue Age, and his subsequent imprisonment in the Hollow. They witnessed his escape in Free Year 10, his battle against the Champions, and when the First Sorcerer sent a psionic call across the void to his father-race on Rhul-O, the Rhul-Os responded.
The Rhul-O have regained their interest in Athas once more. They do not appreciate what Borys, Dregoth and the other sorcerer-kings have done with their world.
The Rhulisti want Athas back.