Dungeons and Dragons was first published in 1974; a role-playing game that essentially grew out of table top strategy games. It certainly wasn't the first role-playing game, people had been acting out "cowboys and indians" or "cops and robbers" or some equivalent for time immemorial. D&D, however, was one of the first to successfully take a fantasy setting and apply some rules to the role play, borrowing it's strategy heritage to give players a chance to think through a sword and sorcery simulation. It was a powerful new experience: players wrote their own Tolkien-style story on the fly.

The same year, "Happy Days" and "The $6 Million Dollar Man" started their runs on television, "Blazing Saddles" opened in theaters and Dorothy Hamill won the US Female Figure Skating championship. The World Trade Center opened in NYC, at the time the tallest buildings in the world. However, there was nothing magical about 1974. It was a year potential players suffered through an OPEC oil embargo and dodged tornadoes in a 13-state path of destruction. The Watergate indictments were handed out, Patty Hearst was kidnapped, Khomeni rose in Iran and Ceausescu in Romania. After a long, bitter struggle in Vietnam, the last Americans were evacuated from Saigon. If there was ever a time that demanded an escape, this was it.

The game borrowed the sword-swinging medieval ages and added a Merlin-enabling magic system for a feel of playing in an age of Arthurian legend. Upon English knights and castles, players quickly added the fantasy flavors of greek and norse myths. We followed the torch of J.R.R. Tolkien as our modern trailblazer. In a social blink, we were all playing out heroic archetypes in a way that must've made Joseph Campbell smile.

Our imagination has grown since then. With the application of fantastic creativity (and mind-blowing special effects), we've bought into stories that gave back more than we knew. We learned new views and saw a wider palette of magical possibility. We've recognized that magic could do and be so much more sophisticated than crystal balls and fireballs.

That leads us to Netheril, the greatest magically-based empire anywhere. Netheril found its way into the D&D paradigm, but it's not really a D&D creation �� it's a reflection of a common sociological theme, an icon synonymous with power and magic and dark history. It comes from bringing the unknowns of the Nether world to the surface. We can't underestimate the D&D spin though �� it has gone on to influence other fantasy (google "Nether" and see how many World of Warcraft references come up).

The Echoes of Netheril is a rethinking of D&D's take on the culture of magical power. It's an exercise in theory and an exploration of something very alien. Use of magic is perhaps closest in our real world to the growth of science and technology, but the products of magic are more powerful, accessible and pervasive.

There is similarity to the real world in that human psyches are involved, but this realm has a different dynamic with no direct analogue in human experience. We, in the real world, haven't faced serious non-human threats since before regularly recorded history. In warfare, we've had to separate �� dehumanize �� opponents to keep our empathy from interfering. In this fantasy world, the opponents need no dehumanizing; but there are still degrees of empathy and antipathy across racial boundaries. How would those connections sway the realpolitik of such a world?

Further, in our real world, once humanity gained the upper hand from traditional natural threats (being eaten), our existence as a society was never threatened again. In this fantasy setting, there is no such guarantee. Would this regular, external threat bring disparate human groups together?

Around religion and miracle and sociological force in the real world, religion has taken legend of a few comparatively sporadic miracles and built world-shaking artifice around them. In a world where healing and destructive miracles happen on a daily basis, from a variety of deities, how would it change the landscape of belief?

On that note, real-world humanity has operated with the attitude of global entitlement. Right or wrong, we operate above and beyond natural cycles, the righteous and undisputed owners of this world. How would the natural, philosophical evolution of humanity be different if we weren't the biggest, the prettiest, or even the most developed race on the planet? How would that change our motives and attitudes? Netheril becomes our petri dish for the study of theoretical, alternate human development.

However, even in fiction, Netheril did not grow in a vacuum. There was a history that couched the birth of an empire and an aftermath from it's fall. We'll peel back the surface and look at the context that led to the rise of a culture. For that to work, though, we have to scrape off the faded varnish of previous versions. We must start fresh.

TSR released its treatment of Netheril in 1995, placing it as a historical culture in the "Forgotten Realms" fantasy world they'd already built (released in 1987). It was meant to be a backdrop for their current scenarios, a resource to add color and depth. The legends surrounding it sounded right: it was the greatest of human empires, then or since, and it wielded unimaginable magical power. Or at least that was the theory.

The treatment was a product of being planned and written in 1994 �� the year Newt Gingrich led the G.O.P. to take Congress, balancing out a liberal president. At the time, the game itself was ebbing, TSR was struggling as a company and the D&D culture of imagination was under fire. When the Netheril effort hit shelves, it was a victim of the times; a child-safe historical summary, written to be politically correct and socially conformist �� there had to be morals to the story. It was necessary for business, but the concept became a token sacrifice, it's history and potential alternately over-simplified, sugar coated, slandered or some convenient combination thereof.

Wizards of the Coast would purchase TSR in 1997, but even their subsequent treatments haven't strayed far from the 1995 foundation �� the "canon" if you will. Blurbs in the FRCS and a chapter in the Lost Empires cleaned and reconciled a few story elements, but they couldn't start fresh, each successive version of their franchise built on the last. Kind of like MS releasing new versions of "Windows", the latest version had to have some backward compatibility �� if only for Netheril to fit in to an established timeline.

To a degree, our examination of Netheril must also fit within the constraints of that greater context. It's an exciting challenge: we take a long but simplified history and look at it with a new emphasis on realism. We don't take gratuitous liberties, but we don't cater to retroactive continuity. Instead, we make changes all along the timeline where logic dictates a more rational causation. We do our best to discover the deeper reasons behind the unfolding of history. It's a little like studying revisionist textbooks and trying to divine the real truth by reading between the lines.

With all this emphasis on political, social and psychological realism, we'd be missing a terrific opportunity if we didn't consider scientific realism as well. The inclusion makes perfect sense, right up to the point one remembers we're talking about magic. It's an understatement to say reconciling the mechanics of metaphysics with actual physics is overwhelming. If magic were here, in our world, the evidence would surely show it at some level. Dark energy not withstanding, there's nothing to indicate magic is part of the cosmological equation. Further, humanity as we know it is inextricably linked to the set of rules that guided our evolution. How, then, do we superimpose a complex, flexible and rational system of magic to work through natural-law systems we already know? It's the ultimate mental exercise.

Realism in gaming is already controversial in some circles. Does it diminish the gameplay; the experience of the escape, or does it allow easier suspension of disbelief; the ability to better immerse yourself? Simply applying rules to magic makes the mystical mundane. Whether it's action or arcane, at what point does realism mire a game in minutia? If a game's rules are crafted to create a balance between character types, does realism inherently upset that? Finally, we're exploring a realm filled with epic possibility, where mythic becomes merely historical. How do we reconcile a timeline filled with apotheosis, characters literally moving heaven and earth, with the trivial bolts of lightning a player-characters is allowed?

For this project, once we took a bite from fruit of the tree of knowledge, we were duty-bound to choke down the whole thing. The end result is a ground-up reimagining of Netheril. We take a comprehensive approach to examining it's place in the history of Faerun �� and it's place in the present D&D universe. We'll follow the rise and fall of empires, travel to places that can only exist in a world of magic and meet a few interesting characters along the way.

Enjoy.

As you might guess by the version numbers, the Echoes of Netheril is a work in progress. Like Google, it's in permanent beta (though unlike Google, EoN makes absolutely no money). This means things will change ��not just growing to fill the timeline to Toril's "modern day" �� but in some cases making tweaks to events already established in previous releases of this timeline. What we have so far is probably pretty close to final, but like any draft spec, some of the finer points may change.

Since EoN is being rolled out on version 4, some might wonder what happened with drafts 1 through 3. Draft 1 (when I had no idea there would be a "draft 2") was simply an attempt to familiarize myself with the history of the lost culture of Netheril, the continent of Faerun and the world of Toril. I found the large-scale "Roll of Years", merged it with the Netheril-specific Roll of Years, and imported them into Excel.

The spreadsheet format was unwieldy at best. Scrolling through miles of text, with odd boxes and less-than-stellar word processing options, I changed my mind and imported it into the Omni group's excellent "Omni Outliner." The dynamic HTML document you now read is an OO export. It loses a few formatting elements along the way, but even this pale shadow is still easier to read than crawling through an endless grid.

Version 2 of EoN was an early attempt to create a secret Netherese society that would still be in place near the disaster zone that ancientNetheril had become. I envisioned a group of ancient guardians, with modern groups (like the Zhents) far beneath their notice. These guardians would be waiting for some particular event to spring them into action. Much of this had been inspired by playing the Neverwinter Nights expansion "Shadows of Undrentide." At the time, I was planning on writing my own module for NWN and v2 was foundational background research.

Most of v2 had started with adding a few characters and some background into the Roll of Years. The additions kicked in near the time of the fall and were carried through to just shy of the "modern" setting. Even before I could finish, I got preempted: WotC released a FR update that included the return of certain Netherese elements. This new development would require a little revision on what standards would spur "my" Netherese guardians to action.

It was probably just as well. As I read some of the latest events, I found awful inconsistencies. For that matter, the whole rise and fall of Netheril had some egregious attacks on logic that no amount of hand-waving mysterium could reconcile. Was it even worth the effort to wade into this contentious, impossibly-knotted realm? I've got a whole new, percentile-based game system on the back-burner; should I just create backstory for a fantasy realm there?

Nah. The Forgotten Realm's Netheril had thrown down the gauntlet. It was a challenge. Instead of just fitting in to the established Roll of Years, tap dancing to canon, Version 3 became my first real attempt at reconciling Netheril with the world that couched it. I went back to the founding of the Realm and studied what I could find on the surrounding cultures. Most of the neighbors were long lineages of seemingly all-powerful, self-absorbed (and somewhat psychotic) elves. I tried to figure out Netherese foreign relations, and what would spark later cultural dissension within Netheril, and brought a fairly plausible cultural timeline to about -100 DR. Right about then, I realized I still had great big developmental gaps.

For a complete picture, I had to go all the way back into the hazy prehistory of Abeir-Toril. Why did Netheril become Netheril, and not any of the cultures before it? What prevented the ceaselessly warring elves from swooping in and wiping out the scroll-stealing humans before they became a threat? How could the Forgotten Realms Netheril really earn the right to bear the powerful, ominous, collective-unconscious-shaking mantle of the "Nether"? It's only right that an epic culture would require an epic effort to understand it �� and version 4 is that effort.

It Gets Technical...

WARNING: we're delving into some deep-geek here.

In any scenario-based simulation, laying out history and backstory is an invaluable tool to give player-characters a frame of reference and a sense of motivation. In a fashion, the guy creating this history (the DM) becomes a full-fledged writer. There are a few dangers to this though, not the least of which is creating "key events" �� a story line for the characters to follow. This preordains the course of the narrative and makes player choice irrelevant... or at least reduces the experience to "do they die early and screw everything up or do they choose right and live long enough to watch my drama unfold?"

The Dragonlance series was an excellent example of preordained play. It was a worthy effort, inventing it's own rich, complex world �� and it gave players a chance to fill the roles of distinct characters in an epic saga. The completeness of the experience made it a benchmark of roleplay, turning DMs into full-fledged storytellers rather than arbiters and referees. Unfortunately, it also meant that players had little actual choice of in-game decisions; theywere just along for the ride.

Creating a world history poses similar dangers �� but it's par for the course. Texturing a scenario with context is as much a part of the programming language of RPGs as the structure of the rules themselves. After all, if you're sending a party on a search and recovery mission in ancient ruins, the DM has to create those ancient ruins �� and fill them in a way that makes sense. Hence all the backstory.

In game theory, there is a careful balance between canon and flexibility. This is especially true for PnP RPGs, but applies to CRPGs as well ��basically anywhere creative folk would create their own scenarios (or "modules" for the D&D purist). It is equally important to players that might want to import a favorite character from another campaign. For sake of not upsetting the "balance" of a scenario, the closer it is to canon, the more likely the chance for system and character interoperability.

For D&D's Forgotten Realms setting, the "Roll of Years" was an attempt to give DMs a tool to jerry rig their own backstory into the canon. Unfortunately, there is an inherent tradeoff between flexibility and consistency �� you can have one or the other, but not both. Further, creating a canon under one set of rules, only to have the rules evolve, creates irreconcilable inconsistencies of logic in the timeline. For a real-world analogy, watch the fits an experimental physicist will throw when a theoretical physicist says the speed of light may have varied over time. You will see white lab coats turn red.

There are holes in the greater history of the Forgotten Realms, much less it's take on Netheril. Part of the canon gaps simply come from lack of time: the lucky guys over at WotC haven't had a chance to flesh it out. They do, after all, have to walk a balance between market trends, corporate content approval and budgeting which projects get development. Part of it is that some of the legacy FR flesh is not-so-fresh (like the '95 TSR Netheril treatment). The catch-all "Mystery of Humanity" and the inexplicable origin of the scrolls were just plain lazy.

EoN does not presume to fill in all the missing FR mythology. Modern humanity hasn't yet filled in our own history, one with no known magic involved, so detailing the history of a shared fantasy world is more than we could aspire to. EoN does, however, offer a possible, reasonable and logically mature path to explain the Forgotten Realms' current state of affairs.

If you like the format...

This EoN document is the dynamic HTML export of the Omni Group's OmniOutliner Pro. From the collapsible/expandable rows and varied text options, you can see it's a powerful tool for creating visual difference for the quick qualification and quantification of information.

It's not a perfect export, though �� it still loses some of the key formatting from the original. For instance, alternate rows each have a background color to separate and make both scanning and parsing much quicker and cleaner. If you're interested in seeing what the program can do at full strength, check out at OmniOutliner at "omnigroup.com."

If you happen to have OmniOutliner, and you'd like to read this work in it's intended format, fill in the "contact me" box on this website and I'll send you a copy of the latest revision in the OO format.

Comments, Questions, Concerns...

For spam-a-licious reasons, I don't make my email address available on the site (I already get spam through this site's feedback box). However, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, requests, cease-and-desist orders, collaborative ideas or creative vitriol, contact me through the contact box on this website and I'll be happy to get back to you.

Time Immemorial to The Sundering [Rise of Relvath] (-50000 DR to -17600 DR)

? to ?: The Days of Thunder

This is the time of the fabled Creator Races, when many gods came to the consciousness of mortals, and many races still hid in caves. No mention can be found of elves, dwarves, and other humanoids �� but the human presence was pervasive.

Recorded History is vague this far back and for any number of reasons, from the simple fact that even enchanted vellum only lasts for so long to bloody truth that much of civilization has cleansed itself of knowledge through the total destruction of magical warfare.

DM NOTE
Let's be honest: recorded history is vague this far back primarily we keep reinventing it, all in the name of a logical development arc to create the current world of Faerun. It's a tall order; we're world-building here, creating not just a planet but inventing the legacy that formed the planet that our players will immerse themselves in.
...It gets twisted as earlier and simpler versions give way to more sophisticated stories �� ones that ring true versus ones that feel invented. The problem, of course, is backward compatibility: what do we do when "canon" timelines and reasoning would best be blasted out of a cannon? Therein we find two kinds of mundane magic: RetConning and rationalizing.

The presence of man on ancient Toril is a historical/archaeological conundrum summed up as "The Mystery of Humanity." There is evidence of older human presence on other worlds, yet it dates back on Faerun to at least -50,000 years. Where did they come from, then �� and why were they primitive? That's a question yet unanswered.

DM NOTE
Let's be honest, Part II: in D&D, humans have a natural advantage of intelligence and speed of adaptation. We're the baseline to judge everybody else. Why did humans make a late start here? Because one early writer had ideas for elven history while another writer was going through college history about the rise of human culture in the real world. While those aren't really compatible, they're nevertheless the influences we're dealing with.
All things considered, with the "Mystery of Humanity," we would've had magically-propelled flying cars long before the first elves emigrated to Toril (and all the dragons would be living in zoos). Considering that, what would be a good reason for humans to be wandering low-magic nomadic tribes even in the face of incoming civilizations (not to mention monsters, high magic, etc.)?
This timeline will speculate but won't lay down official history that far back simply because that takes the opportunity away from DMs. However, since this document is as much an academic exploration, flexibility would be a sorry excuse to avoid inquiry into a very valid question.
We can assume, without stepping on too many toes, that if humanity didn't evolve here, then it probably came in at a high level and blasted itself to a low-level that left an enduring trauma associated with magic. It's entirely possible that the Rengarth ancestors (likely shared with the Angardt) may have created the scrolls or brought them to Toril at the very least (though this effort will not endorse that hypothesis as official). To that end, we'll offer the following blurb as a foundation upon which history can be built...

THE ORIGINS of HUMANITY on TORIL

The roots of human kind on Toril seem the deepest of any of the intelligent races. The problem, from a historian's point of view, is that humanity's roots vanish in a haze of competing histories. In the recognized times of the Creator races, the age of dragons (et al), humans were on the planet and keeping a low profile �� but they were wily enough to survive when more advanced races would've sooner they be hunted to extinction. Before that, there is evidence humans existed, in their current form, before the rise of the races that dominated that turbulent time. There, does, however, seem a strange and arbitrary barrier, as if everything that pointed to the human condition and achievement before a certain point had been magically swept from the planet.

Swept how and why and by whom is the grand archaeological question. It's as if a tsunami washed away a sandcastle and the whole beach it was built on. There is still sand there in the cracks, evidence that humans existed, but nothing more specific than that. Nor is there enough evidence to make any supposition to what life in those time was like, but there is definitely enough evidence to say that the erasure of history was something that was done with prejudice and power that would humble the whole of the modern pantheon.

DM NOTE �� Human tactics and transport

Both the ancient Angardt and Rengarth tribes were nomadic, but neither one traveled by foot: they were horse-borne. The equestrian creature was non-magical but comparatively smart, perfect traveling companions for a race that disabused the arcane sciences.

There were magical variations of the horse in both the unicorn and the pegasus �� and while the Angardt had a rare magical horse in it's fold, it was just that: rare.

? to -24000: The Dawn Ages/The Time of Dragons

Dragons and giants rule Toril at this time; elves and dwarves settle in small but growing communities all over Faer��n. The dwarves overthrow the giants and start their empires. Toward the end of this time, the elves start doing the same against the dragon overlords of this era.

The "Mystery of Humanity" is key to this timeline. While the truly ancient is unknown, nomadic human tribes had been wandering, plundering in spots and avoiding the worst of the foes by being hard to pin down. In particular, two related barbarian nations are the focus while looking for the forces responsible to rise of Netheril.

The Rengarth tribe consisted of perhaps 25 nomadic clans that would wander, hunt, gather and meet. They ranged mostly in the northernmost latitudes, but ranged far east to west, carrying folk knowledge of the Sword Coast to the west to the Endless Wastes of the east. They had plenty of experience holding their own against endless hordes of orcs, were familiar with dragons, practiced simple shamanistic magic (prior to the elves) and studied the constantly warring elves.

The technologies of the elves were at once attractive and repulsive. The elves themselves tended to rate their forest techniques as spotless but the simple fact was that their arcane magic tended decimate each other and everything between them, creating a distrust of such non-blessed magic.

The Angardt tribe, perhaps 35 clans strong, ranged further south and nearly as wide. They didn't have quite the same distrust of magic as their Rengarth cousins �� but their experience with the elves was different flavor. As ancient human civilizations would attempt to emulate the recently (and strangely) arrived elves, the elves tempered these bad habits by smashing the local "barbarian threats." The Angardt then witnessed the rise of the great elven civilizations �� and saw them as oppressors, magic-wielding maniacs and bearers of ill tidings.

Epic battles of the elves are passed down in human legends, including the Dark Disaster.

Trulyancient is the key here. This Toril timeline goes back some 25 millennia to the arrival of the elves �� but humans had been here at least 25 millennia before that. Given humanity's even older presence on other worlds*, it's unlikely that Toril was the origin of humanity, which leaves scholars wondering why humans were nomadic and comparatively unsophisticated during the arrival of the other races.

*Not to mention the tendency of the local divine personalities to be in human form.

? To -14000: The First Epoch (Time of Beginnings) in Seros

The First Epoch (Time of Beginnings) in Seros (the Inner Sea). All the races currently living under the Sea of Fallen Stars take to the waters during this period, which only the whales have much knowledge of. This Epoch ends with the elven migration into Seros, and their rise to power.

-30000: The War of the Seldarine begins.

Araushnee is cast down into the Demonweb Pits, where she becomes the demon-goddess Lolth.

The solar Malkizid is branded and thrown down into the Nine Hells.

-25000 (c.): Ironfang Keep first mention in draconic legend

First mentions of Ironfang Keep on the Dragons' Sea appear in draconic legends.

-24000 to -12000: The First Flowering (elven)

The elves reach their peak through this era. The great elven civilizations of Faer��n include Aryvandaar, Illefarn, Ilythiir, Keltormir, Miyeritar, and Shantel Othreier. With the elves' success against the orcs and dragons and giants, the other races thrive in safety and begin the slow climb on civilization.

-23900: Aryvandaar founded in present day High Forest (at human expense)

Establishment of the first elvish settlements of Aryvandaar (Present Day: High Forest).

It should be noted that the elves were migrants to the world �� and started occupying territories already traversed by human tribes. In this case, the majority of High Forest tribes were predecessors of the Angardt ��and while they were nomadic, they had a firm grasp of shamanistic (divine) magic.

The elves also dealt with Rengarth ancestors (modern day Netheril Mountains and into the northern reach of the forest). The Rengarth had been running the gauntlet of the orcs (and everything else) for time untold and doing quite well at it. The initial friction, though, between invading elves and native species led the invaders to use magic on the natives in an effort to drive them off (and exterminate the more stubborn threats). The magic was a sophistication the Rengarth had never seen (only dealing with orc shamans to that point) and they were unable to withstand High Magic.

The resulting slaughter effectively scarred the Rengarth for the next 1,000 generations against magic. Where the tribe had used shamanistic magic as a survival tool in a harsh climate filled with lethal adversaries, not even divine magic was spared suspicion (though this would wax and wane over the generations).

It should be noted that the sudden phobia of magic led to a good deal of mundane compensation. In a world where the enemy has magic, some form of countermeasure was necessary for survival �� and the Rengarth were masters of survival.

-23600: Shantel Othreier is founded (elven)

Establishment of the first elvish settlements of Shantel Othreier (Present Day: Green Fields).

-23200: Ilythiir is founded (elven)

Establishment of the first elvish settlements of Ilythiir (Present Day: Shaar & Forest of Amtar).

-23100: Sy��rpiir is founded (elven)

Establishment of the first elvish settlements of Sy��rpiir (Present Day: Ankhwood and Chondalwood).

-22900: Illefarn is founded (elven)

Establishment of the first elvish settlements of Illefarn (Present Day: Ardeep & Kryptgarden Forests and parts of the Dessarin valley).

1 RC [-22700 DR]: Relvath is founded (human)

In the eastern tip of the (modern) Netheril Mountains Ridge, the Rengarth Clan Relvath founded Relvath. It used surprisingly sophisticated engineering*. While the elves (ironically) respected these new human settlements, they were magnets for monster attacks.

*DM NOTE
Relvath was similar to ancient Minoan civilization on earth. Replace warm-weather mediterranean style with northern temperate sensibilities and you get a decent picture of Relvath and subsequent sister city-states.

Magic was known to exist �� but was outlawed from practice in the city-state realm. Instead, mathematics and natural sciences flourished, driven primarily as an underdog competitor to the comparatively easy-to-tap power of magic.

DM NOTE
While many of the cultures of D&D world emulate ancient earth civilizations, few replicate them simply because magic is a potent force that inevitably affects development of a culture and civilization. In this fashion, the Relvath are perhaps the most like terran development as magic was an entirely external force. They didn't deny its existence (one could not deny the gods), but they neither trusted nor employed it.

Over the next 3,600 years, the culture would grow to 14 city-states nestled in the (now-named) Netheril Mountains. For three and a half millennia, Relvathian science and engineering were holding their own against orc hordes (and generating some level of cautious interest from the elves to the immediate south). A few might point out that idyllic elf realms to the south may have flourished because the humans to the north were drawing orcish fire.

DM NOTE
As one pictures the Relvath, imagine an accelerated arc of late neolithic tribalism rocketing through bronze age development to the earliest development and mass deployment of steel tools and weapons.

While communication would wane between the Relvath and the greater Rengarth tribal council, it would never completely disappear. The presence of power without magic made the city-states a popular place to go for trade, information and healing.

The rise of music in Relvathan culture was one of its distinctions. They started with the folk bands from their tribal Rengarth roots, most of which was strings, wood winds and light percussion.

The woodwinds would flourish during their Relvathan run, and the nature of music grew to major symphonic performance. It reflected the math that grew into them, and the sophistication of the music was the clearest cultural marker of just how much the Relvathians had grown from their Rengarth roots.

DM NOTE �� Human tactics and transport

At the rise of the Relvath �� neither the Rengarth they split from nor the Angardt they knew of had much sophistication in animal husbandry. Both, however, had an instinct to have survived the days of thunder above ground (and that says a great deal). As the Relvath climbed the ladder of knowledge, the tribes would cautiously follow their path.

100 RC [-22600 DR]: The role of gods debate in Relvath circles

The Relvath were magic-phobic. While they had started initially tolerant of the low-level shamanism from their Rengarth roots (primarily for it's healing magic), the Relvath society moved further and further from such magical assistance.

That's not to say they lost touch with the deities themselves �� they just didn't cast divine spells in their name. In fact, that became a point of contention for a decade or so: whether it was sacrilege to not cast divine spells.

The Relvath were in touch with ancient gods and honestly, little is known about their religions. It is known that while the portfolios were largely the same, the names carrying them in central Faerun wouldn't be recognized by modern scholars.

DM NOTE
Not one of the current pantheon were alive and in godly form at the time. Technically, it was Corellon by name, but honestly, it's quite possible that even this divine elf was another person entirely this far back.

Perhaps the one exception to the black hole of ancient divine knowledge was record the Relvath kept of a particular god: Amaunator. This divine presence was one of the few shared by both the Rengarth and the Angardt. He was patron of law, justice and time. In the bigger sense, he was the representative of order, and a force that kept his nomad peoples from descending into undisciplined tribalism. His symbol was the sun, and represented his portfolio in it's assured regularity and ever-predictably welcome presence.

His way emphasized attention to detail, especially in the keeping of records, be they contractual agreements or the preservation of history. In many ways, he was the inspiration for a distinctly Relvathian apotheosis...

-22500: Orishaar is founded (elven)

Establishment of the elvish settlements of Orishaar (Present Day: Duskwood & the Shaar).

200 [-22400]: Relvath mathematics flourish

Perhaps the most mundane counter to the elven arcane, the Relvath hammer out a form of math never before seen on Faerun. While magic had it's own forms of numeric equations, those arbitrary formulas had little resemblance to the algebra, trigonometry and geometry of the unenchanted.

400 [-22200]: Relvath begin science of Biology

Basic but competent, the first concern is confirming that the process of life itself is not contingent on the inclusion of magic. This actually requires magic, which the Relvath are nervous about, though there is just enough divine magic lurking in the corners of Relvath society that the questions can answered.

500 [-22100]: Relvath biology splits into Zoology and Botany

After 100 years of concentrated research by 5 generations of Relvath scientists, the conclusions are that most life process are non-magical... with a few notable exceptions. Humans, inherently, are non-magical �� which reinforces Relvath courage both to continue their course of research and the course of the anti-magical philosophies.

Not long after the declaration of mundane life, the science would diverge to begin studying those very processes. It would split fairly evenly between zoology (the study of animals) and botany (the study of plants).

The Zoology effort expanded into some semi-controversial research when the differences between human and elven biology were studied. The outcry (from both sides) didn't stop the zoologists, but they did distract the issue by expanding the study to include the rest of the animal kingdom, creating a general catalog of species, their habits, habitats and relationships.

Meanwhile, Botany had less overall controversy and just as much hope for discovering means of plant exploitation. Therein came the sticky point, both from the rare druidic wood elves (who were fearful of what the human would be doing in their natural protectorate). Over the next 2,000 years (and even to the fall of Apothec society many millennia later), the naturists of Relvath would grow into virtual non-magical druids, often with a better sense of the mundane, purely natural patterns than most druids �� and would see things were magic had corrupted the natural order better than those who practiced magic.

600 [-22000]: A new god �� Oghma �� rises among the Relvath

The origin of the gods is uncertain, perhaps local humans that achieved apotheosis through Ao, but the end result was new and quiet presences that sunk into local consciousness through the softest and most subtle of whisperings when scholars were deep in contemplation.

DM NOTE
Thus began the modern presence of Oghma, perhaps the oldest of the embodied gods of Toril.

Not surprisingly, the divine behavior would follow the culture that led to its rise. Divine miracles were not unheard of but they didn't follow typical "vulgar" displays of divine magic, but rather moments of divine clarity and insight. These moments of clarity, not surprisingly, would fuel the fire of mundane (as in: non-magical) scientific research.

The Church of Oghma would rise as unassumingly as one can imagine, as more an idea itself than a true religion. It gave the established gods (and their churches) no quarrel... yet would eventually be the dominant religion by the fall of the culture.

DM NOTE
It's distinctly possible that the elven Olin Gisae were blessed by (if not created by) Oghma.

700 [-21900]: Ellovath �� the second Relvath city-state expands in the mountains

After 800 years of holding their own against orcs, the Relvath are comfortable enough to expand. The issues facing the culture are huge but primarily political as they seek to form a government that will be connected, yet independent enough to be self-sufficient.

The final form was a democratic-style city-state that was stable and strong enough to survive nearly another 3 millennia under a constant orc onslaught.

The name of the second city-state is Ellovath. Once Ellovath was founded, it was like the damn was broken. Over the next few hundred years, another 12 cities would be founded on the steep and craggy slopes of their mountain range. By final count, 14 self-sufficient but well-connected cities would trade with each other �� and the dwarves and elves that surrounded them.

The cities, in chronological order of founding, were: Relvath, Ellovath, Aovath, Zivath, Telmevath, Felvath, Saunvath, Dulvath, Kozvath, Vaelvath, Bujelvath, Warrvath, Graevath and Lithaevath.

900 [-21700]: A Printing Press makes scrolls available to the masses

One of the greatest inventions of Relvathan engineering was creation of the printing press. The invention itself was simple yet genius: movable type set on drums that would allow the same stretch of scroll to be printed over and over.

Over the next two and a half millennia, various forms of printed media would be experimented with, including single-plate collection of pages (books). In the end, the tradition of scrolls would remain the most popular form, though for short media pamphlets were most convenient.

For longer media, there were a variety of scroll systems developed. Most involved a closed scroll case with a coiled leaf spring to tension the paper �� and several different scrolls to be pulled out of the main tube like chapters.

Think of a window shade with multiple panes able to be drawn out of the central chamber.

The culture of intellect was already in place in Relvath, but the printing press helped it �� and knowledge itself �� to blossom. With scrolls now available at reasonable cost, the whole nature of education was democratized. The learning process was greatly accelerated and an earlier individual foundation, in turn, helped each individual climb higher (with each successive generation building off the last).

1100 [-21500]: Mundane chemistry changes face of Relvath culture

In a process that mirrored earth's own history, the Relvath create lime-gypsum cement. Using forms of growing complexity, the Relvath would create their own rock to build structures that would ages even under the harsh conditions of warfare in the northern mountains.

Within a few hundred years, earthquakes and combat alike would introduce the concept of "reinforcing" to their concrete. Seldom, after this point, were Relvath structures ever created with anything but concrete. It was a point of pride, a separation from the dominant magic-using cultures of the elves that used either cut stone or wood.

The formula actually started with clay, moved into lime-gypsum, then for a majority of the Relvath history, was actually a solid hybrid of the two. The Relvath would never stop experimenting with the formula, looking for mixtures that were harder, stronger, more resistant to water, lighter, heavier, better carved, polished, inlaid, or whatever a situation called for. Perhaps most significant was the property of being orc resistant.

Though no known Relvath structures would survive to modern times, this wasn't so much a function of the concrete as it was the Relvath foes (who would be whipped into a blood frenzy that the Relvath could stand up to them so well for so long).

-21400: Thearnytaar is founded (elven)

Establishment of the elvish settlements of Thearnytaar (Present Day: Thornwood).

1590 [-21010]: Relvath codify The Scientific Method

In a world of magic, both arcane and divine, merely practicing a particular philosophy could have real-world effects. The Relvath reviled magic, yet found a power in a mundane philosophy known as The Scientific Method. The process was a way of wrangling analysis and creativity onto the same problem and would serve as a catalyst for a thousand other Relvath discoveries.

There were a hundred variations on the theme, though most of them boiled down to making an observation, proposing a hypothesis, predicting the result of a controlled experiment, and adjusting the idea based on the results. An idea that had empirical evidence to back it up was promoted to "theory."

At the time, the method was otherwise unheard of �� and it was sacrilege among cultures that relied used on divinely inspired anecdote and tradition. Even 23,000 years later, it would still be a novelty, used in a few rare forms around Toril among mages and tinkers.

For better or worse, this "cold philosophy" would drive a small wedge between the thriving Relvath and still-nomadic Rengarth. Ironically, the method would generate some interest among the Angardt, though the Relvath aversion to magic would keep the southern tribe at arms' length.

-21000: Eiell��r is founded (elven)

Establishment of the elvish settlements of Eiell��r (Present Day: Winterwood).

1700 [-20900]: The Atomic Postulate advanced by Relvath chemists

Of all the Relvath sciences, chemistry leapt furthest and fastest. Previously, most chemistry dealt with reductions or compounds thought to have various ratios of four fundamental elements: fire, water, air and earth. The idea became antiquated among the Relvath the moment it was realized that there would have to be an element of magic to combine these four elements into every known thing in the world.

It was suggested that world was built of more than those four basic elements and that even those, may, in fact, be chemically reducible themselves. It made logical sense, it was even supported by experimental evidence.

Of all things, ironically, knowledge of Relvath chemistry would circulate and would eventually be formative to the field of alchemy. For those that remember Navailles and Urquiza's famous "Elemental Store" on the Karsus Order, that knowledge of elements began with Relvath inquiry into the mundane field of chemistry.

This didn't explain how the traditional "elemental planes" had such prominent spots in Toril's cosmology (they weren't even true elements!) ��but this would lead to magical inquiry in planar mechanics in the heyday of Netheril.

1770 [-20830]: Physics leads to Relvath invention of Calculus

The tinker spirit was alive and kicking through the Relvath city-states. Their mathematics had already helped in building water viaducts straight through mountains, giving the Relvath both fresh water and sanitation unlike anything seen Faerun to that point. Where engineers were using their tools, though, theorists were aiming higher; looking at the next step to describe the natural world.

The Relvath were developing astronomy, though there were magical elements that interfered with making accurate predictions. If the Tears of Selune were taken out of the equation, the sky made a great deal more sense �� though the influence of magic gave astronomy enough inertia that the Relvath weren't especially excited about peeling back its secrets.

The answer, after a few false starts, was a form of math that roughly translated into "calculus." While the Rengarth contacts were comfortable with algebra (even trig and geometry), this "calculus" creation was so alien that the locals stopped talking about it around their still-tribal brethren (who were raising eyebrows as if this math was leaning uncomfortably arcane).

Calculus was yet another wedge, widening the gulf after the "Scientific Method" started pushing the Rengarth away from their wayward Relvath clan. Calculus, however, was something the Relvath simply weren't willing to give up �� this new math promised to be an analytical tool with application in quite potentially every corner of scientific and engineering inquiry.

1960 [-20740]: Relvath Biology advances with Laws of Heredity

Animal husbandry was a long-time science of the nomadic tribes, guiding and breeding horses and livestock alike. It took the Relvath eye for organization to log pedigrees of their horses and indicated possible inherited characteristics. Unique to the Relvath was applying the concept to plants �� and horticulture followed the same rules as they cross-pollination grains for hardier mountain stock.

DM NOTE
While this was the first step toward genetics, the effort could only go so far. As species' origins actually came from whole other worlds (and there was empirical evidence for the hand of tinkering gods), it would be a near-insurmountable block against the discovery �� and writing of �� any work on par with "The Origin of Species." However, the Relvath would develop enough for an equivalent to ��Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.��

Relvath agriculture had been blazing trails, sculpting livestock and crops alike as they explored discreteness and combinatorial rules of inherited traits. The Laws of Heredity finally made sense of this with a few overarching principles.

DM NOTE �� Human tactics and transport

As Relvath culture advanced animal husbandry, this knowledge seeped back to the Rengarth. Just as the stationary scientists built better livestock, the Northern barbarian clans bred larger, stockier horses better suited to the cold climates.

Over time, the Rengarth would be known both for fierce foot soldiers and feared cavalry �� with Rengarth tactics the one saving grace when skirting between the xenophobic elves and the raging ice orcs along the Spine of the World.

To the south, the Angardt had less contact with the Relvath and more with the Rengarth to the east, but folk knowledge of Relvath husbandry influenced the southern climate clans.

The Angardt developed a strong set of cavalry tactics, but generally used lighter and faster horses for their wider plains and as as platforms for fire-casting clerics. Indeed, a cleric or druid or shaman on a horse was the modern equivalent of self-propelled light artillery.

The Angardt made strong impressions from the Sword Coast to the eastern shores of the Moonsea before elves stepped one dainty little foot into the patch of forest that would become the High Court.

1980 [-20720]: Heredity makes natural jump to reproduction

A particularly fun aspect to research (usually), the Relvathan scientists definitively worked out the relationship of sexual conduct with conception. While the finer points would be elusive, most races (including humans) had no apparent magical content to their ejaculate. Stretching into the mundane again, there was some type of seed within the juice of the man that would begin to grow in the "fertile loam" of the woman.

The details of the biology beyond this would remain a mystery for millennia, the next major breakthroughs not coming until the Apothecs invented the microscope.

This was surprisingly controversial, even within the non-magical Relvathan society. While the culture rejected the use of magic, they didn't deny it's existence or it's power. They were keenly aware of (and allergic to) arcane magic, and they still kept their distance from divine magic. This made for complex living, as Rengarth (and some Angardt) gods were still recognized and venerated.

The problem came, so to speak, in dabbling in the realm of the gods. It probably wouldn't have been as divisive as it was, but only knowing a part of the process left a great deal of mystery ��and that left the subject open to mystery and conjecture. While a good portion of the society accepted the findings, and the other portion didn't deny them, but they did question the very need to research that level of heretical detail (especially since The Laws of Heredity were more than fine for accomplishing anything they needed to get done.

Further, by localizing reproduction to the biochemical component, it opened the possibility of contraception. Generally considered a stupendous idea by consenting adults, there was divine debate over how the gods would receive mortals making the choice whether or not to propagate.

It was decided, until evidence of contraception was found in nature, that the nature gods (Jannath) wouldn't buy it, but death gods (Jergal) would have no problem with it.