Seven-Year Drought

The Seven-Year Drought is a significant event in the history of Britannia.

History

While a drought might at first not appear as an important event in the history of the land compared to things like battles or waves of evil, the effects of it were far-reaching with severe consequences.

The event started somewhat less than twenty years before Ultima VII and consisted of a drought hitting the eastern coast of the britannian mainland which would last, as the name states, for seven long years. The village of Paws was at the epicenter of the drought and thus suffered the worst effects. Paws, before being a prospering agricultural community, was devastated by the drought and by the end of it was being reduced to a poverty-ridden suburb of Britain. Formerly wealthy land owners like Komor were being pushed to utter pennilessness and the economic destruction resulted in wide-spread unemployment and poverty.

By the time of the Avatar's arrival, Paws was still struck down by the effects of the drought and even those who had managed to get their farms through that time, like Camille, were still fearing their own ruin. The devastation was great enough that even the Britannian Tax Council, most certainly not known for being generous, gave subsidies and tax exemptions to impacted farmers still being in business, even long after the drought was over.

While it is entirely possible that the event was caused by the shift of natural weather patterns - as the formation of the Drylands had proven years earlier - it happening shortly after the formation of the Fellowship also raises the possibility of the Guardian's subtle influence. The Fellowship most certainly benefitted from the devastation due to the drought, drawing many of those hit hard by it into their ranks. The sharp contrast between the poverty in Paws and the wealth displayed in Britain embittered many and deepened the divide in society.

Lore

“

Paws is a small coastal village that, because of the continuous expansion of the capital city, has essentially merged with Britain. While there was a time when this village held a quaint rustic charm, in more recent years the village of Paws has languished in poverty. A terrible, seven-year drought has forced the closure of many of the local farms. – from The Book of Fellowship (Ultima VII: The Black Gate)