Day of Ashen Skies

The **Day of Ashen Skies** (also known as **The Ruin of Aelantir** to the elves) was a cataclysmic world event in the Year 1 which saw the destruction and shattering of the elven continent of Aelantir, the destruction of the Precursor Empire and the expulsion of the elven survivors to wander the seas, in addition to the general rise of magic in the world. By the late 17th century most scholars agreed that the Day of Ashen Skies was the final act in what was a centuries-long series of civil war across the Aelantir known as the War of Two.

## Stages

The literary figure Sammard Ionden was the first to separate the Ruin into sequences for ease of understanding, but note that there was great overlap between some of the stages listed below:

### Stage 1: Fall of Aesadas

At the end of the War of Two the leader of the opposition, Ducaniel, was imprisoned in the flying city of Aesadas, the capital of the Precursor Empire. During his time in prison, Ducaniel began a dark ritual to incur his wrath against all those who wronged him for it was said that if he were not to rule Aelantir, no-one would. The first step with this, as with most dark magic, is sacrifice, so he instructed his followers to infiltrate the flying city and cause it to crash to provide such energy, killing millions on impact.

### Stage 2: Ducaniel's Wrath

As the city crashed into the earth the ritual was fed the souls of the fallen and emitted the realm-shattering blast that would be known today as Ducaniel's Wrath. The magical explosion first blasted in a spherical radius obliterating all land and those within it, creating what is known today as the Ruined Sea, in addition to forging the Cliffs of Ruin. After that, it is theorized that the explosion reverted into itself and imploded to create a much larger shockwave that affected the rest of the continent, and also led to the next stage.

### Stage 3: Rending Earth

It is believed that the underlying continental plates were split apart in the blast, pushing them in an outward radius. This was the main event in The Ruin and destroyed many cities in continent-wide earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters.

It is in this stage that the Day of Ashen Skies could be seen and felt across the rest of the world.

### Stage 4: Rending Spirits

Not much is known about this stage, and much is a hypothesis by modern scholars. While tearing apart Aelantir, the blast also tore the fabrics of reality, opening up gateways to parallel and 'corrupted' versions of our world. Most notable is the Shadow Plane and the Feyrealm, which lie on the opposite sides of life and death - some scholars such as Rothomar the Wise suggests that some surviving precursors were thrown into these parallel planes and corrupted into the planar creatures we see today.

### Stage 5: Corruption

Combined with the excess of raw magical energy and the geographical destruction of the continent, Aelantir began to morph and change, climates changed drastically, fauna turned volatile, and the precursors that remained have degenerated into the creatures we see today.

During the Age of Unraveling, the explorers of Cannor found Aelantir a inhospitable place, though still possible for development and bountiful harvest. In the time between The Ruin and the Unraveling, scholars suggest that the magical corruption had faded to a manageable level, even enough to provide new crops, metals, and other resources.

## Effects of the Day of Ashen Skies

* The general rise of magic in the world, allowing arcane magic to be harnessed for the first time as a tool.
* The Century of Ash: Volcanoes across Halcann erupted, and their ash, combined with that of the Ruin of Aelantir, did not fully dissipate until 100 AA.
* Volcanic winter, primarily in Aelantir.
* The Great Floods: Most of Halcann is affected by floods and tsunamies that destroyed cities, changed the coastline and sank several islands.
* Harimari Ascension: the rise of the Harimari tigerfolk and their subsequent conquests.
* The Dissipation, an event in which all genies were banished from the material plane of existence.
* The War of the Falling Stars between the Damerian Republic, Gnomish Hierarchy and Castanor.
* The creation of the Verdant Veil by the Eldest, to protect the Feyrealm from the effects of the Day of Ashen Skies.
* Increased desertification of the Salahad, drying out parts of the savannah and jungle and expanding the desert's reach south
* Increased desertification of the steppes/plains of Northern Haless and Forbidden Plains, making some steppes more arid and dry, even desert-like
* The appearance or strengthening of the Face-stealer's in Northern Haless.
* The collapse of the civilization from which the Khamgunai and the Shuvüüsh descend due to desertification and the Face-stealers' threat.
* The collapse of a confederation of Kaino tribes that attempted to invade the islands of Fahvanosy and got caught by a tsunami.

## References

* Sammard Ionden (1705). *Monolith: The Precursor Story.* Beepeck Books.
* Deriah Ginnfield & Erenios ta'Lunatein (1820). *The Exiles of Aelantir.* DamesBooks.
* Taleyazarah ta'Norande (1822). *Life on the Flotilla.* Crowne Publishing.
* Urian sil Deranne (1876). *Ruin and Rend.* Rose Publications.
* Rothomar the Wise (1645). *Planar Realms and the Ruin of Aelantir*. Silmuna University Press.