Disclaimer: I got a bit carried away when this thread came out, and I have just slowly been adding details to my post as time has passed. I am finally done.
I hope that you enjoy my submission and apologize for the length of it. As said, I got carried away, i apologize for the typos as this was written over the span of a few weeks in the phone, but that’s all :).
Nation/Kingdom Name:
The Desolation of Atahalnia
Government Type: Cult Theocracy
Coat of Arms or Banner: A white sun against a black horizon.
Capital: Arikura, The Seat of The Dark Seer
Ethnic Groups/Species: Mixed, all species.
Religions: Death Cult of Arikura, many others
Imports Food, water, alcohol, spices
Exports Minerals, particularly sulfur, saltpeter and salt, Maraq
Hallmarks: Incredibly hostile interior desert, hosting a fanatical death cult dedicated to becoming immortal.
Signature Weapon: None
National Dish: Maraq, a fermented, salty sauce added into various foods around the world to give them a rich umami flavour.
Interesting Things About The Desolation of Atahalnia
The Desolation of Atahalnia is often called the graveyard of the world of Argent Dawnia. Death seems ever present; Signs of the bygone life are embedded in the very rock of the land, where fossils of creatures resembling ancient marine life can be spotted with the naked eye. More recent signs show the ruins of great civilizations having left their marks behind, stubbornly resisting the passing of time.
People come to the Desolation from all corners of Argent Dawnia. Many come to plunder the land for it’s rich mineral resources that nobody has tried to claim dominion over. Others come to the land to escape their past. Many more still come to trade and learn at the great city of Arikura.
But above all else, the overwhelming majority of people that come to the Desolation come to seek an audience with the Dark Seer of Arikura. From the lowliest of beggars to the grandest of kings, people from all walks of life come to him.
Some come in the hopes of learning things from the past. Others come to learn their future. Some with boundless ambition come to bargain for boons of power, or to resurrect loved ones or to speak with the dead. The Dark Seer is happy to hear and grant all the wishes, but few are ready to pay the price.
Characters of The Desolation of Atahalnia
The Cult of The Dark Seer
The people of Desolation are not one race. Humans, elves, dwarves, dragonborn, kobolds, all races are welcome to make their home in the desolation, and many do indeed arrive to the holy city of Arikura to become disciples of the Dark Seer.
To become a disciple, one must brave the dangers of the Desolation, reach the seat of the Dark Seer, offer themselves and their lives to him and leave behind their past lives. The initiation is finished by painting the disciples bodies with black and white paint symbols, each unique to the individual. The disciples must wear these symbols at all times for the rest of their lives. Many choose to cover their entire bodies as a sign of devotion.
The disciples are expected to follow their superiors without question, and punishments are handed out frequently, ranging from assignments to menial tasks all the way to lashings. More severe punishments are rarely necessary, but not unheard of and often befit the crime.
The cult performs the same functions as any functional society would. Some work the mines and dig the wells that carry precious water into the city. Others run the city proper, cooking food, care for the wounded and clean the grounds.
Outside their regular tasks, some disciples are selected for martial tasks such as warriors, scouts and raiders. While the cult has no official standing army, they are nonetheless able to organize into sorties beyond the Desolation with great efficiency, when necessary.
Curiously enough, the disciples are not forbidden from leaving the cult, or even their gods. It is said that the Dark Seer has a path ready for everyone upon their initiation, even the ones that leave his dominion, and that all religions lead to him in the end.
However, when the dark seer commands the cult to do something, few dare to refuse his will. Sometimes the Dark Seer commands the cult to raid and ravage the lands surrounding the desolation. Other times he commands the warriors to stand down, even when a perceived enemy bears down on them. The order following another may completely contradict the previous one, but the cult follows it all the same, trusting the Seer’s vision.
Places of Interest:
The Desolation Proper
The Great desolation of Atahalnia is a land of extremes and ancient mysteries. It is located in the arid inland of the continent. The weather changes between extreme cold at night and extreme heat at day. What little precipation arrives often comes as snow during the winter months of the year.
An adventurer knows they have entered the desolation by seeing the ever increasing frequency of vertifacts peppering the landscape. They start small, but soon tower over the barren landscape, like gnarled, lumpy fingers reaching into the heavens.
The desolation is covered in pearly white sand, scattered and gathered by the constant winds that bite their way into every nook and crevice. These winds often gather into smaller dust devils that look from a distance like small but moving vertifacts, sometimes throwing off travelers off course when they mistake them for a real one marking their path in the otherwise barren landscape.
Occasionally these devils gather into monstrous sandstorms that rise like plateaus into the clouds above, plotting out the very sun, with winds strong enough to shear flesh from bone.
Small shrubs, cacti and thorny bramble trees are the only common vegetation in these lands. A weary traveler will often spot tumbleweeds rolling across the plains, gathering into messy piles in nooks of the canyons and dunes that make for excellent kindling for the daring adventurer to ward off the cold and dangers of the night.
And prepared you should be. Vampiric land-bats stalk the night, hiding under the sand from the blazing sun during the day. Their bites are almost impossible to detect while sleeping, and a swarm of them can quickly dehydrate a person in a land where water is more valued than gold in weight.
However, while the heat and light of a campfire will drive the small bloodsuckers away, they also attract more dangers. Scorpions and serpents are plenty in this otherwise dead landscape, most of them extremely venomous. It is advised that travelers wake up slowly and in a calm manner from their slumber to avoid scaring the critters, lest they retaliate with a deadly sting or bite.
If one is truly unlucky, they might stir the great terror of these lands, the great salt basilisk. These scaly beasts can hide for years under the sands and rocky formations, sometimes becoming indistinguishable from the land itself. The beast gets its namesake from the myriad of salt crystals that grow over its back like crystalline armor, often mistaken as regular mineral deposits scattered over the land. The older the individual, the larger the crystals tend to be.
Like a crocodile in a dune sea, the basilisk will lunge out, ambushing it’s unsuspecting prey. Its jagged teeth and monstrous jaws make short work of the unfortunate prey, and its craggy exterior makes it hard to wound. Tall tales exist of it’s ability to petrify foes that look upon it’s beady eyes, but none have been confirmed.
The Pallid Lake
If one is able to brave the attrition and dangers of the outer Desolation, they will arrive to the Pallid Lake. The land turns cracked and white beneath your feet, the saltflats extending like a great interior ocean in front of you.
Familiar vertifacts rise from the flats, but upon closer inspection you are able to distinguish that these rocky formations were not carved by the elements, but rather the skilled hands of masons. A well read scholar will recognize architectures of many eras and civilizations, with many familiar deities weather beaten rocky forms stubbornly holding onto their features, in a defiant struggle againt the gnawing teeth of time.
More gruesomely, petrified statues of humanoids and creatures you have seen and never seen are scattered between the buildings. Though the elements have long since stripped them of any recognizeable facial features or entire sections of their body, they all seem to be running away from the ruins, forefer frozen in time.
An uneasy, ghastly presence permeates the place, growing in intensity if one dares to brave the ruins and push deeper into the Desolation. The familiar architecture gives way to eldritch, non-euclidian architecture; broken stairways leading to the foot of the very same path, walls bleeding into one another and archways with no ends.
The salt statues of people give way to fresh corpses of adventurers, caravan traders and soldiers alike littering these structures, untouched by even the carrion birds. Many of them have poked out their own eyes or smashed their skulls against the rocks in desperation. Slowly but surely, their bodies decay away, drying up under the heat of the sun like cured meat. The salt crystallizes over the once wet spots of their bodies, while the wind tears the flesh off in tattered scraps, like torn, fleshy cloaks fluttering in the wind.
The Bleeding mountain & The Holy City of Arikura
The ones who make it through the Pallid Lake intact arrive to the base of the Bleeding mountain. While the mountain has been ground down by eons to little more of a tall, rounded mound, it still rises high above the surrounding wasteland and salt flats.
The mountain gets it’s namesake from the bright red soil and lichen that grow around the otherwise bright white bedrock protruding from it. Like a flayed body stretched over a rack, the smooth bedrock rises like the bumps of muscles against the fleshy tendons of the red foliage fanning around it.
Snaking up the mountain is a single path, stubbornly worn into the bedrock by the feet of determined pilgrims, armies and visitors alike. Signposts erected on piles of white and red rocks mark the journey at every mile.
A craggy mesa rises from the top of the plateau, where the great city of Arikura rests. No walls line the exterior of the great city, and at a quick glance, the city seems to offer a welcome respite from the inhospitable lands it finds itself nestled in. The smell of food and the sounds of civilization are enough to draw even the wariest of strangers toward the town, despite it’s eerie inhabitants.
The city is vertical, with elliptical, rounded buildings that mimic the eldritch architecture in the Pallid Lake below, with shapes bleeding into one another. The cone shaped roofs reach high into the sky, with wind catchers bringing fresh, cool air into the otherwise sun scorched streets and houses.
The paths of the city, like the buildings, lack straight lines. They curve and bend around the cobbled streets, leading to different sections of the town, dedicated to different crafts such as alchemy, scholars and blacksmiths.
One of the path leads outside the city to a cliff face that drops hundreds of meters below. Windmill powered lifts carry people and materials below to the basin, where a variety of resources are harvested: Sulfur and metals from deep below the rock, salt from the deposits at the base of the mountain, and guano from the arching caves that are host to the countless bats making them their homes. The guano is refined into saltpeter, a key ingredient for the nascent gunpowder present in the world.
The temple grounds & the seat of the Dark Seer
In the center of the city towers the sacred temple mound of Arikura. The Ziggurat that looms over the temple grounds is the residence and the seat of the Dark Seer, Lord of the Desolation of Atahalnia.
The temple grounds themselves are open to everyone, with a shrine dedicated for every deity of Argent Dawnia along the path spiraling up the mound to the Ziggurat. Curiously, no gates or checkpoints bar the entrance from anyone, and yet it is here that most adventurers seem to lose heart (or come to their senses, depending on who you ask) and turm back, citing the relentless feeling of the end hanging heavy upon the place. Even clerics of different deities may feel alone in these grounds, as if temporarily cut off from their deities.
The Ziggurat itself has the same eldritch masonry as the rest of the town. It’s walls have no visible seams and are rounded and elliptic in shape. A balcony towers above the main building, the tower corksrewing and expanding into a flat top like a great mushroom.
The inside of the Ziggurat is even more Bizarre. The building seems to expand into grand hallways that stretch so impossibly long that they couldn’t possibly fit inside the building, and yet they do. A circle surrounds the main audience chamber, made of stone walls and pillars. They make the seat look like an atrium. A dim, pale light somehow bleeds through the ceiling above, though there are no windows. Occasionally, bats flutter through the air, disappearikg into the dark alcoves above.
Candles and incense sticks on the ziggurat’s many altars and stations give the air a misty quality, with the shapes of the cultists and commoners alike appearing like wraiths to the eye from a distance.
Finally, at the center of the ziggurat lies the grand seat itself. The throne is made of a single, gnarled and hollowed out stump of an Kirktree, it’s roots spreading in the air above the one taking the seat like a halo of roots. Bats often hang by the roots while the Seer receives his visitors, said to whisper him stories from the afterlife.
Politics And War
The Desolation is ruled by the Dark Seer. What he says ultimately goes, but he does name administrators and chiefs to delegate some of the responsibilities to those he deems capable, or simply sets to the task. Merit is far from being the only means of attaining a position, and sometimes the Dark Seer’s choices can appear as random to outsiders.
That being said, politics do have a place in the Desolation. These politics take place in the respective designations of the cult, such as the sect of Labourers, War, Administration and Spies. They are mostly able to make their plays of power without oversight from the Dark Seer, unless he explicitly commands or forbids something.
The cultists are given free reign to raid the surrounding lands, but at the same time are told to offer hospitality and aid to pilgrims and travelers who request this. This unpredictability is what makes every interaction with the cult an uneasy encounter at best, and a deadly one at worst. Still, contacts, trade settlements and even friendships and more can blossom between outsiders and the cultists. Like the allure of a lover that is clearly bad for you, they draw you in.
When war is called for, it is often sudden, and rarely a planned for affair. But above all else, it is not declared. The wars can last anywhere between a few months to several decades, and the cult may join alliances or defect from them. They are, above all else, an apparent chaotic force that an allying dorce can merely hope to use for their own ends before they turn on them. But there are plans and goals woven into these tactics all the same, serving the greater goals of the cult.
Who rules the nation?
The Dark Seer of Arikura, Atahalni
Atahalni, the Dark Seer, is the effective lord and ruler of the Desolation. He is the immortal chosen of Arikura, god of Death.
Despite his moniker, Atahalni has died many times over the eons. Sometimes under the blade of an enemy, sometimes of old age and a few times by his very own hands.
But he has always returned, awakened in the body and mind of another disciple. Once reawakened, the disciple’s mind and spirit merge with the Dark Seer’s and all those that have come before them, granting them the promise of an immortal life, part of one immortal mind and soul.
The current body the Dark Seer resides in is a black dragonborn, a race that he seems to frequently choose as his vessel, and many indeed come to him as disciples, believing them to be his favoured race. He has chosen many other ones in the past as well however, ranging from elves to humans and dwarves and even a kobold.
The records of his countless past lives and their experiences are kept within the library of the grand Ziggurat, feverishly studied by disciples to try and learn the gift of immortality from them.
It is rumoured that in exchange for this incredible power and immortality, the Dark Seer orchestrated the many calamities over land and civilizations that resided here, until it was left to the state it is known for today. Thus was born the Desolation of Atahalnia.
While the Dark Seer has managed to carve out a kingdom befitting his god, many suspect he is not content with simply being contained in the desolation. His past lives have sometimes ventured into the world, leading great armies to reap the neighbouring lands and kingdoms, but either by withdrawal or defeat, the dark seer has always returned to the holy city.
Equally, many more kingdoms have attempted to thwart his foul rule and wipe out the cult, with varying levels of success. A legend tells of a great general that once braved the Desolation with his army, promising to rid the land of the scourge of the Dark Seer for good.
He massacred the armies of the cult to the last man. He razed the holy city to the ground. When the time came to face the Dark Seer himself, the Seer welcomed the general and his army, thanking them for their bloody pilgrimage and all the souls they had sent to his god.
Refusing to listen to him, the general cut the Dark Seer down with one swift stroke of his blade. Thinking he had vanguished Atahalni, the general and his forces were starting to celebrate, only to have one of the soldiers step out from the ranks and proclaim that he was the Dark Seer reborn.
The General cut the soldier down, but another soldier followed his example. No matter how many of his soldiers’ blood wet the steel of his blade that day, the Dark Seer would always step out of the ranks, possessing another of his soldiers.
Not willing to let the seer win, the general ordered a general decimation, causing an all-out bloodbath that wiped out his army to the last soul, as former brothers and sisters turned their blades on one another. Before the day was over, the streets ran red with rivers of blood. The blood soaked into the soil, giving the Bleeding Mountain it’s namesake.
The general, as the last living member of his forces, emerged from the bloodbath as a changed man. The Dark Seer of Arikura. Finally, his eyes had been opened. And thus, the cult endures to this date.
What is their army like?
The military of the cult, if it can be called that, is more of a horde than an actual military force. The numbers of the cult can swell very quickly at times and be decimated just as quickly, depensing on the outcome of the military operations.
Most commonly, the cultists form raids that fan out to wreak havoc as guerrila fighters against invading enemies or pillaging resources from the neighbouring nations. Other times, the cultists gather into a great horde to invade a neighbouring kingdoms, with varying levels of success.
The cult is not above and in fact frequently utilizes the services of different mercenary groups in the area. The deals are often mutually beneficial, with the mercenaries reaping great rewards while the cult reaches its goals. Sometimes mercenary captains are even placed in charge of the forces, and weapon masters, martial adepts and sorcerer supremes are treated extremely well in the holy city of Arikura, provided they teach their skills to the willing initiates.
In general, the cult places more emphasis on personal gains of power and individual goals above a coherent military structure. This means that the quality of the troops can vary greatly, with the elite ranking among the best duelists of their preferred fields in the world, while the meekest are little more than fodder for the flames of war.
Inspirations/Cultural Analogues:
Malazan Empire, Holy desert of Raraku, Gobi desert, Grand Canyon, The Thousand Needles, Conan the Barbarian, Arikara, the Spirit of Vengeance.