DARK SUN WORLD

"Amid the barren wastelands of Athas lie the scattered city states, each in the grip of its own, tyrannical sorcerer-king. Protecting their own positions with dark magic, they demand absolute obedience. The restless mobs are placated with bread and circuses -- the arenas overflow with spectators seeking release from their harsh lives.

"The land outside the cities belongs to no one. Savage elves race across the deserts while insectoid thri-kreen satisfy their taste for blood. Dwarves labour at projects beyond the scope of men, and feral halflings lie in ambush.

"Athas is a land of deadly magic and powerful psionics that offers no promise of glory or even of survival. Those who do not have the cunning to face life on Athas will surely perish - leaving nothing but bones bleached white under the blistering rays of the Dark Sun."

- Blurb from Dark Sun Campaign Boxed Set

"A decade has passed since the Age of Heroes began. The city of Tyr has broken free of tyranny, though turmoil still holds the world in its merciless grip. The Dragon King lies dead, earthquakes rock the land, and revolution spreads like wildfire across the Tyr Region. Giant rifts pierce this once impenetrable land: far to the north, the alien thri-kreen empire quickens, sensing its oppurtunity to invade. And to the south, in the obsidian wasteland, the ground stirs with the emergence of the undead...

"Welcome to a world where metal is scarce, gods don't exist, and psionic powers abide in all living creatures!"

- Blurb from Revised Dark Sun Campaign Boxed Set

A lot has happened on Athas in the last few decades. The fall of Kalak, the War of the Crimson Legion, the rise and fall of the avangion Korgunard, the temporary loss of psionics, the death of the Dragon, the release of Rajaat, the deaths of three sorcerer-monarchs, the Cerulean Storm, the Great Earthquake, the decriminalisation of magic in Tyr, and the discovery of the zik-trin threat beyond the Jagged Cliffs. The Seven Cities' troubles are just beginning.

In the Year of Enemy's Fury (Free Year 18), a deadly new threat boiled up from beneath the very surface of Athas. Dregoth was killed over 1,000 years ago by the combined might of seven sorcerer-kings, only to rise again as an undead Dragon King. Maddened by the change, Dregoth vowed not only to avenge himself on the sorcerer-kings, but on the very people of Athas. He would wipe them out, one and all, replacing humans and demi-humans and halflings alike with tall, powerful dragonmen called dray.

For the last millenia Dregoth has waited in his city beneath the Silt Sea for the right time to strike. That time came with the disappearance of King Hamanu in Free Year 17. Now only two sorcerer-kings stand between Dregoth and his dominion of Athas. Neither of them are powerful enough to stop him.

Dregoth's plan was simple and effective. His force of over 3,000 dray was already bolstered by an additional 4,000 undead, and he had maintained access to baatezu and red dragon servants since the loss of his Planar Gate. Dregoth personally led his undead army along the cliffs of the Silt Sea coast, where he predicted he would be intercepted by Gulg and Nibenese legions. He was not disappointed. Both armies fell before the might of Dregoth's breath weapon and his rift-enhanced undead. The Dread King animated them, increasing his undead forces to over ten thousand skeletons and zombies.

While this happened, the main body of the dray force was systematically teleported into a stronghold in the Sapphire Mountains, where they awaited the marching undead armies. Dray and undead joined forces and marched on Raam, striking on the 20th of Morrow (183 days past Highest Sun). They were led by Dregoth himself, who was guarded by three great red dragons that dwarfed all descriptions of the Dragon of Tyr. Raam barely stood a chance.

But the Day of Light is not over yet. Hundreds of desparate survivors cling to the underside of Raam, a vast network of subterranean tunnels known as Undercity. They escaped the initial onslaught of Dregoth and his dragons, and even now they lie in hiding, building up their defenses against the might of the invading Dread Legion.

Dregoth has failed to Ascend to godhood. The Dread King believes this goal cannot be attained until every citizen in Raam is killed, and he will not rest until he sees that goal through. His undead and dray hordes sweep the sewers, killing more of the refugees each night. These frightened citizens wait with bated breath for armies that will never come to save them.

Dray warriors sweep the countryside, probing Raam's boundaries for human and demi-human spies. Red dragons coast on aerial patrols from the Silt Sea to the Dragon's Bowl. It is only a matter of time until Dregoth exhausts his attention on Raam, and turns it on the city-states of the other sorcerer-kings.

Perhaps then they will fight back.

Other dude things you can expect from the Age of Dregoth in the future include:

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