The Great Collapse

Summary

The Great Collapse refers to a time roughly ten thousand years ago when a series of cataclysmic natural disasters shook the world of Hatuntassi, culminating in the utter collapse of almost all mortal civilisations across the planet, even in the underground realm of Dorchariagh. Of all the catastrophes that befell the world at that time, the most destructive and widely referenced by the mortal cultures alive today, was the simultaneous eruption of volcanoes in the largest volcanic region in the world, the Hell's Gates mountain range. The lands closest to the Hell's Gates were devasted by waves of boiling volcanic dust hundreds of feet high, but the clouds of ash reached around the globe, blocking the sun's light for nearly a decade. Earthquakes and tidal waves followed the eruptions, while the ash-choked sky quickly led to draughts, famine, rampant disease and toxic rainfall.
By the time the world began to stabilise and recover, close to 90% of the mortal peoples of Hatuntassi had perished. The great cities and monuments that had once dotted the world vanished, leaving behind only ruins, tragic echoes of their former splendour and majesty. Those few who were able to persevere through this time emerged into a scarred and radically more dangerous world. Almost all technological and magical understanding from before the Collapse was lost and it would take many hundreds of years before mortal life began to truly recover.

Historical Basis

The evidence of the Great Collapse can be found across all continents and cultures of Hatuntassi. The hundreds of ruins explored and studied by historians and adventurers in every corner of the world confirm the existence of civilisations that rival any that exist today in might and grandeur. Indeed many of the most remarkable discoveries and advancements made over the past 10 millennia are owed thanks to the secrets uncovered in the bowels of ancient tombs, cities and temples.
In the archives of the elves, there also exist recorded prophecies and omens that the elves claim forewarned their people of the Great Collapse. This, say the elves, was the cause of the elves exodus from Hatuntassi to their ancestral home of Eheneamh as they could discover no way to avert the coming catastrophe.

Spread

The legend of the Great Collapse is a founding myth of almost all mortal cultures on Hatuntassi, humans and orcs in particular. Myths of a time when the sun was blocked by clouds of ash and of great mountains that spewed columns of fire and smoke are ingrained in the memories of almost every culture alive today. The Great Collapse was so impactful for Hatuntassi that almost all mortal races have incorporated it into their myths, with countless more legends and tales spawning from the memory of the devastation they endured.
For most regular folk of Hatuntassi, the world they know and live in today began in the aftermath of the Great Collapse. All that came before was so irreperably lost that anything prior to the destruction can have little real meaning or impact on their lives.

Variations & Mutation

Despite its all-consuming impact, no mortal culture recalls or interprets the Great Collapse in the same way. The greatest variation, as ever, lies within the human civilisations that dot Hatuntassi. There are as many variations in the telling of the Great Collapse, as well as morals and lessons to be drawn from it, as there are human tribes, kingdoms and empires.

Cultural Reception

The dwarves primarily tell tales of great underground cities flooding in waves of lava and of grand, cavernous halls of stone splitting and cracking to rain death on those below. They recount the long, terrible march to the surface which saw many of their people die to the dark terrors that haunt the underrealms.
The elves speak of a time of approaching doom that plagued the dreams of their priests and oracles with visions of fire, darkness and death. Their legends speak of a mournful farewell to an adopted world that they had come to love, before their pilgrimage to a homeland that most of them had only heard of in tale and song.
For orcs, the Great Collapse was the wrathful punishment of a forgotten god. The orcs of old had turned away from Dravak, the ancient orc deity of battle and bloodlust, foregoing war for lives of peace. Dravak's rage grew to such heights at his chosen children turning from him that he caused the blood of the earth to boil, triggering the volcanic eruptions that devastated the world. For many orcs, the Great Collapse is a warning to them to not forget to honour the god of battle again.
To halflings, the Great Collapse is remembered more as a time of famine. Halflings have never been builders of great cities or monuments, so their legends speak less of lost settlements or lost relics and focus instead on the terrible impact the Great Collapse had on the natural world when all that was once green and good vanished, replaced with parched, barren and sickly soil and the dead husks of trees.

Date of First Recording

circa -4800

Date of Setting

circa -5912 to -5900