1357 DR


 * Ches: A many-headed snake monster attacks farms north of Asbravn, and no one locally can defeat it. The Red Cloaks of Asbravn send a carrier pigeon to Lord Piergeiron of Waterdeep reporting the attacks, and they seek someone who can slay the monster.
 * Mirtul: Zhentil Keep wins a naval battle against Mulmaster and Melvaunt on the Moonsea.
 * Kythorn: Luskan destroys the harbor and much of the fleet of Ruathym then lands troops on the island, waging a war to conquer the island. Ulphron, First Axe of Ruathym, disappears. Luskan forces plunder Ruathym and subjugate the population and shipping. Aumark Lithyl, one of Knights of Myth Drannor, leads a defense of the island.
 * Flamerule: A Sembian ship, the Fair Venture goes missing near the Pirate Isles. Its owner, Golthond of Thesk begins exploring the idea of hiring mercenaries to clear the archipelago of their raiding corsairs.
 * A caravan from Zhentil Keep is destroyed by Cormyrean warriors in Teshwave.
 * Eleasias: Duke Bhereu of Cormyr leads troops out of Tilverton and into the Dalelands, joining forces with Mourngrym Amcathra, lord of Shadowdale. Together, they destroy a dark elf caravan travelling near Shadowdale and help Randal Morn of Daggerdale fight off an orc incursion from the Desertsmouth Mountains.
 * Cormyrean soldiers engage Zhent forces in Daggerdale and Teshwave, and bolster the garrison at Castle Crag to guard against attacks from the north or opportunistic bandits.
 * Marpenoth: After a particularly vicious battle between the forces of Hillsfar and those of Zhentil Keep, the Hillsfar faction, led by Maalthiir, wins control of Yûlash. Zhent forces begin massing in Voonlar to strike back, and preparing for war in Zhentil Keep itself.
 * Lord Envoy Orm's desertion sparks civil war in Melvaunt, as senior families fight to control the throne.
 * Uktar: The Zhentilar retake Yûlash with an inferior number of troops supported by powerful magic. The troops from Hillsfar retreat from the city, allowing the Zhents time to reinforce the devastated city’s defenses.
 * Salamander War: The Red Wizards of Thay open a gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire and begin a campaign against the North Coast cities of Escalant, Murbant, and Thasselen. Escalant is besieged by fire elementals. Finally, Escalant and Laothkund fall to the Thayans and the elementals as most of the Wizards' Reach falls under Thayan rule.
 * A second Thayan army, this one bolstered by the zombie forces of Myrkul's Legion, invades Rashemen but is turned back.
 * Circa: A fleet of the mamluks of Qudra tries to take control of the corsair city of Hawa. The attack is beaten back with severe losses to the Qudran navy.
 * Kythorn: The forces of Zhengyi the Witch-King triumph over Damara at the first Battle of Goliad.


 * An avatar of Moander wreaks terrible destruction on Yûlash when it is accidentally freed from its elven-made prison underneath the city by Alias.


 * Kythorn: King Virdin Bloodfeathers of Damara dies in battle with Zhengyi the Witch-King at the Ford of Goliad.
 * Phintarn "Redblade", lord of Llorkh, is murdered.
 * Pharaoh Akonhorus II of Mulhorand is assassinated by the Cult of Set, leaving eleven-year-old Horustep III on the throne of Mulhorand.
 * Autumn: Taalmuth Chaadren (father of Tsarra Chaadren) is killed in a spell battle, most likely by a lich.
 * Vendes Baenre, a vicious drow priestess popular in Gracklstugh for her "sculpted" ebony statues transmuted from living beings.


 * Tarsakh: Many strange creatures, including a great number of trolls appear in the Yuirwood south of Aglarond.
 * Marpenoth: Reports arise of strange fey creatures appearing in the Hullack Forest and the hills around Thunderholme.
 * Nightal: Heavy snowfall hits Cormyr and the Dalelands, up to a foot in some places. Several ships become trapped in ice on the River Lis.
 * An earthquake in the vicinity of the Laughing Hollow releases an unknown pollutant into the River Delimbiyr downriver of the site. Livestock that drink from the river die in large numbers and Daggerford has to rely on its wells and cisterns for drinking water until the source of the pollution is stemmed.
 * A group of mindflayers place vampire squids into the Giant's Chalice as part of a long-term scheme to goad the lake's inhabitants into seeking aid from their sea elf allies so that they can enslave some.


 * The Fire Knives move to Westgate and base their organization at Castle Cormaeril.
 * The dwarves of Clan Ironeater reclaim the ruined halls of Illefarn.
 * Shandril Shessair kills a dracolich of the Cult of the Dragon. The Sembian Cult of the Dragon cell also suffers, as Shandril costs the cell three dracoliches (Shargrailar the Dark, Rauglothgor the Proud, and Aghazstamn) and two Wearers of Purple.
 * In Kara-Tur, an outpost of the Black Leopard Cult on Akari Island is discovered and wiped out. As the news arrives in Pendir Chao and H'sin-to, Black Leopard followers organize large-scale parades and demonstrations.
 * Alturiak: The High Constable of High Dale increases security within his lands after the body of a drow whose throat had been slit washes ashore in one of the harbors of the Wyvernwater.
 * Tarsakh: The Men of the Purple Arrow explore the regions around the Yuirwood and the adventurer Sparleye goes missing.
 * Eleint: The Company of the Cloak forms in Scornubel under the leadership of the minor mage Mhair Gulzrabban.
 * Marpenoth: The Rogues of Tilverton are attacked in their own headquarters by the Fire Knives but that same contingent of Fire Knives is then defeated by an adventuring party inscribed with the Azure Bonds (which they had helped to inscribe!).
 * Uktar: The Knights of Myth Drannor destroy the portal to Avernus located in the ruins of Myth Drannor.
 * Nightal: A mercenary company, under the leadership of Narve Dwarfkin and Ryhinn Blackcloak forms in the city of Selgaunt.


 * Hammer: Liantha, a priestess of Tymora in Silverymoon sets out eastward with a band of adventurers looking for passageway across the Anauroch desert to the Eastern Heartlands.
 * Alturiak: Mellomir, the sage of Arabel claims discovery of a great dwarfhold located deep underneath the village of Eveningstar. He is believed to have been taken to High Horn for questioning by a group of Cormyrean guards.
 * Tarsakh: Dabron Sashenstar returns to Baldur's Gate after a successful expedition to Sossal.
 * Flamerule: The Firemaster hires mercenaries in the cities of Suzail and Westgate, supposedly to delve into a group of ancient tombs beneath the forests north of Waymoot.
 * Eleint: Lurkan the Reaver of the Sword Coast travels to the region around the Inner Sea to lend his services to the growing conflict in the Moonsea region.
 * Marpenoth: Thaalim Torchtower rises to lead the lawless men of the Tunlands between the Storm Horns and the Sunset Mountains. Rumors spread that he has spies in all the settlements of Cormyr (though in reality he only has one spy in Eagle's Peak).
 * The bandit-lord Lothchas of the Moonsea shifts his operation from that region to the Dalelands to the south.
 * Nightal: Haspur, a seer in Baldur's Gate, has a vision that prophesies the rediscovery of the Ring of Winter in the near future. During his vision, he seemed very upset but could recall nothing when he broke out of his trance.
 * An inexperienced Harper bard named Mestrel Hawkmantle succeeds at an extraordinary amount of tasks before disappearing through a portal that he found in some ancient ruins.
 * Chansreena Alabhansree Alanasker of Ormpur elopes with her lover, the pirate Cairak Redbeard to the Moonshae Isles, taking several magic weapons and a large quantity of saffron with her to ensure a comfortable life.
 * Shaliim Wyrmslayer, the prince of Lapaliiya, and his Waterdhavian adventuring party narrowly escape capture by a group of black dragons.
 * Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun steals the Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings from a Harper vault called the Catacombs of Ordulin. He replaces it with an illusory replica.
 * The bard Ivryn Olindarr writes the comedic play Three Black Horses.
 * Malarkin Norlbertusz of Ordulin writes the play Much Ado in Sembia.
 * Manshoon and Fzoul Chembryl take ill but are healed.
 * Khelben Arunsun shatters the Crown of Horns, freeing Laeral Silverhand from Myrkul's evil influence. He returns to Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep with her to help her heal; within three years, they are inseparable, and Laeral is often referred to as Lady Arunsun.
 * Thauloamur Reerist, a minstrel, writes the book Clever Words from a Failed Jester.
 * Thalamoasz Threir, Sage of Sembia, writes Signposts In The Gardens of Life.
 * Pumkato, a svirfneblin of Blingdenstone, rises to the position of burrow warden, one of the youngest in the city's history.
 * On the alternate world of Earth, Ed Greenwood collates a collection of travelogues, maps, and other information given him by Elminster into the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set for its first publication.
 * In the guise of the halfling Regis, the assassin Artemis Entreri comes to Mithral Hall. He battles Drizzt Do'Urden, but is defeated and left for dead. However, he is later rescued by Jarlaxle and the Bregan D'aerthe, who take him to Menzoberranzan. Later this year, while Drizzt and Catti-brie escape the city, he joins them.
 * Shandril Shessair, a spellfire-wielding maiden of Deepingdale, is hunted by both the Cult of the Dragon and the Zhentarim across the Dalelands and Cormyr and into the Heartlands. On the way, she is aided by the Knights of Myth Drannor and hidden by Elminster, Mirt, and the Seven Sisters. She slays three dracoliches of the Dragon Cult.
 * Shandril Shessair later kills a clone of Manshoon, collapses Irondrake Rock, slays the lichnee Iliph Thraun and does heavy damage to Zhentil Keep and the Citadel of the Raven with spellfire.
 * The Dragon Cult and Zhentarim continue to hunt Shandril, until finally she immolates herself in spellfire.
 * Heading to Silverymoon at the invitation of Alustriel, Drizzt Do'Urden comes across the path of a band of orc and ogre raiders and their captives. Joining with a band of farmers from Pengallen, they defeat the band, though not before one of the slaves—a goblin named Nojheim—escapes. Having been told the goblin was a captured war band leader who was to have a trial, Drizzt tracks him down and returns him, whereupon he learns that Nojheim is as temperamentally different a goblin as Drizzt is a drow, and a slave owned by Rico Pengallen. Traveling to Silverymoon to appeal to Alustriel's justice, Drizzt isn't there to stop Nojheim's owner from killing him.
 * Alias and Dragonbait track down the makers of the Azure Bonds. In the process, they destroy the evil magician Cassana of Westgate, the lich Zrie Prakis, the Fire Knives guild, and the fiend Phalse, and they ban the god of decay Moander from Faerûn.
 * On the island of Shinkoku in Kozakura, Lady Sato Kitashi befriended several li lung dragons.


 * Marpenoth: Zhentil Keep's grip on the cities of the Moonsea loosens as the Zhents become distracted by warfare further south.
 * Orm, the Lord Envoy of the Council of Lords of Melvaunt, flees the city with most of the treasury and buys himself an estate north of Zhentil Keep. The Zhents recognize him as the true lord of Melvaunt regardless.
 * Flamerule: Azoun IV attempts to strengthen diplomatic ties between Cormyr, Shadowdale, Mistledale, High Dale, and Deepingdale. This act worsens relations with Sembia and Archendale.
 * Rumors of a merchant's or nobles' war breaking out in Westgate begin to spread in the nation of Cormyr. Several dead assassins turn up dead in the harbor of the city.
 * Moonsea caravans sending supplies to Zhent troops in the Dalelands begin quietly changing their destination to Arabel. Zhentil Keep quickly discovers this treachery and abandons support for its occupying forces, instead concentrating on rebuilding Yûlash in an attempt to divert all Moonsea trade away from the Dalelands.
 * During the months of Flamerule, Eleasias, and Eleint, the Night Masks battle the Shore Patrol for control of Westgate's criminal underworld. Adventurers, hired by the city's merchant nobility as bounty hunters, deliver a sharp check to the ambitions of the Night Masks. Their efforts thwart a plot by the ruling Pentad of Night Masters to transform Westgate into a theocracy of Mask, the Shadowlord.
 * Uktar: Aumark Lithyl unifies Ruathym.
 * Waterdeep mediates a truce between Luskan and Ruathym. However, Luskan and Ruathym, together with Tuern and the Whalebones, subsequently make an alliance to raid settlements down the Sword Coast.
 * Netyarch Zalathorm is replaced on the throne of Halruaa by Elder Gabrela for two weeks while he recovers from a particularly disturbing divination concerning the events of the year to come.
 * Slave riots in Messemprar.
 * A tribe of kobolds takes up residence in the Maiden's Tomb Tor, unnoticed by Waterdeep.
 * Lady Alustriel forges an alliance with Bruenor Battlehammer of Mithral Hall and helps defend the dwarf halls against the drow of House Baenre.
 * Circa: Geildarr becomes lord of Llorkh after the murder of Phintarn "Redblade", the previous lord. Dwarves start disappearing in Llorkh.
 * The wizard Maalthir launched a successful coup d'etat against the Council of Hillsfar.
 * Zhengyi the Witch-King divides Damara, claiming the northern resource-rich duchies for himself and leaving the southern baronies as squabbling puppet states.


 * This year is known as the Year of Spell Flames in the Black Chronology.
 * This year is known as the Year of the Great Sky Serpent in Shou Lung.
 * The "present" in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set is Nightal 30, 1357 Dalereckoning.
 * Citta Hothemer publishes the book Musings of a Shameless Noble.
 * Hammer: Whole herds of cattle disappear from grazing land in Archendale. A dragon is suspected to be lairing in nearby mountains.
 * Alturiak: A man named Haljak hires many skilled warriors in Scornubel for a good wage but none of those hired are seen again.
 * A drow is found in the thawing ice of the Thunder River. The High Constable of High Dale doubles the strength of all patrols indefinitely.
 * Ches: Three boats, the Ratclaw, Umbolden and Bloody Umber, vanish without a trace on the Inner Sea within the first two weeks of the year’s trading season.
 * Rumors are rampant in the lands east of Waterdeep that a new Beast Lord, a term given to those who breed rare, dangerous monsters such as owlbears and gorgimera, has arisen, as monsters associated with such men are suddenly increasing in number and seem to be working in concert.
 * The King's Tournament is held at the Fields of Pryollus to determine the successor of King Theris of Mourktar.
 * Gauntlgrym is re-discovered by the Company of the Gryphon.
 * The corpses of six illithid and thirteen drow are found washing down the Unicorn Run in Secomber all killed by fire or blade.
 * Large bands of orcs are reported to be on the move between Baldur's Gate and Amn. They are avoiding contact and moving stealthily.
 * Waterdeep puts a high premium on juvenile griffons and their eggs when Open Lord Piergeiron being bolstering the numbers of their Griffon Cavalry.
 * Tarsakh: The Tome of the Unicorn is stolen from Ruathym's Green Rooms royal library by the Calishite mage Shond Tharovin. Shond successfully summons the skull of Shoon VII from the tome and communicates with his spirit.
 * Unknown creatures are reported being seen in the Yuirwood. Those who attempt to combat them are not seen again.
 * Mirtul: Another war of conquest in the Dales is feared as Archendale begins hiring mercenaries.
 * The House of Gond opens in Essembra, led by the Lord High Smith Gulmarin Reldacap.
 * Kythorn: Calimshan begins building its first navy since the time of the Shoon Imperium.
 * During the Festival of the Assumption, Gilgeam destroys a giant dragon turtle in Unthalass Harbor.
 * Flamerule: A Zhent caravan is destroyed in Teshwave, apparently by Cormyreans upset at the situation in Daggerdale.
 * Mourngrym Amcathra and Randal Morn (supported by the garrison at Tilverton) commit forces to clear the trade roads from Shadowdale and Mistledale to Cormyr.
 * Eleasias: The Nentyarch of the Great Dale begins stockpiling black gemstones, sending agents across the Realms in search of them but not giving a reason why.
 * Azoun IV orders the search of all travelers in Cormyr after he discovers gems from the royal mine are being smuggled out of the country.
 * The Sceptanar of Cimbar sends an envoy to Cormyr, Sembia, and the Dalelands, seeking information on the attack on Scornubel by a nishruu in 1355 DR. He offers great wealth to whoever can send the specimen trapped under his palace back to its home plane without harming the magic or people of his realm (and greater wealth to whoever can make it work for him).
 * A well-known dancer from the Grey Veil in Zhentil Keep disappears, supposedly in possession of Yuthla, the Eye of the Beholder.
 * Eleint: Sightings of Princess Alusair Obarskyr pour into Suzail. Many are thought to be false but one, claiming her appearance in Tilverton, being seen with the lord of that city, seems credible as he too has recently disappeared.
 * Tyranthraxus learns of the process of inscribing Azure Bonds. The Possessing Spirit forms an alliance with a Red wizard, some Zhentarim mages and the survivors of the previous attempt at using the Azure Bonds (Fire Knives members and cultists of Moander). They abduct a group of adventurers and inscribe them with the Bonds.
 * After being banished from Amn for threatening to kill other merchants with magical creatures he controls or conjures from his home in Murann, Shairkash moves to the town of Beregost. He begins threatening competing traders just as he did in the Merchant's Nation.
 * Marpenoth: The Stranded Fish tavern in Ordulin is destroyed when a fight breaks out between locals and a mage thought to be a Red Wizard.
 * The adventurers abducted by the New Alliance of the Bonds wake up in Tilverton during a visit from Azoun IV. The brands force them to attack the king's carriage but they escape retaliation, going on to rescue Alusair Obarskyr and Giogi Wyvernspur. They then free themselves of the Azure Bonds and destroy Tyranthraxus with a little help from Elminster.
 * Uktar: Thayan agents openly slay merchants in both Westgate and Scardale Town.
 * The flying ship Blue Diamond is spotted in the skies above the Vilhon Reach.
 * Slaver activity is discovered in the Elven Court.
 * Nightal: The adventurer Shaless returns to her favorite tavern, the Drunken Dragon in Tsurlagol with harps and blades she had recovered from the lost city of Myth Drannor. The "identity" of two of the harps are confirmed by the bard Maerhult.
 * The seer of Baldur's Gate, Haspur, has a vision of the Ring of Winter and shares it with the people of the city.
 * A Trader from Telflamm: My Years Amid High-Heaped Gold, a book written by Uldurn Maskovert, is published.
 * The Black Book of a Garrulous Merchant, a book written by Haldimer Hurezan, Factor of the Blingblade Coster of Murann, is published.
 * The two volume Musings of a Chessentan Scholar, written by Loremaster Hardolan Myrinter, is published.
 * Musings of a Shameless Noble, a book written by Lady Citta Hothemer of Waterdeep, is published.


 * Sourcebooks


 * Dreams of the Red Wizards
 * Empires of the Sands
 * Mirtul: Waterdeep and the North
 * Eleasias: Old Empires
 * Nightal: Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1st edition)
 * Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms


 * Adventures


 * Ochimo: The Spirit Warrior


 * Comics


 * DC Forgotten Realms comics
 * The Ogre's Paw
 * Converging Lines
 * The Great Game
 * Fools Rush In
 * The Dragon in the Dale
 * Dragonspawn
 * Dragonsmoker
 * Dragons (and Other Beasts)
 * The Morning After
 * Head Cheeeese
 * DC Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comics
 * The Gathering
 * The Bounty Seekers Of Manshaka
 * The Secret of Selûne's Eye
 * Sorcerer's Moon
 * The Spirit of Myrrth
 * Beneath the City of the Dead
 * Showtime! Or, Revenge of the Living Monologue
 * Die Laughing
 * Night of the Moonpenguin
 * Of Mirt & Mind Flayers
 * All Hades Breaks Loose
 * Down in the Depths
 * Shackles of the Past
 * Shell Game
 * Cat & Mouse


 * Novels


 * Azure Bonds
 * Crypt of the Shadowking (mentioned)
 * The Halfling's Gem ends.
 * The Legacy
 * Starless Night
 * Spellfire
 * Crown of Fire
 * Hand of Fire
 * The Sentinels begins.
 * Part of The Shadowmask.


 * Short Stories


 * Realms of Valor, "Dark Mirror"