SPELLPLAGUE

Historical Event Affecting The Universe

Forgotten Realms

The Spellplague, called the Blue Breath of Change by the inhabitants of the PRIME MATERIAL PLANE and beyond was a disaster that struck Realmspace and even the planes themselves and was caused by @MYSTRA's assassination at the hands of CYRIC and SHAR. It continued for a decade, during which arcane magic ceased to function and the PRIME MATERIAL PLANE was transformed. "The white queen is troubled but can't say why. The black queen hates the white and gives the assassin a black coat. The assassin steals upon the white queen. She can't see him gliding through the shadows. The sword screams. The white queen falls. Her city falls. Stones fall in the cavern to crush the soothsayer. The tree burns and thrashes in agony. Branches break. Branches twist and grow together..." Origins: The most popular and widely accepted theory about the origins of the Spellplague was that this calamity was caused by the death of  @MYSTRA, the goddess of Magic. For eons, magic had been bound within MYSTRA's WEAVE, the universal structure of arcane forces, and her death tore the WEAVE apart and unleashed the raw magic contained within it, creating the cataclysm that was later known as the Spellplague. Other scholars, however, didn't consider this to be a logical explanation. Historically, two earlier incarnations of MYSTRA had died before only to be reborn, and the WEAVE maintained its hold over the power of magic for the duration of her deaths. In these scholars' views, the truth would never be fully known to mortals, and perhaps not even to the gods.
The sentient construct 'Cynosure' theorized that the escape of an entity named the 'Traitor' from its confinement in the dungeons of Stardeep (in the @ETHEREAL PLANE), around the same time MYSTRA was murdered, may have also influenced the Spellplague virulent onslaught. During the later years, a group of adventurers also learned that the WEAVE had been infected by CYRIC's madness, which became a "physical" force after SHAR bolstered it with the corrupting energies of the @FAR REALM in a mistaken belief that after destroying DWEOMERHEART she could control the WEAVE][DWEOMERHEART.
The Plague: MYSTRA's death caused the WEAVE to collapse and, without the WEAVE, the SHADOWWEAVE was unable to be maintained and collapsed as well. The breakdown of the WEAVE was felt by all wizards across the Realm. The corrupted madness of CYRIC defiled what arcane forces remained from the dissolution of the WEAVE, resulting in a new magical source of defiling arcane energy in the form of blue flames that destroyed DWEOMERHEART@ and continued to spread across the multiverse. Since the Spellplague was born from the defiling powers from the @FAR REALM, a plane that existed outside of THE UNIVERSE, not even Lord AO had the power to stop it once it started.
The Storm Of Blue Fire: The Spellplague manifested as a storm of blue flames in The Gentle Vales and quickly grew to a massive size. Vale Wizards, having divined the death of MYSTRA and the destruction of the WEAVE, were able to use the energy of the blue fire to save most of their kingdoms by shifting them into another world. However, the remaining lands were laid to waste due to the heavy wild magic activity in the area, in such a catastrophic way that the explosion was felt as far as @WASTERS. Lands were transformed into an unpredictable and surreal place, dubbed the 'Plaguewrought Lands'. The blue flames also infected portals and planar gates, spreading even further across the Vales. Almost every part of the Realm was affected by the Spellplague and certain areas were eliminated entirely, while others were created anew. Thousands of spellcasters were either destroyed or went insane due to the collapse of the WEAVE after MYSTRA's death. In @MENKREW, a third of the Wizards were either killed or driven mad. Those who survived lost their ability to use arcane magic. Other continents, were affected by the Spellplague as well. It was through the planar gates that the Spellplague traveled across time and space, and reached the outer worlds as well. Effects On Arcane Magic: -Despite efforts, with the structure of magic out of balance, many spells failed or produced unreliable results. -Most permanent magic items, such as artifacts, were left intact at the end of the Spellplague but charged magical items were either destroyed, warped, or simply ceased to function. Items with dormant magical qualities, which were manually activated, were largely unaffected by the Spellplague. Effects On The Gods: -SAVRAS died as a result of the dissolution of MYSTRA's home plane, @DWEOMERHEART. -AZUTH was thrown from @DWEOMERHEART to the @NINE HELLS, where @ASMODEUS stole his divine essence, fused with AZUTH, and became a god. -CYRIC was tried by a conclave formed of LATHANDER, SUNE, and TYR. They found him guilty of MYSTRA's murder and sentenced him to imprisonment in the @SUPREME THRONE. -LATHANDER transformed back into Amaunator. -LIONKING tried to save a pride of lions from oncoming blue fire. He came in contact with the blue fire, and it mutated him into a dark and bestial lion with a mane of blue flame.
Effects On The Planes: -The @WORLD TREE was destroyed. -Most of the Outer Planes were either destroyed or merged with others, creating the Astral dominions. -Entirely new Astral dominions also arose because of the Spellplague. -DWEOMERHEART itself was dissolved. -The Spellplague reopened paths between different planes again. -With his new found godly power, @ASMODEUS took advantage of the planar instability to hurl the @ABYSS to stall the current abyssal conflict by 100 years. Let it be noted that a lot of other side effects happened due to the Spellplague like affected landscapes, rift openings, tsunamis, constructions were affected by aberrant magic, beasts rampaging and realms crossing over onto one another. Aftermath: -The majority of the effects of the Spellplague had come to an end about 400 years before the First Era and most arcane magic had returned to a semblance of normality, with a handful of major changes to the way spells are cast. -@WASTERS are still afflicted by some aspects of the Spellplague. -The Spellplague had ended with the event known as MYSTRA's Return. The WEAVE was resurrected with the goddess and magic became what it was before the Spellplague, though some areas with lingering effects from it remained. -Lord AO became more present, as a way to restore the worlds and help the Pantheon and Mortals.