The Planar Expulsion

The Planar Expulsion refers to the events that occurred after the Coming of the Gods during the Reshaping Year of Binding. During this time, the New Gods of Empyrean expelled the various immortal and extraplanar beings from the Empyrean Universe.

The Year of Binding

The Expulsion itself may have taken place over a short amount of time, but the lead-up to this action was not so sudden. Following the Year of Blood when the Demon Lords rose against the New Gods of Empyrean and were ultimately defeated with the help of Asmodeus's Devils and the Celestials of Halcyon, was the Year of Ministry wherein the New Gods spread the knowledge of their sovereignty throughout the Empyrean Universe, and established their various orders and priesthoods amongst the peoples of the Selestean Star System. Though the Demon Lords had been defeated, they had not been destroyed and the threat of their return was ever-present. So it was that Tharizdun took it upon himself to create a wound in the fabric of The Underworld which grew into the infinite layers of The Abyss. Then he came to the other gods and presented his creation as a solution for the problem that the various extraplanar beings presented.

Many of the gods were apalled by Tharizdun's unilateral actions. Primus however, saw the merit of this course. Bahamut agreed but with the caveat that the Celestials and Devils that had allied with the gods against the Demons should not unjustly be banished with them. The vast majority of Celestials had bound themselves in service to the various deities, after all, but even with those numbers the New Gods still may not have emerged victorious against the demonic hordes if it weren't for the vital assistance of Asmodeus and his Devils.

So after much discussion it was decided that the Devils would be sent to their own demiplane within The Underworld separate from The Abyss. And so Ishtar and Primus took the dwarf planet Baator and phased it into The Underworld to serve as a firmament for what would become The Hells. The Celestials, having bound themselves to specific gods in accordance with their natures, would be subsumed into the expanded Heavens the New Gods had created for themselves within The Overworld. It was also decided that other extraplanar beings that did not fit neatly into those three groups would be banished as well, to a demiplane that fit their nature, depending on the creature and the level of threat it presented. This included the various types of Primordial Elementals, as well as the Archfey. Though, some lesser outsiders were allowed to remain, like the Eladrin, the Shadar-kai and lesser elementals of varied sorts.

The Primordials and other Elementals were initially banished to a demiplane that was part of The Abyss, though distinct from it. This would change after the events of The Betrayal War when the Elementals were given dominion of The Roiling Conflux.

The Planar Expulsion

The Expulsion happened all at once throughout all of the Empyrean Universe. Every extraplanar being marked by the New Gods was immediately banished, as portals ripped open throughout the universe and sucked them in. The Angels, Archons, and other Celestial beings were sent to the various heavens of the Gods that they served, and more or less went in an orderly fashion, judging their departure as timely and preordained. The Devils were less compliant, but inevitably took their places on Baator, that was now known as The Hells. The Demons and Primordials, however, did everything in their power to prevent their banishment. This resistance resulted in widespread destruction and the slaughter of millions of mortals. In the end however, the decree of the Gods was irresistible, the bindings woven by Morrighanand Mystra, empowered by the absolute Law of Primus were too powerful, and they too were expelled from The Substantial.

This event was not without consequence, however, as a great deal of divine energy was spent to banish and bind the various Extraplanar creatures to their respective places throughout the cosmos. The destruction of the land itself and the mortals that the Gods relied on for their strength was an immense cost as well. The Great Glass Sea in the West of Acheron was the result of a Primordial storm elemental attempting to resist banishment. The Demonlands were razed by fire as well, and millions died as a result.

Because of this great effort, and use of power, the New Gods spent the next Year of the Reshaping in seclusion, gathering their energies. It was widely thought at the time that they had either been destroyed in the effort or had abandoned the mortal world altogether, but this was not true at all. In fact, it was then that the New Gods truly came to understand the great power of mortal belief. As prayers and petitions from the mortals increased in their time of great upheaval, the New Gods began to feel the surge of divine power rushing to them, in their weakened state after expending so much to perform the Expulsion, the New Gods could feel the river of power flowing into them more keenly. Thus the Year of Learning was so named not because the mortals had to learn to live in their new world as is often said, but actually because the New Gods came to learn how they relied on the mortals.

Historical Impact

Though the Expulsion happened simultaneously throughout the entire universe, the effects were particularly felt on Ora, since the primary inhabitants of that world were Fiends and Celestials.

In the long run, the banishment has been a boon for the mortal races of Ora who rose up to inhabit the abandoned cities of the fiends of Acheron and the Celestials of Halcyon. These mortal races proliferated and multiplied in the ensuing millennia.

However, that wasn't the immediate result. When it happened, suddenly, and without warning or preparation, the Expulsion was a catastrophe that threatened to collapse all of civilization. The Celestials and Fiends had been in control of every major city in the world and with them instantly removed, the power vacuum was immense. Infrastructure fell apart overnight, basic amenities broke down, widespread panic and civil unrest ensued, leading to starvation, massive losses of knowledge and technology, and outright war all over the globe.

To make matters worse the New Gods seemingly abandoned the peoples of Ora. This lead to fervent cults devoted to them rising in power preaching penitence and renouncement of sin as a path to their return. Certain of these cults still remain to this day, having created theocratic nations founded on principles of piousness and prayer. Other cults rose as well, some in worship of the very beings that had been expelled like powerful Demons or Celestials. As faith in the New Gods waned as a result of the catastrophe. It wasn't until the Reshaping Year of Healing that the New Gods returned to the mortal worlds and worked to undo some of the damage caused by the Expulsion. Despite their efforts the scars from this tumultuous time can still be seen in the modern era.