The Ascent

Breaking apart kingdoms, disconnecting societies, the Ascent marked the beginning of the current era. A giant eathquake followed by earsplitting sounds of stone and rock, violently being pulled apart and shattered, as all landmasses began to rise. Buildings collapsed, mines caved in, people panicked and screamed in terror, prayers were uttered, but to no avail. The ground beneath their feet unwaveringly took to the skies, pulling everything with it. Castles, once seen as guarantors of safety, now betrayed their very creators, toppling and crushing all that stood within their walls. During the ascent, the trembling ground would crack and break apart, tearing what once wear continents apart, to leave only smaller island and archipellago-esque structures. It was, as if the world itself shed its skin. Eventually, an irritating calmless befell the world as the upwards momentum slowed down significantly, merely hours after it started, to an, to the naked eye invisible, slow creep.
Scattered and bewildered, their former existances pulled from their grasp, surrounded by ruins of their cities and the few buildings that somehow survived, anarchy would take hold. Some took to hiding and scavenging while others turned into violent bandits and pillagers, gathering what supplies they could to hopefully feed themselves each day and survive to see the next. As if by divine intervention, some regions were blessed with heroes whose actions would go down in history. These exceptionally brave individuals took charge. Gathering the survivors, they lead on the path into this unknown future that was forced upon them by the world itself. Cities were rebuilt, new ways of providing for the community were created. Throughout the centuries, the descendants of these brave leaders founded their own kingdoms based on the ideals of the pathfinders, the heroes that brought hope during the darkest moment in Ekkirahs history.