The kingdom of Durpar lies south of the Raurin Desert, in the southeastern corner of Faerûn. Long thought destroyed by residents of the rest of the continent, this coastal kingdom is beset by the menacing monsters of the Beastlands. The remnants of Durpar’s once-wealthy chakas (merchant houses) survive through trade with Estagund and High Imaskar, while the ruling Datharathi chaka experiments with magic crystal inlays.

DURPAR REGIONAL BENEFIT
You gain a +2 bonus to all Perception checks.

Common Knowledge
Durpar consists of the city of Vaelan, the town of Assur, and a handful of scattered keeps. Although largely forgotten by the rest of Faerûn, the region survives under the rulership of the Datharathi chaka, despite the threat of the surrounding Beastlands. Goblins of the Iron Eye tribe patrol the streets of Vaelan, and whispers speak of bribes paid to the shadowy Beast Lords, so some people might say that Durpar has already become a monster-ruled land.

Regional Features
The kingdom of Durpar clings to the meandering coast of the Golden Water. Other than its two communities, the region consists of farmlands and a handful of keeps.

Assur: This small port town has a bustling market and a deep harbor. It serves as a military and naval encampment to defend Durpar’s coastal traffic and farmlands. Assur is known for its tough human, halfling, and goblin warriors.

The Beastlands: The region north of Estagund and west of Durpar is known as the Beastlands. These beast-haunted reaches are home to monster-ruled city-states where humans, half lings, and birdlike people known as kenkus survive as slaves or cattle, and passing merchant caravans are preyed upon with impunity.

Vaelan: Durpar’s capital city is the largest remaining settlement in the kingdom. It retains the grandeur of a once-proud trading city, but the conversion of rooftop gardens to subsistence farming—and the presence of goblins of the Iron Eye tribe on the streets—hint at how far the kingdom has fallen.

Vaelan’s chakas reside in slender spires that rise up from the central business district, and gangs of kenku thieves and half ling ruffians battle in the shadows of the outlying districts. The merchant houses still dominate the economy and culture, though none dare cross the ruling Datharathi chaka.

People of Durpar
The inhabitants of Durpar are primarily humans, half lings, and kenkus, though goblins of the Iron Eye tribe dominate the armed forces of Vaelan. All manner of monsters able to assume human form are assumed to lurk among the population. With rare exceptions, visitors hail only from Delzimmer, Estagund, or High Imaskar. Natives of Durpar nominally follow the Adama, a strict code of honesty and personal conduct, over individual gods. As a practical matter, however, most hope just to survive. Commerce still forms the backbone of the Durpari economy, though the chakas are much diminished in wealth and influence. The inhabitants of Durpar view the outside world with a mix of bitterness and longing. Most feel abandoned by the rest of Faerûn, yet they seek a better life far from the encroaching menace of the Beastlands.

Adventurers
Durpar lies poised on the edge of savagery, all but cut off from the rest of Faerûn by the monsters of the Beastlands. Adventurers who hail from Durpar know that the barrier between civilization and the wild is easily breached. The dangers posed by sentient monsters are all too real, but it is possible to reach an understanding with even the most savage of beasts if one is willing to make the effort.

ADAMA’S TOOTH
This nearly vertical monolith stands near the mouth of the Raurin Gap between the Dustwall and the Giant’s Belt Mountains. Soldiers of the Datharathi chaka and a perpetual cloud of darkness bar entry into this once-profitable mine, and rumors speak of horrors in the depths below.

OLD VAELAN
The ruins of Old Vaelan, which lie on the frontier of chaka-ruled territory, are rumored to contain the lost wealth of old Durpar. However, few visit the grassy knolls and stone rubble that mark the location of the former city. The dead do not rest easy beneath the ruins, and packs of marauding beasts are said to roam the region.

Amid roiling clouds of purple dust rises the newly founded empire of High Imaskar, some 4,000 years absent from Toril. Its appearance marks the return of an ancient and much-reviled nation, a people whose stamp on history continues to foster fear and distrust. Although High Imaskar has broken with many of its former customs, its checkered past stoke the suspicions of times gone by.

HIGH IMASKAR REGIONAL BENEFIT
You can reroll any Arcana check, but you must keep the second result, even if it is worse.
You also know Deep Speech as an additional language.

Common Knowledge
High Imaskar stands on the ruins of ancient Mulhorand, a nation shattered nearly a century ago by the Spellplague, its people destroyed, its gods vanished. In the vast emptiness came the Imaskari, appearing as if they had stepped through millennia of history, untouched and unchanged. Beginning with the reemergence of the Palace of the Purple Emperor, the Imaskari extended their influence throughout the vacated lands and even farther. High Imaskar has been careful to break with its more sinister traditions, going so far as to abolish slavery in all forms. Yet its natural penchant for magic and its adherence to other old customs lead many to question the nation’s true motives.

Regional Features
Mulhorand did not go peacefully into the night, and the Spellplague saw the land utterly transformed into an unlikely fusion of motes of all types, yawning abysses, towering spires, rivers of earth tumbling across the lands, clouds of roiling fire, boiling yellow seas giving off brimstone bubbles, and other strange environmental phenomena. Such is the influence of wild magic on the region that travel is a challenge in itself. Instincts trump the senses because sights, sounds, and smells can’t be trusted.

Pyramid of the Seer: The tumultuous magic responsible for annihilating Mulhorand exposed numerous tombs and old structures. The Pyramid of the Seer, easily the most infamous, contains a terrifying assortment of traps and monsters. Anyone who survives the trials and finds the pharaoh’s tomb is supposed to be able to learn the answer to any mystery set before the spirit.

Plains of Purple Dust: In an everchanging land, one fact remains constant: A vast desert of purple dust creeps ever westward. Almost as if alive, the desert extends its tendrils beyond the Giant’s Belt Mountains, blowing against the eastern slopes of the Dragonsword Mountains, and stretching toward the lands held by High Imaskar. As far as deserts go, the Plains of Purple Dust is every bit as inhospitable as other wastelands in Faerûn. However, the odd nature of the ubiquitous sand carries a magical taint that poisons the land wherever it flows. Thus, it destroys grasses and trees and drives off indigenous life, creating a vast realm of purple emptiness.

The Plains of Purple Dust might appear to contain little more than shifting dunes, but it does harbor life. Burrowing deep beneath the desert are massive purple worms, terrifying creatures noted for their ravenous hunger. If rumors can be believed, the purple worms sighted on the fringes of the Plains are small varieties, and far larger breeds hunt in the deep desert, snatching their prey from the air as they leap forth from the sea of dust.

Skyclave: From High Imaskar’s capital, Skyclave, the Empress Ususi governs her people with the support of the Body of Artificers, Planners, and Apprehenders. Skyclave is essentially a single tower thrusting a mile above the ground. Like the branches of a tree, smaller secondary towers sprout from the neck of the central trunk, and festooned all along its height are staircases, balconies, portals, verandas, and more. Over half of the city’s population resides within the great tower, which (due to a magical effect) is larger inside than out. The rest huddle around it, supporting the city through agriculture, fisheries, and other industries.

People of High Imaskar
Humans dominate this region, descendants of the original Imaskari who fled into the Underdark, where they survived for thousands of years in exile. Although they share many similarities with other humans and indeed resemble them at a glance, close inspection reveals some curious features. For example, Imaskari have unusual skin striations, not unlike the marbling seen in some stones.

Imaskari prefer to wear dramatic and elaborate styles of dress, such as high-collared greatcoats that buckle up to the neck. Each coat is intricately patterned, woven with fine silver thread that seems to shift and writhe in the light. Beneath these outer layers, Imaskari of either gender favor black garb, from dark silken shirts to dull ebony boots. Rings decorate their flesh and fingers, and many of these accoutrements bear magical enhancements.

Aside from humans, only tieflings dwell here in any significant numbers, especially in the city of Gheldaneth, a remnant of ancient Mulhorand. Finding the magical traditions to their liking, they blend in as best they can. Few other races call High Imaskar home. The newness of the nation, its curious culture, and its deadly landscape dissuade many from settling here. A few bold traders sail the Sea of Fallen Stars to exchange goods at Skyclave, but they are infrequent visitors at best.

Adventurers
Centuries of isolation in the Underdark have instilled in the Imaskari a fascination with the surface world and the changes wrought since the fall of their ancient society. Although the needs of the people in their fledgling empire temper the impulse to explore, many Imaskari spend at least a portion of their lives beyond their nation’s bounds.

THE CITY OF THE GODS
High Imaskar contains numerous ruins from dead Mulhorand. Although many now lie plundered, the fabled City of the Gods proves elusive. The subject of legend, it is believed that this buried realm holds incredible treasures but also dire monsters and wicked traps.

In the Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR), a magical disaster called the Spellplague changed the face of Toril, its lost sibling Abeir, and even the planes themselves. Flesh, stone, magic, space, and perhaps even the flow of time were infected and changed.

Most scholars believe that the Spellplague was the direct result of the murder of the goddess Mystra at the hands of Cyric, which Shar engineered. This popular theory holds that magic was bound so long in Mystra’s Weave that, when the goddess died, it spontaneously and ruinously burst its bonds. Areas of wild magic, already outside the constraints of the Weave, touched off first, but the plague raged on and on in ever-widening spirals, devastating some places and
leaving others untouched. It even tore through the realms of demons, gods, and lost souls before the end.

Ancient realms that had passed beyond easy reach of the world were pulled back, such as the Feywild (called Faerie in ancient days). The Abyss, home of demons, fell through the planes, unleashing swarming evil before finding its new home at the bottom of the Elemental Chaos. Even the long-forgotten sibling world Abeir burned in the plague of magic, despite having been cut off from Toril for tens of millennia. Portions of Abeir’s landscape were transposed with areas of Toril in the disaster. Such landscapes included their living populations, bringing realms such as Akanûl and Tymanther to Faerûn’s face. Across the Trackless Sea, an entire continent of the lost world reappeared.

The Spellplague was a potent agent of change, but it also set off a whole string of secondary catastrophes.

Effects on Magic Items and Spells
Most items that permanently store magic, such as weapons, armor, cloaks, and boots, survived the
Spellplague and continue to function normally. Even though their creation used the Weave, permanent access to magic was built into such items when they were created. However, some items created prior to the Spellplague temporarily stored “charges” of magic, such as wands and staffs. Such items either no longer work or don’t function the same way they used to.

Many creatures that had been able to cast spells and channel magic through the Weave found themselves powerless in the Spellplague’s wake. Some never regained their abilities. Others attuned themselves to the new magical environment, aided by a diversity of talents, a process that took days for some and years for others. Still others took shortcuts to arcane power by swearing pacts to enigmatic beings.

Effects on the Landscape
The Spellplague ate through stone and earth as readily as flesh and magic. Broad portions of the continent of Faerûn collapsed into the Underdark, partially draining the Sea of Fallen Stars into the Glimmersea far below and leaving behind a gigantic pit called the Underchasm. The event splintered the Old Empires south of the drained sea into a wildscape of towering mesas, bottomless ravines, and cloud-scraping spires. Of those ancient lands, the most changed by the
Spellplague were Mulhorand, Unther, and Chondath, as well as portions of Aglarond, the shores of the Sea of Fallen Stars, and the Shaar. What was once called Halruaa was destroyed in a great holocaust, as if every spell held there had loosed its power simultaneously. The land bridge between Chult and the Shining South was sunk; now only a scattered archipelago remains.

Tendrils of the Spellplague reached to many other corners of Toril, sometimes bypassing great swaths of land by infecting both sides of the many portals that dotted the world. Such an effect might have been responsible for drawing portions of lost Abeir into Toril. Some sages suggest that the two worlds have undergone periodic conjunctions ever since they diverged, but that these were too subtle for most creatures to notice. By an accident of timing, the Spellplague occurred during just such a conjunction, which caused the briefly overlapping lands to run athwart each other instead of passing in the night as before.

Pockets of active Spellplague still exist today, most notoriously in the Plaguewrought Land. Each
of these plaguelands is strange and dangerous. No two possess the exact same landscape or features, but entering any of them could lead to infection by the Spellplague. Luckily for the world, the remaining plaguelands possess only a small fraction of the Spellplague’s initial vigor and are in hard-to-reach locales, often surrounded by twisted devastation. Most lands of Faerûn and Returned Abeir are entirely free of such pockets, though the plaguechanged and spellscarred (see below) might appear in any land.

Effects on Creatures
A creature, object, or spell touched by the Spellplague usually dissolved into glowing, dissipating ash. Places hit in the first few hours of the disaster twisted into mad nightmares: delicate structures of mind-skewing dimensions, half-melted cities, and shattered physical and magical laws. Sometimes living creatures survived but were hideously mutated. In the worst cases, they were altered, twisted, or fused to other creatures (regardless of species) or even to portions of the landscape. Most such mewling horrors perished within a few days.

A few things changed by the Spellplague survived only by accepting the new reality. Living creatures so affected are differentiated into two broad groups: plaguechanged and spellscarred.

Plaguechanged
A massive change in body and mind marks a creature that has survived contact with the original wave of the Spellplague. Such survivors are called the plaguechanged. Few of their descendants survive today—the initial plague was so virulent, and the changes wrought were so extreme. As well, many decades have passed since the Spellplague’s end, and old age claimed most of the plaguechanged. A few of the horrifying things bred true, though.  Plaguechanged creatures are monsters, whatever their original race, driven insane by their dreadful metamorphosis. Even the least of them display potent abilities. Luckily, few of these creatures leave the plaguelands.

Spellscarred
Spellscars are usually gained when creatures come too close to a plagueland, though sometimes they afflict beings who have never had any contact with rampant magic. Sometimes a spellscar is a physical abnormality, but more often it is an intangible mark that appears only when its power is activated. An active spellscar might appear as jagged cracks of blue light racing across the forearms and hands, a corona of cerulean flame, a blazing blue glyph on the forehead, or perhaps even wings of cobalt flame. In all instances, blue fire is a sure indicator of a spellscar.

A creature can learn to master its spellscar through a variety of methods. (The FORGOTTEN REALMS
Player’s Guide has more information.) Some beings travel to plaguelands in hopes of gaining a spellscar; such “scar pilgrimages” are encouraged by an organization called the Order of Blue Flame.

Toril is not only home to strange beings, but it also sports wondrous features. Some of these are natural, others created, and still others aftereffects of cataclysms, earthly or otherwise.

Earth Nodes
Streams of invisible power run beneath the earth, occasionally crossing and collecting in a single spot like river flowing into a lake. Such rare collection points are called earth nodes.

An earth node’s power isn’t visible to the naked eye, but such points are often eerily beautiful or bizarre. A giant geode or a teardrop–shaped, smooth-sided cavern might hold an earth node, as might any other wondrous subterranean shape. Such a sight isn’t always present, though, and the node’s power doesn’t respect physical boundaries. Some nodes even extend to the surface world.

The most common nodes are fairly small and weak. The exact size of a node and its field of power
varies from as wide as half a mile to about 30 feet across. Powerful nodes are rare and can radiate
their influence over a greater distance, but the strength of the effect doesn’t always correlate to a
wider field.

A few nodes have concentrations of active Spellplague. These horrifying places are essentially small, underground plaguelands called plaguecaves.

Earthmotes
Earthmotes are free-floating bits of landscape that defy gravity to hover in the sky. Despite their
appearance, these islands in the sky are as stable and durable as if they rested on the ground. Earthmotes are common along the edges of regions where portions of Abeir replaced Toril’s landscape, as if marking an imperfect seam between the fused worlds. Two or more earthmotes might be found together—in some places, small clusters of floating islands hang like eternal clouds. However, they can be found nearly anywhere, and lone earthmotes (often called simply motes) have become familiar features in even the most staid lands.

Earthmotes vary widely in size and altitude. Most are level on top, like ledges atop sheer cliffs, and taper to a point underneath so that they resemble upsidedown mountain peaks. Thus, climbing to the top of a mote is difficult.

A few earthmotes move like clouds made of stone, but most are stationary. They usually hang between 500 and 1,000 feet over the landscape, but some motes hover lower or even abut an earthbound feature. Disruptions, whether natural or magical, on or near an earthmote have no apparent effect on its ability to float.

Nearly all earthmotes support life and seem to reflect the natural landscape over or through which they float. Motes are often named according to the type of terrain they support—forestmotes, hillmotes, junglemotes, and prairiemotes are most common. Sometimes spectacular cataracts pour from watermotes. These falls never run dry, suggesting a connection with the Elemental Chaos. Certainly, similar features exist on that plane.

Some earthmotes are settled. They are highly defensible and often rich in resources, making them highly sought after. Like any valuable territory, motes are sometimes the objects of war and conquest.

Fey Sites
Inscribed, lintel-capped monoliths rise spontaneously from the earth, forming the supporting pillars of a trilithon. Circles of mushrooms surround a low hillock above which dance sparkles of light in the darkest hour of night. Such fey sites are common throughout Faerûn, and more so in the Feywild. Fey guardians watch over many such sites, defending against interlopers.

Fey Crossroads
A fey crossroads is an entry to the Feywild. Countless such ways are scattered across Toril. In some cases, a fey crossroads resembles an arch, marked by a pair of rune-scribed standing stones far enough apart to form a door. Sometimes a lintel caps two monoliths, and other times they stand like posts. Many fey crossroads are hidden from immediate view and require the Walk Crossroads (Forgotten Realms Player's Guide) ritual to discern. Such open- ings vary widely in size, but most are large enough to allow a Huge creature to squeeze through.

A fey crossroads functions like a portal, transporting a user to another such point elsewhere in the world or a specific place in the Feywild. Like portals, fey crossroads can be keyed, restricted, and
variable—often they deposit travelers in strange places somewhere near the destination. In the wake of the Spellplague, they can even be malfunctioning.

Some folk, known as fey guides, make a living by helping travelers use nearby crossroads. Such individuals are also valuable sources of lore and rumors about local fey activity.

Fey Mounds
Fey mounds are the hidden burial grounds of wild fey. When such a creature dies, its companions bring it to a mound and cover the body loosely with earth, branches, and leaves, sometimes even leaving its belongings behind. The body quickly decomposes, burying items and adding another fine layer to the heap. Mushrooms surround such mounds, though they are not always obvious. Lights, ghostly giggling, and fey apparitions are common near and on them.

Mythals
Mythals are enormous, layered magic constructions created by extensive and unique group rituals.
Such constructs protect Evermeet, Myth Drannor, Evereska, Myth Nantar, and several other locations.

Although all mythals were buffeted by the Spellplague, many of them survived the catastrophe. Most of those that shattered, such as the one that once sheltered Silverymoon, spared their lands from the worst of the Blue Fire in so doing. The ancient high mages wove mythals so well that their defenses adapted even to the sundering of the Weave.

During Mystra’s existence, mythals were tailored to provide magical support to citizens and allies of the enspelled area. Now they have lost much of their potency, becoming protective fields that hinder enemies while helping allies.

Plaguelands
Plaguelands are regions where the Spellplague still runs amok, changing everything it contacts.

The town of Loudwater sits at the confluence of the Delimbiyr and Grayflow rivers. The forested shoulders of the Star Mounts rise above the town in the northwestern sky. These cloud-veiled peaks remind the townspeople that beyond the town’s walls stretch wild lands, where deadly monsters threaten the unwary.

Merchants, caravan guards, local craftsfolk, hunters, farmers, and retired adventurers treat the Green Tankard Tavern in Loudwater as a second home. In the tavern’s common room, talk turns to tales of hostile tribes and barrows glimpsed through mists; folk speak warily of goblins in the Southwood, of the serpent folk of Najara, and of ancient, ruined kingdoms.

The tavern attracts young and old with its warm company and tall tales. But before buying an ale
for one of the inn’s regulars, a visitor should think carefully. Many adventures have started from stories exchanged over cheap ale and greasy food, but not all have ended with the glorious exploits of which bards sing. An old story or a wrinkled map could be the doorway to adventure—or the path to a quick death.

Loudwater offers a well-defended rest stop for caravans and riverboats. Nearby communities such as Llorkh and Zelbross lie in ruins, yet Loudwater survives, albeit with a diminished population, which holds steady at about 2,000. To the north stand the brooding trees of the High Forest. To the south is the High Moor, infamous for monsters that lurk in the mists, guarding the ruins of bygone kingdoms. Loudwater feels like a frontier town despite having once boasted a greater population. Its days of boundless prosperity are a century gone, and most of the town’s current residents, which include primarily humans and half-elves, are not old enough to recall them. Loudwater never fully recovered from the disruption of trade brought about in the wake of the disastrous Spell-plague, yet unlike many towns, it at least still stands.

Features:

1. Town Gates: A large gateway leads under a tall wall and opens onto the streets of Loudwater. Several bored-looking guards stand watch at the entrance.

2. South Square: Carts and tents surround a large communal well in the center of this plaza. The citizens of Loudwater bustle about the area, shopping for food, clothing, and crafts.

3. Garwan’s Curiosities: A sign bearing the image of a unicorn horn, an hourglass, and the words “Garwan’s Curiosities” hangs at the front of this store. Windows provide a view of bizarre items, including a shrunken head, candy wrapped in colorful leaves, playing cards, smoking accessories, fancifully decorated tankards, and more.

4. Starra’s Knives: This dimly lit shop smells of oil and steel. The southern wall has a large display containing hundreds of different knives and daggers.

5. Green Tankard Tavern: A sign with a green-painted tankard of ale proclaims the nature of this establishment. The tavern’s large common room holds a gregarious group that includes townspeople, riverboat folk, merchants, farmers, and one or two individuals wearing the badges of the Loudwater Patrol.

6. Loudwater General: A hanging sign shows this large building to be Loudwater General. From other signs on the storefront, the place appears to carry everyday goods necessary to those living
on the frontier.

7. Stables: The earthy scent of hay and manure is strong in this wide building. The whinny of horses and the snort of oxen indicates that the building houses many beasts of burden. Carts, wagons, and other transports are also parked nearby.

8. Loudwater Smithy: The clank of metal on metal, the hiss of steam, and the roar of flames issues through the open door of this establishment. A hammer and anvil decorate a sign hanging over
the door.

9. Loudwater Apothecary: A sign displaying several oddly shaped bottles hangs over the door of this shop. A dozen different scents waft through the doorway, including tangy musk, cinnamon spice, orange peel, baking bread, and gunpowder.

10. Patrol Headquarters: The symbol of a crossed sword and axe is blazoned high on this building. The clangs of metal and shouts from within indicate a fight might be underway.

11. Tenements and Homes: These dwellings crowd together within the walls, taking advantage of all available space. The buildings vary in quality; some appear well kept and house only one family, while others contain many families that have squeezed in together.

12. Temple: A temple is separated from the shops, homes, and tenements of Loudwater by a small hedge. The vine-covered walls of the temple rise high above the walls of Loudwater, and the spire’s tip appears to reach a full 100 feet above the ground. The symbol of an oak leaf gleams with its own emerald light above the grand archway leading into the temple.

13. Docks Gate: An inner wall, smaller than the walls surrounding Loudwater, separates the town’s northern dock district from the rest of the town. The gate between the two areas stands open and unguarded.

14. Docks: Several large log structures in the northeast section of Loudwater store the goods of merchants doing business in the town. By day, people bustle about the area, transferring barrels and crates between the storehouses and trade ships. The docks are small and allow only a limited number of ships to moor. Several small fishing boats vie with larger ships for space along the docks. By night, raucous noises issue from the pub situated along the west wall.

15. Fisher’s Friend Pub: The overwhelming odor of spirits and smoke wreathes this tavern. Calloused dockworkers and fishers drink and gamble away their pay. Wizened old men and women sip their ale in silence, waiting for an opportunity to tell a tale of the river.

16. Manor House: This grand manor house is a jewel of dwarven craftsmanship. The building includes its own stable, buttery, and servants’ home. The manor appears to be over two hundred
years old, and it looks as though it might weather another two hundred.

17. Run-Down Tenement: This decrepit, abandoned tenement building sits dejectedly in Loudwater’s northwestern corner. No doors or windows keep out the elements or the squatters.

Toril is the world that hosts the storied continent of Faerûn. Bitter winds sweep the steppes of the Endless Wastes, storm waves crash against the cliffs of the Sword Coast, and in between stretches a vast land of shining kingdoms and primal wilderness. The mysteries, secrets, and stories of Faerûn are virtually limitless.

Abeir is the realm forgotten. A twin to Toril and once joined with it, Abeir went its own way at the dawn of the world. Where gods and their servants oversee Faerûn, the lords of Abeir were towering primordials and elder wyrms, and savagery ruled with them. Now, after long epochs of separation, Abeir has joined with Toril once again, in a return both violent and unlooked-for.

Ten Important Facts

The following points describe the biggest changes to the world of Toril since the previous edition of the FORGOTTEN REALMSCampaign Setting. If you are familiar with the setting, these will summarize the major events in the world since 1374 DR, the Year of Lightning Storms. If you are new to the setting, this information will give you the basic background that most inhabitants know.

1. Roughly a hundred years have passed in the world since the previous edition of the campaign setting. The current year is 1479 DR, the Year of the Ageless One.

2. The Spellplague has drastically altered the cosmos. The Spellplague broke out in 1385 DR (the Year of Blue Fire), the result of unfettered wild magic on the death of the goddess Mystra. Whole countries are gone, especially in regions south of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Even familiar lands have become magical and fantastic in appearance. Islands of rock called earth-motes drift through the sky. Weird towers and spires of stone jut from the landscape. Spectacular chasms and waterfalls abound.

All things were sustenance for the Spellplague’s insatiable hunger—it assailed and transformed flesh, stone, magic, space, and dimensional walls. Even the cosmos beyond Toril was affected. Some ancient realms returned that had been thought gone forever (such as the Feywild), and entire planes (such as the Abyss) shifted to a new cosmic structure.

3. Portions of Abeir have fused with Toril. The Spell-plague raged even beyond planar boundaries, and Toril’s long-lost twin world, cut off for tens of millennia, was also caught up in the maelstrom. Large parts of Faerûn exchanged places with equivalent land masses on Abeir, bringing their populations with them. Across the Trackless Sea, an entire continent of the lost realm reappeared, now called Returned Abeir.

4. The number of gods has dropped markedly. During the last century, even deities succumbed to divine and diabolical plots or to the chaos of the Spellplague. Of those now absent, many died, some left, and a few were revealed to be aspects of already extant gods. Others lost so much power that they became exarchs, lesser divinities who serve the other gods.

5. The Spellplague left its mark on creatures. Some effects of the Spellplague persist to this day, especially in the so-called Plaguelands where wild magic yet rages unrestrained. After exposure to the Plague-lands, some creatures exhibit physical marks called spell scars. These spellscarred individuals develop unique abilities, but not without a price.

Victims of the original Spellplague were horribly changed, not simply scarred, their flesh warped in
unimaginable ways. The abilities of the spellscarred, though unique, are never as monstrous and powerful as those of plaguechanged creatures. Luckily, such monsters are few, and of those, only a handful are free-willed, mobile threats.

6. Huge Underdark collapses have changed the surface of Faerûn. As the earth fell away, the level and position of the Sea of Fallen Stars shifted drastically. An enormous opening into the Underdark has formed south of the Chondalwood. In addition to this country-sized hole in the earth, underground shifting has made the Underdark much more accessible to the surface world.

7. Thay has become a terrible undead threat. The former land of the Red Wizards is now under the
control of a single power-mad regent: Szass Tam. He nearly succeeded in performing a ritual that would have made him an immortal being. Szass Tam failed, but in so doing he transformed Thay into a nightmare land of death. Now the regent is intent on expanding Thay’s borders so that he can attempt the ritual again.

8. The ancient empire of Netheril has been restored. The Twelve Princes of Shade rule from their capital city, Shade Enclave, in a land newly reclaimed from the Anauroch Desert. Netheril is once again a major player and a threat to all the northern realms.

9. Ancient elven lineages have returned to Faerûn. With the reappearance of the Feywild, its natives
have begun exploring the world again. These fey folk collectively call themselves eladrin, and many
Faerûnian elves have also adopted this name for their lineage, though they have not forgotten their
traditional cultural distinctions and names. In casual speech, the world “elven” collectively refers to the two branches of this fey people: elves and eladrin.

10. Most portals no longer work. The breaking of the Weave destroyed most of the portals that crisscrossed Toril, because it destroyed the hard-won knowledge of arcane casters. Although arcanists have relearned their craft since the Spellplague raged, most portals remain nonfunctional or dangerously malfunctioning, broken relics of a legendary past.

Welcome to a world where adventurers delve into the depths to win great treasures of old, heroes stave off the insidious plots of shadowborn fiends, undead necromancers vie for absolute mastery of life, and voracious dragons hunt. Welcome to a land whose magic-soaked bedrock has spawned millennia of eye-popping wonders and heart-stopping threats.

Here lies great adventure for those who dare much. Intrepid wizards defy warnings scribed in the crumbling stone of ancient barrows. Criminals skulk in the alleys of noble and ignoble cities alike. Priests rally the faithful, calling on divine beneficence to aid companions. Warlocks vie for mastery over ancient pacts whose origins are better left concealed. Warriors swear allegiances of defense against legions of enemies too foul to face the light of day.

But here too, evil plots in the darkness, eager to expand its reach from dripping dungeons, endless
caverns, ruined cities, and the vast wild places of the world. Away from the main roads and the great cities, the countryside is wild and fearsome, hiding roaming gangs of vicious goblins, spying shades from reborn Netheril, and outriders of necromantic Thay, as well as deadly remnants of magical plague.

The world is a place of fey beauty and primeval malice. It is your land to shape, to guide, to defend, to conquer, or to rule.