Ah! Hello there. Grak! Be a good boy, and inform the Overcouncil that we have visitors. Quickly now, you can finish your sweetmeats when you get back.
You'll have to forgive him, he's a bit slow. Good help has been impossible to find since Tithian freed all of our slaves. Now then, what is it I can do for you?
What is Dark Sun?
Dark Sun is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Set on the desert world of Athas, Dark Sun is about the struggle for survival.
Nine city-states cling to life in the Tablelands. Until recently, they were ruled by powerful Sorcerer-Kings, both tyrants and protectors. Now, only five remain; the other cities are cast into chaos and violent strife. Soon, the desert may swallow them, as it has so many times before. The wastes are riddled with the ruins of cities long dead.
It is a world where magic drains the very essence of life. Ancient wars have left vast swaths of the planet sterile; even now, druids fight a losing battle to preserve the environment. To practice magic is to tempt death at the hands of the mob, yet the cities themselves are ruled by the most powerful of defilers.
Originally released in 1991 by TSR for the 2nd edition of AD&D, Athas.org has been the steward of the Dark Sun campaign setting since the release of D&D 3rd edition in 2000. In that time, we have released updated core rules, two monster manuals, numerous setting supplements, such as City State of Draj and Wisdom of the Drylanders, and the epic adventure Dregoth Ascending. You can see a list of all of our products here
News
Ashes of Athas pregen contest
Baldman Games, who produce the shared-play Ashes of Athas campaign, are holding a contest for the best level 6 pregens. The deadline for submissions is on January 12th.
http://forums.baldmangames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=244
Ur-Draxa [Dragon]
Dragon Magazine brings us an article on Ur-Draxa by Travis Stout and Rodney Thompson.
Filling the heart of an island whose name has been lost to time, the Valley of Dust and Fire sits like a festering wound. Volcanic ash chokes the air, and an ever-present storm of silt scours anyone foolish enough to try to reach the island’s surface. Sightings from a distance have spawned both tales of wonder and tales of horror, because depending on which bard you believe, within the valley lies a city that is either the last refuge of Athas’s verdant past, a land of ease and plenty, or a twisted nightmare citadel, the birthplace of the death of the world.Given the bleak, harsh nature of Athas, it is no surprise that the latter legend is far closer to the truth. Two millennia ago, Ur Draxa, the capital of the island nation of Ebe, was a paradise. The draconic ascension of Borys of Ebe reduced the island to a blasted waste that was haunted by strange elemental spirits. Ur Draxa has become a city of the unquiet dead, her citizens’ lives snuffed out to feed the grotesque sorceries that transformed Borys into the Dragon.
Next month, an article on the Cerulean Storm that destroys the dragon's city! (Well, if history is any precedent....)
Interview with Robert J. Schwalb
Death Mark author Robert J Schwalb answers questions about Dark Sun and his new book in this interview.
Death Mark Novel Review
Robert Schwalb's first novel Death Mark is scheduled for release on December 6th, 2011. Robert Adducci (Raddu) reviews the latest Dark Sun novel.
It’s easy to tell that Schwalb not only knows the setting (he is one of the 4th edition authors), but that he’s a fan.
Read more of Raddu's Death Mark novel review
The Nine Swords of Tyr [dungeon]
new dungeon article, The Nine Swords of Tyr
In the dark days before the death of Kalak of Tyr, the Veiled Alliance hatched a desperate plan to craft weapons designed to destroy the sorcerer-kings. A council of Veiled Alliance leaders met in secret within the city, the first and only time in memory that such a risky gathering was attempted. The greatest arcane minds that the resistance had to offer compiled secret instructions for the creation of weapons that would defend their wielders against the most powerful of the defilers’ attacks, and undermine their greatest defenses.