The Cataclysm

It is widely believed that the Cataclysm occurred as a result of the Kingpriest’s overweening ambition. The Kingpriest sought godhood to not only purge the lands of evil, but of anything that did not agree with his viewpoints. However, such an act would ultimately destroy the Doctrine of Balance, so Thirteen Warnings were sent to the Kingpriest and the nation of Istar. A storm battered the city for thirteen days, trees wept blood, and other ill omens were seen. The warnings were misinterpreted as signs from gods of Darkness that wanted to stop the Kingpriest, and went unheeded. On the third day of the year 963 IA by the Istar calendar, the Kingpriest demanded that the gods answer his call. Instead, the Cataclysm occurred. Though it was widely believed that the gods abandoned Krynn, this was not so. Instead, most of Krynn's populace could not understand why the gods refused their cries for aid, and turned away from the gods for over three hundred years. Ansalon felt the Cataclysm as a burning mountain that struck the Lord city of Istar, though the changes wrought by the Cataclysm were far-reaching. The countries of Falthana and Seldjuk were destroyed; it is likely that Gather, Ismin, and Midrath were as well. The nation of Istar, as well as Dravinaar and Taol were radically altered and later subsumed into other nations. The Kingdom of Icereach was destroyed; its cities buried under snow and ice. The Blood Sea formed over the sunken city of Istar; the Maelstrom in its center supposedly sits over the ruined city. Northern Ergoth and Southern Ergoth were formed when Ergoth was separated from the mainland, while the Blood Sea Isles were formed from existing mountains to the west. Water rushes in from the Sirrion Ocean to form the New Sea, while waters recede from the port city of Tarsis. On Taladas, the Cataclysm is known as the Great Destruction. Taladas originally consisted of a single continent surrounded by islands. During the Great Destruction, the center of Taladas was struck a blow greater than that which sank Istar. Tectonic plates were shifted, and the Empire of Aurim was destroyed not only from the initial strike, but from the ash and gas clouds produced by the Burning Sea. The Indanalis Sea opened westward to the Western Ocean, dividing one landmass into Northern Hosk and Southern Hosk. The Storm Sea was created from the eastern remains of the Indanalis in conjunction with Sulphur-filled clouds. The Cataclysm is known by other names as well: Plainsmen call it the Rending, the Hest call it the Great Shattering, and some Qualinesti elves know it as the Great Sundering.