In the Forgotten Realms

Forgotten Realms

The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...

setting in the continent of Faerûn

Faerûn

Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...

, a mythal is a powerful epic

Epic Level Handbook

The Epic Level Handbook is a rulebook by Wizards of the Coast for the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons.-Contents:This books contained rules for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition characters to attain levels above 20, the limit in the core rulebooks...

 level magical effect.

Description

A mythal is created by a circle of elven

Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...

 High Mages to protect and ward a large area with numerous powerful enchantments. A typical mythal prevents certain schools of magic from being employed, affects everyone within its bounds to certain magics, and may allow everyone or certain classes of people to call magical effects from the mythal as though using a magical item. It may restrict access of the warded area to certain classes of beings. For example, Silverymoon

Silverymoon

In the fictional world of the Forgotten Realms, Silverymoon is the prime signatory state of the Confederation of the Silver Marches...

's mythal excludes evil dragons

Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , dragons are an iconic type of monstrous creature used as adversaries or, less commonly, allies of player characters...

 and forbids casting magic to teleport

Teleportation

Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...

 into the mythal. Creation of a mythal sometimes requires the willing sacrifice of the lead caster's life, a result that lead to the first mythal's being named after its creator. In addition, many Mythal spells corrode over time, and if not maintained can become corrupted. This has occurred in Myth Drannor

Myth Drannor

Myth Drannor, formerly known as Cormanthor, the City of Song, is a fictional elven city in the Forgotten Realms world. It is located in the area called Cormanthyr.-Fictional history:...

 and resulted in the current state of that city.

Other media

In Icewind Dale

Icewind Dale

Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment. Released on June 30, 2000, it takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and is based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition...

, it is revealed that a failed mythal created by the mage Larrel caused the destruction of the Severed Hand, an elven fortress.