The Ashstorm
"As far as I can deduce from all written sources I have found, and more than a fair share of oral lore as well, the Ashstorm is quite possibly the worst disaster in the history of the Calinan Sea - possibly the world."
The Ashstorm, also known as the Fall of Tethos and the Sundering, was a severe volcanic eruption that took place in 212 TE on the island of Tethos, in the central Calinan Sea.
It is considered the most devastating natural disaster in the history of the Calinan, and was responsible for catastrophic devastation and societal upheaval across both sides of the Sea.
Background
The island of Tethos was barely noticed for most of the history of the world. The volcanic island was by and large too rocky for any real kind of agriculture to be established. Avadian mariners did settle the island in the earliest days of the expansion of the Sovereignty, but even this settlement was barely populated, serving more as a waypoint for ships crossing between the Beyan Archipelago and the Arikandan mainland.
Prior to 212 TE, there had been no volcanic activity detected on Tethos; and while explorers and natural philosophers had detected and noted the caldera, they had seen nothing to suggest it was any danger of erupting.
The Eruption
On 21 Vineblom, 212 TE, the volcano beneath Tethos erupted without any warning. The impact was cataclysmic and violent enough to tear the surrounding island apart, splintering rock and launching vast quantities of pumice and ash into the atmosphere. The explosion could be heard as far away as Mayoka and Maganti, and kicked off enormous tsunamis across the Calinan.
Impacts
Western / Central Calinan
The cataclysm kicked off tsunamis in the Calinan Sea, devastating northern Calina, southern Arikanda and the Beyan Archipelago. Thousands of lives were believed to be lost in the aftermath, along with severe damage to coastal city-states.
The Ashstorm delivered a far more powerful blow to the Avadian Sovereignty than the Coastal Wars ever could have. incurred a massive economic crisis as a result of the eruption, and while it stabilised eventually, it caused serious impact all around southern Arikanda and northern Northern Calina.
Eastern Calinan
TIn Solathi, the situation was dire as crops were devastated by the damage caused and the few supply ships Helik provided were stopped, causing the public to revolt and the governor to announce secession from Helik itself.
Speculated Causes
"Who do we placate? Balaros for the fire and ash raining down? Shiereleya for cloaking the skies? Essena for sending the waves? Delthur for the crops failing? Shokai for destroying the island in the first place? Could it be that all the gods turned on us?"
There were believed to be many reasons for the storm; while the secular Avadians mostly put it down to bad luck.
Among the Elementalist faiths of Maganti, Solathi, and other Tanorite and Sapphran cities along the Calinan, the question was not so much if the Ashstorm has been an act of divine retribution, but which deity had wreaked revenge. Followers of Balaros attributed the initial eruption of fire
many Tanorite city-states believed this could have been the wrath of Balaros himself, and the Balaran Templar spent the next several years trying to understand the reasoning behind the event and pacify the fire-god.
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