The Sundering

The Sundering is a cataclysmic event that eliminated all life on Salus.

Origins

The exact origins of the Sundering are unknown but it is known that it is a combination of the disturbance of the crystals of the Divine and the War of the Heavens created some kind of ripple effect that vibrated throughout the entire planet of Salus.

Duration

The Sundering lasted only 2 years before its detrimental effects consumed all livable areas on the planet, seeming to slow down slightly before it completed its total genocide of the planet. It is said that initially the Sundering moved at a rate of 500,000 miles a day. The Sundering killed millions of people in its first week of existence eliminating 37 Taican people groups on the first day.

Effects

The Emigidian scientists that studied the initial waves of the Sundering were in the Sundering zone for less than 8 minutes before collapsing. Their bodies were eventually recovered by Animated Scouts, most of which were still mid-step as though they were unaware of the effects affecting them. Their skin was blackened and charred, despite wearing heat-resistant suits used to study the few active volcanoes on Salus, and their internal organs were in a similar state. It was though the scientists had been roasted alive but without any heat source.

The Sundering seemed to move in an even line, consuming all living material as it went. The zone that the initial wave of the Sundering passed over was left dry and cracked and was just as deadly as the initial wave.

Solutions

The second wave of Emigidian scientists instead placed sensor probes in the incoming path of the Sundering Zone. This allowed them to calculate the trajectory and speed of the zone and calculate the eventual safe zones that would remain. The Emigidians were unable to find a way to slow down or stop the Sundering Zone, especially without understanding its origins. Instead, they set to work researching a way to get off the world while there was still time and resources to do so. A plan was eventually developed to generate, what would come to be known as, a Jumpgate to evacuate the surviving Taicans and their Animated servants. The inventor, Kurt Rynth, worked tirelessly for a year and a half to develop the plans and eventually construct the Jumpgate. The gate worked but only long enough to send through a small group and resources before malfunctioning as the Sundering Zone encroached quickly on the Green, the last survivable zone on Salus. Rynth worked tirelessly to once again get the Jumpgate working, he was able to get it up and running long enough to send through the remaining refugees and a few supplies,mainly what they people carried themselves. The Jumpgate shorted out just as the last group of refugees entered the portal. The never made it through to Orsus, their fate is unknown, Rynth is presumed dead.