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 about him which are difficult to explain. He cites his certain immortality, and his victory over Entropy as evidence of his claims. The Zentivaric faith and Temple in particular derive their beliefs from the acceptance of Athaz's divinity, and the lessons he has passed on to them.

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 has also been credited by some for the creation and/or spread of the Traveler's Tongue as a universal language for people of different nations to communicate and conduct diplomacy in, although this has been historically disputed by many Niedene people.

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 in Valdreach, it can be interpreted from his books that Athaz partook in rituals that granted him immortality, but the exact nature of this happening is known to few. Later on, in Aldovir, he was recognized as a deity of the Word of Reece Pantheon, whos spheres were travel, and cartography. This resulted in him gaining 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 discovered that several of the city gates had been 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
Main Article: The First Coalition 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
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 an occurrence which had concerned him. Renown brewers, and members of the Bartender's Guild were of particular interest. This journey brought him through Vastallos, into Ummarnu, and north to Syltor. There, he notably appeared in Pillars of Sun, where he met the famous bartender Himo.

Afterwards, Athaz went eastward into Bardonia, where he hoped to finally reunite with Hub and Moyye, find the help he needed, and claim the drink that he was offered all that time ago. However, the nation of Bardonia had changed greatly since those days long gone, and he found Hub to be in exile on the Drifting Isles, and Moyye to have fled eastward. Although Moyye was nowhere to be found, he was able to find Hub, who remembered and respected Athaz from long ago, and happily invited him onto the isles to catch up.

Athaz spoke with Hub for some time, recounting tales of his travels since their meeting at GrizzlyBear. When Athaz asked how Hub had been, he told Athaz that the Chancellor Uni had taken full control of Bardonia, a situation which the other senators had long hoped to prevent, and was performing a reign of terror across Rathnir to enact vengeance against the nations who had demoralized the Bardonian nation into ceasing its attempt at conquering all of the world. Although exiled on the isles, Hub assured Athaz that "Even Uni could be beaten", which gave him hope as saw the bloodthirsty nature of Uni's regime.

Athaz would later meet Uni himself. Pleased to speak to an archivist, Uni eagerly met Athaz in the city of Dorasterrock, where he told the traveler the tale of the Bombing of Dorasterrock conducted by the Crescent Concordant during the Dandelion Wars. The attack targeted religious and cultural sites, which Uni described with bitter frustration. He would also tell Athaz that he had left the "path of the dandelions": a supposed destined path of prosperity which was to be suggested to people of the Dandelist faith. Uni firmly believed that The Dandelions wanted him dead, and had condemned their wills in favor of his own way and path of vengeance. When their meeting had concluded, Uni personally walked Athaz to the Bardonian border to see him off as he went north into Noxnorr.

The Sterling Crownlands
The Sterling Crownlands and its predecessor the Silver Coalition had both people who had been awaiting the arrival of Athaz for a long time, as well as those who condemned him entirely. Tensions rose between Athaz and the barbarians of Krukus, the westernmost people of the Crownlands, when members of the hoard had assaulted him during a wedding without any compensation or retribution given by them or their state. Athaz responded with insults, which had greatly upset the Crownlands, who continued to see no problem with their representatives assaulting a random individual at a private event which they were not invited to. Tensions would increase when Froggyflippers of Bern learned that Athaz's symbol was the red tulip, which was a symbolically evil flower in the culture of Bern due to its population pushing out the sacred lily of the valley. Athaz would be informed by him that he was banned from Bern, with little explanation given.

A breaking point would be reached once Athaz entered the kingdom, where on one occasion, he returned to his camp to find it completely ransacked, and his tulip replaced with a lily of the valley. Furious by this attack, and certain that it was a targeted effort, he stormed out of the country completely, and wrote a vague and angry letter to the High King Julijajo, to see if the nation would attempt to take responsibility for anything, and if it was worth staying at all.

To Athaz's surprise, the High King did return a response, and Athaz would meet him in Silver Citadel to investigate and resolve the issue. It was concluded that the attack was certain to have been from bandits of the wilderness, with the flower being replaced much earlier. Athaz would forgive the nation and was later invited into the Silver Citadel. Later, he was toured around the entirety of Noxnorr, as well as some of Paludis and Najer, with DarkBlade, FroggyFlippers, and Atlas. During these tours, Athaz and FroggyFlippers would mend their relationship: years later Froggy would be invited to Athaz's wedding, and had even mentioned Athaz in his will, entrusting the city of Bern itself to him, which would later be incorporated into Owydd Noxnorr.

Although he had visited the eastern crownlands with DarkBlade, Athaz had not yet taken the time to study them fully, and began to set out east from the Silver Citadel, with the intention to finish studying the nation, and then locate Moyye at the Bartender's Guild. However, he suddenly recieved a messenger before leaving the settlement. The message was from his city, the attendants of which Athaz had given careful instructions on how to inform him of certain events, and simply read "The agent of Entropy is here, seeking blood."

Carpicious' Return
Athaz had not seen Carpicious since an upsetting event shortly before the end of the War of the First Coalition, and had been hoping to find her during his travels in Rathnir. The first he would hear from her since then was her declaration of war against the city of Athazolant, which forced him to halt his travels and return to the city.