In 882 DR, a village and trading post on the shore of a
deep bay in the shadow of a great mountain was named
Nimoar's Hold, after the Uthgardt chieftain who claimed
the area and fortified it. The place became known to sea
captains as "Waterdeep," a name that displaced the orig-
inal within a few generations. In 1032 DR, Ahghairon,
heir to the arts of Netheril, saved the city from itself by
unseating Waterdeep's warlord and would-be emperor,
Raurlor. Ahghairon declared that wisdom, not strength
of arms, would rule in the city from now on, and created
the Lords of Waterdeep.
These and other nations and great city-states rose to
prominence along the Sword Coast, forming a chain
along the Trade Way from Illusk in the far north to
Baldur's Gate in the south, near the borders of Arnn.
Like their elven and dwarven predecessors, they fought
off attacks by savage humanoids, including ore hordes
from the Spine of the World. Waterdeep, guided by its
mysterious Lords, became a rising power, while old
Illusk fell to the ores for decades, until it was eventually
reclaimed and the city of Luskan built upon its ruins.THE PRESENT AGE
The four and a half centuries since the establishment of
the Lords of Waterdeep have been tumultuous times for
the Sword Coast and the world. Throughout this period,
civilization struggles against the savage forces of chaos,
and life attempts to persevere against the agents of death
and strife, sometimes in places where even the gods
themselves have not been exempt from destruction.
The last one hundred fifty years have comprised one
of the most cataclysmic periods in Faeriln's history. On
no fewer than three occasions, Tori! has been shaken to
its core by forces that have repeatedly rewritten the laws
of reality.THE TIME OF TROUBLES
In 1358 DR, the gods were cast out of their otherworldly
domain and made to wander the land incarnated as
mortals. In seeking to recover their divinity, they warred
among themselves. Magic became unpredictable, and
the prayers of the faithful went unanswered. Some of
the gods-turned-mortal were slain, while a handful of
mortals ascended to godhood, assuming the responsibil-
ities of the dead deities.THE RETURN OF NETHERIL
In 1374 DR, the Empire of Netheril rose again when the
floating city of Thultanthar, commonly known as Shade,
returned from a nearly two-thousand-year-long excur-
sion in the Shadowfell, to hover above the Anauroch
desert. The shadow-touched nobles of the city almost
immediately began hunting for ancient Netherese ruins
and artifacts and preparing for a restoration of their
once-great empire.THE SPELLPLAGUE
In 1385 DR, the ascended deity Cyric, aided by Shar,
murdered Mystra, the goddess of magic, in her domain
of Dweomerheart. This act ripped asunder the fabric
of magic in the world, unleashing its raw power in a
catastrophe called the Spell plague. Thousands of prac-
titioners of the Art were driven mad or killed, while the
face of Faeriln was reshaped by waves and veils of mys-
tic blue fire. Entire nations were displaced or exchanged
with realms from other worlds, and parts of the earth
were torn free to float in the air.THE SECOND SUNDERING
A century after the Spellplague, the lands and peoples of
Faeriln had become accustomed to the state of things-
just in time for everything to change again.
The first indication of new turmoil came in 1482 DR,
when Bhaal, the long-dead god of murder, was reborn
in Baldur's Gate amid chaos and bloodshed, leaving two
of the city's dukes and many of its citizens dead. The
return of Bhaal and his apparent reclamation of the do-
main of murder from Cyric led some scholars and sages
to believe that the rules by which all deities must abide
were in flux.
In 1 484, strange calamities began to occur through-
out Faeriln. An earthquake struck Iriaebor. A plague
of locusts afflicted Arnn. Droughts gripped the south-
ern lands as the sea steadily receded in places. Amid
this tumult, conflict broke out in many regions of the
continent. The ores of Many-Arrows warred against
the dwarfholds of the North and their allies. Sembia
invaded the Dalelands, and Cormyr raised an army to
come to the aid of the Dalesfolk. Netheril brought forces
to Cormyr's border, and Cormyr was drawn into a war
on both fronts.
Throughout this period, tales began to spread of indi-
viduals who had been touched by the gods and granted
strange powers. Some of these so-called Chosen were
at the root of the conAicts that grip the land. Some
seemed driven by divine purpose, while others claimed
to be mystified as to why they would be singled out.
In 1485 , in Icewind Dale, the Chosen of Auril foments
war with Ten-Towns and was defeated. In Anauroch,
seeing that Netherese forces were spread thin, the
long-subjugated Bedine people rebelled. Having de-
feated or besieged the dwarfholds of the North, ores
march on Silverymoon. In Cormyr and Sembia, the
Netherese and the Cormyreans traded ground, while the
Dalelands became a war zone. As if to offset the drought
in the south, in the autumn of 1485 the Great Rain be-
gan to fall around the Sea of Fallen Stars and continued
unceasingly.
While the waters rose to the east in early 1486 , the
tide turned against the ores in the North, and by the
end of the year their armies were broken and scattered.
Also during that year, the elves of Myth Drannor came
to the aid of the Dalelands and helped push back Sem-
bian forces. On the Sword Coast, the Hosttower of the
Arcane rose again in Luskan, along with the Arcane
Brotherhood. In Waterdeep and Neverwinter, efforts
were made to clear those cities of century-old rubble
and neglect. Cormyr repulsed the last of the Sembian
and Netherese forces from the nation, reclaiming its ter-
ritory, and recalled its forces, turning inward to address
issues of rebuilding.
Late in 1486 , the Great Rain finally abated, but this
event didn't signify an end to the chaos. The Sea of