Second Sundering The Second Sundering ( sometimes called the Sundering of Toril and Abeir ) was a catastrophic event in the history of Toril . Events . Overview . 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 involves the re - separation of the worlds of Abeir and Toril . In addition , Ao rewrote the Tablets of Fate . The deities were unsure of what this would do to them and their power , and made efforts with their most powerful servants to prepare for that event . The Second Sundering is somehow connected to the First Sundering that took place around - 17600 DR when an elven High Magic ritual went both forward and backward in time to create Evermeet . 1482 DR . The god of murder , Bhaal , is reborn in Baldur ' s Gate , apparently reclaiming the murder domain from Cyric . 1484 DR . Unusual disastrous events hit Faerûn , including an earthquake in Iriaebor , a plague of locusts in Amn , and droughts in the southern lands , leading to receding sea levels and conflict . In the north , the Kingdom of Many - Arrows fought the dwarves while the Dalelands was invaded by Sembia , and while Cormyr raised an army to help defend the Dalelands , it was attacked by Netheril . People begin to claim they have been " chosen " by the gods and granted special powers , some apparently for " divine purposes " and others have no idea why . 1485 DR . The Chosen of Auril starts a war with Ten - Towns in Icewind Dale , and is defeated . A rebellion of the subjugated Bedine people in Anauroch occurs when they see that Netherese forces are spread thin due to the conflict with Cormyr . By this time , the dwarves of the north are defeated and the Many - Arrows armies attack Silverymoon . Towards the end of 1485 DR , the " Great Rain " begins to fall continuously around the Sea of Fallen Stars . 1486 DR . The " Great Rain " causes the waters to rise around the Sea of Fallen Stars , consuming much land , but stops by the end of the year , and the orcs of Many - Arrows are defeated . Myth Drannor aids the Dalelands in their conflict against Sembia . The Arcane Brotherhood and Hosttower of the Arcane return in Luskan . Cormyr finally repelled Netheril and Sembia , and Neverwinter and Waterdeep begin to clear rubble built up over centuries of neglect . 1487 DR . Major geological instability results in numerous earthquakes and volcanoes , and areas once consumed by large chasms are restored to their pre - Spellplague status . Ships arrive on the mainland continent from Evermeet , Lantan , and Nimbral . Netheril floats to position itself over Myth Drannor and attack , and the conflict causes it to collapse on top of Myth Drannor , resulting in the destruction of both . 1488 DR . The winters of 1487 and 1488 DR were notably very harsh , and seasons start and end much later . Prayers to deities are unanswered , but their " chosen " are still present . The League of Silver Marches disbands in the aftermath of the war with the orcs , and Sembia dissolves into city - states . The few remaining Netherese forces fight the Bedine over the Memory Spire , causing an emergence of the phaerimm . 1489 DR . Prayers to the gods began to be answered again , and their " chosen " were no longer to be found , but the deities were " quieter " than before , causing the emergence of new priesthoods to try to explain the different behaviour . Aftermath . Most gods created many chosen among mortals , trying to gather as much power as possible , in order to be as high in ranking as they could before Ao could complete the new Tablets of Fate , sealing their status and portfolio . That gambit , however , didn ' t go very well for a large number of them . For some deities , previously presumed dead or missing , it resulted in a restoration to their status as gods ( Mystra , Helm , Mask , Lathander , Bhaal , Eilistraee , Vhaeraun were examples , among others ) , while for others ( like Shar ) it resulted in a loss of power and influence . The Lady of Loss suffered quite heavily in the wake of the defeat of the Shadovar , and of the city of Shade ' s being destroyed in a battle with the forces of Myth Drannor , which also sustained heavy destruction . Telamont Tanthul and most of the Princes of Shade were killed . Elliandreth ' s Prophecy . Around the time of the first Sundering , Elliandreth of Orishaar wrote a prophecy of the second Sundering . Each stanza of the prophecy deals with the successive books in the series with stanza 1 being about " The Companions " , stanza 2 about " The Godborn " , etc . Appendix . Development . The Sundering was to be described in a series of novels and game supplements planned for release in 2013 in anticipation of the newest version of the Dungeons & Dragons game , " D & D Next " . The first announcement of the Sundering came at 2012 . Wizards of the Coast is calling the event a " cataclysm . " Forgotten Realms campaign setting creator Ed Greenwood described the event as " war , gods , and plain folks trying to get by . " The novels and adventures will be released in a staggered , overlapping fashion , and the collective results of players in their adventures can be submitted to Wizards of the Coast , and will influence the stories in the novels . The result of the events , in game terms , was a simplified set of rules initially dubbed and playtested as " D & D Next " , but now commonly referred to as 5th Edition . Novels . A series of novels explaining the events of the Sundering were released beginning in the second half of 2013 and concluding in june 2014 :