Epilogue: The Vanishing
Unlike what was told later, the island nation of Baylon did not sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Nor were there any vengeful gods creating storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, huge waves, or impressive arrays of lightning. In reality, it was a fairly non-dramatic event.
The air shimmered with power as if the Northern Lights had suddenly moved to the equator, as the huge island slowly, but surely, faded out of existence, showing ocean, where there had been land before.
There was a flash of light running from horizon to horizon, for a brief moment bathing the ocean in the colours of the rainbow, before disappearing again, along with the island.
While the event itself was undramatic, the consequences for the rest of the world were not, ultimately resulting in what was later known as 'the Late Bronze Age collapse.'
With the loss of the great island in the middle of the Atlantic, weather patterns changed, causing draughts where none had been before, creating strife and unrest, as the weather in the Mediterranean turned drier, causing crops to fail and forests to disappear.
The human population of Baylon, mostly former slaves, had been transported off the island before it disappeared, either by boat or magical gates, and the influx of these refugees to already settled land forced others to move. Often towards other already settled areas, creating wars over land, food and other resources.
That was made worse by the cursed swords of the Pulcher family, that the Securitas Eterna had been unable to locate. Wielded by petty kings with Baylon blood, the curse caused thousands of people to rally to the new rulers, as they took their people to war, promising new land and riches.
As planned by the Pulcher family, their timing was perfect.
With the disappearance of the largest node of magical energy on the planet, human magic had stopped working, and empires and nations depending on their priests, magicians, and sorceresses to protect them were suddenly woundable. Especially the coastal nations, whose shores wasn't easily defended, struggled as warlords, old enemies, raiders and migrating tribes, fell over them like predators on a weakened and bleeding prey.
Within half a century, the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Kassites in Babylonia, the Hittite Empire, the Ugarit, and the Amorite states in the Levant had disappeared, as almost every major city in the eastern Mediterranean world were violently destroyed, including Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. Some were rebuilt in the following centuries, while other were abandoned forever.
Only Egypt, Assyria and Elam successfully resisted the attacks, and all were seriously weakened.
With most of the old empires gone or weakened, trade stopped and with it, access to the tin required to make bronze. Instead, people started to use iron, which was harder to work, but could be mined locally.
The Age of Bronze was over, throwing the world into a dark age, lasting centuries.
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Baylon became myth, slowly fading away into obscurity, as the island was renamed to Atlantis, when Solon the Greek mistook the islands' location for its name when translating an Egyptian scroll. A mistake that was replicated when Plato used the name for the island in later works.
