Gap
"The Gap" is the standard term for a universe-wide time corruption event that ocurred at some point before 1 AG, wiping out historical records of all forms going back thousands of years. While scholars know many things about the effect of the Gap, little is known about the event itself, shrouding the phenomenon in myth and legend. In particular, the cause of the Gap is perhaps its greatest mystery -- something that could wipe out millenia of history from the lowest Devil to the highest Angel, and everything in between.
Summary
While the myth surrounding the cause of the Gap varies from system to system, two popular theories exist in academic study. The first suggests that the Gap was a ripple effect caused by the discovery of the Drift, which opened the planes to alternate realities, and thus muddled the neatness of this universe's timeline. The other states that the Gap was caused by the sudden disappearance of Golarion (which somehow left the Starstone behind), creating a magical resonance effect that destroyed the foundation of time. Unfortunately, neither school of thought has enough evidence to either prove their theory or disprove its opponents, and thus they live on in humble partnership.
Historical Basis
Once the Gap ended, civilizations across the universe found themselves without an identity. Photographs from that time are often blurry, and videos may show slightly different events each time their viewed -- usually providing contradictory information. Unfortunately, the latter effect also applied to memories, causing widespread panic for those who awoke one day to find their memories unreliable, or even gone. While they retained most of their day-to-day knowledge and skills, they had no knowledge of how they had obtained them, creating a strange balance of capability and action but without reason. While some societies disappeared (such as the planet Golarion) or crumbled under the pressure, many rose to the occassion, digging in their heels until order could be restored.
The race to a generation unaffected by the Gap became the focus of many civilizations, which favored species who could reproduce at a relatively fast pace -- notably Humans. These newborns were able to retain their memories with no side effects, creating a collective sigh of relief across the universe, and a culture of "moving on" became increasingly present among the surviving nations. While many scholars still study the phenomenon (e.g. the Starfinder Society), few of the general public care to learn the facts of the Gap, although many a rumor have been passed around the bar, contributing to the murky swamp of information surrounding the event.
The three most-prominent facts of the Gap are that it was universal, it's effects cover a time period of several millenia (determined via carbon dating and astrochronology), and that the borders of its effect are geotemporally inconsistent. In layman's terms, while the Pact Worlds observes a history that stretches back over 315 years, other star systems believe the Gap ended 310 years ago, or even as late as 250 years ago. In addition, scholars have discovered pockets (most notably in the Vast) of planar space where the Gap's effects are weaker, meaning that the historical records stored there display some manner of consistency.
The race to a generation unaffected by the Gap became the focus of many civilizations, which favored species who could reproduce at a relatively fast pace -- notably Humans. These newborns were able to retain their memories with no side effects, creating a collective sigh of relief across the universe, and a culture of "moving on" became increasingly present among the surviving nations. While many scholars still study the phenomenon (e.g. the Starfinder Society), few of the general public care to learn the facts of the Gap, although many a rumor have been passed around the bar, contributing to the murky swamp of information surrounding the event.
The three most-prominent facts of the Gap are that it was universal, it's effects cover a time period of several millenia (determined via carbon dating and astrochronology), and that the borders of its effect are geotemporally inconsistent. In layman's terms, while the Pact Worlds observes a history that stretches back over 315 years, other star systems believe the Gap ended 310 years ago, or even as late as 250 years ago. In addition, scholars have discovered pockets (most notably in the Vast) of planar space where the Gap's effects are weaker, meaning that the historical records stored there display some manner of consistency.
Variations & Mutation
Treading into less scientific territory, some cultists of the Devourer believe that their monstrous god swallowed Golarion -- causing the aforementioned magical resonance effect -- as the first of many terrible events that would lead to the end of the universe. Opposing cultists of Xhamen-Dor believe that their god corrupted the planet so throughly such that Carcosa was able to swallow it, and that Hastur's resulting increase in power created a schism in time. Less credible fanatics of Triune believe that this universe is actually a somewhat flawed, simulated copy of an existing one -- specifically a universe without Golarion as a central powerhouse, and where Drift travel works despite some scientific theory claiming it should be impossible. Some practitioners of the occult believe that the Gap was caused by damage to the Akashic Record, although few believe any god would be willing to so throughly earn themselves the ire of Pharasma and her servants.
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