Athaz the Traveler

Athaz the Traveler is a figure of ambiguous origin who traversed much of Rathnir in order to study various nations and cultures, which he went on to write several books about. He led numerous innovations in Rathnir cartography, and is the creator of the system used by the Cartography Guild. These efforts resulted in him becoming a well known scholar of geography, history, and the deep lore of numerous cultures. He went on to lead a crusade against Entropy, and is ultimately responsible for killing her.

Athaz claims to be divine, and was recognized as such in various forms by numerous figures and religions over time, possibly as a way to rationalize qualities which are difficult to explain. He cites his certain immortality, and his victory over Entropy as evidence of his claims.

His symbol is the Red Tulip, which he leaves behind at his campsites as a sign of him passing, and occasionally gives as gifts.

Athaz is also responsible for the creation of the Traveler's Tongue as a universal language for people of different nations to communicate and conduct diplomacy in.

Before Rathnir
Very little is known about Athaz's actions before entering Rathnir. He has never written an account of his homeland, his childhood, or any other experiences prior to entering the land. He rarely discusses anything relating to the subject even when asked, but he occasionally slips hints of the circumstances of his life before Rathnir when making observations in his writings, particularly his book series: Travels. He has also been open to giving out information on the matter to people he trusts very closely, but only on inquiry.

Travels
Athaz began his career in Rathnir traveling the wilderness of the western hemisphere, searching for civilization, but managing to slip past most cultural centers in a wayward attempt to find them. He passed through Bardonia, Volandia, Ardat, and Uldarash, before being turned towards the Grizzly Bear bar. There he met the bartender Carpicious (the first player Athaz had seen on the server). She had helped him in getting his bearings, describing the destruction of Jagdas, and the general layout of prominent nations in Rathnir, as well as a basic overview of their history and culture. Athaz would remember Carpicious fondly as the first friend he had made, and for a time, his only one in Rathnir. He would later appear during the Raid of Grizzly Bear in a concerned and failed attempt to protect the bar for this reason.

Nearing the end of his visit, he also met then prominent Bardonian senator, and famous warrior, Hub, as well as the bartender Moyye, both of whom were there on business with Carpicious regarding brewing. Athaz recalls the both of them being very friendly, offering him a home in their land of Bardonia, and asking what drink they should have ready for his visit. As their meeting concluded, Athaz set up a camp for the night, and he set out the next day after stealing a fishing rod from the bar to keep himself fed on the road, and silently thanking the then absent bartender.

From there, Athaz traveled to the Yimmu-Audal Empire, the Escharian Empire, and the Valdreach Empire, before sailing the southern ocean westward to Akratia, Lumaire, Uldarash, Aldovir, and Ardat Mosul, where he conducted thorough studies of the history and culture of each nation he visited. Along the way, he met with several renown individuals, including the Lich Dex, Emperor Harbardr, Emperor Siegfried, God-Empress Khara-Mera, Emperor Neoz, and Empress Dalatra, as well as others who would go on to become very close friends and trusted allies, such as King Aurelian (who would go on to become Emperor of Uldarash), Emperor Whiskey Knight, Rum Knight, Lokki of Vraelea, Poppy of Cobbleworks, and Archon Sven of Sironia. He also ended up running into Carpicious on some occasions, notably at Lumaire, and at the university of Lileanen.

During his time on Aldovir, he was recognized as a deity of the Word of Reece Pantheon, whos spheres were travel, and cartography. This resulted in him taking control of a small town at the edge of the subcontinent which had chosen him as their patron deity.

Prelude to the Coalition-Trillium War
After Athaz's first meeting with Empress Dalatra of the Yimmu-Audal-Ardatian Empire, they arranged for a second one to occur at Grizzly Bear, which was across the sea from where they had met initially in Ardat Mosul. There, he briefly met with Carpicious between learning the culture and history of the Lamiatrophus race, and the Ardatian religion.

Once the meeting had concluded, Athaz decided to hang around the continent for some time before moving on to Vastallos in order to refine some of his notes. Due to the bar's proximity to Sironia, and the friendships he had made there, he chose to remain in the city of Azethvir. It was there where he heard about Krakowski's famous attack on Dalatra, who had visited the city. Athaz had been catching up with his allies in the Sironian government when Krakowski suddenly appeared to inform those same people about Dalatra's abdication, and his interactions with Emperor Siegfried of Escharia-a historic rival and enemy of Dalatra and her empire- and he remained present as Krakowski wrote to the Emperor urging him to march on Urnu-Arrak. As a result, Athaz was present during the takeover, knowing exactly when it was happening, and he describes having "front row seats" to the aggression shown by Escharia on that day.

Following the takeover of the Yimmu-Audal Empire by the Escharians, Carpicious, initially intended to be a puppet of Sieg for what was to be the province of Yimmu-Audal, would be elected the legitimate Empress, who would lead the nation against the Escharian aggression. Athaz believed that she was acting foolishly in taking the throne due to her bloodthirsty announcements, and lacking experience in national business. When she had announced that her coronation would be public, with people encouraged to attend, and fight to the death with each other, Athaz decided that he would not bother making an appearance to witness the horror.

However, the day before the coronation was to occur, he had spoken with Aurelian of the Order of the Aurora, who had informed him of Carp's presence in Urnu-Arrak, and her worrying condition. Athaz immediately went to the city the moment he was informed of this.

There, he found several of the city gates to be locked, and had to climb over the wall to get in. He found Carpicious in the colosseum, where the coronation was planned to take place, seemingly in a state of insanity, and covered in bleeding wounds, which had left stains of blood on the ground as they had continuously dripped out over an unknown period of time. It was here that Athaz learned that Carpicious was immortal, and lived in service to a mysterious goddess whom she called "Entropy", who had promised Carpicious help in ruling the world of Rathnir in exchange for worship. He learned that in Jagdas, Carpicious had led a tyrannical cult centered around herself, and attempted to rule the world. She told Athaz that Jagdas had been destroyed the moment before she was able to accomplish her goal (which in truth was a delusion, as she was not even close to controlling Jagdas at any point) by a force called "Fate", which she condemned, and wanted vengeance against, ultimately causing her to choose to worship Entropy.

As the night progressed, Carpicious noted that she was presented the choice of her friends, and the crown of Jagdas, but never had to decide due to the sudden world collapse, and then that she would soon have to make the same choice again. Athaz, who was already incredibly disturbed by the whole sight of the colosseum, the physical and mental state of his friend Carpicious, as well as her descriptions of events and her decisions, was left completely speechless and unable to respond to this for several minutes, before Carpicious had left to finish making drinks for the following day.

Athaz then felt obligated to appear for the coronation, and went with only a tulip, and a sword: the only one he had ever raised, just in case he would be assaulted at the colosseum, which he was fully expecting to happen. He stood at the edge of the highest platform, opposite of Carpicious, witnessing the ordeal. He was surprised to find that he was almost completely ignored: while many fought and killed each other beneath his gaze, few acknowledged Athaz's presence at all. One person had tried to push him out of the colosseum as he looked out to the sea at one point, but not nearly hard enough to move him at all, who had then apologized and ran away after being glared at. Moyye would also end up finding him, and giving him a drink, which Athaz did not ingest as he intended to remain sober, feeling already that he was the only one with sense in the city as the bloodshed went on without a care. The drink would turn out to be a strong poison on later investigation which would have surely incapacitated him completely if he chose to drink it.

The Coalition-Trillium War
Athaz had limited involvement with the war, only engaging at all in order to help the Order of the Aurora, who had shown him kindness during his visit in Escharia, and desperately needed support against the Escharian Empire. He established relations between Aurora and Yimmu-Audal, sought out contacts in as many nations as possible to bring them to the side of the Coalition, and assisted in some communication and logistical efforts for the war, as well as propaganda which would go on to never be published, with the belief that appearing weak was more useful to the Coalition than recruiting through propaganda. He was also the creator of the coalition banner, and coined the term "Rathnir Coalition".

Aftermath of The War and Return to Traveling
Trillium to this day does not shut up about how awesome the war was, with their team of factions players and their factions base, and continue to boast about it as though winning it was anything close to an actual achievement, rather than a fight against a collection of mostly children who didn't know what w tapping was.

Shortly before the conclusion of the war, Athaz went into hiding at his city in Aldovir, retreating from the conflict entirely, and closing all communications with the Coalition leaders. He would later suddenly emerge from the city, traveling from nation to nation to continue his journey, and to find information about something which had concerned him. This journey brought him through Carvay, Neos Knossos, Volandia, Huitca, Viridian. Takkumaken, Aurlunor, Norfthorn, Andorn, Ryzan, and Bardonia. (I would elaborate on some of the shit he did in those places like meeting Himo and the Chancellor but I want to wrap this up at the part with the SC so i can go to sleep since ive been writing this article nonstop for an hour or so)

Then I did some shit at the sc, and I got the raid decleration

Carpicious' Return
Work in Progress

Declaring the New Guard and Crusade Against Entropy
Work in Progress

Writings
Work in Progress

Divinity
Work in Progress