Mudslide of 266 IA

Background

The winter of 265 IA holds the record for the most amount of snowfall on the Tsargis mountains. Unusual temperature fluctuations destabilized the heavy snow drifts. Early spring remained unusually cold and rainy.

Event

Early in the afternoon on 43 Dione's Month, the dwarves in the Upper Gesach Mine were blasting through the bedrock. The vibrations shifted the weakened snowmelt and started an avalanche on the eastern side of Gesach. There were reports of rumblings from deep within the mountains, and the thick snow collapsed air vents and surface entrances. Stone quarries in the mountains were buried with minimal warning. Within half an hour, it reached the warm foothills and continued to pick up momentum. The snow churned up the softened ground turning into a landslide. The ground fell away, and multiple villages and farms were swallowed up and swept away. Velt was the largest settlement that was destroyed. Kursi, Nintan, Waekal, and Odarimat were also buried.

Aftermath

Dutan

The king of Dutan, Horsach II, mobilized a national relief effort to assist those injured and displaced by the mudslide. He sent the army to guard the people from brigands who were likely to take advantage. He also contracted construction crews to erect temporary shelters. Special travel and resettlement permits were awarded to tradespeople who wanted to move to another city, and when several survivors decided to build a new village, he was quick to agree to the plan and eased restrictions for skilled workers to begin work along with paying for their labor. It didn't take long for Nouvelt to be established and for roads to be built connecting it with the rest of the country's infrastructure. He repeated the process for Waekaletta which was further northwest and nestled right into the mountains. Trade with the Gellach dwarves resumed through there, and relations strengthened between the two countries as a result of Dutan offering aid to the dwarves for their disaster relief.

Gesach Mountain

The dwarves were devasted by the damage, and dozens of miners were lost. The clan leader, Mafti Whitethorn called for a week of mourning. Attempts to recover the bodies were futile as the land was too unstable to set up the proper excavating equipment. Stone memorials were built nearby for the families. For the rest of the year, the dwarves struggled with the lost mines which produced most of the clan's wealth. They accepted aid from Dutan to help rebuild and establish new mines. Culturally, the The First Lightening Landslide became a national day of mourning and remembrance of the power of the mountains and the fragility of life within in.

Type

Natural