Monument of the Ancients

The Monument of the Ancients was a step pyramidal structure of unknown provenience located in an overgrown hollow of the Frozen Forest that towered above the surrounding trees. It is unknown who originally raised the monument, but ancient myths claimed that it dated from the time of the First Flowering and magically protected a region of the world where the boundary between Toril and the Elemental Chaos was weak. Within the monument there was an antechamber that contained another, smaller (but still enormous) pyramid. Each side of the inner pyramid had ornate, portal-like structures that each contained properties of one of the four elemental forces. Within this inner pyramid was the Anchor of Chaos, a massive artifact that sealed the cosmic fissure between dimensions while active. The overall monument was seemingly impervious to the effects of time, and made from arcane stone-like and metallic materials that were not native to Toril and exotic even to the Elemental Chaos.

In the fifth century before Dale Reckoning, Netherese wizards were attempting to conquer worlds beyond Toril via extra dimensional gates they created in what are now called the Desertsmouth Mountains. Unwittingly, their gates also allowed powerful Immortal creatures to access Toril, which sparked the Seven Sigils War. As part of their counter strategies in the fight, the Netherese archwizards of Rdiuz deliberately disabled the Anchor of Chaos so as to allow elemental primordials into Toril, believing that they could use the primordials innate hatred of Immortals to their advantage. The war carried on for more than a century, but the Netherese managed to banish almost all of the extra planar beings fighting on both sides eventually. One primordial in particular, Maram of the Great Spear, managed to escape their attention.

Maram fled into the wilderness of North Faerun towards the monument, where the weakness between worlds increased its power; the local primitive humans immediately took to worshipping it as a god. But in -357 DR, the Dark Three led a large coalition of peoples from across the lands north of the Moonsea on a mission to confront the primordial. They managed to vanquish Maram and reseal the Anchor of Chaos, but at an enormous cost.

In 1480 DR, another attempt was made by Maram and it's herald to reopen the elemental fissure, but they were again thwarted by a band of heroes.