Second Sundering

The Sundering is an event that will 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.

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 Sundering involves the re-separation of those worlds. In addition, Ao will rewrite the Tablets of Fate, and the gods, unsure of what this will do to them and their power, make efforts with their most powerful servants to prepare for that event.

The Sundering is somehow connected to The Sundering that took place around -17600 DR when an elven High Magic ritual went both forward and backward in time to create Evermeet.

What was known is it that 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 known example, among others), while for others -like Shar- it resulted in a loss of power and influence. The Lady of Loss suffered quite a heavy hit 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. The prophecy went as follows:

"When the trials begin, in soul-torn solitude despairing, the hunter waits alone. The companions emerge from fast-bound ties of fate uniting against a common foe.

When the shadows descend, in Hell-sworn covenant unswerving the blighted brothers hunt, and the godborn appears, in rose-blessed abbey reared, arising to loose the godly spark.

When the harvest time comes, in hate-fueled mission grim unbending, the shadowed reapers search. The adversary vies with fiend-wrought enemies, opposing the twisting schemes of Hell.

When the tempest is born, as storm-tossed waters rise uncaring, the promised hope still shines. And the reaver beholds the dawn-born chosen's gaze, transforming the darkness into light.

When the battle is lost, through quake-tossed battlefields unwitting the seasoned legions march, but the sentinel flees with once-proud royalty, protecting devotion's fragile heart.

When the ending draws near, with ice-locked stars unmoving, the threefold threats await, and the herald proclaims, in war-wrecked misery, announcing the dying of an age."

- Elliandreth of Orishaar


 * 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.

History and development
The changes to the Forgotten Realms when 4th edition D&D were announced in 2006 were done without the consultation of Ed Greenwood or any of the main Realms authors. Despite entreaties not to go through with them, they happened anyway. Ed and R.A. Salvatore worked together to come up with a plan to fix the inevitable damage that these changes would cause. They came up with The Sundering.

The first announcement of the Sundering came at Gen Con 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:
 * The Companions by R. A. Salvatore, featuring Drizzt Do'Urden
 * The Godborn by Paul S. Kemp, featuring Vasen Cale
 * The Adversary by Erin Evans, featuring Farideh
 * The Reaver by Richard Lee Byers, featuring Anton Marivaldi
 * The Sentinel by Troy Denning, featuring Kleef Kenric
 * The Herald by Ed Greenwood, featuring Elminster