Atlantis: Historical Overview

Origins

Atlantis was a large island in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the North American content. The name is also given to the civilization that existed on that island twelve thousand years ago, believed to be the first technological civilization to rise on Earth after the fall of the Pangeans.

The super-continent of Pangea began to break apart in the Middle Jurassic period, over 155 million years ago. What would become the Atlantic Ocean began to spread along a geologic rift, moving the North American continent away from Europe and Africa. At some point in the Late Cretaceous (approximately 90 million years ago), a large sliver of the eastern coast of North America split off from the moving landmass and became a separate island in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the island of Atlantis.

Flora and Fauna evolved in isolation on Atlantis. At some point after the last glacial maximum (approximately 18,000 years ago), early humans somehow came to the island and colonised it. It is theorised that these humans came from a proto-advanced civilization in Mesoamerica, but there is no hard evidence to support this theory. The question of which early civilization seeded the other — Atlantis to Mesoamerica or vice-versa — is one of the most fiercely debated questions among antiquarians.

Over the next six thousand years, the Atlanteans developed more rapidly than humans elsewhere. Contributing factors were a benign climate, plentiful food, and no major predators. Agriculture was developed early and flourished.

During this early period, Atlantis appears to have been a virtual paradise; prosperous and free of war, disease and hunger. Great strides were made in science, philosophy, and magic.

Lemurian Schism

Approximately 14,000 years ago, a philosophical schism arose in Atlantean thought. The sorcerer-scientists who ruled the nation advocated using knowledge to live in harmony with nature and avoid damage to the planet that sustained them. A small but rapidly-growing faction of dissidents argued that it was the duty of mankind to advance to godhood, seizing whatever they required to achieve this. This faction's technological experimentation spiralled out of control and threatened to destroy the Atlantean civilization. Unable to match the magical skill of the sorcerer-scientists, the dissidents used genetic science to create living weapons in their fight for control. A long and costly civil war was fought, with victory finally going to the sorcerer-scientists. The dissidents were stripped of their powers and exiled—at first to the South American continent, then finally settling in the lands they called Lemuria.

First World-Wide War

Atlantis rebuilt its civilization slowly. Meanwhile, the Lemurians continued to genetically mutate and grow in power. Furthermore, they had contact with the primitive peoples of the rest of the world. They spread their power and influence and eventually attacked their own homeland with armies of enslaved primitives. This was approximately 13,000 years ago (1000 by the Atlantean Calendar). The world was plunged into a devastating war, the first, or "great", world-wide war, which the Atlanteans barely won. The consequence of this was the Atlanteans taking notice of the rest of the world for the first time. There followed a centuries-long period of peaceful trade and exploration. Atlantis would have led the entire world into an enduring Golden Age, but the Lemurians were not yet finished with their quest for power. And while they appeared outwardly strong, the seeds of their own downfall were taking root in the Atlantean civilization.

Gods and Monsters

The Atlantean island in this era was home to many species of supernatural animals, resulting from Lemurian experimentation. Ordinary Atlanteans became afraid to leave the safety of their cities. Scientific advancement stagnated during this time, and magic became ascendant. A group of sorcerers realised they could seize power by exploiting the common man's fear and superstition, and began to align their magical powers to the worship of gods (which it appears they invented) and call themselves priests rather than sorcerers. Raising a king to act as their puppet, their temporal and spiritual power became absolute.

This era lasted for several centuries, until a chain of events, beginning with the downfall of the king and ending with the appearance of the supernatural entity known as the Demon Queen, opened the door to a second world-wide war.

Second World-Wide War

A disparate alliance of Lemurians, Atlantean refugees from the Demon Queen's reign, and the proto-bronze-age kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean, took arms against Atlantis. This, the Atlanteans' second world-wide war, just over 12,000 years ago, seems to be the war recorded by Plato. The alliance of the Demon Queen's enemies caused such devastation that the Atlantean civilization — and indeed the entire island of Atlantis — fell. As Plato records, the island sank between the waves in a cataclysm which we now know involved the unleashing of demonic powers of mass destruction.

Legacy

The Atlanteans, at the height of their civilization, possessed an advanced technological civilization. Their architecture and grand constructions had parallels with Classical Greece or Rome, they worked iron as well as bronze, and they possessed large, ocean-going vessels of a design that would not be seen again until the European renaissance.

Today, there are no known archaeological remains of the civilization on the original island of Atlantis. There are some geological clues as to the island's location, but these are disputed. Our only reliable knowledge of the island and the civilization comes from surviving Atlantean writings. (Plato's fragmentary accounts, though based on fact, are obscured by his philosophical agenda.) However, the study of the Atlantean language in modern times has been the province of mystics and sorcerers and therefore translations are disputed or ignored by mainstream academics. It has been estimated that there are no more than six fluent Atlantean speakers in the 21st century.

After the sinking of Atlantis, the civilization's survivors scattered over the globe. Settlements were founded in locations as diverse as north-west Europe, the Tibetan Plateau, the Arctic Circle, the Ethiopian river gorges, and the east coast of South America. Most outposts either died out, were destroyed by surviving Lemurians, or gradually assimilated into local populations.

A small number of pure Atlantean bloodlines survived the millennia. The number of pureblood Atlanteans alive in the 21st century is unknown but believed to be exceedingly small. Most of these are unaware of their heritage. Pureblood Atlanteans possess unusually (though not superhumanly) robust health and longevity.