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?
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
Pain. Pain the like of which I had never imagined. Like spears of sun-scorched obsidian sliding through my limbs where my bones should have been, the claws of some ravening beast tearing through my bowels, razors across my sweat-slick skin. And, through it all, he was there, inside my mind, pouring fear and anguish into my soul.
Another ancient unofficial article found in the web archives:
According to the Draji religion, a faith propagated by centuries of state sponsorship, King Tectuktitlay is the supreme temporal and spiritual authority of the cosmos, a kind of perfect incarnation of the spiritual forces of Athas. The Draji are taught that their King is the creator of all life and is responsible for investing the world with order and purpose. Unlike their neighbours in Raam, the people of Draj largely believe what the Moon Priests have taught them and they look upon Athas as world with their own King as its necessary centre. In Draj, as in Gulg, it is the state religion which dominates Draji identity and outlook, making it one of the more stable cities of the region, and certainly the most arrogant.
Tales of the corrupt races, Trolls, Wemics, Pixies, Goblins, the abominations of the Arcane Apocalypse.
The Net Projects were a series of projects created by members of the Dark Sun mailing list during the late '90s to flesh out the Dark Sun setting.
An ancient unofficial article from the depths of the internet: The Dray, the draconic race who dwell far beneath the scorched surface of Athas, owe their fearsome form to a transformation wrought ages ago upon the band of humans who then served under Dregoth. However it was not only the bodies of his people that the Dread Lord saw fit to alter to his liking, but also their hearts and minds. This was achieved long before the physical transformation, when he fashioned for them a new religion, one which places himself at the centre of a cosmic drama in which they would play a vital part.