Empires of reptilian, amphibian, and avian races, known collectively as the Creator Races, dominated the world. They created great cities of stone and glass, tamed the wilderness and warred upon each other. For reasons still shrouded in mystery, the Creator Races and their empires disappeared suddenly 30000 years ago. Ruins still remain, scattered across Faerun.
Elves and Dwarves were the first races to achieve civilization after the fall of the Creator Races. They founded kingdoms across Faerun and banded together to fight the Orc hordes that regularly came forth from the Spine of the World and surged southward to attack and pillage.
Several thousand years after the founding of the Elven nations, hundreds of High Elf mages united to cast a spell designed to create a glorious homeland for their people. The spell succeeded, creating the isle of Evermeet, but also altering the lands of the world beyond recognition. The largest, newly formed continent is now called Faerun.
Lasting 3000 years, a series of wars between the Elven nations culminated in the Dark Disaster, where terrible storms ravaged the land, destroying the Elven kingdom of Miyeritar. These wars also lead to the descent of the Drow into the Underdark.
The Elven and Dwarven kingdoms faded into stagnation over the following millennia, setting the stage for the Age of Humanity.
The Empire of Netheril, was formed from a group of human settlements on the shores of the Narrow Sea by the shaman-king Nether. Using magic first learned from living Elves, then supplemented by the discovery of the Nether Scrolls in the ruins of the older Elven kingdoms, the empire rose to prominence and dominated the North for 3000 years. The empire fell, literally, when the power mad wizard Karsus attempted to take the place of the goddess of magic. The resulting disruption in magic brought the floating cities of Netheril crashing to the ground and lead to the end of the empire.
The survivors of the fall were either sheltered by the old Elven or Dwarven cities or formed new settlements across the North.
The human settlers of the Dalelands and the Elves of Comanthor formed an alliance known as the Dales Compact. Dalereckoning (DR) was adopted as the dating system.
Over the next 1000 years, well known human settlements such as Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Neverwinter and Luskan are founded.
The Gods themselves are cast out from their domains and forced to wander the lands in mortal incarnations, resulting in unpredictable magic and unanswered prayers. Some deities in mortal form are slain, whilst some mortals ascend to godhood, taking the place of the dead gods.
Mystra, Goddess of Magic, is murdered in her home realm by one of the newly ascended gods, Cyric. This action ripped asunder the fabric of magic in the world, causing the Spellplague, a disaster that not only killed thousands of spellcasters, but also reshaped the face of the world. Entire nations were displaced and realms from other worlds existed side by side with Faerun.
Venomfang, the Green Dragon, flew over Neverwinter Wood to search for a new lair. On his way, he passed over Thundertree and spotted an abandoned tower. After killing the giant spiders infesting the tower it named its base, Venomfang decided to lie low for a time. The Cult of the Dragon planned to convene with the dragon, but their plot was ruined by a group of adventurers. Marldurn, a wandering monk, was able to convince Venomfang that he could settle atop Icespire Peak in the Sword Mountains, East of Phandalin. In exchange for protection of Phandalin’s dominion and trade routes, Marldurn promised Venomfang plentiful livestock and rare metals. The once in a lifetime deal with a full adult dragon earned Marldurn the rank of Phandalin’s Townmaster.
Many strange and violent changes in the weather occur, eventually culminating in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Strangely, some places now seemed further apart than before, as if more land had been added to the world. It appeared that some of the effects of the Spellplague were reversing, with some reports of lands or peoples not seen since that time re-appearing in the world. Also, the seasons appear to be drifting away from their established patterns.
These upheavals contribute to a series of wars and conflicts during these years. After nearly a decade of turmoil, Faerun has returned to a relatively peaceful state and the changes wrought during the Second Sundering still have not been fully explored.