The Year of Cracked Sky

10 years before the start of the second campaign, the land of Faerun experienced an upset in the cosmic balance. Starting from the Sword Coast and spreading East, earthquakes upset and destroyed many towns and livelihoods. Demons and wyvern like creatures erupted from the ground, and slowly the sky began to be covered by an ever present cloud of darkness. Baldur’s Gate was the first point of contact, and by the second month, residents had either been killed or had been evacuated towards the East. 

Those that were willing and able held a sword and shield, fighting off the waves of enemies, protecting whoever they could. It was futile, but the Sword Coast is strong to this day. As the cloud had begun approaching the Dalelands and the country of Thay nearly a year and a half later, the monsters had only grown in power (curfews had been put into effect as well as the hiring of many mercenaries), when suddenly it all started to change. No one exactly knows how or why, but on the darkest day s the clouds threatened to swallow Thay, there was an earth shattering screech as lightning poured through the blanket of clouds in the sky. Any creatures that had been invading at that point, without warning, began to melt into pools of dark liquid and shadow before disappearing as quickly as when they had first shown up. 
 It was a near month before the clouds had gone in earnest, and the first rain after seemed to wash away what little remained in a sense. It was over. Rumors sprang up of all sorts- that some sort of demonic king had been vanquished. Maybe a dragon had been slain somewhere. But the most popular rumor had been spread by those who had been in Baldur’s Gate the first day - a small, planar touched group of heroes had fought back the evil seeking to corrupt the world, sealing it back where it had first tried to escape the space between planes. A goliath, gnome siblings and a human were given the highest of respects, but now sought their own peace, as all seemed to return to normal.  
and truly the world did return to some semblance of peace, or as close as one could assume it was. Baldur’s Gate was rebuilt stronger than ever but military forces were in dire need of warm bodies after the onslaught. Mercenary hiring was and continues to be at an all time high as the world begins to settle once more. The world changed during these years, but not every change has been accounted for. Surely new adventurers would arise to discover and document these changes.