@TheEdVerse I'm reading through The Grand History of the Realms and wondering: is there a Year 0 DR or is -1 DR (Year of Shattered Relics) immediately followed by 1 DR (Year of Sunrise)? If there is a Year 0, what happens in it?
— Marcel Malfitano (@marcellvspqr) September 28, 2020
1)
There is indeed a Year 0 DR: the Year of the Rising Flame. If you consult the 2e tomes Heroes’ Lorebook or my The Seven Sisters, you’ll learn that this is the year when Ao told Mystra, and Mystra in turn told Azuth, that… 2)
…some of Mystra’s power must be vested in mortals (so she will have “Chosen”).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 28, 2020
Why then? Did Ao give Mystryl the same order? Yes. Ao foresaw the potential for the goddess of magic to become a tyrant among gods (controlling their easiest access to swift magic), and the disaster a complete collapse of the Weave would be to Toril, so…anchor the Weave not just in things, but in mobile beings.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 28, 2020
No, "must" is correct. Ao the Overgod issued an order. Mystra could obey it, or defy and be destroyed, or foot-drag and have it forcibly done for her. So, "must."
(For Mystra telling Azuth, it was a FYI of how things were henceforth going to be, not an order.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 29, 2020