Cycles

The Cycles are periods of time lasting many millennia, which are marked by the rise of high cultures and civilizations from previously insignificant tribes, and are set between two catastrophic events referred to as cataclysms. These cataclysms are seemingly natural phenomena, such as ice ages or the eruption of a supervolcano, that can affect Tarris globally and are devastating enough to bring about the fall of civilizations, but leave many ecosystems and tribal cultures in tact. During these events, the Red Sun is known to experience very violent flare eruptions and solar storms that can result in intense aurorae being visible even from equatorial regions.

The current Cycle has lasted for at least 11000 years now, although it has been disturbed by "minor cataclysms" several times, for example during an asteroid impact around 4000 BKF and during the Suntasian Wars in the years before Kurath's Fall. The previous Cycle was ended by a period of intense glaciation that rendered most of the continent Aviir a either frozen wasteland or an inhospitable tundra, with only the tropical regions retaining a moderate to warm climate.

The majority of the population, especially those holding on to one of the many religions, believe these events to be God(s)-given and supernatural in origin. Since the Red Sun is associated with Kriulith, Taarists believe that they are caused by Kriulith attempting to wake Taari and thus disturbing his dream. Some other religions look at these events as "punishments" for Mankind's sins. Scholars and scientists avoid using supernatural explanations for such events, considering them very strong natural disasters or at least as having natural causes.

Ancient texts indicate that these events are further accompanied by sights of strange, inexplicable beings, and Auniiri who have attempted to gaze back into these times report them to be much more chaotic and dreamlike, or rather nightmarish, than other events during this time. The reported beings range from ghostly humanoids and Elves, to fabled and legendary creatures like dragons and krakens, to bizarre entities whose bodies are constantly shifting and changing. These creatures, especially the latter, are associated with the mysterious Astral Gods by clandestine scholars of the arcane.