The Great Plague

The Great Plague was a tragedy that fell upon the continent of Algenon. Human civilizations have no record of what caused or happened during the outbreak, some scholars even consider the name a misnomer as they believe it might not have actually been a disease. This is a hotly debated issue among scholarly circles, leading some to instead call it the "Folly of Man" as they believe it was a self caused affliction, or maybe a consequence of directly flying in the face of the gods.

While human civilizations have no records of the catastrophe, both Elven and Dwarvish texts refer to the incident in some detail. The Dwarven literature states simply that the plague was what first caused their settlements to close their great gates for the first time, leaving them shut for centuries and blocking out contact with human beings. Elvish texts state much of the same, outright making the claim that this is what made them see humans as barbarians for the first time.

"The Plague is called a disease by mankind. In reality, the plague showed man to be the true disease ravaging the continent. The dwarves were exceedingly bright to seal themselves away, we would have been smart to follow their example" - Helien, Elvish Mystic, dated 10 AP

What is known about the plague, is that it nearly fully wiped out human civilization. Stories of the time before the plague of massive, sprawling cities and numerous towns that no longer exist on the continent. While they could be considered nothing but stories, ruins and strange monuments still dot the landscape, adding some form of legitimacy to their claims. Some Houses of Algenon claim to be directly created to combat the plague, leading some to seek lands and homes that they say were actually theirs before the downfall.