The Cadenze of Indratera

In a process unknown to mortals, save for the most sagacious studiers of historical patterns, the Material Plane undergoes cycles of cleansing throughout its time. Like a canvas beginning anew, the land and its inhabitants are purged and purified.

The rhythm of Indratera is orchestrated by Outsiders; that is, gods, celestials, fiends, fey, dragons, constructs, aberrations, and undead not native to the Prime Material plane. It is not a conscious nor unanimous decision, but an inevitability.

As an ongoing process, the rhythm of Indratera waxes and wanes. Every technological discovery made by mankind is another note in its song, large or small. Just as the technology of the 2nd century pre-DR allowing the floating Greater cities of Netheril brought the song closer to an end, a crotchet was woven when the humans of Athas discovered gunpowder in the 11th century DR. Waterdeep's industrial revolution in the 16th century DR was a chord, catapulting forward the song significantly.

In tandem, its melody was brought to a *fortissimo* by the events of the 15th and 16th century. The Blight was a sign of the end times. In addition, the killing of Tyr by Vezrath and Lliira by Trajan, and of the Wish Mother by Jed were both displays of how the mortals had begun to meddle in the matters of the outsiders.

Essentially, the more that mortals began to mess with the forces of the multiverse, the closer the times got to an end. Known to some as a cleansing, others a scouring, and to mortals only as an apocalypse, these events were era-defining.

As the centre of the multiverse, a place transcending time and space, Sigil, City of Doors presides above the rhythym. Sigil, for reasons above the gods is exempt from adding to, or being affected by, the song of Indratera. Sigil is not completely above the song, however much it seems to be; though for eons it has weathered each and every cycle, by forces unknown, but has of late had a hand in some *cadenze*. In particular, Sigil's high involvement in the God Wars is notable.

It is not unreasonable to place Sigil as the source of the friction in the perpetual motion machine of Indratera. With Sigil intact, the world never truly is reset.

The ends/beginnings of the cycle of the Prime Material are over a thousand, the number exactly known only to the most powerful; even though they are caused by the actions of mortals, not even the gods are exempt. In some cyles of cleansing, gods are forgotten or killed, and angels and demons wage war upon each other time and again.

A number known to none seldom the oldest beings of time itself, there have been over a thousand *cadenze*. Now, one might think with life having appeared on Faerun in the year 10,400,000,000 PMR, equally spacing the *cadenze* allows around 3,200,000 years between each, which is not strictly true. The *cadenze* have been experiencing an *accelerando* as time goes on; it took hundreds of millions of years for life to reach the point where its actions were even of regard by Indratéra's harmony.

On the other hand, by *cadenza* MLXXIX, the God Wars, the last *cadenza* was less than two millennia prior. This pattern of diminishing time between cycles is similar to friction in a perpetual motion machine; the world is breaking down. Indeed, the landscape of the planet of Toril after the God Wars, especially the continent of Faerun, was destined to never return to power. In that way, *cadenza* MLXXIX could perhaps be regarded as the last repeat in the song, but this truly remains to be seen...

#### **Cadenza MLXXXVIII - The Dalereckoning**

The first of two modern recorded *cadenze* in Faerun was the Dalereckoning. As the humans of Netheril developed their technology, they slowly became more and more dominant. Harnessing the energy and power of dragons, of powerful magic, and their floating cities took its toll on the melody of the universe. The empire fell as the dragons and mortals waged war in the year later ascribed as 0 DR.

#### **Cadenza MLXXXIX - The God Wars**

The second modern *cadenza* of Faerun was known as the God Wars, simply because of how involved the divine pantheon was. The land of Faerun as a whole was afflicted; the Danderillon was worst affected, losing great cities to the wastes of time. It was arguably much greater than any other before it; several gods were killed just prior to its outbreak. It was such a rare occurence for even one god to be killed, so this clearly acted as an *accelerando* of proportions unseen prior.