# History of the Broken Coast The Broken Coast is a region with a long history, of which much has been forgotten. What is remembered and how it is remembered differs strongly between cities and social groups. A scholar from Asannas will tell a very different story of the region than a shipwright from Crow's Bay or a farmer from a Preoran village. Nevertheless, anyone growing up in the Coast shares some common knowledge or at least belief about the civilizations that preceded the current ones. > ##### History: > - The Broken Coast is old > - A number of civilizations preceded the current one > - Ask five people and get fifteen different accounts of history > - A few pieces of knowledge are shared among pretty much everyone ## Slave Nation of Daoshan Not much is known about the time before the reign of Cathean emperors and empresses. Especially Dwarven craftsmen, Gnomish artificers and Elven scholars of magic, who can trace their families far back, sometimes talk about old tales, handed down from parents to children for centuries of a time when all of the Coast's peoples were enslaved by a god-like being. Of course, they then also tell of how one of their great-great-great-etc. ancestors played a key role in overthrowing this tyrant. A bloody rebellion finally overthrew the tyranny and from the ashes, the Catho empire arose. > ##### Slave Nation of Daoshan > - Oldest known historic period of what was then called the Mirror Coast > - Primarily remembered through the family tales of Dwarven craftsmen, Gnomish artificers, and Elven scholars of magic > - The peoples of the Broken Coast were enslaved by a tyrannic god-like entity > - A bloody rebellion freed the people eventually > - This rebellion became the cornerstone for the Catho Empire ## The Catho Empire The Catho Empire is the civilization that directly preceded current times. It is known as a time of great advances in magical and technological developments. Most people who are alive today can trace their family back to the Catho empire, though none of them can reasonably claim to have been anyone of importance. Catheans are said to have been a very proud people, relishing in their victory over the slaver. They worshipped a vast and unorganized pantheon of deities. (more to come) > ##### Catho Empire > - Direct ancestors of the current people of the Broken Coast > - Characterized by incredible magical and technological prowess > - Spanned much more than just the Broken Coast > - Its center was today's Preora and it's capital Cortiniac > - Many deities and god-like entities were worshipped by the people > - The Catheans were a very proud people and ravenous for knowledge and innovation > - The very oldest living elves (and maybe a handful of ancient gnomes) would have been children when the empire was wiped out several centuries ago > - The first records of a magical river flowing uphill stem from this period ### The Earthshattering The great catastrophe that ended the reign of the Catho Empire over the continent of Alatheia became known as the Earthshattering. Nobody knows exactly what caused the Earthshattering or what it even was. (more to come) > ##### Earthshattering > - A massive catastrophe that put a very sudden end to the empire and left only a fraction of its people alive > - Nobody knows what exactly this catastrophe was; Some blame magical experimentation, others claim it was hubris that led to a divine strike against the empire > - Completely obliterated what today is Preora > - Much of the Broken Coast's geology shifted massively, leading to the creation of the Greypeak Mountains and the Eastern Ridge as well as completely redefining the coastline > - The southernmost part of the Broken Coast, now called the Wildlands, was turned into a wasteland of chaotic magical energies \pagebreakNum ## The Long Night (more to come) > ##### Long Night > - A period of roughly 50 to 100 years between the Earthshattering and the establishment of the newly renamed Broken Coast > - Mostly defined by groups of survivors digging through the remains of the empire and trying to re-establish some form of society > - Differing opinions led to the formation of a bunch of smaller city states > - Ending marked by the Treaty of Five Stars, an alliance between the bigger city states ## The New Dawn This is the current age that the Broken Coast is in, marked by efforts to re-discover, rebuild, and reinvent the vast amount of things that were lost. Notable historic events include the re-discovery of the central area of the Catho Empire, now called Preora, as well as the Founding of the Arcanum Lodge. > ##### New Dawn > - The current historic period > - The people have re-built civilization along the Broken Coast in the past 600 years > - About 300 years ago, Preora was re-discovered and rebuilt