The Great Confiscation

Then had come the Great Confiscation, where the Raven had sought to murder every man, woman and child in the Saeric Basin with Power in their veins. He had turned their vile magic against them, warping their Souls into the very demons that now torment the Souls in Perdition.

— Extract from The Sorrow of Souls, Book One: Harbinger

The Great Confiscation was part of a series of cataclysmic events that heralded the start of a terrifying new era for mankind. Having overthrown the chthonic fertility goddess, the Phoenix, who had controlled the realm of death, the Raven systematically murdered every man, woman and child who bore Power in their veins. His brutality was felt across every country in the Saeric Basin, enacted in traditionally holy sites. It is claimed that the Raven harvested Power from the blood He spilled, and captured the dying Souls. It is believed that the men, women and children slain during the Great Confiscation now serve the Raven as the demons that torment new Souls who enter Perdition.

Historical Misconceptions

It is an unfortunate tradition amongst historians and theologians in every country, to discuss the Confiscation as a single event. This has led to the formation of several troubling misconceptions within the minds of the common Saeric peoples:
Firstly, that the Great Confiscation was a single event occurring simultaneously across the Searic Basin. Archives in Kredashmi, Lormont and Raskvaeric hold letters reporting massacre that clearly bear the hallmark of the Raven's brutality. However, each letter attributed different dates to the massacres during eighth- and ninthmonth 850HE.
Secondly, the Great Confiscation was not a stand-alone event. It was the second link in a chain of horrific events to afflict humankind, preceeded by the Raven's usurpation of the Afterlife from the control of the Phoenix. However, this was not realized by mortals until the Resurrection of the Throwbacks in 7 SGC.
Thirdly, that only human carriers of Power were killed by the Raven. In reality, the vicious harvest of Power targetted humans, Beasts and Mongrels alike. This fact is largely ignored by theologians and historians alike, a move likely prompted by the events of The Hubraic Wars (1-7SGC). This was triggered by the fact that humans had discovered that their traditional gods were simply Creatures with Power, parading as deities. Some of these self-appointed deities had similarly been slain by the Raven.

Placeholder Skeleton by Brinsmead

The Hubraic Era

The year notation for the period preceding the Great Confiscation has become commonly referred to as the Hubraic Era (HE). This anachronistic notation was introduced in order to deal with the fact that, prior to the common era (referred to as Since the Great Confiscation, or SGC), each country in the Saeric Basin measured time in terms of regnal reigns. This creates something of a headache for modern historians when trying to correlate dates between countries. It has been decided that the Confiscation occurred in 850HE.