A Brief, Brief History of the last 20 years

Major Events

• In 1372, the Shadovar arrived. Read the FRCS.
• Between 1372 and 1385:
  • Silver Marches unified in a war with orcs.
  • Thay was unified under an Empress, ousted Red Wizards.
  • Lolth is dead, dark elves are all over the surface. Araushnee is back, as is Vyshaan, both ruling opposing kingdoms.
• In 1385, Mystra died, and the Spellplague struck. The Weave was torn apart, and its magicks went haywire. Witches, warlocks, druids, and other invokers are largely fine. Everyone else had to relearn magic. The gods now exist physically on the earth--at least, most of them.
• Since 1385, things have gradually calmed down. Spellplagued monsters were put down with the help of Artifice (and gods). The newly strengthened, unified realms were so shaken by the events that the feared grand war never materialized, but as they rebuild, it becomes a possibility once more.

People

Gods

Ok, they aren't people, but they look like them. As of 1385, The Faerunian gods have descended from the heavens, and now physically exist on the ground like the rest of us slobs. Specifically:

• Faerunian Pantheon: Bane, Gond, Lathander, Lurue, Mielikki, Mask, Sune, Tyr, Tempus, Torm, Tymora/Beshaba, and Waukeen
• Wild Gods: Dendar, Kaliya, Kezef, Imuen, Maram, Morgana, Ubtao, Vexas
• Primordials: Akadi, Grumbar, Istishia, Kossuth, Malar, Umberlee

Notably absent:

• Mystra (she's dead), and her parents(?) Selune and Shar
• The Elven pantheon (but they speak through their chosen, Leuthil)
• The Dwarven pantheon (but they can be reached through the Soulforge)
• The Drow pantheon (Lolth, Selvetarm, Kiaransalee, and Vhaeraun are dead; Ghaunadar has reverted to being a primordial; Eilistraee rejoined the elves)
• Mulhorandi/Untheric: revealed to be disembodied aliens bonded with mortal hosts in ancient Imaskar--banished and dissolved millennia ago, then becoming mythologized
• Other demihumans: nobody cares
• Helm: hmmm

Most of the now-physical gods have taken residence in their grandest center of worship, holding court, handing out blessings, etc. Some are itinerant, wandering as they please. A few are scheming to regain access to the heavens.

The Chosen

Mystra's chosen have lost and gained a few:

• Elminster and the Simbul haven't been seen in 13 years. Their daughter, Ashella, is nearly and powerful and positive a force as her progenitors. She is largely credited with the turnaround in Thay. Since the Spellplage, she has been notably different--colder, more distant, darker of mood.
• The Magister from 1375-1380 was Valin Arkanian of Thay. He disappeared, and has been replaced by Aurora Phaundal of Undrek'Thoz.
• Qilue died in battle with the Shadovar.
• Anastasia of Thay has claimed to be Mystra's chosen. She certainly has the magical power to show for it.

Shar apparently has a chosen: Lilith, daughter of Lucia the Prophetess, the latter of which engineered a massive transformation of the faith from its stronghold in Calimport. Her daughter holds the reigns of the Church in Calimport and the realm itself.

Others

• Shoon has been reborn. A young man from Calimport discovered that he was a clone of the ancient necromancer, and fell into conflict with a cult of Shoon attempting to bring back his greatness. He managed to remain independent, but when the Spellplague rent the magicks binding the armies of the dead inside Shoonach, only he could take control of them and bind them back into the Necropolis. Thus, he has become the new Necroqysar.

Places

The Sword Coast

The Shadovar showed up, tried to conquer the world, were thwarted. Legacy: shadow magic still exists.

The Silver Marches had a big war, came out stronger, grew in size and diversity. There's a tri-racial orc/elf/human king of an orc city in it.

Waterdeep has had an industrial revolution, thanks mainly to Penelope Wright, industrialist and engineer. Airships, trains, the whole nine. Still a city-state, but its reach is widening.

Ruathym is on the rise; the Iron Fleet under a warlord who claims to bear the son of Tempus, the God of War, has conquered much of the Sword Coast North, including Luskan, and they're likely to come to blows with Waterdeep soon.

The Syl-pasha of Calimport was overthrown. A fledgling democracy has replaced it, held together by the strength of the Church of Shar--an odd arrangement, seemingly doomed to fail, but propped up by the personal magnetism and power of Lily, the Daughter of Darkness.

The High Forest is now home to a city of elf-like beings called Leshay. They claim to be the precursors of elves, the original settlers of the world. They are immortal and very powerful, no more so than their leader, Vyshaan, who has vowed to remove all non-elves from the world and restore it to purity. He has found kindred spirits among many gold elves, but is strongly opposed by Araushnee--understandable, given that it was he who led the Crown Wars against her, ultimately destroying her realm, banishing her people to the Underdark, and imprisoning her in the Abyss for 10,000 years.

Evereska is, as ever, a fairly minor player. They were ravaged by phaerimm in 1372 when the Shadovar unleashed them, and have not had much time to recover. Unbeknownst to almost everyone in the city, their mythallar was corrupted by shadow magic, and has since become shadow-aligned.

The Heartlands

The Moonsea is unified by a shadowy network of merchant guilds, noble families, and militant organizations, all under the banner of the Grey League. Internal issues mostly sorted out, they are turning their attentions southward.

Cormanthyr is reborn, with Myth Drannor at its heart. The Coronal is a ranger and a warrior who prefers the Hunt--the true political power in the region is Leuthil, Chosen of the Seldarine, one of four claimants to Queen of the Elves. Their numbers are thin, but they boast a small fleet of starwood-hulled ship that ply not only the air, but the void above.

Cormyr is ruled by a wizard-king, Azoun V, whose closest councilor, Lord Nero, has been outed as a former Zhentarim agent. A civil war was averted when the mother of the kidnapped bastard grandson of Azoun IV reclaimed her son and slew the Iron Princess Alusair. The King has invited his cousin to court and legitimized him--second to himself, of course. He is courting foreign royals to secure his own lineage--among them Lady Calliope Forgecrown of Impiltur, and has even made overtures to the unmarried Leuthil Arcor of Cormanthyr, doubtless centuries his senior--but may just have to settle for a Marliir or something.

Sembia has been united under a "royal" family, the House of Ordulin. Lacking the audacity to proclaim himself king, Prince Renaud has declared Sembia a principality with himself as the Crown Prince. Of course, everyone knows the real power behind the throne is the beautiful and deadly Alessandra Selkirk--his non-exclusive paramour and provider of blades. Renaud is a natural charmer, and has positioned himself amidst the Inner Sea as a diplomat, attempting to keep the peace between the mighty powers.

Valshaquellar is a newcomer to the scene. Dark elven refugees from the destruction of Maerimydra, and many from S'shamath, founded the settlement in the valleys west of Cormyr. The city's true power lies with Alisannara Morcane, priestess of--well, she's not sure anymore, since Araushnee is real and Lolth is dead--but she refuses the title of Matron Mother and is trying to forge a new path for her people.

The Unapproachable East

Impiltur had a civil war, a crazy king was assassinated, and now everything is stable. King Liam rules, but Queen Sophia is the true power behind the throne. Her son Gabriel--favored son of the nation--was tragically assassinated in an attempt to incite a war, but she ensured that sense prevailed. Her infant grandson Cassiel stands to inherit. During the Spellplague, ancient magicks sealing away the daemoncysts failed, spilling demons into the countryside. The paladins were overwhelmed, their magic failing--save for one larger-than-life heroine, Cassandra Forgecrown, who saved the realm, and preaches of an older, more primordial god better worthy of their worship.

Veldanthiir, a subterranean realm beneath the Great Dale, was founded by refugees of Undrek'Thoz and other rebels against drow mainstream culture. Their leadership was strong in invocation magic, and they were able to seize the power of the seal of Dun-Tharos. Thanks to knowledge gained by his time amongst the Illithid Collective (he's better now), their chief scientist (now leader) Szoth has advanced the technologies of his people, creating powerful airships using Illithid technology.

Thay...oh boy. The Tharchioness of Eltabbar gathered power to herself, was challenged by Aznar Thrul, then defeated him in a mageduel by hiding her true power for decades (she's a witch). She then conquered Rashemen, and was narrowly thwarted from conquering Aglarond. She maneuvered the Red Wizards and Wychlaran into fighting each other, then betrayed them both, thinning their numbers considerably. She crowned herself Empress of Thay, removing the Red Wizards from political power. Not long later, she "died" and was succeeded by her appointed successor Anastasia, a much kinder and gentler ruler who outlawed slavery, freed Rashemen, and built bridges with Aglarond and Mulhorand. Anastasia married Tchazzar of Chessenta, and bore five children by him, who totally aren't half-dragons. Thay is a much less shitty place--but still very powerful.

Aglarond was saved from Thayan aggression by a massive spell from the Simbul that--as far as anyone knows--killed her (she's fine, but gone). They had a bit of time to prepare for the inevitable workarounds. When they came, in the form of Shadovar agents working with the Empress, Aglarond fought back. They resurrected an ancient tradition, convening the Ten Tribes and crowning a new Queen (the Simbul's bastard son also "died"), Ninaren Olossyne, mainly a figurehead to get the power of the tribes united. They turned away the Shadovar, but, anticlimacticly, the fight with Thay ended with a white peace.

Mulhorand's pharaoh became absentee, increasingly obsessed with the mystery of the realm's precursors--not Imaskar, but even before that. His sister Keket, long since fled from her duties as royal spouse, had to step in to fill his role, when he--against all odds--discovered the secrets of the ancestors (they're aliens) and Close Encountered himself off the planet, never to be seen again. For her part, Keket has been digging up Imaskari artifacts left and right her whole life, and thanks to those discoveries, has begun a plan to resurrect the lost civilization of Deep Imaskar--essentially a computer program simulating the last few millennia--back onto the surface.

The South

Chessenta was unified under the charismatic and undefeatable Tchazzar--a peerless warrior who only happens to be a red dragon in human form. After unifying the realm and putting together a massive army, it was worried his lust for conquest would turn toward his neighbors. He did invade Chondath, but that was cut short when their ancient capital was revealed to still exist underwater as a psionic city-state in possession of an aerial superweapon, the Eye of God, that can annihilate armies. Rather, he's been sending his armies to fight on foreign ground, including ever-more-frequent skirmishes with Illythiir.

Chondath, as mentioned, has a secret (not anymore) Atlantean psion-city. They've been somewhat more unified since that discovery. Not sure tbh.

Illythiir is a whole thing. Apparently, the goddess Araushnee (not technically a goddess, but whatever--she's immortal and super powerful) was trapped in the abyss and coccooned by millions of demons, feeding upon her and rendering her useless. The amalgam of demons in her vague shape became the goddess "Lolth" worshipped for so long by drow. That being has been destroyed--the horde and the demon princes among them were slain on their home plane. Araushnee, freed of their influence, returned to Toril, vowing to rebuild her realm. With this act, the faerzress of the Underdark began to withdraw--anyone wishing to continue living with her blessing was bidden to follow, and so they did. Illythiir is a realm built into the savannahs south of Chondath and Unther--although the original area was more wooded, and her magicks have begun to heal the damage of the ancient war magicks that transformed her land. Hers is the largest of the new surface dwellings of dark elves, but is also quite vast, so their power projection is minimal. Her personal power is indeed god-tier, and she is able to empower her followers, so the possibility for very serious conflict exists. Especially given the rise of Vyshaan. She has vowed to finish the conflict he started--even if it means laying waste to everything between his land and hers (read: most of Faerun).

New Threats

• Othrar Manyarrows
• Dragonkin
• The Jade Empire
• The Crown Wars
• Zerg invasion in the Anauroch
• Something something Lethyr, Circle of Nine, Son of Death
• Ghaunadar, un-appeased