The Days of Thunder

The Days of Thunder era covers -35,000 to -30,000DR.

The earliest days of recorded history began at the end of the Great Ice Age, caused by the sun being devoured during the Dawn War[1], when the last glaciations ended, and the oceans receded to reveal dry land. Before the time of The Sundering[2], the lands that would eventually be known as Faerûn, Kara-Tur, Maztica and Zakhara, were all part of a super continent called Merrouroboros. None of the current races that populate the world existed back then. It knew nothing of civilised folk. Humans however, did exist in this time, but were far more primitive and apelike, only having the ability to use simple tools and living in caves. This period was the time of the Iqua-Tel Quessir, the elvish word for the fabled creator races.

-35,000DR

The rise of the Sarrukh[3] Empires. They established the realm of Okoth, south of what is modern day Mulhorand. Within a hundred years, most of Faerûn belonged to them.

-34,800DR

The Sarrukh establish the realm of Mhairshaulk on the Chultan Peninsula, west of Lhairghal to the jungles of Chult. The Mhairshulkans are believed to have created Nagas, Pterafolk, Troglodytes, Yuan-Ti and numerous other races now long gone.

-34,500DR

The Sarrukh’s established the realm of Isstosseffifil[4], based in what is present day Anauroch.

-34,100DR

After a century of civil strife that drove many of the Sarrukh of Okoth to the planes, the Okoth Empire collapses.

-34,000DR

The otherworldly realm of Faerie[5] is ruled by the Fey[6]. The Fae rule this plane even now in the present day.

The formation of the Ba’etith, a Sarrukh organisation that studies the primitive forms of magic practiced by various other races.

-33,800DR

The Fall of Isstosseffifil:

In an effort to drown the Phaerlin[7] and dispatch their enemies in one masterful strike, Isstossef wizards rerouted the Narrow Sea – so that it would run from east to west – inundating the land around the chain of hills, known today as the Tagorlar, with water. Although they succeeded in driving them deep into the Underdark, the massive ecological change resulting from their weaving of Art[8] cause the Isstosseffifil empire to collapse.

-33,500DR

The Sarrukh-ruled Mhairshaulk declines gradually, the population sinking into hibernation. The empire soon becomes the domain of the Yuan-Ti in their absence.

Elsewhere, the Batrachi[9] Empire begins to take shape.

-31,500DR

Under the leadership of Zhoukoudien, Batrachi power reached its zenith. The High One’s reign however, ends when he is slain in battle by the Titan Thane, Omo.

-31,000DR

An unimaginable catastrophe strikes Abeir-Toril. Whole continents vanish in earthquakes, fires, and windstorms, all of this causing the rearranging of the seas. Ancient Sarrukh accounts remark on this event as the ‘changing of the stars’, but no one alive now knows what this could mean.

Scholars speculate that around this time a comet/ice moon fell from the sky, devastating most of Abeir-Toril; this event is referred to as the Tearfall. The four Inner Seas merged together to form the Sea of Fallen Stars. Tens of thousands of dragon eggs soon hatch across Toril. The dramatic climate change quickly brought an end to the Batrachi civilisation.

This was also the rise of the Aearee[10] Empire. In the west, Aearee-Krocaa established the grand Aerie of Viakoo on Mount Havraquoar, becoming the capital of their great nation. In the north, Aearee-Syran established the capital at the Aerie of Phwiukree in the peaks of the Star Mounts. Southeast, the Aearee-Quor carve out the domain of Shara from their rookery in the Orsraun Mountains.

-30,700DR

Lammasu Massacre:

One thousand Aearee-Krocaa lose their lives to a much smaller force of Lammasu[11]. The Aearee-Krocaa later did experimentations with domesticated landwyrms, producing the first winged wyrms, which they called wyverns. Thanks to the new wyvern army, the Aearee-Krocaa empire expands rapidly.

-30,400DR

The Wasting Plague:

In a conflict between the Gnolls of Urgnarash and the rookery of Kookrui-Shara, shamans of Yeenoghu[12] summon Marrashi[13] — spirits of pestilence from the Barrens of Doom and Despair — to blight Aearee crops and spread the Wasting Plague among the Avians. Decimated, many Aearee-Quor turn to the Demon Lord, Pazrael for salvation.

[1] See article on The Dawn War

[2] The splitting of Abeir-Toril

[3] The creator race of Yuan-Ti, Pterafolk, Asabi, Lizardfolk, Troglodytes, and many other Scaled Ones

[4] pronounced, ISS-toss-FEE-fill

[5] A place that is ruled by the Fey that is adjacent to the Material Plane. This may be the Feywild

[6] The Fey are seen as the creators of Korreds, Sprites and Pixies

[7] A race of Giants that were found in the Underdark

[8] What use of magic from The Weave was referred as

[9] Counted as one of the creator races of the amphibioids

[10] The Avian creator race

[11] A creature that looks like a cross between a lion and an eagle

[12] One of the Demon Lords, otherwise knowns as the Demon Prince of Gnolls

[13] The Marrashi is a creature with the body of a man, wings and feet or a large bird, and the head of a jackal.