The Sundering

The Sundering is a fictional event set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Two sundering events have occurred in the history timeline of the Forgotten Realms world, but both are commonly referred to as The Sundering.

The First Sundering occurred in ancient times (around -17,600 DR) before humans came into Toril, at a time when elven high mages united to create the Evermeet lands. As a consequence of their powerful magic, the supercontinent of Merrouroboros was torn apart, creating what is now known as the Trackless Sea and the continents of Faerûn, Maztica, and Katashaka, among other physical changes.

The Second Sundering was equally cataclysmic, but occurred in recent times. Beginning in 1484 DR, about one hundred years after the onset of the Spellplague, natural disasters and calamities flashed across the planet Toril. Earthquakes, vast floodings, wars, droughts, and volcanic eruptions tore the world apart, and by 1489 DR this Second Sundering had changed the world dramatically, both physically and culturally. The Spellplague had caused huge changes to the planet, but the Second Sundering reversed most of them.

Publication history
The First Sundering was mentioned in Lost Empires of Faerûn (2005) and The Grand History of the Realms (2007), and again in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008). The first two books are supplements written for D&D 3.5e, and the later book is the official Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide for D&D 4e.

The Second Sundering was first announced at Gen Con 2012 in anticipation of the upcoming version of the game, known at the time as D&D Next. Wizards of the Coast described it as a "cataclysm," and campaign setting creator Ed Greenwood further elaborated on the event as "war, gods, and plain folks trying to get by." Novels and adventures was subsequently released in a staggered, overlapping fashion, while incorporating the collective results from the public D&D Next play tests. The result of the Second Sundering was, in game terms, a simplified set of rules detailed in the 5th edition D&D, published in 2014. The book Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide from 2015, sums up the Second Sundering and its consequences more coherently. The Forgotten Realms novels about the Second Sundering (also just referred to as the Sundering), were published in 2013 and 2014, and became known as The Sundering series.

The term "Sundering" is now used indiscriminately to refer to either the original First Sundering or Second Sundering, when used in official game materials.

Novels
The Sundering series of novels, explaining the events of The Second Sundering (or just The Sundering), comprise the following books:
 * The Companions (2013), by R. A. Salvatore, featuring Drizzt Do'Urden
 * The Godborn (2013), by Paul S. Kemp
 * The Adversary (2013), by Erin Evans
 * The Reaver (2014), by Richard Lee Byers
 * The Sentinel (2014), by Troy Denning
 * The Herald (2014), by Ed Greenwood, featuring Elminster