Era of Heroes

The First Sundering (sometimes simply the Sundering) or Ever'Sakkatien (as called by the Tel-quessir) was a High Magic ritual cast by the greatest elven high mages of the Tel-quessir during the period of the First Flowering, around −17,600 DR. The ritual resulted in the creation of the isle of Evermeet, but also resulted in widespread disaster that destroyed or altered much of Faerûn and might even be the cause of much of the non-uniformity of the Weave throughout the continent. Ever'Sakkatien was somehow connected to the later Second Sundering, an event that took place in the 1480s DR, and with the Tearfall, which took place in −31,000 DR.

The Time of Troubles was precipitated by an attempt by the gods Bane and Myrkul to steal the Tablets of Fate from the overdeity Ao. Angry at the gods for their habitual pursuit of power and negligence toward their mortal faithful, Lord Ao relegated every god (except for the guardian god Helm, selected to protect the gates to the heavens) to walk among their followers on the earth. The immediate effects of this edict were threefold. First, divine magic (spells granted to clerics by their patron deities) ceased to function altogether unless the cleric was within one mile of their deity's avatar. Second, arcane magic (a force channeled from the Weave by wizards and sorcerers) ceased to be regulated by its steward, Mystra, and became dangerously unpredictable. Third, the characteristically immortal and aloof deities were now vulnerable (though still devastatingly powerful) and dwelling among the civilizations of Faerûn.

The Spellplague, called the Blue Breath of Change by the inhabitants of Abeir, was a disaster that struck Realmspace and even the planes themselves on Tarsakh 29 of the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, and was caused by Mystra's assassination at the hands of Cyric and Shar. It continued for a decade, leading to the Wailing Years, during which arcane magic ceased to function and the planet of Toril was transformed.

The Second Sundering, also known as the Sundering of Toril and Abeir, was a great catastrophic event in the history of the worlds of Abeir and Toril, that took place during the decade of the 1480s DR. When Ao the Overgod destroyed the Tablets of Fate at the conclusion of the Time of Troubles, he instigated the Era of Upheaval. The Tablets defined the laws of Realmspace and kept it relatively stable. Without them, chaos ensued and the worlds of Abeir and Toril, separated many thousands of years ago, slowly started to overlap. The Spellplague drastically sped up this process.   The Second Sundering started with Ao's decision to recreate the Tablets of Fate, and to separate the worlds of Abeir and Toril once more. The deities were unsure of what this would do to them and their power, and made efforts using their most powerful servants to prepare for that event.   The Second Sundering was somehow connected to the First Sundering that took place around −17,600 DR, when an elven High Magic ritual went both forward and backward in time to create Evermeet; and with a prehistoric cataclysm known as the Tearfall, that took place in −31,000 DR.