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.

The consequences of that catastrophic event were not isolated to the locale of the planet around which the two moons, Felucca and Trammel, orbited. As the Titan Sequanna informs Aren:

“We lived in a place far beyond your shattered moon, beyond your stars and sky.” “The civilization of our world was great and produced many marvelous and powerful devices,” Grannus said, “but in the end, even those marvels could not save us from the Fall.” “The Fall?” Aren shook his head, trying to understand. “I thought you said your lands were far away. The Fall was here.” “The Fall was not in your world alone; it came to many places and many worlds … in some far worse than others,” said Sequana, her face troubled.

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 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.
 * On the planet Earth, the happened on September 2, 1997 @midnight UTC.
 * Britannia had two moons: Trammel and Felucca.