Shattered Isles
1689 of the Age of Fire
In 1563 CE a ship from Endricost sailing out west in search of the mythical Grand Spell, instead ran into the an unnknown island. This would later be named the Summershade Isle, the first land of the New World.
This land, with one exception, was strangely empty of any civilisation or particularly intelligent life, not just humanoids, Fey, Giants and even Dragons were a shockingly rare sight, and those that could be found were usually hostile, skittish, stupid or otherwise uninterested in communication. This was a detail made even stranger by the discovery of numerous complex ruins, artefacts, ancient weapons and magics. Clearly there had once been intelligent life here, civilisations even, but somehow most of it was gone, and long gone from the look of things.
Still haunting as the ruins were, the promise of empty unclaimed land swiftly drew colonies, primarily sponsored by the empires of the old world. It was in this initial rush that the only known inhabitants of the New World, the Yuan-ti of the Serpentspine Penninsula, however openly hostile as they were, they revealed nothing about how the continent had become as such.
Then came the Shatterspike expedition, occasionally independent ventures into the ruins of the new world had occurred, but the Shatterspike expedition returned with more wealth and knowledge than anyone had seen before. And more than that, a promise of a land filled with massive ruins, each also filled to the brim with immense wealth.
With this the slow trickle became a flood, people rushed to the new world, the ruins no longer a place of omen and dread, but potential wealth and power. This second wave was largely independently funded, adventuring groups, trading companies etc rushed to the new world. With this came many of the more unscrupulous types, pirates, bandits and monsters came to the new world as well, but despite this, prosperity reigned in the Shattered Isles.
But then 37 years ago, a massive storm, spanning the entire ocean cutoff the New World from the Old, at first the chaos was minimal, most expected the storm to end soon, but then it didn't.
After a period of near total anarchy, order was eventually restored (somewhat) with the creation of the Concord, an alliance of the most powerful of the colonies. Now the settlers of this world try to find their own way in the world, the only path back to the old world a single ship making the crossing every year, sailing way with treasure, and returning with gold and new explorers.
All the while the new settlers still struggle to figure out the secrets of the new world, what happened to its peoples, what hides in the many ruins and dark places, what could perhaps still be there.