The “lost city” of Atlantis was not truly lost when it sank into the depths of the ocean.  It was merely relocated to provide the residents better access to the magic that flowed from the ley line that ran across the ocean floor.  Sinking an entire city – and preventing it from being destroyed in the process – was no easy task, but a combination of technology and barely remembered magic made it possible.  The same magitech now powers the city and holds the waters of the ocean at bay.

Despite the difficulty of the task, the benefits granted by proximity to the ley line were well worth it the effort it took to move the city.  Those who are lucky enough to live near the ley line tend to develop an uncanny resonance with it, leading them to live longer lives and develop an otherworldly charms.  The original settlers of Atlantis built luxurious manors along the ley line to harness these powers, and many of their descendants still occupy these opulent homes.  In no small part due to the benefits of the ley line, these people now control the city.

However, in the years since Atlantis sank, the city has gained its fair share of new residents.  The Atlantean government has always believed that it had a moral duty to rescue poor souls lost at sea.  These victims of happenstance have always been brought to the city and allowed to settle there.  However, once within the city walls they are never again permitted to leave.  Allowing them to return home would risk exposing the city and its wonders to outsiders.  In recent years, the city’s growing population has forced most of these newcomers to settle on the edges of the city.  Living so distant from the ley line, they and their descendants have reaped none of its benefits.  As a result, their lives have consistently been shorter and harder than those of their neighbors in the center city.  Prohibited from ever leaving Atlantis, these newcomers and their descendants have found themselves with little room for advancement and no chance of escape.  The Clan [Playable Faction] consists of these rescued victims of shipwrecks and their descendants, attempting to scrape out an existence on the edges of a society that refuses to acknowledge their disadvantages.

This setting is designed to be a low magic setting.  It could be expanded beyond the City of Atlantis to include other small underwater towns even further disadvantaged by their increased distance from the ley line, as well as empires centered around other lost civilizations such as Lemuria and Mu.