The Dragon Wars ravaged the Sword Coast from 1475-1480. For centuries, the evil Cult of the Dragon had devoted itself to creating chromatic dragons in a vain attempt to fulfill an ancient prophecy. However, now under the new leadership of the Wyrmseekers, the cult rededicated itself to rebuilding a dragon empire that had been extinct for 25,000 years. Seeking to free Tiamat, the queen of evil dragons, from the Nine Hells and bring her into the Forgotten Realms, the cult sought five ancient dragon masks and the support of evil dragons everywhere. The cult leaders reached out to the evil dragons of the Sword Coast and earned their allegiance.
With support of the evil dragons, the cult raided cities, caravans, good-aligned dragons, and merchant ships to build a treasure hoard worthy of their demon queen. Their ravenous hunt for treasure threw the Sword Coast into upheaval. Villages and towns were reduced to ashes, and refugees fled into the great cities. But even the great cities of Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and Baldur’s Gate were not safe from their depredations. In Waterdeep, dragons attacked the Field Ward, killing hundreds of refugees.
The situation was dire. However, the Sword Coast was far from defenseless. Powerful factions rose up to put an end to the Tyranny of Dragons.TheLord's Alliance, the Harpers, the Order of the Gauntlet, the Emerald Enclave, and The Black Network joined forces to combat the Cult of the Dragon. Reeling from the White Sails Scandal, the newly anointed Open Lord Lady Laeral Silverhand proposed that adventurers align with the five factions to find and disrupt the Cult of the Dragon.
As with all great realms-shaking events, in the hands of adventurers the future lay. Adventurers throughout the Realms joined forces to face Tiamat, preventing the rise of a new dragon empire, and destroying the Cult of the Dragon.
Now the Sword Coast must deal with the fallout of the Dragon Wars. The rise of the dragons has stirred the ancient enmity of their everlasting foes, the giants, and in the Heartlands there are early rumblings of a giant uprising, a swelling of the Storm King’s Thunder. In small pockets throughout the Sword Coast, prophets who saw the success of the Cult of the Dragon, have become emboldened, and now there are rumors of new cults appearing, calling themselves the Princes of the Apocalypse. The cities swell with refugees, the tenuous wartime peace between the Harpers and the Black Network is splintering, and the fragile Lord’s Alliance balances on a knife’s point, wracked with loss and scandal.