Theomagical ritual gone out of control, reduced Nhased to a cursed wasteland
1850
In Nhased, the Voice of the One, desperate to end the sectarian war between the Voicers and Gilraidists, began a complex and powerful piece of ritual magic, the Ritual of Flaying. The spell was targeted on the largest concentration of Gilraidist troops, somewhere in the Brinnon region of Nhased. It took him a year to complete and when released, inflicted unbelievable amounts of damage to both land and life. The effects were far in excess of what was intended; shockwaves rippled out from the original target for nearly two hundred miles, exterminating all life and reducing the countryside to a magically poisoned wasteland.
Technically, this won the war for the Voicers, but their country was effectively destroyed. Over half the population of Nhased was killed in one day. Karsten and Lanirkos were both ruined and the Cathederal of the One, centre of their faith, was destroyed and inaccessible. The Voice was not seen again after the Flaying, and it is supposed that he was destroyed by his own apocalypse.
The damage of the Ritual of Flaying extended over the eastern border and engulfed most of the war zone between Nhased and the Erlyid Empire, destroying ninety percent of the fighting capability of both nations in one stroke. A big slice of the Asedor Forest was also destroyed, displacing many wild elves and centaurs, some of whom fled north into the rest of Alair, especially Belamir.