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Era of Upheaval

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The Era of Upheaval was the time period between the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR and the Spellplague in 1385 DR. After the Tablets of Fate were stolen, the Overgod, Ao, forced all of the gods of Faerûn to walk on Toril in their mortal avatar forms. However, unlike when a god usually sent an avatar to Toril and his or her true form resided typically on one of the Outer Planes, the deities were all demoted and this was the only form that they had at the time, making them vulnerable, though still very powerful. Several major gods died during the Time of Troubles, and a small number of mortals attained divinity. Also during the catastrophic event, arcane and divine magic across Faerûn ceased to function properly, and chaos and destruction occurred throughout many nations and cities.

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The Era of Upheaval was the time period between the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR and the Spellplague in 1385 DR. After the Tablets of Fate were stolen, the Overgod, Ao, forced all of the gods of Faerûn to walk on Toril in their mortal avatar forms. However, unlike when a god usually sent an avatar to Toril and his or her true form resided typically on one of the Outer Planes, the deities were all demoted and this was the only form that they had at the time, making them vulnerable, though still very powerful. Several major gods died during the Time of Troubles, and a small number of mortals attained divinity. Also during the catastrophic event, arcane and divine magic across Faerûn ceased to function properly, and chaos and destruction occurred throughout many nations and cities. In the underground drow city of Menzoberranzan, the psionicists of House Oblodra were the only dark elves to retain their magical abilities during the Time of Troubles and attempted to seize power. However, Lolth, the main goddess of the drow, made a deal with the balor Errtu, and demons were sent to assist House Baenre, the First House of Menzoberranzan, and the city’s other ruling Houses in order to prevent the heretical Oblodrans from gaining power. Following the Time of Troubles, Lolth granted Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre, the unofficial ruler of Menzoberranzan, the power to destroy House Oblodra. Yvonnel summoned a giant tentacle from the Abyss that swept the entire House Oblodra complex into the chasm known as the Clawrift. After the Time of Troubles, House Baenre led an army consisting of the drow of Menzoberranzan and their monstrous humanoid slaves in an attack on the dwarven stronghold of Mithral Hall. The dwarven defenders were assisted by allies from the cities and towns of Silverymoon, Settlestone, Longsaddle, Nesme, and Blingdenstone. Following intense fighting both in the tunnels of Mithral Hall and on the surface near the city, the drow and their minions were defeated and forced to retreat to Menzoberranzan. During the battle, Bruenor Battlehammer, the King of Mithral Hall and a member of the group of adventurers known as the Companions of the Hall, was able to kill Yvonnel Baenre with the help of the other remaining members of the band: the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden, the human warrior Catti-brie, the halfling Regis, and the magical panther Guenhwyvar. Following a decade of war, the lich Zhengyi the Witch-King and his armies of monstrous humanoids from Vaasa and undead creatures took control of Damara in 1357 DR. Gareth Dragonsbane, a Paladin of the Golden Cup, eventually united the people of Damara into a formidable army and led them against the forces of Vaasa in 1359 DR. During the struggle against the followers of Zhengyi, Gareth was named the King of Damara. Gareth and a group of intrepid adventurers soon managed to liberate Damara from Zhengyi’s oppressive rule and destroy the undead mage at his stronghold, Castle Perilous. Under the command of the Horselord Yamun Khahan, the united Tuigan tribes of the Hordelands swiftly conquered Semphar and Khazari. Yamun’s vast horde invaded Shou Lung, but the Tuigan’s advance was turned back in Kara-Tur. The Tuigan army later moved west and attacked Thay and Rashemen before advancing along the primary trade route known as the Golden Way. Yamun’s horde invaded Thesk, but to meet the threat, many of the peoples of central Faerûn formed an alliance and assembled an army that included troops from Cormyr, the Dalelands, Hillsfar, Raven’s Bluff, the Earthfast Mountains, and other locations. Led by Azoun IV, the King of Cormyr, the allied forces defeated the Tuigan horde and killed Yamun near the Theskian city of Phsant. The Harper Assassin: The malicious sun elf weapons master Kymil Nimesin secretly gained control of the elfshadow ability of the moonblade, a hereditary magical sword, possessed by Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elven adventurer who often worked for the Harpers, a semi-secret organization dedicated to fighting for freedom and justice. Kymil used the elfshadow to murder several members of the Harpers as part of his plot to access a magical portal between the elven island of Evermeet and mainland Faerûn in order to kill the remaining members of the nation’s royal family. Arilyn and Danilo Thann, a Waterdhavian nobleman and mage, eventually discovered the identity of the Harper Assassin, thwarted Kymil’s plans, and defeated the elven warrior. Afterward, Arilyn and Danilo became official members of the Harpers. At Castle Trinity, the headquarters of a sect that worshipped Talona, the goddess of poison, the wizard [[Aballister Bonaduce]], one of the leaders of the group, created the Chaos Curse, a vile potion that forced people to fulfill their most private desires without caution to the resulting consequences. Barjn, a cleric of Talona and one of the other leaders of Castle Trinity, took the Chaos Curse to the Edificant Library in the Snowflakes Mountains and unleashed the potion, which caused chaos to engulf the library. Some of the library’s inhabitants escaped the influence of the curse in one way or another: Cadderly Bonaduce, a Chosen of Deneir, the god of knowledge; the dwarven brothers Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder; the monk Danica Maupoissant; and the druid Newander. Cadderly and the others confronted Barjn and his undead minions in the catacombs beneath the Edificant Library. Cadderly and his companions killed Barjn and stopped the Chaos Curse, but Newander was slain in the fight against the evil priest. Led by the ogrillon fighter Ragnor, an army of orcs and other monstrous humanoids from Castle Trinity invaded the elven kingdom of Shilmista Forest. Ragnor’s forces inflicted substantial damage on the elves, but the forest people were later able to kill the ogrillon and defeat his followers with the help of Cadderly Bonaduce and a group of his friends, including Danica Maupoissant and Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder. During the war, Galladel, the king of Shilmista Forest, was slain and his son, Elbereth, was named the new ruler of the elven nation. Concerned about the threat that his son, Cadderly Bonaduce, posed to his plans, Aballister Bonaduce hired a band of assassins of the Night Masks, a criminal organization based in the port city of Westgate, to murder him. Cadderly was currently in the town of Carradoon, and while he and a group of his companions had a series of clashes against the assassins, the priest’s magical powers continually increased. Cadderly and his friends eventually killed all of the assassins, including their leader, Ghost, who had wielded a vile magical device known as the Ghearufu, which had allowed him to swap spirits with others. Cadderly later used his magic to force the red dragon Fyrentennimarr to help him destroy the Ghearufu. Cadderly Bonaduce and a group of companions, including Danica Maupoissant and Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, attacked Castle Trinity and managed to destroy the evil sect. During the fighting, Cadderly confronted and killed Aballister Bonaduce in a magical duel in the wizard’s extra-dimensional mansion. Kierkan Rufo, a disgraced former cleric at the Edificant Library, was transformed into a vampire after the imp Druzil tricked him into drinking from a bottle containing the Chaos Curse. Rufo soon seized control of the Edificant Library, desecrating the building and turning many of the inhabitants into vampires or zombies. When Cadderly and his friends made their way to the Edificant Library, they fought and destroyed Rufo and his minions. Cadderly then used his magic to demolish the defiled Edificant Library and begin to construct Spirit Soaring, a majestic cathedral and library where scholars, mages, and priests of various deities could congregate and study. Determined to get revenge on Drizzt Do'Urden for banishing him to the Abyss in 1356 DR, Errtu plotted a way to return to the Prime Material Plane. The barbarian warrior Wulfgar, a fallen Companion of the Hall, was a prisoner of Errtu and had been tortured by the balor for several years. Errtu deceived Drizzt into ending his banishment, returned to Toril, and traveled to Icewind Dale, where he acquired Crenshinibon, also known as the Crystal Shard, a powerful but sentient and malevolent magical artifact. Errtu used Crenshinibon to create a magical stronghold in the Sea of Moving Ice, a body of water west of Icewind Dale that was filled with icebergs, and he imprisoned Wulfgar nearby. Drizzt and the other Companions of the Hall soon made their way to the Sea of Moving Ice and confronted Errtu and his demonic minions. During the fighting, Wulfgar escaped from imprisonment and helped his friends defeat Errtu. Afterward, the reunited companions planned to find a way to destroy Crenshinibon. The Companions of the Hall traveled toward the Spirit Soaring with Crenshinibon in the hope that Cadderly Bonaduce could destroy the relic. However, during the journey, the drow rogue Jarlaxle Baenre, the leader of the dark elf mercenary company known as Bregan D'aerthe, deceived the friends into giving Crenshinibon to him. A short time later, Drizzt faced his long-time nemesis, Artemis Entreri, an assassin and an associate of Jarlaxle, in single combat, but the fight ended inconclusively. As part of her plot to get revenge on the Harpers and strike the secret Lords of the port city of Waterdeep, the half-elven spellsinger Iriador Wintermist, who had assumed the alias "Garnet," made a bargain with the riddle-loving green dragon Grimnoshtadrano. Garnet soon used the Morninglark, a magical elven harp, to cast spells that changed the traditional songs of bards without their awareness and caused various problems to beset Waterdeep. Danilo, the moon elf rogue and crime lord Elaith Craulnober, and a band of adventurers confronted Grimnoshtadrano in the High Forest and retrieved a magical spell scroll from him that allowed them to ruin Garnet’s plans during the Midsummer festivities in Waterdeep. Garnet was seized and taken from Waterdeep by Grimnoshtadrano, and Danilo used the Morninglark to cast a spellsong that negated all of the half-elven sorceress’s spells. Shortly afterward, Danilo was made one of the secret Lords of Waterdeep. In Tethyr, mercenary forces commanded by the minor warlord Bunlap, a former member of the evil organization known as the Zhentarim, continually attacked the tribes of wild elves who dwelled in the Forest of Tethir. Bunlap’s men slaughtered many elves, destroyed several of their settlements, and devastated parts of the forest. The elves eventually defeated the mercenaries and killed Bunlap with the assistance of Arilyn Moonblade, a few other adventurers, and some of the creatures that lived in the forest, including the elven lycanthropic wolves called the lythari. In the port city of Calimport, Artemis Entreri helped Jarlaxle Baenre enact his plan to extend the influence of Bregan D'aerthe to the surface of Toril. The drow mercenary band took control of the Basadoni Guild and battled against some of Calimport’s other criminal guilds. During that time, Entreri obtained Charon’s Claw, a magical Netherese sword, by killing its previous wielder, the petty warlord Kohrin Soulez. Jarlaxle was increasingly influenced by Crenshinibon until the two drow lieutenants of Bregan D'aerthe, the psionicist Kimmuriel Oblodra and the wizard-priest Rai-guy Bondalek, implemented a plot to overthrow him in order to acquire the artifact. To prevent the conspirators’ plan from being successful, Entreri stole Crenshinibon and rescued Jarlaxle. Entreri and Jarlaxle journeyed to the Spirit Soaring, where Cadderly Bonaduce and some of his companions agreed to help them destroy Crenshinibon. Although Entreri, Jarlaxle, and the others were assailed by the traitorous drow and their allies, including the illithid Yharaskrik, the group managed to trick the red dragon Hephaestus into destroying Crenshinibon with his fiery breath. Rai-guy and Yharaskrik were killed by Hephaestus’s breath, and the red dragon was blinded by the release of magical energy that occurred when Crenshinibon was destroyed. Afterward, Jarlaxle agreed to name Kimmuriel as the co-leader of Bregan D'aerthe, which soon ended its activities in Calimport. The former dwarven stronghold that was currently known as the Citadel of Many Arrows and that was controlled by the orc king Obould Many-Arrows and his forces was besieged by an orc horde led by the orc ruler Greneire. The attackers eventually breached the defenses of the Citadel of Many Arrows, and even though the stronghold’s defenders were significantly outnumbered, they were victorious and Obould killed Greneire in single combat. However, an army of Clan Warcrown dwarves and Silverymoon soldiers then launched a surprise assault on the surviving orc forces, defeating and driving them away from the Citadel. The dwarves took control of the stronghold and renamed it Citadel Felbarr, its original name. Emerus Warcrown was named the King of Citadel Felbarr, and the dwarves appealed for more of their brethren to join them. Obould was not slain in the fighting at the Citadel and retreated with the remnants of his horde to the mountain range known as the Spine of the World, where he planned to build a new army. In 1367 DR, Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle Baenre journeyed to Heliogabalus, the capital city of Damara, where they were confronted by a shade who wanted to gain possession of Charon’s Claw for the Shadovar. Entreri refused to surrender the weapon and killed the shade with his vampiric dagger, which inadvertently allowed the assassin to absorb part of the shade’s essence. In 1368 DR, Jarlaxle and Entreri started working for Ilnezhara and Tazmikella, two copper dragon sisters who secretly dwelled in Heliogabalus. The two dragons sent Entreri and Jarlaxle on a mission to Vaasa to investigate and seek out artifacts of Zhengyi. Meanwhile, in the half-orc city of Palishchuk, the half-orc wizard Arrayan Faylin attempted to decipher one of Zhengyi’s ancient tomes and unwittingly triggered a spell that created a magical replica of Castle Perilous. Jarlaxle, Entreri, and a group of other adventurers soon journeyed to the Zhengyian castle and managed to infiltrate it. The associates fought their way through the magical stronghold’s numerous monsters and also frequently battled each other. Entreri, Jarlaxle, and the other surviving adventurers eventually confronted and destroyed the master of the castle, the black dracolich Urshula. Throughout his time in the Bloodstone Lands, Jarlaxle did not take an active role in leading Bregan D'aerthe, but he still requested the support of the mercenary company when it suited his needs. After Jarlaxle and Entreri seized control of the Zhengyian castle, a Damaran army commanded by Gareth Dragonsbane rapidly moved against the stronghold. With the assistance of Bregan D'aerthe, Jarlaxle assembled a horde of monstrous humanoids, but he intentionally allowed the army to be slaughtered by the Damaran forces. Entreri was detained by some of Gareth’s followers, and Jarlaxle later met with the king. Jarlaxle revealed that he had made an open bid for power in order to cause the people of Palishchuk to support Gareth and to solidify the king’s control over Vaasa. Christine Dragonsbane, Gareth’s wife, insisted that Entreri and Jarlaxle be executed, but the Damaran ruler instead banished them and their associate, the dwarf warrior Athrogate, from the Bloodstone Lands. Ending Corruption in Memnon: Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle Baenre, and Athrogate made their way to the port city of Memnon, where they soon discovered that its impoverished inhabitants were being extorted by the corrupt priest Youzumian Dudui Yinochek, the leader of a temple of Selûne, the goddess of the moon. Once he learned that Yinochek was probably his biological father, Entreri killed the priest and destroyed his decadent temple with the aid of Jarlaxle and Athrogate. Afterward, Entreri threatened to kill the other clerics of Selûne unless they ended their immoral activities. The Cyrinishad and the Revolt Against Cyric: Shortly after the end of the Time of Troubles, Cyric, a sadistic mortal who had become the god of strife, murder, and death during the crisis, killed Leira, the goddess of illusion and deception, and absorbed her portfolio. In the years that followed, Cyric continually searched for the soul of Kelemvor Lyonsbane, an adventurer whom he had killed during the Time of Troubles, in order to gain an advantage over his greatest rival, Mystra, a mortal wizard who had become the goddess of magic during the disastrous event. However, since Cyric and his followers were unable to find Kelemvor’s spirit with any type of magic, the god began to suspect that there were traitors within his own church who concealed the fallen mortal’s soul. In 1368 DR, Cyric sent inquisitorial agents to Zhentil Keep, Yûlash, Darkhold, and other strongholds of the Zhentarim to cleanse them of all those who did not support him. Cyric also released the primordial Kezef the Chaos Hound from magical imprisonment and commanded the beast to track down Kelemvor’s soul. Kelemvor’s spirit was actually hidden in Cyric’s magical sword, Godsbane, which was Mask, the god of shadows, in disguise. Mask wanted to orchestrate the downfall of Cyric and he was able to eventually magically trap Kezef. Besides hunting for Kelemvor, Cyric plotted to increase his power on Faerûn by forcing a scribe in Zhentil Keep to help him create the Cyrinishad, a magical tome that would instantly turn all readers into his worshipers. To prevent Cyric’s scheme from being successful, Mystra and Mask worked with Oghma, the god of knowledge, and Torm, the god of duty and loyalty, to construct a magical book, the True Life of Cyric, that accurately depicted the evil deity’s life. The four gods also had the Cyrinishad stolen and placed in protective custody. Oghma and his allies later had Fzoul Chembryl, a cleric of the dead god Bane, weaken Cyric’s support and cause chaos in Zhentil Keep by reading the True Life of Cyric to the fortress city’s inhabitants. At the same time, the spirits of the dead in the City of the Dead revolted against Cyric’s cruel and corrupt rule. Having gone insane from reading the Cyrinishad and with his followers in the City of the Dead overwhelmed, Cyric unintentionally released Kelemvor by breaking Godsbane. Kelemvor defeated but was not able to destroy Cyric, and he then became the new god of the dead. Meanwhile, Zhentil Keep was attacked and destroyed by a monstrous army that included white dragons, frost giants, and gnolls. After he was overthrown as ruler of the City of the Dead, Cyric did not properly perform his godly duties. In 1369 DR, Tyr, the god of justice, and the other main deities of the Faerûnian pantheon decided to place Cyric on trial for his neglectful actions. In preparation for the divine trial, Cyric sent one of his most devout followers, Malik el Sami yn Nasser, whom he later made the Seraph of Lies, to recover the Cyrinishad from the fortress library known as Candlekeep. Although Malik was able to infiltrate Candlekeep and kill the two guardians of the Cyrinishad, the magical tome was lost. Meanwhile, Cyric orchestrated the death of Adon, the patriarch of Mystra’s church, by causing him to become insane and lose faith in his patron goddess. As the result of the actions of Mystra and some of the other gods, Malik was forced to read from the True Life of Cyric during Cyric’s trial. Listening to Malik read the book aloud somewhat restored Cyric’s sanity, and the assembled gods decided to allow him to retain his position among the deities of Faerûn. Besides Cyric, Mystra and Kelemvor were placed on trial for improperly conducting their own divine responsibilities. Kelemvor had transformed the City of the Dead into a divine metropolis where he was more lenient on those souls who had been virtuous and honorable in life, while the ones who had been cowardly or capricious were severely punished. Mystra was unjust in the way that she granted magic, as she favored only those individuals who were good. An unintentional result of Mystra and Kelemvor’s actions was an imbalance among the gods, who were losing potential worshipers. To correct their mistakes, Kelemvor changed the City of the Dead into a realm where souls were fairly judged, and Mystra provided magic in an impartial manner. Consequently, the two deities were allowed to keep their divine positions. During the trial, Kelemvor restored the sanity of Adon’s soul in order to enable the fallen cleric to enter Mystra’s divine realm, Dweomerheart. In the years after Iakhovas, a monstrous megalodon and magic-user, escaped from magical imprisonment near Chult with the help of the malenti priestess Laaqueel in 1354 DR, he gained control over the sahuagin of the Sea of Swords, formed alliances with various sea creatures and pirate crews, and retrieved artifacts that increased his magical power. Eventually in 1369 DR, Iakhovas led the sahuagin and his other forces in attacks on first Waterdeep and then the port city of Baldur’s Gate. The defenders of Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate repulsed the assaults of Iakhovas’s army, but both cities were severely damaged in the battles. Additionally, sahuagin and other sea monsters assailed ships throughout the Sea of Swords. Iakhovas and his sahuagin followers later magically traveled to the Sea of Fallen Stars, where they began the Twelfth Serôs War by destroying a large portion of the Sharksbane Wall, a long barrier that imprisoned the region’s sahuagin in the southeastern part of the sea. Iakhovas soon secured the support of the sahuagin of the Sea of Fallen Stars, formed alliances with some other races of sea creatures, and used his magic to create a host of undead minions. Iakhovas’s forces assailed and devastated many nations and settlements throughout Serôs, the undersea realms of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Iakhovas and his army eventually moved against the underwater elven city of Myth Nantar and fought the allied forces of the Nantarn Alliance, which included sea elves, tritons, and merfolk. Using powerful magic, the sea elves and their allies defeated Iakhovas’s followers and magically transported the megalodon to the Sea of Swords, where he was confronted and killed by Jherek, a paladin of Lathander, the god of the dawn. Some members of the Harpers used the Gatekeeper’s Crystal, a powerful magical device, to raze Hellgate Keep, formerly known as Ascalhorn, a city of evil on the edge of the High Forest. The destruction of Hellgate Keep inadvertently broke the magical prison that had interred Sarya Dlardrageth, a half-sun elf half-fiend sorceress and the leader of the daemonfey, a clan of fey'ri, demon-blooded sun elves. After a lengthy time of not adventuring altogether, all of the Companions of the Hall were reunited and engaged the pirate crew led by Sheila Kree, the captain of the Bloody Keel, and their allies, Clan Thump, a tribe of ogres. The friends defeated the pirates and the ogres, and during the clash, Drizzt Do'Urden fought and killed the enigmatic warrior Le'lorinel. However, Drizzt then discovered that Le'lorinel was actually Ellifain Tuuserail, a delusional moon elf whom he had saved from a drow raiding party several decades earlier. As the result of increased attacks by and the growing threat of orc, troll, and other monstrous humanoid tribes, several loosely allied cities and strongholds in northwest Faerûn formed themselves into a confederation that became known as the Silver Marches or Luruar. The allies included Silverymoon, Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbarr, Everlund, Mithral Hall, Sundabar, Nesmé, and the Moonwood. Each member of the Silver Marches remained an independent state, but the spokesperson of the federation was Alustriel Silverhand, the ruler of Silverymoon and a Chosen of Mystra, the goddess of magic. In 1370 DR, Obould Many-Arrows united the many orc and goblin tribes of the Spine of the World and formed an alliance with the frost giant clans led by Gerti Orelsdottr. Obould’s forces attacked the frontier town of Shallows, and although they destroyed the settlement, they suffered serious setbacks due to the actions of the Companions of the Hall and a dwarven brigade from Mithral Hall. Following the battle, Obould’s hordes conquered most of the lands between the Spine of the World and Mithral Hall, and they then launched repeated assaults on the dwarven stronghold. While the offensive was proceeding, Obould underwent a magical ceremony in which he was blessed by the orc god Gruumsh and imbued with special abilities. Meanwhile, the town of Nesmé was assailed and destroyed by an army of trolls and bog blokes from the Evermoors, also known as the Trollmoors, led by the two-headed troll Proffit, who had allied with Obould. The Companions of the Hall, dwarven troops from the city of Mirabar, and warriors from some of the other members of the Silver Marches, particularly the Moonwood and Citadel Felbarr, helped the dwarves of Mithral Hall fight Obould’s armies. A large group of refugees from Nesmé was assisted by forces from Mithral Hall and Silverymoon, and the horde from the Evermoors was soon destroyed. In 1371 DR, the dwarves of Mithral Hall and their allies successfully stopped the advance of Obould’s armies, but they decided that it would be too costly to attempt to completely drive the monstrous forces back into the Spine of the World. The frost giants ended their alliance with Obould and returned to their homes in the mountains. Also around that time, Drizzt Do'Urden faced Obould in single combat, but the duel was disrupted and he failed to kill the orc king. Following the end of the major fighting between the opposing sides, Nesmé was completely reconstructed. In the Sembian port city of Selgaunt, Krollir Venasten, also known as the Righteous Man, the leader of the thieves’ guild known as the Night Knives and a cleric of Mask, the god of shadows, summoned the greater dread Yrsillar. Drasek Riven, a lieutenant of the guild and secretly a Zhent assassin, freed Yrsillar by disrupting the magical barrier that contained the demon. After Yrsillar killed Krollir and possessed his body, he summoned two lesser dreads and transformed many of the other members of the Night Knives into ghouls. Yrsillar sent his minions to attack the homes of different noble families, including Stormweather Towers, the manor of the Uskevrens, who were served by Erevis Cale, an assassin and a lieutenant of the Night Knives. Cale and Jak Fleet, a halfling thief and a cleric of the trickster god Brandobaris, infiltrated Yrsillar’s stronghold, destroyed his minions, and defeated the demon. Over the course of the struggle against Yrsillar, Cale had become a priest of Mask, and the god’s magical intervention had allowed the assassin to defeat the greater dread. Near the elven city of Evereska, the magical barrier known as the Sharn Wall was punctuated in 1371 DR by an explosion caused by the collision of magical bolts cast by the elven nobleman and sorcerer Galaeron Nihmedu and the Shadovar prince Melegaunt Tanthul. The breach freed the phaerimm, malevolent and aberrant magical creatures that had been imprisoned beneath Anauroch by a mysterious race called the Sharn after the collapse of Netheril. Attracted by Evereska’s mythal, the magical ward that protected the city, the phaerimm gathered an army of beholders, illithids, bugbears, and other monstrous humanoids that they enthralled with their magic and attacked the elves. While the defenders of Evereska and their allies fought the phaerimm and their minions, Galaeron, Melegaunt, and a group of adventurers journeyed to the ruins of Karse, where they destroyed the lich Wulgreth and recovered the powerful magical artifact known as the Karsestone. Melegaunt was killed in the fight against Wulgreth, but before he died he magically imparted all of his knowledge about the phaerimm to Galaeron. On the first day of 1372 DR, Galaeron used the Karsestone to create a magical gate that allowed the floating city of Shade Enclave to return to Faerûn from the Plane of Shadows in the hope that the Shadovar would help Evereska fight against the phaerimm. The Shadovar and an alliance of many states and peoples, including Evereska, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Cormyr, the Uthgardt barbarians, the Dalelands, and Evermeet, ultimately managed to defeat the phaerimm and their monstrous armies. Near the end of the struggle, Galaeron had helped the elven high mages repair Evereska’s mythal, which had been severely damaged by the phaerimm, and the magical ward had assisted the allied forces in defeating the nefarious creatures and their servants. During the war against the phaerimm, conflict occurred between Shade and the members of the alliance after the Shadovar decided to restore their ancient lands by flooding Anauroch by using magic to melt the High Ice, causing massive meteorological changes throughout northwest and central Faerûn that had disastrous consequences. An allied army that included forces from Cormyr, the Dalelands, and Sembia eventually fought a Shadovar host in the Cormyrean city of Tilverton. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the battle resulted in the complete destruction of Tilverton. All that was left of the city was a dark, concave space filled with shadows and flitting regions of deeper darkness. Later, Galaeron and a group of adventurers that included several Chosen of Mystra raided Shade Enclave, killed the Shadovar prince Escanor Tanthul, and inflicted substantial damage on the floating city. Following the end of the war against the phaerimm and the major fighting against the allied peoples, the Shadovar planned to search for Netherese ruins and artifacts and to begin establishing a new empire. Wanting to create a lasting orc kingdom, Obould Many-Arrows had his followers end the campaign against the Silver Marches and consolidate their control over the lands that they had conquered. However, some of the orc forces did not want peace and began to support the ogrillon chieftain Grguch and his tribe, Clan Karuck. Grguch’s horde soon launched attacks on the elves of the Moonwood and the dwarves of Mithral Hall, before moving against Obould and some of the forces loyal to the king. A small group from the Silver Marches that included a few Companions of the Hall helped Obould and his troops kill Grguch and defeat the chieftain’s supporters. A short time later, in the large chamber in Mithral Hall known as Garumn’s Gorge, Bruenor and Obould signed a treaty that ended the war between the two peoples and officially established the Kingdom of Many-Arrows. For a several month time period, Lolth inexplicably stopped granting divine spells to her drow priestesses, would not respond to communions of any type, and stopped all physical planar travel to her divine realm, the Demonweb Pits, in the Abyss. In Menzoberranzan, the matron mothers and the priestesses tried to keep their lack of divine power a secret, but the truth was soon revealed and the drow forces had to crush an uprising by a band of renegade male dark elves and many of the city’s monstrous humanoid slaves. Afterward, Matron Mother Triel Baenre, the unofficial ruler of Menzoberranzan, tasked a small but skilled group led by her younger sister Quenthel Baenre, the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, the clerical school in the city, to discover the cause of Lolth’s silence and bring it to an end. Over the course of adventures throughout the Underdark and the surface of Toril, the expedition from Menzoberranzan discovered that all of Lolth’s followers were affected by her silence and that the goddess had removed herself and the entire Demonweb Pits from the Abyss to its own individual plane of existence. Quenthel’s party also learned that Lolth was seeking the Yor'thae, the goddess’s Chosen. Quenthel and the drow priestesses Danifae Yauntyrr and Halisstra Melarn were summoned to Lolth’s new domain and competed against each other while they fought their way through the challenges of the plane to reach the deity. Danifae was selected to be the Yor'thae, and she was then turned into a new incarnation of Lolth. The goddess instructed Quenthel to return to her position as the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, and she then punished Halisstra for her recent acts of disloyalty and sacrilege by transforming her into the Lady Penitent, a tortured demonic creature obligated to eternally hunt down and kill worshipers of Lolth’s divine enemies. Lolth’s silence actually ended shortly before Danifae was chosen as the Yor'thae, as drow priestesses’ connection with their goddess was restored and they were able to cast spells. A number of groups and peoples that were hostile to the cities of the drow took advantage of the weakness caused by the Silence of Lolth. Jaezred Chaulssin, a secret patriarchal organization consisting of shadow dragon-blooded drow assassins whose goal was to rid the dark elves of the tyrannical rule of Lolth and her priestesses, provoked uprisings in the drow cities of Eryndlyn and Dusklyngh. Jaezred Chaulssin also inadvertently orchestrated the destruction of the drow city of Ched Nasad by providing stonefire bombs to Clan Xornbane, a duergar mercenary band that attacked the metropolis. Nimor Imphraezl, the Anointed Blade of the Jaezred Chaulssin, formed an alliance between the forces of the duergar city of Gracklstugh, a legion of tanarukk (demon-blooded orcs) commanded by the cambion warlord Kaanyr Vhok, and the drow of House Agrach Dyrr, a high-ranking house in Menzoberranzan led by the lichdrow Lord Dyrr. Nimor and the allied armies soon moved against and besieged Menzoberranzan. Although they defeated some of Menzoberranzan’s defenders, after the end of Lolth’s silence, the siege failed and the invaders were driven away by the city’s priestesses and other forces. During the fighting of the siege, Dyrr was destroyed by Gromph Baenre, the Archmage of Menzoberranzan. After leaving the Zhentarim and becoming a follower of Mask, Drasek Riven worked with his one-time nemesis Erevis Cale to defeat Jurid Gauston, a cleric of Cyric, in order to prevent him from gaining power in Selgaunt. Vhostym, a githvyrik magic-user who was dying from a disease, conceived a plot in which he would cast a spell that would enable him to walk on the surface of Toril in the daytime in his own body, without succumbing to the fatal sun sensitivity of his race. Several slaadi that served Vhostym succeeded in gaining enough magical power for him to perform his spell, even though they continually clashed against Erevis Cale, Drasek Riven, Jak Fleet, and the psionicist tiefling Magadon Kest. Over the course of the many confrontations between the four companions and the slaadi, Cale was magically transformed into a shade, both he and Riven became Chosen of Mask, Jak was killed, and all of Vhostym’s minions except one were slain. Vhostym’s spell took hold of one of Selûne’s Tears, the asteroid cluster that followed Selûne, Toril’s moon, in its orbit around the planet. Vhostym used the asteroid’s bulk to shield the rays of the sun from the island mountain known as the Wayrock, where he had placed a stolen temple of Cyric as the storage facility for his arcane power. Vhostym enjoyed his final moments on Toril’s surface under the eclipse that he had created, the "Crown of Flame." Knowing that he was going to die in only a short time, Vhostym did not resist when Cale then assailed him, crushed his body, and destroyed him. Following Vhostym’s death, his spell lost its hold on Selûne’s Tear and caused it to plummet into Toril’s atmosphere. At that point, the asteroid shattered and fell in a rain of meteorite fragments that became known as the Rain of Fire. Afterward, the stolen temple of Cyric on the Wayrock was claimed by Mask, and Riven became the caretaker of the new shrine. The lich Sammaster, the founder of the secret society known as the Cult of the Dragon, bound his phylactery to the Dracorage mythal, causing it to no longer have a connection with the King-Killer Star and starting the Rage of Dragons, but one that would never end. Sammaster wanted to use the threat of the Rage to convince chromatic dragons to undergo the transformation into dracoliches. Rampaging dragons and Sammaster’s actions to further his plans caused conflict and chaos in realms throughout Faerûn, including Impiltur, the Moonsea region, Damara, the Great Glacier, and Sossal. A group of dragon hunters, adventurers, and metallic dragons ultimately thwarted Sammaster’s plot and ended the Rage of Dragons by destroying the undead wizard at an ancient elven citadel in the northernmost reaches of Toril. After helping to orchestrate a civil war in Sembia, Rivalen Tanthul, a Prince of Shade and a high priest of Shar, the goddess of darkness and loss, formed an alliance between the Shadovar and the Sembian faction based in Selgaunt. With the assistance of Rivalen and a contingent of Shadovar troops, the forces of Selgaunt were able to repulse an attack by the army of the Sembian port city of Saerloon. Shortly after the Saerloonian forces were defeated, the Sembian noblewoman Elyril Hraven, a servant of Shar, followed her goddess’s commands by completing a ritual that initiated the Shadowstorm, a magical storm that would continue to spread until it engulfed and obliterated the world. The Shadowstorm destroyed Ordulin, the capital city of Sembia, and Kesson Rel, a former Chosen of Mask who had obtained a piece of divinity from his patron deity but had been driven insane by the power and became a follower of Shar, was released from imprisonment in the Plane of Shadows. Erevis Cale, Drasek Riven, and Rivalen confronted and killed Kesson with the help of Magadon Kest, who utilized the power of the mythallar of the floating Shadovar city of Sakkors. The Shadowstorm was stopped, and Cale, Riven, and Rivalen each absorbed an equal portion of the divinity that had been possessed by Kesson. Cale magically traveled to Cania, the eighth of the Nine Hells, and sacrificed himself in order to fulfill a bargain that he had made with the archdevil Mephistopheles. In return for Cale giving his piece of divine essence to Mephistopheles, the archdevil released the part of Magadon’s soul that he had previously seized possession of. Following the end of the Shadowstorm, the Shadovar took control of Sembia and made the nation into a vassal state of Shade Enclave. Mask later relinquished his divinity and his life to Shar in order to repay a millennia old debt to the evil goddess. Having gathered together a force of fey'ri over the course of the five years since she had been unknowingly released from her prison, Sarya Dlardrageth sought to attain vengeance for being confined for thousands of years and to establish a daemonfey realm. A band of Sarya’s followers raided Tower Reilloch, a magical stronghold on Evermeet, and stole a piece of the Gatekeeper’s Crystal that had been acquired by elven mages several years previously. Sarya had already retrieved the other two parts of the Gatekeeper’s Crystal and used the completed artifact to dispel the magical protections of Nar Kerymhoarth, an underground fortress also known as the Nameless Dungeon, and free the couple thousand fey'ri that had been imprisoned there. To augment her fey'ri forces, Sarya gathered an army that consisted of various demons and yugoloths, orcs, ogres, and other monstrous humanoids. The daemonfey and their minions soon launched assaults on the elves in the High Forest and Evereska, but they were mostly repulsed by the defenders and their allies, including forces from Evermeet and the Silver Marches. After the daemonfey army suffered further defeats by the elves and their allies, Sarya secretly moved her followers to the ruins of the elven city of Myth Drannor and began to form a domain in the forest of Cormanthor. Sarya intended to use Myth Drannor as a stronghold to slowly conquer nearby lands. With the help of her patron, the fallen solar and former archdevil Malkizid, also known as the Branded King, Sarya bound additional demons and devils to her service and used the lingering powers of Myth Drannor’s mythal to assist her cause. However, Sarya’s plans were ultimately thwarted, she was slain, Malkizid was defeated, and the daemonfey army was destroyed due to the efforts of the sun elf wizard Araevin Teshurr, the elven forces commanded by the sun elf lord and high priest Seiveril Miritar, and their allies, troops from the Dalelands and Sembia. Seiveril was killed during the battles against the fey'ri in Myth Drannor and his daughter, Ilsevele Miritar, a sun elf spellarcher, assumed leadership of the elven army. The elves subsequently reclaimed Myth Drannor, and Ilsevele was named the ruler of the restored city. After the end of the Silence of Lolth in 1373 DR, the deities of the Dark Seldarine, the drow pantheon of gods, continued to battle for supremacy over the dark elves or, in the case of Eilistraee, the goddess of song and goodness, to free them from Lolth’s renewed control. Eilistraee and Lolth finally elected to play a divine game of sava, with the stakes being the very fate of the drow and loss meaning death for one of the goddesses. In 1375 DR, Vhaeraun, the drow god of thievery, worked with his worshipers to devise a method to assassinate Eilistraee. After the priestesses of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden, a temple of Eilistraee, learned about Vhaeraun’s plot, they sought to thwart it, and Cavatina Xarann, a drow priestess and Darksong Knight, was sent to retrieve the Crescent Blade, a magical sword created by the goddess. Selvetarm, a drow demigod who served Lolth, had his followers attack the Promenade, but the assailants were defeated by the temple’s defenders. With the assistance of Halisstra Melarn, Cavatina recovered the Crescent Blade from the Demonweb Pits and killed Selvetarm. Eilistraee’s forces failed to stop Vhaeraun from entering her divine realm, but the goddess was able to slay him. Eilistraee absorbed Vhaeraun’s portfolio and the dead god’s worshipers joined with her followers, albeit uneasily. In 1377 DR, Kiaransalee, the drow goddess of the undead, had her followers augment the Faerzress, the magical radiation of the Underdark, in order to render the dark elves incapable of divination and conjuration, as well as keep them bound to the underground realm. While Eilistraee’s forces assaulted the Acropolis of Thanatos, the main temple of Kiaransalee, and killed the evil deity’s followers, the drow wizard Q'arlynd Melarn performed an elven High Magic ritual that wiped Kiaransalee’s name from the minds of all mortals and gods, causing her to fade from existence. Around that time, Cavatina destroyed the physical body of Wendonai, a balor who served Lolth and had been used by the goddess to corrupt the Illythiri dark elves into following her many millennia earlier. In 1379 DR, the forces of Ghaunadaur, the god of abominations, attacked the Promenade in an attempt to destroy the prison that prevented the avatar of their deity from entering Toril. The followers of Ghaunadaur failed to free their patron, but the inhabitants of the Promenade suffered heavy losses and the temple fell to the god’s minions. Meanwhile, Qilué Veladorn, the drow high priestess of the Promenade and a Chosen of Eilistraee and Mystra, planned to destroy Wendonai, whose soul had possessed the Crescent Blade. After Qilué was confronted by Halisstra when she attempted to enact her plan, Eilistraee inhabited the body of her priestess in order to try to free the Lady Penitent from Lolth’s influence. However, Halisstra killed Cavatina and then was tricked by Wendonai into using the Crescent Blade to slay Qilué, and consequently Eilistraee. While Leliana Vrinn, a drow priestess of Eilistraee, killed Halisstra, Q'arlynd and a group of drow wizards from the city of Sshamth conducted a High Magic ritual that transformed those drow not tainted by Wendonai’s blood and the followers of Eilistraee into their original dark elven form. As a result, Corellon Larethian, the leader of the elven pantheon of gods, permitted the souls of Eilistraee’s faithful and the newly transformed dark elves to enter Arvandor, the divine realm of the elven deities. In Thay in 1375 DR, the lich Szass Tam, the zulkir (mage-lord) of the Order of Necromancy, secretly caused a series of crisis to afflict the country and helped solve several of the problems in an attempt to convince the nation’s people to have him made supreme ruler. Szass Tam’s plans were eventually uncovered and revealed to the other mage-lords of the Council of Zulkirs, who refused to support the lich. A civil war in Thay in which Szass Tam and his followers battled the Council of Zulkirs and the forces loyal to them soon erupted. For the next ten years, destructive and chaotic fighting raged throughout Thay, but the war developed into a stalemate with neither side gaining a distinct advantage, even though some of the country’s governors and nobles, including members of the Council of Zulkirs, switched sides a couple of times. Shortly after the Spellplague occurred in 1385 DR, Szass Tam and his forces managed to decisively defeat the armies of the Council of Zulkirs. The surviving mage-lords and the remnants of their followers retreated from the main part of Thay and planned to establish a new dominion in the Wizard’s Reach. Szass Tam’s army attempted to annihilate the Council and their remaining forces before they could escape into exile, but the lich’s minions were driven back in a battle at sea. Following the end of the war, Szass Tam officially became the supreme ruler of Thay and consolidated his control over the nation. The port city of Luskan was ruled by the Arcane Brotherhood, a guild of wizards that was led by the lich Arklem Greeth and that supported the pirates of the Sea of Swords. In 1376 DR, Deudermont, the captain of the Sea Sprite, a pirate-hunting ship, sought to eliminate the corruption in Luskan by ending the Brotherhood’s rule. Assisted by soldiers from Waterdeep and a few Companions of the Hall, Deudermont gained the support of most of Luskan’s population and moved against the Arcane Brotherhood. Deudermont’s followers defeated the Brotherhood’s forces, but when they advanced against the mages’ headquarters, the Hosttower of the Arcane, Greeth caused a magical explosion that destroyed the stronghold and inflicted heavy casualties. Deudermont became the governor of Luskan, and although he tried to rule the city efficiently but justly, it was beset by multiple problems, particularly a lack of food supplies. The High Captains of Luskan, the roguish leaders of the city’s five factions, worked to undermine Deudermont’s authority with the assistance of Bregan D'aerthe, and Greeth sent various undead creatures to assail the port’s people. Eventually in 1377 DR, the High Captains led their forces in a revolt against Deudermont. The supporters of Deudermont were defeated, the governor was killed, and the High Captains gained control of Luskan. During the fighting, Greeth attacked the Sea Sprite, and though the wizard Robillard destroyed the lich’s physical form, the ship sunk in the harbor of Luskan. Following the High Captains’ uprising, Luskan became a trading port that had no restricting regulations, and Bregan D'aerthe began to conduct mercantile activities in the city. The Spellplague was a disastrous event that occurred when Cyric murdered Mystra at the behest and with the aid of Shar, who sought to obtain control over the Weave, the universal structure of arcane forces. However, Mystra’s death resulted in the collapse of the Weave, causing arcane magic to cease to function properly and Toril to be transformed. The Spellplague affected almost every part of Faerûn and certain areas were eliminated entirely, while others were created anew. Mulhorand, Unther, Halruaa, the Shaar, and Luiren were all devastated or completely obliterated by the Spellplague. Waves of azure flame caused by the Spellplague swept across the lands of Faerûn and killed or altered everything that they touched. The curtains of blue fire also extensively reshaped the landscape in various ways and caused the formation of many earthmotes, pieces of land that were floating due to the influence of magic. Conflict, chaos, and political upheaval occurred throughout the nations and states of Faerûn, especially among peoples who relied heavily on the use of arcane magic. Dweomerheart was destroyed during the Spellplague and sent Azuth, the god of wizards, to the Nine Hells, where the archdevil Asmodeus consumed his divine essence and became a god. For his actions, Cyric was tried by a conclave consisting of Tyr, Lathander, and Sune, the goddess of love. The three deities found Cyric guilty of Mystra’s murder and sentenced him to one thousand years of imprisonment in his divine realm, the Supreme Throne. Lathander later altered his divine aspect and transformed into Amaunator, the god of the sun. By 1395 DR, many of the effects of the Spellplague had ended and most arcane magic had returned to a semblance of normality, but there were a few major changes to the way that spells were cast. When the Spellplague occurred, a wave of azure fire released the necromantic energy of the ruined Crenshinibon, reviving as apparitions the seven original liches who had created the artifact and giving ghostly sentience to Yharaskrik. The dead illithid tricked Hephaestus into using his fiery breath on Crenshinibon again, which transformed the dragon into a dracolich. Yharaskrik then compelled Hephaestus to smash Crenshinibon into his skull, magically binding them together, before also fusing with the dragon. Together, the three became a mighty entity known as the Ghost King. Once he summoned a host of monstrous creatures from the Shadowfell and undead minions, the Ghost King began to launch assaults on Carradoon and Spirit Soaring. The Ghost King’s undead servants destroyed Caradoon, but many of the inhabitants escaped from the town with the help of Pikel Bouldershoulder and Cadderly Bonaduce’s three children: Temberle, Hanaleisa, and Rodrick Bonaduce. After Catti-brie and Regis were struck down by the blue fire of the Spellplague, Drizzt Do'Urden, Bruenor Battlehammer, Guenhwyvar, Jarlaxle Baenre, and a couple of their dwarf comrades journeyed from Mithral Hall to Spirit Soaring, where they helped Cadderly and the library’s other inhabitants fight against the Ghost King and his forces. Although Cadderly was able to use magical powers that were much greater than his normal abilities, Spirit Soaring was still destroyed during the many clashes against the Ghost King and his servants. Twice, the companions severely wounded and nearly defeated the Ghost King, but each time the undead dragon magically retreated to the Shadowfell, where he rapidly recovered. Cadderly ultimately followed the dracolich to the Shadowfell and defeated the Ghost King, but he was forced to sacrifice his life and become the new Ghost King. In order to prevent the dracolich from returning to the Prime Material Plane, Cadderly was forced to eternally reinforce and guard the magical ward containing the rift, which was the ruins of Spirit Soaring, that the original Ghost King had left between the planes. Shortly after Drizzt and his friends returned to Mithral Hall, both Catti-brie and Regis died from the effects of the Spellplague and their souls were taken by the drow ranger’s patron deity, Mielikki, the goddess of forests.