The great destruction refers to the apocalyptic finale to the Magic War.  The spell was meant to end all conflict by a massive intimidating destruction.  Unfortunately, it could not be controlled and resulted by setting off everyone's prepared defenses and offensive spells already prepared, causing world wide disaster.  The magic backlash not only incurred massive damages which destroyed major cities and incited a global climate shift through the residual clouds of toxic matter, but it also served to deplete the ambient magical energies of the planet.  Large spells could no longer be cast, and it is still debated whether the magic levels have recovered to the levels that they were used at near the end of the Magic War.

Much of the technology was set back a few hundred years. Much information was retained in the Grand Library, but it was not made readily accessible to the outside worlds. Those that carried special knowledge were emissaries of the Great Library and travelled out into the world, spreading the agreements decided upon by the world leaders at the great summit at the pole (during the war).

The great destruction is a great start for postapocalyptic adventures.  Those in cities have to escape the chaos and destruction and find a way to sustain themselves while rebuilding the infrastructure of the entire world.

My Great Grandfather said it went like this:

Many of the major cities burst into flames, millions of innocents claimed in screaming infernos and crashing debris.  those that did not fall were claimed to panic and chaos, the only way to survive the cities was to flee out into the surrounding wilderness to escape the new wave of raiders and savages.  There were only 3 major centres that survived the fall, their leaders quickly rallied the people to work together and not give into the petty differences the world was caught up in.

Those that fled into the wilderness had to stake out claims in ever increasingly hostile territory, even the animal tribes were erratic and dangerous in these times.  the weather was inconsistent, the threats constant.  many small communities fell under the oppression from all sides.  those that broke joined the ranks of the raiders and made it even harder for the rest to survive.

The great war engines were without their main flow of power, yet still, communities formed within them, each individual practicing magical focus talents so that their energies could be donated to keep the machines running.  these communities had to either become protectors of lands, or roaming mountains of destruction in order to fulfill their need for food and materials.

And then the atomic winter snowed down, the whole world taking on a chill after the magic barrier fell.  None lived that saw the spell go off, obliterated, and those not involved all woke to the apocalyptic future they now faced.

The massive spell engines lost their fuel, the cities collapsed under anarchy, anger and starvation.  all the magic in the world had nearly evaporated over night.  extravagant spells were impossible, and the most basic became tools of reserve.

People were driven out into the wilderness to live off of the land again.  An unforgiving world of deserts, frost mountains, dense jungles and sea.

The niceties of the pre-war culture were even more abolished as need and desparation caused those to lash out.  but, it was the groups which had resorted to raiding which eventually fell the hardest.  After 2-3 generations of raiding, the proportion of raiders had decreased to a fraction, the rest were left to find sustainable means to eek out a living on the harsh landscape.

Some bands and tribes rejected these laws and wanted to continue in barbary and chaos. The emissaries would not divulge information to those who would use it badly, offering them only healing and protection.

Adventure example:

-get your crew out of a city

--find members: one in the apartment

-establish a community

--[farm phase]

-tech up while building resistance to the [stochastic threats]

-try to recover technology, build up magic reserves

Resources needed for a community

-forests provide lumber and food

-farms provide food and livestock

--machines/tools

--magic/skills

--attributes

Related Links:

Adventures

Timeline

Three World Wars

http://worldwithoutoil.org/default.aspx?week=1 - an alternate reality game with community-driven content to simulate the effects of a peak oil crisis.  Since the effects of the Great Destruction are meant to simulate the dire future Earth faces unless we take action against global environmental degradation, this site is an excellent source of reference material.

Stubs:

found artifact