Cataclysm

was a catastrophic event within New Britannia history that forever altered the world of New Britannia.


 * Hundreds of years ago, advanced cultures thrived on Novia. But then the moons were shattered, which started a large celestial event that caused a global apocalypse. Civilization was destroyed, but not everyone was killed. Thanks to foresight, hardiness, or luck, a few people were able to ride out the catastrophe and rebuild in the chaos that followed. Long ago, we had two moons. But something terrible happened, about which I will not speculate, tearing one in half and destroying the other completely. The lunar rifts, linked to the lunar phases, were disrupted and went dormant. The moons remain devastated, but the lunar rifts are once again functional.

The term The Fall was used to describe this event around the age of the Obsidian Wars and earlier. In modern times the term Cataclysm is now used.

The consequences of that catastrophic event were not isolated to the locale of New Britannia.

Developer Quoted Lore

 * Among the truths you will learn is that much of our knowledge of the land of New Britannia is lost to the ages. The survivors of the Cataclysm four centuries past (at the time of this article) have settled in the land we call “Novia”, a large island which, while bearing the scars of that time, still harbors enough life to support our people. And others, as well… many of which you will meet on your travels.

Trivia

 * The now shattered moon of New Britannia is known as Daedalus. The names of the two previous moons of New Britannia are not known.
 * The Children of the Cataclysm believe this event only happened several hundred years ago.
 * On the planet Earth, the happened on September 2, 1997 @midnight UTC.
 * In the Ultima series Britannia had two moons: Trammel and Felucca.

Gallery

 * Moons colliding storyboard - Pen of the Avatar ~ 12.10.13