The Flood

The Flood was an apocalyptic event which marked the end of an era and preceded a new one: the Orthodian Era (OE). It occurred 829 years prior to the formation of The Folly.
The waters rose quickly and wiped the continent of Tanera of most of its civilisation, killing millions and leaving only rare relics, most buried beneath Tanera's surface or the new shape of the seas surrounding it. It is widely believed by scholars to have been a drastic but successful attempt to end The Final War, most likely initiated by The Verda.
The only settlement known to have survived the event is Holmir, and those who took refuge there were the forebears of the majority of Tanera's present day residents.

History of the Flood

History of the Flood is a non-fiction book consisting primarily of untranslated anecdotal records in a number of languages from the time around The Final War. It was compiled by Master Elodie Gormen and Professor Jin Fieranflower and published in 599OE.
A copy was found by The Folly in Fala Sumaire's library.

Notable extracts

"Each of the Lords gathered their followers and formed armies with them, to protect the lands, though small, that were theirs. My Empress explained to us: there are doorways in the isles, through which no one should walk, and it is these that our enemies covet. This is what unites us with the Giantfolk of Aird and the Dwarvenfolk of Skall and the Seafolk of Tolsta, and yes, even those of Stroma and Kimber, despite our differences."

Chapter 4, 'From an unknown General of Empress Yula', written in Sylvan.

"...and the followers of Lathe rise even after being struck down, and once they have risen they cannot be struck down again, except by great force. Even then, their numbers seem never to diminish, and it becomes more difficult with each passing day to keep them on the mainland."

Chapter 12, 'Of the Giantfolk', written in Giant.

"The Verda pulled their threads and the waters rose in a single night. Yet it was a night of uncommon length, and those of us who survived it wondered aloud if it would ever end. When the morning did finally come, all who had not made their way to the Northern Peaks were drowned, and when the waters drew back, it took all that remained of them."

Chapter 15, 'Extracts from the writings of Orthod the Uniter', written in Taneran.

"The world fractured, and new worlds were formed, each to fit the nature of the immortals and to imprison them. The worlds that had always lain parallel remained untouched, but could no longer be accessed with the ease to which we had become used, and many of our kin were lost that way."

Chapter 26, 'Of the Elves', written in Elvish.