The Fall

The Fall of Astandalas was a magical cataclysm that destroyed the Empire of Astandalas. The magic holding together the Five Worlds of the empire broke, killing countless people and throwing all Nine Worlds into cataclysm.

Causes of the Fall
Causes of the Fall are suggested by multiple different books. It is likely that all of these contributed at least to some degree.
 * Till Human Voices Wake Us: Maugraian, a dark wizard, attempted a spell to summon the Eater of Worlds, which went awry after he was interrupted by his son Tavin and destroyed Astandalas.
 * Petty Treasons: The taboos only grew as strong as they were in Artorin Damara's time in the last twelve to fifteen generations of the Empire. In Empress Zangora IX's time, there were no actual effects to touching the Emperor. The magic on the Emperor increased as more lands were bound in, making the entire structure more complex, and, likely, fragile.
 * The Return of Fitzroy Angursell: The position of Marwn - the second, shadow heir of the Empire - was bound into the Empire as part of the Schooled Magic that made it up. When Artorin Damara, at eighteen, unbound himself from some of the magics binding him as the Marwn and then once Emperor refused to name another, he likely weakened these structures.

Zunidh
The Fall transported the Imperial Palace of Astandalas to the city of Solaara in Zunidh. Of the whole city of Astandalas, only those inside the palace itself at the time survived. As it was the night of the Silverheart Festival, most of the residents of the palace were attending various parties, particularly a large one hosted by the Prince of Katharmoon. Only around five to six hundred people of a palace that houses five thousand survived.

The cataclysms both physical and magical wracked the entire world of Zunidh for years, with even time itself not working properly. For some time, different areas aged at different rates. The Imperial Palace in Solaara had nearly 1000 years pass, while the Vangavaye-ve only had twenty-some years.

The magical cataclysms were calmed by Emperor Artorin Damara's establishment of a magical network of Lights connecting the world, and the political dissolution by Cliopher Mdang's work as a statesman, starting with the Littleridge Treaty, which established the basis of a new world government.

Alinor
On Alinor, the time immediately after the Fall is called the Interim. Neither magic nor time worked correctly, so its exact length is unknown. The Empire was gone and the Schooled magic that was ubiquitous as technology in many homes became ineffective or dangerously unpredicatable.

As a result, magic is looked down on in many places in Alinor, and is outright banned in Ghilousette.