Great Night

The **Great Night** is the name for a cataclysmic event that supposed occurred c. 11,000 BE that devastated the continent of Arios that ended Age of Day and caused the Age of Stories, a period of fragmented history where most events of the time are recounted solely as fragmented, unreliable and biased stories. It apparently set back human progress by thousands of years, causing human society, for all practical purposes, being reset to zero.

The precise details or even general details are still a mystery, not only due to how long ago it occurred but the mystery and lack of documentation surrounding the event. Not a single piece of first-hand written information about the event has been found to exist, having been passed down as re-telling's of the same stories until it was written down, creating at least hundreds, if not thousands, versions of the event. It is not even known if it is simply a just simply a popular myth that somehow was captured by every single culture in some fashion.

## Event

The Great Night event is described as "the sky turning black". Whether metaphorical or literal, the sky most likely turned black as sunlight stopped diffusing in the atmosphere as it was not passing the atmosphere. While it could have been a eclipse, the length of the event was too long (months to years) for a normal event like this. The combination of extreme cold and darkness caused most, if not all crops, to fail on a unprecedented scale. This likely caused massive starvation and death of many. However, what is much more likely to have caused the collapse of society was likely the unhappy population going back to their primal and tribality instincts, escaping towns and cities to avoid competition for resources. This is what likely caused a total collapse of the past society on Arios that once existed.

However, it seems only Arios and its surrounding islands were this negatively affected by the calamity. The Nuqayku of Aryland did not starve as not only were they unaffected by the cold but the nature of continent allowed crops to grow regardless. Second Federation of Yoruhon was at that point was in full force and their preparation, unity and discipline allowed them to survive using the emergency dried and preserved supplies they had gathered for decades. While it unknown how the UCM handled the event, they have been theorized to be either just slightly or not affected by the event.

## Causes

There is no evidence of what "caused" the Great Night. While many legends and stories believe it supernatural in its causes, there is little to evidence of this to the point that many believed it was caused by a natural phenomena, such as a eruption of gigantic volcano or a huge astral object causing a extended solar eclipse which prevented light of the sun to reach Materiales properly. Neither theory is prefect but is easier to explain a huge supernatural event, including the blackening of the sun and the drop in temperature.

## Legacy

While the Great Night greatly affected human progress and culture, no one really "knows" about it. Most cultures have a similar story, either in religion or general stories, of the "a" cataclysmic event happening, which is the only reason that many historians consider it did happen. There currently is no first-hand record or evidence that proves whether it happened or not. It also has not been disproven leading many scholars to dedicate their live and research to find out what exactly happened to cause the event or, in the event of this being untrue, what created this myth.