Greetings and Salutations to all. Welcome to my campaign setting Beldorn. I have been running this homebrew for now 28+ years, encompassing all the editions of Dungeons and Dragons except for 4th. Some 175 players have played or are still playing within the campaign setting over the years.

WELCOME TO THE FIFTH AGE OF BELDORN

The 5th age began on Tyche 25, 2234 with the impact of a large meteor on the surface of the Northern Continent. The ground for twenty miles was vaporized with an additional radius of nearly 100 miles with trees flattened and rock formations tumbled. Gases were released into the atmosphere as well as smoke and fire. The impact ignited volcanoes on the western coast; burying the Northern Sea Kingdoms and other areas the impact also shook the Underearth. The cloud cover from the impact circled Beldorn and lasted nearly a year. It was known as the year without summer. Acid rain fell, intense thunderstorms occurred all over the planet. Crops failed and about one third of the population of Beldorn died that year.

Magic of all kinds failed for the meteor upon its destruction released several unknown gases. One of the gases within the meteor changed the Arcanosphere, the medium through which all magic is cast. Spellcasters of all kinds could not get their spells for a period of nearly a year. They could memorize but the trigger within them to cast the spell wasn’t there.

Another of the gases named Nicotinic by the Alchemists who discovered it, from the meteor also woke the dead and gave them a higher vitalility. Divine casters found that they were a primary target of the undead and with no communication with their deities and no ability to turn or rebuke the undead died in droves. Those who survived made pacts with the undead, in particular the evil priests, or fled into hiding or made pacts with others to protect them. The more intelligent of the undead took the areas that had been denuded of life and made Kingdoms of their own and continued to hunt down divine casters.

The ability to cast magic eventually came back but it wasn’t as it was before. Spell casting by the Arcane and Benders was more difficult. This also applies to the bards and others that used arcane spells. The Divine casters also found changes within how they cast spells even after regaining communication with their Deities.

Once Priests found that they could again commune with their deities, they searched out the source of the meteor. They and the Sages who had also studied the situation found it was Tempus, the leader of the pantheon, had succumbed to a madness and sent the meteor to the surface to effect changes in order to maintain strife on Beldorn. Mystra, Helm, Torm and Tyr imprisoned Tempus to prevent him from causing any additional destruction. The religion of Tempus fell into disfavor with the general population.

Within the Pantheon itself there is major disagreement as to who the lead the pantheon. Many of the deities who had found their way back to Beldorn after the assassination and rebirth of Tempus, including Loviatar, Besheba, Shar, for the evil deities and Sune, and Deneir for are not allowed to include their voices by the superiors. In the end it is decided that Torm be the head for he was the least objectionable deity in the group, but his hold on the leadership is tenuous at best. The nonhuman pantheons disavow themselves of the insane human gods and back within themselves, with the exceptions of the Halflings who continue to cooperate with the human pantheon

With the misery caused by Tempus, Cyric, Loviatar, Besheba, and the other evil deities spread their word to all that would hear them and many convert to their beliefs. Helm, with his secrets is looked at with suspicion; Tyr is found to be too uptight for many. Latlander however becomes the voice of resistance to the evil deities and becomes the primary target for the evil deities and the undead who hate him and his followers with a cold fury

The campaign begins some 500 years after the impact. There are new empires and old lands that have changed.