Silverblade The Ench
First Post
This is from MY view of Athas, which is a bit different to cannon 
I completely ignore the offical history form 2nd ed days, and look at Athas as truly ancient, perhaps millions of year old civilization, with a storng "Clark Ashton Smith" sense of eeriness to the world.
Planar travllers know well of Sigil, the City of Doors, with it's many, many connections to other Planes.
Few folk though have travelled, and fewer returned from, Athas, the world of the Dark Sun.
The main city of the Tyr region is the city the region takes its name from. An ancient metropolis, Tyr sits upon the ruins of earlier cities going back perhaps 100,000 years or more! For the hill is but the rubble of older metropolises brought to ruin and rebuilt, again and again...
What many of it's populace whisper about, and some know, is that the city has many hidden doorways, portals or buildings that seemingly cannot fit within its maps, or even entire alleys or streets that exist outside the normal world!
The truth is that some powerful psions set up fields that blind the eye or warp reality itself, to make hidden their homes, or dens of debauchery, nobles meeting grounds, fighting pits, slaver's pens or trading warehouses safe from any robber.
Some of these hidden doors though are actually left overs from Tyr in times long past, maybe buried underground or in cellars, or where towers used to reach into the sky.
This is another reason why the city has wealth and power beyond it's apparent means, for it doesn't house a mere 40,000 souls, but something more like 100,000 or an even larger number! Hidden in houses and alleys or living underground, many with gardens, sometimes of strange types, eeking out a living, quite a few totally hidden from the templars.
To find many of these "hidden doors", portals to "elsewheres", the seeker must either make a Hard Arcana, Perception or Insight check to note the most obvious ones (some are every well hidden, beyond ordinary notice), or undertake a Skill Challenge, or, of course, know of them.
Usually they are unlocked by a "Mental concept", a specific thought pattern, an idea, numbers etc though some are triggered by a specific action, like whistling a specific tune.
There is great danger in entering such palces of course, as you never know whether it will be a bordello for nobles, or slavers cages, or a tembo's nest you may find, and each is as dangerous as the other!
Some are long abandoned, haunted by wraiths of times long gone.
The templars of course, have long tried to map and control all of these, but the task is impossible, as some are specifically deisgned to keep templars, defilers and other agents of the sorceror-kings out (as they were made by the Veileid Alliance, or their like in aeons past), or they are beyond mortal ability to learn without being being granted the privellege by whatever persons or entities or force controls them.
Quite a few inquisitive templars have went missing hunting for such hidden doorways, as have thieves, spies and others.
Hammanu had a spy base set up in one...but the portal suddenly disappeared or refused to open, it amounts to the same thing, and presumably, death for those imprisoned beyond if they had no garden and water supply!
naturally, the two largest users of such hidden doorways, controlling them by force if need, are the thieves and merchant houses.
For the elven rogues of the Shadow Square, a few boltholes and stores are absolute necessities, for the merchants, they provide warehouses almost impossible to raid and hard to tax.
One of the most infamous of such places is the "Pleasure Garden of DelRosian"
the DelRosians were a major noble family of long ago, but they have faded into obscurity, some doubt they even still exist, in reality they control a fabulous pleasure den, a neutral meeting ground for the nobles to gamble, watch pit fights, meet lovers or hire courteans of the highest quality, and embroil themselves in Machiavellian schemes as this is "safe ground" and templars are not allowed except by highest authority.
For the DelRosians, they found it much safer to be neutral, to cater for their fellow noble's "special needs", and thus avoid the vendettas and pointless political power chasing. Now, they have huge wealth and influence, without appearing to have any.
While they scrupoulosly stick to a policy of no direct spying on guests, they learn huge amounts by staying sober, by providing...pleasures...and listening. It's not spying when folk talk in their cups, is it? Or seeing who's addicted to what, who secretly lusts for whom....
It's common for noble families to bring their offspring here to "break them in" to the true under-currents of the city, to learn how to hire services, indulge their wants, and learn some important lessons on how to survive in ways unlike those they are more used to.
The "Rabble" of course don't know of it's existance, as only nobles may enter or so the nobles think.
Of course, pleasure slaves or gladiators enter as well as clenaing and other servants...so in reality some of the Rabble do indeed know of it, but can't enter it without aid.
Not only aren't they given the mental "key" and permission to enter by themselves, a psionic field keeps people away from the portal, so no one notices that a lot of nobles who enter the richer parts of the Merchant Quarter, aren't shopping...
"Schraag's Axes" are another elusive, idneed, mythical group hiding in one of these hidden portals.
A mercenary group of great precision and mayhem, they are on permanent retainer to King Kalak, but work for others with his permission.
lead by Schraag the dwarf (known for his blue-steel axes), they are highly skilled military unit who are masters of infiltration and ambush. Used to wipe out serious threats, even errant templars, as being outside the normal systems of Tyrian politics, their aloofness ensures not only their safety and anonimity, but less corruptibility: they NEVER double cross a commission.
(If Kalak is dead in your campaign, they may well be seeking new employ, or revenge, or have an old contract to ressurect the sorceror-king!)
I completely ignore the offical history form 2nd ed days, and look at Athas as truly ancient, perhaps millions of year old civilization, with a storng "Clark Ashton Smith" sense of eeriness to the world.
Planar travllers know well of Sigil, the City of Doors, with it's many, many connections to other Planes.
Few folk though have travelled, and fewer returned from, Athas, the world of the Dark Sun.
The main city of the Tyr region is the city the region takes its name from. An ancient metropolis, Tyr sits upon the ruins of earlier cities going back perhaps 100,000 years or more! For the hill is but the rubble of older metropolises brought to ruin and rebuilt, again and again...
What many of it's populace whisper about, and some know, is that the city has many hidden doorways, portals or buildings that seemingly cannot fit within its maps, or even entire alleys or streets that exist outside the normal world!
The truth is that some powerful psions set up fields that blind the eye or warp reality itself, to make hidden their homes, or dens of debauchery, nobles meeting grounds, fighting pits, slaver's pens or trading warehouses safe from any robber.
Some of these hidden doors though are actually left overs from Tyr in times long past, maybe buried underground or in cellars, or where towers used to reach into the sky.
This is another reason why the city has wealth and power beyond it's apparent means, for it doesn't house a mere 40,000 souls, but something more like 100,000 or an even larger number! Hidden in houses and alleys or living underground, many with gardens, sometimes of strange types, eeking out a living, quite a few totally hidden from the templars.
To find many of these "hidden doors", portals to "elsewheres", the seeker must either make a Hard Arcana, Perception or Insight check to note the most obvious ones (some are every well hidden, beyond ordinary notice), or undertake a Skill Challenge, or, of course, know of them.
Usually they are unlocked by a "Mental concept", a specific thought pattern, an idea, numbers etc though some are triggered by a specific action, like whistling a specific tune.
There is great danger in entering such palces of course, as you never know whether it will be a bordello for nobles, or slavers cages, or a tembo's nest you may find, and each is as dangerous as the other!
Some are long abandoned, haunted by wraiths of times long gone.
The templars of course, have long tried to map and control all of these, but the task is impossible, as some are specifically deisgned to keep templars, defilers and other agents of the sorceror-kings out (as they were made by the Veileid Alliance, or their like in aeons past), or they are beyond mortal ability to learn without being being granted the privellege by whatever persons or entities or force controls them.
Quite a few inquisitive templars have went missing hunting for such hidden doorways, as have thieves, spies and others.
Hammanu had a spy base set up in one...but the portal suddenly disappeared or refused to open, it amounts to the same thing, and presumably, death for those imprisoned beyond if they had no garden and water supply!
naturally, the two largest users of such hidden doorways, controlling them by force if need, are the thieves and merchant houses.
For the elven rogues of the Shadow Square, a few boltholes and stores are absolute necessities, for the merchants, they provide warehouses almost impossible to raid and hard to tax.
One of the most infamous of such places is the "Pleasure Garden of DelRosian"
the DelRosians were a major noble family of long ago, but they have faded into obscurity, some doubt they even still exist, in reality they control a fabulous pleasure den, a neutral meeting ground for the nobles to gamble, watch pit fights, meet lovers or hire courteans of the highest quality, and embroil themselves in Machiavellian schemes as this is "safe ground" and templars are not allowed except by highest authority.
For the DelRosians, they found it much safer to be neutral, to cater for their fellow noble's "special needs", and thus avoid the vendettas and pointless political power chasing. Now, they have huge wealth and influence, without appearing to have any.
While they scrupoulosly stick to a policy of no direct spying on guests, they learn huge amounts by staying sober, by providing...pleasures...and listening. It's not spying when folk talk in their cups, is it? Or seeing who's addicted to what, who secretly lusts for whom....
It's common for noble families to bring their offspring here to "break them in" to the true under-currents of the city, to learn how to hire services, indulge their wants, and learn some important lessons on how to survive in ways unlike those they are more used to.
The "Rabble" of course don't know of it's existance, as only nobles may enter or so the nobles think.
Of course, pleasure slaves or gladiators enter as well as clenaing and other servants...so in reality some of the Rabble do indeed know of it, but can't enter it without aid.
Not only aren't they given the mental "key" and permission to enter by themselves, a psionic field keeps people away from the portal, so no one notices that a lot of nobles who enter the richer parts of the Merchant Quarter, aren't shopping...
"Schraag's Axes" are another elusive, idneed, mythical group hiding in one of these hidden portals.
A mercenary group of great precision and mayhem, they are on permanent retainer to King Kalak, but work for others with his permission.
lead by Schraag the dwarf (known for his blue-steel axes), they are highly skilled military unit who are masters of infiltration and ambush. Used to wipe out serious threats, even errant templars, as being outside the normal systems of Tyrian politics, their aloofness ensures not only their safety and anonimity, but less corruptibility: they NEVER double cross a commission.
(If Kalak is dead in your campaign, they may well be seeking new employ, or revenge, or have an old contract to ressurect the sorceror-king!)
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