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The Wanderer's Journal
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You open the old dusty tome to the first pages.
I live in a world of fire and sand. The crimson sun scorches the life from anything that crawls or flies, and storms of sand scour the foliage from the barren ground. Lightning strikes from the cloudless sky, and peals of thunder roll unexplained across the vast tablelands. Even the wind, dry and searing as a kiln, can kill a man with thirst.
This is a land of blood and dust, where tribes of feral elves sweep out of the salt plains to plunder lonely caravans, mysterious singing winds call men to slow suffocation in a Sea of Silt, and legions of slaves clash over a few bushels of moldering grain. The dragon despoils entire cities, while selfish kings squander their armies raising gaudy palaces and garish tombs.
This is my home, Athas. It is an arid and bleak place, a wasteland with a handful of austere cities clinging recariously to a few scattered oases. it is a brutal and savage land, beset by political strife and monstrous abominations, where life is grim and short..
-The Wanderer
Continue reading...
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The City States
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Each city state is different. Its laws, customs, economy, architecture, and general culture vary according to the tastes of the city's ruler and the needs dictated by survival.
In austere Balic, where hungry giants raid semiweekly, every citizen is a skilled and fearless soldier. At the other extreme is decadent Tyr, where slaves outnumber citizens two-to-one. Gulg can hardly be called a city at all, lacking a single stone building and standing hidden behind a wall of thorny hedges and poisonous vines.
Despite each city's unique character, however, they all respond to the rigors of barren Athas by organizing in the same general manner. Perhaps this is an accident of history, or perhaps survival mandates this type of organization; I don't pretend to know. All I can say is that this is what I have seen in my travels.
The next page awaits..more on the Cities of Athas..
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