Experimentation with temporal magic was rife before Netheril's fall. At key points in Netherese history, the fabric of time and space frequently thinned and warped.
You can use this warped fabric to pull your characters from any period in the Forgotten Realms or beyond into ancient Netheril, where they can adventure before discovering a way back home.
Time-Travel Adventures
The adventures in this section deposit characters into harrowing situations in ancient Netheril.
Attack of the Phaerimm
Adventure for Level 3 Characters
Encounters
This adventure consists of the following encounters and takes place on Map: Tyvern's Workshop. Squares with rubble or flames in them are Difficult Terrain.
Sudden Disaster
An explosion of white energy transports the characters to the center of the first floor. They have the Prone condition.
The southeastern portion of the workshop has just exploded. The echo of an explosion rings, and the dust hasn't settled. The experimentation chamber in the workshop's center is intact; Tyvern's magical mishap exploded southward, sparing the structure.
The characters notice two conical shapes near the fire. These are Phaerimm Scouts. When a character stands, one scout telepathically tells each character, "I can taste the magic here! You shall die!" The scouts fight the characters to the death.
Once the scouts are defeated, the characters find three Potions of Healing in the remnants of smashed belongings on the floor. They also find an Arcane Battery, a Hat of Vortexes, a Mask of Changed Appearance, and a Mythallar Bracelet.
Plea for Help
The characters hear a weak voice calling for help from upstairs. If the characters head to the second floor, they notice the workshop's roof is sheared off and open to the sky. A portion of the southwest wall has collapsed. This is damage from the phaerimm attack on the city.
Trapped under the rubble, Tyvern (Medium Mage), a red-haired human, begs to be freed and promises a rich reward. Tyvern fled upstairs when the phaerimm attacked. If the characters are obviously time travelers, Tyvern insists he can send them home if the characters help him.
A character who takes a Utilize action and succeeds on a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check frees Tyvern from the rubble. If the characters free him, he explains his experimentation and why the characters might have been transported here, if applicable. He says that his botched experiment coincidentally happened at the same time as the phaerimm attack. If the characters rescue Tyvern, each of them earns 400 XP.
After a few minutes, the characters notice an enormous, ominous shadow approaching overhead. This is a Phaerimm Elder. If any creature remains upstairs in the workshop after 1 minute has passed, the elder fights them, likely destroying them. If the characters flee downstairs, with or without Tyvern, the elder ignores them.
Back Downstairs
When the characters are downstairs, they find four Phaerimm Hatchlings and two Phaerimm Scouts sifting through the workshop's remains. The phaerimm fight the characters to the death.
Conclusion
Once the workshop has been cleared of phaerimm, if Tyvern is with the characters, he awards them 150 GP each and the Brooch of the Elements (5) he's wearing. If the characters are time travelers, he suggests that he might be able to return them to their time by reversing his experiment's steps. He asks for a few days to experiment, and encourages the characters to explore the city. Tyvern readily provides the details about x found in 1.
If Tyvern isn't present, a character proficient in Arcana can reactivate the time-travel experiment by spending 1 hour studying Tyvern's notes, taking a Magic action, and succeeding on a DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check. The characters can reactivate the experiment whenever they wish, leaving them free to explore the city.
Chaos in the Streets
Adventure for Level 5 Characters
Encounters
The adventure consists of the following encounters and uses Map: Conch Alleyways, which shows the alleys where the encounters take place. The buildings surrounding the alleys are locked, and accessing them is outside the scope of this adventure.
There's Been a Murder
An explosion of white energy transports the characters to the southern end of alley A.
To the north is a broken statue of a robed mage, beside which dangles a gnome (Small Commoner) held aloft by an unseen force. Before the characters can act, the gnome's throat bleeds heavily and he falls to the ground, dead.
Flanking the gnome are three Chaotic Evil Lizardfolk Sovereigns. When they notice the characters, the lizardfolk shout threats and start combat. The lizardfolk are named Retta, Torm, and Vill, and they're members of a river smuggling gang called the Swampclaws. If a Swampclaw is reduced to 20 Hit Points or fewer, all three attempt to surrender, promising to tell the characters anything they wish to know in exchange for their lives.
A Swampclaw can reveal that the gnome was killed by Yorg, an Invisible Stalker under the Swampclaw leader's command. Yorg has sped into another nearby alley just a block away (alley B on the map) to chase down the gnome's siblings. The gnomes ran afoul of the gang when they accepted river transport for their embroidered textiles but couldn't pay their fees on time.
If the characters don't accept the lizardfolk's surrender, the Swampclaws attack again, taunting the characters with the above information. They are certain Yorg will defeat the characters if they give chase.
Save the Gnomes
After learning about alley B's location, the characters can reach it easily. When the characters arrive in alley B, they find four human officers of the guard (Medium, Chaotic Evil Guard Captains) staking out the stairway that leads down to alley C. The guard officers—named Jolm, Brea, Derk, and Terra—start combat as soon as they see the characters.
These corrupt guard officers are also Swampclaws helping Yorg. Once one officer dies, the others surrender, revealing that Yorg is in alley C downstairs, where the gnome siblings are hiding.
Finally Got You
When the characters arrive in alley C, they see two gnomes dangling in the air, begging for their lives. The Invisible Stalker Yorg taunts the gnomes for their foolishness before it moves to kill them. If the characters interrupt, Yorg drops the gnomes and fights the characters to the death.
Conclusion
If the characters save the gnomes, the siblings reveal themselves to be Low Netherese textile merchants named Bernadoo and Hipplepoff Tindertoe. They ran when Yorg grabbed their brother, Thomp. If the characters saved the gnome siblings, each character earns an additional 1,100 XP.
The siblings are distraught at their brother's death but thank the characters profusely. Though they have little to pay as a reward, the gnomes offer to take the characters to their stall in the Dockmarket (1). There, the gnomes happily trade their textiles to purchase any magic item of Rare or lower rarity from appendix A that the characters want. Returning to their own time might be the characters' next adventure, as you see fit.
The Doomed Apotheosis
Adventure for Level 8 Characters
Encounters
The adventure consists of the following encounters and uses Map: Karsus's Sanctum, which shows the section of Karsus's Sanctum where the encounters take place. During these encounters, Karsus is in the center of the sanctum, as shown on the map, surrounded by an impenetrable globe of raw magic. He is slowly growing larger, has Immunity to all damage, and is unaware of his surroundings. The characters can't affect Karsus in any way, and he can't perceive them.
Flumph Keeper
An explosion of white energy transports the characters to the sanctum, just north of the stairway. Another blue barrier of impenetrable magic surrounds the sanctum like a dome, and the characters are trapped.
A frantic human named Youmi (Medium, Chaotic Good Mage Apprentice) shouts for help from near the southeastern balcony. She gestures wildly for the characters to help her stop one Terran Magen and two Caldron Magen (6 for both) from destroying four terrified Flumphs, which are backed into the balcony's corner. The magen are driven berserk by Karsus's fluctuating magic and have just started combat with the flumphs. If the characters fight them, the magen turn their attention to the characters and fight to the death. Otherwise, the magen kill the flumphs before fighting the characters.
If the flumphs survive, Youmi becomes Friendly. She explains that Karsus is attempting to cast a spell to replace the god of magic and admits she's sickened by the archmage's hubris and recklessness. As an Influence action, a character can try to convince Youmi to join their group to help them navigate the city, doing so with a successful DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check.
Collection of Wonders
Each of the pedestals shown on the map holds a magical item. Karsus was trying to stabilize his magical experimentations using these items, but it backfired. If she's alive, Youmi suggests the characters remove the magic items from the pedestals to dampen Karsus's fluctuating magic.
Clockwise from the westernmost pedestal, the pedestals hold Boots of Speed, a Ring of Regeneration, a Fork of Eddy Summoning (5), and a Mythallar Cloak (5). If the characters want to keep the items, Youmi doesn't stop them.
Uncontrolled Magic
After the characters take a magic item from a pedestal, or after they've finished talking with Youmi, four Eldritch Eddies appear near them in places of your choosing. These eddies appear only once.
Karsus's Magic Rising
After the eddies are destroyed, the dome surrounding the area explodes in a flash of bright blue light. The characters are no longer trapped in the area. Four Mages, all humans, rush up the stairs and toward Karsus, screaming that there's no time to talk and casting Dispel Magic and other mitigating spells on the energy surrounding their master. After 5 minutes, the magic thrumming through the area stabilizes, although the globe surrounding Karsus is now much larger. Calmed for now, the mages offer to escort the characters to the public portion of Karsus's x, described in 1. Each character earns 2,100 XP.
Conclusion
The characters have some time to explore Eileanar before Karsus eventually dies and the flying city plummets to the ground. How long is up to you; it might be anywhere from a few hours to a week or longer. Regardless, returning to their own time is the characters' next adventure.