A period of great change, the world was in upheaval with the fall of the former Empire. According to the official Imperial records, in Imperial Year 119, the fleets of Arwen and Zastava, led by the traitor, K. F. Craymen, attempted a coup of the throne.

After wiping out all the satellite regions of the Empire, Craymen and his men activated the ruins near Lake Ul in the northeast section of the Continent. Consequently, a great many bio-engineered creatures emerged from the ruins and ran rampant, causing further damage to the Empire’s remote cities and regions.

It is said that the Seventh Emperor himself, deeply affected by the death of many of his subjects, rose to challenge the ancient ruins by using the power of the imperial fortress, Grig Orig. His Majesty sacrificed his own life to eradicate the foul creatures that resided within the ruins, and even disabled many of the surrounding ancient ruins with his valor.

To honor this heroic act, the present Empire has declared an annual “Guardian Festival” in which all subjects of the Empire are required to fast for the full four days and four nights of the festival. Over the next decade following the destruction of the ancient ruins, the Continent’s topography and climate began to change radically.

Cartographers had much difficulty keeping up with the ever-changing landscape, and maps were constantly being rewritten.

Floods caused by the melting of the polar regions resulted in large areas of land being swallowed by water, earthquakes created vast canyons and gave birth to new mountains, and the difference in temperature between the various regions of the land grew further and further apart.

Various studies show that the total human population of the Continent deceased to less than half of its former glory during this period of turbulence. Modern historians have dubbed this era “the Great Fall.”

The immense tragedies that befell the Empire have been engraved into the minds of the people, and is generally regarded as the time of greatest turmoil that man has ever known since the fall of the Ancient Age.

Still, in this era of upheaval, reports of attacks by bio-engineered creatures gradually decreased, and the world appears to be recovering from the Great Fall. Scholars claim that the ancient ruins themselves played some role in maintaining the world’s climate and ecosystem.

By destroying a great portion of them, the world’s delicate balance was skewed, and chaos ensued. Moreover, due to the fact that Craymen was a member of the Imperial Academy at the time of his rebellion, the Academy regards this fact with great shame, and has abolished the position of “Examiner,” which was the rank that Craymen held, as well as the act of appointing Academy officers from among commoners.