Background
Abeir-Toril is being attacked by the Primordials. Agents of the Primordials are attempting to change the past so the gods end up losing the Dawn War.
Adventures
It starts in the year 1479 DR. The PCs have grown up in Daggerdale in the small town of Kassen’s Hold. The “coming of age” ceremony is about to start and the PCs will be performing it this year. This is the Crypt of the Everflame adventure. After completing it they discover that agents of the Church of Shar have recently broken in and stolen part of a map that reveals an ancient site of treasure.
The PCs give chase to the agents of the Church of Shar and head to Searloon. There they will meet up with Reginald, a member of the Harpers. He’ll help them break into the church’s headquarters in its floating rock by the PCs attempting to infiltrate it. This is the Masks of the Living God adventure. During their exploits they’ll briefly see two PCs from LFR that had broken into this very church, but if they give chase, they’ll turn a corner and find a dead-end with the intruders nowhere to be found.
Once they leave the Church of Shar, they’ll journey to the City of Golden Death. This was a city constructed by Cyric and Shar to trap Mystra within forever. However the trap failed and it’s lain abandoned ever since. Once the PCs retrieve the items they should head straight to Kassen’s Hold.
On the way travelling through the forest they’ll be attacked by Spellscarred creatures. Once they arrive they’ll discover not only does no-one remember them, but the peaceful town of Kassen’s Hold is gone. In its place is Karsus Hold, a militaristic Keep that flies the banner of Netheril. One of their parents is the Lord (or Lady) of the Keep.
The Keep will promptly be attacked by Spellscarred Dragonborn who are led by an Abeiran Dragon. The PCs will need to help the Keep stave off the attack. If the PCs do research they’ll discover that in the year 1385 DR, Corellon, with the aid of Mystra, killed Shar and attempted to take control of the Weave. This resulted in large swathes of Abeir becoming transposed onto Toril and the Abeirans have been at war with the Empire of Netheril ever since. The Empire is on the verge of collapsing as they have not coped well with the Spellplague. Spellplague seasons occur in 3 year cycles. Once Spellplague season starts, so do the attacks of the Abeiran Dragons.
The PCs will help defend Karsus Hold and will soon be contacted by a member of the Harpers. They are called a terrorist organisation as they have always opposed Shar and the Empire of Netheril, believing them to be evil. If the PCs tell the Harpers about their story, with the whole world being changed, the Harper agent will say this isn’t the first time they’ve heard this story and they think they have someone that will be able to help the PCs.
The PCs will need to journey to the Harper headquarters at Twilight Hall in the Dragoncoast region. The Dragoncoast region now, of course, being under the dominion of Abeiran Dragons. Fortunately the Harper agent knows one of the Dragoncoast’s premiere pirates. They send word and soon after he arrives nearby.
This pirate has often been a thorn in the side of both the Netheril Empire from the moment he stole one of the surviving Netherese Airships. In the following years he has raided both the Netheril and Abeiran airships and is a friend of the Harpers. The PCs will need to navigate Spellstorms as well as Dragons and other airships. Finally they reach Twilight Hall.
There they will find a crazed old man that first arrived when the Spellplague broke out. No-one knows how old he actually is, for he hasn’t aged very much in the past 100 years. He calls himself Elminster.
Upon seeing the PCs he suddenly becomes lucid. He warns them that agents of the Primordials are at work and they are attacking Toril throughout all of time. He can help send the PCs back to the fall of the Netheril Empire where they must stop the agents of the Primordials. If the PCs agree he uses up the final bit of magic and teleports them back to the year -455 DR. Teleporting them, however, uses up the last of his magic that he had been using to extend his life. Before Elminster dies, he warns the PCs they must not fail for the fate of both Abeir and Toril lies in their hands.
They find out that at this time the Netheril Empire is at war with the Phaerimm. The Phaerimm are a subterannean race whose homes were being destroyed by the magic of the Netheril Empire. The Netherese are in the process of making a treaty with a powerful cabal of Genasi. These Genasi claim to be Plane-Touched Netherse Archwizards who long ago migrated from Faerun to the Planes themselves. They have returned in the Empire’s hour of need to help them.
The Genasi diplomatic entourage are residing in the stronghold of the Netheril Empire as friends of the State. They have bottled the Spellplague and brought it back in time for it to be released in the Underdark. When this occurs the Genasi break into the stronghold of the Netheril Empire to steal the remaining Nether Scrolls. Over the years they have been sending agents to steal these scrolls and have decided now is the time to steal the remaining scrolls.
The PCs will need to infiltrate the Keep in order to stop the plot of the Genasi who are Agents of the Primordials. They discover the Genasi with the Nether Scrolls in hand. During the battle the agents will unbottle a jar of Spellplague before opening a portal to another time. The PCs will need to chase them through the portal, but will find it takes them to a different place and a different time and that they've lost the Genasi (a consequence of the Spellplague being let lose right next to the portal).
The rest of the campaign will take the PCs through various key moments of time in Faerun history, in their quest to stop the Agents of the Primordials. Some of these key moments might be:
- Returning Evermeet to Faerun. It has disappeared and briefly appeared in the Realm of the Faerie before being transported to the the Elemental Plane where it has remained trapped ever since. This was for fear that they would successfully stop the plot to destroy the Gods.
- The extinction of the Green Elves could be undone with time-hopping allowing a small colony to make it to the present.
The final fight will take place in the Shadow Epoch once the PCs reach 20th level. The end result of the campaign will be the restoring of the timeline in the year 1370 DR. Faerun is restored to the pre-Spellplague (and pre-4th ed) timeline. There at least one of them will meet younger versions of their parents (if they're a long lived race) or grandparents (if they're a short lived race). The campaign ends with the PCs either going adventuring among the planes (possibly with their parents/grandparents) or retiring and settling down.
Purpose of the Campaign
The purpose of this campaign isn’t simply to undo the 4th edition events. It’s to say goodbye to the LFR setting where we all met each other and to pave the way for a version of Faerun that doesn't strictly adhere to the novels.
I don’t know all the events that take place in the books so I want an in game explanation for the things I get wrong/change. Time travel and the world unravelling seem like a good (if cliched) way to introduce such an explanation.
In addition we did play LFR for 2 years and we did have some fun. As such I would like to give the players the opportunity to bring some of the 4th ed elements with them into 5th edition. Some possible 4th Ed elements could be:
- High Elves retain the ability to teleport short distances.
- Dragonborn are still present in the worlds. Stable contact exists between Abeir and Toril and travel between the two worlds does occur in certain places.
- Contact between Abeir and Toril has been cut off, but not before Dragonborn and Genasi refugees made it to Faerun. They now must find new homes for themselves in the lands of Faerun. However not all people who made it through to Faerun were benign. At least one Dragon managed to make it through and there are possibly members of evil organisations lurking within the realms of Faerun.
- There is a patch of Wild Magic that has qualities identical to that Spellplague lands. The difference is these plagued lands have always existed and are remnants of the Dawn War (they were caused in the final battle where time-hopping agents of the Primordials employed Jars of Spellplague).
Feedback Requested
I'm interested in hearing what people think of the write-up so far. Are there any glaring holes?
Also are there any pivotal moments of Faerun history that you think I should include? Any iconic adventures from older campaigns that could be included in the campaign? One of my friends is a massive Forgotten Realms fan and so I want to include as many easter eggs as possible for him.
First off, that was a fun read all by itself.
I like the idea of time changing around the characters so that what they know reverts (hopefully briefly, if the characters are successful in fixing things) into something else that is at once familiar and alien.
Were you considering going to Waterdeep with the adventure? You could always do a sidetreck through Undermountain…maybe to have the PCs steal or find something belonging to Halaster (maybe the key to the magic that keeps the whole place from collapsing in?) that agents of the Primordials are after to help them cement their power? The whole city could be one giant burned to the ground ruin with the broken remnants of Castle Waterdeep spilled over half a Ward.
...
gah!
the free downloads are gone!
i got nothin man
Also keep in mind that the DM is certainly free to ignore those set rules and procedures if they so choose. 
To me, the Realms are much more about highlighting multi-layered plots and subplots, and less of a focus on "showy" things
Can someone corroborate this paradigm? (serious; I'm interested in knowing what the intended Realms feel is)
To me, the Realms are much more about highlighting multi-layered plots and subplots, and less of a focus on "showy" things
Can someone corroborate this paradigm? (serious; I'm interested in knowing what the intended Realms feel is)
The Realms was designed to have a little of everything in it, whatever you wanted to play there was a spot for it in the Realms, or somewhere in Realmspace anyway, so really the Realms "feel" is whatever you want it to be.
But for me, I think the main thing is the magic, The Realms is a very magical place, and im not just talking about powerful spellcasters or whatever, I mean the land itself, theres all sorts of wonderous spot in the Realms, I tend to play that up alot.
No offense meant here, but it just doesn't say "Realms" to me. There's a lot of magical and plot-devicey gimmickery going on, but not much intricacy and deep intrigue. To me, the Realms are much more about highlighting multi-layered plots and subplots, and less of a focus on "showy" things
Were you considering going to Waterdeep with the adventure? You could always do a sidetreck through Undermountain…maybe to have the PCs steal or find something belonging to Halaster (maybe the key to the magic that keeps the whole place from collapsing in?) that agents of the Primordials are after to help them cement their power? The whole city could be one giant burned to the ground ruin with the broken remnants of Castle Waterdeep spilled over half a Ward.
I like it. However I don't really know anything about Undermountain. Any good books to get the flavour and history of it?
Something to keep in mind about time travel in the Realms, there are set rules and procedures one must follow, I believe theres a complete list in the Age of Netheril box set, which I believe is in the free downloads
Fortunately I downloaded all of the old PDFs back when I was playing in LFR. I'm inclined to not follow those rules because this is meant to be a Realms-Shattering Event where anything can happen.
No offense meant here, but it just doesn't say "Realms" to me. There's a lot of magical and plot-devicey gimmickery going on, but not much intricacy and deep intrigue. To me, the Realms are much more about highlighting multi-layered plots and subplots, and less of a focus on "showy" things
Keep in mind this is a follow up campaign after I finish my Dark Sun campaign (which my players are eager to play in once I deem I have enough to run it. I need character creation rules and 4 non-Wizard classes before I'm happy). My Dark Sun campaign is a low magic campaign (the PCs will be lucky to get more than 1 magical item apiece) with a heavy emphasis on subterfuge, spying, infiltrating and politics.
I'm looking to set a completely different atmosphere for my Forgotten Realms campaign. I'm going high fantasy and high magic. The PCs are heroes and it's pretty clear who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. In contrast to Dark Sun's limited character races, pretty much anything (within reason) that's available in 5th ed will be available to the PCs in terms of race and class.
So working within that framework, I'd definitely be interested in hearing feedback to make the campaign more "Realmsy." Perhaps there are some Agents of the Primordials who are starting to second guess their plot. Perhaps they can be persuaded by the PCs to switch sides and act for the greater good. I'd definitely be interested in other ideas.
I've developed a couple more "time periods" for the PCs to find themselves in. Here they are below.
Fall of the Shanatar Empire
The PCs arrive in Brightaxe Hall in -10,600 DR. The Shanatar Kingdom is on its last legs as the Drow have been campaigning against the dwarves with not a small amount of success. The King of Shanatar has ordered his men to retreat to the surface so that some of them might survive. However his men refuse and plan on making one last stand against the Drow.
The PCs arrive in the midst of a battle with dwarven defenders against drow. After the Battle the PCs are shown to Taark Shanat’s last surviving son who is leading the forces against the Drow. He informs the PCs of Shanatar’s imminent fall and stops, looking at the PCs. The Drow have been using human slaves (among other slaves of the PCs races). He asks the PCs to consider infiltrating the Drow camp and doing what they can to disrupt the Drow forces or at the very least, report back with the Drow's battle plan.
The PCs can attempt to stealth behind enemy lines and infiltrate the camp of the Drow. Here they’ll have the opportunity to poison the soldiers, lead the slaves on a revolt or spy on the Drow.
Should they seek to spy on the Drow one of them will be ordered to serve food at the Council’s meeting. There they’ll see Drow drawing up the battleplan, but amongst them will be a couple of Dragonborn representatives. They are concerned with the aftermath and the Drow meeting up with the forces of their Dragon lord on the surface to wipe out the elves. Dragonborn are not native to this timeline but are in fact slaves of the Dragons after being transported here from Abeir. The Dragonborn can be persuaded to turn on the Dragons of the surface. But only if they can be convinced of overwhelming success.
This is the chance for the PCs to save the Dragonborn race and ensure that they are present in the 5th ed timeline. If they don’t work with the Dragonborn then this race will be wiped out on the face of Toril. Should they work with the Dragonborn they’ll be given the opportunity for the Dragonborn to go live among the elves of Evermeet where they’ll be allowed to live free from persecution and without affecting the timeline too much.
After the Drow are defeated the PCs return to the Dwarves with any allies they’ve gained. They will have learned of the plight of the Elves and the dwarves will lead this force up to the surface to strike at the Gateway that is allowing travel between Abeir and Toril. If the Dragonborn allied with the PCs in this, the Elves will be forever thankful to them and if they learn of the time travelling that’s occurring they’ll offer the Dragonborn a safehaven in Evermeet until such time as the Dragonborn are able to walk the surface of Toril once more.
Time of Troubles
This would be just before the PCs have the final showdown with the battle of the Gods versus the Primordials. A couple of the Primordials have been awakened and are now ruling over Toril. They are hunting out the gods who are currently walking the world as mere mortals.
The PCs arrive in 1370 DR and quickly meet up with rebels (the harpers once more) who take them to their leader, Mystra. Her lover, Azuth, is currently being held captive. It is quite clearly a trap, but Mystra cannot help herself and must save her husband or else the Primordials will quite clearly torture him before finally letting him die. Recognising this is a selfish cause, she refuses to allow the Harper's to help for they must continue the fight after she is gone.
The PCs infiltrate the Primordial Throne, Candlekeep, with Mystra. The Weave has become unstable due to the many years it has remained unattended (Mystra predicts it will completely self destruct in 15 years time and who knows what will happen then). Mystra risks the very destruction of not only her corproeal form but her soul as well when she uses magic. As such she must be guarded by the PCs as she is essentially a non-combatant.
Along the way any Clerics will be given the opportunity to find their deity and rescue them from whatever hellhole they happen to be in. This will allow the deity to either go with the PCs or give up their essence to that PC so that the PC can continue to gain access to their clerical spells.
Upon defeating the Primordials, it laughs and says this will not be the final fight. They will meet again at the Field of Tears. Mystra recognises it as where the last stand took place over the Primordials and the Gods. Reunited with her lover, Mystra says that they will both give up their very existence to to send the PCs back to the night before that final battle so they might stop everything from occurring. The current timeline is doomed for the gods have no ability to regain their deific status with Ao missing (presumed, dead).
The spell rips apart the very essence of Mystra and Azuth, but their sacrifice might just save Toril from destruction. The PCs arrive in the midst of the camp of the deities.
I like it. However I don't really know anything about Undermountain. Any good books to get the flavour and history of it?
For 4E there is Halls of Undermountain by Shawn Merwin and Matt Sernett.
I don't have the book myself, but I've leafed through it and pretty much wish I had the disposable income to buy it, just for all the map inserts. I haven't read it thoroughly so I can't speak to whether this book captures the flavor of Undermountain.
That said, Matt Sernett also authored (back in 2005 or so) an article on the WotC website titled Return to Undermountain: An Introduction. I think if you look at that article you'll get a good idea of what Undermountain is about.
I would like to read more about how you're converting the Paizo adventures to make them more Realms-ian.
One small nitpick. Reginald? Please, go to Mr_M's wiki and choose a name that feels like FR. If your players are anything like mine (or like me), the appearance of an NPC named Reginald would soon degenerate into a session filled with mockery.
For 4E there is Halls of Undermountain by Shawn Merwin and Matt Sernett.
I don't have the book myself, but I've leafed through it and pretty much wish I had the disposable income to buy it, just for all the map inserts. I haven't read it thoroughly so I can't speak to whether this book captures the flavor of Undermountain.
That said, Matt Sernett also authored (back in 2005 or so) an article on the WotC website titled Return to Undermountain: An Introduction. I think if you look at that article you'll get a good idea of what Undermountain is about.
Thanks Miscellany. I'm glad to see not all of the old FR stuff has been taken down. Does anoyne know how flavourful this book is?
I would like to read more about how you're converting the Paizo adventures to make them more Realms-ian.
I've only ever played LFR so I don't know that I have the best idea as to what the flavour of the Forgotten Realms is. In my opinion these 3 modules are quite easily transplanted from Golarion into Forgotten Realms. Here's my ideas thus far.
The PCs start off in the small town of Kassen's Hold. Kassen was an adventurer back during the days directly following the Spellplague. He and his adventuring company went on many an adventure, including one that would lead them to the City of Golden Death.
The City of Golden Death was constructed on an island in the Sea of Fallen Stars. It had been constructed as a trap for Selune, but it never worked. Selune saw through the deceit and so Mystra placed the entire island underneath a ward of protection that would ensure it was never disturbed by anyone, neither god nor mortal. And so it lay for centuries.
With the eruption of the Spellplague, the ward that protected the island was disrupted and this became a particularly violent patch of Plaguelands. Kassen and his fellow adventurers, Iramine (an elf) and Asar (another human), didn't know most of this, of course. They set forth for the Isle after hearing sailors tell them of a dangerous island that ancient legend holds contains treasure beyond reckoning.
They reached the shores of the island and braved it's dangers. They mapped the area until they finally found the legendary city. The city known as the City of Golden Death. There they absconded with as many riches as they could carry. They broke the key into the city into three parts and bid farewell.
Asar went on to further adventures and spent his share of the treasure away on booze, women and gambling. Iramine, intrigued by this city that Shar had constructed, left to start investigating the religion of Shar, typically seen as an enemy to Selune and her people. Iramine had often been something of a heretic and rebel and so she eventually joined the church.
Meanwhile Kassen settled down in the Dalelands. Here he founded a small home for himself at the intersection of two major rivers to help ensure he had steady trade. For the next 10 years the town which came to be called Kassen's Hold flourished, until one day Asar returned. Having spent all his treasure, he wanted to return to the City of Golden Death and needed Kassen's piece of the key. Asar left, vowing vengeance. He returned with raiders and attacked the town for 2 months until finally Kassen trapped him in an ancient crypt.
Kassen lead his men into the tomb where a final standoff occurred between Kassen and Asar. The two died, both to mortal wounds. The townsfolk eventually ventures forth when Kassen didn't return and found all of his men and the bandits. Dead. They interred the fallen in the crypt, giving Kasar pride of place to commemorate the sacrifice he had made for the town which bore his name.
Having heard of the great deeds of this adventurer, Elminster made a rare visit to pay his respects. To honour the dead, he created a small green fire so that all who ventured forth would find light in even the darkest of places.
Over the years the townsfolk have viewed the Crypt as a memorial to those first difficult years and have given it pride of place in their history of the town. Each year, as a coming of age ceremony, the children of the town venture forth into the crypt to light a lantern and then bring the lantern back to town to remind them that even to their small town can come greatness.
This ceremony is intended to give the children a taste of adventure, so that they might follow in the steps of Kassen, if only briefly. The journey is quite safe and so over the years the townsfolk have started to establish more elaborate traps to give the journey more excitement. A few days before the ceremony a handful of townsfolk left to go into the crypt to reset the traps.
Alas what they found waiting for them were undead horrors. A couple of weeks earlier Iramine had led a group of mercenaries into the crypt. She had finally told her superiors of the island and so they sought to gain access to it to uncover the riches and secrets Shar had hidden within. In so doing they had disturbed the vengeful spirit of Asar who rose from his tomb. He started raising the other corpses as undead as he plotted what to do to the town of Kassen now that he was free to plot once more.
The adventure begins with the PCs about to go on this ceremony. Since it's founding a number of unusual races have come to settle. Other adventurers who have decided to settle down and retire. This allows the PCs to be a member of any playable race (including Dragonborn and teleporting High Elves). On the way there they face some illusion orcs and wolves. And the adventure continues much as described in the book.
At the end the spirit of Kassen rises and thanks the PCs for putting his old companion and once friend to rest. Upon returning to Kassen's Hold there are celebrations as the PCs are welcomed into society as adults. A stranger hears tell of the ordeals the PCs face and afterwards asks them for assistance.
He reveals that he is a member of the Harpers, a legendary organisation that was once closely aligned with Mystra. They fight evil wherever it may hide and fear that those who stole the two fragments of the key may have sinister desires. He asks the PCs if the mercenaries had any identifying marks. If the PCs reveal a symbol of Shar he grows quite concerned.
A few days later he says he has made contact with a fellow Harper in Searloon. He says that this Harper will be able to help the PCs track down the mercenaries as they suspect they originated from this city.
Upon arriving in Searloon the PCs find that the Church of Shar is untouchable in Sembia. However he has a plan for the PCs to infiltrate the Church. The church regularly goes on recruits and he knows of one such location coming up. If the PCs can be amongst those who are recruited this will give them access to the Church, which is located on a floating earthmote. It's location makes it impossible to actually breach or attack.
This adventure takes place pretty much as written. The "teachings of Razmir" can be re purposed and adapted to be more like the teachings of Shar. But I suspect it wouldn't take much conversion.
Afterwards the PCs learn that Iramine had already left before the PCs ever arrived. However she went on a slower boat. As long as the PCs can convince their friendly captain that brought them to Saerloon to accompany them once more, they should be able to narrow the gap.
The Isle of Terror won't have a connection to the Plane of Shadows (despite how fitting it is). It will instead be Plaguelands and have plague-wrought monsters. The crazy Pathfinder suddenly becomes a crazy Harper who can lead them to the city.
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As I said these 3 adventures seem to fit the Forgotten Realms extremely well and so little adaptation is needed. I'm a bit unsure on having an elven worshiper of Shar. Does anyone know of a better long lived race to have instead?
One small nitpick. Reginald? Please, go to Mr_M's wiki and choose a name that feels like FR. If your players are anything like mine (or like me), the appearance of an NPC named Reginald would soon degenerate into a session filled with mockery.
I'll see what I can do.
I don't know if it is up still or not, but the map used for undermountain 4e, I swear looks like one of the old 3.e maps that was created during that time... the one for hte large dungeon.
I swear that was the first thing I saw when I looked at it.
anway to what Silversword was saying, is that Time Travel in the realms has a spell so that you can only go backwards and not forward.
what he failed his lore skill check is that he failed to remember is that this spell is was not only available in the once free downloads, but is still available in the archive section of the portals of faerun deal, namely the time portal ones.
That all said, if you wished to go forward, then one would have to get with DM and see about using the Dragonlance time travelling spell instead.
but then if its a DM plot device, than it doesn't matter as the DM would tell you its my table and dems da rules.
I don't know if it is up still or not, but the map used for undermountain 4e, I swear looks like one of the old 3.e maps that was created during that time... the one for hte large dungeon.
I'm pretty sure I found that map. Thanks for that.
anway to what Silversword was saying, is that Time Travel in the realms has a spell so that you can only go backwards and not forward.
I considered this, and it forces the narrative to follow a very different timeline then one that gradually reveals more and more story. So I'd prefer to go with the latter for the story.
The Shanatar Empire versus Clan Frostsilver
As for some more time periods to visit, I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. One of my players created a Dwarven Clan for LFR complete with background and ethos. During LFR several of us (at least 9 different players) had characters in the clan and one of the plots was finding "the long lost heir to the throne" of the dwarven clan. So I'm going to replace Shanatar with this Clan as there was a time when the dwarves were driven from their ancestral home after an attack by drow and Frost Giant allies. The cultists will slightly change this past history event by allying themselves with the drow rather than the giants allying with the drow. The players will have the opportunity to save the king, save the ancestral home and get the refugees to return to their ancestral home.
IMO this would be a much more significant resolution to a plotline that has literally been years in the making. As a consequence, over the years as the timeline moves forward players will have the opportunity to start playing their old Frostsilver characters, with any changes, radical or small, that they desire (due to the altered timeline).
Myth Drannor
The city was once a safe-haven for many races it has devolved into gang warfare as the people have all turned on each other. Powerful magic relics are held by various groups and the Cultists are attempting to manipulate them into attacking each other so as to give them the relic in particular that they want. The PCs find themselves caught in the midst and must choose sides.
This is based on the fall of Myth Drannor, but everything has accelerated dramatically due to influence by the cultists.
Barroch's Hold
Set in the timewhen the fabled citadel was inhabited by the first great bandit lord of the Inner Sea. He hasn't been seen in some years and so a band of adventurer's invite the PCs along to go plumb it for it's treasures. They have one relic from there, which is a symbol worn by the cultists of the Primordials.
Alas the place is overrun with strange creatures with the Bandit Lord held prisoner in his own citadel. Those strange creatures are spellscarred and Abeiran animals.
The Plague of Imaskar
A peculiar plague has swept through Imaskar and the PCs must find out the root cause behind. They track it down to find find portals as the cultists were trying to bring entire dragon flights through to this world. They must be stopped (Dragonborn guards) or otherwise Imaskar will simply be overwhelmed.
When they succeed they witness the Imaskar mages bringing forth an entire people to Faerun.
The Sundering and What it Means for Me
So the Tablets of Fate were now created when Ao split apart Abeir-Toril to become one world known as Abeir and one world known as Toril. When the PCs go back to fight in the Dawn War they will meet with Ao who will explain his plot to break the two worlds apart. He will ask if the PCs think this is a good idea.
If the PCs convince Ao not to do this then the Tablets of Fate are never created. As a direct consequence the Times of Trouble also never occur.
So my players will have several choices when they make this decision:
- Don't split the worlds and as a result the Tablets of Fate aren't made and the Time of Troubles never occurs. Dragonborn don't exist in Faerun and as a consequence aren't a legal character race until they make their triumphant debut in 1373 DR.
- Split the worlds but allow stable contact between the two worlds. The Time of Troubles still occur, but Dragonborn are a legal race and are acknowledged and permitted to move around in the cities.
- Split the world but don't allow any contact which means unstable contact is made during areas that are Spellplagued. Dragonborn are allowed, but they are an exotic and unknown race and would be treated with suspicion and distrust.
I like that my players have this much choice over the Fate of Faerun as this campaign is all about making the Forgotten Realms our own. We can emphasise or gloss over various different details based on the tastes of the players and their actions 