Atlantis is an undersea civilization that is very wary of the surface-dwellers of Earth.
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Area/ Dimensions | Earth's Oceans |
| Multiverse | Crisis Cluster |
| Universe | D0 |
| Planet | Earth |
Atlantean History[]
Atlantis[]
Atlantis is the name of a continent located in the North Atlantic Ocean and represents one of the earliest and most highly advanced cultural societies on Earth. Untold millennia ago, groups of pilgrims settled in the greater Atlantean region establishing twelve distinctive communities, a few of which evolved into the city-states now known as Poseidonis and Tritonis. Many believe that the original twelve settlements represented the twelve signs of the Zodiac.
The continent of Atlantis was settled 65,000,000 years ago, by a humanoid extraterrestial race known as the Hunter/Gatherers, who proceeded to hunt the Dinosaurs to extinction. million years ago, Atlantean society flourished alongside Home erectus, the precursors of modern man. This apparently occurred long before the intervention of the White Martians whose genetic tampering with Homo sapiens created the Metagene.
Thousands of years ago, magic levels on Earth began to drop due to the sleeping entity known as Darkworld beginning to wake up. The Atlantean sorceress, Citrina, struck a deal with the Lords of Chaos who ruled Gemworld, so she would be allowed to create a home there for those Homo magi and magic dependent species such as Faerie, Elves, Centaurs, and so forth who wished to emigrate from Earth. Gemworld was colonized by Homo magi emigrants from Earth made up of the twelve ruling houses of Atlantis.
Darkworld was a dimension formed by the body of an unnamed cosmic entity who later fell into a deep sleep. This entity's dreams were responsible for creating the first Lords of Chaos and Order, Chaon (chaos), Gemimn (order), and Tynan the balancer. These beings and others were worshiped as gods by the citizens of Atlantis. Darkworld was tethered to Atlantis by a massive "chain" created by Deedra, goddess of nature. Some Atlantean magicians such as Arion and Garn Daanuth later learned to tap the mystic energies of Darkworld, enabling them to wield nearly godlike power.
Atlantis owed a lot of its development to the strong mystical energies intrinsically tied to the land. Over 145,000 years ago, two powerful mystics named Calculha and Majistra became the most powerful sorcerers in the world. Calculha, a follower of the light, manipulated White Magic, while his only living equal, Majistra was a practitioner of the dark arts. Through their influence, Atlantis flourished and grew into an advanced community unlike any other on the planet. Although magic was the dominant means of power throughout the continent, noted intellectuals began to recognize the wisdom of science. While the rest of the world had yet to benefit from inventions such as the wheel, the Atlanteans were already developing highly advanced technological wonders. Legend has it that the Atlanteans even managed to combine science and sorcery to create the world's first space-craft. This vessel is thought to have left the planet Earth some 50,000 years ago. Some have speculated that the crew of this craft may have populated the nearby human worlds of Rann, Thanagar, and Krypton.
As the centuries passed, the sorcerers Calculha and Majistra decided to consolidate their mystical prowess and mate with one another. Their union produced twin offspring, Garn Daanuth and Arion. Calculha took Arion under his wing and apprenticed him in the arts of pure magic, while Majistra schooled Garn in the ways of evil. The children each grew up to become powerful mages in their own right, and the bitterest of enemies. Arion eventually defeated his brother, but at great cost to himself.
The Great Deluge[]
The Great Deluge (sometimes referred to as the Great Flood) was a geological catastrophe that occurred some 9,600 years ago.
A giant skull-shaped meteor from outer space crashed into the Earth somewhere near the North Sea. The impact was so tremendous that it caused worldwide geological upheaval. Tectonic plates shifted, yielding massive flooding so intense that it caused the entire continent of Atlantis to sink beneath the waves. Though nearly all of Atlantean culture had been wiped away forever, those of the capital city of Poseidonis managed to survive due to the erection of a giant dome that shielded the entire city. It was believed by some, that the destruction of Atlantis was the result of Suula - Goddess of the Sky -- who took offense to the creation of the dome that cut Poseidonis off from the skies above. These Atlanteans managed to eke out a life for themselves, though they could never again leave the safety of their city.
Some Atlanteans however, found an alternative in the priest-mage known as Shalako. Shalako used his magic to protect his followers from the crushing pressure of the ocean depths, and they migrated from Poseidonis and re-established a colony in the ruins of the sister-city Tritonis.
A few short years after the calamity, Atlantis' monarch, King Orin, had his scientists develop a means so that his people could survive underwater, without having to stay within the city. The experiment was a success and the serum transformed the Atlanteans from normal human beings into aquatic amphibians who could survive the ocean depths and draw oxygen from water to breathe.
Most regarded Orin as a strong and benevolent leader, but there were those, including his brother, Shalako, who felt that Orin's compassion made him a weak ruler. Orin was the first to put together the Atlantis Chronicles and assigned Albart-Son-of-Yarrow of Ancinor the task of maintaining a faithful history of their home country.
Due to the machinations of Shalako, the citizens of Tritonis evolved into a race of Mer-people. At first, the former Shalakites adapted to this mutation, until they discovered that the changes were being passed down to their children. The most severe example of this effect was the Atlantean prince, Kordax. Kordax was born a hideous, green-scaled mutant with blond hair and the ability to telepathically control the creatures of the sea. The existence of Kordax caused a schism throughout Atlantis as by right of ascension, he was the first-born heir to the throne. This conflict erupted into a massive war between Poseidonis and Tritonis.
New Atlantis[]
Atlantean survivors of the city of Challa-Bel-Nalla, then ruled by Lord Daamon, an ancestor of Deimos, moved to Skartaris and formed an alliance with an extraterrestial race they called the Red-Moon Gods. These aliens provided the Atlanteans with advanced technology that Travis Morgan would later discover in New Atlantis.
Lemuria[]
The Lemurians are a scientifically advanced race of blue skinned humanoids covered in part with large green scales. They live in the underwater city of Lemuria. Zanadu the Chaos Master professed to be a sorcerer from Lemuria.
Venturia and Aurania[]
Queen of a crumbling Atlantean outpost named Venturia, a subsea realm situated somewhere beneath the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean Queen Clea enslaved the men of her realm and amused herself by putting many to death in gladiatorial combat. Desiring extended rule, Clea repeatedly attacked Venturia's flourishing sister city of Aurania unsuccessfully. Despite this failure she expanded her ideal towards domination over the entire lost continent of Atlantis. In order to do this, Clea stole the fabled Trident of Poseidon to make herself virtually unstoppable.
The Modern Era[]
Although the submerged continent grew and prospered, the civilizations of the surface world remained largely ignorant of Atlantis for many centuries. In recent years however, Atlantis has found itself pushed to the forefront of public awareness. Their most notable monarch to date, King Orin, reintroduced Atlantis to the modern world when he took the sobriquet, Aquaman, and became one of the founding members of the famous Justice League of America.
Atlantis has never been a nation to know peace for very long. Over the span of four-thousand wars, it has seen conflict from the surface world, from within its own borders and even from beyond the stars.
Sub-Deigo[]
Sub Diego is the new name of a portion of the city of San Diego, California which was submerged during an artificially generated earthquake, part of a plan which changed part of the surviving population into subaquatic beings. The city had a recent increase in population due to an influx of refugees from Atlantis, following the destruction of that city by the Spectre.
Xebel[]
Originally, Xebel was an otherdimensional kingdom formerly ruled by Queen Mere, currently ruled by her nemesis Queen V'lana. Mera's twin sister Hila also stayed behind in Xebel. The Aquaman villain known as Thanatos also originated from there. The kingdom of Xebel is located within "Dimension Aqua". Currently Xebel is a forgotten extradimensional penal colony for an ancient group of separatist Atlanteans, locked behind a sealed portal in the Bermuda Triangle. Mera's sister, now named Siren, has been sent to kill Aquaman. It was later revealed by the Entity itself that it was the Entity that freed the Xebel soldiers from the Bermuda Triangle in order for Aquaman to learn the truth about Mera. Meanwhile Aquaman's alliance sends the soldiers of Xebel back to the Bermuda Triangle, therefore finishing Aquaman's task. Afterwards, Aquaman discovered that the Xebel's weapons were effectively made of Atlantean technology.
Jellyfish Invasion[]
The next serious attack came from a race of highly evolved giant jellyfish. These creatures despised the notion that the seas were dominated by the humanoid Atlanteans, and embarked upon an ambitious plan to insure racial purity in their territories. They bided their time until Atlantis was at its most vulnerable, when its capital city Poseidonis was under the command of an inept leader named Pletus. The Jellyfish commandeered ships and transport craft and began their invasion. They always concealed themselves within metal shells, so that nobody ever knew what the invaders actually looked like.
In times of war, it was customary to bequeath complete authority in Atlantis to the highest ranking military commander. Although the general fought valiantly, he was killed in the first attack, thereby solidifying Pletus' bid for power. Taking control of the military, his poor judgment misdirected battles and caused a severe drop in troop morale. Ultimately, he surrendered Atlantis to the jellyfish and was summarily drawn and quartered. The Atlantean ruling council were then apprehended and torn to shreds, their remains left floating in the Atlantean waters. The jellyfish rounded up as many dignitaries as they could find and incarcerated them at the Aquarium as political prisoners. To strengthen their own army, the jellyfish found nomadic tribes from the outlying settlements around the continent and pressed them into service. Although these men had no desire to wage war against their fellow Atlanteans, they feared that the jellyfish would execute their families if they tried to resist.
At the height of their occupation, Atlantis' former king, Aquaman, returned to his home after having been away for several years. He was captured by the rebel army and placed inside Aquarium. Aquaman conspired with the other prisoners to lead a rebellion against the invaders. He knew of secret aqueducts that could be used to leave Aquarium and get back to the royal palace.
They soon discovered that the invaders were rounding up random Atlantean families and taking them to a processing plant where they were being executed. Aquaman soon determined the true nature of the invaders and realized that they were in fact sentient jellyfish. He rounded up as many resistance members as he could and had them mass produce canisters containing a poisoned specially designed to kill jellyfish. They placed them at strategic locations around the royal palace and detonated them. Though the poison was deadly to jellyfish, it was harmless to other sea life. All of the invaders inside the capital city were killed instantly. Some managed to escape and retreated back behind the dome perimeter. The invaders were not finished however. Although they no longer controlled Poseidonis, they were able to erect a blockade around the domed city, cutting Atlantis off from their supply chains. If they couldn’t kill the Atlanteans directly, then they would starve them out.
An Atlantean general led the charge to push the invaders back, but the opposing force was too strong. They simply didn’t have the military strength to press forward. Aquaman ascended the highest point in the city and broadcast a telepathic command to every fish, cephalopod and marine mammal that he could summon. Taxing himself beyond measure, he succeeded in raising an army that obliterated the opposing forces once and for all. Atlantis was liberated.[
The Destruction of Atlantis[]
Aquaman had discovered a holographic transmission from an Atlantean who said that the underwater city was in danger and that his forces had pursued an unknown enemy to the oceans. Before the transmission ended, the Atlantean further said that this enemy was planning to sink Atlantis and claimed that the monarchs of Atlantis had hidden the truth. Aquaman returned home and asked his wife Mera to seek out this enemy of Atlantis.
Organizations[]
TBD
Personalities[]
- Arthur Curry
- Mera
- Aqualad
- Deep Blue
- Lori Lemaris
- Dolphin
- Juan Vallambrossa (Man-Fish)
- Neptune Perkins
- Tsunami
- Little Mermaid (of the Global Guardians)
- Barracuda (of the Crusaders),
- Piscator
- Siren.
Races[]
Homo Magi[]
In the DC Universe, the Homo magi originated on the lost continent of Atlantis. The continent was a focal point for unharnessed magical energies (wild magic), and the local Homo sapiens evolved into Homo sapiens magi as a result of their exposure to these energies. Upon the fall of Atlantis, people who carried the predisposition for magic were scattered to the four winds. Today, every human being capable of casting spells is a descendant of the Atlantean "Homo magi."
Atlantean Locales[]
- Aquacave
- Cave of Death- This was a skull-shaped undersea cavern from the times of ancient Atlantis. It was here that the outcast mutant Kordax was raised in secrecy until such time that he emerged to claim the throne of Atlantis.
- Deep Six A-Go-Go- This was an undersea discotheque operated by an alien criminal named Doctor Dorsal. From here, he used the power of his hypnotic eels to control the minds of Aqualad and Aquagirl, forcing them to commit crimes on his behalf.
- Sub Diego- Sub Diego, home of Mayor Cal Durham and Lorena Marquez. It consists of a portion of San Diego that was submerged in an attempt to convert humans into subaquatic beings. The population consists of a mix of these altered humans and Atlantian refugees.
- Tritonis-The city of Tritonis, home of King Iqula, Queen S'ona, Lenora Lemaris, Lori Lemaris, and Ronno the Mer-Man (formerly Mer-Boy).
- Mercy Reef-The coral outcropping known as Mercy Reef, location where Aquaman was abandoned at birth.
- The Hidden Valley-The twin cities of Shayeris and Crastinus in the Hidden Valley, home of the Idyllists and birthplace of Aqualad.
- Hy-Brasil- The city of Hy-Brasil, home of the Hy-Brazilians, their entire city is a floating war machine.
- Lemuria- The city of the Lemurians.
- Venturia- The Atlantean outpost city of Venturia, domain of Queen Clea, a foe of Wonder Woman's.
- Aurania- The city of Aurania, enemies of the city of Venturia and Queen Clea.
- Tlapallan- The city of Tlapallan, populated by a sub-species of Aztec styled onyx-skinned Atlanteans.
- Maarzon- Maarzon is a barren territory on the outer perimeter of Atlantis, not far away from the isolationist Thierna Na Oge. The region is populated by tribes of green-skinned barbaric savages. Ocean Master once took control of the Maarzon barbarians in a bid to defeat his brother Aquaman.
- Thierna Na Oge- The city of Thierna Na Oge, is home to the Tuatha De Danann, a society with a great affinity for magic, and ruled by Queen Nuada Silverhand (her namesake is Nuada Airgetlam).
- Nyarl-Amen-The city of Nyarl-Amen, home of a race of fish-headed men with lightning spears. Ruled by the sorcerer king Nyarl-Amen, the Nyarl-Amen dynasty ruled the world 50,000 years ago.
- Bitterland- The city of Bitterland, home to a race of Seal Men, humanoid Pinnipeds who live beneath the South Pole.
- Sargasso Sea- The Sargasso Sea, home to a race of froglike neanderthals called "Troglodytes" who live beneath the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. The Troglodytes have nuclear weapons which may have been salvaged from sunken submarines.
- Merezonia- The city of Merezonia, the aquatic home of Queen Klitra and the Mermazons, enemies of the Red Torpedo.
- Sareme- The city of Sareme is a secret undersea domed city of air breathing albinos, it was discovered by the Flash.
- Kogat Canyon- The Deep Canyons beneath New York Harbor, home of the Kogats, an evil apelike aquatic race of telepaths.
Zodiac Artifacts[]
Zodiac Crystals[]
The Atlantean Royal Seal is one of twelve powerful mystical artifacts known as the Zodiac Crystals. The Twelve Crystals were created by Calcuha and Majistra, the parents of Lord Arion of Atlantis. The twelve artifacts are able to tap into the magical energy of the Earth to perform sorcerous feats and Geomancy. The twelve crystals resurfaced in Aquaman vol. 2 #1 where they were in the possession of Orm Marius the Ocean Master.
Several years ago, Atlantis nearly declared war upon the surface world when they believed that the humans had stolen the Atlantean Royal Seal. In fact, they were only partially correct. Though the thief was indeed an air-breather, he was actually Aquaman's half-brother, the Ocean Master. Ocean Master stole the seal as part of a quest to find twelve ancient Zodiac Crystals from which he would gain ultimate power. Aquaman defeated Ocean Master and the armies of Atlantis held back their assault against the surface world.
Zodiac Coins[]
There were also twelve Atlantean Zodiac Coins which Doctor Zodiac and Madame Zodiac used to power his Zodiac Idol
Features[]
One must make a successful Swim check or the Swimming power to move through Atlantis. Characters need a way to breathe if they’re underwater; failing that, they risk drowning. When underwater, characters can move in any direction as if they were flying (with good maneuverability, if that option is in use, except for the inability to swim backward).
STEALTH AND DETECTION UNDERWATER[]
How far you can see underwater depends on the water’s clarity. As a guideline, creatures can see 60 feet if the water is clear, and 30 feet if it’s murky. Moving water is always murky, unless it’s in a particularly large, slow-moving river.
INVISIBILITY[]
A solid invisible creature displaces water and leaves a visible, bodyshaped “bubble” in the water. The creature still has concealment (20% miss chance), but not total concealment (50% miss chance). At the GM’s option certain power descriptors may be unaffected by this, and a power feat may be available to extend invisibility to aquatic environments.
UNDERWATER COMBAT[]
Land-based creatures have difficulty when fighting in water. Water affects a creature’s Defense, attack rolls, damage, and movement. In some cases opponents may get a bonus on attacks. The effects are summarized in the accompanying Combat Adjustments Underwater table. They apply whenever a character is swimming, walking in chest-deep water, or walking along the bottom.
RANGED ATTACKS UNDERWATER[]
Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties for range.
ATTACKS FROM LAND[]
Characters swimming, floating, or treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep, have improved cover (+8 bonus to Defense, +4 bonus on Reflex saves) from opponents on land. A completely submerged creature has total cover against opponents on land.
FIRE[]
Powers and effects with a fire descriptor are ineffective underwater. The surface of a body of water also blocks the effect of any such power.
References[]
Wikipedia Atlantis Article- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_(DC_Comics)
DC Comics Database Wiki Atlantis Article- http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Atlantis