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= The Sunderings = Flipping through the many blank pages of the Grimoire, you come across several pages deep within. They seem to begin by over-viewing some of the major catastrophes that have befallen the Realms over many thousands of years that have become known as First and Second Sunderings. You also notice that a few pages in, a third section is marked with an ancient magical symbol that denotes the use of divination magics. By its title of <i>"The Third Sundering,"</i> which is an event you have not yet heard of, you are sure that this third section is either a work of fiction or speculation, the ramblings of a mad-man, or a prophetic vision of the future.<br /> <br /> <font color="#808080">((This post and the following two are a transcript of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAoq-vwWHHg public address] of <i>The Sundering</i> introduction at the <i>2012 Gencon</i>, spoken by James Wyatt. On the panel, but not in this transcript, were the notable authors:<i> Ed Greenwood, Troy Denning, Richard Lee Byers, Erin M. Evans, and Paul Kemp</i>. Not seated but related was the notable <i>R.A. Salvatore</i>. It outlines the events leading up to D&D Next and the Six Novels due out by the afore-mentioned authors, which will lead up to the D&D Next Timeline.))<br /> <br /> ((Please note: the mentions of <i>"Elliandrith of Orishar"</i> are likely not correct spelling. This was my best interpretation of what was spoken.))</font><br /> <br /> == The First Sundering == Nineteen Thousand Years ago in the Forgotten Realms, hundreds of Elven High Mages came together at the gathering place to cast a mighty spell. One that would create a new elven homeland where the elves could live in peace and safe from the forces of Lolth and Malar and the other evils that threatened them. The spell succeeded, more or less -- creating the Isle of Evermeet far off to the West. A green and pleasant land where they could live in peace -- but Evermeet was born out of a tragic catastrophe. Such powerful magic was beyond the control of even these powerful High Mages and even as the new land was born and the one land, Faerûn, was torn apart into different continents, giving its name to the largest of those continents. Elliandrith of Orishar was an elven wizard of the time, he was not a High Mage, he didn't participate in the Ritual so therefore didn't die -- but he was still attuned to the Magical Weave and as the spell of the High Mages spread, it rippled forward and backward through Time and Elliandrith saw two similar events to that Sundering and in this verse, he described all three of them as <i>"Sunderings."</i> His verse is actually why the Elven Sundering is called the Sundering and it also pointed to two other events when the world was torn asunder.<br /> <br /> So, the first one of those is known to historians as the <i>"Tearfall"</i> and it happened Thirty Two Thousand Years ago, when the world was dominated by the Creator Races and humans were primitive ape-like beings living in caves. One of the Creator Races was an amphibious race called the <i>"Batrachi,"</i> and they were embroiled in a war against armies of Titans. Desperate to save themselves in this loosing battle, they cast a mighty spell of their own and they woke several Primordials from their slumber. As Primordials started to rise up and rampage across the World again, the Gods quickly came to confront their ancient foes and mighty battle ensued. Earthquakes, fires, and windstorms tore across the World and as the battle drew to a climax, the Primordial called <i>"Asgorath the World-shaper"</i> took and ice moon and basically said, <i>"If I cannot rule this Planet, no one can!"</i> and hurled it toward the World. Then the Over-god stepped in. Ao said <i>"No, this World is not going to be destroyed."</i> and he created a twin of it. He gave the Gods dominion over Toril, the old World and gave the Primordials dominion over Abeir, the new one.<br /> <br /> There are ancient reports from a different creator race, the <i>"Sarrukh"</i> that comment on the changing of the stars -- but until recently no one really understood what that meant or gave it much credence. Asgorath's attack did not leave Toril unscathed, continents were torn apart and the World was devastated. The four inner seas merged together to form what is now The Sea of Fallen Stars. The dramatic climate change that followed pretty much spelled the extinction of the Batrachi and gave rise to the dominance of the dragons. Scholars have long called this event the Tearfall and speculated that a comet or maybe an ice moon and fell from the sky and dealt all this damage -- but again it wasn't until the return of Abeir and the Spellplague that the true significance of the event became clear.<br /> <br /> What is less well known is the role played in this event by the ancient artifacts called <i>"The Tables of Fate."</i> Ao created these Tables at the separation of the World to stand as a barrier between the two Worlds -- to keep the Gods and the Primordials separate from each other and to maintain a precarious balance between the two. In the immortal words of the novel Waterdeep, <i>"On these artifacts,"</i> the Over-lord said,<i> "I have recorded the forces that balance law and chaos."</i> The Tablets of Fate served as pillars to maintain the separations of the Worlds -- anchors for the mighty magic that Ao used to Sunder the Worlds and a clear delineation of the role of Gods and Primordials in the Universe. So that was the First Sundering.<br /> <br /> == The Second Sundering == Fourteen Thousand Years later was the Sundering of Elliandrith's time, when the Elven High Mages used the spell that was actually similar in concept to the one that Ao used to separate the World in the first place. They were trying to tear the fabric of reality slightly to create this homeland -- but they lacked an artifact that could serve as a focus, the way that the Tablets of Fate had. That's part of the reason that the spell ran out of control and dealt the devastation that it did. Hundreds of cities were washed away, thousands of elves lay dead and the face of Toril was changed forever. Still, the spell was successful. Like Ao's magic, it tore apart the World and even the Planes, taking a little piece out of Arvandor and placing it down in the middle of the Trackless Sea to serve as a bridge between Worlds and a homeland -- a peaceful refuge for the elves.<br /> <br /> Then came the <i>"Time of Troubles."</i> In 1358 DR, Myrkul and Bane stole the Tablets of Fate from Ao, believing that they could gain some of Ao's power. Ao called the other Gods into his presence and <i>"Give them back."</i> No body stepped forward and so Ao banished them all into mortal form to walk Toril<b><font color="#FF0000">*</font></b>. During this Time of Troubles, which is also called the <i>"Avatar Crisis,"</i> magic became unpredictable and the prayers of the faithful went unanswered. Now, eventually the Tablets of Fate were returned -- but by then the damage had been done.<br /> <br /> Ao destroyed the Tablets of Fate since the Gods had clearly demonstrated that they didn't care anything about the balance they were meant to uphold. Again, in the words of Waterdeep, <i>"The Tablets mean nothing,"</i> Ao said to the Gods, because the Gods had made a mockery of their meaning. <i>"I kept them to remind you that I created Gods to serve the balance, not to twist it to your own ends -- but this point was lost on you. You saw the Tablets as a set of rules by which to play juvenile games of prestige and pomp. Then when the rules became inconvenient, you stole them."</i> Since the gods cared nothing for the balance they were supposed to serve, Ao destroyed the Tablets and left the Gods to their games. He destroyed the pillars that kept Abeir and Toril apart.<br /> <br /> If the gods were determined to live in strife and upheaval, they might as well fight the Primordials again. So the Sundered Worlds began a slow drift back together. From the perspective of modern histories looking back at this event, this was the beginning of the <i>"Era of Upheaval."</i> The Tablets of Fate might not have contained any of the Over-god's power -- but on them were written the names of all their Gods and their Portfolios, the aspects of mortal life in the natural World in which each God holds sway. When the Tablets were no longer in Ao's control, the Divine Portfolios could shift around more easily and chaos among the Gods was the result.<br /> <br /> By the conclusion of the Avatar Crisis, Faerûn's Pantheon witnessed the ascension of Cyric, Midnight who became Mystra, and the Red Knight. The death of Bane, Bhall, Ibrandul, Myrkul and the death and subsequent rebirth of Torm -- and once the Tablets of Fate were destroyed the chaos continued for more than a century. Proving that they had learned nothing from the Avatar Crisis, the Gods only stepped up their games of juvenile prestige and pomp. Cyric and Mask conspired to kill Lliira, the Goddess of Illusion. Velsharoon ascended to God-hood. Bane returned to life. Lolth cocooned herself in the Demonweb-Pits and emerged more powerful than ever, then set about consolidating her control over the drow.<br /> <br /> The Mulhorandi and Utheric Pantheons disappeared from the Realms. In a single decade between 1375 DR and 1385 DR, no less than seven deities were slain, mostly of the Drow and Dwarven Pantheons -- and then came the <i>"Spellplague."</i><br /> <br /> Cyric, who was aided and abetted by Shar, murdered Mystra in her own domain. The plane disintegrated at once and destroyed the God Savras and sent Azuth and Velsharoon reeling into the Astral Plane. Without Mystra to govern the Weave, magic burst its bonds and ran wild across the World -- and a year later, perhaps hurried by the effects of the Spellplague - that collision of Worlds became complete. <i>"Collision"</i> is at best, a helpful metaphor, because really the Worlds intermingled with regions and continents properly belonging to one World, appearing instead on the other.<br /> <br /> So, the Spellplague began the second act of the Era of Upheaval, marked by just as much chaos as the first few decades after the Time of Troubles. During the century after the Spellplague, the number of Gods active in the Pantheon dropped again. More deities died, some simply left and a few were revealed to be aspects of other Gods or else they diminished so much that they merged into the essence of similar Gods. Some deities lost so much power that they became servants to Gods, kind-of taking shelter under the wings of Greater Powers. Wholly new Gods appeared in the Realms and Asmodeus became a God in his own right -- and even at the same time as all this upheaval was going on in the Divine Realm, the political realm was not much better -- the geo-political situation, speaking of Lolth. The World of Toril<b><font color="#FF0000">**</font></b> was shaken time and again by events from the horde invasion and the threat from the sea, to the conquest of Sembia and the restoration of Myth Drannor.<br /> <br /> == The Third Sundering == <font color="#808080">((This entire last post can be seen as a Spoiler in NWO's Timeline!))</font><br /> <br /> So, the third and final act of the Era of Upheaval begins. The next Sundering, the Third Sundering, Our Sundering<b><font color="#FF0000">***</font></b>. So, is it possible for the Over-god to change his mind? Perhaps Ao has relented, realizing letting the child gods has done more harm than good to his creation? Or, perhaps he has decided he made his point sufficiently clear and finally the dense, thick-headed Gods would get it? Maybe he planned all along to end the Era of Upheaval at this specific moment in history? In either case, the Gods have realized that Ao plans to recreate the Tablets of Fate. They know the plan but they have no idea what it really means for them. They know that things will be different when he's done -- but different Gods have different ideas of what that might mean.<br /> <br /> Some of them suspect that Ao's going to establish a hierarchy of power based on how many worshipers each has when the Tablets are complete -- 'cause at the end of the Avatar Crisis he told them that's what they needed, is to build up worshipers. So they used their mortal agents, their Chosen, to help them gain as many followers as possible in the last remaining sliver of time they have left. Others suspect or fear that Ao will be reassigning portfolios to get them clearly delineated on the Tablets again. So, they imbue their Chosen with the power to exert the God's influence over his or her portfolio over the World, to kind-of stake that claim. Some think it's pretty much the end of the world, so they're sending their Chosens to make sure their followers end up in the right heaven when it's all over. By in large, the Gods feel like they have to do <i>"something"</i> before the end comes, before this Sundering is complete and the Tablets of Fate are re-written.<br /> <br /> So, by the time that end comes, the Tablets will be recreated, the Worlds of Abeir and Toril will be separated once more and Toril restored to something a-kin to its former self. The Pantheon will be reshaped and enriched once more and the political landscape of Faerûn will change significantly. Once it is over, the Word of Ao declares, <i>"The Era of Upheaval has Ended."</i> Great stories remain to be told in this new Era -- but they are not the stories of Gods and God-like beings, they are the tales of mortal heroes, taking a stand to preserve the World they love. They are your stories.<br /> <br /> So, there is no single story of the Sundering. Countless stories emerged during this course of dramatic event. Stories of mighty heroes and ordinary folks who are struggling to stay alive and defend what they hold dear.<br /> <br /> <font color="#808080">((The following is the rest of the address leading up to and introducing the upcoming Novels))<br /> <br /> <br /> Against the backdrop of this divine drama and this political upheaval of the Sundering, we're highlighting six of those stories and novels. <br /> <br /> First, is <i>"The Companions"</i> by Bob Salvatore, then <i>"The Godborn"</i> by Paul Kemp, <i>"The Adversary"</i> by Erin M. Evins, <i>"The Reaver"</i> by Richard Lee Byers, <i>"The Sentinel"</i> by Troy Denning, and <i>"The Herald"</i> by Ed Greenwood. <br /> <br /> So in these six novels, we're telling the stories of six people, great and small with their allies and enemies as the great events of the Gods and Chosen, Wars and Upheavals play out around them. None of these characters, even Elminster, can see much less determine what the end of The Sundering will bring -- but all of them, through the choices they make, will leave a lasting mark on the new World. So, these novels are not the only stories to be told during The Sundering. <br /> <br /> ((End of Address))<br /> <br /> Zebular's Noted Amendments:<br /> <b><font color="#FF0000">*</font></b>He actually said <i>"walk the Earth."</i><br /> <b><font color="#FF0000">**</font></b>He actually said <i>"Faerûn."</i><br /> <b><font color="#FF0000">***</font></b>By <i>"Our Sundering"</i> he was referring to the Sundering that leads up to D&D Next.<br /> <br /> It is also fair to note that while he did indeed say that the novels do not need to be read in any certain order, that they will not only be published in the order stated but also that they will fall chronologically in order. He also said that by the time the first book has been published, all six will have been finished. They Sundering Novels released two months apart, starting in August of 2013 with <i>"The Companions"</i> by R.A. Salvatore.</font><br /> <br />
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