The Fourth Tide

In the collapse of the Spires, and the upheaval that followed, much is lost. Knowledge and power and...trust. Magic that isn't inherent or natural or deific in nature now has a taint of something dangerous attached to it, and anything with that taint for many, many centuries is considered anathema. This birth was the hardest yet, and took many cycles longer than in the past.

And in that time of weakness, many took advantage. The Unknown briefly rose to power, spreading rapidly across many coastlines and flooding into the ocean to pillage and claim territory deep into the Brightwaters. The Sahuagin took advantage of the chaos and confusion to attempt to grab land for themselves, and while they did not do with the power or numbers they once had it was enough to keep everyone else from being able to band together against the rising threats. But those who suffered the most were the Locathah. 

Captured by the hundreds and thousands, they became slaves to their cruel overlords. Treated as chattel and bought and sold in marketplaces, the beloved creation of @Eadro languished and struggled but could not break free. 

The chaos spilled out into open war. Armies were raised, alliances made, and finally, finally the Grung were driven back to shore and the Sahuagin were forced back into hiding and the Locathah...remained slaves. 

They were treated more kindly now, their new overlords assured themselves, but if they were actually people they would not have been captured in the first place. After all, even though the other 'civilized' races have come under attack before, they have never been so thorough subjugated by another. Clearly this is a "people" meant to be led, to be owned and shepherded for the good of all. Perhaps that was what Eadro meant all along for his creation!

...it was not.

With the use of the Locathah to build and work and give their labor and goods to their masters for free, the other races flourished. An empire rose, unlike any made before, built upon the backs of those who could not speak up for themselves. Some questioned their position, but never with any real intention of setting them free. 

Eadro did not accept this. He raised, within their ranks, a Champion. One meant to lead his people to freedom, and he did. And he did so with the help of the other 'uncivilized' races. The ones who did not build or conquer and were relegated to the outskirts of all else. The Unknown, the Sea Were-folk, and the Unknown joined their brothers and sister, and fought. It was a long and bloody war, with heavily sown seeds of hatred and distrust on both sides. 

In the end, there was no decisive victory. No one knows what triggered the Collapse, only that it was triggered and again thousands died. Progress was lost. From the rubble and ruin those who survived lost their taste for blood, and it was only by working together that any survived at all. 

The actual end of this era is unknown as there is roughly a century where the true ability to keep track of the passing of time was lost. Within Unknown, the Keepers of Memory declared the start of a new Tide, and with it began the keeping of years anew.