The Rupture is a world shattering event, that ended the Age of Strife. It is the culmination of the conflict between the gods and the Aardians.
History
Seeking an end to the conflict, brought to Aard by the gods from the War in Heaven, the Aardians devised a plan.
After centuries of war, the world was filled with arcane and divine energy. Using this vast power, they would banish all the gods into their plane again and seal them away. Unleashing such an amount of energy, however successful, came with a price.
In a last effort the Gods of Ruination tried to resist the combined force. Divine energy clashed with unbridled arcane magic of the Aardians and tore the land itself asunder. The backlash of the explosion of all that energy had the desired effect and banished the gods away, but destroyed the continent and killed most of the inhabitants.
Aftermath
The gods were banished away into their own plane, were they once resided. A magical seal, formed across the crack so they could never reach Aard again. Although keeping the gods mostly away, some influence of the gods can still reach the world.
It also drained most of the magic from the world, only leaving a fraction of its original power in its place.
The single continent, that once was the home of the people, shattered into thousand of small islands.
Many lives were lost during the Rupture and even more became unravelled, as once close neighbours became scattered over the whole planet. Cultures ripped apart and traditions lost. Knowledge lost into myths and legends.
Those that survived were thrown back centuries of advancements and had to rebuilt.