The Year of No Summer

The year 60 before the Modern Age (60 BMA) is known by the elves and orcs of Westlo as the Year of No Summer.
The crop failure and famine that followed the Year of No Summer greatly weakened the indigenous peoples of Westlo at exactly the same time that humanfolk began to settle the area west of the Armont.

Manifestation

The Year of No Summer is believed to have been caused primarily by an eruption of one of the peaks of the Collyner Mountains, which are referred to in the Elven records as the Purple Mountains. The pyroclastic flow from the mountain destroyed the northern parts of the Western Forest and is the source of the basaltic tuff that forms the Giant Hills. 800 years later, the forest has yet to regrow to the extent it achieved before the eruption.
The sound of the erupting volcano is legendary among the mountain folk: the gnomes of the Western Collyner Mountains remember ruptured eardrums and physical pain caused by the sound. They also remember those of their eastern kin who lost their lives in the disaster. It is speculated that dwarves and drow must have also suffered, but we have no records of these.
There are nowadays very few elves who were alive at the time of the eruption, but there is a taboo on speaking of it. It is speculated that the number of their people dwindled greatly as a result of the famine, but their suffering cannot be compared to the orcs, who lost perhaps two thirds of their population in the ensuing years. The orcs probably never recovered from this and the landing of the humanfolk, who seem to have an innate disgust for the orcish folk, only made matters worse.

Localization

While this eruption is known from ultra-montaine histories, it seems that the wind patterns saw Westlo bear the worst of the ash cloud. Scientists now speculate that the temperature would have dropped considerably and sunlight would have been drastically reduced for over a year. This caused the failure of most high-yield crops, including wheat and other grains.

Type

Natural