An INCAN themed sorcerer king and his kingdom

#41

A compromise between “canon” dark sun and fanon stuff could be simply to make any non-tablelands rulers powerful defilers or elemental lords but not cleansing champions, as to be a “true sorcerer king” you have to be A) a Champion (something that needed Rajaat using the dark lens and pristine tower to make you a nigh-unkillable murder machine) B) A Dragon (something any defiler can become with enough power/time) C) Have an elemental vortex bound to you (so you can grant Templar Spells)

There’s plenty of room for pettier despot and tyrants who, while quite possible still extremely powerful, are not worth Borys or the other SKs’ wasting their time and effort bothering.

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#42

Never imagined Yaun-ti as a Rebirth race, but something that came about during or after the Cleansing Wars.

#43

They could pretty easily be some offshoot of one of the reptilian rebirth races like Lizardmen or Pterrans. Maybe abominations become snakelike after millennia underground? Their humanoid disguises could be chalked up to lifeshaping, psychometabolism, any sort of excuse.

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#44

In my head-canon, the Yaun-ti were the 1st Rebirth race - and were genetically unstable. After they came out, the Lifeshapers tweaked the process so the races we more…set.

And that’s why Yaun-ti have 3+ racial divisions and lots of mutations and crossbreed with humans…

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#45

that’s kind of a cool idea, beasthead giants already have something of that sort going on, though it might be the result of arcane magic, and another deadlands team writer and I were playing with the idea of taurids being more of a genetic plague among rebirth races than a specific “race,” based on info like the “last centaur” in *Lost Cities of the Trembling Plains" who was born to a human mother and has the lower body of an inix.

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#46

My own version had a champion for a serpentine species (think Ophiduan from Pathfinder) that was cut off from the Tablelands after Rajaat was imprisoned. Not part of the rebellion, he had no choice but to continue his war against them (I use a variant of champions that Rajaat basically addicted to killing their chosen species, one of the things the rebellious champions were able to remove). As he got closer and closer to actually winning his war, he realized he had no way of having the addiction removed and would go on an insane rampage forever…

His plan was to capture the last of the Ophiduan, not enough to continue to the species but enough to crossbreed with humans from his army and use them to slake his addiction. He now secretly rules two lands pitted against each other. One human, the other Yan-ti in an endless war. The Yaun-ti all are born as pure bloods and the chosen among them are changed into halfbloods, abominations, and the leaders of each territory become anathema who are devoted to their immortal leader. The humans of course are led by the Champion to this day but neither side is ever allowed to even come close to winning. The Yaun-ti who have made it to the Tablelands are descendants of those who escaped the constant war, no easy feat considering the wasteland that surrounds their lands and the guardians the champion put into place to contain them all until he can be freed from his addiction.

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#47

I’m that writer, lol.

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#48

I choose yuanti not only because a similar good aligned race was on incan related and amazonian mythos,
but also that athasian yuanti or whatever other race are NOT the same as yuanti or races of another settings or worlds, so their mutations must be explained inside athasian history

#49

Late to the topic by a lot, but to go back to the SM outside of Tyr region discussion: I was always under impression that most City-States were pre-existing, surviving cities. SMs didn’t really ‘establish’ them, it’s more that they took them over. I think the Wanderer heavily implied that in the original box.

If so, that’d explain why SMs did not reach out to other lands, even if they were more fertile: They didn’t have established human communities they could easily take over. In my head canon, the ‘main cast’ of SMs simply jumped whichever cities were the closest after Rajaat was imprisoned. I can perfectly imagine others - less powerful ones, or perhaps ones that took the worst beating in the fight? - getting ‘banished’. All good spots are taken, bad luck, go find some other community out there or die.

In this sense, an SM at the other side of the world could make some sense. If he was a SM that others ‘left to die’, they may very well not bother with him. In fact, they may not even realise he’s still alive, or care. Of course, his feelings on the matter could be quite different - but, as @neujack mentioned, the logistics makes revenge implausible. Not to mention, if he did try to wage war on any of them, they’d probably unite against him.

@Alvar_Calienes , what do you think?

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#50

Yep, any isolated sk will be out of the battle of power in the tyr región and surrounding area

#51

For Outlands regions, I suggest you have your cake of mutant magic-sucking crystalizing mega-forests, layered with titanic poisonous humanoid-hunting insects, interspersed with shattered plains of radioactive glass for filling, plus acidic dust deserts for spice, topped with terrifying spatial storms that slice through everything in the surroundings with cracks in the fabric of space itself… and happen throw off random vacuum vortexes on occasion as the cherry on top.

Oh yes, almost forgot… cockroaches which are rapidly evolving into a militant civilization that believes in their own manifest destiny of eating all of said cake (and the rest of Athas along with it).

#52

Well, I have updated data about my idea of a zapa inca sorcerer king (the one of two years ago), i plan to put them here soon, after finishing my work here on Lima. Mostly because i needed a way to actual have a succesion line from the first one, so i manage to create one.

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#53

This the previous of Yawar Amaru a new continent and sorcerer king (they are named the same) based in incan mythos Actually I studied incan mythos and older cultures of the region, and his oral tales, so i hope to surprise many of the athasian fans reading this.

Where is located Yawar Amaru continent?
Yawar Amaru is at the antipodes of the Tyr region. Yawar Amaru means blood serpent in quechua.
(more soon, sorry for the delay)

#54

This the previous of Yawar Amaru a new continent and sorcerer king (they are named the same) based in incan mythos Actually I studied incan mythos and older cultures of the region, and his oral tales, so i hope to surprise many of the athasian fans reading this.

Where is located Yawar Amaru continent?

Yawar Amaru is at the antipodes of the Tyr region. Yawar Amaru means blood serpent in quechua.

Going to Yawar Amaru

If you go east the silt ocean you found first the sundered regions then more silt ocean then a big jungle similar to the amazonian one

If you go west you found first the Kronorragia (time bleeding) event in the former site of the Casca continent (think Atlantis but in Athas planet)

If you go north or south you must first pass the endless white obsidian wastes of the athasian poles with giant ice themed monsters with an athasian fell, and the roc nests (harder and more difficult to survive more like extraplanar ice wastes) -very cold instead of very hot and no metal of course-

Casca continent and the Khronoraggia event

Casca´s time bleeding event makes you traveling the silt ocean suddenly found a salt ocean (actually traveling to athasian cleansing wars or red age! time) As soon as you reach Casca shore, the continent have a massive attack of several sorcerer kings (included some unknown) to the cosmopolitan continent who have a mix of races united to go against them, with gigantic siege armies of all types

At the Great Tower of Iron Will (visible from the shore once you manage to come from Tyr region), make fully of polished iron (stainless steel actually) there is the energy source (a combination of preserving magic and psioncs) who make unable to time travel to the blue age time for ALL athasians included sorcerer king themselves. Except in the tiny gap the blue age agents enter to destroy the giant obelisk similar to the pristine tower but all in stainless steel.

Who look this blue age agents? as brown goo golems of different sizes -from half giant size to colossal ones) tripulated by rhul thaun halflings -in a shingeki no kyojin/attack of titan style- They look very similar to witchling marauders (spelljammer setting) but with brown goo instead of whatever they are.

If you manage to dont fall in the time bleeding event, all the Casca continent is sinked deep into the silt make unable to recover the iron from the great tower (and all other goodies)

For reference the Casca continent have the shape of a Tembo as shown in the original 2e monster manual, but with his mouth open, the Great Tower of Iron Will is found on the right front paw of the tembo shaped continent

the Tembo shaped continent’s belly faces towards Tyr and its back faces Yawar Amaru

Yawar Amaru territory basics

Yawar Amaru have four shapes of athasian creatures in a combined way taking the capital of Yawar Amaru, Yawarcancha (Blood Field) at the center, facing Tyr the kestrelkel continent or Piskusuyu facing north and facing south the vorax continent or Mankusuyu (think the aurumvorax (2e monster) or eight legged wolverine but feed with obsidian instead of gold) and facing Sundered Regions the klar continent or ukukusuyu facing south and the kirre continent or uturunkusuyu facing north

Yeah kestrekel - pisku (bird)
Vorax - manku (wolverine)
Klar - ukuku (bear)
Kirre - uturunku (or “otorongo” in spanish who means jaguar)

More soon, i need to correct some things
And do the maps of course

#55

Somewhat on-topic: American-Conquest (PC-game): Fight Back has some pretty good Inca tile-sets of their buildings and structures. Plus there’s a map-editor that’s got a lot of options, so much, you can spend all day messing around with the different colors and textures.

One things about Dark Sun, is it takes something, and turns it the opposite; Sloths are fast, etc. So, take the Incans out of the Mountains and put them in a lower-elevation, like in Death Valley on a salt-flat.

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#56

This is a key issue that Ouroboros brings up. As much as we might like to entertain the existence of other Champions across Athas, all would have been present for the events of the Cerulean Storm. We are obliged to perform mental gymnastics to excuse those who were not there. As I have argued elsewhere at length, Borys would not have permitted independent SKs, and if any exist, a considerable explanation must be pursued.

All this said, I am exploring the “Anattan Continent”, and it is tempting to conjure forth new SKs. This Incan concept is not altogether intolerable to me. But i wonder how we might excuse his absence. Please elucidate.

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#57

No excuse needed to add other SK-like figures. Your problem comes because you’re hung up on using Prism Pentad lore.

If you use the Dragon Kings book you’d be fine. The Prism Pentad while fun to read, changed the setting and added many complexities when trying to tie it back to everything that had already been published. Revised DS’s biggest mistake was to allow it all as canon, which split the fanbase to either to accept it, ignore it completely, or just pick parts they liked.

There is no consensus on what Dark Sun is, just whatever you come up with in your table.

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#58

Indeed Xelu. It is my choice to embrace the Prism Pentad lore. I admit I much enjoy those books, and am hesitant to violate their narrative. The Prism Pentad really fleshed out and made real much of the Dark Sun universe.

But indeed, if Prism Pentad changes are moderated, it opens the way for many other possibilities upon the world of Dark Sun.

I enjoy that many of us have gone our own ways with our own lore. Yet I also enjoy incorporating as much of the lore developed by this community as best as I can. And for many of us, at least versions of the Prism Pentad have a strong influence on the lore we have ourselves privately crafted.

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#59

Agreed, I take some of that lore and include it sparingly, and mostly vaguely or change it all together.

My philosophy on it, is that 99.9% of the populace in the last millennium knows nothing of these specifics. They may have heard snippets as campfire stories, proverbs, tall tales, local legends, etc.

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#60

It is interesting, Darkinterloper, how much we all desire to be at least handful more Champions of Rajaat to fill up the campaign world. The designers of 2nd box wanted it, and I myself, as I am trying to build the Anattan continent in my campaign, admit I am striving to conceive of a way to place at least one extra one there, especially one who is capable of granting templar spells personally.

My players are quite particular about verisimilitude however. Whatever I come up with, it has to make sense to a larger degree than not. We embrace the Prism Pentad, as much as it can be, and I can make up only so many reasons why a Champion would have been excused, or have excused himself, from assisting with the defense of the Black Sphere. How many “unstable” former Champions like Daskinor are out there that Borys would have given a pass to, and how many hidden former Champions like Oronis are evading the suspicious attentions of their former peers. I reckon not many.

I do like the idea of the Incan themed SK though. I am exploring it. Maybe there is a way I can think of to excuse him from the events of the PP. At least one former Champion who can grant templar spells on the Anattan continent would entertain me, I think. I wonder what I can come up with that is not lame. I shall consider. Definitely open to ideas though!