Eruption of Ecba

First Appearance and Context

An in‑world reference entry describes a survivor from the Halls of Orithena who lived through the eruption of Ecba. In a public exhibit along the Hylaean Way, a ceiling fresco depicts the eruption together with the destruction of that site. A separate headword for Metekoranes in The Dictionary (4th Edition) explicitly calls it “the eruption that destroyed Orithena,” noting that he was buried under volcanic ash.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

The eruption functions in histories as a marker event linked to the ruin of the Halls of Orithena and the ensuing dispersal of surviving theors later remembered as the Peregrination (post‑fall wandering). The accounts cited do not provide mechanics, exact timing, or causes beyond identifying it as a catastrophic volcanic event.

Recent eyewitness accounts

Later reports describe crowds gathering on a neighboring island’s beach to watch an ongoing eruption at Ecba. Evacuees including avout (monastic scholars) were flown in by aerocraft and sheltered in a tented encampment informally called “New Orithena,” after authorities from the Sæcular Power (worldly authority) cordoned the area, imposed decontamination procedures, and conducted interviews and biometric checks. Observers describe the sky and landscape as veiled in haze—smoke, steam, or dust—creating a “day without dawn.”

Causes and interpretations

Within the presented materials, the eruption’s exact mechanism remains unsettled. One speaker uses the verb “rod” for a kinetic strike, and the narrator infers this refers to a projectile that “blasted Ecba.” Others simply describe the event as a volcanic eruption. This entry preserves that ambiguity pending further in‑world clarification.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Described as burying Orithena under deep volcanic ash; subsequent excavation uncovers foundations, plazas, and ceremonial floors.
• Excavators report casts in the ash of human bodies, including one believed to be Metekoranes.
• On‑site materials indicate that volcanic ash is fused into cast blocks for walls and shoring, reflecting the abundance of ash left by the event.
• During later activity, witnesses report persistent haze and difficult visibility across the region.

Relationships

• Ecba — named source and locus of the eruption.
• Halls of Orithena — destroyed in conjunction with the eruption in later presentations.
• Temple of Orithena — structure buried by ash; current excavations have exposed floors and plazas of the complex.
• Metekoranes — ancient theor reputed to have died during the event; site materials describe a full‑body cast in ash matching his traditional posture on the Decagon.

Current Status

Ongoing significance. Historically, the event is treated as completed in the destruction of Orithena. More recently, active eruptive behavior at or near Ecba has been observed from neighboring shores under Sæcular supervision. The connection (if any) between present manifestations and the historical catastrophe has not been established in the available accounts.