Slowdown
| The Slowdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 – 1970 | |||
 The Visit of 1954 in Ar Lavo. | |||
| Location | Wider Realm | ||
| |||
The Slowdown was the period that followed the Visit of 1954 that encompassed widespread systems collapse in the Wider Realms associated with environmental change and mass migration, ushering the current post-Slowdown era.
In the decades preceding the Slowdown, the geopolitical landscape of the Wider Realms was dominated by the Two Powers system. On September 2, 1954, an unknown extraterrestrial object visited Earth, scattering debris across the planet that emitted monogas, creating "no-zones" which caused mass displacement. Widespread environmental changes led to crop failure. The world economy suffered immensely and the standard of living reduced drastically worldwide. A revolutionary wave called the Wave of Nations swept the Wider Realms, dismantling the Two Powers system and ushering the current post-Slowdown era.
The Slowdown and its effects continue to have an immense impact to this day. The cause or reasons behind the Visit of 1954 is still not fully understood. Slowdownology is the study of the era and the causing unknown extraterrestrial object.