The northern hemisphere is beholden to a cycle, plunging it into periods of darkness and winter, differing sometimes in severity, but never in timing. At the centre of this cycle is the volcano Kouhisi, in the middle of the Megalekani Sea, which erupts without fail once every 128 years, at the beginning of autumn. During the year of eruption, known as a ‘Black Year’ across many cultures, it spews out clouds upon clouds of soot over the course of several weeks. These blanket the sky, blotting out the sun, and spreading out to cover much of the continents of Yathaya, Vaktara, and northern Siyana. These regions descend into a near-perpetual night, creating an early and severe winter as the lack of sunlight causes temperatures to plummet.

The second year is even harsher – the soot spreads out more evenly, allowing some sunlight through, though significantly dimmed. For this reason, the nine years that follow the year of eruption are commonly known as the ‘Blue Years’. Winter does not seem to end, with temperatures continuing to drop. The winter of the second year is even colder, freezing over many regions that typically would never even see snow. Rainfall ceases in many parts of the world, though seems to increase significantly in the desert regions of Yathaya and Siyana. Agriculture becomes completely unsustainable in regions that are in other years the most productive in the world, many herds of livestock starve, and hunting becomes scarce. In typically hot regions of Siyana, however, agriculture can receive a significant boon, as long as there is access to water, and crops that are typically grown further north are planted in this period. Exports from these regions are one of the few ways that northern populations can sustain themselves, though few can even access them, due to how hazardous travel becomes during the Blue Years. Many inevitably starve, in spite of extensive efforts to prepare in the years prior.

Temperatures and sunlight recover gradually, reaching almost normal levels by the ninth or tenth year. This is often taken to be the end of the Blue Years and the beginning of the ‘Golden Years’, for the sun seems that much brighter after it has been hidden for so long. Farming resumes immediately, with people desperate to replenish their stocks of food. This is, as a small reprieve, helped by the settling of soot across the soil, which deposits useful materials for the growth of crops and helps in part to revitalise the world.

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Shout out to feathered dragons, I'm a big fan ;)
I need to get more practice with drawing feathers, there are way too many lol