Athas is the name of the fictional planet on which the D&D campaign setting known as Dark Sun is set. It is a desert planet, due to the decay of its sun, and overuse of a form of magic (Defiling) which drains the planet's life force. The exploration of other worlds is one of the most enduring themes of science fiction. ... The original Dungeons & Dragons set Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) published by Gary Gygax and David Arneson in January 1974. ... A campaign setting is a fictional fantasy world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and various d20 System games. ... // Dark Sun is a discontinued Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting set on the desert world of Athas, once a blue planet teeming with life, but which has since been stripped of its fertility by uncontrolled use of magic. ...

Due to the harsh conditions of the planet, all the forms of flora and fauna have evolved to be extremely hardy and powerful as compared to the other races from other D&D worlds. Most, if not all, races on Athas have a very unique self-defense mechanism that consists of psionic ability, enhanced strength, augmented agility, increased mass, lower food/water intake, superior visual/aural capabilities and/or various physical weapons.

There are many differences between the similar races found in other D&D worlds as compared to that of Athas. Athasian races are considered to be more highly evolved than that of other worlds. For instance, an Athasian elf is faster, stronger and larger than any other elves from every other D&D worlds. An Athasian human is also capable of being much stronger, faster, hardier, smarter, wiser and better looking (?!) than other humans of alien origins.

This evolution is because of the following reasons:

1) Many natural resources have been depleted by Delifer Magic. These resources include; water, minerals and life-force.

2) The harsh environs have induced a societal change to a primitive and basic government control. Athas adopts a Darwinian approach whereby the weak perishes, the strong survives and the strongest will rule. Therefore, the weaker of the species have long been weeded out, leaving only the stronger ones to pass on their beneficial genes.

3) Unlike other worlds, there are no "commoners" in Athas. Every "villager" is trained to defend herself against voracious creatures of the wild. No one is spared from such training. Those who can't train would just have to be the meals of raiding monsters in their next attack.

In such a world as Athas, a death by natural aging is considered to be a great honour and an event worthy of celebrations.