Welcome back to Waterdeep and the Realms!
The Forgotten Realms, one of the world's most beloved and oldest campaign settings for the world's most popular role-playing, has been entertaining players and storytellers since the 1960s, when its creater, Ed Greenwood, first began writting within the world. For numberous reasons, the Forgotten Realms has not be adapted officially to the Pathfinder ruleset. The official storyline for the campaign world has taken a different turn, advancing over 100 years, destroying much of the established cannon, and rewritting the very surface of the world. What I present here is an alternate version of the world, one closer to the earlier versions of the Realms, both in time and in feel. With that, the new history of the Forgotten Realms.
DR 1385, the Year of Blue Fire
In the Year of Blue Fire, Cyric, the Mad God of Strife and Murder, and Shar, the Goddess of Darkness and the Shadow Weave, constructed an ellaberate plan to kill Mystra, Goddess of Magic, and split her power between them. Their plan was expansive and flawless except for one factor seemingly forgotten: the god Savras, patron of Diviners and Truthseekers, and subordinant to Mystra.
Savras was thought to be powerless to foresee Cyric and Shar's plan, and even if he had foreseen it, fickle in his loyalties to the Lady of Mysteries. Savras not only foresaw the dark Gods sceme but also the fallout Cyric and Shar had failed to conceive of themselves. If Mystra was slain, her realm of Dweomerhome would collapse, killing Savras and Mystra's other servitor dieties and collapsing the very Weave of magic. Savras took all of this to Mystra in warning, hoping it was enough to save magic.
The Death of Mystra and Rise of the Chosen
Savras arrived just in time to see Cyric attack Mystra. As the Mad God went to deliver the killing blow, Savras threw himself under Cyric's blade, suffering a mortal wound but buying Mystra a few more moments of life.
Mystra used this time to call out to her Chosen. In her time of need, Mystra called her Chosen to her side, to stand with her in desperate battle against her immortal enemy.
Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, the Seven Sisters and Elminster himself each responded to the call. In Mystra's desperate final stand, her mortal champions stood and fought by her side. It isn't know which the Chosen survived, just that some must have. Fore in her last moment of life, with Cyric looming over her, Mystra ordered her remaining Chosen to support the Weave, to keep it from collapsing, to keep magic alive. And with that last command, Mystra died to Cyric's hand.
In the skies over Toril, white-blue fire erupted as far as the eye could see in all directions, from horizon to horizon. Almost as soon as they appeared, the flames disappeared. The Weavestabilized, saved by the remaining Chosen of the now dead goddess.
Dweomerfall: the rebirth of the Chosen
When Mystra died, her plane of Dweomerhome and the Weave itself collapsed, bound to her as they were. Her Chosen sacrificed themselves to the Weave, stablizing it with the shards of divinity granted to them by their goddess and being absorbed into the Weave.
Alerted by such a catestrophic event, Helm, Tyr, Torm, Lathander and numberous lesser gods captured Cyric and bound him, locking him away in his planar realm of the Supreme Throne. Ilmater revived Savras, healing his serious wound. Azuth, God of Mages and Magic-users, Mystra's right hand, realized the sacrifice of the Chosen but also realized the true nature of such a melding with the Weave: the Chosen had become the Gods of Magic, the Weave their avatar, control of all magic their's to do with as they wished. Azuth took it on as his responsiblity to commune with these dieties and make sure they understood their responsibilities.
What Azuth found confused and astonished him. The Chosen were ascended, absorbed into the Weave as he had foreseen but their individual minds and consciousnesses no longer existed. They had become the Chosen, the impersonal, impartial mind of the Weave itself, unconcerned with followers and worshipers, only with the safety and stability of magic in the Realms.
The Realms remained much the same but much had changed that day, to be known henceforth as Dweomerfall, the final death of Mystra.
Today:DR 1386, the Year of the Halfling's Lament
Life goes on in the Realms as it has for most of the Era of Upheaval but a few noticable exceptions exist:
-The Gods have taken a more vested interest in the day-to-day dealing of mortals since Dweomerfall. The events of that day reminded the gods that powers can die and mortals can ascend (outside of the Time of Troubles, in case they forgot).
-Khelben "Ravencloak" Arunson (the "real" Khelben Arunson) has returned from Oerth and taken over his grandfather's tower in Waterdeep, as well as his title of High Mage of Waterdeep. With his reappearance, Tsarra Chaadren has had to step down as "Khelben", while she retains her status as the the "Blackstaff" and head of the Moonstars. Khelben the Younger finds himself in conflict with Tsarra over the legacy of the Blackstaff, the Ravencloak disaggreeing with his grandfather's political puppettry and the Moonstars' hidden agendas. Tsarra, of course, believes the Blackstaff could do no wrong and was only saving stupid people from themselves.
-The Knights of Myth Drannor have retaken the city and rule over the forest of Cormanthear as a reestablished elven nation. The fey'ri and their diabolic allies have been permanently ousted from the forest.
The Forgotten Realms, one of the world's most beloved and oldest campaign settings for the world's most popular role-playing, has been entertaining players and storytellers since the 1960s, when its creater, Ed Greenwood, first began writting within the world. For numberous reasons, the Forgotten Realms has not be adapted officially to the Pathfinder ruleset. The official storyline for the campaign world has taken a different turn, advancing over 100 years, destroying much of the established cannon, and rewritting the very surface of the world. What I present here is an alternate version of the world, one closer to the earlier versions of the Realms, both in time and in feel. With that, the new history of the Forgotten Realms.
DR 1385, the Year of Blue Fire
In the Year of Blue Fire, Cyric, the Mad God of Strife and Murder, and Shar, the Goddess of Darkness and the Shadow Weave, constructed an ellaberate plan to kill Mystra, Goddess of Magic, and split her power between them. Their plan was expansive and flawless except for one factor seemingly forgotten: the god Savras, patron of Diviners and Truthseekers, and subordinant to Mystra.
Savras was thought to be powerless to foresee Cyric and Shar's plan, and even if he had foreseen it, fickle in his loyalties to the Lady of Mysteries. Savras not only foresaw the dark Gods sceme but also the fallout Cyric and Shar had failed to conceive of themselves. If Mystra was slain, her realm of Dweomerhome would collapse, killing Savras and Mystra's other servitor dieties and collapsing the very Weave of magic. Savras took all of this to Mystra in warning, hoping it was enough to save magic.
The Death of Mystra and Rise of the Chosen
Savras arrived just in time to see Cyric attack Mystra. As the Mad God went to deliver the killing blow, Savras threw himself under Cyric's blade, suffering a mortal wound but buying Mystra a few more moments of life.
Mystra used this time to call out to her Chosen. In her time of need, Mystra called her Chosen to her side, to stand with her in desperate battle against her immortal enemy.
Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, the Seven Sisters and Elminster himself each responded to the call. In Mystra's desperate final stand, her mortal champions stood and fought by her side. It isn't know which the Chosen survived, just that some must have. Fore in her last moment of life, with Cyric looming over her, Mystra ordered her remaining Chosen to support the Weave, to keep it from collapsing, to keep magic alive. And with that last command, Mystra died to Cyric's hand.
In the skies over Toril, white-blue fire erupted as far as the eye could see in all directions, from horizon to horizon. Almost as soon as they appeared, the flames disappeared. The Weavestabilized, saved by the remaining Chosen of the now dead goddess.
Dweomerfall: the rebirth of the Chosen
When Mystra died, her plane of Dweomerhome and the Weave itself collapsed, bound to her as they were. Her Chosen sacrificed themselves to the Weave, stablizing it with the shards of divinity granted to them by their goddess and being absorbed into the Weave.
Alerted by such a catestrophic event, Helm, Tyr, Torm, Lathander and numberous lesser gods captured Cyric and bound him, locking him away in his planar realm of the Supreme Throne. Ilmater revived Savras, healing his serious wound. Azuth, God of Mages and Magic-users, Mystra's right hand, realized the sacrifice of the Chosen but also realized the true nature of such a melding with the Weave: the Chosen had become the Gods of Magic, the Weave their avatar, control of all magic their's to do with as they wished. Azuth took it on as his responsiblity to commune with these dieties and make sure they understood their responsibilities.
What Azuth found confused and astonished him. The Chosen were ascended, absorbed into the Weave as he had foreseen but their individual minds and consciousnesses no longer existed. They had become the Chosen, the impersonal, impartial mind of the Weave itself, unconcerned with followers and worshipers, only with the safety and stability of magic in the Realms.
The Realms remained much the same but much had changed that day, to be known henceforth as Dweomerfall, the final death of Mystra.
Today:DR 1386, the Year of the Halfling's Lament
Life goes on in the Realms as it has for most of the Era of Upheaval but a few noticable exceptions exist:
-The Gods have taken a more vested interest in the day-to-day dealing of mortals since Dweomerfall. The events of that day reminded the gods that powers can die and mortals can ascend (outside of the Time of Troubles, in case they forgot).
-Khelben "Ravencloak" Arunson (the "real" Khelben Arunson) has returned from Oerth and taken over his grandfather's tower in Waterdeep, as well as his title of High Mage of Waterdeep. With his reappearance, Tsarra Chaadren has had to step down as "Khelben", while she retains her status as the the "Blackstaff" and head of the Moonstars. Khelben the Younger finds himself in conflict with Tsarra over the legacy of the Blackstaff, the Ravencloak disaggreeing with his grandfather's political puppettry and the Moonstars' hidden agendas. Tsarra, of course, believes the Blackstaff could do no wrong and was only saving stupid people from themselves.
-The Knights of Myth Drannor have retaken the city and rule over the forest of Cormanthear as a reestablished elven nation. The fey'ri and their diabolic allies have been permanently ousted from the forest.