Year of Blue Fire

In 1385, a terrible calamity strikes Abeir-Toril. Though the whole matter won't be widely understood for some time, what is clear is this:

Magic

On the night of 29 Tarsakh 1385, the Weave was unraveled. Wild magic surged throughout the world, devastating any active spells and unprepared spellcasters. By year's end, the Weave has as yet not been restored, and many fear Mystra, the very goddess of magic, is dead.

• Magic yet remains to some. Invocations from the Outer Planes are uninterrupted; warlocks, demon-summoners and the like enjoy the full gamut of their power, and some even enjoy enhanced ability in the new, mana-rich environment. Invocations in natural environments, such as those of druids and shamans, also enjoy enhanced effectiveness, though are somewhat harder to control. Invocations of divine powers seems to vary by god--the most powerful have barely swayed, while many lesser gods have faltered or gone silent. Some offer power only near places sacred to the faith.

• Thaumaturgy is similarly unaffected, or, if anything, bolstered. Sympathetic magic, it would seem, is not reliant on the Weave. The theory seems to be bolstered by the Invisible Art: psions are utterly unaffected by the Spellplague.

• Almost all standing magical effects were torn apart during the onset of the Spellplague, including all known mythals and near-mythals, save a few:
  • The Wards of Silverymoon have been shattered.
  • The mythal of Myth Drannor faltered, but was bolstered by the Srinshee.
  • The mythal of Evereska, oddly despite failing steadily since 1372, has been reinvigorated, and has gained new powers.
  • It is thought that a number of wards in Shoonach had once existed, with the effect of containing the massive army of undead within. Assuming this had been true, it clearly is no longer--hordes of undead swarm in Amn and the southern Sword Coast.
  • The magical foundations of Citadel Thay faltered, leading to the collapse of the palace into Lake Thaylambar. Ashella Milsimmar managed, despite the collapse of the Weave, to create an epic spell that teleported thousands of people to safety, largely mitigating casualties. She has since fallen into a coma and has been taken to Evereska. Empress Anastasia is rapidly rebuilding the city, and is building a new palace in Thaymount, as well as opening that land to settlement by the many common folk displaced in the disaster.
  • Ancient Imaskari wards that long hid the tombs and vaults of the Sorcerer-Kings have been revealed. As adventurers, tomb-robbers, and power-hungry ex-wizards converged upon them, Pharoah Keket acted boldly and quickly to declare the sites open to all, on the condition they leave what they find intact, share the results of their research with the world, and cooperate with other researchers onsite. While theft of her culture's heritage hasn't been entirely eridicated, her edict has greatly minimized the potential calamity of the situation, while contributing an untold wealth of knowledge to the world, whose effects cannot yet be guessed.
  • Most permanent portals created using the Weave have destabilized. Some collapsed, others have swapped endpoints with other portals and thereafter stabilized, still others appear to work well enough, but suffer fits of wild magic and occasionally disgorge extraplanar travelers (often enough, monstrous). The Hall of Ways in Eltabbar was hit particularly hard, and, in a controversial decision, Empress Anastasia had the portals destroyed, cutting Thay off from its enclaves.

Geography

The face of Toril has been altered. Heavily-peopled areas are largely unaffected, shielded by their gods, but wild lands have been altered significantly. For example:

• A great rift has opened in the Shaar. It appears to contain ruins of an elven civilization, possibly Illythiir.

• The sunken ruins of Jhaamdath have risen to the surface, revealing a long-lost civilization.

• Evermeet appears to be unreachable by sea, or even most magic, though planewalkers and spelljamming ships claim to be able to find it.

• Mount Waterdeep has grown ten times taller and thousand times broader. The city's harbor is unreachable, although efforts proceed at breakneck pace to connect the new shoreline to the city via a high-speed rail system. The fate of Undermountain is uncertain, but it is notable that 1385 has seen a marked decrease in invasion of the city by bizarre monsters, even as the Spellplague rages on.

• The High Moor is now a verdant forest, sporting trees of epic proportion. Similar, smaller forests have popped up throughout the North, the Heartlands, and the East, all of which are peopled with tall, dappled elves who claim to be from "the Land of Night" and barely understand modern Elvish.

• The Anauroch is verdant once again. The City of Shade has not been seen in years, but other cities, seemingly of Netherese architecture, have been spotted. Some say they are ruins, and others claim they are populated.

• Ruins have appeared in the High Forest and nearby regions, seeming to date from the Crown Wars. Among these ruins are Elder Trees, which seem to contain the spirits of elves long past. Some modern elves claim to be able to hear them speaking to them, and they speak of warnings.

Gods

A number of gods have become unresponsive, and others seem to be transforming:

• Savras is confirmed to be dead by a number of powerful diviners, who claim he left clear evidence that he saw this event coming, and had prepared to sacrifice himself to aid Mystra in defense of the Weave. It is unclear from this evidence if Mystra survived.

• Azuth is unresponsive to all queries from his faithful.

• A small but vocal minority of priests of Lathander are urging his faithful to convert to the worship of Amaunator, claiming their own lord has bent the knee and demands they follow suit. They claim the ancient Sun God has returned to shepherd mankind through a new, exciting, and terrifying age. The movement seems centered around areas of human civilization, and does not speak much of elves and other demihumans.

• The returned Araushnee has separated her realm from Arvandor, creating a new realm whose location has not yet been found. It is said she seeks a mate with which to mother a new pantheon.

• Cyric has not only fallen silent, but a growing body of evidence suggests, somehow, that his actions of late--maybe even his existence in the first place--was an elaborate form of madness among priests, faithful, and even other gods. The totality of the paradox is staggering, and some have gone insane (especially his former clerics) even thinking about it.

Politics

A change such as the Spellplague does not come without upsetting the balance of power. A great many realms were destabilized in the chaos of 1385, and it is unlikely that equilibrium will be restored any time soon; more changes are like to follow.

• In the wake of the disaster in Eltabbar, Tchazzar and Anastasia have apparently fallen out. The people of the Inner Sea are horrified to imagine a resurgent Chessenta under a belligerent dragon-king, without any factors to mitigate his wrath.

• With Mulhorand now dotted with Imaskari ruins brimming with knowledge of ancient Artifice--just when magic-starved wizards need it most--fears of invasion by their rivals have reached fever pitch. The impoverished, backwards nation having spent most of its previous military might fruitlessly warring against Unther and Thay, the nation now faces the prospect of invasion not only by their oldest enemies, but by newcomers Chessenta and Risen Jhaamdath--descendants of Imaskar's greatest rival--not to mention the incalculable eastward threat of the Jade Empress, whose empire stretches from the eastern tip of Kara-Tur all the way to Semphar, and was only narrowly turned away from the same conquest 5 years earlier by a momentary common enemy, who has long since vanished.

• Faced with the prospect of rising powers in the east and west, the powers of the central heartlands have been contemplating their options for years. Now, with the decimation of the War Wizards, the magical might of Myth Drannor, and other setbacks, the time is right for bold change. And so, a secret organization has surfaced, who have long protected the region from power imbalance and supernatural threats. The Grey League now shows its banners to the world, and they are flown in Cormyr, Sembia, Cormanthyr, the Dales, The Vast, Impiltur, Damara...and even the Moonsea. A widely disparate people, united against the epic threats surrounding them, comprising some of man's oldest and most successful kingdoms and realms, the League is not to be trifled with.

• At the dawn of 1385, it seemed the expansion of the Silver Marches knew no bounds, and even Waterdeep had begun to worry. With the sudden changes to the High Forest, keen interest is now being paid to those ancient elven lands. A number of Evermeet elves have converged on the location and claim it for elvenkind, opposed by an equal number of rivals from Myth Drannor. They even speak of reviving fallen Eaerlann and Siluvanede, and cast their eye on resurgent Sharrven. To mitigate the tension, the city of Evereska has declared all elven ruins in the region their protectorate, and has declared neutrality with regards to the matter of the elven crown, and the growing rivalry between Evermeet and Myth Drannor. They have opened oddly stable portals throughout the region, and have become greatly revitalized with the increased traffic...especially since they are allowing non-elves into (parts of) the city as well.

• The unending supply of orcs in the Spine of the World have taken notice of the vast, unclaimed, newly-fertile lands of the Anauroch, and are surging southward in force. Knowing orcs, it will not take long for them to develop power bases...and begin seeking ever-greater plunder in the populated neighboring lands. Already one among them rises to prominence: Othrar of Many Arrows, who seeks the unite the disparate clans and turn their attention westward, to finish the great war his father started.

• In Cormyr, following recent events, the Spellplague wreaked havoc on the War Wizards. When Lord Nero proposed that the wizards consider the unthinkable--an alliance with the mages of Zhentil Keep--or rather, when Mageroyal Laspeera formalized the motion, the rift within the War Wizards tore open. Matters became violent when Princess Alusair absconded with the royal bastard Wilhelm Grayfall, and Caladnei declared the boy of 13 to be the true King Azoun V, and the wiley young man sitting the current throne an illegitimate bastard of the whore Tanalasta and Lord Nero, who she publicly outed as Semmemon, vile servant of the Zhentarim. Many War Wizards backed her, naming her the "other" Azoun's Mageroyal, and Alusair their Regent, and themselves the Knights of the Eldritch Fire, arming themselves with sword and steel to replace the magic they had lost. They remain outlaws, banished from Suzail in early fighting, but they successfully captured Arabel and have claimed it as a stronghold. High Lord Sheridan Dauntinghorn was away with his wife, Baroness Rayanna of the Stonelands, and is marshaling his power to retake his city, working with close ally Rowan Lhal, King Consort of Damara. All eyes are on the conflict, as it is expected the Grey League leadership will intercede, and their choice of side will reveal all anyone need know about their judgment and future as a guiding force.