HUMAN, ATLANTEAN

A dying race, Atlanteans were once the most advanced and powerful people to be found anywhere on the Earth. The great empire of Atlantis was fabulously rich, and Atlantean magic and technology made the island empire a realm of marvels in an otherwise brutal and primitive age. But a little more than three hundred years ago, Atlantis was destroyed in a terrible cataclysm. Nine out of ten Atlanteans were erased from existence in a single day, breaking the worldwide dominance of the Atlantean race.
While the vast majority of Atlanteans died with their empire, some survived the destruction. The Atlanteans were a race of far-traveling mariners, and thousands of sailors and merchants were far from Atlantis on the day of doom. They were also conquerors and colonizers who controlled vast domains on the continents surrounding the Atlantean Ocean, and thousands more Atlanteans lived in these overseas possessions. The Atlanteans of the current day are descended from these travellers and colonists. Atlanteans have lost much of their vast lore and advanced technology, but they are still a powerful force for good or evil in the world. Proud, audacious, self-reliant, and industrious, they work to preserve the fading glory of Atlantis and recover what they can of its lost sciences and arts. Some Atlanteans use this lore to guide (or dominate) the less-advanced peoples around them, hoping to rebuild Atlantis in a new home. Others recognize that the time of Atlantis has passed, and work to pass its knowledge to younger civilizations where it may do great good.

ATLANTEAN COMMUNITIES The nation of Atlantis is now gone, and there are very few places in the world where Atlanteans live in their own isolated communities. In this new age, Atlanteans are most often found as minority populations within the cities or lands of other human peoples. Over the long centuries of Atlantis’s preeminence, Atlanteans living overseas naturally enjoyed significant advantages of wealth and political power in the empire’s various colonies. These advantages are not what they once were, but they still exist—Atlantean families are often titled nobles, successful merchants, or powerful politicians or military leaders. Atlanteans are especially common in the city-states of Katagia, Marg, Orech, and Quodeth.