Return of the Archwizards (event)

The Return of the Archwizards, referred to in part as the Return, was the name given to a series of events surrounding the release of the phaerimm from beyond the Sharn Wall, the return of the flying city of Thultanthar to the skies over Anauroch, and the conflicts that arose between these two groups with the people of the Western and Eastern Heartlands of Faerûn.

Location
These events were far-reaching in their scope, affecting cities as far west as Waterdeep in the Sword Coast North all the way to the Cormyrean city of Tilverton and the Dalelands to the east.

Phaerimm Released
These events began on Nightal 20 in the when a squad of Evereskan tomb guardians led by Galaeron Nihmedu, encountered a group of Vaasan warriors led by Vala Thorsdotter and the Shadovar mage Melegaunt Tanthul, when some elven crypts beneath the Greycloak Hills. When a pair of magical blasts originating from both the Weave and the Shadow Weave each struck the other, a hole opened within the Sharn Wall and the long-imprisoned phaerimm were released from their confines within Toril.

Both the elves of Evereska and the companions that opened the Sharn Wall each sought a solution to prevent the phaerimm from consuming all the magic they encountered. While the Evereska's high mages initially sought to repair the Sharn Wall, their efforts proved unsuccessful and the city's military suffered heavy losses. One surviving high mage named Gervas Imesfor did manage to request aid from the archmage Khelben Arunsun of Waterdeep. Meanwhile, the mage Melegaunt led Galaeron, Vala, and some new allies named Aris and Malik el Sami on a journey to the Dire Wood in search of the Karsestone to initiate the Return.

By Nightal 30, the phaerimm had taken control over much of the hills surrounding Evereska, determined to consume the mythal that protected the city. They formed the deadwall around the surrounding Greycloak Hills, preventing any living beings from entering within, even by magical means.

Just as the phaerimm were poised to overwhelm the Evereskan military, Khelben Arunsun used his powers as a chosen of Mystra to hold them off so that a circle of high mages at Rocnest could portal in a relief army. Laeral Silverhand and the recently-raised Army of the North were awaiting the right opportunity to bypass the phaerimm deadwall. While the mages were successful in opening the portal, the Battle of Rocnest was an ultimately futile; the basin surrounding it became filled with lava that spewed forth from underground fissures.

The Return
While in the Dire Wood that same day, Melegaunt Tanthul granted access to Toril for his elder brothers, the Princes of Shade. The Shadovar nobility immediately set out to slay any phaerimm they encountered. After separating from his elder brothers and entering into the Karsus Butte, Prince Melegaunt was mortally wounded by the lich Wulgreth of Ascalhorn. Just before his death, the youngest Prince of Shade imparted unto Galaeron all his accumulated knowledge about the phaerimm and they could best be defeated.

Galaeron and his allies eventually destroyed Wulgreth's physical form, just as the phaerimm descended upon the Karsus Butte. On Hammer 1 of the, the novice shadow mage Galaeron used the power of the Karsestone to initiate the Return. The Netherese city of Thultanthar descended onto to Toril from the Shadowfell and the Princes of Shade set out to remake the world as they desired it.

Siege of Evereska
The Evereskan elves continued to hold out while under siege by the phaerimm, but the the city's mythal was continually weakened day after day. By Tarsakh 26 of 1372 DR, the Princes of Shade had established a shadowshell over the Greycloaks, to prevent the phaerimm from accessing the Weave, enclosing them between that barrier and the mythal around Evereska.

Meanwhile, the princes used their unique set of magic sourced from the Shadow Weave to melt High Ice in North Faerûn, creating the Shadow Sea and its surrounding oasis in the Anauroch desert. This terrific feat of magical geoengineering sought to restore the Shadovar's home of ancient Netheril, but was catastrophic to the surrounding Heartlands. Unexpected blizzards and floods broke out across much of the North and the effects were felt as far away as the Sword Coast.

Formal relations between the princes of Thultanthar and the member-states of the Heartlands Alliance—namely Waterdeep, Evereska and the Silver Marches—remained cold but mutually beneficial for both parties at first. Suspicion of the Shadovar remained intense among the leadership, and the tension came to a head on Tarsakh 28 at a council held between the heads of these powers and Prince Aglarel Tanthul, and Thultanthar withdrew military support from the campaign in Evereska. The Princes of Shade refocused their efforts towards Myth Drannor, and set out to exterminate the phaerimm dwelling within the ruins of the long-lost city.

The allied Army of the North was finally able to relieve the beleaguered Evereskans in the month of Mirtul, rapidly teleporting their forces from the Forest of Wyrms to the Shaeradim just beyond the phaerimm deadwall. While they enjoyed a brief reunion with their allies there was no time for celebration. Enchantments placed upon the armies' commanders—either by the withdrawn Shadovar or the phaerimm themselves—quickly turned them against one another. With the Shadovar gone from the battlefield, the army's perimeter of magical detection failed and within hours the phaerimm were drawn to the allied camp. The Army of the North suffered a terrible defeat and were forced to withdraw.

Enter Cormyr
Similarly disaffected with Shadovar hospitality, Galaeron and Aris decided to leave their guest quarters in Thultanthar and ventured east across the Anauroch desert. Accompanied by the Bedine sorceress Ruha, the pair stole some valuable items from the Shadovar and made their way to the Cormyrean city of Arabel.

Outcome
The return of Thultanthar and the Princes of Shade, along with their detached relationship with the surrounding nations led to far-reaching and long-lasting effects on the Realms. The ten remaining princes went on to spark a civil war in Sembia, raised other long-lost cities from the sea, and even obliterated another entire city from the face of Faerûn in the name of their goddess.

By these feats and more, High Prince Telamont Tanthul succeeded in restoring the empire of Netheril for nearly a century. Collectively, the princes of Netheril would go on to conquer nearly all of Sembia, and embark upon a decades-long war with Cormyr and the Dalelands.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Return of the Archwizards (The Summoning, The Siege, The Sorcerer)