Long ago, even as elves record time,
this realm of men lay east of the Delimbiyr,
stretching from the Nether Mountains
in the north to Evereska in the
south, and east to the Narrow Sea,
whose shores ran southeast from the
port of Ascore for hundreds of miles
(before it became the Great Desert).

Netheril was a realm of wizards, and
many wondrous magical items were
crafted here. Yet even these masters of
magic could not save their own land.
When the titanic efforts of the Netheril
mages were ineffective against the
advancing desert, those wizards fled
the land on wondrous magical carpets,
wings, and steeds, leaving lesser folk
behind to survive as best they could.
The desert advanced and Netheril
became but another notation in history
as refugees fled westward into elven
Eaerlann, southward to what would
become Baldur?s Gate and northward
into dwarven Delzoun.

The cities of Ascalhorn (Hellgate
Keep), Sundabar, Karse (ruins in the
High Forest), Silverymoon, Llorkh,
Illusk (now Luskan) and Gauntlgrym
(lost somewhere in the Spine of the
World) were founded by refugees from
Netheril.

According to the best estimations of
sages, Netheril was the earliest human
civilization in the North and was at its
height some 4,000 years ago only to be
abandoned some 1,000 to 3,000 years
later. However, there is no solid evidence
to support an exact date.

Dekanter, near Weathercote Wood, is
the only documented ruin of this
ancient land?though it has been thoroughly
stripped of its ancient treasures.
In all likelihood, others exist, hidden in
the Fallen Lands, the Graypeaks, the
Great Desert, or the Far Forest.
 

FR1
This long-ago realm lay to the east of the
river Delimbiyr, stretching from the Nether
Mountains (which gained their name from
this realm) to Evereska in the south, and
east to the Narrow Sea, whose shores once
ran southeast from Ascore (see Delzoun,
above) for hundreds of miles ere the Great
Desert swallowed it. Netheril was a realm of
mages, and many items of wondrous magic
were crafted here, still to be found in treasure
hordes and tombs across the Realms.
Dekanter is the only known surviving ruin
of Netheril, although it holds no magic any
longer. Legend holds that the mages of
Netheril tried by titanic efforts of art to
stem the advancing desert, and failing?
whereupon they took to the air on carpets
and other magical conveyances, and on bestial
steeds of many rare and wondrous
forms, and searched for a new home. Most
sages believe that Netheril?s culture was at
its height some four thousand years ago,
and that it was the earliest human civilization
in the North. It was abandoned approximately
three thousand years ago. Others
hold that those dates are far too old;
Netheril?s fall cannot be more than a thousand
years ago, at the most. Hard evidence,
thus far, does not exist to support or deny
any conjecture on the issue. It is known that
adventuring band after bandit band after
mercenary company searches The Fallen
Lands and the Desert's Edge in hopes of
gaining some of Netheril's lost magic. Few
admit any success.