[Elescia -Lascaluna-] Lascaluna Disaster

[elescia]

Last update: 2015-04-19

Overview

Happened in Argol 23, 2376 SC, Lascaluna Disaster is a tragedy that killed almost ten thousand citizens of Kingdom of Magdella through a giant explosion originating from the valley of Lascaluna. The explosion caused a massive earthquake that spread through half of Aldasia continent and a giant fire that reduced the land of Lascaluna into ashes. The disaster caused the death of at least 7,000 citizens and a huge number of military personnel stationed in Lascaluna Defense Research Facility, as well as wiping three small towns in Lascaluna region off the map, namely Creda, Margi, and Lerdo. In addition, the fire also spread to the southern part of Belkout, damaging roughly 20% of the industrial city.

Official papers from the Royal Army reported a faulty experimental magecraft from the research facility as the cause of the explosion, although the truth has yet to be proven. An investigation was conducted for four months shortly after the incident by the authorities of the kingdom, although it was abruptly halted by the Royal Army with the aforementioned papers and has been left hanging since. This sudden termination raised suspicion among the citizens and authorities alike; however, with severe punishment awaiting not only anyone who dares to attempt continuing the investigation but also those who try to step their feet in the now heavily-restricted area, no conclusion has been reached regarding the incident since.

While it has been mostly remembered as nothing but another unfortunate tragedy befalling the kingdom in the present, Lascaluna Disaster somewhat remains a topic of interest for citizens and law enforcers alike. The true cause, as well as the exact number of the tragedy's survivors have spawned endless speculations, with various conspiracy theories circulating around the debates related to the incident. There are suspicions of development of mass-destruction weapons' development and illegal experiments on humans, but without solid evidence to prove, they remain as nothing but rumors to this day...

Prelude and Signs

The Lascaluna incident was not exactly unpredicted; at least twelve hours before the explosion occurred, various settlements located not far from the edge of Lascaluna Valley reported the sightings of massive animal migration at unnatural pace, in addition to abnormal readings recorded from the city of Belkout. Upon receiving the reports, the Reinforcers' Guild immediately issued evacuation order to the citizens inhabiting Lascaluna region, sending some of their Reinforcers to help.

What the citizens and Reinforcers' Guild did not expect, however, was the scale of destruction the disaster was about to cause. Despite the early warning and evacuation attempt, the explosion that appeared from the center of Lascaluna was completely unprecedented, and within hours after its occurrence a massive earthquake shook not only the area surrounding the valley, but over half of Aldasia continent as a whole. Worse, the valley's forest-dominant terrain caused the resulting fire to spread quickly, covering the entire valley in sea of flames in mere hours after its beginning.

As a result of the continent-wide earthquake, the mainland area of Magdella fell into chaos; the mass panic left the Reinforcers' Guild shorthanded in their attempts to both defuse the situation and to investigate the incident, and the destruction of the research facility became a major blow for the Royal Army. With the major communication systems were downed and the fire spreading through Lascaluna had not ceased, all attempts to investigate the incident and to rescue the potential survivors met significant delay, causing further discord.

Aftermath

While a large number of citizens were saved thanks to the Guild's immediate course of action, the evacuation attempt ultimately still ended in failure as more of the valley's citizens were caught in the destruction than the ones surviving, with 46 of the Reinforcers sent to help with the evacuation fell into casualties in the ensuing tragedy. In addition, the military took a major blow with at least two thousands of their personnel stationed in Lascaluna Defense Research Facility were caught in the explosion, as well as the facility itself being reduced to ashes. The entire area of Lascaluna has also been afflicted by aros corruption as a result, leaving the valley unsuitable for living for at least next 100 years.

Shortly afterwards, an investigation was conducted by the joint forces of the Royal Army and Reinforcers' Guild, but a certain finding by the Guild caused the investigation to be cut short after four months under the direct order of Crown Prince Faldier Elscrad. This abrupt halt caused the relationship between the Guild and the Royal Army to turn sour, with the rumors circulating afterwards causing huge popularity drop for both the Royal Army once again. The situation eventually died down after a while, but the distrust between the two authority bodies remains to this day.