Astral Descent

CATACLYSMIC DISASTER

A fiery meteor smeared across the sky and cratered the world. A planetary apocalypse in which the earth shook and tore itself asunder, the ground collapsed, continent-sized landmasses were blasted aloft (where they remain suspended to this day.) The craters they left behind swallowed the seas. Devastation and death were widespread - a near extinction event. The monumental damage reshaped the world such that lands became unrecognizeable and maps generated pre-Starfall were rendered useless. The fallout and resultant ash transformed the surface beneath the aerial continents into a Wasteland of magical mutation where the dead rose from their graves.
ECHOES OF SILENCE

Starfall delivered Witchrock to the world, but also generated a massive surge of Arcane energy which enveloped the world, disconnecting the people from their gods. Divine magic dwindled toward extinction...but also forged a newfound independence from the gods (though initially many worshippers felt forsaken, punished, or abandoned by their pantheon.)
AFTERMATH
Immediately after Starfall, civilization was disrupted and thrust into a Dark Age - a period of intellectual and cultural decline, some tribal 'survival of the fittest' mentality amongst the survivors. With the loss of the ability to commune with gods, mistrust and superstition were rampant. Some began experimenting with Witchrock. Two surviving minor principalities, formerly small duchies/fiefdoms or petty kingdoms before Starfall, which were fortunate enough to be lifted above the devastation and survive semi-intact began reforming into 'modern' world powers - Aetheria Dominion and Skyfront Republic