I thought I read somewhere that the drop in the level of magic at the end of the 4th world was all of sudden and not gradual because Thera built those Orichalcum Obelisks to stabalize the mana level. The OO's kept the mana at a certain level for a long time but when the drop came, it came early and hard catching everyone by suprise. That's why civilization fell so far.

Did I read this in a book (Novel or Source), did I see it on the forums, or was I smoking crack? Any help?

no clue. theran empire is one of the 4 books i don't have. hopefully, AH or HoV can help.

You know, we should probably get a new forum for all this.

And then we could name it for me, for being dumb enough to start this cycle...

Well IIRC, they used those three massive pillars of orichalcum to stop the world's mana levels from dropping, and general history has shown that messing with mother nature will usually get you bitch-slapped. Plus in the conversation between Infinity and Omega in Cybertech, they mention Atlantis/Thera going down in flames.

Could the balancing be why the Scourge is still somewhat going on?

The Scourge isn't going on. There are a few little baby Horrors around, that's all.

Well, and Ysrthgrthe. I think that's the only big name Horror that's doin' his thing at this point. Was it ever explained how he got to stick around?

The fact that he's become overly human (for a Horror) might have something to do with it.

~J

I don't remember where I saw it, but I saw this information too. However, there is an official piece of information that contradicts this. In "Humans and the cycle of magic", which is credited to Jordan Weisman.

"As the last age of magic came to a close, Atlantis was readying itself for disaster. [...] As the end came near, a migration of technology and culture spread from the isle to the rest of the world."

If the fall was sudden, they wouldn't have been prepared.

The date of the downfall is given in the text:
"Atlantis [Thera] sank on August 12, 3113 BC, thus marking the end of the Fourth World and the beginning of the Fifth."

The general idea was that the Theran Heavenherds had artifically kept the mana level world-wide at a certain level. Low enough for most of the more powerful Horrors to be unable to manifest, high enough for useful magic.

The idea is that at some time, this failed...explosively. It has been hinted that this is due to massive blood magic use, or when the natural magic level of the world was supposed to have dropped from Upcycle to Downcycle, but Lou once said Verjigorm attacked.

Either way, something resembling a massive volcanic blast sunk Thera.

holy sheep balls, verjigorm attacked???

whoo hoo i like the sounds of that.

any place that can be found or was it one of those discussions in the dark booth near the back?

Horrors need a certain environment to enter, but can maintain themselves at a lower environment.

If Immortal elves could somehow survive the mana downturn, other magically active critters might have found similar measures to ensure their existence.

-Siege

Spirits, yes. Horrors? Only the Named ones, if at all.

Well, since Thera had a dome made of elemental fire and air held just apart with ritual magic, if the ritual dropped before the elemental material vanished, then the whole place would have blown up. Hence, volcanic blast, maybe?

That was part of the Scourge defenses (though I don't know if the two were layered or woven together). It's possible, if the dome was reactivated.