Fifteen thousand years ago the Gods’ War came to an end, and with it the last ice age. Many gods and their people left Ærth at this time, the elves, dwarfs, drow, the slaugh, goblins, and centaurs fleeing to the realm of Phæree. Leaving Ærth to Man and his gods.



By this time the Atlantlans had changed. The bands were larger, sometimes organized into proto-tribes. Personal adornment had progressed to true clothing, of fur, and wool. Feathers were very popular among the “upper” class. They had no flax, so no linen, and the cotton plant and the silk worm were unknown to them. Some bands had established semipermanent encampments.



Even here, where the frost giants had never trod, the end of the Gods’ War changed everything. Atlantl grew warmer, drier. Waterways disappeared or shrunk. The mountain glaciers shriveled to mere ghosts of themselves.



The forests, already opened up by the Atlantlans for their purposes, shrank as well. Where once a man could walk the length and breadth of the island without one glimpse of the sun, now there were islands of forest in a sea of grass. The perfect place for herd animals, if Man hadn’t driven such extinct here long before. The Atlantlans had a problem.



The highland bands started growing grain. Millet and wheat, strains not found on the mainland, and not as productive. But they sufficed to keep body and soul together. The coastal bands took to fishing in dugout canoes. As the generations passed both groups got better at what they did. Trade routes established centuries before grew to include barter in grain and fish.



By ten thousand years ago the first tribes were established, and the first steps to nations were taken. Atlantlan fishing fleets were taking week long voyages, in craft made of finely shaped planks and propelled by sails. In estuaries, lagoons, marshes, and the mouths of rivers they established fish farms, and the like for shellfish and crustaceans as well.



It is around this time their gods made themselves known. So they could better relate with their worshippers, the Atlantlan gods took on piscean and squidlike aspects.Under deital guidance Atlantlan technology and magick improved remarkably. It is possible the Atlantlans could’ve made the breakthroughs in thaumaturgy later made by the Ægyptians. But like most people, the Atlantlans did only what they needed to make their lives comfortable. Even today the Atlantlan gods will gather in deital bars to bitch and moan about the chance their worshippers lost to conquer the world.



All that aside (thank human laziness), life got better on Atlantl. Crop production improved, fruits and vegetables were domesticated, as was sea life. (The kingdoms of Atlantl are still the only nations on Ærth who engage in successful aquaculture. The secret thereof is tightly held.) The new tribes found themselves with the resources to make long voyages of exploration. At first for fish and seaweed, but then they discovered Afrika.



At that point I must end this. The Atlantlan discovery and colonization of Afrika is much too great an epic to recount here and now. When next I write I shall tell that tale.



Till then I remain,



Aeros Aristophanes



(Alan here, Aeros will be writing again in a couple of days at the latest. He might be back tomorrow. So if Aaron would hurry up with that redesign of the front page, I’d feel a lot better (That way his articles would stay up longer too, Aeros.:)) However it goes, we’ll see you again in a day or two.)