Karsus's Folly - The End of the Netherese Empire

“Ah, yes. Karsus. Karsus was perhaps the most powerful wizard who ever lived. The child-who-would-become-a-god, the elves called him. And he tried. With a spell of his own devising, he endeavored to usurp in one fell swoop the power of the goddess of magic... Imagine what it must have felt like. To be a god. To know yourself to be untouchable. To be mistaken.” — Gale of Waterdeep

Karsus's Folly, also known as The End of the Netherese Empire, is a catastrophic event that forever changed the face of magic and brought about the downfall of the once-mighty Netherese civilization. It was a moment of immense ambition, hubris, and tragedy that left a lasting mark on the history of the Forgotten Realms.
In the time of the Netherese Empire, a powerful and highly advanced civilization of arcanists and mages, Karsus, one of the most renowned archwizards, sought to achieve godhood by surpassing the gods themselves. Driven by his insatiable thirst for power and knowledge, Karsus devised a plan to cast a spell of unparalleled magnitude that would allow him to steal the powers of the deity of magic, Mystryl.
In -339 DR, during the height of Netheril's power, Karsus attempted to cast the spell, known as Karsus's Avatar. With this spell, he intended to assume the divine essence of Mystryl, wielding unimaginable power and reshaping reality according to his desires.
However, Karsus's Folly was doomed from the start. The spell's immense complexity and the magnitude of what he sought to achieve proved to be his undoing. As Karsus unleashed the magic, he inadvertently caused a catastrophic rupture in the Weave, the very fabric of magic that bound the world together.
The repercussions were immediate and catastrophic. The magic that sustained the floating cities of Netheril collapsed, and the grand civilization plummeted from the sky. Cities were destroyed, countless lives were lost, and the once-mighty empire crumbled into ruin.
The aftermath of Karsus's Folly was felt across the world. The gods, realizing the danger of mortal beings wielding such power, enacted the Ban of Mystra, severing the connection between deities and their mortal avatar forms. Mystryl sacrificed herself to restore balance to the Weave and became Mystra, the new goddess of magic.
The Netherese Empire was left shattered, its people scattered and reduced to mere shadows of their former glory. The world mourned the loss of a once-great civilization, and the memory of Karsus's Folly served as a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the hubris of mortals.
Today, the ruins of Netheril stand as a testament to the tragic fate of the empire and the consequences of attempting to ascend beyond mortal limitations. Karsus's Folly remains a cautionary tale, a reminder to all who seek power that even the mightiest of civilizations can crumble under the weight of their own ambitions.

Type

Manuscript, Historical