The Blackening

What childhood stories are people still afraid of as adults in your world?
The Blackening is told to children and adults alike - an End Of Days.
All religions and cultures describe, in shocking similarity, of an event known as The Blackening.
The skies go dark, crops will fail, livestock will grow sick and the rivers will dry up. Then will come the Wind. Unending, howling wind, carrying abrasive sand, that cuts the skin, and leads to infections, spreading disease among those that survive.
After the winds, the few that are left will experience a period of calm, before life as we know it is truly obliterated.
It is unknown when The Blackening will come. It is unknown why The Blackening will come. But it will come.

Summary

This is an end of days scenario. Life as known by those who experience will cease to be, making way for new life, new civilisations and a new way of existence. In essence, agriculture will fail, the weather will turn hostile and disease will decimate the remaining population.
Remaining peoples will move underground, or die on a hostile surface, where they will adapt to the darkness. Meanwhile, the life on the surface will become impossible for the new underground civilisations to thrive, and will shift towards a new natural equilibrium, for a new genesis.

Historical Basis

It is thought that an End of Days event caused modern society to form, where previous societies left their settlements when they were made too dangerous to live in. It is unknown who these previous beings were, where they went, or what caused them to leave.

Spread

Leaders of all cultures speak of The Blackening, and unanimously agree it is a telling of the End Times. Few know that there is a way to prolong the event, though it is unspoken due to the horrific acts that must be undertaken.

Cultural Reception

The Sunborn speak of The Blackening as the Sun leaving them, that they have strayed too far from its worship and this is their punishment. They will seek to remain, changing their ways to plead for the Sun to return, but it never will. The Moon worshiping people of the East believe it is a sign that they must move onward, and seek shelter, for the Moons are wise beings. The people even go as far as to pray for an hour whenever the moons are not visible at night, in hopes that they will return. They obviously do, and the Moon people go about their lives.
The Third people view it as a Reckoning; they have ruined the world for all through destruction of the land and they must forsake their lands as the Before People did. While not intrinsically religious, they believe the Land itself as a Mother of sorts, and so seek greener pastures, leaving their Mother behind, hoping for forgiveness.

In Literature

Numerous stories are written about heroes seeking out evildoers that would bring about The Blackening, finding magical weapons and artifacts that will clear the skies, heal the sick and quell the winds. These are widely considered fiction, bedtime stories to teach the younger generations about responsibility, faith and Goodness, however they have inspired numerous organisations dedicated to the research of the Weather and Disease.

In Art

There exist numerous paintings and tapestries depicting the desolation of once arable farm land, turned to ashes and rot, of skies turned black and faces scarred by razor sharp winds.

Date of First Recording

The stories have always been told