Hem Catastrophe

The Hem Catastrophe is a major catastrophic event that occurred approximately 4,500 years ago on Armasta which resulted in the destruction of all the world's major civilizations and the death of 99% of it's human population. It is not known how the catastrophe occurred or even the mechanism of it's occurrance. Most of the world's mythologies make mention of a major apocalyptic event coinciding with when the Hem Catastrophe is thought to have taken place.

Geographic Effects
The Hem Catastrophe had the following effects on the physical geography of the planet.


 * The unexplained desertification of most of the Ulanic continent west of the Meade Mountain Range by rendering it's soil incapable of supporting long term nucleogenics, rendering it sterile and unsuitable for agriculture. Agriculture is still possible in pockets of the continent where the contaminated soil has been eroded away by wind.


 * The sudden crustal collapse and innundation of the eastern portion of Opassa, creating the Gulf and the island of Maherland. The location where the coastal Maheric capital Kos now sits was once completely landlocked. It is believed this event created a tsunami several hundred meters high. The mechanism which caused this crustal collapse is not understood.

Theories
Many archeologic theories have been proposed to explain the cause of the Hem Catastrophe.
 * Asteroid or Meteor Impact - Although a likely cause of the collapse of the eastern Opassan tectonic plate, it does not explain the uniformity of the collapse or the seemingly isolated nature of the razing of the Ulanic Continent. There is also no evidence of atmosphic irradiation characteristic of asteroid or meteoric impacts. Furthermore, no impact crater of substantial size has been found that matches the time period.
 * Massive Tectonic Plate Shift - Explains the collapse of the eastern Opassan plate and it's uniformity, but not the razing of the Ulanic Continent.
 * Climate Change - May explain the razing of the Ulanic Continent, but not the collapse of the eastern Opassan plate.

Controversial Theories
The have been many controversial theories about the cause of the Hem Catastrophe. The most popular among many ancient technology theorists is that the civilizations of the Hem Period were significantly more advanced technologically than civilization is today, and it is this technology that caused the catastrophe.
 * Fusion or Antimatter Weapons - It has been theorized that beneath the fossilized ruins of Zeobium and Zokar there is hard evidence supporting flirtation with Antimatter reactors and weaponry. It is theorized that a global war with these weapons could have easily resulted in the oblideration of all the world's major civilization centers. Theoretically if these weapons were detonated below ground, they could have caused the collapse of the tectonic plates around Opassa and if detonated above the sites of Zeobium and Zokar, could have resulted in the radiolytic razing of the entire continent. However it is not known where this antimatter fuel would have come from.