The Age of the Atlantean Ends

Disaster / Destruction

The remains of the continent of Atlantis sink beneath the ocean. Only scattered cities survive underwater: notably Poseidonis, ruled by King Orin, and Tritonis, where his brother, the priest Shalako, leads a contingent of followers. A serum allows the survivors to breath underwater, and the Tritonians are mystically converted to tailed mer-people.

In the last days of Atlantis, the immortal Vandal Savage visits the continent and forms a secret society called the Children of Light that survives into the modern era, when it is known as the Illuminati.

Orin’s grandson, the mutated Kordax, provoked a civil war and was banished. His appearance underlies the eventual Atlantean stigma against blond hair. In their weakness, Serpent Empire of Lemuria saw a chance to attack Atlantis, after their series of wars. The battles trigger a Great Cataclysm which ends in the destruction and sinking of Atlantis and Lemuria. Vandal Savage and an incarnation of Resurrection Man battle in catastrophe-era Atlantis. After the final battle with Lemuria; the wizard Arion leads many of the survivors of the shattered continent to seek a new home. They found twelve cities around the world to preserve Atlantean science and sorcery, and in doing so spread the seed of the Homo magi across the Earth. Some of the Atlantean colonies are destroyed by cultures that fear their advanced society, while other colonies merge with different cultures and help them advance. A few remain hidden, leading to legends of lost cities of mystery and magic. Unbeknownst to the Atlanteans on the surface, there are other survivors beneath the waves. On the remnants of the shattered continent, the city of Poseidonis uses Atlantean science to cover the city with a protective dome before a massive meteorite falls to Earth and destroys what remains of Atlantis. While Poseidonis uses science to survive, a group of sorcerers lead their followers to retake the sunken city of Tritonis and dome it using magic. When Poseidonis develops a serum that will allow his Atlanteans to live underwater, the dark magic used in Tritonis twists the serum such that its people grow not only gills but fish tails, separating the two cities both culturally and physically. Wars between the two cities last for generations.

Among the Atlanteans fighting for survival was the future hero later known as Dawnguard. Born before the fall, this hero fought then as a part of an order, the Order of Morris, that sought to destroy Chaos. When the Great Cataclysm occurred Dawnguard was among those that settled among the land.

The Serpent People were driven completely underground and to the netherworlds by the sinking of Lemuria, where they have remained ever since, except for occasional forays to the sunlit world. No longer would ancient human heroes have to fight the savage Serpent People and their corrupt sorcerers. Underground in the world of Sub-Terra, they engineer a new slave race from human stock to serve their needs. The slaves eventually rebel, driving the Serpent People from several of their cities, and become known as the Morlocks. The Serpent People create a new, more tractable slave race, the Sub-Terrans. Endless warfare drives both the Morlocks and the Serpent People into barbarism. The Sub-Terrans remain in the abandoned Serpent People cities, maintaining their technology without any real understanding of it.

Most of Humanity fell back into barbarism and the Golden Age of Atlantis vanished into legend. Sorcery retreated into the shadows, where it has remained, perhaps because of some human racial memory linking it to the Serpent People and the doom of Atlantis. For thousands of years, humanity struggled slowly back up the ladder of civilization. There were heroes and villains in those ages, some gifted with abilities beyond those of ordinary mortals, but it was not until the modern era that such people became widely known as anything other than legends.

Some of the fleeing Atlanteans create a small and hidden home near what would be Athens. While many others scattered, some founding a Utopian society, others the hidden city of Ultima Thule. Those which become known as Ultima, establish the hidden city of Ultima Thule in the Arctic Circle. The Utopians, move to a small island in the Bermuda Triangle which is hidden in a pocket dimension. The mystics of Shambala Vale move to the Himalayas, and intermarry with the local population and found the Shambala Temple, the source of all martial arts and many mystical secrets. Atlantean survivors of the great city of the province of Danu flee the Great Cataclysm to the British Isles, where they become known as the Tuatha De Dannan, or “People of Danu.”