Sundering

The Sundering, was a cataclysmic event that occured on the planet Aeon some 90,000 BC, on the continent of Metis. It was caused by the largest supervolcanic eruption in 50 million years, and led to the utter destruction of Tazaea, the cradle of the Human species and the first kingdom. The University of Rhodeas has estimated that the total amount of material released in the eruption was about 4,200 km3 of ignimbrite that flowed over the ground, and approximately 1,500 km3 that fell as ash mostly to the west. The pyroclastic flows of the eruption destroyed an area of least 40,000 km2, with ash deposits as thick as 800 m by the main vent. Ice core samples from Entos, contained enormous quantities of sulphuric acid, dating back 90,000 BC. The event also caused a projected 50m high tsunami wave, which devastated the coast of Inachus and the island chains in Oceanus.

The eruption unquestionably caused severe climate change for Aeon, that lasted decades if not a century.

=Population Bottleneck=

By the time of the Sundering, primative peoples in the region were already creating more sophisticated tools to meet different needs. Evidence also exists of body adornment and symbolism, the very beginnings of art and creativity. At this time, many areas of Metis had been colonised by these early peoples, with the greatest density located in south-eastern Metis.

The Human population was reduced from 1,000,000 to an estimated 10,000 individuals which had been forced to migrate away from Metis as it had become a "poisoned realm" 1 due to the cataclysm. It would take centuries for the area to recover, and led to "The great flood" stories and myths in various cultures around Aeon. Very little is known about the cultures or peoples of Tazaea, having been lost in the eruption and subsequent submergence of great swathes of the first kingdom beneath the Sundering Sea.

=Tazaean Supervolcano Eruption=

The Tazaean Supervolcano was located on the boundary of the Metis and Menoetius tectonic plates. Sunder Bay is an enormous body of water, 120 miles long and 40 miles wide. It is the remnants of a caldera; a hole left behind after an eruption has blasted and enormous quantities of volcanic material into the atmosphere. Areas of the microplate of Tazaea were submerged, split or destroyed in the eruption, creating a shallow sea with a few islets and islands in its wake.

Over 3 billion tons of sulphuric materials were blown into the atmosphere, 40,000 km2 of Metis were subjected to pyroclastic flow, vapourising all forms of life in its path. A column of erupted materials was an estimated 60 miles high and would have dominated the horizon of south-eastern Metis. The resulting ash cloud would have covered an area of Metis and Lamos of no less than 2 Million square miles. The debris would have polluted the lands the prehistoric people's lived off, sterilising the earth and poisoning fresh water lakes and rivers. An estimated 6 inch deep ash layer would have covered many areas of Metis killing plant life and affecting the entire ecological chain.

=Tazaea= Main Article: Tazaea Historical records from The Great Library of Axoricia hint at a sizable Tazaean coastal capital, but its name and location remains a mystery. It is mentioned in the oldest parchments of "Historicus Timaeus" composed by Maesus Solon in 5,000 BC from the order Historiaes, although the parchments and forms of information it was transcribed from have since long been lost.

1 "Historicus Timaeus" - Volume One, Maesus Solon, 5,000BC, Scroll 26, P1 L14.