History of Arcana - New Beginnings
All the peoples of Arcana, wherever they lived, had various names for and theories about the planets visible in the sky, most creatures simply grew accustomed to them being there. However when one of the three started to grow bright the peoples noticed, slowly it became as bright as the sun, the great orb of light remained visible in both day and night. The weather patterns of the planet become increasingly turbulent as the surface temperatures grew hotter, in the frozen wastes of the two poles the rising temperature had dire consequences as these huge ice formations retreated and the sea level rose.
When the unexplainable happens there are many who will use it to gain power and there are as many who would try and discover the meaning of what is happening. Every culture and race on Arcana was gripped by rebellion and cults to every deity and myth sprang up.
The scholars of the lowest lying land masses seeing the oceans around them rise knew time was limited and tried to preach various theories of what to do for the best. Not all cultures could endure and some creatures fell on each other in wanton destruction. Those who fared best were well on the way to safety when the planet erupted and tore itself apart. The shattered orb hung in the skies, a signal of impending doom.
A full imperial year after the shattering, the first debris arrived in the outer atmosphere of Arcana, these smaller and faster pieces simply bounced off into deeper space, given continual displays of multiple shooting stars. Then the larger parts of the shattered star arrived smashing through the atmosphere and burying themselves deep into the planet crust. Lands were torn asunder and tsunamis followed flooding the land. Last to come to Arcana three massive sections burned through the skies like a demons claw and smashed the already wrecked planet! Three massive impacts shattered the planet of Arcana and for a brief lapse in time Arcana blew apart! However a magical event happened, a miracle of sorts or did an all powerful God or even “thee” God intervene, either way the magical energy trapped in the ozone, the very same magical energy that makes Arcana special, absorbed and then rebounded the shockwave, holding the planet together. On the surface and under it, all life changed forever.
For the peoples and creatures of Arcana it might have been better if the planet had been destroyed, for what followed became known commonly as the times of woe or simply the end of time. When the shattered crust of the planet, rent, hewn and torn apart finally settled it was unrecognisable from before. Whole continents had changed, new mountain ranges formed, others were ripped down. Rivers and sea boiled away as they drained into the interior of the planet, the clouds of toxic gases that resulted poisoned the air choking all life planet and animal. The heat from the impact finished the melting ice fields and the oceans rose.
Everything ended
Or did it?
Arcana’s Magic had always provided it’s diversity now it provided its survival trapped in pockets of life many creatures survived especially the humanoid life-forms, though all civilisation was lost. The creatures trapped on the landmasses turned back to their tribal barbarism and started again. Those who had been preparing for the rising oceans found themselves in the best position to avoid the devastation but not all survived, some were simply swallowed up in tidal waves hundreds of feet high. Others did survive though, several Elven factions had crafted islands out of coral, trees and rock, another kingdom formed from the hundreds of ships that took to the seas as the land disappeared, of the thousands that launched only a few hundred ships survived and these banded together to become the floating realms.
From the ashes of one world comes the life of another world, the planets population reduced to a tenth of what it had been provided the spark for a new way. All life was needed to re-build, nothing could be wasted, old hatreds forgotten as all the races came together for survival. Even the many fearsome creatures that used to roam at will faced the same problem as all life, adapt, co-operate or become extinct. From the debris of destruction new wielders of magic rose, powerful cabals of the three, to match the symbol of Arcanas change, these new in-tune crafters of magic learned to join crippled humanoids and beast together making a new creation the mergelings, they even learned how to talk with the beasts. Just over 983 imperial years have gone by to where we are today the skyline is a little changed as the third planet is just a wreck