Atlantis
From WikiAOC
Ancient Atlantis was a small continent (about the size of present-day Austria), located in the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe, which sank beneath the sea approximately 20,000 years ago. The continent of Atlantis boasted one of the most highly advanced civilizations of its age. Founded in about 19,000 BC, Atlantis predates that of any other known human civilization, and began a mere 4,000 years after the retreat of the last ice age. Originally, Atlantis was a land of barbarians. One of whom, Kull, left and acquired the throne of the nearby kingdom of Valusia. Over the 500 years between Kull's time and the sinking of Atlantis, Atlantis became the center of a small empire of sailors, craftsmen, traders, astrologers and alchemists. Atlantean sea vessels reached as far as the South Pole with a discovered the Antarctic jungle and game preserve they named Pangea (meaning " paradise "). Atlantean alchemists created the Serpent Crown, a vessel empowered by the demonic Elder God Set. The Serpent Crown is one of the few artifacts of ancient Atlantis crew survived until modern times. Few historical personages of the Atlantean age are known to date. One of the few is Kull, the barbarian-king who ruled Atlantis about 500 years before it sank. Kull was renowned as the slayer of the arch wizard Thulsa Doom and was the enemy of the Serpent People, nonhuman but humanoid offspring of Set.
The last years of ancient Atlantis sought direction of the giant glass-like dome over the capital city of the empire (also called Atlantis). Its last rulers were King Kamuu and his wife Queen Zartra, a native of the Lemurian Isles, which had been conquered by the non-human race of Deviants. The Atlantean empire had been in a state of decline after Kull's era. The empire was reeling with civil war in all of its provinces and the fighting kept encroaching closer and closer to the capital city. Finally barbarians from the Lemurian Isles attacked Atlantis on behalf of the Deviant Empire, and to rout their forces King Kamuu opened the magma pits, which were the city's means of heating. The Lemurian invaders were destroyed by the molten lava, but due to unprecedented volcanic pressure beneath the city, the magma release triggered a seismological cataclysm. First the capital city, and then the entire continent of Atlantis itself was racked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. At the same time, the Deviants themselves launched the attack on the surviving Second Host of the alien Celestials. The Celestials retaliated by causing and nuclear cataclysm, which sank Lemuria and created shockwaves that shook the entire world. As a result of the local geological convulsions and the after effects of the Lemurian cataclysm, the entire continent of Atlantis fragmented and vanished beneath the Atlantic Ocean in about a week.
There were a few survivors of the Atlantean catastrophe. The largest concentration of survivors was in the southern city of Netheria, whose priests and intellectuals foresaw an attack by the Lemurians. They enclosed their small city in the dome of an unknown plastic like substance and excavated and fortified their city’s foundation. Consequently, when the continent of Atlantis and fragmented, Netheria remained intact as it sank, coming to rest in a huge sub-sea cavern. Finding a way to recycle their air supply, the Netherians renamed their realm the Netherworld. The Netherworld, now under the rule of Queen Kala, exists today.
Tiny bands of Atlanteans managed to find refuge on neighboring islands and the European continent, which were buffeted by the Atlantis catastrophe but not destroyed. The nearby island of Attilan, home of the genetically advanced but reclusive Inhumans, also survived the cataclysm virtually unscathed.
About 10,000 years ago, a new type of human being appeared in the Atlantic Ocean possessing gills to breathe underwater, the origins of Homo mermanus are lost. The capacity to breed underwater, found prior to this time in certain individuals of both the Inhuman and Deviant races, may have been scientifically bestowed upon members of mainstream humanity by Inhuman or Deviant geneticists. The legends of the water breathers themselves credit Neptune, god of the sea worshipped by the Greeks and Romans, with their transformation from air to water-breathers. The theory of Homo mermanus is a result of natural evolution is unsupportable.
For millennia, the tribe of Homo mermanus were nomadic, wandering the Atlantic Ocean, preying upon small fish for food, using shells of huge crustaceans for shelter, and developing but the most rudimentary tool-making culture. Finally, about 8,000 years ago, the undersea tribe discovered the ruins of the capital city of ancient Atlantis, which had lain undisturbed since Atlantis sank 12,000 years before. The prince of the Sea People, named Kamuu after the legendary surface Atlantean ruler, happened upon the throne of his ancient namesake. Upon recovering the original Kamuu's sword, he was visited by the spirit of the last king of ancient Atlantis. The spirit of King Kamuu bade his water-breathing namesake to settle here on the site of old Atlantis and found a new Atlantis. The young Kamuu convinced people to settle and they began to build a new city of Atlantis.
The undersea city of Atlantis fell victim to natural disasters and sieges by barbarian tribes over the next few millennia, but each time Atlantis was rebuilt in greater splendor. About 500 years after the founding of undersea Atlantis, a group of Homo mermanus left the city and made their way to the Pacific Ocean. This group founded the city of Lemuria on the opposite end of the now submerged continent of Lemuria from that settled by the Deviants. Due to the acquisition and worship of the Serpent Crown, the magical artifacts from the pre-cataclysmic Atlantis, the Lemurians' complexions and features have taken a more serpentine cast than their Atlanteans forebears.
Little is known about Atlanteans history between the time of the founding of Lemuria and the modern era. The Atlanteans' historical records, graven in stone until the relatively recent invention of a paper-like substance made from seaweed, had been all but lost in the dark ages of Atlantean history. The god Neptune is believed to have dwelt among the Atlanteans in mortal form during this period, promoting his worship, a practice that continues today. The Atlanteans also encountered Deviant refugees at some time in the past 200 years, and it was from them that they learned the rudiments of technology. The Atlanteans had very limited contact with their surface-dwelling parent race until recent times. This was largely due to the fact that neither water-breathers nor air-breathers could survive outside of their native environment for more than minutes without drowning.
