Dawn War

The Dawn War was the war between the primordials and the gods. The war encompassed the eras known on Abeir-Toril as the Blue Age and the Shadow Epoch. The Dawn War began when the mad god Tharizdun marshaled the primordials against the gods in a bid for universal domination after becoming corrupted by the obyriths, progenitor demons formed from the Elemental Chaos. After Tharizdun was imprisoned in the Demi-Plane of Imprisonment, the primordials were led by a tanar'ri (another ancient form of powerful demon) known as Miska, the Wolf-Spider. A primordial named Nehushta constructed the fortress of Glaur in the planet of Abeir-Toril making it one of the main fronts in the war.
Shar and Selûne both moved to defend the newly born worlds of Realmspace against the primordial threat. Other gods were born from the conflict or were summoned from other universes, to aid the native gods in their struggles against the primordials and their servants.
In one of the most violent battles of the war, the dragon god Io, in his arrogance, faced alone a primordial called Erek-Hus, the King of Terror, and was killed when the primordial cleaved him in two with his adamantine axe. The same legend told that Bahamut and Tiamat were born from the two halves of the god, and joined forces to kill the primordial before they began to fight against each other. Only when Tiamat fled the battle did both dragon gods aid the other gods in the war, though they preferred to work alone. Some dragonborn believed their race was born in that battle, when the first dragonborn arose from Io's blood.
Many gods and primordials were killed during this conflict. The primordial Rorn, unable to control his temper, killed many gods and even other primordials during the conflict, earning the enmity of both factions.
Eons passed, and the Blue Age became the Shadow Epoch after the sun was devoured by the primordial, Dendar the Night Serpent. During this phase of the war, Ouroboros the World Serpent was the major force leading the armies of the gods.
Finally, the primordial Ubtao turned against his kin and aided the gods in imprisoning many of his former allies. In the aftermath, the sun was recreated and the oceans thawed. This ended the Dawn War and began the Days of Thunder.

Timeline

History of Faerun

Conflict Type

War