Nephalitam - The Great Storm, Most Traumatic

During the reign of Habarish, Most Meek, a terrible storm ravaged the island continent of Beldam for thirteen days. So dark and opaque were the storm clouds, the sun was not seen for seven days. Throughout the storm, significant rain fell, flooding all but the highest structures, the tallest hills, and the mountains to the north, where the wealthy and the clergy sought refuge. Thousands fled into the mountains and hills, feverishly erecting structures of wood and trees, built high upon tall logs so that the platforms were over 7 feet tall, flood waters raging beneath them. Thousands more still perished in the floods, trapped in the darkness that accompanied the storm.
Severe lightning occurred for the first 10 days of the storm. Many scientists, sorcerers, and clergy believe that this lightning, and the putrid greenish fog that rolled in from the western sea coast, were somehow responsible for raising many of the dead and deceased from their muddy and washed out graves and tombs. Reports came from all over Bedlam, that the dead, both recent and long deceased, were roaming in the darkness, seeking out the living and devouring their flesh.
Much of the landscape was scarred and burned by the relentless lightning. Drowned animals and dead fish ran through the flooded streets along with the corpses of the drowned. The Greater Cathedral of Bedlam, in the capital of Byronne, suffered terrible damage and the catacombs were filled with filthy and debris-strewn floodwater.
Along the coast, hundreds of fishing vessels were completely destroyed and the provincial navies suffered the loss or damage of two thirds of the fleet. Waves over 50ft regularly crashed into the coasts, destroying the township of Browning and washing way nearly every trace of the fishing village called Chapmantown. For centuries, some say to the present day, a terrible creature, half-man and half-piranha, was believed to have surfaced during the storm and has terrorized the swamp where Chapmantown once stood, now called the "Chapman Swamp." The swamp is believed haunted and home to several monstrous amphibians, many believed to have been summoned by the local witches of Achrimant. The Order of Achrimant was believed drowned or killed, though their ghosts are known to haunt the swamp by locals.
The twelfth and thirteenth day of the great storm saw greatly reduced rain, though lightning continued its fusillade against Bedlam until the morning of the thirteenth day. On the morning of the thirteenth day the clouds parted and the sun broke through. The waters remained for weeks, slowly subsiding. The rivers and the coasts were engorged with mud and debris. Crops and livestock were lost in devastating numbers. The Grand Vox, Habarish the Meek, appealed to the kingdoms across the eastern sea for assistance and many came to his aid during those first months.
Grand Vox Habarish called for a great celebration to mark the reconstruction of the Greater Cathedral of Bedlam and the surrounding towns and villages on the 1st anniversary of the storm. During this celebration, Habarish called the storm, "Nephalitam, the greatest and most traumatic of all storms." The church held rites and services for thirteen days straight in an effort to avoid such a storm ever occurring again. Each year, on the last day of summer, the church holiday of Nephalitam, is held to remember the storm and to celebrate the recovery of the peoples of Beldam.

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Natural