Era of Chaos

Five hundred or so years after Nerath first declared himself Emperor, an ancient horror returned to Rhonnos. Ioton the Insane, Emperor of Nerath only by virtue of his assassination of his father at the right time, was a dark and twisted man. He spent hours locked away with his books, pouring over them for some unknown reason.

The day finally came when Ioton's reason became clear. Early in the morning, just as the sun was breaking the horizon, Ioton cast a spell to loosen the boundaries between reality and the beyond. Hundreds of abberations from the Far Realm thrust their way through, and ran amok in the streets. The Illithids were the worst, taking slaves by the dozen on every street corner. Gibbering mouthers drove anyone who saw them insane within seconds. Indescribable beings devoured children on sight.

Dark days had come to Nerath as anyone who could escaped the city. Whatever happened to Ioton is unknown, but his son Feerio, was declared Emperor and ruled from Harrendel. Feerio gathered whatever Maegi he could and put them to work on ways to close the rift between our reality and the Far Realm. He sent out entire armies to corral and control the infestation. He even went so far as to root out any clerics that were about and commanded them to use any divine energies they had to close off the Far Realm.

For nearly thirty years, the abberations and denizens of the Far Realm entered Rhonnos. But then, without warning, the rift sealed. Without the chaotic energies of the Far Realm, many creatures burst apart or melted away. Those that could survive went into hiding. To this day, Illithids and other strange creatures are spoken about in hushed whispers, lest they spring from the shadows to begin another Era of Chaos.