Imagine an Athas with no halflings, humans, dwarves, elves, or giants. Apparently the original creators had a vision of Dark Sun being a world with no humans, demihumans, or other Tolkien-inspired “standard” fantasy races, and it is an intriguing idea. Athas could have always been this way (since the Blue Age, leading to a totally different present-day Athas), or it could be a more recent development, happening during the Cleansing Wars or the Brown Age that followed, with humanity and the other races going extinct or otherwise vanishing.

This Athas could be an alternative timeline to the Athas we all know, or it could be a distant and potential future, set long after the death of Borys, the reimprisonment of Rajaat, and maybe even the destruction that follows Dregoth’s successful Ascension.

The Kreen Empire could have learned of Rajaat’s ultimate goal and formed a massive alliance of all the animalistic races of Athas (tareks, nikaal, ssurrans, tari, lask, etc), imprisoning Rajaat and eliminating his sorcerer-monarchs, along with the rest of humanity and all the Rebirth Races. The tohr-kreen may have been revered as the saviors of Athas for centuries… before the Kreen Empire grows so corrupt and arrogant that the remaining races of the Tablelands joined together in an alliance to drive the tohr-kreen back to the Crimson Savannah.

But what would such an Athas look like? The Tablelands, the Forgotten North, the Last Sea, the Jagged Cliffs, and even the Sea of Silt would be inhabited by a host of races unique to Athas: tareks, lask, ssurrans, etc. The yuan-ti and kreen might have empires and war over control of the Ringing Mountains and the Forest Ridge.

What about the great city-states of Tyr, Draj, Balic, Celik, Gulg, Giustenal, Kurn, Nibenay, Raam, Ur Draxa, and Urik? What might have happened to these cities, and what races might come to dominate them? The possibilities are endless: Giustenal and Ur Draxa might come to be ruled over by powerful clans of the newly-arrived dragon-like dray. Being so close to the mountains, the cities of Tyr and Urik could have been taken over by warlike tribes of tareks who utilize the great strength of b’rohg and other such creatures in their armies and to repair the ruined cities. The cities of Gulg, Nibenay, Raam, and Draj might be the perfect locations for a small yuan-ti empire after the serpentfolk emerge from the subterranean realms of Athas. The yuan-ti might in turn utilize legions of ssurrans and silt runners as the citizens and soldiers of their empire.

Kurn could become a sanctuary for some of the more reclusive races, such as tortles, aarakocra, jozhals, and others. They might even pay homage to the mysterious and long-vanished ‘ancient beings’ (the elves) who left them this city of refuge. Set far from the other city-states, Balic could be home to warring clans of silt runners, fighting for control of the ruined city.

Would the reggelids now rule over the bvanen and keep them as magically dominated slaves in the swamps below the Jagged Cliffs? Would the pterrans and reggelids scavenge or take over the now abandoned villages and cities of the Rhul-thaun? Might some highly mutated halflings still be living in caverns deep beneath the Jagged Cliffs? Would the Last Sea be completely uninhabited, or would the ruins of Saragar be populated by lizardfolk, or possibly even acting as a last hidden refuge of the humans and demihuman races?

Imagine what stories might be told in such a setting!