Terrible Events

Overview

Terrible Events is a label for a world‑spanning catastrophe or turbulent span whose particulars are obscure. In mathic and lay usage it serves as a major divider between eras, commonly marking the end of the Praxic Age and the beginning of the reforms grouped under the Reconstitution. References frequently mention it alongside the Harbingers, emphasizing its role as a boundary rather than a described incident.

Preceding Context

  • Periodization: Accounts of late Praxic history routinely frame developments as occurring "before the Terrible Events." Speakers also use it as a rhetorical dividing line when summarizing the evolution of the Sæcular Power across ages.
  • Example of usage: Geographic and exploratory milestones are dated with this marker (e.g., achievements placed in “the last century before the Terrible Events”), illustrating its function as a chronological anchor.

What Happens

Available sources characterize it in dictionary‑style terms as a worldwide catastrophe with sparse records and contested details, often attributed to human causes. Specific triggers, duration, and sequence remain unspecified in the material presented so far.

Aftermath/Consequences

  • Boundary function: Treated as the hinge into the Reconstitution, after which rites, Discipline, and institutions are described in renewed forms.
  • Instructional usage: Period labels in teaching and reference place adjacent eras as the Rebirth, the Praxic Age, and the Terrible Events, with the exact particulars of the Terrible Events left deliberately vague in surviving accounts.
Summary:

A worldwide, poorly documented catastrophe or period of upheaval used as a major historical boundary; sources often ascribe human causes and treat it as the hinge between the Praxic Age and the Reconstitution.

Known as:
The Terrible Events