The Cataclysm

Disaster / Destruction

Little is known about the actual events of the Cataclysm, except that it was clearly a case of magic gone awry. Mages intent on taming Ur Hilgarria and terra-forming the land ostensibly to increase crop production, instead turned the entire northern continent into a frozen wasteland.   Little remains of the human habitation of the Northern Kingdoms, and so very little remains of the actual reasoning and motivations behind the decision to attempt the large scale terra-forming and weather manipulation that resulted in the Cataclysm, nor the spells that were used so unsuccessfully. Certainly, even as prolific as humans are, there was no impending mass starvation of the people to justify what was obviously a terrible idea. The humans, idiots that they are, decided use magic to reform the very stone of the world and tame the wild chaos magic that is the Ur Hilgarria.   They failed.   The Northern Kingdom was destroyed, transformed into a wasteland buried in a hundred foot deep sheet of ice as the wild magic and world itself struck back. Hundreds of thousands died - almost eighty percent of the human population, and all were driven from their homes. The survivors boarded ships and attempted to sail back to the Arrhynsia mainland. Fewer than half of those made it as the angry ocean lashed at their ships. Those who did make it to the mainland found a continent filled with angry people of other races who were less than inclined to welcome fugitives fleeing from the results of their own stupidity.   for more information see The Cataclysm - Death of a Continent