From the article archive
Writing Practice, 01/31/2002
Introduction
Good day, one and all. I am known as Aeros Aristophones, a resident of the kingdom of Makedonia on the world of Ærth. I finally got the chance to read Mr. Kellogg's series on Ærth's kingdom of Babylon, and noticed a few mistakes he made. With Mr. Kellogg's kind permission I am making use of his Gaming Outpost account to correct those errors. In this, the intial series, I will be illuminating the history of the island of Atlantl. That place you may know as Atlantis.
Why Atlantl? Because it is arguably the oldest civilization on Ærth, predating even Ægypt by a thousand years or so. Even were this not so, the Atlantlan civilization has had an impact upon Ærth in so many different ways that no other civilization can even dream of approaching it. This is something even the Ægyptians must confess to. The only human culture that could lay claim to a longer history than the Atlantlans are the Slaugh of Ys, and they fled Ærth some 15 millennia ago.
I invite you to join me in our journey through a culture at once the most sublime, and the most depraved humanity has ever created in the history of Ærth. Sit back in your favorite chair, take the first page of the print-out (reading from the screen of a cathode ray tube is so tiring) and join me in our journey.
An Overview
Atlantl is a large island, found west of the North Afrikan coast, and south of Lyonesse. The climate is tropical and semi arid, having a mix of grassland and savannah in the low lands, and forest in the mountainous interior. Atlantl is also a rocky land, with but forty percent of her territory arable. The influence of the Atlantlan gods and the presence of Heka has kept the population low enough that only twenty percent of the total area is given over to agriculture. The population is some 13,000,000 souls, including the inhabitants of the Alvorax islands to the northwest.
Most Atlantlans live along the coast, or the rivers that wend their way from the central mountains to the sea. Both the aristocracy and the middle class are small, the peasantry at around ninety percent of the populationn makes up the great bulk of the people, with slaves, serfs, and the land bound making up the bulk of the lower class.
With this all too brief overview we will now go on to the beginning of the people of Atlantl.
Arrival
Where they came from originally is a mystery unfathomable. the Atlantlans are of the Red Race, as are the Ægyptians, Vargaardians, and Amazonians. Some 15 years ago Mongolian archeolologists discoveried a number of campsites during an expedition into the land of Siberia. Human remains were discovered at those campsites that most closely resembled the bones of people of the Red Race. Divinations and necromancy of the sort used mostly by academics revealed that the original owners of these bones were indeed of that race. Unfortunately, careful dating of the remains revealed that they went back only some 20,000 years, long after the Atlantlans arrived on the island of Atlantl.
More profitable has been the archeological studies done in the kingdom of Berberia. Here a number of campsites and villages have been discovered going back as much as 40,000 years or more. The remains found were those of the Red Race. According to the evidence they at first lived a peaceful life, but then a people of the White Race migrated into the area, and war began.
By the best estimate these proto Atlantlans numbered somewhere around ten to fifteen thousand at their height. By the time the survivors fled over the seas in dugout canoes there were but a few hundred. If Atlantlan histories and the testimony of the Atlantlan gods are honest and true, only twenty-six survived the voyage to colonize the island.
The First Atlantlans
The island was a very different place when the first Atlantlans arrived some 30,000 years ago. Where grassland and savannah (a mixture of grassland and brush) now hold sway where there is no agriculture, a great forest marched from the mountains to the Lantlan Ocean. The six families (who would go on to found the original six dynasties of Atlantl) made landfall at the mouth of the Machal river in what is now the Kingdom of Colzuvan. There they made camp, fished for their dinner, and made plans to explore the wilderness before them. With the brief summer evening they doused their fires and wrapped themselves in their cloaks and furs for sleep. The next day would change their lives as nothing had before.
Things to Come
When next I write I will inform you of the early days of the Atlantlan people. Of how they came to know their gods, and of how they came to inhabitant the land future generations would know as Atlantl.
Thanks to previous commitments, and a pressing concern regarding the realm of Phæree, I will not be able to write on a regular schedule, so the next installment will not be posted for a few days. [Aeros also needs to do some research, Alan.] [You are indeed most helpful Mr. Kellogg, Aristophanes.] I hope you have found this informative, useful, and even entertaining. The tale shall continue.
Your servant, Aeros Aristophanes
(Alan Kellogg here. Mr. Aristophanes is interested in your comments and feedback. Since he does not have Internet access where he lives (there being no Internet on Ærth) I have agreed to pass on your observations to him. You can either post in the fora, or email me privately. I assure you, he will get your message and respond when he can.
(The next Writing Practice will return to the usual [Disorganized.] [Thank you, Aeros.] fare.)
Alan
Good day, one and all. I am known as Aeros Aristophones, a resident of the kingdom of Makedonia on the world of Ærth. I finally got the chance to read Mr. Kellogg's series on Ærth's kingdom of Babylon, and noticed a few mistakes he made. With Mr. Kellogg's kind permission I am making use of his Gaming Outpost account to correct those errors. In this, the intial series, I will be illuminating the history of the island of Atlantl. That place you may know as Atlantis.
Why Atlantl? Because it is arguably the oldest civilization on Ærth, predating even Ægypt by a thousand years or so. Even were this not so, the Atlantlan civilization has had an impact upon Ærth in so many different ways that no other civilization can even dream of approaching it. This is something even the Ægyptians must confess to. The only human culture that could lay claim to a longer history than the Atlantlans are the Slaugh of Ys, and they fled Ærth some 15 millennia ago.
I invite you to join me in our journey through a culture at once the most sublime, and the most depraved humanity has ever created in the history of Ærth. Sit back in your favorite chair, take the first page of the print-out (reading from the screen of a cathode ray tube is so tiring) and join me in our journey.
An Overview
Atlantl is a large island, found west of the North Afrikan coast, and south of Lyonesse. The climate is tropical and semi arid, having a mix of grassland and savannah in the low lands, and forest in the mountainous interior. Atlantl is also a rocky land, with but forty percent of her territory arable. The influence of the Atlantlan gods and the presence of Heka has kept the population low enough that only twenty percent of the total area is given over to agriculture. The population is some 13,000,000 souls, including the inhabitants of the Alvorax islands to the northwest.
Most Atlantlans live along the coast, or the rivers that wend their way from the central mountains to the sea. Both the aristocracy and the middle class are small, the peasantry at around ninety percent of the populationn makes up the great bulk of the people, with slaves, serfs, and the land bound making up the bulk of the lower class.
With this all too brief overview we will now go on to the beginning of the people of Atlantl.
Arrival
Where they came from originally is a mystery unfathomable. the Atlantlans are of the Red Race, as are the Ægyptians, Vargaardians, and Amazonians. Some 15 years ago Mongolian archeolologists discoveried a number of campsites during an expedition into the land of Siberia. Human remains were discovered at those campsites that most closely resembled the bones of people of the Red Race. Divinations and necromancy of the sort used mostly by academics revealed that the original owners of these bones were indeed of that race. Unfortunately, careful dating of the remains revealed that they went back only some 20,000 years, long after the Atlantlans arrived on the island of Atlantl.
More profitable has been the archeological studies done in the kingdom of Berberia. Here a number of campsites and villages have been discovered going back as much as 40,000 years or more. The remains found were those of the Red Race. According to the evidence they at first lived a peaceful life, but then a people of the White Race migrated into the area, and war began.
By the best estimate these proto Atlantlans numbered somewhere around ten to fifteen thousand at their height. By the time the survivors fled over the seas in dugout canoes there were but a few hundred. If Atlantlan histories and the testimony of the Atlantlan gods are honest and true, only twenty-six survived the voyage to colonize the island.
The First Atlantlans
The island was a very different place when the first Atlantlans arrived some 30,000 years ago. Where grassland and savannah (a mixture of grassland and brush) now hold sway where there is no agriculture, a great forest marched from the mountains to the Lantlan Ocean. The six families (who would go on to found the original six dynasties of Atlantl) made landfall at the mouth of the Machal river in what is now the Kingdom of Colzuvan. There they made camp, fished for their dinner, and made plans to explore the wilderness before them. With the brief summer evening they doused their fires and wrapped themselves in their cloaks and furs for sleep. The next day would change their lives as nothing had before.
Things to Come
When next I write I will inform you of the early days of the Atlantlan people. Of how they came to know their gods, and of how they came to inhabitant the land future generations would know as Atlantl.
Thanks to previous commitments, and a pressing concern regarding the realm of Phæree, I will not be able to write on a regular schedule, so the next installment will not be posted for a few days. [Aeros also needs to do some research, Alan.] [You are indeed most helpful Mr. Kellogg, Aristophanes.] I hope you have found this informative, useful, and even entertaining. The tale shall continue.
Your servant, Aeros Aristophanes
(Alan Kellogg here. Mr. Aristophanes is interested in your comments and feedback. Since he does not have Internet access where he lives (there being no Internet on Ærth) I have agreed to pass on your observations to him. You can either post in the fora, or email me privately. I assure you, he will get your message and respond when he can.
(The next Writing Practice will return to the usual [Disorganized.] [Thank you, Aeros.] fare.)
Alan
Recovered from the Gaming Outpost database backup. Original wording is preserved; damaged punctuation and presentation markup have been repaired. Historical links without a local match point to the Internet Archive.