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Sorcerer-Kings: General Information
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Power and Role:
- “Every city is led by a king. He (or she) may be addressed as ‘Magnate’ in one place and ‘Vizier’ in another, but is always the absolute dictator of his subjects.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 12)
- “All are precariously balanced at the edge of starvation, barely scratching enough food from their small plots of land to support their populations.”(pg.2)
- “In the center of every city, a powerful sorcerer-king lives inside a secure fortress, ruling his subjects through a sophisticated hierarchy of bureaucrats, nobles, and rapacious clergymen. Each city is a state unto itself, its king wielding absolute authority over every living thing inside its walls and crawling through its fields.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 4)
- “Powerful sorcerer-kings often masquerade as gods and demigods but, though their powers are great and their worshippers many, they are not true gods.”(pg.29)
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- “All monarchs jealously guard the use of magic and employ a sizable force of templars whose sole duty it is to ferret out and execute unauthorized Preservers.”(pg.12)
- “…for the most part, above the law.”(referring to defilers in a sorcerer-king’s employ.)(pg.59)
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Longevity:
- “Most kings have reigned for hundreds of years. Many have reigned for more than a thousand years, and one or two are even credited with founding their ancient cities.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 6)
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Worship:
- “In some cities, the sorcerer-king is glorified as if he were some sort of immortal being. In fact, many such rulers are actually able to bestow spell-casting abilities upon the templars who serve them.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 5)
- “Templars are the clergymen devoted to the sorcerer-king of their city. Like other priests, they are granted spells in return for their worship. Unlike true priests, who draw their power from the elemental forces of the world, Templars tap into the magical forces of their sorcerer-king.”(pg.12)
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Magic Use:
- “Almost without exception, every king is a powerful Defiler who has risen to his position through the unprincipled use of magical and psionic abilities.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 12)
- “A sorcerer-king tolerates a select few defilers in his employ…”(pg.26)
Specific Sorcerer Monarchs
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Andropinis of Balic:
- “Balic is ruled by the Dictator Andropinis, a powerful sorcerer-king who was elected to his post over seven-hundred years ago.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 67)
- “Though the term ‘dictator’ originally referred to the power of dictating (as in stating) a city policy sanctioned by a democratic assembly of property owners, Andropinis has converted the title and office into one of total authority.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 67)
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Tectuktitlay of Draj:
- “The sorcerer-king of Draj calls himself ‘The Mighty and Omnipotent Tectuktitlay, Father of Life and Master of the Two Moons.’” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 68)
- “…claims to be a god.”
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Lalali-Puy of Gulg:
- “The sorcerer-queen of Gulg, Lalali-Puy, is called the oba by her subjects.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 69)
- “In their eyes, she is a goddess…” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 69)
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Nibenay of Nibenay:
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“The city of Nibenay is named after its founder, the sorcerer-king Nibenay. Called the Shadow King by his subjects, Nibenay is a bizarre and enigmatic figure.”(pg.71)
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Hamanu of Urik
- “I am Hamanu, King of the World, King of the Mountains and the Plains, King of Urik, for whom the roaring winds and the all-mighty sun have decreed a destiny of heroism, and to whom the life-giving waters and the nourishing soils have trusted the mightiest City of Athas.”(p.72)
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“Hamanu is a warrior-king.”(p.72)
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Kalak of Tyr:
- “Tyr is ruled by the sorcerer-king Kalak, who calls himself simply King Kalak or, as he sometimes prefers to be addressed, the Tyrant of Tyr.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 73)
- “A pragmatic and ruthless man, Kalak is perhaps the most honest of all sorcerer-kings.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 73)
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Abalach-Re of Raam
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“The sorcerer-queen of Raam, Abalach-Re, calls herself the Great Vizier. She lives in a beautiful palace with ivory walls and an alabaster roof…”(p.71)
- “Abalach-Re professes to be the representative of some greater power, and claims that her powers are gifts from this mysterious being.”
Sorcerer-Kings: Duties and Relationship with Cities
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Administration and Justice:
- “In return for his exalted position and unlimited authority, the king has the duty to administer justice, protect the citizens from famine and crime, and safeguard the city from external attack.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 13)
- “In practice, these gluttonous monarchs spend most of their effort protecting their power base and seeing to their own comfort. Justice tends to be self-serving and arbitrary, and the king’s agents are so corrupt that they often ignore crime altogether—providing the criminal pays them a large enough bribe.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 13)
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Response to Famine:
- “Most kings take quick and decisive action when famine begins: they raise armies and go to another city-state, steal its food, and replenish their supply of slaves.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 13)
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Defense of the City:
- “All kings maintain standing armies, they usually have some large defensive project under construction, and I have heard that they devote most of their magical research to developing spells to fend off enemy armies.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 13)
- “Most cities are so well defended that it is impossible to criticize any sorcerer-king on this basis.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 13)
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Control of Magic:
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“…every ruler controls it tightly.”(pg.10)
*“…most sorcerer-kings are Defilers of the highest power.”(pg.10) -
“…sorcerer-kings send their defilers out into the countryside to maintain order and terror…”(pg.34)
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Relationship with Templars:
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“…the templars are any sorcerer-king’s best means of maintaining a stranglehold on the population.”
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Relationship with Nobles:
- “The nobles control the farms and the water of the cities.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 14)
- “…they form the largest block of slave-owners in any city.”(pg.14)
- “…every family is allowed to maintain a standing army of slave soldiers, with the young men of the family serving as officers. In an emergency, the king can freely call upon these armies to supplement his own troops.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 14)
Specific Sorcerer Monarchs: Further Details
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Andropinis of Balic:
- His palace is “a majestic palace of white marble, rectangular in shape and adorned on all sides by magnificent columns.”(p.67)
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Tectuktitlay of Draj:
- “His templars, called ‘Moon Priests,’ claim that he raised the city from the dust and made the surrounding lands fertile.” (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 68)
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Lalali-Puy of Gulg:
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“…the only city ruler who enjoys the popular support of her subjects.”
*“Gulg is an exception to the general rule.” -
“All halfling chiefs are preservers…”
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Kalak of Tyr
*“…has been diverting the city’s resources to the consturction of a massive ziggurat.”(p.73) -
Hamanu of Urik:
- “The Great King, The Mighty King, King of the World, King of Athas, an unrivaled potentate who holds sway from the great Ringing Mountains to the shores of the endless Sea of Silt…”(p.72)
Sorcerer-Kings in General: Additional Context
- Relationship with Defilers: While generally hostile to independent wizards, sorcerer-kings employ defilers, seeing them as valuable tools. The text implies a complex and often tense relationship, with the kings needing the defilers’ power but also needing to control them.
- “When a templar falls from favor with his sorcerer-king, all of his spells can be lost, including those granted for having a higher Wisdom score.”(pg.2)
- “Templars gain levels as do clerics, but their spell progression at low levels is slower.”(pg.32)
- Vulnerability: Though long-lived and powerful, the text hints at vulnerability. The existence of deserted city-states (“at least two”) suggests that sorcerer-kings can die or be overthrown. (Wanderer’s Journal, p. 6)
- “…the only way to leave his service is through death–a hired thief knows too many of the noble’s secrets to be allowed to ‘resign’ in any conventional way.”