Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 terminus_vortexa Jan 03, 2009 2:29:30	If you have a fact regarding the buildings, landmarks, weather, and geography of Athas,(i.e. the dimensions and contents of a building, layout of an obscure area, local flora and fauna, etc.) post it here. just a short, concise descriptor. I'll compile them after a couple weeks. The point of this is to construct a doc that will contain those useful, yet overlooked tidbits of info that flesh out a campaign. Pictures for reference are warranted, if possible. All facts must be drawn from undisputed, canonical references. No RAFOADK, due to its contradictory nature.
#2 phaaf_glien Jan 03, 2009 2:57:05	i propose we work on templar rank structure throughout the tablelands. it's a very annoying problem. Lynn Abbey attempted some vision of that with her work on Urik, but, we all sigh at that don't we... I like to start with Tyr myself: Tyrian Templars: bronze pendant (VP, 84), coerce populous into worship (VP, 60), general description (VP, 60), High Templar of the King’s Safety (VP, 322), 6 high templars (VP, 6) Cf. with CSoT, which has a cockamamie scheme for templar rank structure and hierarchy... also, Senior Templar Dark being in charge of the spy network is really lame... i mean they might as well have called the SK of Tyr King Evil. let's be careful with citing CSoT then.
#3 redking Jan 03, 2009 9:16:06	Good idea. There is plenty of material in the 2nd edition. What is the Wizards policy on it? Copying, paraphrasing, etc? We don't want to step on any toes.
#4 phaaf_glien Jan 03, 2009 20:03:08	Freedom, Player’s Guide, 6: “Doreen” templar associated with King’s Woks (high templar?) Freedom, DM’s Guide, Part 2 Introduction: “Master of the Games” Dorjan: Former high templar of the King’s Works. Ivory skin and noble looking. (VP, 7-8)
#5 agi Jan 12, 2009 22:49:19	This is a list that I complied years ago while reading through all of the DS novels (sorry, I no longer have the reference pages). Perhaps others can expand on some of them? Athasian Flora A Agafari –tree; have a blue tinted wood and bark; hardwood; marked by deep creases and ribbon-like pleats; grow 30m+ in height; great sweeping fan boughs; canopy of turquoise, heart-shaped leaves; gnarled roots are exposed partially above ground Arrowweed – shrub; quiver like clusters; yellow; when the stalks are broken they emit a tangy, foul-smelling odor; the stems are lined with razor-sharp ridges. Ash-Brush – bush; ash-colored; grows in the stony barrens; sweet smelling B Black-Jointed Whip Grass – canes Blade Blossom – an oases flower Blue Burgrass – Bogo Trees – gnarled, covered with dagger-sized thorns; blue-hued boughs Brittlebrush – white/silver, thick growth Burgrass – grass; blue/green (domestic) C Catclaw Trees – tree; spindly Chiffon Tree – tree; ganey white boughs; flowering Cloud-brush – a yellow spray, found outside of Nibenay D Daggerblades – grassy clumps Damask Cactus – a bud will drug someone to become languid Desert Willow – tree; E F Faro Tree – tree; almost as tall as a man with a handful of scaly stems that rise to a tangled crown of needle-covered boughs. Blossoms once every ten years and each piece of sweet fruit is a delicacy worth almost twice as much as the tree itself. The needles are made into a gruel that is served to slaves. Needles are about 1 cm long. (domestic) G Gray Straw – Goldentip – bush; silvery fans Golden Salt Brush – grows in stony barrens and in the red sands Golden Smoke Brush – Ground Holly – (domestic) shrub; low-lying ground cover Groundstar - pink; found in ravines H I J K L M Milkweed – tall with fleecy, ivory blossoms held aloft on long yellow stems Mulga – bush; grows in a thicket Myrrh Tree – gnarled branches N O P Purple Spikeballs – Q R Ratany – yellow, chest-high hedge that grows along the edge of harbors; spindly boughs; used as a crude dust-break Rockholly – boulder-size (grows near Silver Sandgrass) Rockstem – grass/cane; leafless, hard skinned S Saedra Trees – slender, long-needles conifers that grow with upraised boughs that resemble the arms of a sun-worshipping dwarf. Purple-flowered vines with yellow thorns grow twined around the boles and beards of moss dangle from the branches. Sand Cactus – carnivorous, the sand-colored needles protrude out of the sand only 1-2 cm and can penetrate thick leather. Once the barbed needles entered the victim’s skin, a secretion into the wound keeps the blood from clotting. The sand cactus then begins draining the life-fluids of the victim into its root. (A pile of undisturbed bones is a fair indication that the area is the territory of a sand cactus.) Silver Sandgrass – Silverthron – bush; blossoms are used as perfume Silvery Broompipe – cones Silverbristle – a copse Smokebrush – (domestic); golden color Spikeballs – shrub; green or purple; tumbling windblown Spike-Brush – a single barren stem Spinifex Bush – T Tamarisk - bush; grey-green, flowering Tarbush - bush; amber in color, barbed thickets Thornstem - shrub Tinchweed – ground dwelling plant; forage used to feed inxies Tortoise Bush – brown-tinged Tumblethistle – yellow, spiked balls U V W Whip Grass – canes; black joints; used as a weaving material Wind Spout – Wychwood - unknown; spell component X Y Yara – a tangy oil can be squeezed from the buds; used by elves for certain ceremonies Yellow Cloudbrush – a spray that grows outside of Nibenay Yellow Fan – an oases flower Z Zaal - tree; barren trunks and fan-like crowns
#6 Grummore Jan 20, 2009 8:17:16	Do a search for "Athasian Ecology" in google, you will find the extremely well done document by Gerard Lewis. His whole site is down, but the PDF is still there. I will put it on my web page soon, since it's site is gone.