Dragon 338: Returning to Athas, part1

[Dire Human]

Oh, man, I totally get it now. The situation with the Feywild is a perfect metaphor for the setting, and a perfect blending of the 4th Edition cosmology and the Dark Sun setting concepts.

The Feywild in 4th Edition has always been a place of two things: unfiltered arcane magic given by Corellon, and an exaggerated reflection of the real world's natural environment. In the new setting fluff Athas is a place where the Primordials defeated the Gods, warping the world with their presence. With no more Corellon to spread arcane magic, its supply is limited. With the Primordials ruling the setting, elemental forces are naturally destructive and are unmaking the world, starting with living things. Not only is the Feywild's sustaining supply of arcane magic dwindling in the hands of Defilers, but environmental destruction is turning the plane into a reflection of the desert, further destroying it.

Guys? Figuratively and literally, the Feywild is drying up.

 

[Herschel]

If you do play a water genasi, expect to be drunk. No, not inebriated... drunk.

"I'm being chased by an obsessed mob"

"Of Templars for defying the Sorcerer king?"

"No, elves with bendy straws!"

 

[med stud]

I didnt think I would like eladrin in Dark Sun, but I like where Baker is going with this. I get Fremen/Central Asian warrior- vibes from them, a xenophobic culture that uses death commandos for reasons that the main "civilization" doesn't understand or doesn't agree with. Nifty!

As for the Feywild, well, I really have no opinions if it's in or not. Taken as a hack, it's far less intrusive than the elemental clerics of 2e and I didn't really have a problem with those (except that they were always needed in a party, ofc).

Since I like the take on Athasian dragonborn as well, I suppose that's a 2/3 this far, hopefully tieflings become something interesting as well (which would be something since I don't like them very much in the core ~~)

 

[bganon]

My totally fluff-based solution to the fragmented Feywild/Fey Step issue:

Once, on my travels, I had the privilege of meeting one of the rare and mysterious eladrin. Apparently I was even luckier than I'd realized, as I have since found that many eladrin simply attack other races on sight, and few are willing to engage in conversation. But this one, perhaps because we had shared water together, was amenable for at least an evening.

Superficially they resemble elves, but after even a short conversation it became obvious to an experienced traveler such as myself that his odd demeanor arose from a completely different life history than any nomadic desert elf. After regaling him with tales of the unspoiled natural splendor I'd seen in the forests west of the mountains (I must admit, I omitted some details regarding halflings), he seemed to relax slightly and became more talkative.

Among other things, I asked if it were true that his kind could travel through the Fey realm virtually at will. The ensuing explanation was so interesting I have attempted to record it in detail here.

"We once freely moved between worlds, yes. Now it is not so easy - wars thousands of years ago shattered the Feywild and now it is left in fragments."

I must admit that at the time I did not realize that due to eladrin longevity he might have many interesting stories about these long-ago wars, which are scarcely mentioned in human records. Instead, my mind preoccupied with the practical applications of his ability, I wondered out loud if this must mean eladrin could only step between realms in certain specific areas.

"Oh no, you misunderstand. You think of the Feywild as a 'place'. It is... was... not. It was a living thing, and as long as my people still live we shall each carry a fragment of it within ourselves."

Then with great curiosity I had to ask, "What's it like? What do you see when you're between worlds?"

His face stiffened, and he looked away and was silent. I was worried I'd offended him somehow and would get no further conversation. After a very long silence, he quietly said this:

"I see nothing, because most of the time I close my eyes."
​

 

[Perun]

Genasi most definitely do fit in, in one of the Dark Sun of the Monstrous Compendiums, there was a creature called the Rukovas. The Rukovas were humanoid tribes that lived in the different Elemental Planes. And they were reprinted again in one of the Planescape MCs too along with the Psurlons.

I'm fairly certain they're actually called the ruvkova, at last in the PS MC Appendix (III, I think, the one dealing with the inner planes). I'm nit-picking, but just in case someone wants to look them up or something.

Regards!

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I'm fairly certain they're actually called the ruvkova, at last in the PS MC Appendix (III, I think, the one dealing with the inner planes). I'm nit-picking, but just in case someone wants to look them up or something.

They are not. Actually, they are not either way of spelling them. In Dark Sun they have been spelled ruvoka.

 

[Squizzle]

It looks like that book is notable for the misspellings.

 

[DarthMouth]

And those goblins in this week D&D encounters ? Any word about them ?

Not even reeskined ones. that i dont liked.

 

[bganon]

And those goblins in this week D&D encounters ? Any word about them ?

Not even reeskined ones. that i dont liked.

Yeah, that was a bit weird. But Athas is supposed to be full of mutated creatures. So I figure, even if all goblins and orcs were exterminated in the past, what stops small pockets from just popping back up from human/halfling/elven stock now and then?

I suppose you could use this same reasoning if a PC wanted to be a gnome or something.

 

[possum]

And those goblins in this week D&D encounters ? Any word about them ?

Not even reeskined ones. that i dont liked.

Yeah, that kind of threw me last night, too. I thought about saying something, but I do suppose that they could have mutated from some halfling stock or maybe a few small pockets managed to somehow survive the genocide.