Eldritch Machines / Mythallar

Created in -3014 DR by Ioulaum, the mythallars allowed arcanists to create quasimagical items without draining their lifeforce. This allowed for a rising trade with the middle class. The first large scale application, the floating city, appeared in the year -2954 DR, Ioulaum's Enclave, named Xinlenal. By -2811 DR, thirteen had been constructed. By -2207 DR, Netheril began lifting one enclave into the sky per year.   Sakkors' High Arcanist Xolund the Maker improved on mythallar design by infusing his enclave's mythallar with a rudimentary sentience, giving it self-awareness and also increasing the mythallar's powers. This breakthrough caused a great stir among the empire's arcanists, but the fall of the empire prevented any further effort of duplicating Xolund's feat, making Sakkors' mythallar one of a kind.   Almost all mythallars in Faerûn were destroyed or rendered powerless as a result of Karsus's Folly, resulting in the fall of the Netheril Empire; the Shadow Enclave survived intact, by going into the Plane of Shadow. Selunarra, also known as Opus in Loross, was saved by Selune when she pulled it into the Gates of the Moon, where it still hangs in the sky to this day.   Its function was a simple one—it converted raw magic from the Weave and sent that power throughout an enclave to provide the magical energies required for the continued operation. Every enclave contained at least one mythallar—especially since the mythallar was absolutely necessary to keep the city afloat.