The Breaking

Refers to the unexpected and largely unexplained spontaneous destruction of the Temples of Ostelliach, which coincided with the total disappearance of any trace of the Deities of Ostelliach that had previously been very active and visible in the realm.

The Breaking may refer to the event itself, or the time period it occured during, which marks 0 on the current calendar, where everything prior to the event is referred to as Pre-Breaking (PB) and everything after is After-Breaking (AB).

The Breaking was a surprising, traumatic event in that it caused some injuries or deaths in the temple collapses. However, the more widespread implications were realized over a longer timeframe of minutes to even centuries later. Scholars hypothesize that the Breaking represented the death of the deities and with them the loss of a stable connection to The Web. This meant widespread magical damage of all schools, including plague, famine, untameable violence and madness, widespread illusion and corruption, environmental damage and calamity, vast geographic shifts, and flora/fauna rampages.
It took many years, until the Finite Architects of the Scriptorium Soiram were able to propose Rebuilding the Temples to help somewhat stabilize the Web again, for any semblance of security to return to Ostelliach. That said, the damage continues to infect the world on all levels (especially those further from established temples) and many hold lingering anxiety, hurt, or grudges against the gods (or whatever took them) for inflicting the After-Breaking challenges upon the world.
For more, see Lore - The Bard's Tale.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane