Lost to the annals of time is an empire of magical decadence and societal decay like no other: Netheril. Two thousand years ago, Netheril cowed Faerûn with its flying cities, archmages of unrivaled power, and mighty magical wonders. When Netheril fell, Faerûn's fabric shuddered. A huge swath of land shriveled into the Anauroch desert.
Yet echoes of ancient Netheril persist. Flying cities' ruins dot Anauroch and the surrounding lands, tantalizing adventurers who dare face untold horrors for the promise of wealth and magic. Scholars and mages alike seek Netherese knowledge, whether to illuminate history or gain a fragment of Netheril's spellcasters' power.
Ancient Netherese mages' wild experimentations with temporal magic warped the fabric of the time stream, making adventuring in the fallen empire possible. Hidden in the present day are time gates that lead to ancient Netheril and facilitate these adventures. Additionally, unfettered experimentation with Netherese magic in the past or present occasionally shunts present-day heroes into ancient Netheril.
Adventures set in the past might allow characters to become storied heroes of antiquity. In ancient Netheril, the opportunities for adventure are vast and terrifying, from arcane squalls running amok to violent villains who siphon Netheril's magic. The rewards for adventuring in Netheril are as fantastical as the magical empire itself.
Using This Supplement
This supplement includes the tools you need to play Dungeons & Dragons adventures set in ancient Netheril, a long-fallen empire in the Forgotten Realms. Monster stat blocks referenced appear in the Monster Manual or 6.
This introduction gives an overview of ancient Netheril and its history. Although this introduction is suitable for all players' eyes, the remainder of this supplement is intended for Dungeon Masters only.
The following is included:
1 provides information about adventuring in ancient Netheril, including details about the flying city of Eileanar and the port city of Conch. Maps and tools for adventures set in these cities are also included.
2 explains environmental effects and hazards common in ancient Netheril due to magic's overuse and exploitation.
3 details present-day time gates where characters can time travel to ancient Netheril, along with maps and adventures set near these gates.
4 provides maps and adventures set in ancient Netheril.
5 includes Netherese magic items characters might acquire during their adventures.
6 provides a bestiary of creatures found in ancient Netheril.
Ensuring Fun for All
This supplement deals with themes that some might find sensitive or uncomfortable. Before you incorporate this supplement into your game, read its contents carefully, review the "0" section in the Dungeon Master's Guide, and be sure to have a conversation with your players as described in the "Hard and Soft Limits" section.
The Empire's Rise and Fall
Five thousand years ago, the people (mostly humans) who lived in a collection of small fishing villages called the Alliance of Seventon struck an alliance with the elven kingdom of Eaerlann. The Eaerlanni elves taught the humans about magic. Following this advancement, the alliance renamed itself Netheril, after King Nether the Elder, and all citizens learned the basics of rudimentary spellcasting.
Three hundred years later, the Netherese discovered a collection of ancient writings on precious metals that contained vast bodies of magical knowledge. Using these lengthy documents, which came to be known as the Nether Scrolls, Netherese arcanists learned how to wield magic exponentially more powerful than anything they'd cast before. After centuries of magical progress and imperial expansion, the Netherese who mastered the power of the Nether Scrolls became the ruling class.
Netherese magical might dominated Faerûn for more than 2,500 years. During Netheril's Shadowed Age, though, several factors led to the empire's fall.
Peak Magical Excess
At the empire's height, Netheril's most powerful mages lived in great flying cities powered by magical orbs known as mythallars, a type of mythal, which are sources of great magical power. Forever hungry for deeper magical understanding, the mages conducted wild magical experimentations from their aerial abodes. By the time the Shadowed Age arrived, these experimentations had dangerously taxed the fabric of the Weave, the tapestry of raw magic that flows through the world. Magical mishaps began to compound, and flying cities eventually began to fall from the sky.
A Disgruntled Underclass
Meanwhile, a servant underclass had developed among those on the ground who lacked the wealth or ability to devote themselves to magical study. Peasants eked out livings in the meager employment of wealthy mages who owned the land and controlled the economy. These peasants seethed at Netheril's inequity, while the ruling class's hubris and thirst for power kept the mages oblivious to the peasants' anger.
A Subterranean Threat
During the Shadowed Age, as the Netherese's overuse of magic began to affect the Weave, an outside threat against Netheril emerged. Deep underground, where the Anauroch desert stretches today, lived magic-obsessed creatures called phaerimm. The Netherese's weakening of the Weave also weakened the phaerimm, even limiting their lifespans, and the phaerimm hated the empire as a result.
Using their abilities to siphon magic from the Weave, the phaerimm began to assault the mighty empire above. The phaerimm's magic caused the fall of some flying cities. Additionally, groups of phaerimm began strategically striking aboveground targets. These operations were so devastating that few victims survived. The Netherese became terrified of the phaerimm. The phaerimm's magic led to Anauroch's desertification, further contributing to the underclass's unrest.
The phaerimm, once they'd dispatched Netheril, planned to build their own empire built on suffering and dominance over all who weren't their own. The phaerimm's assaults on Netheril chipped away at the empire's already crumbling facade, and the Netherese mages became desperate.
Folly Before the Fall
In–339 DR, Netheril's most powerful mage, the dangerously brilliant Karsus, attempted to neutralize the phaerimm threat by casting a spell of unparalleled power to replace Mystryl, the god of magic, with himself. Karsus believed having absolute control over the Weave would allow him to save his people, though in his hubris, he also coveted the powers of a god. While Karsus cast his spell, the Weave surged and fluctuated.
Mystryl, the only one who could mitigate the damage dealt to the Weave, countered Karsus during the spell's casting by sacrificing herself and tearing the Weave asunder. This caused Karsus to die as well. For a time, magic vanished from the world, until the god of magic returned as Mystra.
Without magic to keep them aloft, the remaining flying cities of Netheril crashed to the ground, though the flying city of Thultanthar managed to escape to the Shadowfell. Many mages died with Mystryl's sacrifice, while others suffered shattered minds. Once magic eventually returned, Netherese mages could no longer cast their mightiest spells as they had before. The Netherese empire began to crumble. Eventually, the land that once boasted the world's most powerful empire became a barren desert, the life and magic stripped from it thanks to the phaerimm's siphoning powers.
Netheril Returned
In 1372 DR, the flying city of Thultanthar, also called the City of Shade, emerged from the Shadowfell, where it had lain hidden for centuries. The city's rulers, calling themselves Shadovar, began rebuilding the long-lost Netherese empire, even returning life and growth to the desert. They dubbed this reborn empire the Empire of Shade. Thultanthar crashed to the ground in 1487 DR, landing in Myth Drannor in the Heartlands, and the Shadovar empire fell with it. But survivors of that catastrophe work to re-create the fallen city, where elements of the ancient empire, now twisted by the Shadowfell's influence, still persist.
An Empire Divided
For most of its existence, Netheril was an empire split in two parts: High Netheril and Low Netheril.
High Netheril
High Netheril was the society of mages that dominated Netheril. High Netherese families were headed by powerful mages, though not every family member was proficient with magic. High Netherese ensured their descendants were elevated with wealth, education, and privilege above the laboring class, though High Netherese who couldn't use magic could never achieve true political or economic power.
Decadent Wealth
High Netherese hoarded the empire's wealth, jealously guarding their gains and fighting among themselves to claim more. Most High Netherese lived in flying cities, but some built enclaves in similarly dramatic locations protected by magic, such as atop waterfalls, in caverns, on isolated mountain peaks, or in calderas of volcanoes.
Magic Dependence
High Netherese regarded those who didn't use magic as undisciplined children in need of guidance, yet the mages were made helpless by their own surfeit of privilege. A typical High Netherese couldn't sew a button, sharpen a sword, or start a fire without magic. Some couldn't write or read altogether, relying on enchanted quills and speaking parchment instead.
Society
High Netherese society was full of beautiful people gilded with glamour, all concealing their true faces, forms, and agendas via magic. The life of a High Netherese mage was one of politics, danger, hedonism, and fierce competition.
Most High Netherese aimed to create or curate outrageous magical inventions that flaunted their ingenuity and avant-garde tastes. Even government officials and military officers favored dramatic, decadent magic over direct solutions.
Low Netheril
Low Netheril was the working class, which served the aristocratic mages who held all of the empire's wealth and power.
A Life of Hardship
Low Netherese lived in poverty and extreme taxation. Most Low Netherese farmed, fished, mined, or otherwise worked to serve and supply the mages. Low Netherese almost never owned their homes or lands, instead laboring to pay the ever-increasing costs imposed by their mage overlords. Lest the workers organize rebellion, High Netherese mages occasionally conducted raids, descending from the sky unexpectedly to make an example of dissidents.
Family and Magic
Out of sight of the mages, Low Netherese honored complex and rich customs marked by a profound storytelling tradition and unbreakable family bonds. Tattoos kept records of every parent, spouse, and child in a family.