Editing Dark Sun (section)

===Sorcerer-Kings===
The [[Sorcerer-King]]s were the jerks chosen by [[Rajaat]] with the deepest reservoirs of hatred (read:racists) for everything.  Except halflings.  Or was it humans.  SPOILER!  These were usually the big bad dudes that Dark Sun campaigns revolved around killing.  Unfortunately, author Troy Denning killed off most of them in the series ''The Prism Pentad'', thus giving the campaign setting nothing left to live for. TSR brought out a small post-novel supplement entitled "Beyond the Prism Pentad", which also included references to a product called "Dark Sun: ''A New Age''" that was never released, to try and save what little scraps of the setting was left after [[skub|Denning's]] royal buttfuck of it all. It didn't work. As a result, TSR brought it out back and shot it while you cried in your mother's arms. When it came back for a 4E splat, this killing spree was effectively retconned under the same anti-continuity clause that Eberron held to.

Most/all Sorcerer-kings were/are in various stages of Dragon metamorphosis -- i.e. turning into a Dragon, you idiot -- as a result of their addiction to Defiling.  "Real" dragons don't exist on Athas, and only the most powerful Wizard/Psionicists with the help of handy [[Necronomicon|forbidden lore]] could start on this journey to REAL ULTIMATE POWER.  Side effects include deepening of voice, a bad case of scaly skin, and the desire to FUCKING KILL EVERYTHING.  Which gave rise to the most stupid/common-sense ''Dark Sun'' rule ever, via the rulebook ''Dragonkings'', where a 25th level Dragon, if you were lucky/good enough to make it that far and survive a series of spells that ''had an outright chance to kill you'', WAS COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER BY THE DM UNTIL LEVEL 30.  How fun is that shit.  The reasoning being the Dragon entered a period of Animalistic Rage.  And of course, only the DM could properly portray that shit, moron.  Go sit on the couch and shut up. (Granted, it was better than giving players literal dragon-god-like power, given the tendencies of the sorts of player willing to commit the atrocities necessary to become a dragon to [[Murderhobo|steal, fuck and kill everything they see including their fellow PCs.]] Remember how all the other Dragon Kings were literally fueled by genocide?)

Originally, just one of the Dragon-Kings was an actual '''dragon''', formerly Borys of Ur-Draxa. PCs could confront him in '''[[DSR4: Valley of Dust and Fire]]''', which is a strong contender for the title of "hardest official module ever made," and which ''itself'' cautioned that it was meant for ''Dragon Kings'' parties over level 21. Wonder how those "[[Mary Sue|Prism Pentad]]" dipshits managed it... Especially since not a single one of them were even level 20 (their stats are given in "Beyond the Prism Pentad") , much less a full 5-man party of level 21+ characters.

To expand their use as a plot device, each Sorcerer-King/Queen ruled a City-State, up until they were slain by Denning like it was a bodily function:

*'''Abalach-re'''  - The queen bitch of the City-State of Raam, this paranoid schizo cunt makes [[Skaven|your average Skaven]] look like Ghandi.  Also universally loathed and held in contempt by both her own people and all the other Sorcerer Kings.  Whether her neurotic paranoia is the result or the cause of this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question.
*'''Andropinis'''  - He had egg shaped nostrils.  He wore a toga and ruled over the Greek inspired City-State of Balic. Unique for being the only Lawful Neutral sorcerer-king (All the others are listed as Lawful Evil, naturally), and for running a state that actually somewhat functions, in a democracy-turned-dictatorial-sham kind of way.
*'''Hamanu'''  - Mr. Lionface.  Not one of the original 13 Champions, he was the ruler of Urik and a blatant homage to Hammurabi.  Evil and cruel, with his draconic transformation halted rather than reversed, but his devotion to order, justice, rationality, and his father's dream of a green and peaceful land make him one of the best of a terrible lot.
*'''Kalak'''  - You know your old, shriveled, power-hungry, slave-master of a grandfather?  That's this guy. Ruler of Tyr before his plan to get jacked up quick on dragonsauce was discovered and foiled by a bunch of meddling kids and one talking dog.  The 4e reboot explicitly starts every game with him being overthrown and Tyr being established as a Free City, before letting the PCs see where things go from there.
*'''Kalid-Ma''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kalidnay, currently trapped in a near-death coma in [[Ravenloft|a completely different campaign setting]] thanks to his head honchessa's cruel betrayal of everything good in her life in favor of her freaky, possessive stalker crush on him.  Probably not coming back, regardless of what the deluded cultists rifling through his garbage think.
*'''Lalali-Puy'''  -  The hottest Sorcerer-Queen, and ruler of the barely civilized Jungle-Town of Gulg.  Also one of the less-evil Sorcerer Kings by virtue of not doing much to actively hurt the people who adore her, with some liner notes specifically calling her the most likely King to make a face turn who hasn't already, though her current rule over Gulg is cemented by brutal enslavement of nature spirits, one of whom she's masquerading as.
*'''Nibenay'''  - Called the Shadow King.  Either he really, really hated people and being seen, or he was too stupid to cast a simple glamour to NOT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A DRAGON around his superstitious subjects.  Ruler of the largest City-State of the same name, which was locked in a perpetual war with Gulg for some crazy strong blue balls.  Or blue wood.  Whatever.  His templars are all female, and are forced to mate with him for the job, which is frankly par for the course for evil at this point.  Even considering his hideous, part-dragon/part-man appearance.
*'''Tectuktitlay''' - He's a ladykiller, he'll rip your heart out and throw it down the fucking ziggurat.  Bird like in appearance, he was the Aztec inspired ruler of Drag.  Drek.  Er, Draj.  Smart, despite his insanity and cruelty. He indoctrinates his subjects with the idea that he was born a god and genuinely believes in his own self fabricated mythology.
*'''Oronis''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kurn.  Kinda.  Oronis is a special case.  He started to feel bad about... you know exterminating all the lizard-men, especially when he saw that it was all for a lie, and he and his comrades were turning the world into a ruin rather than a paradise.  So, he took his vitamins, drank his milk, and managed to put the brakes on the whole "morph into a dragon through genocide" thing... and go the other direction into becoming an avangion.  Kurn is dying, but it's just a facade for New Kurn now anyway, and he's withdrawn from politics to pursue further experiments into avangion-hood while leaving behind a "true" democracy.  Literally the only Sorcerer-King actively trying to make his shithole of a world a better place.
*'''Daskinor''' - Kim Jong Il's Dark Sun doppelganger.  Ruler of Eldaarich, this <strike>paranoid asshat</strike> omnipotent and benevolent God King keeps his city <strike>on permanent lockdown</strike> safe and protected from all the evils of Athas.  Literally built massive walls to close off his city from the outside world <strike>thanks to his insanity starting to leak into the city as a whole</strike> because it is totally self-sufficient and wants for nothing the outside world has to offer.  Especially not water and food.
*'''Dregoth''' - The undead dragon sorcerer-king, ruler of Giustenal. This dude got ganked by a bunch of the other Sorcerer-Kings who were tired of him bragging about the size of his <strike>cock</strike> book of spells a couple thousand years ago, but his loyal Templars brought him back as a Lich, and he's just been chilling underground unbeknownst to every else, for quite some time now.  Created the [[dray]] race, which he hopes will one day completely replace humanity as the new "master race."