"In the Earth year 2039, the world was facing imminent destruction. As the final hour approached, some of the chose to flee into VR, or virtual reality. Apparently, all they had to do was throw on a helmet to be transported to another world. But that was imaginary- a illusion. The world they had escaped to was this one- one known as the Aetheria Server."
"After having spent thousands of hours in this virtual world, most of them had made countless friends and wanted to say goodbye. They were all the most hardcore of game addicts, and they'd spent more time in Aetheria than in their own reality. Not many of them even had friends in the real world. Some of them didn't have family. So it was only fitting for them to spend their last moments in a world they cherished, surrounded by virtual friends. . . ." -Excerpt from Diary of a Wimpy Villager book 16, or Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior, Forging Destiny
The Crash (also called the Event or the Cataclysm, among others) is an apocalyptic event signalling the destruction of the Terrarian homeworld. It was the final event of a world war known as "Ragnarok," and through some means, brought players (or rather, Terrarians) to what can only be a real copy of their beloved server. No one knows how or why it happened, but one thing's for certain: There is no going back. Earth/Terraria has been completley destroyed, so even if there was a way back, there would be nothing.
Description[]
In the year 2039, Earth is said to have been destroyed in a devastating nuclear exchange between multiple countries. Thousands, possibly millions of players logged into the Aetheria Server as Earth faced the certain destruction. At least 1000 of those connected lost consciousness, and woke up in the new Aetherian World as a result of the summoning. The world they awoke in was not the server that they had spent countless hours in - it was a hostile world which killed many of the players during the first night. It is said that all Legionnaires woke up on a beach in the province ofDawnsbloom.
Everyone retained their character data. They had the same appearance and race as they had when they entered Aetheria. Unfortunately their items, statistics, and skills have all been erased. The only two who are known to have transferred with items, those being Kolb with the legendary sword Critbringer, and Ione with Bossender. Everyone else received meager items such as wooden tools and the Neophyte Set.
Since the event, nobody is able to contact outside Aetheria, or log out. The Network sub-menu, which features all sorts of data regarding their network connection, lists their "ping" as zero.
The Plight of the Terrarians[]
After the Crash, some Terrarians, members of the Lost Legion, would make a Opera-like performance to be put on at Villagetown's new Opera House. This show was ultimately stopped when, in the opening scene, the actors were attacked while the mayor (who was watching the play) was nearly assassinated. Then the village burned down, a literal dragon attacked (and wasn't even responsible for the total destruction of the village), and the play was the least of anyone's concerns. We do, however, know how it started. I am too lazy to type it out, and a picture is worth a thousand words, so here:
They said a bit more, mainly about their (lack of) stats, but all you need to know is that it probably was hard to write and CK is a legend. Then they (the Terrarians) get attacked.
Theories[]
(See also: Fan Theories)[]
The Crash was caused by nuclear warfare and bombs being dropped on Earth. There are many theories to how "Aetheria" came to be.
Advanced Machine: Entity could've downloaded all the players' consciousness into a machine. This is unlikely as technology of this sort is unheard of. Another believer theory is that the world itself is mechanical, but all NPCs are of real intelligence. Humans and NPCs have the same cognitive ability.
Aliens: Aetheria may have been created by aliens as a test. Human minds were transferred to the Aetheria server.
EMP: Aetheria could be created by an EMP or an Electromagnetic Pulse generated from a nuclear bomb. The connection was disconnected and anyone connected was stuck in Aetheria.
AI: Most of the players in the Crash are the most hardcore of gaming addicts, spending more time inside the server than actually in real life. With some complicated coding, it is possible the "humans" are just characters the computer copied off personalities in the real world.
Real World: This is one of the more likely theories, which states that Aetheria is, in fact, a real world. The Aetherian server, in this theory, was created as a "proving ground" to prepare the players for their role in Aetheria. Now that it is known that the Terrarians were summoned under the request of King Runehammer II, who was possibly influenced by Entity and/or Notch in this decision, this seems to be certain. Another proving point for this series is the fact that Entity, in some form, visited and helped to develop the server, indicating that inter-world travel is possible to some capacity.
'Wheel of Time' Theory: This is another possible theory, but those who believe it are few and far between. This theory states that the future for us is the past for others - meaning that everything happens in a loop. The wars against the Eyeless One and his forces of Darkness will go on for eternity - have gone on since the beginning of eternity, and won't end until either side is truly defeated. This theory is similar in nature to the 'Wheel of Time' series, hence the name.
Procedurally Generated: The world the humans live in is a new one, and it has, since it is new, only some places have been fully built, and the first and second wars happened here, so that is why there are fewer civilizations.