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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 04:17:49
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So I started expounding on this one in the Asmodeus/Azuth thread, but I've started thinking about this more and more.
What if somehow Shar concealed exactly what really happened during the Spellplague?
I still like my old theory about how Cyric might have harnessed the Far Realm to gain a boost in power, without fully realizing the ramifications of his actions, so we'll assume that goes into the mix.
So here goes:
Cyric really didn't kill Mystra, and Asmodeus didn't really push the Abyss into the Elemental Planes, nor did the planes fall because of the failure of the Weave.
What really happened is that Cyric, desperate to kill Mystra, unleashed a rift into the Far Realm, which spread across the planes, and unhinged them and unmade the reality of the various planes.
The Weave took a great deal of damage during this time, and so did Mystra, whose divine Realm was battered at this time. The reaction of the Far Realm and other realities is essentially like the Negative Zone and the Marvel Universe, i.e. there can be a little interaction, but eventually, BOOM.
So, with Mystra nearly killed, the planes falling apart, Cyric stunned, and the Weave twisted and warped, Shar uses the Shadow Weave to alter the Weave to do a few things, the first of which being to make everyone forget what really just occurred.
Part of why some of the details of the Spellplague, and the events leading up to it and just after it are so vague and strange are that they aren't what happened. They are either the twisted version of the truth that Shar perpetrated, or simply the strange assumptions of various beings to "fill in the gaps" in their memories.
Shar's mass "Modify Memory" spell nearly destroys the Weave and the Shadow Weave, and without the Weave, every use of magic depletes the total amount of magic in the universe. Eventually, magic will cease to function without the Weave being repaired, but no one can even sense what few tattered remains still exist.
In order to keep another goddess of Magic from rising, Shar has kept Mystra, almost but not quite dead, hidden in the Shadowfell far from where anyone can find her. Not only does this keep a new opponent for Shar from rising (if she allowed Mystra to die), but it also keeps Mystra alive so that Shar can revive her as the universe falls apart to see her final defeat.
Without magic to moderate the boundaries between them, eventually the Far Realm will encroach into the Realms further, and entropy will finally overtake both of them, giving Shar what she has always wanted.
This actually leaves it up in the air if Abeir really was another world that was "twinned" or if this is just an explanation that arose from the gaps in memory that Shar created as she concealed her plot to unravel reality.
Also, the closer tie of the Far Realm to Toril's reality means that its much more difficult to see "beyond" the planes to other primes.
I still feel that even with the whole Weave and Shadow Weave at her fingertips, this Mass Modify Memory of Shar's would be hard to pull off, but perhaps with the Far Realm warping reality across the planes, it might be possible.
At any event, just some thoughts.
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Edited by - KnightErrantJR on 11 Oct 2008 04:53:48
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 05:41:04
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| Honestly, I think it's all going to come down to what happens in December with Kemp's new novel. I'm waiting to pass judgement on what really happened til then... |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 06:18:05
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| Well, to clarify, I'm just conjecturing, but with the character limit, I was having a hard to explaining what this was suppose to be in the header. I know what I said won't be "official" by any means, I'm just kind of looking at ways to explain, rectify, or leave some doors open. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36782 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 06:33:06
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| And once more, we have a rather plausible alternative presented. Why the designers couldn't come up with something so plausible is beyond me... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 06:37:08
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| Honestly, I like your version better - it leaves more doors open, with more twists to give a DM more pathways to travel down. |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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Nerfed2Hell
Senior Scribe
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2008 : 16:31:48
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Bah... pathways and wide open options are too restrictive in that they don't define specifically what is and where you can go with it. Limited choice is the way to freedom.  |
Some people are like a slinky... not good for much, but when you push them down the stairs, it makes you smile. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2008 : 09:48:03
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| I like this... it's much less apocalyptic than my alternate "consistent" scenario, and it actually MAKES SENSE! Of course, that automatically makes it a non-starter as far as certain (if not most) corporate plans go... however, I notice that you don't touch the Tyr/Helm/Tymora episode. Does that just not happen at all, or is it just too demented for you to even try to make it plausible? (My answer is "Yes!") |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2008 : 13:06:41
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I'm kind of going with, for the sake of this "theory," that the facts are still in evidence (unfortunately) since we still end up with 4e Realms at the end of the equation. So Tyr is dead, Helm is dead, etc. But why all of this happened is blurry to even the gods involved. I mean, of the gods involved, only Tymora is still alive, and she may not even remember what actually happened.
Plus, if Shar intentionally "swiss cheesed" the collective memories of people after the Spellplague, wouldn't it almost make sense that one of her (even if its been largely ignored in much of recent Realmslore) biggest enemies in Helm has his reputation further twisted?
So I guess my point is, clergy in Toril know the "official" version of what was printed in the FRCG, but given Shar's tampering, there really isn't any surety of what happened, and the gods don't comment because they don't honestly know. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 13 Oct 2008 : 22:53:24
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I like that... although you'd think that the clergy would be investigating the bizarre scenario that they allegedly "know" simply by virtue of its "WTF"ness. (Yes, that's a word... now.)  Of course, with how messed up things were during the Spellplague, it doesn't surprise me that even the gods don't know exactly what went on... including Shar, for that matter. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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What Really Happened During the Spellplague
