The Golden Age
The time of the Chronomancer’s birth in 1652 marks the beginning of Netheril’s Golden Age, when the nation was at the very
pinnacle of its power. Netheril began lifting one enclave into the
sky per year. Soon, dozens of these magnificent monoliths of
magic rode the air currents or moved in orbital patterns around
the loosely defined borders of the Netheril empire. Each arch-wizard who created his enclave heeded Ioulaum’s example, setting up his or her own laws and guidelines that the enclave’s residents had to follow. As time went on, the people had less and
less say, and their voice regarding changes in government, tax
rates, and the such were drowned out by the archwizards’ lust
for more power. The enclaves soon became a vehicle to provide
funding for the archwizards’ spell research, a staging area for
campaigns against other archwizards, and excursions into the
quasi- and paraelemental planes.
The Chronomancer was concerned about the other human civilizations on Faerun. He felt that Netheril’s snobbery toward less magically developed nations was a mistake that would come
back and haunt the empire. While the Chronomancer shared
many of the archwizards’ weaknesses (such as the belief that the
gods were just powerful archwizards who could be challenged),
he also cared about the well-being of Netheril’s neighbors. This
included the elves, dwarves, and barbarian peoples.
When news of an orc horde ravaging the Illusk nation in 1756
reached his ears, he entered the fray, helping the human settlements fend off the attack. Unfortunately, even the incredible
power of the Chronomancer couldn’t save the nation, and he fell
victim to a degenerative wound that killed him eight years later.
He very well could have taken healing and curative spells to fix
his ailment, but, like all of Netheril archwizards, he believed the
gods were merely archwizards like himself who had found “ultimate magic.” Their pride wouldn’t allow them to put their faith in
the deities for fear if they put their trust in these advanced archwizards, they would never achieve “ultimate magic” themselves.
Netheril was never without some rising menace, and the archwizards had to spend a lot of time dealing with enemies from both
the surface world and from within their own ranks. This included
destructive acts by Netherese citizens as well as the nonhumans
that swarmed around and within Netheril’s borders. In the year
1963, Netheril bore witness to an internal menace: citizens who
had little aptitude or respect for magic.
Nine men broke into the “Most Holy and Magical Chamber of
Ioulaum the Demidivine,” killing nine guards in the process and
losing seven of their numbers, to steal 24 parts of the Nether Scrolls. When the thieves escaped to the surface world, a manhunt
began. The thieves, fearful of the archwizard’s retribution, pounded the priceless golden scrolls into indiscernible baubles. They
then sold these gold nuggets, receiving about 260 gp in coins.
In 2201, the Mines of Dekanter were plundered to their fullest.
Nothing more could be mined from this site, and Netheril abandoned it. However, the Mines of Dekanter were reopened three
years later in order to accommodate the creation and research of
dangerous spells-all because of one incident: The destruction of
a flying city.
