Atlantis
Its existence has been the subject of myth and legend for thousands of years. Even the modern “rise” of the hidden civilization of Atlantis in the past century has revealed little about the mysterious people living beneath the surface of the sea, such that some still consider them nothing more than a myth, but Atlantis and its people are all too real on Earth-Prime, and have been a part of its heroic history and a source of otherworldly threats to the safety of the surface world.
Structure
The royal family of Atlantis is known as the House of Atlan, both as a family and clan name and also as the surname of the currently ruling royal family, as occasional breaks in the lineage have occurred over the millennia.
The largest division between Atlanteans separates urban-dwellers, living in the partially reconstructed ruins of the ancient city of Atlantis itself, and the various tribal bands of Atlanteans dwelling elsewhere in the oceans.
Although the city-state of Atlantis claims the whole of the Atlantean people and all the Seven Seas as its sovereign domain, practically speaking, its true reach does not extend much further than a day’s swim from the borders of the city itself.
Most tribal Atlanteans want nothing more than to be left in peace to fend for themselves, as their ancestors have done for countless generations. While a few barbaric tribes are aggressive and acquisitive, most have a “live and let live” philosophy. Occasionally a particularly charismatic or feared leader is able to weld disparate Atlantean tribes into a single force, usually with the aim of toppling the throne in Atlantis, invading the surface world, or both.
History
Thousands of years ago in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, the island continent of Atlantis was the home of humans genetically enhanced by the alien Preservers, devoted to the protection of life throughout the universe. Using samples of technology left behind by the Preservers and their own enhanced intellects, the Atlanteans created an advanced civilization far surpassing anything else on Earth.
They were explorers with visions of uniting the world and made contact with other lands as legends of the fabled island-continent and its powers spread far and wide.
In time, the Atlanteans came into conflict with Lemuria and the ancient Empire of the Serpent People, descendants of a previous saurian empire that ruled the Earth millions of years previously.
Although the Serpent People had become largely degenerate, they were led by cunning and powerful sorcerers and worshipped nameless cosmic entities. The conflict between Atlantis and Lemuria lasted for generations. The Atlanteans were ultimately victorious, but in the end their arrogance became their undoing, as they sought to understand their foes’ alien sorcery and use it against them. In so doing, they triggered a cataclysm that destroyed Atlantis, sinking the entire continent below the waves.
Some Atlanteans survived, either fleeing the sinking island, or living in far-flung outposts which survived the cataclysm. Most blended into local populations of humans, often becoming legendary figures—gods or heroes—and passing along some of their advanced knowledge to their progeny. Larger groups of survivors sought shelter from the savage outside world and to avoid the mistakes of their forebearers, leading to the creation of hidden enclaves such as the Utopians.
Most of the Atlantean populace died in the Sinking, but a few saved themselves by adapting to their new environment. Some Atlanteans became amphibious water breathers, whether by magic, genetic engineering, or a combination of the two. Most of the water-breathing Atlanteans lived in nomadic tribes; their civilization swiftly regressed to a primitive level struggling to survive in the underwater ruins of their once great civilization. A few of these tribes were corrupted and interbred with Serpent People, taking on reptilian characteristics and worshipping evil, forbidden gods.
Over time, some Atlanteans resettled the ruins of their ancestors’ great cities and became more sophisticated, their culture similar in many ways to that of the Roman Empire at its height. They have access to ancient Atlantean technological and magical artifacts, although their understanding has been somewhat limited until relatively recently, and their ability to manufacture such devices is likewise limited.
The water-breathing Atlanteans, effectively in possession of the majority of the Earth’s surface, lost interest in the world above the waves. Initially, many believed the whole world had been inundated and there was no surface world. Later, it was simply of little interest. A band of Atlantean explorers came into conflict with ancient Athens. When the immortal Daedalus aided the Atheneans in defeating them, the Atlanteans retreated even further from the notion of renewing contact with the surface. Their existence faded into legend, hidden from the air-breathing world that went on without them.
By the early part of the 20th Century, the Atlanteans were becoming more acquainted with surface dwellers delving deeper into the oceans and sending out more and more of their surface-skimming craft. They even developed submarine vessels, beginning to encroach on Atlantean territory.
When the royal family made clear their intentions to initiate contact and open diplomatic relations, in accordance with an ancient prophecy, a palace coup displaced them, save for the surviving Prince Thallor, who fled the palace in the company of a small band of loyal supporters. The military junta now in control of Atlantis sought to further conceal their existence, although some elements of the military favored allying with the Axis powers, at least offering their covert support.
When a German U-boat sank a luxury liner in the Atlantic, lounge singer Lynn Sidon was among the few survivors.
Prince Thallor rescued her and believed she was the focus of the prophecy concerning reunion between Atlantis and the surface world. Thallor took her to an ancient Atlantean sea cave where she was infused with the power of the Sirens.
Taking their name as her own, Siren returned to her homeland, becoming a member of the wartime Liberty League.
Similarly, a German mariner unknowingly under a lycanthropic curse aided the Nazi Thule Society in attempts to steal Atlantean artifacts. The power of the corrupt magic of the Deep Ones combined with his curse to transform him into the übersoldat known as Sea-Wolf, a foe of Siren during the Second World War.
By 1945, Prince Thallor and his allies overthrew the military usurpers with the aid of a popular uprising in Atlantis, and Thallor was crowned king. He proposed marriage to Siren and the two were wed not long thereafter, Lynn Sidon becoming the first queen of Atlantis not born there in thousands of years.
Although Atlantis’ existence was known to many of the governments of the world, and a handful of superheroes and villains, it remained largely obscure for decades more. The royal family wished to maintain ties with the queen’s homeland, however. So it was that Prince Theseus, Thallor and Lynn’s son, came to the surface world and Freedom City, joining the Freedom League under the name Sea-King, for he was the rightful heir to the throne of the seas.
Although Sea-King’s Atlantean origins were generally known, many believed they were fanciful or a cover story for something else. Even those who believed Atlantis really existed tended to adopt an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude, at least until the first occasion when an attempted Atlantean coup led to an invasion of the surface world aimed at Freedom City and the Sea-King.
Prince Theseus managed to balance his royal responsibilities and his duties as a member of the Freedom League for some time, learning a great deal about his mother’s world and people, before he decided to return home to Atlantis for good. He eventually wed the dynamic and daring Captain Marta of the Atlantean Guard, a fierce warrior in her own right, and assumed the throne after the tragic death of his father during another attempted coup. Never renowned for his diplomacy, the new King Theseus sometimes came into conflict with his old teammates and their allies over Atlantis’ role in world affairs and its conflicts with the increasing pollution and disregard for the oceans and their inhabitants.
Still, the tradition of exchange between the two worlds remained and, years later, Theseus and Marta’s daughter Thetis became a student at the Claremont Academy in Freedom City to learn the ways of the surface world and to spend some time amongst her grandmother’s people.
She became a founding member of the first Next-Gen team at Claremont using the name Neried and forged friendships with her fellow students that have lasted long after they graduated. Thetis also found heartbreak in a brief romance with the young godling Magni before the differences in their two worlds and callings forced them apart. Thetis returned to Atlantis to follow in her mother’s footsteps in the Atlantean Guard and to further train for the day when she will be expected to take the throne.
Her younger brother Telemachus is now also a Claremont student, under the code-name Aquarius.
Atlantis’ relations with the surface world have not always been peaceful. Atlantean barbarians have been known to attack ships and coastal areas. There have also been occasional coups or secession crises leading to Atlantean invasions of the surface world. Even the most peaceful Atlanteans tend to be disdainful of surface-dwellers and their constant pollution of Earth’s oceans. Atlantis currently has a delegation to the United Nations. While recognized as a sovereign nation by most of the surface world, contact is understandably at a minimum. There is also an ongoing debate as to how far Atlantis’ “dominion of the oceans” extends, and whether or not King Theseus can truly claim to be “Sovereign of the Seven Seas.” Although the king’s temper has cooled somewhat over the years, diplomacy between Atlantis and the surface world remains tense.
Technological Level
Ancient Atlantis possessed truly advanced technology, including energy weapons, force fields, and aircraft, among other things. However, this technology was made up of a combination of scientific principles, the alien science and technology of the Preservers, and Atlantean understanding and use of magic, including ley-line energies, enchanted crystals, and tapping into various geomantic forces (some of which may have weakened the strata and geological stability of the island-nation).
Some Atlantean technology survived the Sinking and the subsequent millennia immersed in icy salt water, and it has led to significant differences between what Atlanteans and surface people consider “technology”. In particular, while some of their weapons, vehicles, and even household elements may appear “high-tech,” Atlantean technology does not rely upon electronics or electricity (virtually useless underwater unless completely sealed), nor upon combustion or the combination of volatile chemicals, also problematic underwater.
Instead, most Atlantean technology is powered by magical crystals drawing upon geomantic and geothemal energies, recharged in Orichalcum-lined sockets linked to ley-lines. So while an Atlantean blaster-weapon may look like a pistol or a rifle, a surface world engineer taking one apart would find it a technological impossibility. The same is largely true of Atlantean vessels and other devices, such as the occasional Atlantean audio-visual projector, actually a tellurian crystalline-based image generator, often with some telepathic components, rather than a video screen or camera.
Atlantean reliance on techno-magical devices makes their technology less mass-produced and ubiquitous compared to the surface world, since each item is hand-crafted, and many are often family heirlooms maintained, repaired, and passed down through the generations. This leads to an apparent mixture of ancient and modern styles and resources in Atlantis and a somewhat “retro-future” quality to their technology, since it generally things like computers and electronics.
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