Map showing the effects of the Ashfall that split the continent in two.
The Ashfall (once called the Sundering) was a period of Norrathian history which began after the second cataclysmic world event to strike Norrath. The period occurred during the Dal Era, between the Takish Age and the Dragon War. It was marked by civil war and chaos as society tried to react to the overnight destruction of the Takish Empire. The destruction of the Spire also resulted in the loss of High Magic, giving the dragons the perfect time to begin the Dragon War.
Events leading up to the destruction of the Spire[]
The magical stone powering the portal was kept within a vault within the Takish-Hiz. The Dwarven brothers Calistan and Rastimund aided the elf Quintas in retrieving it, believing that the elf would be able to activate the portal, and allow them and their family to escape slavery by returning to their home in Akashidak. Quintas, a shapeshifter who may have been allied with the shissar Emperor Ssraeshza had other plans. He used his magic to modify the stone, causing the portal to be reversed. Instead of bringing Quintas and the Dwarves to Akashidak, it brought a piece of the realm of Akashidak to Quintas, covering the area with miles of rock, and destroying the capitol city of the Tah'Re Empire.[1]
Aftermath of the destruction of the Spire[]
The powerful magics involved in the summoning caused an overload in the ley line network. This resulted in the line running vertically through Amaril to explode, causing the eastern third of the continent being separated from the main continent by a straight spanning the entire continent from north to south. At ground zero of the destruction, was the former city of Takish'Hiz. The entire region surrounding the former city was transformed into an otherworldly place which is now known as the Ashfang.[2]
It believed that the Ashfall was the reason that the high magic of the Elves stopped working.[3]
In the chaos following the Ashfall, civil wars broke out among the different elven cities, ending only with a strained peace in which they were able to rebuild the Takish Empire, but on a much lesser scale than before.
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