#rajaat

[pixellance]

Hamanu of Urik (Manu of Deche), last Champion of Rajaat from the DnD Dark Sun Setting

[lord-soth-dk]

[kaienroad]

The people of White Sun woke to the grinding of cogs and the sound of whirring propellers overhead. They gathered in the streets and pointed upwards at the massive airship that filled the sky. Distorted laughter echoed around the city and many had to cover their ears at the unnatural sound. It came not only from the vaguely human shaped figure  at the helm of the colossal contraption but also from the thousands of creaking mannequin like creatures outside the walls. 

To say that these entities resembled humans would be generous. Most were humanoid with two arms and two legs and while they moved stiffly they could almost pass for living, breathing natural creature.

However, there was no mistaking the twenty foot monstrosities for anything other than what they were; abominations.

Seemingly stitched together from many different hosts, each of these horrors had a unique look. One would have dozens of arms each ending in a sharpened bone, another would  have every inch of its chest and back covered in a mutilated face. Elves, Dwarves or Men, the faces all shrieked in fury and pain outside White Suns walls.

In between the giants and the average sized troops there were quick darting figures, barely visible as they weaved in and out of the ranks of soldiers. Those with quick eyes spied tiny child-like shapes with skin resembling porcelain and teeth like jagged razor blades, dripping a viscous black fluid. Each of their miniscule fingers end with a corkscrew shaped syringe that dripped the same horrid liquid.

Longtime slaves inside the city looked on with dread at the sudden realization that their lives could be much, much worse.

The creature aboard the airship demanded that Rajaat be brought before him and the slaves trembled at his voice as he identified himself as Viktor Lark, Lord of Lark House.

"Come out knave, face a Lords justice." Viktor called down, tauntingly. The words hung in the air and the city held its breath, waiting.

They didn't have to wait long, Rajaat had already begun moving before Viktor had begun to speak. He reached the top of the tower alongside his sun and his cold eyes swept across the army of puppets in front of his city. He didn't speak, he just made a sound of mild disgust and the sun began to glow brighter, giving off an intense luminous aura. There was a barely audible suctioning sound as it drew oxygen into itself, growing more radiant to the point of blinding.

With a casual gesture, Rajaat unleashed the suns energy in a concentrated beam of light at one end of Viktors battle line. He sweeps his hand in a lazy arc and the light follows his motion, obliterating every puppet that is touched. The puppets screams are as distorted as their laughter and they howl as they are seared beyond the point of leaving ash.

After the lights arc is complete, there are few puppets left on the field and none of them intact. The heads that remain, whether attached or not still scream their awful inhumane sound.

Most noticeable, the beam left behind a twenty foot deep trench where it had been directed, with the sand up to ten feet away from its edges being turned into glass from vitrification.

Upon seeing his army decimated, Viktor fled the city in great haste. His current whereabouts are unknown.

This confrontation is colloquially referred to as "Viktors Folly" "The Last Flight of the Lark" and "The Searing of the Strings"

[kaienroad]

Whitesun

The city of Whitesun is the seat of power for Rajaat. It is home to many Halfling tribes as well as Rajaat’s armies. Whitesun's population consists of many other races as well, so long as they aren't the target of Rajaat. It also houses the great white sun, which can be seen from almost any part of the desert, casting an unending daylight. Water is rationed tightly and only Rajaat and his elite have access to it.

Whitesun is very large and sprawls across the desert. Rajaat has constructs that are either bound to servitude, or are not fully autonomous that police the the city and do his bidding. Whitesun gains much popularity due to it's popular fighting arena with such legendary teams like the White Lions, Vrocks' Feathers, or Flint and Steel.

Whitesun also houses eight Great Portals leading from Whitesun to the City of Brass and the Abyss in the elemental Choas, Gloomrot in the Shadowfell, the city/plane of Sigil, and to cities of Relicath in the Warforged Lands, Menzoberranzan in the Underdark, Ashbank in the Scaled Kingdom. The final portal in known as the Black Portal and the location it leads to is unknown.

[kaienroad]

Kellesen's Blunder

The fifth King of Darguun, Kellesen, lead a campaign northward. At the place now known as Kellesen’s Blunder, he made what was to be his final large encampment. He soon led his troops northward through a dying forest, one recently affected by Rajaats’s magic as his desert continued to expand. Kellsesen’s troops found nothing of use in the dying woods and upon reaching the part of the forest that is today known as Myriad, Kellesen fought Rajaat’s forces. Unable to sustain his army and unable to defeat Rajaat, Kellesen was forced to retreat. He was slain as he did, and the fleeing, wounded remains of his army gathered at the final encampment to recuperate. Rajaat lost interest in the army, and the army lost interest in expanding northward. The encampment eventually turned into a city as the soldiers opted to stay where they were, and there was currently no king to tell them otherwise as Kellesen left no heirs to throne. The city was named Kellesen’s Blunder after the mistake Kellesen had made, and the distain the soldiers had for how they had been slaughtered and forced to retreat. Kellesen’s Blunder remains small to this day, but is an important military outpost against the Kalashtar, and so it is constantly supplied by Thronehold and other Darguunian cities. The small patch of forest in the desert where the battle was fought remains due to the magic cast in the initial clash of Rajaat and Darguun, and is entirely self-sustained. Many druids have since travelled there to learn from it. Refer to Myriad for more information.

[kaienroad]

Myriad

The small patch of forest in the south-east of the Whtiesun region gets its name from the huge variety of creatures that inhabit it. Due to the druids living there and the magic that spared it from Rajaat’s desert in the first place, Myriad’s ecosystem remains remarkably stable, despite the constant changes to it. Creatures created by Rajaat’s magic commonly wander in and are absorbed into the ever-changing ecosystem. Only the most skilled druids are able to tame the creatures and survive within Myriad. Many druids see the place as the ultimate test of their power. Rajaat pays no mind to the forest, being more interested in eliminating species of humanoids than species of animals.

[kaienroad]

Province of Whitesun

The ancestral homeland of gnolls, the Whitesun region has always been a desert. However, Rajaat’s defiling magic has expanded the desert far beyond what it originally was. The miniature sun above the central city of the same name has mutated fauna and flora across the land. Nearly all life has some sort of psychic connection or power, and many have physical alterations as well. The sun is focal point for the spread of the desert though the desert in not currently spreading. The tundra to the north is a vast untamed region, and although it is considered part of the whitesun region, it is not policed or ruled by anyone. Instead, it is full of barbaric tribesman and monstrous creature from an age long since passed. It is also home to a frost giant clan known as the Rhimetongue clan..