--- #### **The Primordial Age (Pre-Dalereckoning)** - **Before -35,000 DR: Creation of Pandemonium** - Pandemonium is formed during the multiverse’s creation, a chaotic rift between law and chaos. - The plane’s endless winds begin carving its tunnels, creating an ever-expanding labyrinth of howling darkness. - **The Dawn War:** - During the war between the gods and primordials, Pandemonium becomes a place of exile for defeated primordials and deities. - The howling winds trap and torment those who are banished, adding their screams to the plane’s eternal cacophony. --- #### **The Rise of Madness (-30,000 DR to -10,000 DR)** - **-30,000 DR: Arrival of the First Exiles** - Mortals and planar beings who defied their masters are cast into Pandemonium, their sanity gradually eroded by the plane’s oppressive winds. - Some become the first **mad wanderers**, while others are twisted into new forms by the plane’s chaos. - **-25,000 DR: Expansion of the Caverns** - The tunnels of Pandemonium expand as chaotic winds reshape the landscape. - Entire regions collapse or are swallowed by new caverns, creating a constantly shifting terrain. - **-20,000 DR: Formation of Agathion** - **Agathion**, the lowest layer of Pandemonium, becomes the final prison for powerful beings who cannot escape the plane. - These entities, trapped in complete silence and isolation, descend into madness, their despair feeding the plane’s chaotic energies. --- #### **The Age of Mortal Interaction (-10,000 DR to -1,000 DR)** - **-10,000 DR: Summoning Rituals Begin** - Mortals discover ways to summon chaotic beings from Pandemonium, seeking their power. - These rituals often backfire, as the summoned entities spread madness and chaos to their summoners. - **-7,000 DR: Rise of the Whispering Cults** - Cults dedicated to the chaotic energies of Pandemonium emerge on Toril. - These cults claim to hear the plane’s whispers and promise power in exchange for servitude, though most of their followers succumb to insanity. - **-5,000 DR: Netherese Exploration** - Netherese wizards explore Pandemonium, seeking its chaotic winds as a source of magical energy. - Many expeditions fail, with mages lost to madness or devoured by the plane’s inhabitants. --- #### **The Age of Chaos (-1,000 DR to 1358 DR)** - **-1,000 DR: The First Rift Wars** - Planar rifts to Pandemonium appear in Faerûn, unleashing winds that sow chaos and madness across entire regions. - Adventurers and planar scholars work to seal these rifts, but not before the winds corrupt several mortal leaders. - **500 DR: Founding of the Spiral Keep** - A powerful sorcerer builds the **Spiral Keep**, a fortress within Pandemonium designed to harness its chaotic energy. - The keep becomes a center of planar experimentation, though its creator eventually succumbs to madness. - **714 DR: Myth Drannor’s Collapse** - Winds from Pandemonium are unleashed during the siege of Myth Drannor, spreading chaos among its defenders. - These winds create pockets of insanity that linger in the ruins, tied to the plane’s influence. --- #### **The Time of Troubles and Pandemonium’s Unrest (1358 DR)** - **1358 DR: The Time of Troubles** - During the chaos of the gods walking Faerûn, several minor deities are exiled to Pandemonium. - The winds amplify their despair, reducing them to shattered echoes of their former divinity. - Adventurers encounter new planar rifts, which spread madness across Faerûn’s countryside. --- #### **The Spellplague and Pandemonium’s Expansion (1385 DR to 1487 DR)** - **1385 DR: The Spellplague** - The collapse of the Weave disrupts Pandemonium’s planar boundaries, creating temporary vortices that drag mortals and creatures into the plane. - Entire villages disappear into the caverns, their inhabitants transformed into chaotic horrors. - **1390 DR: The Rise of the Wailing King** - A powerful entity known as the **Wailing King** emerges in Pandemonium, claiming dominion over a vast network of caverns. - The king’s influence spreads to the Material Plane, where his cultists create storms that drive entire cities mad. --- #### **The Second Sundering and Modern Era (1484 DR to Present)** - **1484–1487 DR: The Second Sundering** - The restoration of the **Tablets of Fate** stabilizes Pandemonium’s connection to the multiverse, though its chaotic winds continue to expand its tunnels. - Cults aligned with Pandemonium resurface, spreading whispers of power and destruction across Faerûn. - **1492 DR: Baldur’s Gate 3 and Chaotic Plots** - Agents of Pandemonium attempt to open rifts near Baldur’s Gate, unleashing the plane’s winds to destabilize the region. - Adventurers thwart their plans, sealing the rifts before the chaos spreads further. - **Present Day:** - Pandemonium remains a realm of despair and madness, its influence seen in whispers of chaos, planar storms, and cursed artifacts. - Adventurers explore its caverns in search of lost knowledge, treasures, or to confront the entities that dwell within. --- ### **Themes of Pandemonium’s Timeline** 1. **Madness and Despair:** - Pandemonium thrives on unraveling the minds of its inhabitants and visitors, spreading chaos and insanity. 2. **Eternal Chaos:** - The plane’s winds are ceaseless, creating an ever-changing and hostile environment that challenges even the most prepared adventurers. 3. **Interplanar Influence:** - Pandemonium’s influence spreads through planar rifts, cults, and artifacts that carry its chaotic energy into the Material Plane. 4. **Adventuring Opportunities:** - The plane offers challenges like navigating its labyrinthine tunnels, resisting its maddening winds, and confronting its twisted inhabitants. ---