Greenwood often mentioned Netheril in his early Dragon magazine articles, but those references were always cut before publication because they were "considered too long a digression". The Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987) ended up being the first print publication to actually allude to the ancient empire. In the next decade, Netheril would be frequently mentioned in Realms supplements, to the point that Realms continuity guru Julia Martin once told Greenwood "to stop 'explaining magic away by citing Netheril'". But Netheril had always been a distant part of the Realms' backstory, not something relevant to the modern day.
Since this underground complex was built by a mega-powerful magic empire, it may make sense for the party to revisit the area beneath Old Owl Well when they reach a higher level. If left alone, I imagine that Hamun Kost would spend several more weeks digging until he found the entrance to the the complex beneath the Well. Eventually, he would be chased away by the magical construct guardians the Netherese left behind. Perhaps later, Hamun Kost would manage to recruit some adventurers, fellow Red Wizards or evil allies like the Cultists in Tyranny of Dragons (or your minions of choice) to aid him with further excavation of the vault. The party would catch wind of this through various clues, and revisit the well.
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In the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, over two hundred liches attacked the Knights of Myth Drannor while seeking to corrupt part of the Weave. All bore Larloch's mark. A great many were defeated by the combined might of clockwork soldiers created by Mystra and the Knights, but the liches did succeed in corrupting dozens of baelnorns to their will, who also perished in the battle. Larloch later appeared to the Knights to apologize, explaining that he'd simply given the liches their freedom as a test, to see what they did with it, and called their actions foolish. He said he only sought greater power in the Art of magic, and would not battle those who served Mystra. He was fascinated by Storm Silverhand's silver fire, desiring its power for his own but fearing that it could destroy him. Storm allowed him a close look, and he said it was the first kindness he'd been given in a long time.[10]
Larloch sometimes freed captive adventurers to perform certain services for him, such as retrieving a powerful but well-guarded spell or magical item, held for example by a Red Wizard or an archmage. However, to ensure completion, he placed on these lucky adventurers a number of geases and contingent curses. Abandoning the mission prompted a horrific transformation into a hideous monster, like a hook horror or a tanar'ri demon, one limb at a time. Larloch kept his word, however, and those who successfully performed their service were granted complete freedom and restored to their proper forms, provided they did not attempt to deceive or assault him.[6][2]
Among them was a small army of liches, numbering at least sixty by 1374 DR. Many were also survivors of Netheril, including Rhaugilath. Their loyalty was absolute, and ensured by some force of magic.[6][1][11][2][13] Occasionally, he granted some of these liches their freedom, just to see what they would do.[10] [note 4] 2ff7e9595c
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