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[[File:Earthfall.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[Thassilon]]ians witness Earthfall.]]

'''Earthfall''' is the name given to the cataclysmic event in which of a swarm of [[meteoroid]]s impacted [[Golarion]] in [[-5293 AR]].<ref name="EG-3">{{Cite book/Elves of Golarion|3}}</ref> It resulted in the destruction of the [[human]] empires of [[Thassilon]] and [[Azlant]], which were consumed by earthquakes and massive tidal waves, and the creation of the [[Inner Sea]]. The cloud of dust thrown up by the ''[[Starstone|Starstone's]]'' impact settled in Golarion's upper atmosphere and blotted out the [[sun]] for 1,000 years, creating the [[Age of Darkness]].<ref name="Gaz23">{{Cite book/Gazetteer|19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book/Inner Sea Primer|3}}</ref>

== Origins ==

The Azlanti empire was the first known human civilization on the face of Golarion. Raised from barbarism by the alien [[alghollthu master]]s during the [[Age of Legend]], the [[Azlanti (human ethnicity)|Azlanti]] eventually developed advanced [[technology]], [[magic]], and civilization, the likes of which have not been seen on Golarion since. But this advancement caused the Azlanti people to become arrogant and proud, and they no longer felt the need to obey and respect their inhuman benefactors.<ref name="PF13-7">{{Cite book/Shadow in the Sky|7}}</ref> This angered the alghollthus, and in retribution they used their magic to call down an ancient, [[poison]]ous remnant of an unborn [[planet]] to destroy all life on the surface of Golarion.<ref name="MR-16">{{Cite book/Mythic Realms|16}}</ref>

Luckily, the Azlanti were not without their protectors. When [[Acavna]], their [[god]]dess of the [[moon]] and battle, learned of the alghollthus' plan, she pulled Golarion's [[Moon (Golarion)|moon]] from its orbit to intercept the massive meteoroid. The impact with the moon shattered the world-killing projectile into thousands of pieces, but did not slow or deflect it from its course. Instead, its shards inflicted lethal wounds on the goddess's physical manifestation. Distraught by her death, the Azlanti god of magic, [[Amaznen]], sacrificed himself to render the remaining deadly alghollthu magic clinging to the meteor fragments inert, transforming it from a world-killer into one that, while still incredibly destructive, gave life on Golarion a chance to survive.<ref name="MR-16"/> 

When the fragments impacted on Golarion, they completely obliterated the continent of Azlant and plunged the world into the Age of Darkness,<ref name="PF13-7"/><ref name="ISWG-33">{{Cite book/The Inner Sea World Guide|33}}</ref> but thanks to Acavna and Amaznen they did not destroy all life on the planet.<ref name="MR-16"/>

== Consequences ==

The destruction of the human empires of Azlant and Thassilon are the best-known, but by no means only, effects of Earthfall. Many other major events occurred due to this cataclysmic event.

=== Reset in technological and magical advancement ===

Before Earthfall, the Azlanti had achieved [[technological]] and [[magic]]al breakthroughs unequaled even in the present day. Earthfall brought all of this to an end, in effect resetting these developments back thousands of years.<ref name="ISWG-256">{{cite book/The Inner Sea World Guide|256}}</ref>

=== Formation of the Inner Sea ===

Before the impact of the ''Starstone'', the continents of [[Avistan]] and [[Garund]] were connected by a land bridge found where the [[Arch of Aroden]] is located today. That land bridge collapsed because the tremendous earthquakes brought on by Earthfall, and water from the [[Arcadian Ocean]] flowed eastward through the gap to form the Inner Sea.<ref>{{Cite book/The Inner Sea World Guide|32}}</ref> A smaller meteor is said to have fallen further east, where its impact created [[Star Bay]] between what are now the nations of [[Taldor]] and [[Andoran]].<ref>{{Cite book/Taldor, Echoes of Glory|rear inside cover}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book/Taldor, Echoes of Glory|7}}</ref>

=== Flight of the elves ===

Having been forewarned of the coming disaster by their agents in the settlement of [[Mordant Spire]], most of the [[elf|elves]] of Golarion fled through a magical [[portal]] to the mysterious realm of [[Sovyrian]] and would not return for several millennia.<ref name="EG-3"/><ref>{{Cite book/A Memory of Darkness|7}}</ref> Some elves refused to leave, however, deciding to take shelter in the [[Darklands]] below the surface. Although this saved them from the worst destruction of the impact, these elves found other dangers lurking in the dark tunnels below. Forced into making contracts with [[demon]]ic forces to survive the hostile environment, they eventually transformed into the [[evil]] [[drow]].<ref>{{Cite book/The Armageddon Echo|54}}</ref>

=== Destruction of the alghollthu empire ===

Even though they had brought about the event, Earthfall had unintended consequences for the alghollthus that they hadn't foreseen. They miscalculated the level of devastation the impact would cause, and the mighty earthquakes that followed also sent their own civilization into decline.<ref name="PF13-7"/>

=== Earthquakes in the Darklands ===

Earthfall also had an effect on the underground Darklands. The [[dwarf|dwarves]] of that time were still a subterranean race, living in the realm of [[Nar-Voth]] in constant conflict with the neighboring [[orc]]s. The earthquakes caused by the ''Starstone's'' impact were seen as a sign by the dwarves, who began their [[Quest for Sky]] and unwittingly drove the orcs before them to the surface.<ref>{{Cite book/Into the Darklands|18-19}}</ref>

=== Retreat of the Kellids ===

The [[Kellid]] tribes that spanned northern [[Avistan]] retreated into caves after Earthfall, and while they faced orcs and other underground horrors, they fared better than most survivors due to their strength and resiliency. Kellids began emerging only 240 years after Earthfall, around [[-5051 AR]], when the Quest for Sky flushed the Kellids from their caves and back onto the surface.<ref name="NLoFS-3">{{Cite book/Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars|3}}</ref>

=== Doom of the cyclopes ===

The destruction of Earthfall also caused the doom of the [[cyclops]] empire of [[Ghol-Gan]] on the western coast of Garund.<ref>{{Cite book/The Varnhold Vanishing|7}}</ref>

=== Coming of the Star Seed ===

Among the detritus plucked out of space was a comet containing the remnant of the trapped [[Great Old One]], [[Xhamen-Dor]], unwittingly brought to Golarion by the alghollthus' ritual. The sentient infestation came to rest at the bottom of an unknown lake somewhere on Golarion's surface. Xhamen-Dor awakened after impact and has slowly infected the world in the millennia since.<ref>{{Cite book/Wake of the Watcher|66}}</ref> 

=== The ''Starstone'' ===

{{Main|Starstone}}

Over 5,000 years after the destruction of Earthfall, [[Aroden]]&mdash;then still a [[mortal]]&mdash;was called to the Inner Sea where the heart of the ancient alghollthu weapon still lay. It erupted from the waves as an entire massive island topped by a unique gem made of celestial materials, alghollthu magic, the blood of the goddess Acavna, and the scar tissue of the planet itself: the ''[[Starstone]]''. Aroden used his magic to keep it from ever being misused again. In response, the gods elevated him to become one of them, and the ''Starstone'' has served as a [[Test of the Starstone|vehicle to attain divinity]] ever since.<ref name="MR-16"/>

== References ==

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[[Category:Age of Darkness]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Azlant/History]]
[[Category:Thassilon/History]]
[[Category:Darklands/History]]
[[Category:Alghollthu/History]]
[[Category:Cyclops/History]]
[[Category:Elf/History]]
[[Category:Orc/History]]
[[Category:Dwarf/History]]
[[Category:Kellid/History]]