Atlantis, painted for this archiveLegacy of the First Age
Place, History
First Age colonial ruins, some still holding treasures, dot the world's wilds, and Nethermen and Andamen survive in scattered tribes though most sorcerous abominations are gone. Atlantean influence shows in Qaddan's pyramids, Tamoanchan's step-pyramids, the looks of Erians and Hesperians, and the belief that sorcery and alchemy seeded other magic; the Atlanteans also left folklore of iron-masked devil conquerors.
From the book
Ruins of First Age colonies are said to lie in wild places all over the world. Some have given up marvelous treasures and strange devices, others were stripped long ago by thieves and adventurers, and many surely wait to be found.
Few of the sorcerers' monsters are thought to survive, but the Andamen and Nethermen came through the Cataclysm in numbers, and though rarer than some nonhuman races, their tribes and prides still turn up in parts of the world.
Atlantean influence shaped cultures that later became Second Age powers: Qaddan's pyramids, Tamoanchan's step-pyramids and many megalithic works elsewhere bear its stamp, and Erians and Hesperians (and less closely many other peoples) look much like the old Atlanteans. Some hold that sorcery and alchemy, both Atlantean inventions, were the root from which Mysticism, Necromancy, Enchantment and other magical arts grew.
A quieter legacy is fear. To many conquered savages the Atlanteans were devils in grim iron masks, speaking unknown tongues and killing all who resisted, and tales of them, warped by endless retelling, have passed into the myths of several lands.
At a glance
- Surviving races
- Nethermen, Andamen
- Influences
- pyramids of Qaddan; step-pyramids of Tamoanchan; sorcery and alchemy as basis of other magics