Age of Darkness

For the Imperial Calendar analogue to the Age of Darkness, see the Age of Ashes.

For a complete list of year articles within the Age of Darkness, see Category:Age of Darkness.

The Age of Darkness was a thousand-year period in which the sun's light was blocked by the ash knocked into the atmosphere by the meteoric impacts of Earthfall. It began with the impact of the Starstone in -5293 AR and lasted until the sun's light had been restored, roughly in -4294 AR. During the Age of Darkness, all major civilizations across Golarion were destroyed, ushering in a time of anarchy and destruction.

Fall of empires

The thousand-year darkness that blanketed Golarion destroyed the remnants of most of the existing civilizations that had risen during the Age of Legend, including the human empires of Azlant and Thassilon, and the already fading cyclops culture of Ghol-Gan.

Emergence of races

The orcs emerged en masse on the surface from their Darklands homes around -5102 AR, fleeing the dwarves pressing up during their Quest for Sky. The darkness also beckoned to the wayang from the Plane of Shadow, who began immigrating to the continent of Tian Xia during this time.

Return of Zon-Kuthon

The god Abadar had banished Zon-Kuthon to the Plane of Shadow long ago, not wishing to destroy him completely, but had created a loophole: Zon-Kuthon's exile would last "as long as the sun hung in the sky". The dark god took the darkness on Golarion as the fulfillment of this agreement and returned from exile to wreak more misery on the world.