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- ‘The Calamity’ occurs. Hundreds of thousands die across the continent. Cities laid to waste. Many leave to cross the ocean, searching for anywhere safer… these refugees’ fates are unknown.
- There is argument as to whether ‘The Calamity’ was a single disaster, or multiple simultaneous disasters, due to the differences in their effects and forms across the continent.
- It is generally agreed through scholarly circles to have been some kind of ‘planar collapse’ or ‘planar incursion’ into the material realms, taking the form of periodical ‘storms’ of planar energies and entities.
- These ‘storms’ began as short-lived events, each far apart, but over time they increased in both duration and frequency.
- As the storms increased in power, the very fabrics of magic themselves began to experience instabilities, causing most long-standing magical constructs to fail.
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- Someone (or someones), hereafter referred to variably as ‘the Great Sorcerer/s’, ‘the Archmage/s’, ‘the Cabal’ (and various other names) work some magic of unprecedented scope & power. ‘The Calamity’ wanes in strength to a mere trickle of planar influence during the now-monthly planar storms (which now more resemble moderate weather events than the calamitous planar upheavals prior).
- Nobody ever takes credit for the great magical working. Most presume that whoever/s worked such a great magic must have spent their very lives and souls to empower the Working of the Weave. The ultimate sacrifice in order to save the world.
- Others begin to claim that the Gods must have intervened. The few surviving Elven scholars of note are adamant that the ‘Great Work’ was of arcane origin, based on their observations at the time.
- By this stage, the terrain and lands of the continent are mostly inimical (or at best, hostile) to civilised life. This planar corruption slowly wanes over the coming centuries. The survivors live in isolated ‘strongholds’ spread across the continent - the places least affected by the Calamity, or most capable of still supporting life.
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- Civilisation finally begins to rebuild from the ruins. The land has recovered enough that large-scale agriculture can begin to be undertaken again in lands away from the strongholds.
- Wildlife, like the sapient species, also found ways to survive the harsh wilderness. Many of these forms of wildlife have acclimated to their locales and the conditions therein.
- Explorers from the strongholds finally begin to make substantial headway into the now-untamed wilderness. Contact between the various strongholds is reestablished over these decades.
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- The city-states previously referred to as ‘strongholds’ believe that contact has been made with all the surviving bastions of ‘civilised’ life. Whilst they don’t agree on much, they do agree that this probably marks the beginning of a new Era of continental civilisation.
- Argument begins about what to name this new Era. Those in the slowly reemerging scholarly circles believe it should be called PCE: the Post-Calamity Era. Various city-states argue for other naming conventions. The common peoples start referring to it as “The Current Era”.
- The voice of the masses wins out in the end. Primarily because they’ve been using C.E. for two years already by the time that “Current Era” is announced as the name of the new age. How original. And unsurprising.
- It is agreed that the year be declared as CE 1 at the end of the Summer Storm (the common name for the planar storm that occurs toward the start of summer; as the storms occur precisely once a month across the continent, they had been the primary calendar markers for most of the strongholds anyway)
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- The city-states continue to expand their lands and influences, slowly becoming a myriad of small nations. Border skirmishes occur, but the peoples of each nation tend to be most comfortable in the lands that most closely match their original stronghold of refuge.
- This is mostly unremarked by the populace - it makes sense that after living somewhere for over 200 years, that the peoples would be most comfortable in matching conditions.
- Eventually, however, some scholars begin to notice distinct trends in this behaviour - cross-breeding between individuals of different origin strongholds is notably less fertile. Furthermore, fertility rates also dropped for same-origin matches outside of their home territory.
- Speculation amongst the scholars suggests (and evidence seemed to agree) that the peoples of each stronghold were more affected by the planar corruption upon their land than first thought.
- It rapidly becomes apparent - through mundane, magical and alchemical testing - that the lands are, in fact, still tainted with residual planar energies - sustained by the monthly planestorms - but the people who had been living in those lands had also grown more accustomed and resilient to those energies.
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- The first officially recognised ‘Blood’ is born - their talents aren’t noticed until their young adulthood, but this is the year that she’s born: the young girl from the Sunlands with golden eyes who can stare directly into the face of the sun without being blinded - the first Sunblood.
- Speculation surrounds the origins of this girl: is she a minor mutant affected by the planar taint in the Sunlands? A gift from the gods? Some other anomaly?
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- Members of the ‘Blood’ have become high-standing, valued, or lauded members of their nations by this point. Still exceedingly rare, their gifts are seen as having been ‘chosen’ by the gods. They are searched for by their host nations for special positions or jobs, and the rewards to go with those positions. They can be born to anyone, regardless of race, origin, or social class, and the birth of one to a family can reverse poor fortunes or family disaster.
- Members of the Blood do enjoy some slight advantages over their brethren: certain powers, resistances, ease of using arcane or divine magics. No two of the Blood manifest quite the same abilities, and manifestations of each Blood are intrinsically tied to the lands of their origin.
- Scholars still speculate that these are mutations, but by this stage it’s considered rude or offensive to the Blood to even suggest that their powers aren’t gifts from the divinities. Still, research continues in less blatant methods, and one irrefutable fact begins to become apparent: whilst the ‘Blood’ didn’t always pass their gifts on to their children, they were much more likely to have ‘Blooded’ children. This chance compounded if both parents were Blooded.
- So began the Bloodlines.
