Era 3: The First Great Disaster - Year c2000 - Year c2500

Natural Catastrophes: Earthquakes and dramatic climate changes wreak havoc across the continent, altering landscapes and impacting civilizations. Societies struggle to adapt to these cataclysmic events.   Modern scientists now understand that what is known in the historical record as the 'First Great Disaster' was actually caused by natural fluctuations in the orbit of the planet, angling the earth further away from the sun, leading to colder temperatures in the north, and hotter temperatures around the equator.   Like the first two eras of the history of Edane, the written record is sketchy at best from this period. It would appear that the 'Great Disaster' was actually a string of disasters over a period of about 500 years, culminating in a vast, volcanic eruption in the southern peninsular, decimating the city states of the Fortunati.   The first few centuries were besat by a gradual cooling of the weather in the north of the continent. The Eksil increasingly found their winters grow longer, their crops struggle to survive and rivers and streams become nigh unnavigable as they remained frozen for much of the year.   By 2350, the Bestridt Sea became mostly frozen and the chain of islands where the sea joined the Sunset Ocean became completely frozen over. The Eksil increasingly resorted to raiding as their main way of sustaining themselves, making frequent, lightning fast and violent attacks on the tribal communities all along the coast. Reports of their raids are even documented as far south as Cytania. They quickly became known as the Frost Raiders, a feared group that terrorised the mainland for over two centuries.   The frozen seas extended deep into the mainland, leading to many of the nomadic tribes of the Hizbrann to become increasingly isolated from one another. Some tales spoke of whole villages that had succumbed to the cold, the people left frozen solid in their own homes.   What is clear, is that these hostile temperatures led to an increase in migration. By the 2400s, Hizbrann migrants were recorded crossing the frozen sea to move into the lands of the Eksil. Some even discovered a pass through the vast mountain range that separated the continent of Edane, discovering what would become known as the Golden Pass.   Despite its warmer climes, the situation in the south was not any better. Earthquakes had been an infrequent occurence on the southern peninsular, but from the year 2000, these became increasingly common, some on a devastating scale. In the year 2279, an earthquake with no prior warning tore through the coastal town of Nostre Calda. The earthquake was so violent, that in a matter of hours, half of the city had slid into the sea, leaving the city state in total disarray.   Across the peninsular, hot springs became increasingly warm and within a generation, could no longer be used for recreation, their waters now being hot enough to scald any who set foot in them. In the year 2396, the citizens of the main city state of Fortuna found the ground bubbling beneath their feet as gas from deep under the ground burst from cracks in the earth's surface. Lava began spewing forth from the rockface and the city was forced to evacuate.   All of these events fed the beliefs of the cults that inhabited the city. Those nations that had travelled from the west last, felt that they were cursed. Many turned to supersition and blamed their misfortune on the mysterious abilities of the shamans. Some towns would round up anyone suspected of magic and publically hang them. Others were exiled from their cities or thrown in the sea.   Yet the most devastating of all of the disasters in this period would hit the city of Rinascere in 2485. Built on a hill in the centre of the Golden Peninsular, the city had grown rapidly due to the richness of the soil in the area. Over several days in the summer of that year, the citizens noticed cracks forming in their buildings as the ground beneath them shifted. Those who were outside of the city described what looked like a bulge forming underneath the ground, appearing to lift the city higher in the air. On one late afternoon that summer, the hill itself exploded. A torrent of earth, stone and lava erupted over a thousand feet into the air and everything within a 10 mile radius was completely incinerated. Anyone close to the blast was instantly incinerated and the eruption was felt as far away as Cytania and Veccara.   When the survivors returned, all that was left of their city was a huge gaping crater and cooling rivers of lava, smoke and ash. The city of Rinascere was gone.