Dark Sun According to WotC

To get a better feel of the campaign, read Wizard's official statement about their Dark Sun campaign setting.  Scourge is virtually the same thing so much of what you read will already be familiar to you (but I swear I came up with my stuff long before they released the 4e setting!).


Athas in Seven Sentences (or Scourge)
The world of the Dark Sun setting is unique. This is not a world of shining knights and robed
wizards, of deep forests and holy shrines. Athas (Scourge) draws on different
traditions of fantasy storytelling; simple survival beneath the crimson
sun is often its own adventure. With that in mind, here are the seven
most important things you need to know about the Dark Sun setting:
The world is a desert. (Almost the whole world, that is). Athas
is a hot, arid world covered with vast stretches of desert—endless seas
of dunes, stony wastes, thorny scrublands, and worse. In this
forbidding world, cities and villages can only exist in a few oases or
verdant plains. Beyond these islands of civilization is a barren
wasteland roamed by nomads, raiders, and hungry monsters.
The world is savage. Life
is brutal and short in Athas. The vile institution of slavery is
widespread in Athas, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, are sent to their
deaths every year in bloody arena spectacles. Metal is quite scarce.
Arms and armor are often made of bone, stone, wood, and other such
materials, because steel is priceless.
Arcane magic defiles the world. Athas
was reduced to a wasteland by the reckless use of arcane magic in
ancient wars. To cast an arcane spell, one must gather power from the
living world around. Plants wither to black ash, crippling pain wracks
animals and people, and the soil itself is sterilized; nothing can grow
in that spot again.
Terrible sorcerer-kings rule the cities. The
city-states of Athas are ruled by defilers of immense power. These
mighty spellcasters have held their thrones for centuries. The
sorcerer-kings govern through templars, a class of officials and lesser
defilers who can call upon the kings’ powers.
The gods of Athas are silent. Athas
is a world without gods. There are no clerics, no paladins, no prophets
or religious orders. In the absence of divine influence, people have
turned to other sources of power. Psionic power is well known and
widely practiced in Athas, while shamans and druids call upon the
primal powers of the world—even though the primal spirits of Athas are
often wild and vengeful.
Fierce and deadly monsters populate the world. Athas
is home to its own deadly ecology. Cattle, horses, camels—none of these
animals can be found in Athas. Instead, people tend flocks of erdlus,
ride on kanks or crodlus, and draw wagons with inixes and mekillots.
Wild creatures such as lions, bears, or wolves are almost nonexistent.
In their place are terrors such as the id beast, the so-ut, or the
tembo.
Familiar races aren’t what you expect. Many of the fantasy stereotypes don’t apply to Athasian heroes. On
Athas, elves are a nomadic race of herders, raiders, peddlers, and
thieves. Halflings aren’t amiable river-folk; they’re xenophobic
headhunters and cannibals who hunt and kill anyone foolish enough to
venture into their montane forests. Each of the major races has adapted
to Athas in new and unexpected ways. (Actually elves and halflings are too gay to exist in such a badass, harsh world).