Difference between revisions of "The Magical Apocalypse"

From Apocalyptica Arcanum Wiki
Line 1: Line 1:
−
= The Meteor Strike =
+
= The Magical Apocalypse =
 
''“The world ended on a Monday.”''
 
''“The world ended on a Monday.”''
  
 
== Overview ==
 
== Overview ==
−
[[File:Shardisite-meteor-animated.gif|right|Meteor impacts the Earth]]The Meteor Strike occurred on '''January 18th, 1886''', marking the end of the old world and the beginning of the modern era. The impact of the celestial object—later associated with the origin of Shardisite—obliterated multiple regions of the Earth and triggered a chain reaction that reshaped the planet’s geography, climate, and metaphysical laws. It is universally recognized as the foundational event of the timeline now measured in '''Anno Meteorum (A.M.)''', beginning the very next year.
+
[[File:Shardisite-meteor-animated.gif|right|Meteor impacts the Earth]]
 +
The '''Magical Apocalypse''' refers to the cataclysmic impact of an unknown celestial body on January 18th, 1886—a single event that ended the old world and birthed the modern era of [[Apocalyptica Arcanum]].
  
−
The object was not an ordinary meteor. Survivors of the event recorded vivid accounts of the sky burning green for hours before impact. When it struck, it did not simply destroy—it transformed. The blast site became ground zero for the release of Shardisite, a pale green, radiant crystal that would go on to define the new age. Unlike traditional meteoric iron, Shardisite hummed with arcane energy and emitted transformative radiation. Its influence has been documented in every region of the known world.
+
The object—later associated with the origin of [[Shardisite]]—obliterated multiple regions of the Earth and triggered a chain reaction of geographic, climatic, magical, and metaphysical upheaval. From this moment forward, time has been measured as '''[[Anno Meteorum (A.M.)]]''', beginning with the first full year after the fall.
  
−
The strike drastically altered the Earth’s axial rotation. From that moment forward, the planet no longer rotated as it once had. The poles shifted, plunging former equatorial zones into glaciation and flooding temperate regions beneath torrential oceans. Entire continents reformed, and with them, the political and biological order of the world collapsed. This cataclysm was not merely geological or climatological—it was magical. Magic, once myth, erupted into daily reality. Spells, mutations, and divine visions swept across the surviving population.
+
No part of the world was untouched. Nations collapsed. Natural law fractured. Magic—once the subject of folklore—erupted into daily existence. Even the planet’s axis itself was torn askew, plunging the world into a new, unpredictable age.
  
−
'''During this chaotic aftermath, entire societies fell into famine, madness, or supernatural terror.''' Records from survivors of the western frontier, later chronicled during the [[Origins – The Wendigo]] campaign, describe how the winters deepened into endless frozen seasons and how belief itself shaped survival. Communities that clung to traditional faiths saw miracles—or horrors—manifest around them. New legends like the Black Dog and the Two-Faced Woman first arose from this desperate, early struggle.
+
== The Event ==
 +
Witness accounts recorded at the time describe the sky burning green for hours before the impact. The object itself was not an ordinary meteor. Survivors spoke of unnatural auroras, strange magnetic phenomena, and visions of impossible things in the hours preceding disaster.
 +
 
 +
When the celestial body struck, it did not merely destroy—it transformed. The immediate blast vaporized Greenland and Iceland, sending shockwaves through the Earth’s crust and unleashing torrents of raw arcane energy into the atmosphere. 
 +
 
 +
Where the impact occurred, [[Shardisite]] emerged—crystalline, pale green, humming with chaotic power unlike any known material.
 +
 
 +
The oceans surged, mountains crumbled, and entire coastlines drowned. Magic flooded into the world like blood from a reopened wound.
 +
 
 +
== The Aftermath ==
 +
In the first days after the Strike, Earth became a storm-wracked wasteland. Fires rained from the skies. Emerald lightning split the heavens. The seas swallowed cities wholesale. Uncontrolled magic warped animals, plants, and even survivors into grotesque new forms.
 +
 
 +
Worst of all, the planet itself shifted violently. Earth’s rotation tilted nearly ninety degrees, repositioning the poles.
 +
- The Atlantic Ocean became the new '''North Sea'''. 
 +
- The Pacific Ocean became the vast '''Great South Sea'''. 
 +
- Former tropical regions plunged into permanent winter. 
 +
- Former polar regions warmed, and ancient ice sheets melted, flooding the world anew.
 +
 
 +
The [[Sea of Ghosts]]—a vast, cursed ocean covering the old Arctic—was born amid the ruins, concealing the original impact site beneath storms and shard-saturated waters.
 +
 
 +
== The Awakening of Magic ==
 +
Magic, once a myth, exploded into reality. In the wake of the Meteor Strike:
 +
- Spells manifested spontaneously among survivors.
 +
- [[Shardisite]] began to radiate chaotic magical fields, affecting minds, bodies, and landscapes.
 +
- New races emerged—elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, and others—mutations that stabilized slowly over centuries.
 +
- Divine forces awoke: [[Angels]] and [[Demons]] manifested in physical form, drawn by the raw emotional and magical upheaval of a broken world.
 +
 
 +
Belief itself became a catalyst for magic. Faith could now mold reality. Doubt could be lethal. Civilization struggled to adapt to a world where the impossible had become common.
 +
 
 +
== Long-Term Impact ==
 +
The legacy of the Magical Apocalypse defines every aspect of the world to this day:
 +
- Time is measured by the fall: '''[[Anno Meteorum (A.M.)]]'''.
 +
- The Earth's geography bears no resemblance to the Beforetimes.
 +
- Nations rose and fell around [[Shardisite]] mining and magical warfare.
 +
- Environmental collapse—pollution, mutation, magical disasters—became constants of daily life.
 +
- Technological innovation and arcane power grew intertwined, birthing the industrialized magic of the modern era.
 +
 
 +
Culturally, the old world is mythologized as the "Beforetimes," a lost age viewed with equal parts nostalgia and horror. Few reliable records remain.
  
 
== Speculative Accounts ==
 
== Speculative Accounts ==
−
Some scholars and arcane researchers believe the meteor was not natural at all. Arcane scholars and other magical institutions have speculated that it may have been a fragment of another world, possibly even another plane of existence. Those in religious circles claim it to possibly have been a divine punishment. Others argue that the meteor's timing aligned too precisely with the rise of pre-apocalyptic spiritual extremism.
+
The true nature of the object that struck Earth remains unknown.
  
−
While much about the meteor’s origin remains contested, its effects are undisputed: it ended one world and gave rise to another. Entire races, new forms of magic, and the metaphysical framework of both [[Angels | The Choir]] and [[Demons | The Legion]] can trace their origins to this singular, apocalyptic event.
+
Some scholars argue it was a fragment of another plane—a shard of a broken world or forgotten heaven. 
 +
Others claim it was a divine punishment for humanity’s pride, citing the rise of religious extremism in the late 19th century.
 +
Arcane researchers speculate that the object was an ancient artifact, a seed of chaos sent deliberately—or accidentally—across the void.
  
−
'''In certain shamanic traditions recorded by the surviving Lakota and Plains tribes, the meteor is not seen as a random occurrence but as the physical hand of Íŋyaŋ—the primordial stone spirit—breaking through the world's thin veil.''' These beliefs, though suppressed by rising industrial powers, continue to influence isolated communities who view Shardisite not merely as a resource, but as a fragment of creation itself.
+
While the origin remains hotly debated, the consequences are undeniable: the Magical Apocalypse shattered Earth’s physical, magical, and metaphysical order in a single, irreversible moment.
  
−
== Legacy ==
+
== Modern Legacy ==
−
Every calendar, religion, and civilization that rose from the ashes of the old world is marked by the Meteor Strike. It is referenced in sacred texts, scientific treatises, and common language alike. The world before the meteor is called simply "the Beforetimes" by most, a vague and mythologized echo of what was lost.
+
Every major religion, government, and magical institution traces its existence to the fallout of the Meteor Strike. It remains the defining wound of the world—unhealed, perhaps unhealable.
  
−
The crater itself—located beneath the [[Sea of Ghosts]] (formerly the arctic sea)—has never been documented. Expeditions sent there often vanish or return half-mad, if at all. As such, the truth of what lies at the epicenter remains one of the most powerful and dangerous secrets in the world of *Apocalyptica Arcanum*.
+
The [[Sea of Ghosts]] still hides the true crater beneath its cursed waters. The [[Maelstrom]]—a permanent magical storm—rages above it, preventing any direct exploration.
  
−
Notably, early naval explorers attempting to chart the [[Sea of Ghosts]] reported ghostly lights shimmering beneath the waters, storms of emerald rain, and monstrous sea creatures twisted by Shardisite's influence. At the heart of the Sea of Ghosts lies the '''Maelstrom''', a permanent, raging magical storm that has existed since the Meteor Strike itself. No vessel that has entered the Maelstrom has ever returned. Throughout history, rare instances have been recorded where the Maelstrom's chaotic edge reached the coastlines, unleashing devastating floods, magical phenomena, and widespread destruction on nearby settlements.
+
Scholars, priests, and sorcerers alike agree on only one truth: 
 +
> The world did not survive the Apocalypse.
 +
> It became something else.

Revision as of 03:48, 26 April 2025

The Magical Apocalypse

“The world ended on a Monday.”

Overview

Meteor impacts the Earth

The Magical Apocalypse refers to the cataclysmic impact of an unknown celestial body on January 18th, 1886—a single event that ended the old world and birthed the modern era of Apocalyptica Arcanum.

The object—later associated with the origin of Shardisite—obliterated multiple regions of the Earth and triggered a chain reaction of geographic, climatic, magical, and metaphysical upheaval. From this moment forward, time has been measured as Anno Meteorum (A.M.), beginning with the first full year after the fall.

No part of the world was untouched. Nations collapsed. Natural law fractured. Magic—once the subject of folklore—erupted into daily existence. Even the planet’s axis itself was torn askew, plunging the world into a new, unpredictable age.

The Event

Witness accounts recorded at the time describe the sky burning green for hours before the impact. The object itself was not an ordinary meteor. Survivors spoke of unnatural auroras, strange magnetic phenomena, and visions of impossible things in the hours preceding disaster.

When the celestial body struck, it did not merely destroy—it transformed. The immediate blast vaporized Greenland and Iceland, sending shockwaves through the Earth’s crust and unleashing torrents of raw arcane energy into the atmosphere.

Where the impact occurred, Shardisite emerged—crystalline, pale green, humming with chaotic power unlike any known material.

The oceans surged, mountains crumbled, and entire coastlines drowned. Magic flooded into the world like blood from a reopened wound.

The Aftermath

In the first days after the Strike, Earth became a storm-wracked wasteland. Fires rained from the skies. Emerald lightning split the heavens. The seas swallowed cities wholesale. Uncontrolled magic warped animals, plants, and even survivors into grotesque new forms.

Worst of all, the planet itself shifted violently. Earth’s rotation tilted nearly ninety degrees, repositioning the poles. - The Atlantic Ocean became the new North Sea. - The Pacific Ocean became the vast Great South Sea. - Former tropical regions plunged into permanent winter. - Former polar regions warmed, and ancient ice sheets melted, flooding the world anew.

The Sea of Ghosts—a vast, cursed ocean covering the old Arctic—was born amid the ruins, concealing the original impact site beneath storms and shard-saturated waters.

The Awakening of Magic

Magic, once a myth, exploded into reality. In the wake of the Meteor Strike: - Spells manifested spontaneously among survivors. - Shardisite began to radiate chaotic magical fields, affecting minds, bodies, and landscapes. - New races emerged—elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, and others—mutations that stabilized slowly over centuries. - Divine forces awoke: Angels and Demons manifested in physical form, drawn by the raw emotional and magical upheaval of a broken world.

Belief itself became a catalyst for magic. Faith could now mold reality. Doubt could be lethal. Civilization struggled to adapt to a world where the impossible had become common.

Long-Term Impact

The legacy of the Magical Apocalypse defines every aspect of the world to this day: - Time is measured by the fall: Anno Meteorum (A.M.). - The Earth's geography bears no resemblance to the Beforetimes. - Nations rose and fell around Shardisite mining and magical warfare. - Environmental collapse—pollution, mutation, magical disasters—became constants of daily life. - Technological innovation and arcane power grew intertwined, birthing the industrialized magic of the modern era.

Culturally, the old world is mythologized as the "Beforetimes," a lost age viewed with equal parts nostalgia and horror. Few reliable records remain.

Speculative Accounts

The true nature of the object that struck Earth remains unknown.

Some scholars argue it was a fragment of another plane—a shard of a broken world or forgotten heaven. Others claim it was a divine punishment for humanity’s pride, citing the rise of religious extremism in the late 19th century. Arcane researchers speculate that the object was an ancient artifact, a seed of chaos sent deliberately—or accidentally—across the void.

While the origin remains hotly debated, the consequences are undeniable: the Magical Apocalypse shattered Earth’s physical, magical, and metaphysical order in a single, irreversible moment.

Modern Legacy

Every major religion, government, and magical institution traces its existence to the fallout of the Meteor Strike. It remains the defining wound of the world—unhealed, perhaps unhealable.

The Sea of Ghosts still hides the true crater beneath its cursed waters. The Maelstrom—a permanent magical storm—rages above it, preventing any direct exploration.

Scholars, priests, and sorcerers alike agree on only one truth: > The world did not survive the Apocalypse. > It became something else.

Retrieved from "https://apocalypticaarcanum.com/index.php?title=The_Magical_Apocalypse&oldid=826"