The sinking of Old Naurcia

In present day Naurcia, there is a legendary tale that every naurcian old enough to read knows. It concerns their ancestral land, which is not the gentle hills and rainy skies of North-eastern Arros, but instead, the story is about the tale of a large island that sunk beneath the sea.

Before the catastrophe

As the story goes, this all happened before The Long Winter, during the first age. There was a large island, maybe as big as the island of Island of Haiska that was situated around a thousand km east of the mainland of the Arrosian continent. The island was mountainious, with numerous fertile valleys in between the high peaks, allowing for all sorts of foods to be grown and feed a large population. The climate was very pleasant all year round and the waters were full of all kinds of fish.   In the cities, large pallaces to house nobles, royals and and Mages were contructed, as well as grand monuments and statues to honour them. The capital, Evalon, is said to have been the most beautiful city to ever exist and to be the most beautiful city that will have ever existed. Its layout was composed of large boulevards, paved with white marble and lined with large fruit trees. An citrus aroma floated in the air of the city.   The Old Naurcian were excellent sea fairers and had a large fleet of highly capable ships that were able to make the trip to the mainland regularly. The City of Arlevent, in South-west Naurcia, is believed to have been founded on top of an already existing colony built some time before, while they were still on Old Naurcia. Their ships are believed to have gone as far away as the eastern side of Velcaan island. This is further supported by the discovery of a partially preserved ship on the south of the island that doesn't match any known design, but fits the description given by the tale near perfectly. If this is true, then an encounter between then and the Old Karthian Empire may have been possible, yet neither side mention anything like that.  

The sinking of Old Naurcia

It started during the first few months of the Long Winter. At first, cracks began to appear in fields and in the streets, even the buildings and bridges. Then, the ground started shaking. It was relentless. Every few days, the ground would shake for minutes on end, more violently each time, leaving the people scrambling to repair the damage in time before the next quake.   After a couple of months of the land craking and shaking, the island's numerous volcanos erupted one by one. It only took a few day for most to realise what was happening, but it was too late. The island quickly began to sink, as if the bedrock it rested upon was crumbling away. The shores cracked, split and tumbled into the ocean. The mountains weren't any safer, as half of them collapsed on themselves, while the other half erupted into molten rocks, spraying deadly projectiles everywere on the island.   Finaly, the island split in two, the large valley and river system that ran in its centre transformed into a large chasm filled with lava, and then boiling ocean water as it rushed into the empty space. A thunderous roar acompanied the island as it was dragged beneath the ocean, leaving behind bubling waters and large tsunami waves that would devastate the surounding land in the following hours. 

Aftermath

The Naurcian that could flee did it abord their large ships. Most made it to Arros, though some were lost in transit, never to be seen again. Once they arrived on the shores of Arros, they found the land had been decimated by larges tsunami waves, no doubt caused by the sinking of their homeland. The large colony on the coast, near today's City of Arlevent had been completely wiped out. Nonetheless, they settled here, having nowhere else to go and started forming small villages along the eastern coast of Arros. However, it wasn't until multiple centuries after the Long winter had ended that modern day Naurcia would take shape.