The History of Shorefire

Background

Shorefire Realms exists after the destruction of all planes in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting from Dungeons & Dragons. It retains no connection to that campaign setting save for what is mentioned on this page.

History of the Realms

The Hubris of the Moral Races

The mortal races of the planes were powerful. They had spent millenia practicing and researching magic and had grown beyond measure in their capability. So powerful were they, the gods seemed as equals in might and influence. The only limitation remaining was the now seemingly small quantity of magical power on a plane. In their lust for more energy, the races opened portals to other planes to draw upon their magical potential. When this proved insufficient, magical devices were crafted to draw energy from many planes at once. For a time, balance was found. The races would draw only as much power as each plane could generate, as this was more energy than could be used at one time. When they began to require more, planes started to begin losing their magical potential. A plan was devised to tap into the plane where Yggdrasil, the source of all magic, resided. There, they would surely find unlimited power.

Yggdrasil's Fury

Once within Yggdrasil's plane, the races began to draw from the source of all magic. Recognizing the intent of the mortal races, and seeing the already lifeless state of all planes they did not occupy, Yggdrasil responded in force. It sent a pulse of magical energy outward, which nullified all magic it came into contact with. Their existence sustained by Yggdrasil's magic, the planes began dying. Where the pulse touched, only a desolate, lifeless plane remained. Attempts to enter these planes were met with near immediate death, as the machines intent on draining magic from many planes drew from the trespassers instead. The mortal races quickly realized their plight - very soon, all life everywhere would be destroyed.

The Exodus

Though soon to die, the power of the mortal races had not waned, and they devised a plan to create a new plane - one not sustained by magic, but on which magic could exist apart from the will of Yggdrasil. All their magical energy they poured into the creation of this material plane, and ensured it could naturally produce magic. Few survivors remained by the time this plane was created, and so the time to evacuate to it swiftly approached. A conclave of the wisest among the races decreed that all who entered this new land would have their memory wiped, with no memory of who they were, and no ability to use magic remaining. This, they said, would ensure none could destroy this plane with lust for power, and the inhabitants would have a chance to start anew. They would learn to use magic again from the beginning, and with luck, they would make better choices than their predecessors. The decision was made to send no history books or information on the past.

Seventeen wooden ships were made laden with three thousand pilgrims, ready to start life anew in a strange land. In the last moments of life in the planes which would soon truly be the Forgotten Realms, a portal was opened and the ships went though. The greatest and most powerful of the mortal races watched as the portal closed, and enjoyed a few last minutes of luxury before they were overcome with darkness, then death.

The Arrival

Seventeen galleons bearing three thousand souls drifted upon The Endless Sea, slowly approaching the continent they would soon settle. Many of the ships were separated, scattered across the sea. Four were close enough to come together, and form a small camp upon the shore. The ships were scrapped for wood and used to build shelter. Two weeks of peace seemed a promising start to the pilgrims' new life, but conflict would soon find them.

The Black Dragon and the Ascension of Brogash

One morning, a great roar was heard from the distance, as a great black dragon soared across the horizon. Turning toward the newly founded settlement, it soon began breathing fire upon the people. A small band of brave men and women rallied and managed to drive it back, with the knowledge it would soon return. Led by Brogash, the group climbed to the peak of a great mountain and there engaged the beast in battle. The dragon was ferocious, and the fight seemed hopeless, but just as all hope was lost, Brogash threw himself upon the dragon, driving his mighty warhammer into its back, and falling with it into the fiery chasm below. The settlement was saved, and Brogash ascended to become a deity. Though the beast was felled, the mountain now always releases bellows of smoke into the air - bellows that seem to form the shape of a dragon's head. It has been called The Haunted Mountain ever since.