A Brief History of Atlantis
the City of Forever

Written by Aves Dal Garidor

Although no sources can give the exact details on the settling of Atlantis, we have gathered certain information. The original Atlanteans were actually three separate tribes. Two human ones and one larger gargoyle clan.
One human group was a civilization of nomadic philosophers and scientists. They travelled the seas, learning more about life and technology whenever they landed on an island. Although their original name was lost long ago, they have come to be known at the Halavirate, which means "People of Peace" in Atlantean. They suffered great damage when a group of Sirens attacked them and crippled their forces. Their only hope for survival was to land on an uncharted island. The Halavirate docked on the north-most point of the island first.
The second human group was a civilization who founded the Atlantean tongue. They called themselves Nihovikan, or "Lookers into the Skies." These were sorcerers, seers and witches; magic people. These developed greatly advanced spells and weapons of magic. These magics became greatly coveted by the Greek convent, the Sisters of Circe. The Sisters went to great lengths to drive the Nihovikan from their West African home. The Nihovikan took to the seas, their people devastated, and sought out a new place to live. They settled on eastern Atlantis, without any knowledge that the Halavirate had already gone there.
The gargoyle clan was a massive clan from southern Europe. They were forest dwellers, and their charge was the forest itself. Unfortunately, it fell prey to humans. The gargoyle clan, which would later be called the Ticade, or "Protectors," fought the humans as best they could, but the humans arrive at twilight and slaughtered the clan, which was frozen in stone. The survivors, still quite numerous, left their home and planned to settle with another clan in Africa. Unfortunately, they too had their homes destroyed by humans, and so they joined together and left to find a new home. They found it, on the southern shore of Atlantis.
Each civilization grew without knowledge of the other two. However, the gargoyles were the first to find the other two. They knew that they had no threat to them. Both seemed to be ecologically sound with their development, and had nothing in the way of an army. A gargoyle named Hal VanDonna, who led the European clan, proposed an alliance with both peoples. Immediately, the Halavirate took charge of the situation. The leader of the Halavirate, a human scientist named Sorocco, devised a treaty which was equally beneficial to all parties. The Nihovikan were eager to gain friends, and their leader, Princess Elsanna, signed the treaty. And after careful deliberation, Hal VanDonna did as well. They continent took the name of Atlantis, which meant "City of Forever," in the Nihovikan language.
As the treaty stipulated, the three places shared resources and trading routes arose. After a few generations, each country prospered into just that, countries. However, complications arose with the inaccessibility during the daytime to the gargoyle clan. This predicament became drastically limiting when a group of pirates sacked and killed a gargoyle coastal village one day. They would have gone farther as well, if the Halavirate and Nihovikan had not come to the rescue. The current leader, Kalla Usevere, asked for assistance. But the security of the two nations was not extensive enough to guard the gargoyles in the day, but they had a different solution. It would take time, but it would work.
The gargoyles hibernate in the daytime because of their great metabolism speed. With their wing muscles, gargoyles need the equivalent of three cows a day, but, of course, that is utterly impossible. So their wings are equipped with solar absorption, which is why most gargoyles instinctively spread their wings before hibernating, and they collect solar energy while in stone form. So the Halavirate began a project known as accelerated evolution. With a combination of magic, alchemy, and science, the gargoyles slowly began to lose their stone hibernation. Over only the next two thousand years, the gargoyles needed less and less stone hibernation. The numbers of hours they were active in the daytime dramatically increased from generation to generation, until finally, over two thousand years after the project had begun, a gargoyle baby was hatched who didn't hibernate, ever. There were slight consequences, however. The Atlantean gargoyle had less developed wings. Very small, and they aren't capable of good speeds, maneuverability, and high altitude gliding. Also, the solar collectors are much more pronounced on the outside of the wings so they collect more sunlight while they are still active. For no apparent reason, their tails seem to be longer than their Celtic brethren.
It was around this time that power shifted to the Romans. Now the Romans were an odd people. They were compulsively power-hungry. Very odd, indeed. Atlantis formed a quasi-alliance with Rome, just that Rome wouldn't come in and slaughter the Atlanteans, if the Atlanteans didn't go in and slaughter the Romans. The ambassadors to Rome (all human), wisely glossed over the fact that gargoyles were living on the island.
However, once the Fall of Graanek was linked to Rome, that alliance fell to pieces. The few Graanekite survivors were taken into Atlantis, and once Rome learned this, a full scale assault was planned on Atlantis. As the combined nations headed off the Roman assault, they reluctantly admitted that their age of peace was over.
With the Romans left to lick their wounds, Atlantis turned to its own problems. It was unanimously decided to merge all three nations into one, ruled by a triumvirate of three rulers. The three countries became provinces, and were now so intermixed with heritage from all three that the merging didn't make much of a difference in that respect. Once all resources were combined, new organizations surfaced with government prompting.
The first Guardian of Atlantis, the great and legendary Aalkar Carnex, a gargoyle (naturally) was appointed by the triumvirate to lead some sort of security force. Aalkar devised a training academy which dealt with swords, shields, axes, and the like. Thus, a form of footmen were established. This created a police force of sorts. The streets were now monitored, and these forces could be quickly transported to any part of the island most in need of assistance.
The Order of the Violet Summer was a training camp for archers. Led by the human female archer extraordinaire Mary Havera. Mary trained the Order and made Guard Towers around the perimeter of the island. Brothers and Sisters of the Order would sit in the towers, longbows or crossbows ready to take out anyone who wasn't friendly.
Baron Morjo Trellheim founded the Atlantean navy. While Atlantis had already operated with nautical trade routes with Greece, England and Scotland, to name a few, Trellheim upgraded the naval warfare, introducing rail-mounted crossbows into the equation.
The great human knight Sir Jason Lond, founded the Atlanturum, or Knights of Forever. He introduced mounted men into the equation. The island had an abundance of animals which were excellent for this. The docile descendants of velociraptors and gallumimi, as well as horses and wyverns, were used for this. The Romans held off the attack, for a bit, at least.
Only decades after the initial attack, the Romans began to attack trade routes, and tricked Atlantis's allies into breaking off any contact with the island. Atlantean spies reported, sorely, that Rome and its allies were amassing a massive fleet that could very well overwhelm the continent.
The triumvirate looked sadly at each other. They knew what must be done. In order to spare their continent, they would have to hide it. The island called together all the sorcerers they could, and, in perhaps the largest magical séance ever to take place, they melted away the continent's core, and moved it. A few weeks later, in an entirely different position, roots were magically constructed, linking the island back to the planet. To further ensure their safety, they installed cloaking technology on their island.
So the first Roman fleet came to the coordinates, and, of course, there was no island. Rather than admit defeat, they went back to Rome, and insisted that the island had sunk into the ocean.
Atlantis thus broke many alliances to their former friends. And so Atlantis lived in seclusion, keeping in touch with their elven allies on the mainland, but little other ties remained.
Roughly a thousand years later, corruption seeded in the government of Atlantis. One of the three current rulers, Jafiisk, began to grow impatient and restless with the seclusion of Atlantis. He wanted the world to know them, and proposed that they amass an army, resurface, and anyone with a problem could take up sword and settle the dispute with bloodshed. The other two rulers, Gwendelyn Marr and Adherin Trellheim (descendant of Baron Morjo) immediately dropped the subject, feeling that right now there was no need for it.
Jafiisk did it anyway. He tricked the Guardian, Blair Carnex (descendant of Aalkar) into lending him a sizeable group to make an expedition onto the mainland. The result was catastrophic. The Atlanteans, however surperior their technology was to the empire they invaded (records are sketchy, but apparently it was somewhere in England or Ireland) they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of their enemies. The crippled army returned to Atlantis with missing limbs and injured egos, and found that Jafiisk had disappeared. He returned later, disavowing any knowledge of the incident.
Upon learning the truth from her trusted friend, Blair, Gwendelyn brought that evidence to Adherin. Jafiisk was banished from Atlantis.
Jafiisk was outraged, and plotted his revenge. He went to Freya, Queen of the Valkyries, and told her that the coveted Eye of Odin had been captured by the Atlanteans. Freya was very disappointed, and led the Valkyries (who were much more numerous back then) in their flying Viking ships to the hidden island. Freya was very angry, as the Atlanteans had helped her search for the eye, and she truly believed that she'd been tricked. The Atlanteans, of course, told her that they didn't have it. She took the island hostage. At this point, some of the Valkyries began to question the motives of their queen. Freya demanded the Eye for a second time. The Atlanteans helplessly refused. Freya proceeded to butcher Adherin. When Gwendelyn declined a third time, she also fell prey to Freya's ax. Freya gathered the remnants of the Atlantean government and placed the entire island under her jurisdiction. She told them that if the Eye was not delivered , an Atlantean would be slaughtered, once every hour. For many Valkyries, this was the final step. Secretly, the Valkyrie Geirskogul smuggled as many Atlanteans out of the island as she could. The few remaining government officials assisted with the evacuation, until Freya began to butcher the occupants. An all out flight from the island took place. The police fought through the Valkyries until they got to the coast, and the Atlanteans, save an unlucky handful, including the legendary heroes Dal and Nurelle, escaped.
Freya became incredibly upset at that point. Despite pleas from her own Valkyries, Freya created huge astral feedback under the island, disintegrating the core of Atlantis. The legend came true, and most of Atlantis sank into the ocean. With mere fragments remaining, Freya thought as the dust settled. Atlanteans were not stupid. Why would they risk everything for this. And so the ravens of Thought and Memory, Hugin and Munin, were summoned, whom Odin had conditioned to sense the Eye for great distances. They found no trace of it.
Freya called Jafiisk to her, and he continued to insist that the Atlanteans must have hidden the Eye. He pledged all of his services to her assistance. Freya listened to his lies, and her eyes darkened. She told him that he would never again cross the Queen of the Valkyries, and she killed herself. She drew in massive amounts of astral energy into the core of her being, and let the energy build up like a boiling pot. She finally released it. The resulting blast killed herself, Jafiisk, a good number of Valkyries, and the remaining Atlanteans on the island. It also sank the remainder of the continent into the ocean.
And the Atlanteans who escaped watched from the Valkyrie air-ships, and looked up to the stars, and wept.

The unthinkable had come to pass. The crippled Valkyrie forces returned to Valhalla and related the sad tale to Odin. Odin made the most sincere of apologies to the Atlanteans and granted Asgard as a haven, should they wish to live there. Few Atlanteans took the offer, the rest declined politely. Instead, they went to rebuild their battered culture. Many elven tribes and nymph clans lent their resources to the Atlanteans in this endeavor. The first small outpost was built on a small island in the pacific. It took roughly fifty years to build it. It was named Lan Ylla, which means "City of Resurrection." The government was reestablished, led by the wise old Blair Carnex and the elven seeress Cyan. It was only a hundred years later that the second outpost was built, the submarine Lan Beliny, or "City Beneath the Waves" deep below the Mediterranean Ocean. Soon after, the Ice Witches of Malkedor assisted in the construction of the Antarctic outpost, Kalasia, or, roughly translated by the Ice Witches, "Atlantean Outpost Which Was Assisted in Construction by the Ice Witches of Malkedor." The Witches aren't too good with names.
In the centuries that followed, five more outposts were constructed. Anakaranis, or "City of Solitude" was built in the Arctic Ocean above what is now Canada. Antiokk, or "City of Fire" was built off coast what is now New Zealand. Maliriya, or "Village," was built in subterranean halls on Irish cliffs. Lan Therih, or "City in the Clouds," was a mobile city built in the sky. The eighth and final outpost, Haraticca, or, "Eighth and Final Outpost," (the Witches helped out again) was built off coast what is now California (USA).
This was near the end of the eleventh century, and at this time, there were a group called Hunters out and about. They had originated in Scotland, but now they were pillaging most of Europe. The Hunters were a family of humans dedicated to eradicating gargoyles, mainly one they called the Demon, but so far, we've never met him. (Actually, we're beginning to wonder if this "Demon" character is actually a gargoyle. He's been around for over a thousand years, now.) When they found out about Atlantis, they got royally pissed off, and even more so when they learned of hybrid births. One Hunter, by the name of Timothy Canmore, went to Greece and found the Sisters of Circe. They had had animosity towards Atlantis ever since the Fall of Graanek, and were all too eager to help with the outposts' destruction. Little did they know, this signed their death certificates. The Sisters first summoned a great tidal wave which consumed Antiokk. The Atlanteans evacuated the survivors to the nearest outpost of Kalasia. It was a tragedy, but they thought little more of it. Suspicions began to gather when Kalasia was decimated by a massive blizzard. The survivors were then evacuated to Lan Therih. Lan Therih was unexpectedly hit by an electronic storm and crash-landed near Europe. The survivors were taken to Maliriya. An earthquake soon collapsed the cliffs of Maliriya. The remaining outposts began to suspect foul sorcery, and instead of risking more outposts, the survivors were taken to an Irish Wood Elf tribe. The wood elves prepared themselves to weather a storm, and when a tornado struck, the Atlanteans immediately took to the trail. The wood elves were ready, and there was zero casualties, so the Sisters struck again with a flood in their area. By now, the Atlanteans found that the Sisters were behind the weather, and went out to search for them. Meanwhile, the convent discovered that they knew, and quickly went to take out the remaining outposts. A large number of electric eels attacked Lan Beliny and punctured it several times. Very few people escaped, save for a few water elves. A hurricane left Lan Ylla in ruins, and a few stray icebergs crashed into Anakaranis. At this time, the Atlanteans had evacuated Haraticca, and just in time, too, as mere hours after the last ship left, an asteroid collided with the island.
The Sisters of Circe and their Hunter allies were putting their feet up to relax after a victory when an army of Ice Witches, Nymphs, Elves, and the remaining Atlanteans raided their base. The last of the Sisters of Circe were killed, as well as the Hunter who plotted against them.
And, as the Ice Witch Tara Ushadi put it, "You Atlanteans have really bad luck, don't you?"
True enough. Only a handful of Atlanteans remained. Many left to join elven tribes, or nymph and gargoyle clans. Others went to live with centaurs, merpeople, and ice witches.
There were only thirty Atlanteans who remained Atlanteans. By now it was about 1800. For the next hundred years, the few remaining Atlanteans lived in secret, disguised as humans and living among them. There were very few descendants remaining in 1975. Their leaders were Bania VanDonna, descendant of Hal, Seth Carnex, of the immortal line, Dawn Havera, descendant of Mary, and Varien Dal.
Dal, the hero from ancient times, was known as Attaraak, or "Soul of the Tiger." Attaraak, as well as some others, were soul symbionts, which meant that their soul would have a sort of symbiosis with newborns years after their death. The new "hosts" would retain memories and experience from their previous hosts. Varien Dal was the fifth incarnation of Dal.
It was in 1975 that they decided to rebuild Atlantis once again. So, the ninth outpost of Atlantis was constructed, and named Lan Mesinsure, or "City of Hope," in 1985. At this time, the wise seer centaur Ronis came and warned that a new threat was looming. The New Atlanteans were agitated, and weren't sure what to do, or who this new threat was. Their allies looked out for this new threat. That threat soon came to fruition: the Hive.
The Hive was created thousands of years ago by a group of alchemists who wished to create the perfect being. However, it proved too powerful for them to control. So they put a powerful tranquilizer spell over it, and it would sleep for several thousand years. Although they knew it would terrorize humanity then, they realized they'd be dead by then, and frankly, didn't care.
The Hive enlisted the Kai Chi to capture the most biologically promising children in the world, and two of those children were the Atlantean children Witcheye and Xack Karun. Atlantis attacked the Kai Chi as they were leaving and stole their children back. The two reported that dozens of other children were aboard the plane they were on.
The Atlanteans took the battle to the Hive itself, and killed it. But not without the price of Varien Dal. The Kai Chi were nowhere to be found.
Soon Ronis returned and told them that Atlantean children were mixed in with the human populace, and that they must be recovered before they began to return to their natural forms. He helped with the search. They did find Atlantean children, who were, surprisingly, actually gargoyles. These were Nikkyla, the Sorceress of Bronzesun, Scout Fisher, Melevalan Connor, and Aves Dal Garidor, the latest incarnation of Dal.
Meanwhile, the Kai Chi had reached the ruins of the Hive, and dropped their cargo. It was pure chance that the wood elf Moonbrush stumbled across the Hive to find the only survivor of the cold winter nights. She brought him to Lan Mesinsure, and they took him in, naming him Chase Kelcena.
Over the years, the populace of Lan Mesisure has grown with the additions of elves and nymphs and other creatures from all over the world. They're hoping that Lan Mesinsure will rebuild the once glorious name of Atlantis, the City of Forever.