Do you thinK Athas, even though it's desert world has ice at it's poles? Makes me wonder how far JCR and the DL's are from Athas's poles. What about the other side of the sea of silt? and directions beyond the 3 regions, south of the DL's, west of the JC region, etc.
It's said that Albeorn (Andropinis) is originally from someplace called Dunswich, which is probably not in either of the 3 regions (I thought the same thing about Ebe, until I learned it was swallowed by the sea of silt, would make an interesting adventure, going there- under the silt)
I figure the magic could exist based on wandering wizards.. you can't tell me at least one didn't cast a teleport or other travel spell incorrectly and end up elsewhere, or have a wild talent, or some other means of winding up outside the tyr valley. As such, it would be much easier to contend preserver vs defiler without dragons and champions being mass produced by a powerfont like Rajaat.
There's also no reason to assume all halflings everywhere lost their knowledge like those of the tyr region.. indeed, some tribes have more ancient lore than others..
Same goes for psionics.. it was heavy in the tyr region, it could also have been elsewhere also..
There may even be areas where Avangions rule without being aware of the dragon menace of the tyr region.. or, they are aware, and dare not encroach just yet on such an infested nest.. but then.. with Borys now gone.. maybe they do dare
.. Oh, and I'd say yes.. let there be ice caps
and make them harsher than any other world.. with unique ice/psionic creatures. Cyrus's map, known as the Annatan Wastes (as well as several other high quality maps for DS) can be found here: http://darksunrisinginfo/
Other unofficial expansions are:
Sysane's - Sundered Region : http://sysane.multiply.com/
err, one's called the Far Side of the Silt Sea, IIRC. not sure where to find it, though.
and another area to note, that I enjoyed anyways, is Pennarin's unmapped illithid lands (not sure if they have a name). and they can be found here...http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=307369
Oh, crap - almost forgot. One of the DS designers (Kevin Melka was it?) let on about the fact that the original idea was to have pretty much everything outside the known area to be totally infested by the thri-kreen empire.
as well as a small portion of the coastline on the other side of the Sea of Silt. This portion was mapped out in the old 2E product, the Valley of Dust and Fire.
Hmm, yes I vaguely recall a pennisula or something sticking out from the other side of the silt sea, but remember the silt is HUGE (should have called it the silt OCEAN) and exists both in the Tyr and Jagged Cliffs regions eastern sides, anyway, just to clarify I mean the west coast of the silt sea, just so you know, whereas the east has Balic, Guistenal, etc
This was also expanded upon by our beloved mapmaker, Cyrus. Although not official, yet :P , I wouldn't be surprised to see it become such.
Cyrus's map, known as the Annatan Wastes (as well as several other high quality maps for DS) can be found here: http://darksunrisinginfo/
haven't met him yet, is he on Athas.org?
and another area to note, that I enjoyed anyways, is Pennarin's unmapped illithid lands (not sure if they have a name). and they can be found here...http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=307369
I don't like Illithid's on Athas, at least not them being a rebirth race or a race that came from Athas, if they got here via some other means, like the githyanki who breached the Grey and entered Athas, then fine.
Oh, crap - almost forgot. One of the DS designers (Kevin Melka was it?) let on about the fact that the original idea was to have pretty much everything outside the known area to be totally infested by the thri-kreen empire.
Does he post on this board at all? I have talked to him in the past when the TSR (then TSR) boards were on AOL.
Ah, I don't want the kreen to own/try to eat everything, but the crimson savanna invasion of the Tyr region sounds cool, I wonder how Hammy would react, remember that kreen he killed in the crimson legion- by tearing off it's carapace?
I also wonder if it's a worthy quest to retrieve the dark lens for, if there are perhaps hundreds of thousands or millions that are going to invade, I figure a 10th level fireball enhanced by the lens (100d6 and ten times the "blast" radius of a normal one) would scare the kreen out of thier wits and send them screeching back to the savanna, since they have an inherent fear of fire.
For example, an earth nation/kingdom would have lavish sculptures, tunnels, elementals, living statues etc. Fire would have many eternal flames, things made of fire, etc
Or maybe even a hierarchy of priests, like the catholic church where there is an elemental "pope", and what about elemental paladins, it says that paladins don't exist because people don't want the simple gifts of faith and inner peace, but this struck me as rather odd, on a world like Athas, wouldn't that be one of the first things you'd want?
I believe the Ral of Tyr also has some very cool maps and setting information of an area of Athas that he is fleshing out- I do not have the information handy, but I know that some one will have the link and maybe will add it to this thread.
Speaking of Ral, what about that and Guthay for an idea/setting. There is in Dragon Kings mentioned a legend (seems more like a silly child's fairy tale, even for a fantasy setting) that Uncle Tontor went there, and it was a huge egg with silk wyrms coming out, and they deposited him on the flat underside of Athas, and it took him 77 years to get home where everyone forgot about him, once again I'm not even sure if that's a true story, considering how weird/silly it sounds
I was wondering, just speculation at this point, what do you think is beyond the 3 regions that have been mapped (dead lands, tyr region and jagged cliffs region)
Do you thinK Athas, even though it's desert world has ice at it's poles? Makes me wonder how far JCR and the DL's are from Athas's poles. What about the other side of the sea of silt? and directions beyond the 3 regions, south of the DL's, west of the JC region, etc.
It's said that Albeorn (Andropinis) is originally from someplace called Dunswich, which is probably not in either of the 3 regions (I thought the same thing about Ebe, until I learned it was swallowed by the sea of silt, would make an interesting adventure, going there- under the silt)
I personally have it be a world with a sort of earth-like proportions. There is obcious continents that take up about 1/3 - 1/2 of the surface, noted by the extreme cliffs -- what would have been continental shelves. The Jagged Cliffs are one such continental shelf. However, due to the Oceans having receeded for quite some time, rather than oceans, you have dry ocean floors. Still quite fertile and untouched by defiling, they are vast green grasslands and forests. These take up 1/2 - 2/3 of the surface of the world. Due to the majority of the world having these greener lands and still very little water -- it turns Dark Sun's sky to an olive color rather than blue like ours. Now, I say there are other ontinents -- hell, there's still parts of the continent that the Tablelands are part of, which haven't been "mapped out" -- I do like cyrus9a's map of the far side of the silt sea he did.
I do not believe that there is any polar caps -- the one and only reason Earth has polar caps is because our axis is tilted. I'd rather that Athas doesn't have a tilted axis, and that most of the water really is gone. the ocean floors have verdant and vibrant life, while the continents are a bit more ragged -- with the Tablelands by far the worst of the bunch due to the Defiler presence there (I don't have the Defilers spread very far around the world -- I don't have the Pristine Races as going very much beyond the scope or range of the Pristine Tower itself). I do have the Tohr-Kreen Empire as completely dominating the entire ocean floor around the world. I have been toying with the idea of other insectoid and reptillian races having taken over other parts of the world.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7117/athas/
The Edge of Athas
http://www.geocities.com/raloftyr/EoAIntro.html
Or maybe even a hierarchy of priests, like the catholic church where there is an elemental "pope", and what about elemental paladins, it says that paladins don't exist because people don't want the simple gifts of faith and inner peace, but this struck me as rather odd, on a world like Athas, wouldn't that be one of the first things you'd want?
Like the city-state of Doxerann in my hypothetical Southlands region? ;)
haven't met him yet, is he on Athas.org?
Cyrus isn't an official member of athas.org, though he has done maps for us on official products such as Dregoth Ascending.