The text below is to be considered IC knowledge, it would be readily available in the city's library and word of mouth from people who lived through these events. It describes overall the events from the pirate attack on Lismore to the inauguration of the new city. Faction leaders are welcome to post their individual accounts of what their groups were doing during this period of time. If you have any questions, ask in a post and it shall be answered!
In the day 300 of the 20th year of the Second Age of Lismore, pirates lead by the pirate lord Collie attacked the island. During the battle, somehow the tass (crystalline forms of mana) present in abundance at the Zenko grounds was detonated, causing an unfathomable explosion that rocked the whole island and turned the ground in the Zenko upside-down inside-out. For many weeks, chunks of rocks and dirt and whole pieces of the terrain floated in mid air over the Zenko, levitating due to the extremely high amounts of raw magical forces the explosion unleashed. The entire area of the Zenko was irradiated with free floating mana, which made even those who need to consume or be in the presence of mana to survive uncomfortable in the area, and it made anyone without magical abilities extremely ill. It's unknown how many died due to the explosion, and how many succumbed to mana poisoning.
The explosion wrecked what the pirates hadn't already destroyed of the City of Lismore, and at some point, fire spread through the woods, reaching as far as the Tirrenelda' Temple, burning it to the ground. The whole island was devastated by pirates, fire, and magical explosions! The pirates suffered such heavy casualties that they were forced to abandon any further plans of conquest on the island. Lucian, lord of Lismore at the time of the attack, commanded a great force of mercenaries, most of which were also killed during the explosion. Lucian himself was last seen in the midst of battle, some accounts tell of him sacrificing himself in an attempt to save the city.
A vast majority of the population sought refuge in the Caves, and Xela of Phoenix set a camp and defenses in the Phoenix Castle deep in the Caves. There the refugees endured until the external threats had run their course. Emerging from the Caves, the survivors encountered a devastated landscape, and rebuild efforts began.
While the former buildings lay in ruins, the abundance of high-quality stone and building materials from both the city and the Zenko made rebuilding civilization a relatively easy task. Magic users flocked to the Zenko grounds and absorbed and put to use the formidable amounts of magic heavy in the air, helping not only cleanse the area but rebuild the city as well.
When the free floating mana in the Zenko was exhausted, a terrifying fact came to light: The mana well which once saturated the Zenko to the point of excess had nearly completely dried out. Some areas still possessed high concentrations of mana crystallizing into tass and some organic forms still occurred in some plants, and a new form of mana, a liquid form was discovered. Rune the ringtail called this liquid mana vistus, and its properties are still being studied.
No longer huge tass crystals grow from the earth everywhere in what used to be the Zenko, so a refinery was built in a cave where the mana was most abundant, to gather and process the now scarce tass and vistus. Due to the shortage of tass, many manabeasts have starved to death. Such has also prompted shady forms of obtaining the tass they need for their survival, from overpriced bunches of mana-poisoned plants being sold in back alley deals, to rumors of exploitation and enslavement of individuals able to produce tass as part of their natural processes.
The Zenko explosion also created abundant varieties of wildlife manabeasts, from mana-corrupted deer, wolves, rabbits, to mana-corrupted wild flowers and the fearsome manabees, which reportedly can induce mana poisoning if they sting another being.
The Tirrenelda' Temple ruins in the forest were abandoned. Investigation indicated that during the attack in the island, forces from the Desert must somehow have infiltrated Lismore during the chaos, and enacted dark rituals in the location where the mighty tree of life once grew. It's not known yet to what extent the tree was corrupted or what its future holds, but due to the darkness now in there and the new threat of wild manabeasts roaming the forests, the Temple priests moved the tribe behind city walls where a new temple was built! Danath from the Temple announced that a high priestess from another tribe would come to Lismore, to help the tribe and the island as a whole in its recovery, and an acorn from the tree of life collected by Anayu before its corruption was planted and from it sprouted a new tree of life, which the Temple priests now nurture.
The Temple and the Zenko were incorporated into the new city of Lismore. Relina maintained leadership of the Zenko and its facilities, but now instead of separate factions, Lismore is ruled by a council of three lords: Relina Lady of the Zenko, the Temple's High Priest, and the Lord of the City. The Zenko provides military force that defends Lismore as an unified nation now. With the fall of Lord Lucian, his second-in-command, Xian and a group of supporters installed Lord Ashtyn's son Jakarta in the throne of the city.
The council members hold absolute power over their own individual groups, but share the power in matters that concern the island as a whole.
A citadel was built as part of the new city layout, where the new Temple and the Zenko Castle were rebuilt, and a tall tower was built to house the seat of power of Lismore.
The Desert Portal was lost during the chaos of the Zenko explosion and the rebuild efforts. It's not yet known what happened to it, some theorize that the explosion was sufficient to dispel the portal, some suggest that without the abundant Zenko mana well to power it up, the portal simply fizzled and ceased to be. Others however suggest it's still there somewhere, in the ruins of old Lismore, deep underground.
After two years of hard work, Lismore was rebuilt! The new city is now surrounded by fortified walls, its leadership having sworn never to let an event such as the pirate attack happen again. Catapults and ballistas were installed atop the city walls to provide long-range defense for the city, and while the Zenko no longer can afford the excessive use of tass to power its mana cannons, they are still rumored to be ready to be used in case of emergencies.
Thus the Third Age of Lismore has begun! The new city was inaugurated on the 14th day of the Third Age, during the winter solstice (the Second Age lasted 20 years and 318 days).
