The Day the Sands Opened

In 1473 CT, the Kaushan were wandering the desert in a number of nomadic tribes. It would be nearly a hundred years before they settled completely into the area east of the Tivotay mountains, which would later be united as the Kingdom of Kiŗaun.
One day, in the spring, the tectonic plate that runs north of what is now known as the Dīyonī river and east of the Tivotay mountain range slipped several feet in a very short period of time. The resulting earthquakes and multitudes of after shocks caused many instances of liquefied sand. If a tribe was in such an area, they uaually lost people, animals, and/or equipment. In one case, at least, the sand swallowed nearly an entire tribe, with only a few escaping the fate of their kinsman. All told, hundreds, if not thousands, of Kaushan died when the sand opened beneath them. The thousands that survived grieved their loses.
In at least two locations, liquefied sand flowed around ancient buried buildings or towns, revealing sites that had been lost in the desert for millenia.
On the other side of the mountains, portions of two ancient construction sites were exposed at the location which would eventually become Daitī. Also, the Dīyonī river was widened along much of it's length, as well as lowered, creating the spectacular steep cliffs the river is known for. The rivered widened significantly more where the Īdvauŗaun lake now is. The level of the lake also fell, as what was once a river was now a wide lake, and the falls at the head of the lake were formed.
As a result of the devestation to the tribes, they gathered to regroup. They eventually began congregating east of the Tivotay mountains, where there is less sand and more rain. Less than one hundred years after the Day the Sands Opened, the tribes had mostly settled into towns and what were becoming cities. Fifty years after than, Badnīl Qau worked to unite those tribes into Kiŗaun.