The Black
The Black is one of two planes that directly touch the Material Plane of Athas, the other being the Gray.
Contents
Characteristics
The endless dark of the Black appears only as a darkened absence – an immense void in the fabric of the world. This domain of shadows is said to separate everything that exists from everything that doesn’t, and the Wanderer described it as a vast, leathery egg, filled with cold gloom that lies below the surface of all things, buried in the shallow sands and about to hatch. While the world of Athas exists outside the shell of this metaphorical egg, the inside – the realm of the Black – is a world of chilling darkness. It has been described as a continually shifting, twisted place that imperfectly mirror Athas itself.
Despite its strange nature, the Black is easily accessible, at least by Athasian standards, and connections to it are found wherever light creates shadow. The shadow wizards of Athas tap into the Black through these connections, offering up a portion of themselves in exchange for the powers they receive, partially becoming like shadows themselves. Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange, there exists no connections to the Black in places of complete darkness, for no shadows can be cast in the absence of light.
The Hollow
Beyond the darkness of the Black lies a realm of absolute nothingness, not even darkness, sometimes referred to as the “Deep Black”, and other times simply as “the Hollow”. Within the confines of this nothingness, Rajaat, the First Sorcerer languishes, trapped in a prison formed of magic and treachery. Rajaat was first imprisoned within the Hollow some 2,000 years before the Liberation of Tyr, following his Champions’ betrayal at the close of the Cleansing Wars. To perform this feat, the Champions had used the Dark Lens, an item created by Rajaat himself as a tool to focus and amplify his own magical powers.
In the Year of Friend’s Agitation of the 190th King’s Age (FY 10), Rajaat was momentarily freed from the Hollow following the machinations of king Tithian of Tyr. During his incarceration, and through unknown means, Rajaat’s obsession with the Blue Age of Athas had seen him transform into a living conduit for the elemental force of water. He used these newfound powers to banish Andropinis of Balic to the Black and to imprisson Tectuktitlay of Draj in the Hollow. Despite his incredible power, Rajaat was soon returned to the Hollow by the sun magic of the young mul cleric Rkard, who once again employed the Dark Lens to trap the First Sorcerer.
Inhabitants
Despite the numbing cold and endless darkness, the Black still nourishes some forms of life.
The most prominent inhabitants of the Black are the shadow people, sometimes erroneously referred to as “shadow giants” by outsiders. These are the descendants of the halflings that stood by Rajaat’s side during the Cleansing Wars, and who were sacrificed to the Black to complete their master’s imprisonment. Until the death of the Dragon of Tyr, the shadow people could only interact with the world in the form of shadows, but would later be able to take on a small measure of physicality – once more resembling the halflings their progenitors once were.
King Tithian of Tyr, who attempted to free Rajaat from his prison, is also trapped within the Black following Free Year 10. These events saw his essence mystically linked to that of Rajaat. From that point on, the former king can only interact with the world via the torrential storms of the Cerulean Storm formed in the wake of Rajaat’s defeat.
Andropinis, the Eternal Dictator of Balic, was also banished to the Black during Rajaat’s brief freedom. This punishment was reputed to be a 1,000 year long sentence, but some claimed that Andropinis could still communicate with some of his most loyal templars during his imprisonment. During the 193rd King’s Age, Andropinis returned to Athas, having found a circuitous escape route through a series of demiplanes. On one such plane, he discovered the maenads, a race of people likewise trapped within the Black. With them at his side, Andropinis created a ritual that brought him and the maenads to Athas where he went on to reconquer his former city-state.
Ravenloft and Kalidnay
The lost city of Kalidnay, once located in the southern Tyr Region of Athas, is only lost to the people of Athas, for it still remains as a Domain of Dread within the realm of Ravenloft.
The Domain of Dread can be accessed through the Black.