Several thousand years ago, a series of seven unexplained natural disasters simultaneously racked the world. At the time, some believed that the Gods of Heaven and Hell had returned to seek revenge on the children of the Fathers of Men, but the Gods did not return and, in time, the natural balance of the world seemed to at last return.

 

The Owlston Thunderclap was the first of the Cataclysms. The entire village of Owlston was destroyed in a disasterous storm. The Grand Owlery, the tallest structure in the world, was struck 33 times by bolts of lightning and its collapse buried the village, killing all the inhabitants (and owls).

 

Across the sea, the Drowning of Virgilstad occurred. A massive tidal wave, perpetuated by an undersea quake, swallowed the port city of Virgilstad whole. Legends claim that on a still and quiet night, you can still hear the cries of the drowning denizens.

 

Not far away, the Ravage of Pelitunia consumed the ancient shrine-city of Pelitunia in a fiery inferno. Some say it was the work of low level alchemists seeking eternal life who unwittingly set the city ablaze, but no one would ever know for sure, as all that remained was a city of ash amid the burnt husks of the shrines.

 

High in the mountains, the Far Northron kingdom of Gojerand was consumed by titanic flows of lava. The Engulfing of Gojerand eradicated their ancient culture and blocked off the passes between the Rigors range for thousands of years.

 

The Crumbling of Codegus wiped out the Triarchy of Codegus. The same undersea quake that set about the Drowning of Virgilstad, caused the earth around Codegus to crack apart, dropping the Triarch's Palace, its famous Infinite Gardens and the entire city into a bottomless abyss.

 

The Onoheim Famine ensued when the Far Northron city of Onoheim wasted away from lack of food shipped from across the sea in Virgilstad or through the mountain passes of Gojerand. It is believed that the inhabitants eventually succumbed to cannibalism when the ruins of the city were discovered thousands of years later.

 

Finally, the Plague of Valeyra devastated the once powerful Empire of Valeyra. The Emperor’s constant warmongering among the petty kingdoms that ran along its borders exposed his soldiers to many devastating diseases. One unlucky centurion carried pestilence back to Valeyra which ran its course through the citizens, from the lowliest back alley beggar all the way to the Emperor himself. They say the entire Empire was dead within a fortnight.

 

(Illustrations from the artist and historian Colebrand’s treatise, “Wrath of the Long Dead Gods: Recollections of the Cataclysms”.)