THE GREAT CALAMITY

Disaster / Destruction

The next great expansion of the city came in the aftermath of what is called The Great Calamity. During the summer of Song 486, a forest fire of unprecedented proportions raged through the Wood. This event is forever remembered by the folk of the Wood as the Great Calamity. Nobody knows exactly how the fire was first lit nor finally extinguished, but the blaze reduced the entire western section of the forest to cinders, leaving behind a flame-cursed plain of ash known as the Scorched Grove. In all my travels, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It mars the Wood like a scar: an eerie place of searing winds, smoldering soil, and strange monsters. I’d give the Scorched Grove a wide berth, dear traveler, as it is filled with dangers.   In the aftermath of the Great Calamity, many who lived in the area that became the Scorched Grove, mostly humblefolk, had lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods to the inferno. They looked to Alderheart for aid. The Birdfolk Council responded by decreeing that new spaces and branchroads be shaped in the lower Trunk to make homes for the influx of new residents. Since the Calamity, humblefolk have outnumbered birdfolk in Alderheart but still did not gain representation on the Council. At the time, the Birdfolk Council chose to view the refugees as guests rather than true citizens of Alderheart. The shortfall of not including humblefolk representation on the Council is still a dark mark on the city’s history. It prevented humblefolk from sharing valuable perspectives on how the city could benefit all its residents.   As the Trunk filled, the city began turning folk away, claiming that there were not enough resources to sustain all the refugees. Those desperately seeking a home began to dig into Alderheart’s roots secretly. Though crude at first, a network of tunnels formed over time, and small communities developed within them. For these root-dwellers, life was hard, and some resorted to thievery and smuggling to survive. The communities in the roots were an open secret for generations. The Council only publicly acknowledged the existence of the secret tunnels in Song 721 and promptly sent tree-shapers to fill in the tunnels. However, Alderheart refused the tree-shapers. The Evertree wished to provide shelter to those who needed it, and the mighty Alderheart bid the tree-shapers strengthen the tunnels, shape proper homes for the Root-dwellers, and connect them to the rest of the city instead.   In Song 723, after a change in leadership, the Council agreed to expand the once clandestine tunnels, and the area became formally known as the Roots, the last official level of the city. Today, the Roots continue to be stigmatized by narrow-minded folk as a place of crime and villainy. Life in the Roots is still tough compared to the other levels of Alderheart, but for those who live there, it is their home, and they are proud of it.