By Dalereckoning, the year is 1499. The cosmopolitan scholars of Waterdeep tracking the years by Present Reckoning record it as 141. Whatever calendar one uses, the Realms yet reel in the aftereffects of the Time of Troubles. The Godswar may be over, but the mark it left upon the Realms remains. Blessings laid upon fields and shores a thousand years ago to increase their bounty run dry, leaving the populations grown used to them in famine. Conflicts rage both internal and external, dynasties fall and alliances are broken. Once-peaceful neighbors fall upon one another over resources, and fanatic crusaders of dead gods seek revenge for their fallen patrons on the mortal planes. Null-magic and wild magic zones, spawned from vicious tears rent in the fabric of the Weave by Mystra's violent death perforate the map. Some of these lie in place encompassing whole population centers whose would-be residents now work out entirely non-magical means to sustain their daily life, while others creep across the land as part of some arcane, nigh-indecipherable weather system.