Year of Forgiven Foes

• Start with the 3e material
• Shadovar:
  • Strutted their stuff, messed with Tilverton, eventually went silent, haven't been heard from since 1372.
• Obould:
  • See Silver Marches game.
  • Remainder of orcs fled into the Anauroch. They've been Warcraft 3'ing over there, building a new Great Horde that will likely be a major force in the near future.
• Thay:
  • Hoo boy. I want something different here. Zahl made her play, but was outmaneuvered, perhaps? She's had to flee, but other things were shaken up as well. Szass Tam is boring, so maybe Aznar Thrul finally got his way. Perhaps the nation is split along north-south boundaries.
• Chessenta:
  • Crazy Tiamat dragonborn nonsense! Tchazzar has given the country over to dragons and their kin! Otherwise, conquering as usual.
• The Moonsea:
  • With the threat of the Great Horde, the people of Cormyr, the Dales, and the Moonsea are scared. And where do scared people turn in a crisis? That's right, the red-hat wearing Banites are promising to Make the Heartlands Great Again if only you sign up with Bane/Pence 1386. Sadly, the message is actually taking hold.
• Cormyr:
  • Azoun V rules, with Lord Nero at his side. Alusair is exiled, but has vowed terrible vengeance.
• Magic:
  • The Spellplague happened. It sucked. The hardest part is over now, but there are still remnants here and there. Much more TBD

Let's have some completely new ideas.

The Lady of Shadow

In 1372, the Shadovar weren't the only shadowlings to emerge. A splinter group of the Church of Mystra merged with another of the Church of Shar, forming the Cult of the Lady of Shadow, or the "Daughters of Darkness". They contend that the current "Mystra" is in fact a fraud, a risen mortal given false powers as part of a conspiracy by, among others, Elminster of Shadowdale, who they contend is actually a Netherese Arcanist who is continuing his race's blasphemous war on their goddess.

The true Goddess of Magic, they contend, was grievously wounded when Karsus cast his fated spell, but managed to survive, drifting alone in the Shadow Realm. Her replacement was an unknown actor, also a fraud, perhaps a series of risen mortals, and her current incarnation can be clearly traced back to a minor wizardess of Cormyr in the 1350s. The lot of it has been a grand power play by the successors of Netheril, to various aims both alleged and held secret.

Meanwhile, they claim, the true goddess of magic was protected and nurtured by her mother, Shar, and slowly restored to health, in preparation for a grand cataclysm that was soon to come. Only with the help of worship, they contended, only with true faith of the devout, would she be strong enough to save the world from oblivion.

Unsurprisingly, the cult was mostly ignored, until the Spellplague arrived, when it seemed their magic was somehow unhindered. Naturally, this attracted great attention to their beliefs, and many were quickly won over. Today, a great many temples have sprung up, many of which were converted from the old faith of Mystra. She might have gained a great many new followers, but she suffers from a high degree of decentralization. She is known by many names now: the Daughter of Darkness, the Twilight Dancer, the Lady in Grey...invariably, her countenance seems to have shifted notably toward the darker end of the alignment spectrum. And yet, if she keeps granting spells, she will likely enjoy many a convert in these troubled times.

Transformed some landscapes, fucked up magic, yada yada.

Magic

Wizards were quick to discover the problems. Still, like 50% of them died. This created power vacuums, which allows for some interesting possibilities in places like Thay. The prudent thing to do was hunker down, drink a few pints, and wait for it all to blow over.