The Desolation of Ephora

Ephora is a continent that lies on the equator to the east of the islands of Krobesh. After the Summer of Burning Snow, it experienced a prolonged drought that cleared the continent of all its plant life.

The Drought

After he Summer of Burning Snow, the ash settled on Ephora. It lay in a thick layer several inches deep from coast to coast. It clogged rivers and lakes, and made the water unusable for anything living on the continent. Unfortunately for the denizens of Ephora, the rains did not come as they should have to wash the ash away, and the jungle began to die.

It did not rain for several years, and the jungle that once carpeted Ephora from mountains to coast shrank and died, until all that was left were a few trees around the only remaining source of water: a tiny stream trickling from somewhere deep in the mountains. It was not enough to sustain more than these few trees, though, and nearly all but the most resilient of creatures. Even the great cities of Ephora began to feel the effects.

Ephora was once home to several great, bustling cities scattered within the trees. When the trees began to die off and the water did not return, many folk began to abandon their homes and leave for other continents. They had seen how even the strongest, oldest trees, which they had regarded as the immortal guardians of their homes, could be felled by this disaster. And so they fled. Those that did not began to starve or die of thirst - crops were dying and animals were disappearing, and the only food and water they could find was brought in at high prices or scavenged from abandoned homes. Eventually, these folk too began to leave, or died in the walls of their once-great cities.

Present Day Ephora

Although the rains returned after a few years, the damage that had been done to the rainforests of Ephora was immense. Even to this day, a thousand years later, it has not returned to its former glory.

The rainforests themselves are mostly gone, although there are several patches that have been established, the largest of which are centered on the banks of the river from the mountains. In between these patches are tropical grass- and scrublands. They are slowly being taken back over by the jungle, but the process is very slow.

The wildlife of Ephora has been reintroduced thanks to efforts by folk across the world. Known species that once inhabited Ephora have been either returned from other continents or been "replaced" by similar species, in the hopes of restoring the biodiversity of the continent.

The great cities of Ephora remain abandoned, ruins that have now been taken over by the returning plant life. The folk that once lived there have found homes in other places, although some groups have returned to serve as wardens of the recovering ecosystem, living in small tribes and using resources sustainably so as not to upset the delicate balance that has been struck.