The Scourge

Metaphysical / Paranormal event

A time period when Horrors were able to cross into the world of Barsaive. The Horrors wreaked havoc on the land and its inhabitants.

The rise in the ambient magic allowed things from the beyond to manifest in the physical world. The sages warned that if the rise in magic wasn't stopped there would soon come a time when the Great Horrors of the void would overrun the world, they called this The Scourge. Few people listened, those that did built great underground fortresses to wait out the Scourge, The Kaers.   The Scourge lasted several centuries. As the magic level died down most of the horrors were forced back out of our world and back into theirs. Some Fourth World civilizations survived the Scourge thanks to the Theran Empire's development of kaers - underground, warded cities. Even though kaers were purposefully designed to survive the Scourge, many failed (guesstimate of 50% failure rate may be a good rule of thumb). Some communities were protected by dragons. It is unknown if there are other ways to survive the times of Scourge.   The Scourge also affected the land - as some Horrors simply feed on living matter (or emotions of non-intelligent creatures), much of the ecosphere was damaged; Earth in early post-Scourge years was not too far off from post-Apocalyptic realm, although it has seen some relatively quick recovery, aided by some dedicated magic (druids, etc.).