Isle of Dread: "the teleporting island"
by Sionainn T. Mac InnéirgheI would like to investigate the details and implications of this "Official" depiction of the DDO version Isle of Dread, and how this lore notionally relates to the timeline(s) of the D&D Multiverse.
First off, I use the term "Official" to refer to any lore which is published by WotC or a licensee thereof, in any medium. But within "Official", there are several distinct "Canons"; and I understand that a licensed video game, though "Official", is not Canonical for the TTRPG Canon. In other words, there are numerous Official timelines (i.e. canons, continuities). And specifically, the DDO is Official, but not part of the TTRPG Canon.
Nevertheless, video game depictions of the D&D Multiverse (e.g. Baldur's Gate, DDO, etc.) are obviously still "of interest" to D&D fans, even if their stories and details are "non-canonical" outside of their own medium. Even reputable sources such as the FR wiki consider the various continuities (rpg, novels, video games, comic books, etc.) to be worth presenting as a single world, even though technically they are distinct parallel continuities.
With that being said, what if we took DDO's official explanation for the Isle of Dread's appearance in Eberron at face value, as an Official (if not Canonical) explanation for why the Isle of Dread has been seen in so many worlds.
"The Isle of Dread was a secret once. An island that moved through the planes, appearing and disappearing on countless worlds. As soon as I learned of it, I determined to add it to my collection.
"Long ago, the Isle of Dread was controlled by the Kopru, ancient rulers over a declining empire. Once the Isle of Dread had been a symbol of their might and power. But in time it had become a millstone around their necks.
"To create the teleporting island, the Kopru had made a bargain with certain powerful Demons. Yet in time they had a falling out. The Kopru came to regret their bargain, as all those who deal with Demons do. And so they turned to me."
DDO Isle of Dread lore:
Isle of Dread: The Story SO Far
Isle of Dread (wilderness)
Hypothesized teleporting sequence of the Isle of Dread:
1. First known location of the Isle of Dread: Urt/Earth's Age of Magic, 1000 AC (The "after crowning" of Earth's Thyatian emperor) = 152 million years ago (Time-Life's / Chris Scotese's dating of the Late Jurassic) or 8000 BCE (inferred from one dating of the Mentzer home campaign)
2. The Isle of Dread teleports from Urt to Mystara: since at least BC 3000 (since the IoD is seen on the post-cataclysmic map of the Outer World), into the iconic era of 1000 AC, and present through at least 1012 AC (the IoD is seen on a map in PWAIII p.20). It is unclear how the Urt timeline and Mystara timeline are synchronized. Also I couldn't find any definitive reference to the Isle of Dread in the Desert Nomad modules, which exist in two different future timelines in Mystara (WotI or 1200 AC).
(2. Fifth Edition alternate timeline) 5E materials are considered by WotC to be a distinct timeline, even with regard to past events. Therefore, the Mystara seen in the Goodman Games 5E conversion is technically a different timeline, though possibly relevant to the BECMI depiction as well.)
3. The Isle of Dread teleports from Mystara to Oerth, as seen in the Savage Tide adventure path. This probably happened due to the events of Die, Vecna, Die, when Superspace was re-arranged. However, paradoxically the island is known to have been present in Oerth since it was settled by Olman humans from the Olman Empire more than 1,300 years ago, prior to 596 CY (the suggested date of Savage Tide by James Jacobs
(3. Alternate timelines): Also in the third era, but in alternate Official timelines, the Isle of Dread teleported to Toril (near Chult) or Eberron (near the continent of Sarlona): see official conversion notes
4. The Isle of Dread teleports from Oerth to the Feywild of the Mortal World of Nerath. This would probably have happened at the end of the "3e era" (Spellplague, which Ed Greenwood calls the multiversal "Passing of the Ethereal").
5. The Isle of Dread briefly teleports from the Feywild of Nerath to the world of Eberron, off the coast of the city of Stormreach. This took place in the year 1014 YK. Note: though the RPG canon timeline of Eberron intentionally stays forever at 998 YK, the DDO timeline of Eberron advanced year by year since it was synched up with real world time, as the winter holiday of Festivult was celebrated anew each year during gameplay. The IoD module was released in 2022 CE, which was 16 years after the DDO start date of 998 YK (2006 CE), and therefore the Isle of Dread (in the DDO Eberron timeline) arrived in, and departed from, Eberron in 1014 YK.
6. Legacy Timeline: The Isle of Dread teleports from Eberron to the the Plane of Water, as seen in the 5E materials. We don't actually see this in the Legacy timeline, but it can be inferred. Because as soon as we see the 5E map of Isle of Dread in the Plane of Water, this is actually depicting...
6. 5E timeline: Isle of Dread is in the Plane of Water. This was actually always a different timeline than the Legacy timeline. Also in the 5E timeline, Mystara is presumably rebooted to its iconic 1000 AC time (as seen in the Goodman Games conversion). The 5E DMG reportedly says that the Isle of Dread can appear in other worlds, even though it's based in the Plane of Water. This note was probably the basis for the DDO lore of the "teleporting island." Perhaps the IoD was actually always in the Plane of Water, and just used that as the basis for making appearances in other worlds, including Urt and Mystara.
Not sure how this could line up with the century-long gap between the 3E era and 4E era. To the extent that some of the events impossibly overlap, that would mean those take place in alternate timelines. Anyone wanna help lay out the legacy timeline of the 100+ year span (Spellplague + Second Sundering) and how that would line up with the IoD appearances?