No biggie! I definitely fudge numbers (and distances) myself. But I also like trying to logic my way through some of the official material, see if I can make things fit somehow.
I’m still struggling with the non-humanoid sacrifice bit. Like Rovewin wrote
I remember reading about sacrifice in general in DnD, that for sacrificial magic to work it has to be a real sacrifice, not just death. And it has to be humanoid/sentient. But I can’t find anything yet confirming this for Dark Sun. The alternative is a bit weird, that would mean that you could basically sacrifice an enormous herd of Baazrag instead of humans. Doesn’t feel right.
I think the levy has plenty of excess capacity built into it. Far more than the dragon needs to maintain the prison. The spare is used for other projects and spells and to pad out the slave population of Ur Draxa. Who knows how much is actually needed for Rajaat but I’d suggest no more than half, though it might vary by HD.
Yeah, exactly. If my campaign lives long enough, I plan to have my players defeat Borys and realize that they need to maintain the prison somehow, so I’ve been starting to think about what that actually requires. Can’t find any details about it though. Just that Borys maintains it.
Knowing my players they would try and rebuild a crashed spelljammer and fly Rajaat’s prison into the sun. My fault for introducing a history of spelljammers into the setting, though I guess that is one way to fix the levy…
One point I am curious about is if the levy requires humanoids or if large beasts like kanks and erdlu reduce the number of humanoids needed. My initial guess is you need exclusively humanoids as fuel.
As for a neat way to exploit human sacrifice in Dark Sun, a clever SK might build a giant ritual site under the city to feed on anyone that dies in the city. This could serve as a bank of life energy for the SK or a way to help along their metamorphosis. Another fun possibility is the side effects this could have on the city, such as the border with the Grey growing unstable and undead becoming more of an issue.
This is exactly what I figured would make the most sense. “Own” death in your city. I remember posting this idea to another dark sun group and being immediately told it was a bad idea and I should feel bad haha. Glad to see some kindred spirits in here.
The Sorcerer Kings are some of the most intelligent, cunning, powerful and heartless beings to have ever walked the world of Athas. Many could argue they are capable of doing just about anything to further their aims.
Kalak: Become a fully fledged dragon to usurp Borys and force the other SKs to serve him as emperor of Athas. This is because in my campaign Kalak wasn’t around for Rajaat and doesn’t understand what the levy is truly for and the weight of Borys’ responsibility. Kalak already has his fabulous rainbow pyramid to harvest all the life energy he needs, so it makes sense he’s not stepping up other efforts.
Hamanu: Wants to conquer the other city states because the other SKs are decadent unworthy rulers who are leading to the realm’s eventual ruin. I imagine Hamanu to have molded Uruk into a kingdom that prizes martial prowess above all else, relying on slavery for a lot of the work the men of Uruk would consider beneath them, kind of like spartans or hobgoblins. A fun spin would be Hamanu planning battles to coincide with his own defiler rituals.
Androponis: Wants to create an idealized society ruled by wise philosopher kings, with Adroponis naturally being the wisest and most worthy ruler of all. It would make sense that he would wish to expand his city and cultivate life. I imagine Androponis having a similar attitude to Hamanu of seeing the educated upper class as being far more valuable and “worthy” of the society he is building, while lower class foriegners are expendable barbarians. Perhaps he is working on a way to siphon life energy from local villages, reducing the lifespan of the residents without them even realizing anything is happening.
Abelech-Re: Is bored from centuries of ruling her own kingdom and indulging in every earthly pleasure. Only starts to engage in events again when the PCs kill Kalak. So it makes sense she isn’t super obsessed with harnessing life energy. She also has the most populated of the city states that everyone else relies on as a major export of food. So wasting life energy is hardly a concern, hell she might have originally orchestrated Raam’s growth and then got bored with her immense advantage.
Lalali-Pui: Wants to revive Athas, bringing life back to the wastes. To do this she is practicing human sacrifice to expand the jungles of Gulg. A clever way she could harvest life energy more efficiently is if the jungles themselves fed on the deaths within its boundaries. While the rituals may be more potent, cursing the jungle this way ensures no blood is ever truly wasted.
Nibenay: Seeks ancient knowledge of Rajaat so he might refine the draconic metamorphosis ritual and perfect the seal of Rajaat, ridding Athas of any need for a levy. The shadow king is in no rush to complete this goal and has no neighbors that are a real threat to his kingdom. So instead he might be cultivating the Ivory Triangle as a trade hub, his city is already one of the bigger ones. So maybe he is seeing to his kingdom’s expansion at a pace to avoid straining their resources. Perhaps instead of being sentenced to death, people are condemned to dwell in his palace until he has need of them as sacrifices. In the meantime he has his templar wives watch over this ‘city within a city’ that his palace has become.
Tectuctiklay: Has deluded himself into believing he is a god. He has cultivated Draj to practice human sacrifice to help along his metamorphosis and believes that their worship will aid in his apotheosis, eventually surpassing Borys as the rainbow dragon god of Athas. I could see Tectuctiklay believing that the quantity of sacrifices isn’t what truly matters, but the quality. This could explain his slow metamorphosis, but perhaps there is something to this belief. Maybe by mixing defiler rituals with heavy amounts of faith and specific circumstances to his sacrifices, Tectuctiklay has found his own path of metamorphosis. The feathered serpent…
Yes! Awesome, definitely feeling this direction. I have some of the same ideas but only as seeds, not as fleshed out. The key is that the non-insane SMs definitely want to build up civilization in some way, because that’s the only way to power. Also makes them much more interesting bad guys.