The Long Darkness

## The Long Darkness (451-457 AS)

In the south of Solareas, a mountain erupts with an earsplitting boom audible for thousands of miles. Ash, rock, and gas launch through the sky, and

## The Long Darkness

A snowed in Village during the Long Darkness (Credit to merl1ncz on DeviantArt)

### Location

Solareas, Argossa, Kashar Maht, and Serpent's Run

thick rivers of lava flow from the resulting crater. Ash trapped in the atmosphere blocks the sun, causing a six year winter (451-457 AS) that hits Solareas, Argossa, Kashar Maht, and Serpent's Run especially hard.

## International Response and Consequences

### Avalonia

A dark smog that choked the once fair skies of the Republic, a blight that blotted out the sun in it's entirety. Followed by a cold never before felt by the tropical people, ash and snow descended from the skies where rain once emerged. Crops failed, and the poorly insulated homes of Deuvin succeeded only in keeping out the now biting Windchill. Within a year of what was quickly becoming known across the Republic as the 'Long Darkness', thousands had died from malnutrition and lack of heat.

The State did what it could to aid the people, seizing stockpiles of lumber to distribute amongst the cities to burn. What few stockpiles there were however quickly depleted, and the arms of government found themselves in a familial gridlock of inaction, paralyzed as competing interests vied and argued for what should be done to combat the crisis. Meanwhile, more and more Avalon perished as the Republic's meager food reserves ran dry. With outdoor farming and above ground irrigation rendered nonviable, many sought their food and water needs on the seas. Already a lucrative industry prior to the Long Darkness, what few seafaring vessels were not frozen in ice expanded their maritime operations. These fishing vessels sought anything and everything, even going so far as to hunt squid to eat. Once a taboo in Avalonian society, the eating of squid, became a necessity to survive.

Those that didn't die from drought, starvation or Frostbite died from Hypernatremia or from diseases found in uncooked meat. Those outside of cities had it worst, as rural farmers and towns founded on mining or lumber died out quickly alone. And in the cities, government control and strict rationing was enforced through a newfound need of military might. Hundreds more died in food and heat riots, and many more became faced with the real prospect of eating each other to survive. The politics of Avalonia became further divided still, as deep resentment was seeded amid tentacle pointing and blaming for the severity of the crisis increased.

By the end of the six years of the Long Darkness, Avalonian society emerged forever changed and scarred. Estimates put the death toll at somewhere around 20% of the Bronze Age population.

### Warren Union

As the ash blocks out the sun and plunges Kashar into darkness, winter strikes the arid grasslands of the Warren Union. The Doge population, most of which had been relocated to reservations in the province of Simpal are hit the hardest, as the winter frost brings with it disease and frostbite.

Queen Eni strains herself after centuries of tranquility to bless her subjects with longer, more insulating fur, while Bnuy themselves adapt to the changed climate as well in various ways. New magical mechanisms are discovered that allow for the more efficient production of woolen clothing, and hairstyles become longer throughout the affected provinces.

### T'kko Banners

The massive volcanic eruption in Solareas brings in its wake a winter that lasts half a decade. The T’kko grow little food themselves – most of what they eat they forage, hunt, or receive from milking or slaughtering their massive Tsen beasts. As such, they weather the storm more easily than many others have. At least in the first year.

By late 452, however, Tsen herds have thinned and the temperature changes have become more dire. Snow and ice, once crowning the mountaintops only, have crept into the valleys below, making trade and travel difficult. While the Council of the Erstwhile, by virtue of their greater centralization, has managed to set up foodstores, these, too, are emptying fast. Meanwhile, the western regions chafe under the pressure of the Council: oppressed and plagued by psionic inquisitors in the early years of the coup, the western clades have never quite forgotten the injustice wrought against them. The T’kko Council, on the other hand, sees the fertile lands of the Reaches an opportunity to replenish their stores. While they had so far been content with nominal unity, now they demand total submission and forced re-entry into the One Banner. In response, the rexix and šukhèire rise up against the Council once more, in a conflict that will come to be know as the Winter War. Aided by the exiles to the south, the western clades manage to hold off the enemy advance for a while. The Council brings superior manpower and a more organized military hierarchy, but the port town of Jìd is still the only T’kko settlement with something worth calling fortifications. Thus, the council begins a lengthy siege, all while their foodstores dwindle. The dul clade, traditionally inhabiting the south-eastern ranges of the desert and mostly isolated ever since the coup, seizes the opportunity to withhold trade to Tutsò, and instead ensure their own survival in the desert.

Cut off from vital support and unable to take the walls of Jìd, the Council is forced to retreat, though not without pillaging much of the southern areas of the Reaches. In the wake of their defeat, the spiritual ‘tìn clade retreats en masse to the northern Onshkad mountains. This first, if minor, victory against the council, as well as growing resentment about worsening living conditions during the long winter, sow the first seeds of rebellion in almost a century.