The Age of the New

'I will hide the heavens from men, and for forty-nine moons, neither shall they eat nor drink, the Underworld will be their home.'
... saying attributed to the god Belen
The New Age of Alven started three thousand years ago, with events that nearly wiped out the population of the country, that the Alvenites call The Darkening. It also meant a new beginnings for the clans. In these ancient times, the Thane was Thane Branwood of Clan Wrenight. Branwood would be the last Thane of the Old Clans and by his sacrilegious actions sealed the fate of his people.

Branwood was weak and the blood in his veins had been watered down by years of inaction and dreaming nightmares within the The Thornwod Keep. It is said that as soon as Branwood had learned of The Prophecy of the Darken Skies, he had refused to move from his keep and had built himself a room made of gold which he thought would protect him when the times come.
His Seer Greymoon Litsor, also a clansman of Wrenight, who was a powerful Magician and a Trickster, saw an opportunity to rule Alven for himself. Unbeknown to all, Greymoon made a pact with the gods of The Southern Kingdoms and abandoned the gods of Alven.
Greymoon's betrayal was communicated to the god Belen- the king of gods, the one who ruled the Kingdom of the North, The Godlands at the twilight of times. A crane that wintered on The Lake of Thorns by the Thornwod Keep wall, saw the sorcerer made offerings to Reyna, a river goddess of the south. The crane flew to the sun, and told Belen what he saw. Incensed at the Seer's betrayal, Belen convinced the gods of the north to bring retribution to the lands of Alven for their unfaithfulness.
Belen came down to earth and blighted the land. For 49 moons, the sun did not shine on Alven. The winter was so severe and lasted so long that all the crops failed and a terrible famine was suffered by the clanspeople. With famine came plagues and other diseases. In the end, the people of Alven had to leave their homes and their fields and move in droves to the south where the skies were still clear.

by Christopher Patterson
As to Branwood the Thane, no one remembered him in his gold room, and he was left alone in Alven in the dark. Legends say that he might still be there as no one could remember where the room was when the men of Alven came back as the skies became blue again and the rain fell clean. Many people have tried to pinpoint where the keep of Thornbird might have been, but to this day, no historian has been able to find the fabled fort. Some says it might be near Loch Morgunt.
As to Greymoon, the stories do not say what happened to him, but one thing is sure, he was never able to rule Alven.

Manifestation

These were terrible times. Many offerings and sacrifices were offered to the gods but still, the sun was hidden by Belen. Only after 49 moons had passed did the god relent, and clear the skies.
It is recorded that the dark clouds of ash arrived from the North in the spring. The Fire Mountains  in the former land of the gods, were made angry by Belen. Even Leweyd from his Underworld palace helped out by stoking the fires of the earth. The peaks of Northguard were belching out clouds and clouds for weeks on end and of infernal smoke covered the skies of Alven within weeks.
The sun could not pierce through the clouds and the rain fell black. That summer, the crops failed as the winter never lifted from the land. The animals fled the forests and moved their herds much further south away from the suffocating grey ash. Many followed the herds to keep themselves from dying of hunger. The people of Alven were homeless and at the mercy of their enemies from the south. Some were given shelter, but many perished on the roads of the world.

Localization

The ash cloud covered the whole of Alven and part of The Kingdom of Greenway to the south.

Type

Metaphysical, Elemental