Selene's Fury

Selene's Fury was the first major natural tragedy to occur in Totania, though its causes were supernatural. It resulted in the destruction of the first civilization, the Giant Kingdom, and the dispersing of its people across Totania.

The Giant Kingdom

While Dragons were the first sentient beings after the Gods to live on Totania, the Giants were the first to band together and form a civilization. This Giant Kingdom was built on the Northern Continent (the name of which has been lost to history) a rich land with open plains and large forests, perfect for Giants.
The Giants were not without flaw. They were arrogant, their heads in the clouds refusing to acknowledge that their feet still walked the same earth as the beasts they viewed themselves as above. Their King Vulnon, in particular, claimed himself to sit on the throne of Heaven, though it was simply a large stone throne in the city of Lorev.

Selene by Jarhed

The Giants of the Giant Kingdom considered themselves like Gods in the way that they could manipulate the world to their will, building it and shaping it to their will. Their arrogance knew few limits, yet this is not to say they did not have faith in the Gods. Most believed in and followed the faith of the Gods.
They worshipped their Holy Trinity of Gods: Athena, Leigong, and the Nameless God, who supported their civilization with blessings and anything the Giants needed. Alongside this, there were other Gods who had a presence here, like Papatūānuku and Phrixus. The Giants were deeply religious, but the religious freedom in their Kingdom allowed the worship of all Gods.

The Jealous Goddess

There was one Goddess, however, who had no followers in the Giant Kingdom. No one worshipped her, and for this, she was enraged. Her name was Selene, Goddess of Love and the Moon.

Papatūānuku by Jarhed

Selene was not pleased with this. She was not called the Jealous Goddess for nothing, after all.
There was more that displeased her. Much of the world existed without her mark on it, and for this, she detested it. She had no love for Hadur, who shaped the world, but she knew that she had not the skill nor power to make a planet like he had. However, she tried to mimic Izanagi's Sun by making the Moon.

Athena by Jarhed

The creation that got most under her skin, however, was Papatūānuku's Great Sea.
An entire ocean spanning the southern portion of the world... why did Papatūānuku believe she deserved so much? Why should she have it when Selene had only the Moon? Did Papatūānuku believe she deserved better than Selene? Or as Selene once said:

"What's so great about her that she gets a 'Great' Sea?"

— Selene

Selene wanted this for herself, as she did for all things. And that meant there was only one way for her jealousy to be sated.

The Tragedy of the Northern Continent

Leigong wielding Yùzhào by Jarhed

It was a day like any other in the Northern Continent. In Lorev, Vulnon was giving a speech from atop his throne while other Giants were going about their lives.
Yet Selene had suffered long enough with the jealousy that was building inside of her. It was time to release it. Time to punish the Giants for not worshipping her, for thinking of themselves like Gods instead of acknowledging a true Goddess. It was time to make a new sea that could rival the Great Sea.
A wave, so tall that it dwarfed even the Giants and their ornate structures, appeared off of the eastern coast as the moon rose. Yet it was not night... the celestial body had changed its path at the will of Selene, rising in the day to eliminate the Giants before nightfall.
With every instant the moon moved in the sky, the wave carried further and further, sinking the continent in its wake.
The residents of the Giant Kingdom began to flee, heading west, but they were too large for the land. A crowd of them all headed to the same place at the same time meant traffic jams... and the people closest to the coast were killed nearly instantly. Faster and faster, people were dying because they couldn't get away fast enough.
But even if they did, there were not many places to go. The entire continent was targeted and would sink before the day was over.
The only place to go was to their boats... but that would not help them. The boats would not be enough for them to escape on.

The Folly of Giants

The Giant's pride was not limited to how they built their kingdoms. There was pride even in the ships they sailed upon, which could fit no more than three or four Giants at a time if they squeezed into them.

Vulnon by Jarhed

After all, the Giants thought... what could be so urgent that they would need to move more than four Giants at a time?
This would, of course, be to their own detriment on the day of Selene's Fury.
Clamoring for boats, Giants rushed to the shores, but they continued trying to push each other out of the way. No one wanted to help each other, they only wanted safety for themselves. And due to this selfishness, this jealousy towards anyone who would survive instead of themselves... it is said that less than 100 Giants escaped the flood.
Jealousy was weaponized not only be Selene, but by the Giants themselves. If not for that, their Kingdom may have been able to survive past the flood. But with jealous hearts, it sunk beneath the waves.

Aftermath

When the water receded, much of the continent and its structures stayed beneath the new ocean, the Northern Sea. Only the peaks and plateaus of the northern continent remained, the largest of which was a plataeu around the Temple of Phrixus. This became the largest landmass in the archipelago that would go on to be known as the Northern Islands.
There were some who managed to survive the cataclysm. It is said that King Vulnon had previously found a way to achieve immortality through his magic, but could not find a way to escape, and so he sunk to the bottom of the sea and remained there.
There was also the Giant named Nero, who fled South to build a house that would become the foundation for the city of Nerodil. He, too, extended his lifespan with spells, but it would not keep him safe forever.
Other Giants had already been living off of the continent for years, in colonies they had settled around the world. The most notable was Gremont, where the Church of Athena stood. This is one of the few structures from the Giants that stood the test of time thanks to the care put into it.

The Kingdom Lives On

Janus by Jarhed

But the greatest survivors of Selene's Fury were the pets of the Giants: Mammoths.
A poor Giant on the western coast had been warned of the coming tragedy with little time to spare before it hit the continent, but before anyone else knew. His name was Enki, and while he knew that he would have little chance of surviving, with the time he could have saved himself.
Enki, however, wanted to protect his beloved pet instead. A Mammoth by the name of Utnapishtim. He sent Utnapishtim east to protect him, which then led to other Mammoths being inspired by Utnapishtim, breaking free and following him to escape to freedom and salvation.
They made it to the center of the continent before they saw the wave coming from the direction they were headed towards. However, this was when the God who created them, The Two-Faced Cult, appeared and offered them a way out. Utnapishtim agreed, leading the Mammoths away through a portal.
This would ultimately lead to the Mammoths evolving into Mammen, who would go on to build their own civilization in honor of Enki and the Giants who had taken care of them. A civilization not built on jealousy, but the love between a pet and its owner. A love that would live on for eternity.