Netheril

Little is known of Netheril.

## History

### The Rise of Netheril

Netheril was once, 5000 years ago, a small collection of villages located east of the Sword Coast and north of the Dragon Coast. These villages formed the Alliance of Seventon, but the leader Nether the Elder killed off the council and created the Kingdom of Netheril. Nether the Elder was powerful, and with his blade Harzirawn, which had yet to be named by then, he ruled. But Nether’s son, Nether the Younger stole the blade, killed his father, and took over the rule of Netheril.

Years passed, and under the rule of Nether the Younger, Netheril traded with the Elven country of Eaerlann. The Netherese learned from the Elves secrets of the arcane to the point of every Netherese being an adept wizard.

Due to wars with large orc tribes, the Netherese territory grew substantially, and within this new land, the Netherese did the greatest discovery ever to have happened in the history of human magic. The discovery of 100 ancient scrolls explaining the very nature of magic. These scrolls were named the Nether Scrolls. Netheril surpassed the magic of the Elves due to these scrolls, and the nation effectively cut their ties with Eaerlann due to this. In the following hundreds of years, the great mage emperors of Netheril were born and died, each completing their own great works within their lifetime. This included the mage Ioulaum, born in the year 544. Ioulaum was and perhaps still is the greatest mage to ever tread upon Faerûn. Wielding the ancient blade Harzirawn, he completed the largest extinction of orcs ever in 714, killing more than 140.000 orcs himself, not counting the army he led. He also later created the Mythallar, a forge of raw magic greater than any other. Using the Mythallar, he enhanced Harzirawn and created the first flying city Xinlenal.

### The Golden Age and the beginning of the Shadow Age

In the year of 1652, Netheril was at the height of its power. The floating cities were many, and new ones rose every year if not more often. While the country as a whole thrived, the divide between the country grew, creating what was known as High and Low Netheril. Anti-magic terrorists from Low Netheril broke into a vault and destroyed 24 of the 100 Nether scrolls. In 2202, the first floating city fell, fuelling the Anti-magic movement in Low Netheril.

In 3163, the only mage that might ever be compared or be called superior to Ioulam was born: Karsus. Karsus was able to cast spells at the age of two, before his teachings had even begun, and his birth marked to beginning of the Shadow Age. At the age of 22, Karsus raised a floating city, being the youngest to ever achieve this feat. But not only did he raise the city, it was the greatest in creation yet, for it featured not one but two Mythallars, thus allowing it to be twice the size of any other city. This city, called Eileanar, featured the highest tiers of magic being built into its very architecture. Things such as portals, teleportation circles, and anti-gravity was everywhere to be found in Eileanar.

### The Fall of Netheril

In year 3195, Karsus ordered that the remaining Nether Scrolls would be moved to Eileanar. The transport was ambushed, slayed, and the Nether Scrolls gone.

A Netherese man of Low Netheril, known as Olostin, came into contact with creatures known as Phaerimm. Olostin betrayed Netheril and sided with the Phaerimm that in turn granted him great power and helped him come into possession of Harzirawn.

Olostin went on to lead a campaign into Netheril, slaughtering Netherese like Ioulaum once did orcs. This war brought Netheril to its knees, and while Olostin, the 'Baron of Dread', was slain, the war continued. Ioulaum’s anti-aging spells were weakened due to the magic of the Phaerimm, thus he left Netheril, weakening the country even further. Karsus was the last great arcanist of Netheril, and he became obsessed with defeating the Phaerimm. Out of this obsession came many discoveries like the Shadow Weave and Heavy Magic. The Phaerimm pressed on, and Netheril was now at its last straw. As his last effort, Karsus created and cast the greatest spell ever to be used: It was a tier 12 spell, it used both Weaves and Heavy Magic. The spell took 6 hours to cast and was known as “*Avatar*”. The spell was to allow him to merge with a god. Many still debate why he cast the spell: Some call him power hungry while others say it was to protect Netheril. Karsus merged with Mystryl, the previous Mother of All Magic. The very Weave now ran through Karsus, but his body was too weak, and he died - and with him died Mystryl.

Since this, Netheril has emerged but fallen quickly again many times, but it is safe to say, that we will never see Netheril emerge as a full fledged and powerfull country again. This being said, Halruaa - a great country of Magi - is said to be the descendants of Netheril.

### The House Orogoth of Netheril

House Orogoth was a house in High Netheril. Being a house that specialized in exploration of other planes, House Orogoth survived the Fall of Netheril. The members of the house returned to a nation in shambles, and the house recovered few artifacts of Netheril, including the Betrayer Blade Harzirawn. House Orogoth fled to the Sword Coast. Using anti-aging magic, they lived on until modern times. House Orogoth mingled with black dragons, and among their family tree you would find a handfull of black dragons. Then, just recently in year 1475 DR, a member of the House Orogoth known as Rezmir stole the Betrayer Blade and slew the entirety of the house, and then fled.