Secrets of a dead emperor

90 years prior to the start of this campaign, a magical surge disrupted magic throughout the continent, and continued to randomly surge and disrupt for 30 years and while most countries were largely unaffected, the entire infrastructure that had maintained the Empire’s glory was based on the ability to move people quickly and efficiently through the use of bound elementals. When the surge disrupted magic, the elementals that were bound to the largest tasks (airships, waste management, trains, boats) broke free of their binding, and attacked the cities, destroying huge amounts of resources and killing many of the mages that were capable of re-binding the more powerful elementals. Thedrillia, the former capital of the Empire, and much of its surrounding farmlands are now a wasteland, with corrupt magics and creatures dominating the area. Most who have attempted to reach the city ruins do not return, the few that do are haunted, drooling husks of their former selves. Now, New Thendrillia is the only city to claim to be part of the Empire that once dominated the continent. Other cities have now established small city-state like governance around the edges of the Empire, but the majority of Imperial Cities were destroyed beyond the ability to repair while magic was unstable. Everything magical seems to be working fine again - but in all cities of the former Empire, as well as New Thendrillia and many other locations, magic is strongly distrusted by the average citizen.