The Eruption of Mon Dravara

Overview

The Eruption of Mon Dravara was undoubtedly the most cataclysmic event in the history of the Cantois Isles, a pair of islands off the east coast of Suriima. The devastating volcanic eruption occurred just over a century after the end of The Ten Year Winter, early in the Age of Harmony. The eruption led to the destruction of Arisles, the then capital and only major city on North Cantois.

History & Geography

Mon Dravara is a huge volcano located on the North Cantois isle. As a not particularly large island, it dominates the skyline there. The city of Arisles was built on the large plain at is base. Mon Dravara had no prior recorded eruptions before the one that devastated Arisles.

The Eruption

Just over hundred years into the Age of Harmony, several generations on from the Ten Year Winter, which pushed the world to the brink, society was truly only just recovering by this point. There, on the island of North Cantois, the then-presumed mountain of Mon Dravara erupted. The explosion was sudden and violent. The mountain spewed ash and lava, which quickly engulfed the city of Arisles. The destruction of the city was swift and absolute, leaving little time for the inhabitants to escape. The survivors numbered merely in the dozens, out of a city that held a few thousand.

The Aftermath

Arisles would eventually be refounded, after The Cataclysm War over 2500 years later. The survivors of the the eruption made their way to South Cantois, where they were immediately faced with a new problem, The Shimmering Sorrow. The Shimmer Sorrow was caused by consumption and contact with the Sorrowshell Crab, a species that had only evolved after The Ten Year Winter and hadn't made its way to North Cantois at the time. This cut their numbers to less than 50. Thankfully for those remaining, scouts from the village of Aralomi, a settlement founded by an earlier expeditionary force, found them and brought them in.
Aralomi now stands as a city of several thousand, and is the capital of the Cantois Isles. The Eruption features heavily in the Cantoisi culture, with remembrance ceremonies held on the Day of the Passed, and the tales and troubles are woven into the artworks, literature and songs of the region.

Type

Natural