The Karsus Butte was the petrified remains of the Momentary God Karsus, the Netherese arcanist that achieved godhood for a single moment.[1][2][3][7]
Description[]
The mesa-like rock formation was made up of coarse, red sandstone[1][3][7] shaped in the twisted form of a colossal human on its back. The mound that comprised Karsus' head, which held the features of the former-god's visage including his prominent nose and weak chin, gave way to a depressed chest and rounded belly that formed the butte's highest point. Karsus's stone arms remained crooked at a naturally impossible angle.[4]
Wild magic radiated outward from the Butte, extending out to Karse and the surrounding Dire Wood.[8]
Geography[]
It lay within the Dire Wood region of the eastern High Forest.[6][9] The city of Karse was built at the "foot" of the fallen god.[1][2][7]
Geographical Features[]
Karsus' Butte was the source of the Heartblood River, the foaming red-hued waterway that flowed westward through the forest.[9][4]
History[]
The butte was formed immediately after Karsus's Folly in the Year of Sundered Webs, −339 DR, when Karsus was destroyed a moment after achieving apostheosis and his godly remains plummeted down to Toril.[6]
On Hammer 1 in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, Galaeron Nihmedu used magic from a powerful artifact taken from within the Karsus Butte to summon the Return of the Netherese enclave of Thultanthar to Faerûn from the plane of Shadow.[5]
Notable Locations[]
The single notable structure atop the Karsus Butte was the Shrine of the Undying Heart,[10][11] a temple built atop the butte dedicated to the Momentary God.[7] An illusory passageway within led to a chamber at the heart of the temple, within which lay the dead god's still-beating heart, the only source of whole magic in all the Realms.[12]
Inhabitants[]
Karsus Butte was considered a holy site by the cultists that worshiped him.[11]
Notable Inhabitants[]
- Wulgreth, the lich and former archmage that made his lair within the Karsus Butte centuries after his fall.[13]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
- Novels
- The Summoning
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 109–110. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 12. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jennell Jaquays (1988). The Savage Frontier. (TSR, Inc), p. 52. ISBN 0-88038-593-6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), p. 207. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 256–258. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), p. 209. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.
- ↑ Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 slade, et al. (April 1996). “The Wilderness”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 52. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
- ↑ slade, et al. (April 1996). “The Wilderness”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 58. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 36. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 226–228. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.
- ↑ Troy Denning (December 2009). “The Summoning”. Return of the Archwizards (Wizards of the Coast), p. 241. ISBN 978-0-7869-5365-3.