Great Plagues

The Great Plagues were a series of epidemics between 2561 and 2575 as part of the Chaspethian Exchange that occurred in the wake of the contact between the peoples of Oecumene and Aresra. Each side introduced a variety of diseases to the others, but the primary agents were Red Fever, a viral haemorrhagic fever, in Aresra, and Stonepox in Oecumene. Based on census data and scientific estimates, populations declined by between 10 and 15 per cent in Oecumene and 15 to 30 per cent in Aresra. The population of Oecumene would not recover to pre-contact levels until the mid-27^th century.

Effects on Society

The Great Plagues left behind a significant labour shortage, and many fields were left fallow without anyone to work them. Previous population declines in the wake of epidemics, such as the Kasilinian Plague in the eighth century, led to raiding and slave-taking, as typified by the Skorbund raids that started shortly after. However, the complex societies of Oecumene in the 26^th century, with modern, Zapadlokian ideas of statehood and sovereignty, and many with Furanist prohibitions of slavery, did not devolve into the same state of barbarism. The population of Oecumene had still only recently recovered from the (much less severe) population decline of the Little Dark Age. This shortage in agricultural labour had led to the breakdown of old feudal tribute systems as agricultural workers could move from manor to manor for better wages, and this second, even more severe shortage led to greatly increased wages for those who were left, fully freed from any feudal obligations. It has been suggested that this state of affairs was a driving force behind enclosure, increases in agricultural efficiency, and eventually industrialisation. With more efficient agricultural practices developing, a smaller portion of the population was needed to work in agriculture as the population recovered, and the labour surplus that was left as the population recovered moved into cities, driving urbanisation.
Meanwhile, in Aresra, the devastated populations there were left vulnerable to the still-powerful nomadic peoples of the steppe, though the introduction of gunpowder weapons to Then and Davania helped eventually turn the tide in favour of the settled peoples and the eventual conquest and pacification of the steppe by the Xiun Empire.