The Kingdom of Atlantis
Post Crisis
Atlantis is the name of a continent located in the North Atlantic Ocean and represents one of the earliest and most highly advanced cultural societies on Earth. Untold millennia ago, groups of pilgrims settled in the greater Atlantean region establishing twelve distinctive communities, a few of which evolved into the city-states now known as Poseidonis and Tritonis. Many believe that the original twelve settlements represented the twelve signs of the Zodiac.
Atlantis owed a lot of its development to the strong mystical energies intrinsically tied to the land. Over 145,000 years ago, two powerful mystics named Calculha and Majistra became the most powerful sorcerers in the world. Calculha, a follower of the light, manipulated White Magic, while his only living equal, Majistra was a practitioner of the dark arts. Through their influence, Atlantis flourished and grew into an advanced community unlike any other on the planet. Although magic was the dominant means of power throughout the continent, noted intellectuals began to recognize the wisdom of science. While the rest of the world had yet to benefit from inventions such as the wheel, the Atlanteans were already developing highly advanced technological wonders. Legend has it that the Atlanteans even managed to combine science and sorcery to create the world's first space-craft. This vessel is thought to have left the planet Earth some 50,000 years ago. Some have speculated that the crew of this craft may have populated the nearby human worlds of Rann, Thanagar, and Krypton.
As the centuries passed, the sorcerers Calculha and Majistra decided to consolidate their mystical prowess and mate with one another. Their union produced twin offspring, Garn Daanuth and Arion. Calculha took Arion under his wing and apprenticed him in the arts of pure magic, while Majistra schooled Garn in the ways of evil. The children each grew up to become powerful mages in their own right, and the bitterest of enemies. Arion eventually defeated his brother, but at great cost to himself.
Great Deluge
The Great Deluge (sometimes referred to as the Great Flood) was a geological catastrophe that occurred some 9,600 years ago.
A giant skull-shaped meteor from outer space crashed into the Earth somewhere near the North Sea. The impact was so tremendous that it caused worldwide geological upheaval. Tectonic plates shifted, yielding massive flooding so intense that it caused the entire continent of Atlantis to sink beneath the waves. Though nearly all of Atlantean culture had been wiped away forever, those of the capital city of Poseidonis managed to survive due to the erection of a giant dome that shielded the entire city. It was believed by some, that the destruction of Atlantis was the result of Suula - Goddess of the Sky -- who took offense to the creation of the dome that cut Poseidonis off from the skies above. These Atlanteans managed to eke out a life for themselves, though they could never again leave the safety of their city.
Some Atlanteans however, found an alternative in the priest-mage known as Shalako. Shalako used his magic to protect his followers from the crushing pressure of the ocean depths, and they migrated from Poseidonis and re-established a colony in the ruins of the sister-city Tritonis.[1]
A few short years after the calamity, Atlantis' monarch, King Orin, had his scientists develop a means so that his people could survive underwater, without having to stay within the city. The experiment was a success and the serum transformed the Atlanteans from normal human beings into aquatic amphibians who could survive the ocean depths and draw oxygen from water to breathe.[2]
Most regarded Orin as a strong and benevolent leader, but there were those, including his brother, Shalako, who felt that Orin's compassion made him a weak ruler. Orin was the first to put together the Atlantis Chronicles and assigned Albart-Son-of-Yarrow of Ancinor the task of maintaining a faithful history of their home country.
Due to the machinations of Shalako, the citizens of Tritonis evolved into a race of Mer-people. At first, the former Shalakites adapted to this mutation, until they discovered that the changes were being passed down to their children. The most severe example of this effect was the Atlantean prince, Kordax. Kordax was born a hideous, green-scaled mutant with blond hair and the ability to telepathically control the creatures of the sea. The existence of Kordax caused a schism throughout Atlantis as by right of ascension, he was the first-born heir to the throne. This conflict erupted into a massive war between Poseidonis and Tritonis
Modern Atlantis
Although the submerged continent grew and prospered, the civilizations of the surface world remained largely ignorant of Atlantis for many centuries. In recent years however, Atlantis has found itself pushed to the forefront of public awareness. Their most notable monarch to date, King Orin, reintroduced Atlantis to the modern world when he took the sobriquet, Aquaman, and became one of the founding members of the famous Justice League of America.
Atlantis has never been a nation to know peace for very long. Over the span of four-thousand wars, it has seen conflict from the surface world, from within its own borders and even from beyond the stars.
Void Earth
