Dreams of the Red Wizardsby Steve Perrin

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2History of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3People and Society of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Geography of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Current Economy of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Current Politics of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Magic of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Religion of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Personalities of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Adventures in Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Pullout Section:Players� Guide to Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29-36

Map of Thay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21

Credits:

Editing: Karen S. Boomgarden Cover Art: Clyde CaldwellCartography: Dave Sutherland Typography: Kim JankeInterior Art: Valerie Valusek Keylining: Stephanie Tabat

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INTRODUCTIONThis book is a description of Thay, saidby some to be the most evil land of theForgotten Realms. It is the home of thepowerful, evil Red Wizards, whosewhim can move mountains and sum-mon great demons to lay waste to arm-ies. Besides the great magic that seemsto fill every corner, the land is famedfor its rich prosperity, with exquisite,exotic craftworks and rich culture. Forall of these things, Thay is perhaps thebest-known (and least-visited by thosegood men who value their freedom) ofthe Eastern Lands.

The realm is also known for itsancient heritage, byzantine govern-ment, and magical-based society. Itsslave-traders and slave-gatherers arefeared throughout the Realms, and itstraveling wizards can walk unham-pered through the most squalid streetsof Tethyr. To most folk of the Realms,Thay is the great eastern threat, theland of bloody-handed wizards who atany moment might swirl across theirborders on the backs of fire elementalsand lay waste to the world.

Many of these fears have some basisin fact. This book attempts to lift theveil of rumor and reveal what the Wiz-ards of Thay are truly capable of, andwhy the lands around the Inner Seahave a true cause to fear the Dreams ofthe Red Wizards.

How To Use This BookT h i s b o o k h a s t w o u s e s f o r t h eFORGOTTEN REALMS� game cam-paign DM. First, it provides a look atThay and the lands surrounding it,complete with enough statistics that aBATTLESYSTEM� Fantasy CombatSupplement campaign can be set upusing the information supplied withinand some translations from raw popula-tion statistics to BATTLESYSTEM FantasyCombat Supplement characteristics.There are certainly sufficient reasons forThay and her neighbors to go to war withone another, as you will see, and the stra-tegic situation is sufficiently complex tomake for some interesting maneuversand battles.

Of course, this book also provides thenecessary information for FORGOTTENREALMS� role-playing campaigns set in

The second use for this book is toshow how events in Thay and the sur-

Thay and among her neighbors.

rounding countries can interact witha d v e n t u r e s s e t a n y w h e r e i n t h eRealms, from Neverwinter to Skuld,and everywhere in between.

If you are a DM whose campaign is setin the Realms, and wish to use Thay as asite for occasional adventures (see Res-cue! in the appendices) or a completecampaign you should read the entirebook, referring to the accompanyingmap when the wealth of informationabout the international relationshipsbecomes overwhelming.

If you are going to allow player char-acter magic-users who originate inThay, study the chapter on Thayvianmagic particularly closely. There aremany differences between the stand-ard AD&D® game system magic-userand a Red Wizard�no matter how faralong the Red Wizard is in his studies.This is also necessary when looking atthe descriptions of the major NPCs inthe appendices. Looking at them withthe eye of a standard AD&D game sys-tem DM will only confuse you.

If you are running player charactersfrom other lands who are journeying toThay, emphasize the rumored differ-ences in magic without being specific.The players will learn about the real dif-ferences soon enough.

For a full campaign in Thay, be sure tolook at the society and politics chaptersclosely. There are differences here thatcan be quite alien to the Western-Europe-style campaign possible even inCormyr. There is an underlying evil tothis society that is foreign to even Amnor Zhentil Keep. The people of Thay aredifferent from the people of the west-ern lands, and the differences can besubtle and trip up player and DM alike.

Of course, you are free to changesome aspects of this culture to better fityour own playing style. If you are morecomfortable with a society where thepolice can be counted on to enforce the

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law, even if the laws are evil, then youmay want to change the attitude of the

If you are more comfortable with a

gnoll patrols who maintain the law as

society in which everyone has some civ-

they see it in the cities of Thay.

il rights, then you will have to makesome other , perhaps very subt le ,changes in how this society looks at theadventurers who enter it.

And, of course, study the history andgeography of both Thay and its neigh-bors. These are the foundation stonesof heroic legends and current nationalpolitics, and both can be good founda-tions for exciting adventures as well.

Welcome to Thay. May you and yourplayers� characters live through theexperience.

HISTORY OF THAYHistory of the Region�The East� is shrouded in mystery tothose lands to the west of the Inner Sea.The entire east and south is consideredan area of vast magics and strange tyr-annies. These considerations are quiteclose to the truth.

Before the beginning of the currentAge, there were four great lands whocontrolled the east of the Inner Sea. Inthe north were Narfell and Raumathar,t o t h e s o u t h w e r e U n t h e r a n dMulhorand. The northern nations wererelatively young, coalescing out of wan-dering tribes about a thousand yearsbefore the end of the previous age.Unther and Mulhorand had f i rs tappeared as that age was dawning.

The southern nations had long sincefound the Alamber Sea a sufficient bor-der to keep their interests apart. Theyfought for trade rights and for posses-sion of the few islands of the sea, butneither seriously invaded the othercountry. In the north, however, therewere no such convenient barriers tothe march of armies, and the two giantsof the north were constantly at war. Inthese days, no one knows what theirsource of enmity was, but stories oftheir wars and heroes are still the stapleof any wandering bard of the easternInner Seas.

Eventually, the two nations slew eachother with great magics. Stories inbooks found in Myth Drannor tell ofdemons summoned, dragons called,and cities burned. The war came to anend with neither nation surviving. Thistook place about 1500 years ago, justbefore the explorers of Tethyr and Amnbegan to open up the Inner Sea to thecurrent age.

Both Mulhorand and Unther movedto fill up some of the space left vacantby this catastrophe. Unther lept acrossthe Eastern Reach to plant cities on thatb o d y o f w a t e r � s n o r t h e r n c o a s t ;Mulhorand founded the cities of Bezan-tur, Tyraturas, Amruthar, Delhumide,and Nethjet in an effort to reach thenorthern survivors of the great war.But both nations were already feeling

the first effects of the other greatdestroyer of empires: decadence.

Unther could not reach the elves ofthe Yuirwood with its traders or itsarmies. Rather than circumvent the for-est, it sat where it was and first lostAltumbel, then the North Shore Coastalcities, to forces of rebellion against itssmothering bureaucracy, led by thefreethinking freebooters who led themigrations e a s t f r o m A m n . T h e nUnther retreated from the south shoreunder similar pressures. The city-statesthat remained formed a loose unionknown as Chessenta that still remains,though the unity of the cities is laugha-ble to any true nation.

Mulhorand, perhaps because it had aland connection to the north, managed tohold on to its northern conquests longer,but eventually, lost them to a home-grown menace. About four hundredyears ago, a sect calling itself the Red Wiz-ards declared its freedom from the god-kings of Mulhorand. They rebelled fromthe rule of the theocracy and demandedmore freedom for magic research.

The sect originally sprang up all overthe old kingdom, but its center ofstrength was in the northern prov-inces, where the natives did not havethe inbred reverence for the god-kings.The wizards led an army to raze thecapital city of Delhumide and declaredthemselves the free nation of Thay.Then they marched south, taking theother cities of northern Mulhorandwith little trouble.

Mulhorand roused itself from its stu-por long enough to hire an immensemercenary army from Chessenta andsend it into the land now called Thay byits new masters. The Red Wizards metthis army on the farming plains of Tha-zalhar. The Wizards met the vastlysuperior numbers backed with some ofthe less apathetic priests of the god-kings with sorcery, including what hasbeen described as a major demon, whoslaughtered vast hordes of mercenariesbefore the invaders broke and ran.

Mulhorand effectively shrugged itsmassive shoulders, further fortified thecity of Sultim and the River of the

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Dawn, and turned over in its bed ofapathy to sleep the sleep of decadence.Since then, Mulhorand has not claimedany part of Thay, though they have hadto defend themselves, quite successful-ly, against two invasions from thatupstart country.

ThayTheir independence secured, the RedWizards set about to establish theirown nation. The first order of businesswas sending the major demon backwhere it came from-an effort that costthem several Wizards. Then they estab-lished their capitol of Eltabbar (somesay this is named after the demon) andbegan to order their new country.

Initially, the Red Wizards ruled theirnew nation themselves, gathering in aCouncil to make any necessary deci-sions. Each Wizard tried to extend hisown powerbase, taking on apprenticesand recruiting other wizards. Manymagic-users from Mulhorand who hadnot participated in the rebellion immi-grated to Thay to partake of the greaterfreedom for magic-users there. Withina century there were too many Wizardsto operate as a ruling Council. Everydecision was reached, when it wasreached, only after weeks of debate.Moreover, magic-users are not wellsuited to governing. To remain goodmagi they must continually researchand practice their craft. This leaves lit-tle time for statecraft and governance.

Recognizing the problem, the RedWizards devised the current system(described in the Politics chapter of thisbook) of Tharchions ruling provincesand Zulkirs chosen from among theRed Wizards to rule the entire nation.

Thay�s history since independencewas gained is a cycle of internal strife,unification to try to conquer neighbor-ing lands, and so on around the circle.The first major period of strife wasdirectly after the foundation of the rul-ing Zulkirs, when objecting Wizardsmarshalled their forces and attemptedto destroy this new government atbirth. However, they were disorganized

and warred among themselves (severalhad kingly ambitions of their own) andthe Zulkirs slowly established their ruleover a period of almost 40 years by mili-tary victory and occasional co-opting ofopponents into their ranks.

The Conquering WizardsSince the establishment of their nation,the Red Wizards have had to trade (orsteal) for many things they considernecessary for their lives. They wouldrather conquer and control the landsthat produce these items, so the Zulkirsand Tharchions are continually schem-ing and planning to gather armies andmarch on one of their neighbors.

Invariably, those Wizards who arenot in on the planning of the conquestdecide that either (1) it is really just ascheme by the organizers to take overThay itself or (2) the organizers will gettoo powerful and use their new powerbase to take over Thay and/or exact arevenge on the other Wizards for realor imagined slights. Thus, those left outof the planning either (1) try to subvertthose working with the planners intosabotaging the effort or (2) try to takeover the homefront power base of theplanners while they are off conquering.

T h e f a c t t h a t t h e W i z a r d s n o tinvolved in the planning might be veryright about the real motivations of theplanners does not help build tranquili-ty. Thus, the military history of Thay isone of grand conquests splendidlyembarked upon that end in squabblingand disaster. However, the Wizardskeep trying.

Current OperationsAt this time, there are three majorschemes of conquest in operation.

The first scheme of conquests con-sists of Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necroman-cy, and the Tharchion of Gauros, whoare attempting once again to conquerRashemen, this time behind an army ofzombies.

The second scheme is masterminded

by the Tharchion of Thaymount andthe Zulkir of the School of Divination,who have taken advantage of a periodof Aglarondan laxity to march down offthe Thaymount and take over the trad-ing towns of Nethentir and Nethjet.There is also a second prong to theirattack, but that is not immediately evi-dent to the casual observer.

The third scheme is perhaps the mostambitious. The Zulkirs of Evocation andConjuration have combined with theTharchion of Lapendrar to open a gateto the Elemental Plane of Fire, assemblean army of salamanders and efreeti,and purge the North Coast of competi-tors to Bezantur once and for all.

Naturally, all this activity has not goneunnoticed. The Zulkir for Enchantmentand Charm is most alarmed at all thisadventurism, since his plan of steadyassassination of heads of state has bare-ly gotten off the ground.

This is the nation that adventurousplayer characters may be entering atany moment.

Timeline� 150 DRMutual Fall of Narfall and

1 DR163 DR482 DR

504-679DR756 DR823 DR

870 DR

922 DR929 DR

934 DR

937 DR

975 DR

RaumatharFounding of CormyrFounding of AltumbelDelthuntle and Laothkundbreak free of UntherSteady erosion of Unther�scontrol of North Coast CitiesFirst fisherfolk in AglarondMourktar breaks free ofUntherAdventurers begin to clearthe monsters out of the Yuir-woodBattle of ThazalharAlliance of Chessenta drivesUnther back beyond theRiders To The Sky mtns.First Thay invasion of Rashe-menAlliance of the Cities of TheGolden Way into TheskTelflamm annexes Nyth andCulmaster and establishesown nation

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1030 DR

1031-74DR

1065 DR

1082 DR1085 DR1097 DR

1104 DR1117-54DR

1122 DR1127 DR1128 DR1132 DR1142 DR

1159 DR

1189 DR1169 DR1194 DR

1197 DR

1225 DR1237 DR

1257 DR1260 DR

1294 DR1317-23DR1317 DR

1320 DR1334 DR

1338 DR1357 DR

Establishment of Zulkirs asruling body of ThayInternal strife in Thay asZulkirs continue to establishruleBattle of Ingdal�s ArmBrindor First King ofAglarondBuilding of EmmechBuilding of Giants WallFounding of ImpilturImphras crowned KingBirth of Zulkir Szass TamBreakup of Chessenta Alli-ance into squabbling city-statesImbrar King of ImpilturIlmara Queen of ImpilturAlthon King of AglarondCreation of Long PortageRedsail the pirate retires toAglarondZulkir Szass Tam becomeslichElthond King of AglarondImphras II King of ImpilturBattle of Singing SandsPhilaspur King of AglarondBattle of BrokenheadsGrey Sisters Queens ofAglarondLashilmbrar King of ImpilturMarriage of Thara ofAglarond to Elthar ofMilvaruneAlliance of Thesk andAglarondHalacar king of AglarondBattle of LapendrarIlione Queen of AglarondRilimbrar King of ImpilturGreat Plague of the InnerSeaTarguth Athkarr becomesHuhong of RashemenSimbul Queen of AglarondHyarmon Hussiltharbecomes Huhong of Rashe-menSambryl Queen of ImpilturThe Present

The LandsSurrounding ThayTo a large extent, the history of Thay isthat of the neighboring nations. The fol-lowing is a brief description of the his-tories of these nations and how theyrelate to their imperialistic neighbor.

AglarondInitially a wilderland inhabited only bya few sylvan elves, satyrs, and the fellforest denizens known more to men infable than in fact (owlbears, stirges, andthe like), Aglarond was little disturbedby men as settlement spread east acrossthe Inner Sea an age ago.

Often visited by pirates and othersseeking a temporary refuge or timberto cut, Aglarond remained unsettled formany long winters. A few hermits ekedout an existence in coastal caves and lat-er Aglarond became something of aretirement refuge for pirates�thosetoo old, notorious, or badly maimed tocontinue faring. At length, fishermenseeking untouched areas moved toAglarond�s shores, and slowly smallsettlements of fisher-folk took hold onthe rocky coasts. These villagers facedthe sea, and although the woods at theirbacks seldom erupted to endangerthem, they did not explore inland, orboldly cut and fell timber in the mannerof the settlers of Cormyr, Sembia, andthe Dalelands. The far-off pinnacle andthe endless woods remained hostileplaces for generations; those who ven-tured too far in did not return.

As the woodcutting slowly ate awayat the forest edge, skirmishes withowlbears and satyrs became more com-mon, and were-creatures began toappear. Adventurers on the run orseeking employment also began toarrive in Aglarond, and for a brief,bloody decade still vivid in the songsand travelers� tales, men slaughteredthe most dangerous and aggressive ofAglarond�s monsters.

As the dangers of the wood grewfewer, hunters and fur-trappers ven-tured further inland�and eventually

discovered that the elves of Aglarondhad grown few and humble, weakenedby disease and continual warfare withthe mountain trolls and the dark elvesof the mountain depths. Most of thefisher-folk remained ignorant (and fear-ful) of the forest depths, and did notventure far into the trees, but thehunters and adventurers fought thetrolls and (rarely) the drow, knowingthe elves first as wary allies and then asfriends-and within another genera-tion a proud (if few in number) half-elven folk had come into being in thedepths of the woods, the elves beingcompletely absorbed into the half-elvenstock. Over the next decade, the drow�went under� (ground) and came toAglarond no more, the trolls were near-ly eradicated, and the satyrs all leftAglarond or perished in the forestwars, until the half-elves came to ruleall of Aglarond�s wooded interior. Indis-cr iminate woodcutt ing cont inuedaround the villages of Oskur and Sluskin particular, and at length the half-elves grew angry enough to move downinto the fishing villages and take over.

This led to several armed skirmishes,notably a pitched battle at the remoteanchorage of Ingdal�s Arm, in which the�pure� humans perished to a man, butat length the half-elves prevailed.

For a time there was ill-feeling, butthe just rule of the half-elven (and theirundeniable and ever-increasing bloodties to the fisher-folk) soon welded thepeople into a loyal fellowship under therule of a king. The first king (the seniorwarleader of the elves) was the agedBrindor; he established a fighting corpsof veterans and youths, named an heir(as he had no surviving mate or off-spring of his blood) and began a tradi-tion of government by monarchy andcouncil, each village choosing a repre-sentative or elder to be a part of thecouncil, to advise and debate with theking. Those who could not accept therule of the King moved west, intoAltumbel, or north and east into Thesk.Theskan raiders (and later, the growingthreat of Thayl were countered byBrindor�s only great engineering works:

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the fortress of Emmech, at the mouthof the Umber, and the �Wall of Giants�,constructed by giants in return forsome mysterious magical service Brin-dor gave them, which prevented anyarmy that crossed the Umber Marshesfrom sweeping into Aglarond�s growingfarms.

Brindor�s heir, Althon, began a greatprogram of irrigation, road-building,and careful husbandry of the much-shrunken woods of Aglarond; eventu-ally to become known as Althon �theOld�, he lived nearly a hundred win-ters, and in his time Aglarond grew intoa strong and happy realm, despite thegrowing power of Thay and the manycities along the coast to the south ofwhat is now known as the Yuirwood.(The wood gained this name because ofthe Yuir, the name of the original elventribe that lived there). Althon had twosons, Elthond and Philaspur. Elthondperished in the first great battle againstthe forces of Thay, Singing Sands (1194DR, so-called for the lamenting womenof Aglarond, who cried and sang allnight as they took up the bodies of theirs la in men f rom the sands aroundEmmech), and Philaspur reigned there-after, perishing himself at the fortressof Glarondar in the battle of Bro-kenheads (1197 DR). Philaspur�s daugh-ters, Thara and Ulae, ruled togetherafter his death: long and well. Known asthe �gray sisters� for their raiment,they developed their magical arts toawesome heights, and were believed tohave thwarted many forces from Thayere these reached Aglarond�s borders,by means of shrewd dweomercraft. Intheir later years, both took husbands�Thara wedding Elthar of Milvarune,gaining thereby the friendship of Thesk(which survives to this day); and Ulaewedding the forester Ilion. Thara andElthar had no children, but Ulae bore ason, Halacar, and a daughter, Ilione.

Halacar reigned from the death of hismother (1257 DR) through a disastrouscampaign against Thay, and died-ofpoison, it is thought-in the winter of1260 DR, without wife or offspring. Hissister Ilione came to the throne inexpe-

rienced, but was wiser than Halacar,and carefully built Aglarond�s strength,i m m e d i a t e l y n a m i n g a s h e i r h e rapprentice, the young and mysterioussorceress known only as The Simbul,and ruling long and wisely as Aglarondprospered.

Ilione died of plague in 1320 DR, andsince that time the Simbul has ruled therealm with magery greater than anyknown in the Inner Sea lands since thefall of Myth Drannor; she is thought tostill live, and Aglarond still survive,because she personally overmatcheseven the infamous Red Wizards ofThay.

If the Simbul herself has apprenticesor a chosen heir, she has not publiclyidentified any such to the Council. Herstyle as Queen of Aglarond (a title shenever uses, preferring to be knownonly as �The Simbul�) is her own, differ-ent from her predecessors and coun-terparts in other realms. As Mirt ofWaterdeep once said, �Ah, that Lady-she goes her own way.� That way mustneeds be a narrow and often treacher-ous one; Aglarond�s future may wellhang in the balance.

The royal banner of Aglarond is threewhite stars on a royal blue field.

ImpilturImpiltur was formed two hundred andsixty winters ago, when the city statesof Lyrabar, Hlammach, Dilpur, andSarshel united under Imphras, war-captain of Lyrabar, to face the menaceof hobgoblin hordes advancing fromt h e G i a n t s p i r e m o u n t a i n s , f r o mwhence they had only raided sporadi-cally before.

The human armies, bolstered bywood elves from the Grey Forest anddwarves from the Earthfast Mountains,met the hobgoblins in the High Passwest of the River Icehilt, and there wasgreat slaughter. The High Pass was�choked with the bodies of the fallen,and blood began to flow like a river ereit froze; a red river that ran down out ofthe heights, onto the rocks below.� Thisbitter struggle went on, day and night,

in the cold, until on the afternoon of thefourth day, the exhausted humandefenders were pushed back, out of theheights, and forced down onto theplain�for although they fought valiant-ly, and commanded the natural heightsand strongpoints of the Pass, the hob-goblins �were without number or end,�as the sage Amphyr (who was a bow-man in the battle) put it, and just keptcoming over the bodies of their ownf o r c e s , u n t i l t h e y w o r e o u t t h edefenders.

Imphras fled across the plain, harriedby the hobgoblins, until he reachedBluefang water, where he rallied hismen to stand against the invaders.Some came against him; twice his ownforce at least�but others ignored thewarriors and ran southwards, past themen of Imphras, to take and loot the cit-ies on the coast.

And there the hobgoblins were metby the women the warriors had leftbehind, with swords in their hands, andamong them stood Soargar, the oldarchmage of Lyrabar, standing withtwo sticks; and the young sorceressSambral, and her guest, the archmageVelgarbrin of Baldur�s Gate�and theselast three unleashed magics that havenever again been seen so gathered onone field from that day to this; the earthopened, hobgoblins were snatched intothe air by invisible hands�and hurledto earth again, balls of fire crackled androared all about the screaming hordes,and lightning leaped and hobgoblinsfell.

When at last the spells were done, thehobgoblins were fewer than before,but still they came forward, to cutdown the women�and then Imphraswith his few surviving men fell on theirrear like a scythe takes down grass, andthey fell and were routed.

The gathered fo lk of the c i t iesencamped upon the plain and Soargarbreathed his last, drained of life by theuse of his art, yet content, and he badethe elders of all the cities make Imphrastheir general, against the hobgoblinscoming again. They did so, and Soargartold Imphras of the lost crown of Nar-

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fell, a thing of wondrous magic hiddenin the old dweomercrafter�s tower inLyrabar, where it had slumbered thesemany years, and of magic swordsthere�and then fell dead, smiling. AndImphras took the crown, and raised asmall tower at Filur, and ruled there,and in time wed Sambral and had heirs.

But it was not in his time that the hob-goblins came again. Sambral died, andafter grieving Imphras followed. Theirson Imbrar took the throne. His sisterI lmara became a sorceress underMhilra of Milvarune, and found scryingstones of lost Myth Drannor in heradventures, and founded Ilmwatch. Inthose stones she found the hobgoblinsstirring. Imbrar went up against thehobgoblins before they could attack therealm, and he was not seen again, butneither were the hobgoblins. And themagical swords that he and his guardwore, the legacy from Soargar, werelost.

Ilmara, sorrowing, took up the crownof Narfell and the rule in Filur, and afterforty winters took to husband Rilaun ofSarshal, a young warrior half her age,and had a son , whom she namedImphras, and crowned king. Rilaun waswroth, and took arms to seize thecrown, but he was murdered ere hecould take it, and Imphras II reignedwith his mother as regent until he was16 winters old.

And in time he took to wife Lasheelaof Dilpur, and had many sons; and thecrown passed to Lashilmbrar, and thento his son Rilimbrar, and then to Rilim-brar�s eldest daughter, Sambryl.

Sambryl is a mage of power (CG 17thlevel M-U) who does not like to rule; soshe walks the kingdom freely, leavingthe defense of the realm in the hands oftwelve lords of the Realm tall descen-dants of Imphras II): Kylraun; Imbrar;Lashilaun; Soargilm; Haelimbrar; Sam-brar; Rilimbraun; Imbraun; Silmgar,Silaunbrar; and Rilaunyr.

Impiltur today is a war-ready realm,still on the frontiers of civilized lands,but largely at peace and friendly withits neighbors of Telflamm, Thesk,Rashemen, and Aglarond. With these

nations it keeps a wary eye on Thay,supporting them all in their occasionalwars with that realm of wizardrybecause Impiltur knows that if any ofthese realms should fall, Thay would benowhere as friendly a neighbor.

Impiltur is still a land of opportunityfor the daring and hard-working; richnew copper, silver, and iron lodes havebeen found north of Lyrabar and nearthe High Pass, and trade is increasing inthe area.

The arms of Impiltur are a crossedsword and wand on a dun banner, bor-dered in scarlet.

TelflammWhen Thesk was formed, the Heirarchof the coastal city of Telflamm wassnubbed by the autocrats of Phsalt andMilvarune. As a resul t , Tel f lammrefused to join with the other cities intheir union, and kept its satellites,Culmaster and Nyth, from joining aswell.

Despite this history of hostility,Telflamm is friendly to Thesk, andwhile they are ostensibly trade rivals,they cooperate in defense and safe-guarding their shares of the GoldenWay.

Telflamm is a favorite port for adven-turers coming to the Eastern Realms.They specialize in outfitting adventur-ers , and maps to the t reasures ofRaumathar and Narfell are a stock intrade of the city. Some of them are evenaccurate, though they tend to lead toalready-looted sites. Still, one neverknows what previous looters may havemissed. . .

Telflamm has never been conquered.It is of much more use as an open city.

TheskThis is the land between Aglarond andImpiltur. Its main reason for existenceis the trading path called The GoldenWay which has been traditional fortraders from the north and east sincebefore the current age. At one time itwas controlled by Raumathar. When

that nation died in its mutual war ofextinction with Narfell, the inns andtrading stations along the Golden Way(each established approximately 1 day�sslow packhorse�s travel away from itsneighbors) became centers for the refu-gees from the kingdom�s destruction.

The easternmost of the cities becamepart of the new land of Rashemen. Theothers were briefly under the sway ofMulhorand, but aside from collectingtaxes, the god-kings had little to do withthe people that far north.

The cities banded together and alliedthemselves with the people of the forestand hills. They called themselves Theskafter the mountain ridge in the centerof the lands they claimed. Together,they drove out the Mulhorani tax col-lectors and established their loose con-federacy. When the Red Wizards firstrose, the cities of Thesk supportedt h e m t o e s t a b l i s h a b u f f e r s t a t ebetween them and the ancient empireto the south. They have since come toregret this decision, but live with theiraggressive neighbor as best they can.

The government of this land is an oli-garchy made up of the rulers of thetrading cities along the Golden Wayfrom Two-Stars to Milvarune, whichacts as the capital (mostly because it isso far removed from Thay).

The NomadsThe nomadic tribes who run theirflocks in the Mountains of Thesk in thecenter of the land also protect the citiesand are a thorn in the side of any invad-ing army from Thay. Their tactics areideally suited to hit-and-run and theywork in such a scattered fashion thatmass destruction spells cannot damagevery many at a time.

The nomad magic-users are mostlyshamans , but shamans who havegrown in power (perhaps because ofthe proximity to Thay) so that they areequivalent to Druids. They use many ofthe same spells, with some differencesbecause of their plains and hills exist-ence.

However, the main reason Thay has

7

not overwhelmed Thesk, or at least tak-en its easternmost trading cities awayfrom it, is that it would leave them withvery vulnerable flanks to Rashemen,Aglarond, and even Impiltur. The RedWizard policy has traditionally been tosecure the flanks, first.

Relations with OthersNationsDuring the establishment of Aglarond,raiders from Thesk would terrorize thesmall villages that make up that coun-try. However, the traders of Thesk sooncame to realize that the Aglarondanswould be far better trading partnersthan victims. The marriage of one ofthe rulers of Aglarond to one of theprinces of Thesk cemented the relation-ship, and now they are fast friends.

The city of Telflamm is a trading rival,but supports them against Thay andacts as a convenient duty-free seaportin Thesk�s relationships with othernations.

When not fighting Thay, Thesk is gladto act as an intermediary between Thayand potential trading partners who dis-like supporting the economy of a slavernation like Thay. Theskite merchantsbuy Thayvian produce and productsand sell them at generous profits toImpiltur, Cormyr, and anywhere inbetween.

The rough nation of Impiltur is one ofThesk�s main customers for all mannerof commodities.

MulhorandThis �Sleeping Giant� has been in exist-ence through three ages of the Realms.An age ago it was a vital and aggressivepower, controlling most of the AlamberSea and the entire Priador plateau. Thegod-kings were said to be �in theirprime.�

Now the god-kings (who seem to beexactly the same people) are said to be�in their dotage,� and Mulhorand is asleepy and decadent land. The god-kings make occasional pronounce-ments from their towering palaces in

Skuld, the City of Shadows, but thecountry is really run by the bureau-crats of the temple, who are happiestwhen everything happens just as it hashappened for the last two thousandyears.

Mulhorand has not attempted con-quest since the Red Wizards drove itback from Thay. But it is a rich land,with great natural resources and a heri-tage of priestly sorcery and enchant-ment.

It is well known that there is a wealthof magical items available to the rulersof Mulhorand, should they ever care touse them. The Statues that Walk areonly one of hundreds of such items inthe land, and most of the items areavailable to the lords and military ofthat land should it be seriously threat-ened; therefore, everyone just lets thesleeping giant lay, hoping that some-thing will happen to it to let all of thatmagic free to the other kingdoms of theInner Sea.

Mulhorand is unique in the Realms inthat magic-users are subservient to the

church of the land and must be acolytesof the temple (though they study anduse their magic in the usual way). Thischurch control of magic is one of themajor reasons why the Red Wizardsbroke away from Mulhorand andformed their own country.

Visiting magic users must register atthe temples of the god-kings and eitherpledge to support one of the templesw i t h t h e i r m a g i c o r s u f f e r t h e i rspellbooks to be sealed. Breaking theseal notifies the officials of the act, andthe temple guards, which include theirown magic-users, are quick to respond.

The people of Mulhorand, when theythink about Thay at all, consider it aprovince that will return to the foldwhen they realize the folly of magicunsupervised by priests. The god-kingsare still called Protectors of the Priadorwhenever their entire list of titles isannounced by a herald anywhere in theEastern Realms.

Like Thay, Mulhorand is a slave state,with most of the slaves concentrated inthe great temple farms controlled by

8

the church of the god kings. All slavesare considered to be owned by the god-kings, not individual owners, and mustbe rented from the church.

RashemenThis land has existed since the mutualdestruction of Raumathar and Narfell,before the beginning of the currentAge. Sages speculate that Rashemen, orthe Far Land as it is known, is the lastremnant of Raumathar, but if so, theyhave retained no knowledge of thatfabled ancient kingdom.

Apparently, Rashemen existed in rela-tive isolation until the founding of Thayand the first Thayvian expedition toconquer that land. At that time, theWitches of Rashemen made their pres-ence felt for the first time and the RedWizard army was destroyed in one flur-ry of sorcerous might. Since then, thelegions of the Red Wizards have facedoff against the �fangs� of Rashemeno v e r t h e b o r d e r f o r m e d b y L a k eMulsantir and the Gorge of Gauros, a

stalemate broken only by occasionalThay incursions which are destroyedor repelled by the Witches and the stal-wart fighters of Rashemen.

Rashemen is ruled by a Huhrong, orIron Lord. The present Iron Lord isHyarmon Huzzilthar, a grizzled, gray-and-white bearded veteran of seventy-six winters; he has directed �the fangsof Rashemen� for twenty-three win-ters. since he was chosen by the Witch-es in a process they do not reveal. Hereplaced the senile �Old Wolf�, TarguthAthkarr, who in his turn held the HighSeat in Immilmar for seventeen win-ters, after the death of his predecessor,Lethgar Mimdusko. Targuth was takenin by the Witches, and never seenagain; he is believed to have been care-fully tended until death, for the Witch-es (as Rashemi say) �are like that.�

Details of Rashemen history, asidefrom the annals of Thayvian invasionsrouted, are not easily come by. Very fewof the populace are literate and theWitches are the keepers of lore, andthey do not disseminate this informa-tion to common travelers.

City of AmrutharAmruthar was founded by the god-kings of Mulhorand in their efforts tocolonize the northern lands of theI n n e r S e a a f t e r t h e m u t u a l s e l f -destruction of Narfell and Raumthar. Itslocation on the Lapendrar is a strategicone, and it has been an important trad-ing city since its inception.

During the war of rebellion againstMulhorand, the city fathers of Amru-thar sided with the wizards immedi-ately, offering them alliance. This is onereason that the city has never beenunder the sway of the Red Wizardssince the establishment of Thay.

Theoretically, this is an independentcity, with the the River of Sorrows(Lapendrar) keeping it from Thay.

Actually, Amruthar is a puppet statedepending entirely on the whim of theRed Wizards. Just now, it serves as aconvenient trading center for thosecountries whose merchants do not

wish to deal with the Red Wizards, butfind the money of their agents in Amru-thar to be just fine.

The city does have lively politics, withthree main groups vying for control.

THE REALISTS want to keep Thayhappy and themselves free. In short,this is the status quo party and, count-ing the citizens who think everything isjust fine and refuse to have anything todo with politics, is by far the largestparty.

THE AGLARONDANS want to inviteAglarond in to govern them. SinceAglarond has no inclination towardsextending itself out that close to Thay,this is not a very realistic party.

THE INDEPENDENTS wish to severall ties with Thay, impose severe dutieson Thayvian goods, and generally treatThay as if it were just another country,and not a very popular one, at that. Thisparty is halfway between the Realistsand the Aglarondans in size.

ThazalharThis once-rich farmland is now a bufferzone between Thay and Mulhorand. Itwas devastated in the war between theMulhorand and the rebels who found-ed Thay.

Now the land is called �one vast grave-yard.� Farmers no longer t i l l i t senriched soil and it lies fallow and bar-ren.

The Coastal CitiesThe cities of Delthuntle, Nethra, Teth,L a o t h k u n d , H i l b r a n d , L a s d u r ,Taskaunt, Escalant, Murbant, and Thas-selen are known as the Coastal Cities,the Cities of the North Coast (of theEastern Reach), and the Free Cities.They were established by settlers fromUnther at the dawning of the new ageand later on by pioneers from the West.The easternmost cities have been underthe control of Thay at one time oranother for the last four hundredyears, but are currently free.

Each city is independent, but theyhave a loose association for purposes of

mutual defense and some trade pacts.The Western cities, which perceivethemselves as less in peril from the RedWizards, are usually slow to respond toa threat to their eastern neighbors fromThay.

Of these �cities,� most are actuallytowns. Only Delthuntle, Laothkund,Hilbrand and Escalant are truly cities,with populations over 5,000 people.Delthuntle and Laothkund have popu-lations of about 50,000 each, Hilbrandand Escalant about 20,000 each.

The cities have fought among them-selves and against their trade rivals inChessenta more often than they havefought Thay or any other invader. Warsamong the cities are fought by merce-naries, mostly from Chessenta, and thewarfare is one of maneuver and advan-tage, with one city�s forces surrender-ing if they are obviously outmatched bya foeman.

At this point in time, the cities of Las-dur, Taskaunt, Murbant, and Tahasse-len are in flames. See Adventures, �FireTime.�

9

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY OF THAYIn most of the lands of the Inner Sea,the dominant human racial stock is sim-ilar to the men and women of Amn andTethyr. However, the racial mixture ofThay is almost totally divided betweentwo other racial stocks, with a scatter-ing of the type more familiar to theinhabitants of the western realms ofthe Inner Sea.

The basic lower and middle classstock of Thay consists of short, hairy,swarthy, sturdy folk; the same stockfound in neighboring Rashemen. Thisbody type, called the Rashemi, can befound in the lower free classes andamong the slowly-growing middle classof the country. In fact, the middle classis more likely to fall into this categorythan the lowest class of slaves, since theRed Wizards buy slaves from all overthe Realms, and the slaves are of alllands and body types.

The rulers of Thay, on the otherhand, are slightly taller and slimmerthan their subjects (though not as tall asmost Western men), with much lessbody hair and a sallow rather thanswarthy skin. This is the body typemost commonly found in the lands ofUnther and Mulhorand, which is hard-ly surprising, since the rulers of Thayare the descendants of Mulhorani whobroke away from that ancient kingdom.This body type is called the Mulan.

The Population ofThayThay is an ancient land, and has beenthe home of three different nations.Compared to many lands, it is quitepopulous.

Counting the slave population, thereare about 1.5 million sentient peoplewithin the borders of Thay. This is anestimate, as the Zulkirs consider anysuch information potentially hazardousto the security of the country, and theyrefuse to take a census. Probably thebest-counted members of the societyare the slaves, as the slave owners haveto keep some record of how many theyhave and how much they are produc-

ing, but there is no central repositoryfor these records and individual slaveowners are leery of letting anyoneknow the extent of their holdings.

Due to the centrally organized farm-ing, where most is done on large slavefarms, there is a higher proportion ofpopulation in the cities to the people onthe farms than is common in the west-ern realms where the farming is donemostly by small collections of freefarmers or serfs of small landholders.About 300,000 people live in the cities,the other 1,200,000 in the wayside vil-lages and slave farms. Of the city dwell-ers, about half are slaves, but in thecountry, the proportion of slaves tofreemen is about seven to one.

In general, there are three socialclasses in Thay.

The NobilityThese are the rulers of Thay, and com-prise both the Tharchions and Thar-c h i o n e s s e s w h o r u l e t h e v a r i o u sregions and the Red Wizards them-selves.

Members of the Bureaucracy are alsoa m o n g t h e n o b i l i t y a s a r e t h eAutharches who rule sub-regions in thename of the Tharchions.

The nobility is almost entirely com-prised of the slim, sallow, folk fromMulhorand, but a few of the lowerclasses have managed to impress somewizards with their magical ability andbe elevated to the rank of wizard�sapprentice. Some of the Rashemi havenow become members of the Red Wiz-ards.

Traditionally, nobles of Thay disdainand abhor body hair (something of a tri-al for those of Rashemi descent). Menare known to grow facial hair even asthey shave their heads. Women com-monly shave their heads and decoratetheir shaved pates with artistic designs.Sometimes the designs are permanenttatoos, but most are just body paint,and frequently changed. This custom ismainly honored among the Tharchionsand Tharchionesses, though most RedWizards also follow the style when they

10

have the time.Presumed Red Wizards have been

seen outside of Thay with beards andnormal body hair. Most of these areobviously of Rashemi descent (part of aprogram of proving their worthinessby taking on missions to foreign lands),but even Mulani have been seen in suchcondition. It is thought that, withouttheir specially-trained slave barbers,Red Wizards would rather grow theirhair than risk cutting it by themselvesor entrusting their heads to local bar-bers.

There are several noble families inThay and, as a sign of the possibleupward mobility in Thayvian society,new noble families are being started allthe time.

In general, anyone appointed to theposition of Tharchion (see Politics) orAutharch is automatically noble, andhis immediate family (spouse[s], chil-dren) is also ennobled. Any other familymembers including siblings are notennobled, but, since nepotism is stand-ard in Thay, can expect to becomenobility soon.

Red Wizards are also automaticallynobles, and they ennoble their immedi-ate families as well.

If the children of a Tharchion do notbecome Tharchions or Autharchesthemselves, or children of Red Wizardsdo not become wizards, they are stillnobility. Once a Thayvian becomes anoble, it is almost impossible to takethat status away from his family. Onlythe unanimous decision of the Zulkirscan remove the status of nobility; this isusually done by outlawing the family,arresting all accessible members, andturning the survivors of the arrestingprocess into slaves.

It is not necessary to get all the Zulkirsupset with you to have a downwardchange in fortunes. Noble families alsodisappear because of the backstabbingpolitics of Thay. A family with many sonsand siblings and with tentacles of powereverywhere in the country can vanishovernight if the right collection of ene-mies decide the family is getting too pow-erful for the enemies� good.

Some of the current influential fami-lies include:

The Agneh: This family has a long his-tory of Tharchions and Wizards in itsmembership. The most illustrious cur-rent member is Mari Agneh, Tharchio-ness of Bezantur, who was the blacksheep of the family because of her pastas an adventuring thief until she wasappointed to her current post. She hasembraced her family again and appoint-ed most of them to official posts withinher city government. Many people havenoticed that these posts are those withthe most prestige for the least work-asituation about which the family mem-bers have never been heard to protest.The Agneh clan is the leading family ofBezantur.

The Canos: This family is on the risepolitically. Though there are no RedWizards involved with this group, theynumber a Tharchion, Mikal Canos ofDelhumide, and a Tharchioness, Thes-saloni Canos of the Aldor. The familyhas built itself up by its military reputa-tion.

The Daramos: This is a new family,based around the Tharchion of Tha-zalhar and consisting of him, his wife(who rides as a member of his guard)and their two small children.

The Flass: This family is on the down-turn, though it has had a couple ofinfluential Red Wizards among itsmembership. The Tharchioness ofEltabbar is one of the family, but shehas distanced herself from the clan forsome years over an almost-forgottendispute.

The Kren: This is a fairly new familywhich initially gained prominence dueto the efforts of its progenitor, a womanwho became a Red Wizard. Her daugh-ter took after her father, however, andis now the Tharchion of Gauros.

The Mediocros: This family gained itsposition two hundred years ago whentheir progenitor became Tharchion ofEltabbar. Now, the leading member ofthe family is Valerios Theokillos, Thar-chion of Pyarados. The family main-tains its seat in that border city andattempt to sponge off their scion, but he

has little time for them. He would muchrather deal with his old adventuringfriends and they are the ones who havereaped most of the benefits of his lar-gesse.

The Odesseiron: This is an ancientfamily in Thay, its progenitor was oneof the wizards who brought the DemonPrince to this plane and fought off theinvaders from Mulhorand. For the mostpart, the Odesseirons have been Wiz-ards. Homen Odesseiron, Tharchion ofSurthay, is the first to gain status as aTharchion. He is also somewhat famousas the first person to be a member offour Schools of Magic simultaneously,even though he never officially gainedthe title of Wizard.

The Tam: This is one of the moreancient families of Thay, not only in lin-eage but in age of its membership. Itshead, Zulkir Szass Tarn, is only the thirdperson to hold that position under con-ditions that are explained in the NotablePersons of Thay section of this book. Atthis point, we can only say that the seatof the Tam family is commonly referredto as �The Necropolis.�

Noble Titles of ThayOne way of distinguishing the workingnobility from the non-working varietyin Thay is the titles they bear. A Thar-chion or Autharch is a leader of thebureaucracy and the equivalent of acivil servant. They are the workingnobility. They are referred to as �Lord�or �Lady� or �Your Eminence.�

Red Wizards are referred to as �Mas-ter� (the sex does not matter) or �YourOmnipotence.� The rest of the nobilityis referred to as Daeron or Daeronness(literally �noble-born�) and referred topersonally as �Sir� or �Mistress� or�Your Excellency� or �Your Honor.�Higher ranking nobles (the Tharchionsand Autharches) rarely bother withsuch formal titles when talking tolower-ranking nobles.

High ranking priests are called �LordPriest� (or other, higher, title) or �YourOmniscience.� They have no official sta-tus in Thay, but still maintain a lot of

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social status. Which churches exist inThay and how powerful they are is cov-ered under Religions of Thay.

The Middle ClassThay has little experience of a middleclass, and merchants and tradesmenare generally considered to be justanother form of laborer. Since all agri-culture is done on slave-run planta-tions, there is no experience at all of themiddle class yeoman farmer that distin-guishes so many Western Realms.

In actual fact, with the foiling of sev-eral of the Red Wizards� plans forexpansion at the expense of their neigh-bors , t radesmen and t raders havebecome the source of much of whatThay needs to exist. The Red Wizardshave recognized this sufficiently to usethe legitimate traders of Thay as a cov-er for their own depradations amongthe other kingdoms of the Inner Sea.

Because of the independence of indi-vidual members of the ruling class,there is no government regulation ofthe middle class. This is both a blessingand a curse to merchants and trades-men. Depending on the Tharch theyinhabit, they may be freewheelingentrepeneurs, treating Tharchion andWizard alike as almost an equal, or theymay have to swear fealty to a particularruler and go to him for permission forany deal they wish to consummate orproject they wish to commence. Whatis worse for these people is that theserules can change with a change in eachruler , which in the assass inat ion-haunted halls of Thay can happen over-night.

The middle class approach to groom-ing is to be as neat as possible. Becauseof the rules governing slave grooming,no peasant or merchant is too hairy�shaving is common, and women�s hair-styles tend to be shorter than thosefound elsewhere in the Realms. Nopeasant wants to be mistaken for aslave.

SlavesBecause of the need to keep many peas-ants under arms (and the loss of thesame peasants in various attempts atconquest) Thay depends on a slavee c o n o m y . L e g i t i m a t e t r a d e r s g othroughout the Realms trying to pur-chase criminals and any other possiblecandidates for slavery. Of course, theycannot purchase anyone sentenced tolimited slavery for a period of time, asthe sentencing authority would have noway of knowing that the criminal hadbeen released after his term was spent.However, enough lands use permanentslavery as a punishment that the slavetraders are able to find many candi-dates for the slave pens of Thay. SomeInner Sea countries use �slavery andsale to the merchants of Thay� as a spe-cial punishment for especially heinouscrimes.

However, most criminals do not havethe special requirements that someslaveholders of Thay have. The RedWizards meet these needs with theirown special slavers�the dregs of theInner Sea are hired to go out and findthe ideal candidates, kidnap them, andturn them over to the Red Wizards tobecome slaves.

Slavery in Thay is universally dread-ed throughout the Realms around theInner Sea. Aside from the meager foodand/or hard labor and/or degradationthat is the probable lot of any slave inthe few lands that allow for any form ofslavery, Thayvian slaves are likely tobecome subjects of experiments, fed toexotic monsters that demand humanflesh, or be slaughtered in depravedceremonies.

Slaves who have been in Thay formore than a month can always be toldapart f rom the peasantry becauseslaves are not allowed to cut their hair,no matter where on their bodies itgrows.

Since the nobles of Thay are also verycareful of cleanliness, this means thatpart of a slave�s daily chores is washingan ever-growing head and, sometimes,body of hair.

Under normal circumstances, theslave hair is piled up in masses on thehead of the slave, but any slave who isnot on his or her master�s businessmust wear his or her hair down, so thatthey can be told as slaves immediately.

It is possible for a slave to get permis-sion to cut his hair, but it can never becut to less than half way down theslave�s back.

If a slave�s hair must be cut for medi-cal reasons, the first question is wheth-er it would not be easier to let the slavedie. If they decide to keep him alive, heis shaved where needed, then kept inseclusion until the hair grows out again.

Demi-Humans in ThayBesides the dominant human popula-tion of Thay and the inevitable orcishtribes in the Thaymount and Sunrisemountains, the largest single humanoidtribe in Thay is gnolls. Gnoll merce-naries made up part of the Red Wiz-ards� army of rebellion, and theirreward was continued employment inthe armies of the Thay and retirementto communities on the borders of thecountry, particularly the Thaymountand Gorge of Gauros.

Under these conditions, antitheticalas they are to the usual form of gnollhabitation, the descendants of the mer-cenaries thrived. They have made ahome for themselves in Thay and canbe found throughout the country, usu-ally working as mercenaries and law-enforcers. Thayvian law being what itis, gnolls get a great deal of pleasure outof enforcing it. Unlike their wilderbrethren, Thayvian gnolls are neutralevil, not chaotic evil.

It is said that there are dwarves andgnomes in the Sunrise mountains, butthey have little to do with the Red Wiz-ards; their sole contact is with the raid-ing parties that enter the SunriseMountains looking for slaves.

Of elves there are none in Thay,except as slaves. Thayvian wizards donot buy adult elves as slaves, but occa-sionally buy children that they can besure have not yet learned magic. The

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drow underneath Aglarond are said tohave embassies in Thay, and they mayhave their own colonies under Thay,but they are not part of the life of thecountry. Elven adventurers in Thay areremarked on and watched closely.

Halflings are present in Thay asslaves, and, to some extent, as free citi-zens, Some halfling mercenaries did afavor for a Red Wizard and retired toBezantur on the proceeds. Their fami-lies joined them and now there are half-lings in all the cities. The halflings whosettle in Thay find the paranoia ofThay�s rulers a fertile field for scamsand con games�and there is alwayswork for a good thief who doesn�t takeup much space.

Centaurs can be found throughoutThay, usually as guards on the slavefarms. These centaurs were originallyinhabitants of Aglarond who were driv-en out by the half-elves because of theirthieving ways and were welcomed bythe Tharchion of Thaymount as merce-naries. There is a centaur legion (spon-sored by one of the Red Wizards) in thestanding army of Thay, and centaursusually have the run of the roads ofThay.

This does not prevent centaurs frombecoming slaves for real or imaginedinfractions.

Sahuagin are found in Bezantur andon the Aldor fairly frequently. In Thaythe sahuagin have found a society theyunderstand, and such trading as theydo with the a i r breathers i s donethrough Thay. Their kingdom in theAlamber Sea is a firm Thayvian ally (asfirm as any alliance with the sahuagincan be).

The Society of ThayEssentially, Thay is an evil society. Over-all, the alignment of the country is neu-tral evil, but this can vary from lawfulevil (usually but not always exemplifiedby the Tharchions and Zulkirs) to cha-otic evil (usually exemplified by theactions of many of the Red Wizardswho are not Zulkirs).

But wherever one may be in Thay, the

rulers and most of their followers aredriven by greed and megalomania andparanoia. Each member of the societyseems to be dedicated to raising himselfto the highest possible pinnacle of suc-cess, preferably on the backs of hisfriends, family, and associates. Noteveryone living in Thay feels this way,but it is the way of the majority. It helpsexplain why members of the rulingclass have many acquaintances andassociates, but very few friends.

This makes for an almost chaotic evilsociety, but chaos is kept away by astructure of traditions and laws thatallow for the Red Wizards havingalmost total freedom to do as theyplease , but just enough restra intthrough societal pressure and thethreat of retribution by all the otherwizards to keep Thay from disintegrat-ing into a million tiny magocracies, eachwith a king mage on top trying todestroy all the other little magic king-doms.

Part of the unwritten traditions andmotivations of the Red Wizards is theirenvy of the god-kings of Mulhorand.They rebelled from that land to escapethe overlordship of these avatars ofpowerful gods, and established a socie-ty that they hope will lead them to thesame position through magic instead ofworship. Thus, each wizard usuallysees himself as a sort of proto-god, andeach realizes that he needs a society ofworshippers to maintain his power, sothey maintain their society as the god-kings have maintained theirs.

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Geography of ThayGeneral DescriptionThay is a vast realm, bounded on thenorth by the river and lake of Mulsan-tir, its gateway there being the city ofSurthay. To the northwest it claims theSurmarsh, a vast marsh and fenlandthat lies between the rivers Thay andSur. The central core of Thay then runssouth past the eastern slopes of Thay-mount and the eastern bank of Lapen-drar, the River of Sorrows, for manymiles, until turning southeast along theedge of the Priador (high plains) to themany-spired city of Bezantur. Bezantur,on the Alamber Sea (sometimes knownas the Sahuagin Sea) is Thay�s southerngateway, and has traditionally rivaledthe free cities of Thasselen, Murbant,E s c a l a n t , T a s k a u n t , L a s d u r , a n dHilbrand that share the north shore ofthe Sea.

From Bezantur, the land claimed byThay is the seacoast east to the mouthof the River Thazarim, and northwardsup that river�s west bank to the SunriseMountains and then north to the out-flow of the Mulsantir.

Thay frequently attempts to swallowthe lands along these borders, and cur-rently has destroyed several of the freecities and captured Nethentir and Neth-jet, trading cities between Aglarondand Thay.

Within these borders, at the heart ofthe realm, lies Eltabbar, seat of the RedWizards and capital of Thay. From thenorth, one reaches the city of Thay upthe river Thay, to the vast Lake Thay-lambar. Eltabbar lies upon a bay of thatdragon-turtle-inhabited water. Fromthe west, one reaches Thay up theLapendrar from Escalant, or overlandfrom Nethjet on the river Umber, to theindependent city of Amruthar (which isstill independent, though now circledby lands c la imed by Thayl , f romwhence by bridge a road runs to Tyra-turos, where roads north from Bezan-tur, south from Eltabbar, and west fromPyarados on the Thazarim meet. (TheThazarim is navigable as far north asPyarados.) The Sunrise Mountains forman impenetrable barrier to the east, and

Elminster knowns nothing of what liesbeyond them. There are tales of bothlamia and evil naga in these mountains,but, he cautions, there are such taleseverywhere, and but few of them aretrue.

Most of the country is on the great,irregular plateau formed by the FirstEscarpment of the Priador and whichrises eastward almost imperceptiblytoward the Sunrise Escarpment and theSunrise Mountains. The land is gentlyrolling and broken only by occasionalstreams or one of the major rivers, thepeaks of Thaymount, which are encir-cled by the Second Escarpment, thespires of the cities, and the farmingcommunities and wizard towers thatcan appear every t ime a t ravelermounts the top of one of the manyhummocks in the trail.

Carefully set along each road andnavigable river are the tax stations,which are usually accompanied by aninn and some other residences. At eachtax station, the owning Wizard�s tax col-lectors collect the taxes for crossing hislands from every traveler. Travelersattempting to travel cross country findthemselves in trouble with wanderingmilitary patrols and the strange crea-tures that many wizards keep patrol-ling their grounds for exactly thepurpose of keeping out tresspassers.

Most of the land is under cultivation,but the lonely farmhouses seen in otherlands are not found in Thay. All arableland is in the hands of the Wizards orTharchions and their subordinates, andthe farm workers (usually slaves) live inthe central farming towns and hike orride to their assigned fields.

This form of cultivation is not terriblyefficient, but there is so much landunder cultivation that Thay can stillexport some grains and fruits to neigh-boring lands.

There are no forests in Thay. Theonly trees are occasional copses of exot-ic species that decorate Zulkir-ownedstreams and decorative trees from oth-er lands planted in the cities and towns.

Lake MulsantirThis large body of water divides Thayand Rashemen, and is mostly a Rashemilake. Thay occasionally attempts to gainascendency on the lake, but suffersfrom the simple problem of having littlewood with which to build warships.The Witchboats of Rashemen are toomuch for the Wizards to match withoutdecent wood for their ships.

The River ThayThis river runs between Lake Mulsan-tir and Lake Thaylambar, and is naviga-ble almost its entire length. Because ofthis navigability, there is not the exten-sive road network in northern Thaythat is found in the southern Tharches.Instead, everyone uses the river. Theland between the River Thay and themuch-less-navigable River Gauros is amass of slave-farms and wizard towersdivided by dirt paths. The main centersof population are along the river.

The Long PortageThis is the one part of the River Thaythat cannot be traversed upstream. TheRiver comes down off the First Escarp-ment to the level of Lake Mulsantirdown a gentle decline that does not stopboats from traveling downstream, butis too rough and fast to pole or rowboats upstream.

For about a century af ter Thaybecame a nation, the Guild of Portagerscharged exorbitant rates to haul vesselsup the river. Then the Wizard ShevasTam (father of the current Zulkir of theSchool of Necromancy) was confrontedwith a demanding chief of the Guild andkilled him. Shevas Tam then had hisminions slaughter most of the Guildmembers and Shevas Tam turned theminto zombies.

Now the Guild consists of the zombiesof the original Guild and any replace-ments needed (acquired through crimi-nals put to death in Surthay and Eltabbar)as the zombies wear out. The Tam familymaintains the zombies and collects amodest fee from each traveler.

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The fee might be higher, but the fami-ly has little attention to spare for thisenterprise, and really hasn�t checked tosee if the �Guild� is paying for itselflately.

Lake ThaylambarThis very large lake is in central Thay.The former Mulhorand capi ta l ofDelhurnide and the current capital ofEltabbar are on opposite sides of thelake.

The lake is said to contain dragon tur-tles, and fishing boats sometimes disap-pear forever. Weather control spellskeep storms from disturbing the water,so some beast such as dragon turtlesmay be responsible. The Tharchions ofEltabbar and Delhumide sometimeslead hunting expeditions into thedepths and come back with something,minus some boats and followers.

SurmarshThis large marsh is fed by both the Riv-er Sur and River Thay, and is a night-marish bog broken up by occasionalhummocks of high ground and smallhuts of refugee slaves and criminalswho eke out an existence as best theycan.

One menace all must deal with in thisbog are the lizard men who hold swayas they do in so many of the swampsthey have been driven to since man firstarrived in the Realms.

These lizard men are divided up intotribes and occasionally raid outside theswamp, but mostly they hold to treatiesthey have made with the Tharchion ofSurthay.

Sometimes they will try to hunt up arunaway slave or criminal that theThayvians are particularly anxious tocatch, but their main function in thealliance is to hold the marsh againstinvaders. S ince the only poss ibleinvaders are the people of Thesk, theyare not often called on to fulfill theirpart of the bargain.

The River SurThis wide, shallow, and fever-infestedriver is usually considered the borderbetween Thay and Thesk, though noone but assorted Thesk-allied herdersgrazing their cattle inhabit the areabetween this river and the TheskianMountains. The villages that can befound along the river are small farmingand fishing villages who trade with thenomads and pay occasional taxes toThay tax collectors.

ThaymountThese mountains poke out of the plainof the Priador and form the SecondEscarpment and the source of the Riv-ers Umber, Eltab and Laprendrar. Intimes of weakness, the western borderof Thay is the Second Escarpmentdown to where it intersects the RiverLaprendrar . These mounta ins arealways known as the Guardpost of theWestern Borders, and act as the head-quarters for the Tharch of the Thay-mount.

The Gold Mines of ThayThe Thaymount is a volcanic regionand much newer geologically than theancient Sunrise Mountains. Part ofwhat the volcanoes brought up to thesurface are extensive veins of gold ore,which were discovered by the rebel-lious Red Wizards and exploited asfunding for their revolution againstMulhorand.

Since that time, the gold mines havebeen a major source of Thayvianwealth. They traditionally fall underthe purview of the Tharchion of Thay-mount, and he pays a fixed tax on thegold to the Zulkirs. Thus, the more hecan get out of the mines, the more hecan keep, and if the mines run out ofgold, he is still stuck with the tax pay-ments.

Like so much of Thay, the mines areworked by slaves. Being a slave in themines of Thay is considered among theworst possible fates for a Thayvianslave, whose position is never enviable.

The CitadelThis ancient fortress was part of theThaymount when the Kingdom ofRaumathar first claimed the land in theprevious age. Who built it and why isstill unknown, though various Red Wiz-ards have sent missions deep into itsbowels to try to learn its secrets. As bestas anyone can tell from the subject ofsome of its very faded wall paintings, itmight have originally been built by liz-ard men, before they were driven intothe swamps by mankind so many thou-sands of years ago.

Parties exploring the Citadel�s deepestdungeons have found great treasures,but many have never returned. Thereis some evidence that there is an exten-sive troglodyte population somewherein its deepest reaches, and the drowmay have a colony there.

The River UmberThe River Umber tumbles out of theThaymount as a narrow, fast, stream oflittle use to anyone except as a source ofwater to the few slave farms owned bythe Tharchion of Thaymount and hisfollowers.

Once it cascades down from the Sec-ond Escarpment to the plains of thePriador, it slows down and widens outinto the narrow lake called only TheUpper Lake Umber. This is a largelyunpopulated area as it is claimed byboth Thay and Aglarond, and only afew fisher families live along its length.

From this lake, the Lower Falls takesthe water to the main body of LakeUmber, which has the unwalled tradingtowns of Nethentir and Nethjet on itsnorth and south shores, respectively.

This area i s cont inuously beingfought over by Thay and Aglarond, andhas just changed hands again with thecurrent advent of the armies of Thay.There are very few farms except forsubsistence farms used to supplementthe diet of the inhabitants. Most of thelocal residents are fishermen who tryto ignore whoever claims to be theirmasters.

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The River EltabIt is said that this river did not exist

before Thay won its freedom fromMulhorand, and its creation was part ofthe spell which summoned a demonprince to help the Red Wizards.

Whatever the truth of this story, theriver supplies the water of the city andhelps create its unique waterwaysbefore it goes on to feed Lake Thaylam-bar.

Sunrise MountainsThis mountain chain has always been

the eastern border of Thay. Thesemountains have a reputation for impas-sibility, but it is actually possible to getpast them in summer though not withanything bigger than a donkey. Beyondthe mountains are arid plains, called thePlains of Purple Dust for reasons thatare obvious if you look at them. No onehas entered them and come back.

To the east of Thay and Rashemen, tothe north of the Plains of Purple Dust,are reputed to be the lands of Raurinand Durpar, known from annals oftrading agreements from the days ofNarfell and Raumathar. No one hasbeen seen from these lands for centu-ries.

The River ThazarimIn the days of Mulhorand�s rule of this

area, this river, between the falls whereit comes off the Sunrise Escarpment tothe falls from which it tumbles off theFirst Escarpment, was the core of a fer-tile farming area. Slave farms still popu-late the western bank of the river, butthe eastern bank is devastated andabandoned, still desolate after the bat-tle that created Thay as a separatenation.

The river itself is used as a travelwayalong its length between the Escarp-ments, but the steep falls at each end ofthis length make boat travel impossiblewithout portaging the river craft. Thelower reaches of the river supportsome slave farms on the west bank andcontinue the devastated state on the

eastern bank. Upstream, the river isnarrow, fast, and rocky-impossible totravel on muscle-powered boats. Thearea upstream is largely unpopulatedexcept for one trading and last-minutesupplies village situated on the SunriseEscarpment, just above the falls.

Alamber or Sahuagin SeaThis body of water is the easternmost

part of the Inner Sea. It serves as theborder between the ancient kingdomsof Mulhorand and Unther, and is thehome of a major sahuagin kingdom,whom the Red Wizards are on at leastspeaking terms with.

The northernmost island of the Sea isthe Aldor, which is the Thayvian navalbase. Currently, the dominant navaland merchant power in this area isThay; both Unther and Mulhorandmerchants find it more convenient toship their goods in Thayvian hulls andaccept Thayvian payments for theirgoods than build their own ships andfind their own markets.

However, there are pirates in the areathat live in small, secluded villagesalong the coast of Thay and Mulhorandand on the smaller islands to the southof Aldor. They prey on the smallercoastal trading vessels and occasionallysurprise the crews of larger vesselswho bring their ships into shore tocamp for the night or make emergencyrepairs. When the Thayvian navy findsand raids one of the pirate villages, thepirates attempt to pass themselves offas fishermen. Sometimes they are suc-cessful at this deception, and some-times the Thayvian marines don�t reallycare and capture and enslave the popu-lation of the fishing village anyway�even if it turns out to be just a fishingvillage.

Piracy on the Alamber is a tricky pro-fession, but the potential rewards aregreat. By now, pirates have learned toavoid any ship flying the red-and-gold-flame-on-black banner of a Red Wizardunless their spies have indicated thatthe banner is a ruse.

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The River LaprendarThis is the second longest river in thearea, and the longest in Thay. It isknown as the River of Sorrows becauseof the miners who have died in the goldmines near its headwaters and becauseof the men of Aglarond and Thay whodied trying to cross or defend the riverduring Halacar�s ill-fated invasion ofThay in 1260 DR.

The Escarpments and thePriadorThay is broken up into three distinctrises from the ground level of the othersurrounding kingdoms. Each is markedby a sudden sharp rise, called anEscarpment, out of the relatively flatplain surrounding it. These Escarp-ments are not completely vertical, andmost are easily climbable, but theincline is very precipitous compared tothe surrounding countryside. The easi-est inclines are those around some ofthe rivers, though others are still verysteep falls, and where the main roads ofsouthern Thay were built centuriesago.

The Priador is the name for the gentlyrolling plain that tops the First Escarp-ment. It is broken only by the variousrivers and Lake Thaylambar, and is thecentral area of Thay. The entire regionis broken up into thousands of slavefarms and small wilderness areas keptas private game preserves by the RedWizards and Tharchions.

These game preserves are full ofmonsters that the Wizards need forspell and potion ingredients, and mostof them have no bounds on where theycan travel, so travel anywhere aroundthese preserves can be very hazardous.

Travelers who are accosted by suchmonsters are usually allowed to defendthemselves as best they can, but there isno liability to the owner if his monsterskill someone (though, of course, thissort of thing has caused intense feudswhen the victims were members of aninfluential family and the monster�sowner refused any or adequate recom-

pense). And, of course, sometimes trav-elers who are successful in defendingthemselves may incur the wrath of theowner if the monster was an especiallyprized or hard to replace species.

Main CitiesEltabbarThough it is the capital of the country,and the residence of at least half theRed Wizards, it is the second largestcity of the land. Its population isbetween 80,000 and 100,000 people,about half of whom are the slaves of theTharchioness and the Red Wizards inresidence. Merchants and other non-government non-magic-users are lessthan enthused about sharing a city withso many paranoid magic-users, and pre-fer to do business in Bezantur.

The city is walled, with very fewbuildings outside the walls. The RiverEltab comes in under the walls and pro-vides a central core of canals that dividethe government area of the town from

the business and residence area. Thespaces between the canals are dividedup into parks, each of which is ownedwholly or in part by one of the Red Wiz-ards or the Tharchioness.

S treets are wide and re la t ive lystraight here. Distances are easily mea-sured, which encourages people to tryto map the town, with results as speci-fied below. There is also an extensivesurreptitious trade in �maps of the city,�which are erroneous at best, deceptiveat worst.

M a p p i n g t h e c i t y i s a p r o b l e mbecause it is built in the form of animmense glyph. This is actually thesymbol that keeps the demon princeEltab imprisoned and available to theRed Wizards. This was a mighty magicdevised by Jorgmacdon, the first Zulkirof the School of Conjuration, and hisfamily is still powerful in the country,even though it has not produced any-one to match him since that time.

Whether the canals are part of theglyph holding the Demon Prince, orperhaps the presence of the water itself

is necessary to the spell holding him, isnot common knowledge. The DM canmake his own decision here.

Because the shape of the city is actu-ally the glyph holding Eltab prisoner, itis illegal and severely punished for any-one to make a map of Eltabbar. If some-one actually manages to draw an exactmap, and then the map is destroyed, itweakens the bonds on Eltab. Each mapmade divides up the power of the bind-ing further among all the maps and thestreets themselves. If enough maps aredestroyed, Eltab is freed, and his likelyactions could destroy a large section ofthe Forgotten Realms, Thay not theleast among them.

The official explanation for this banon maps of Eltabbar is a matter of secu-rity. If someone knows how the city islaid out, they can invade it more easily.This logic has since progressed to anedict forbidding the mapping of anycity of Thay.

The Zulkirs are on the alert for mapsmade of Eltabbar, and confiscate anythey can find. Maps that have been con-

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fiscated are kept in the Wizard�s Tower,under great wards of protection andstasis to keep them safe.

The city is frequently disturbed byrumblings and shakings. Non-wizardresidents think them simple earth-quakes. The Red Wizards know thatsomeone has destroyed another map ofEltabbar.

BezanturThis port was first known as Kenstenwhen it was the southern port of Rauma-thar. It was destroyed in the war betweenNarfell and Raumathar and Mulhorandrebuilt it as Bezantur to be a seaport onthe same site. While there is no riveraccess to this port (aside from somestreams coming down from the FirstEscarpment), as there is with Escalant tothe west, the natural harbor is the best onthe coast, with ample depth for the larg-est ship and protection from the fierceststorms for over a hundred ships.

Bezantur is the largest city of the realm.The population, which has never beencounted as long as Thay has owned thecity, is somewhat in excess of 100,000people. Far-travelers who have seenWaterdeep compare the two as beingalmost equal in size, but each traveler hashis own idea as to which is larger.

Most seaborne merchants bring theirgoods for Thay through this bustlingport. It is easily the most cosmopolitanof Thayvian cities.

The city is built around its harbor andenclosed by walls that do not encom-pass the extensive market town thathas taken shape outside its walls. Thewalls do not cover the actual water-front, the entrance to the harbor isguarded with forts. The central citadelis fully walled.

Bezantur is also known as �The Cityof a Thousand Temples,� and �The FreeCity.� The first reference is to the largenumber of churches (though not reallya thousand) to different deities that canbe found everywhere in the city, cater-ing to the needs of the many travelerswho stop in. Elsewhere, temples andclerics are not supported by the author-

ities, so Bezantur is by far the �holiest�city of the Realm. The other namecomes from the tax-free nature of thecity, where no one is taxed, and every-one is prey to the thieves. See the Poli-tics section for further explanation ofthis situation.

TyranturosT h i s t r a d i n g t o w n w a s b u i l t b yMulhorand, and is the third largest cityof the realm. This is the crossroads citywhere the High Road from Eltabbar toBezantur meets the Eastern Way fromAmruthar to Pyarados. Most goodsgoing through southern Thay passthrough this caravan town, but notmuch of it stays there (except for thetaxes collected by the Tharchion). Fromhere goods go to and from Bezantur,Pyarados, Amruthar, and Eltabbar.

This city is not walled, though thereare fortified manors and a centralwalled citadel. Its market is famedthroughout the East as �the placewhere anything, or anyone, can bebought.� This refers to, among otherthings, the extensive slave market thathappens every day in the central mar-ket area of the town.

PyaradosThis is a relatively new city, The City ofthe East, built by Thay and nestledunder the shadow of the Sunrise Moun-tains and controlling the upper reachesof River Thazarim and the guardian ofthe Thazalhar Battle Plain. Adventurersgetting ready to explore the SunriseMountains (and who can obtain officialpermission) outfit here at exorbitantprices.

This is a large city, with over 50,000people, and only the central area of thecity is guarded by a wall, which is sup-plemented by that around the fortressof the Tharchion.

SurthayThis is another new city, built to guardLake Mulsantir against the invasionsfrom Rashemen that the Red Wizards

fear from that notably non-aggressivecountry. Once the Rashemi were seento be homebodies, Surthay became thestepping off point for many militaryinvasions of Rashemen. At this point,the Red Wizards have not learned thefolly of these expeditions.

Despite its position on the lake, Sur-thay is not really set up as a port city.There is access from the lake to the cen-tral marina of the city, but the good nat-ural harbor has not been properlyexploited. This is because the Witchesof Rashemen still control most of thelake, and tend to sink most Thayvianvessels they encounter. Only Thayvianfishing vessels that hug the southernshore have any survivability on LakeMulsantir.

Surthay contains about 40,000 peopleand slaves, and is walled very stronglywith high walls and many towers carry-ing siege engines. There are no outlyingbuildings permitted around Surthay.Most of the primary wizards of theSchool of Abjuration have towers hereor in the immediate area.

The Ruins of DelhumideThis was the capital of the province

when it was part of Mulhorand and amajor city of Raumathar before that.One of the god-kings had his seat there,though he was not there (the usual situ-ation) when the Red Wizards firstunleashed their controlled DemonPrince and sent him against the holyguardians of the city. When the demonwon the struggle, Delhumide was aruin, and the rule of the god-kings inthe north was broken.

Now the city is a broken ruin, with nobuildings of more than one story intact.The inhabitants are the armed forces ofthe Tharchion of Delhumide, variousparties of researchers and explorers,and the remaining magical guardiansleft by the previous owners. These lat-ter are supplemented by denizens ofthe earth who have begun investigatingthe extensive dungeons underneath theruins and made life very interesting forthe Thayvian explorers.

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The High Road and theEastern WayT h e s e t w o r o a d s w e r e b u i l t b yMulhorand along the same model as themajor roads in that sleeping kingdom.The Red Wizards have maintainedthese roads better than the god-kingshave maintained theirs.

The roads are elevated from the sur-rounding land and made of hardpacked earth covered with pavingmaterials that owe as much to alchemyas common craft. The surface is hardand fast, letting the horsemen of Thaymove quickly from spot to spot along it,and letting commerce move quickly aswell.

Using the roads is such a benefit inSouthern Thay that most merchantsdon�t mind that the roads make the taxstations that much harder to avoid.

The Tax StationsAll along the rivers and roads of Thay

are a series of villages about one day�stravel apart. These are built aroundmilitary posts and generally feature adefendable tower and a garrison ofabout 30 men at arms. These stationstend to accumulate hangers-on, so thatthriving villages now surround them,usually featuring at least one inn or tav-ern and several people providing otherservices for travelers such as a smithy, awheelwright, a livery stable, and soforth. This is one of the few openingsfor private enterprise in Thay, andcraftsmen make full use of this oppor-tunity.

Tax stations were built by the Zulkirsbut each is maintained by the Red Wiz-ard or Tharchion most concerned withthe area. Each tax station takes its toll oftravelers for upkeep of the roads andthe garrison also arranges for roadrepairs or, on the rivers, upkeep ofdocks and other facilities. The workerson these jobs are not the residents ofthe village, but the slaves from what-ever local slave-farm is appropriate.

Surrounding RealmsThe geography of Thay is as con-strained as much by the boundaries ofthe lands around it as it is by its ownphysical features.

AglarondA small realm that keeps to itself,Aglarond exerts little influence inaffairs of state outside its borders. It isimportant in the overall balance of theInner Seas lands, however, simplybecause its presence prevents Thayfrom overwhelming the northern�East�. Aglarond�s strength�and dan-ger, because she stands in magical oppo-sition to the Red Wizards of Thay, whodo not kindly suffer rivals�is its cur-rent ruler, a female archmage of fabledpowers, known only as The Simbul.

Aglarond lies on the northern side ofa peninsula jutting out into the easternend of the Inner Sea; a sparsely inhab-ited, heavily-wooded realm of fewfarms and no large cities. Jagged pinna-cles of rock stand at its tip, and runalong the spine of its lands; to the east,these fall away into vast and treacher-ous marshes that largely isolate theSimbul�s realm from the mainland.Travel in Aglarond is by griffon, ship, orforest trails. It trades lumber, gems, andsome copper for glass, iron, clothgoods, and food when freetrading ves-sels come to port-but sends out notrading vessels of its own. The ships ofAglarond are fishing vessels and thefew small biremes and triremes of itsnavy.

The southern border of the nation isthe southern reaches of the Yuirwood,the woods in which the elves lived thatbecame part of Aglarond�s unique half-elven heritage. To the south of the Yuir-wood are the independent Cities of theNorth Coast.

Aglarond cannot boast a field army ofany size, nor a powerful navy, but with-in its woods The Simbul�s foresters areexpert and deadly troops, adept at fire-fighting and at using �coastboats� (long,canoe-like open boats handled with

lateen sails, oars, and poles) to raid bynight. They are equally adept at travel-l ing in the t reetops and f ight ingamongst them.

The foresters are alert and grim; themenacing might of Thay is uncomforta-bly near, and Aglarond�s blades are alltoo few.

Little is known of the Simbul�s aimsand true strength, but she is seen toconstantly roam the northern Realms,working to influence all manner ofe v e n t s ( p r e s u m a b l y t o b e t t e rAglarond�s safety, although she is saidto be a member of the Harpers, whoseaims are more widespread) in disguise,or behind the scenes.

ImpilturThis young land comprises the areaa c r o s s t h e E a s t i n g R e a c h f r o mTelflamm and Thesk and Aglarond. Ithas no contiguous borders with Thay,but it is a friend of most of the nationsthat do border Thay, and supportsthem in their wars against the Red Wiz-ards.

Impiltur�s neighbors are Lothchas thebandit lord in the Desertspire Moun-tains and the Ice Gorge to the west,where the hobgoblins lived until theirpower was broken by Impiltur, and tothe east and north the Great Dale andthe woods to the north of it. In the openwastes where Narfell once flourisheddwells the Nentyarch, a mysteriousmage of great power who rules grimmen and strange beasts, l iving inpeace-unless the wood is entered bythose he has not invited; these simplyvanish. This area is known as Ashanathand little more is known of it.

TelflammThis city-state comprises the city ofTelflamm and the subject-cities of Sythand Culmaster. Its prosperity rests inbeing one of the terminal cities of theGolden Way and its excellent port,which makes it the favored terminal,even though goods have a higher pricebecause they must pass out of the realm

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of Thesk to reach Telflamm.Despite an ongoing trade rivalry,

Telflamm and Thesk are allies in manythings, and Telflamm supports Thesk inits struggles with Thay, since Telflammwould have no chance if Thay were itsneighbor.

Telflamm is a walled city of perhaps20,000 population. Much of it is tran-sient, as Telflamm is a favorite spot ofdebarkation to the East or embarkationfor the West. People looking for theassistance of adventurers often come toTelflamm and adventurers go therelooking for patrons.

The army of Telflamm is entirely mer-cenary and used solely for patrolling itsroads and keeping the city and itsdependents safe. If called on to supportThesk militarily, the coffers of the citywould be opened to buy more merce-naries to help their ally. Their owntroops would stay to defend the homefront.

TheskThis is the land between Aglarond andImpiltur. The government of this land isan oligarchy made up of the rules of thetrading cities along the Golden Wayfrom Two-Stars to Milvarune whichacts as a capital (mostly because it is sofar removed from Thay). The nomadictribes who run their flocks in the TheskMountains in the center of the land andthe plains around the mountains alsoprotect the cities by acting as a thorn inthe side of any invading army fromThay. Their tactics are ideally suited tohit-and-run and they work in such ascattered fashion that mass destructionspells cannot damage very many at atime.

It is against foes like these that Thayhas developed its cavalry, but thenomads are still capable of riding ringsaround any Thayvian unit.

The nomad magic users are mostlyshamans , but shamans who havegrown in power (perhaps because ofthe proximity to Thay) so that they areequivalent to Druids. They have manyof the same spells as druids, with some

differences because of their plains andhills existence.

However, the courage and skill of thenomads and shamans, and the merce-naries from the trade towns and citiesare not the main reason Thay has notconquered the place . In fact , themilitary-minded leaders of Thay areaware that conquering Thesk wouldleave them with very vulnerable flanksto Rashemen and Aglarond. The RedWizard policy is to secure the flanksfirst.

MulhorandThis ancient empire has been in exist-ence for over four thousand years, andits borders have fluctuated for most ofthat time. However, since Thay brokeaway about four hundred years ago,t h e b o r d e r s o f M u l h o r a n d h a v eremained much the same.

Almost the entire east coast of theAlamber Sea is under the sway ofMulhorand. From the River of theDawn in the North to the River ofSwords in the south, the god-kings ofMulhorand hold their lands in a slothfulgrip. To the north of the capital ofSkuld, City of Shadows, only Sultim is amajor city. The rest of the land is mostlyfarmlands occasionally broken by smalltowns like the crossroads town ofMaerlor and the ford-town of Rauthil.

Below Skuld, there are many citiesincluding Gheldaneth and Neldorild. Allof these cities are full of monolithicbuildings of white stone and the prayer-towers of the god-kings, all surroundedby the squalid huts of the slaves andlower classes. The cities are surround-ed by gigantic walls patrolled by merce-nary soldiers from Chessenta.

RashemenThis is the easternmost of the knownRealms. It has been dubbed �The FarLand� by merchants of the WesternRealms. To its east lie uncountedleagues of rock-and-grass wastelands,and several rumored�but unreachedin recent memory�kingdoms of men.

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The land of Rashemen is home to a raceof short, muscular men who herd goatsand rothe�, and are adept at stone-andbonecarving.

�Land of Berserkers� some balladscall Rashemen�and indeed, such is thefearless savagery of its warriors, andtheir stamina, that at least sixteen arm-ies from Thay have been slaughtered orturned back from Rashemen in the lastseventy winters, and the Far Landremains free.

Rashemen is ruled by a Huhrong(Iron Lord), or senior war leader, whosepalace towers above the roofs of thesurrounding city of Immilmar. The IronLord commands Rashemen�s standingarmy, which consis ts of warr iorsarmored in heavy fur and leathertunics, with hand weapons, short bows,lances and mountain ponies. Mostpatrol the border with Thay�theshores of Lake Mulsantir and the bro-ken lands east of the Gorge of Gauros.

There are many lesser lords, eachwith his own followers andbusinesses�but the succession of ruler-ship, and the posts of warleaders of thearmy, are chosen by the Witches. TheWitches dwell mainly in Urling, andprovide sorcerous, unmanned, boats(the feared �Witchboats�) that patrolAshane, the Lake of Tears, as far northas the Pool of Erech, and the Mulsantir-waters as far south as Surmarsh andthe harbor chains of Surthay, unleash-ing fell beasts and poisonous gasesupon the vessels of Thay.

The Witches also govern the commonwarriors of Rashemen through themaking of �jhuild� (firewine), the potentamber drink that the warriors of theland imbibe heavily before fighting.The Witches are believed to all befemale, are known to be over sixty (andprobably over a hundred) in number,wear black robes and face-masks, bearmagical rings, wands, and whips, andhave m u c h - f e a r e d ( b u t l a r g e l yunknown) magical powers.

The continued existence of Rashe-men speaks of the real magical powerof the Witches . Witches are wor-shipped and revered in Rashemen�it is

death to harm or disobey a Witch�andare known to seek out land take men aslovers for brief periods, presumably assome sort of planned breeding pro-gram. If Witches leave Rashemen, theymust abandon their black garb and con-ceal their powers, but none are knownto have done so.

Wool, furs, and carved stone andbone�and rare, much-prized casks offirewine (which deadens pain andinflames lust and other aggressiveemotions)�are the trade goods ofRashemen; in return cloth and wood-work, lumber and foodstuffs areimported. There are three trade routesfrom the Far Land: the Long Road tothe North, via the Great Dale to theWest, and the Golden Way to the south-west. Rashemen is self-sufficient inwar-metals and northen herd animals,a n d m a k e s m u c h h e a v y , s m o k y -flavored cheese for use within its bor-ders (the stuff is very nourishing, butan acquired taste, and little-exported).

Snow-racing (naked and afoot, acrosscountry) and the hunting of snow-catsare popular sports among both sexes inRashemen; widespread hobbies includethe collecting of rare and beautifulstones (including gems), exploring oldruins in the north of the realm (rem-nants of a previous kingdom, Rauma-thar, neighbor�and foe�of the morefamous, but equally vanished, realm ofNarfell, that lay to the west), and goingo n � g r o w i n g u p � t r i p s o u t o fRashemen�a journey that every maleof the realm makes when a youth. If hecomes back to Rashemen, such a jour-neyer is considered a man. For most,the dajemma (or journey) is a sightsee-ing tour around the Inner Sea Lands,but the cumulative effect of the dajem-mas is to build trading contacts, pick upa lot of incidental information about theInner Sea Lands, and gain continuousnews of politics (and military activities)in the Inner Sea region.

Sages, merchants, and mercenarycaptains generally agree that Rashemenhas no designs upon the lands around;like most of Thay�s neighbors, its pri-mary concern is survival. Rashemen�s

warriors are to be feared�but they areseldom encountered outside the FarLand save as drunken youths �ondajemma,� and do not have the reputa-tion of, say, the mercenary companiesof the Sword Coast lands, or the BlackHelms of Tethyr. For most inhabitantsof the Inner Sea lands and Sword Coast,the Far Land remains a mysterious landmuch sung of in minstrel�s tales, as thesetting for this or that feat of brawn.

The total population of Rashemen isno more than 100,000 people, but theyabhor slavery and every person is afree citizen of the country.

City of AmrutharThis theoretically independent cityrests just over the River of Sorrows(Lapendrar) from the core area of Thay.At some times it has been almost entire-ly encircled by Thay�s lands, but itmaintains its own government�a pup-pet of Thay�s.

The city is well-walled and activelypatrolled by the soldiers of the ruler,called the Heirarch. He has a Council ofthe most influential people of the city,who are divided up into several politicalfactions described elsewhere.

About 30,000 people live in Amrutharand the farming villages within a day�sride of the city.

The Cities of the CoastMost of these nine �cities� were found-ed by Unther when it tried to expandinto this area. Now they are indepen-dent trading towns, all trying to vieagainst Thay�s Bezantur and each otherfor the cross-sea trade from Chessenta.The western cities of Delthuntle andLaothkund are the largest of the lot,with populations around 70,000 each�almost the size of Bezantur. Hilbrandand Escalant of the east have some pre-tensions to competition with Bezanturin trade, but no chance of competitionin size. They have perhaps 30,000inhabitants each. The rest of the �cities�a r e a c t u a l l y u n w a l l e d t o w n s o fbetween 5,000 and 15,000 people.

Most of the smaller �cities� of the east,such as Lasdur, Taskaunt, Murbant, anThasselen have been attacked and cap-tured or destroyed by Thay at one timeor another in their histories, and Esca-lant and Hilbrand have each been burrto the ground once. At this time,Hilbrand has just surrendered to theTharchion of the Lapendrar and Esca-lant is under siege by fire elementals.

The coast also has several other villag-es which are mostly fishing villages anowe allegiance (or at least tax money) toone or another of the larger towns.

ThazalharThis devastated barren buffer zonebetween Thay and Mulhorand is bor-dered by the River Tazarim to the westand north and the River of the Dawn tothe south. The Sunrise Mountains areits eastern border. There are no regularresidents except for the Tharchion ofthe region and his troopers. Tradingcaravans and raiders of trading carvans traverse it, and most goods go bysea on the far safer Bezantur-to-Sultimroute.

Its short coastline is home for severalpirate families that prey on the smallervessels of that trade.

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Thay is a slave-based, agrarian econ-omy. Most of the foodstuffs producedare grown on slave-run farms ownedby the great lords of the nation. Theindividual free farmer found in mostparts of the Western countr ies i sunknown in Thay. The closest thing tothis form of crop care is the small sub-sistence gardens grown by some towndwellers in window boxes and planterboxes on their roofs.

The great farms grow several differ-ent forms of wheat, orchards full offruit (mostly citrus) and pastures full ofcattle. Because these farms are slave-run, they are not very efficient, butusually make up in bulk produced whatthey lose in quality of care.

Because of the number of wizards inThay, many of whom are land-holders,there is rarely drought in Thay. In fact,surrounding nations often have exces-sive droughts in those dry years whenthe overwhelming wizardry of Thay(and, to a lesser extent, the Witchcraftof Rashemen) draws whatever storm-clouds are available anywhere in theInner Sea region to the fields of the RedWizards. For this reason, Thay is oftenthe breadbasket of the entire easternInner Sea region.

Nations and city states that normallywould have no relationship with Thaymust deal with the agents of the Zulkirsto get the grain they need to feed theirpeople. Telflamm and Thesk, especially,populous city-states that import most oftheir grains and produce in the best ofyears, must often come hat-in-hand tothe Red Wizards for their food.

If the agriculture of Thay were underthe control of the government of Thay,the Red Wizards would own the easternInner Sea economically if not politically.However, despite the fact that the land-holders of Thay are the government ofThay, agriculture is not an instrument ofgovernment policy. Each Red Wizardand Tharchion is his own agent, andthey often compete for foreign orders,so conquering the Inner Sea through thestomachs of its people has not takenplace, much to the relief of the sageswho study matters economic.

Thay is a major market for slaves torun its farms and serve other functions.Every s laverunner in the Realmsdreams of selling his coffle of slaves inEltabbar. Because the wizards need eve-ry slave they can get, Thay does notexport slaves. There is no record ofanyone (perhaps the family of a slavekidnapped into servitude) successfullybuying back a Thayvian slave. Thereare stories of people trying to buy backa slave and becoming slaves them-selves.

Slaves do escape, and some are res-cued by friends and family, but once aslave has been purchased in Thay, hecan never legally (according to Thaylaws) be a free man again. Slaves cannotbe manumitted. They can be retired tolives of leisure if they have pleased theirmasters greatly, or turned out of theestates of their master for some trans-gression, but they are still slaves. Iffound running around free, they can beenslaved by any free person who findsthem.

The Crafts of ThayThe Red Wizards have two otherexports of value. One is the gold fromthe mines of the Thaymount and alongthe Umber and Lapendrar rivers. TheLapendrar river at least partially gainsits name of �The River of Sorrows�because of the laments of the families ofthe miners lost along its shores in thewizard-owned mines. The name alsoderives from the sorrow of the familiesof Aglarondan soldiers who died inKing Halacar�s ill-starred invasion ofThay, when half the army was drownedin a wizard-caused flash flood thatcaught them in the middle of the river.

Thay also has silver and platinummines in both the Thaymount and theSunrise Mountains, and good sources ofcopper and i ron. There are evensources of assorted gems and preciousstones such as jade.

The other major Thayvian export istied into both the mines and the richvariety of animals, both natural andmonsterish, that inhabit the Realm. The

CURRENT ECONOMY OF THAY

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craftsmen of Thay have little opportu-nity to work with wood (some special-ists carve and work imported wood),but their carving and joining of thebone of exotic beasts, such as thedragon turtles of Lake Thaylambar, andinlaying of their creations with the pre-cious metals of Thay, creates artworkthat is admired and coveted in all theRealms.

Some Wizards enhance the work oftheir craftsmen with magic, creatingmagical items that are also desired eve-rywhere. Nothing they export is ofmuch use militarily, but some items,such as crystal statuettes that glow inthe dark, are useful for adventurers.The Wizards specialize in enchantingobjects with cantrips.

Government ControlThe Red Wizards have made two rulesthat are usually followed in their busi-ness dealings.

The first rule is that no enchanteditem that has military usefulness maybe sold outside the country or to a rep-resentative of some power outside thecountry. Thus, no magical offensive ordefensive weaponry is sold. Items likethe afore-mentioned glowing statuettesare in a gray area that is ignored at themoment, but could come under the banif too many hostile adventuring bandsshowed up in Thay using them. Potionsare another gray area which are usu-ally ignored because their use is so lim-ited and so little of any one potion canbe produced at any one time.

The other rule is that Thayvians can-not sell food or items to citizens ofnations that Thay is invading at themoment. This sometimes has resultedin flurries of sales to a nation such asAglarond or Rashemen or Mulhorandjust before the armies marched, andsome invas ions have been fo i ledbecause the sages of the soon-to-be-invaded nation saw this activity for thewarning it was and warned their rulersof the invasion.

CURRENT POLITICS OF THAYRegional RulersThe land of Thay is divided up into 11adminis trat ive regions , known asTharches. Each is ruled by a Tharchionor Tharchioness, who is drawn fromthe nobility of Thay (see Society ofThay). In each region, the ruler�s wordis law, though each rules in a differentway from his colleagues.

No Tharchion has ultimate authorityfor the nation, because that is in thehands of the Red Wizards. The author-ity of a Red Wizard supersedes eventhat of a Tharchion. The Red Wizardsare a loose confederacy that rule thecountry as a whole; some of them take aparticular interest in ruling or manag-ing small parts of the country, otherstake no interest in anything outside oftheir own researches and adventuring.

The Red Wizards are evil and para-noid in the extreme. They seek to main-tain their own power in their nationwhile undercutting the power of otherrealms, which they perceive as danger-ous to their existence. Other magic-u s e r s w h o a r e n o t o f t h e i r c u l t(especia l ly those mages who areinvolved in ruling rival nations, particu-larly the Simbul of Aglarond) areviewed as threats to be eliminated. Thet o t a l n u m b e r o f R e d W i z a r d s i sunknown.

The ZulkirsFrom among the politically interestedwizards , the Red Wizards chooseZulkirs to speak for the Red Wizards.There is one Zulkir for each School ofMagic, and once chosen they keep theposition for life unless they voluntarilyresign. The Zulkir for Necromancy,Szass Tam, withdrew from the compa-ny of his fellows some years ago andpursues his own devices�but he is stillthe Zulkir for Necromancy and no onecan step forward to replace him.

Zulkirs are chosen from among thoseof the right School who want the job.They are not necessarily the most pow-erful of their School, just the one whowants to have something to do with

running the country. If no one of aschool wants the job, then the school isunrepresented.

The Zulkirs examine each candidateto make sure that he has the properproficiency in general magic (i.e.; is awizard�a magic-user of 11th level) Ifmore than one candidate presents him-self and seems qualified, he must con-test against the other candidates inproficiency with his school�s magic. Forthe wizards of divination, this is not amajor problem; the one with the bestanswers wins the position.

However, contests in Conjuration/Summoning, Alteration, or Invocation/Evocation can be, and frequently are,deadly.

BadgesThe Red Wizards and their minions useseveral badges; that most often seenoutside Thay is a leaping red flame (out-lined in gold) on a black or deep purplefield.

Known Red Wizards found outside ofThay are not of less than 9th level andpossibly as much as 15th level. There isa 50% chance of the wizard havingbodyguards (usually ogres or othernon-human creatures), and an equalchance of having 1-4 low-level (1-8) aspi-rants to the Red Cloth. The Red Wiz-ards do not go in for subtlety, and weartheir crimson robes haughtily in all butsituations calling for the utmost discre-tion.

Besides �showing the flag�, this dis-play also serves to cover the activities ofthe Red Wizards, often of less than 9thlevel, who act as spies and agents prova-cateur in the Realms (see Personalities).

Political FactionsThere are two major factions amongthe Red Wizards. The Imperialists aredevoted to an expansionistic and impe-rialistic policy of swallowing neighborstates and eventually the entire Realms.They have attempted this many times,but they are invariably stopped. Manyof the Imperialists blame their lack of

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success on the inactivity of the mostpotent Wizards of the realm, who hap-pen to be the other major faction andare known as the Researchers.

These worthies believe the true voca-tion of the magic-user is research andcareful application of the research toacquire new and more potent wizard-ries. While a Researcher might goadventuring or use his powers to helphis own fortunes, as a group they arenotoriously uninterested in assistingthe land of Thay in conquest. Research-ers are essentially selfish. If the enter-prise does not benefit them directly,they have no interest in it.

Neither political faction is particular-ly organized, the Red Wizards are tooparanoid and megalomaniacal for that.Many an Imperialist considers someResearcher a best friend and anotherImperialist a bitter personal enemy. Bytheir nature, Imperialists are moreorganized than the Researchers, butmost adventuring bands are betterorganized than the �leadership� of theImperialists.

The main leader of the Imperialists isLauzori l , Zulkir of the School ofEnchantment (see Personalities). He isnot known generally to be a Zulkir, buthis machinations have come to theattention of the Harpers, and sparkedan enmity that is growing more intenseas the years of enmity go on.

The main leader of the Researchers,as much as they have leaders, is Sabassof Thay (see Personalities).

Actually, the imperialist dreams ofthe Wizards have been hampered main-ly by internal strife among various fac-tions and personality cults among theRed Wizards, and by the fact that thecult neither trusts mercenaries or high-level adventurers who are not of theircult. Of the large number of invasionsof Rashemen, three out of four havebeen by some particular faction leaderof the wizards seeking to expand hisdomination at home by bringing victo-ries from the field.

The Administrationof ThayAs stated before, the day-to-day life ofThay is adminstered by 11 Tharchionsand Tharchionesses. Each controls oneTharch. The Tharches of Thay are asfollows:

The Tharch of Eltabbar. This Tharchcontrols the city of Eltabbar, Lake Thay-lambar, and most of the fishing andtrading villages around the lake, withone notable exception (see Tharch ofDelhumide). The Tharchioness is ayoung woman whose outer beauty hasgiven her the title of First Princess ofThay outside the Realm, though sheofficially has no more power than anyof her 10 colleagues.

The Tharchioness is in an anomalousposition, in that she controls the capitalcity of the Realm and is at the center ofpower, yet there are more Red Wizardsin residence in this city than in any oth-er part of the Realm, and these aremostly active wizards with an interestin how every part of the country is run,so she never knows when or in whatfield of her authority she is going to beoverruled.

Her reaction to this situation has beento retreat to her palace and engage inflirtatious correspondence with theunattached rulers of several surround-ing kingdoms. The day-to-day affairs ofh e r T h a r c h a r e h a n d l e d b y h e rAutharches, who spend most of theirtime obeying the whims of whicheverRed Wizard is interfering this week.

The Tharchioness is said to be amagic-user of some ability herself, ofthe School of Illusion, but is not thoughtto be of much beyond fifth level. Shechanges her name to suit the occasionor her whim. She was born DmitraFlass, but she has long since foreswornany allegiance to that family.

T h e T h a r c h o f T h a y m o u n t . T h i sTharch is mostly a military march. Intimes of peace and or retrenchment, itsfunction is to guard the Thaymount(the mountains that rise out of the

Priador in the western part of theRealm) and maintain the northern rivertraffic along the river Laprendar andguard the gold mines along the upperriver. In times of invasion, such as now,the Tharchion also controls the area tothe west of the Thaymount, specificallyall the lands along the River Umber. Atthis time Autharches reporting to thisTharchion control the trading towns ofNethentir and Nethjet and patrol LakeUmber and the Umber river up to theUmber Marshes.

The current Tharchion of Thay-mount is Spiros Dehkahks, a LawfulEvil fighter of the 12th level and a mas-terful general. He is supported by theZulkir of Divination in his current mili-tary adventures. He rules from the Cita-del of Thaymount, a fortified towernear the headwaters of the RiverUmber.

The Tharch of Tyraturos. This Tharchencompasses the town from which ittakes its name and control of most ofthe Eastern Way, a paved highway run-ning from Amruthar to Pyarados, andthe High Road, a paved highway run-ning from Eltabbar to Bezantur. Inessence, the Tharchion of Tyraturos isthe ruler of trade within southernThay, and most tolls gathered on theseroads go directly into his coffers. TheRed Wizards tax him, rather than themerchants.

This Tharchion, Dimon of Tyraturos,is considered by many to be the mostreasonable of the Tharchions. He is anintelligent man who understands that iftrade dries up, he no longer has theincome but must still pay his taxes.Therefore, he is no more oppressive toforeign traders and the merchants ofThay than the trade moguls of manyother nations. The fact that he startedhis career as a merchant, and is the firstmember of his family to become a noblemight have something to do with hisattitudes.

The duties he imposes are no moreoppressive than those of other nations,and his roving cavalry patrols are spe-cifically instructed to expedite the

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problems of the merchants and makesure they do not go away dissatisfied.Some of the patrol leaders even per-form their duties without bribes, butnot many.

Non-merchants under his rule havedifferent things to say about Dimon. Heis as mercurial and paranoid as any ofthe rulers of Thay and he particularlydislikes adventurers, whom he con-siders �disruptive and bad for trade.�

Dimon is rumored to be a low-ranking priest of Waukeen, though heofficially decries this as a fabrication ofhis political enemies. He has neverexhibited any ability as magic-user orfighter. Some rumors about label him athief, but much the same is said abouttax collectors all over the Realms.

The Tharch of Bezantur. Bezantur isthe greatest city of Thay and the gate-way to the southern Realms and mostof the seaways. It is Thay�s only seaport.Bezantur is a very cosmopolitan city,with elements of all the Realms repre-sented.

The city is so large that the Tharchnamed for it encompasses only the cityand the High Road up to the first toll sta-tion.

The Tharchioness of Bezantur, MariAgneh, rules the city with a light butwhimsical hand. Uniquely, she rulesand gathers her taxes by theft. Thereare no tax collectors or custome offi-cers at the docks to collect a percentageof a cargo. There are no bureaucratswaiting to be bribed. But every cargothat is conveyed anywhere on thedocks or through the city, or stored inone of the hundred of warehouses,leaves Bezantur lighter than it entered.Dockworkers, warehousemen, porters,drayers, and random beggars are allmembers of the Thieves Guild, andMari Agneh is the Upright Man of theGuild.

One might wonder why she bothers,as she could do the same thieving offi-cially, but her heritage as a master thiefprobably has something to do with it.As a result of this policy of taxation bytheft, the city watch is very slow to

respond to any calls for assistancebecause of theft.

Free-lance thieves are, of course,strongly discouraged, but the discour-aging is done by the Guild, not thewatch. Calls for investigation of themurder of leather-clad men (the localGuild works unarmored) armed withdaggers and shortswords are answeredabout as fast as theft calls.

Merchants who guard their goodsexcessively well find themselves andtheir guards arrested for a variety oftrumped-up charges. Depending onhow seriously they have thwarted theTharchioness , they may e i ther bereleased with apologies to find theirgoods well-pilfered or wind up on aslave coffle. Most merchants with anyexperience plan to lose a share of theirgoods as they pass through Bezantur.

The Tharch of Pyarados. Pyarados isthe gateway to the Sunrise Mountains,and tends to have a large population ofadventurers. The Tharchion is ValeriosTheokillos, a neutral evil 10th levelfighter-adventurer who is said to haveslain the avatar of one of the god-kingsof Mulhorand. Now he is a man in hissixties, and retired into the rule of thiseasternmost of Thayvian cities.

Adventurers wishing to enter theSunrise Mountains must either carrygear for many miles through Thay, risk-ing pilferage, or buy it in Pyarados.Valerios owns a part of every outfittingshop in the city. Prices for standardadventuring gear are high, often twicewhat is found in the Players Handbookand DMG. Every shop has the sameprice for the same goods. The one cut-rate shop sells used and shoddy goodswith a good chance of failure at criticalmoments.

Valerios, of course, also keeps an eyeon returning adventurers, with theintent of taxing them of useful itemsand loot. He does not take the best ofthe items (unless they would either be(a) useful to him or (b) dangerous to himor Thay in general), but he has a largehoard of minor magical items, which hesometimes uses as gifts to his aides to

keep them loyal.Certain of the Red Wizards are well

aware of this scheme of taxation andvisit Valerios frequently to gain the�gifts� he knows he has to give them tokeep them from supplanting him withsomeone else.

The Tharch of Gauros. The Gorge ofGauros is one of the major areas of con-tention between Thay and the land ofRashemen. The Gorge is full of mineraldeposits that are valuable to both coun-tries, and it has been the scene of sev-eral battles between the two Realms.

This tharch is a military operation ledby Tharchion Azhir Kren, a warriorwoman of the 11th level, and essentiallyis in charge of patrolling the RiverMulsantir and, particularly, the Gorge.

Azhir Kren is known to be cruel butfair in her dealings with her soldiers.Lately she has found a new way ofkeeping her soldiers in the field�theZulkir of Necromancy has been takingher slain soldiers and turning them intozombies and skeletons. Now the two ofthem are attempting an invasion ofRashemen behind an army of zombies.

The Tharch of Delhumide. Delhumideis the ruin of the capital of Thay when itwas a Mulhorand province. Beforethen, it was one of the great cities ofRaumathar. The ruins are laden withincredible magics, and terrible mon-sters and booby-traps. The Tharch ofDelhumide controls the town and thelake approaches, plus all the land to theeast of Lake Thaylambar and to thesouth of the River Mulsantir.

However, Tharchion Mikal Canos, a13th level lawful evil Lord, is primarilyconcerned with Delhumide. His troopsstationed there are committed to keep-ing the monsters therein caught withinthe broken walls of the city. His dutiesare not made any easier by the frequentvisits by Zulkirs and other Red Wizardswho want to investigate the ruins insearch of one exotic magical item oranother they think might still be there.

The rest of his duties are mainly con-cerned with guarding the assorted

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slave-farms in his Tharch and reactingto invasions from Rashemen (rare) andslave revolts (common). Because of thearea he must guard, Mikal normally hasone of the largest military forces underarms at any one time, though the cur-rent spate of invasions has both drainedhis forces and caused the assortedinvading Tharchions to hire most of themercenaries in Thay�leaving Canoswith a minimum force and no way toincrease it.

The Tharch of Laprendar. It is some-what presumptious of the Red Wizardsto label a Tharch with the name of a riv-er they only hold most of one bank of,but such considerations have neverstopped the Red Wizards before.

This Tharchion, Hargrid Tenslayer, a9th level chaotic evil lord, is not Thay-vian at all. He is from Thesk, but foundthe Thayllians much more to his likingafter he was run out of Phsant for slay-ing the child of the heirarch there. Hedistinguished himself in an otherwisedisastrous invasion of Rashemen andwas made Autharch of Falls, the areaw h e r e t h e L a p r e n d a r l e a v e s t h ePriador to the lower plains, and the tra-ditional border of Thay and the CoastalCities.

When the Tharchion of the Lapren-dar died under mysterious circum-stances (the usual Thayvian designationfor death by poison), Hargrid was unan-imously approved as his successor.

Now Hargrid has formed an alliancewith the Zulkirs of Evocation and Con-juration, who have managed to open agate to the Plane of Fire and ravagedthe coast cities of Thasselen, Murbant,Lasdur, and Taskaunt and most of thefishing villages in between.

The Tharch of Surthay. This is both amilitary and trade post. The Tharchioncontrols the city of Surthay, such partsof Lake Mulsantir Thay can wrest fromRashemen, the Surmarsh, and the RiverThay up to last tax station before theone leading into Lake Thaylambar.

Tharchion Homen Odesseiron is amagic-user who retired early, before he

could become a Red Wizard. Howeverhe studied in several of the schools, andis said to have a complete complementof spells in four different schools.

Because of Surthay�s position ofDefender of the North against thehordes of Rashemen (the likelihood ofRashemen conquering, or even want-ing to conquer, Thay is very remote, butnot to the paranoid masters of Thay),the Zulkir of the School of Abjurationmakes this his particular concern, andhis residence is found here.

This Tharch also includes the slavefarms between the River Thay and Riv-er Mulsantir under its purview, andattempts to keep what trails are knownin the Surmarsh under patrol.

The Tharch of Aldor. This small Tharchcomprises the island in the Alamber Seathat serves as the main naval base of theThayvian fleet. For a country with oneseaport, Thay keeps a large number ofwarship keels afloat. This is the largestnaval establishment, with the second-ary, and only other, base in Bezantur.

The Tharchion of Aldor is ThessaloniCanos, sister of Mikal Canos and a 10thlevel lawful evil Lord. The Red Wizardsrecognized the quality of each of thesecommanders but also decided that put-ting them in close proximity would behazardous to the health of their regime,so they are almost as far as possibleapart as they can be without being inother countries.

The Tharch o f Thazalhar . This i s apurely military Tharch responsible forpatrolling the trade roads betweenPyarados and the Mulhorand border onthe other side of the River of the Dawn.The Tharchion is Milsantos Daramos, a7th level lawful evil fighter who com-mands three small troops of cavalry.

Their main purpose is to guard cara-vans and put down marauding mon-sters who may be accumulating apower base in the wasteland. Ostensi-bly, the Tharchion�s seat is at Pyarados,but Milsantos has little love for Valerios,so he is mostly on the trail, camping atone of several familiar sites along the

caravan path. His troops are known tobe the hardest-riding and longest-enduring troopers in Thay, thoughtheir fighting ability is not outstanding.

Milsantos is known for charging wayfees in gems and small items of value.He has no place to store vast quantitiesof coins, and keeps his treasure withhim.

The Laws of ThayThay has no code of laws that rules itslife. The Zulkirs make all pronounce-ments that affect the populace, andmost of these are individual rulings onindividual cases. Among their otherduties, the Zulkirs are the high judgesof Thay.

The law that rules the nation comesfrom the Tharchions and from tradi-tion. Some of this tradition is takenfrom Mulhorand, the rest has devel-oped over the centuries since Thaybecame a nation.

The following is a short description ofthe most important laws of Thay.

Laws about MurderEvery murder case is handled individu-a l l y . S o m e T h a r c h i o n s l e t t h e i rAutharches or even the constables onthe streets administer justice in thesecases. The most common punishmentfor common people is enslavement (acommon punishment for any crime). Ifthe murderer is someone such as anadventurer or a magic-user of somesort the usual punishment is death.Slaves who commit murder are pun-ished (how heavily depends on howimportant the victim was) and eithergiven back to their master or takenover by the government and sent off tothe gold mines. Murder of a slave is notmurder, it is theft.

Assuming the person in charge ofdealing with murder cases takes thetime to hear any arguments, any seem-ingly good reason for killing someonemay be accepted, or the most obviouscase of self-defense may get the killersent to the gold mines.

Laws About AssaultThere are no real laws about assault,unless the victim is an important memberof society, in which case the assaultermay be slain out of hand or enslaved. Ofcourse, the assaulter can be freed or pun-ished depending on the relative impor-tance of the victim to the assaulter.

Laws About TheftUnlike many Realms, thieves are notbranded and maimed in Thay. They areenslaved. This punishment can behanded out for something as unimport-ant as a loaf of bread. Particularlyimportant thefts, such as that of a magi-cal item from a wizard, can be punishedwith death. After all, who wants suchan accomplished thief as a slave?

Civil LawsSuits for redress and righting of com-mercial wrongs m u s t b e b r o u g h tbefore the person in authority. This canbe a Tharchion, an Autharch, or even alocal Red Wizard. Most people try toavoid the justice of wizards, however,since they are said, correctly, to besomewhat whimsical in administeringjustice, and plaintiffs and defendantsalike have been turned into frogs fordisturbing a wizard with their pettyproblems. If there is a dispute betweenTharchions, a panel of the Zulkirs hearsthe argument, and more than one Thar-chion has lost life or current body as ajudgement.

Disputes between wizards are settledbetween the wizards. There are nomechanisms for settling such disputesby any other method. If they cannot set-tle it by talk, they declare feud and peo-ple start dying. Sometimes one litigantdecides that there is no settling theproblem before the other does, and thefirst thing the other knows about theescalation is when he finds his break-fast has been poisoned.

For this reason, among others, mostwizards are accomplished alchemists aswell, specializing in poisons and anti-

(Continued on page 37)

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PLAYERS� GUIDE TO THAYGlossary of ThingsThayvianAglarond� Neighboring country to thewest. The population is mostly half-elves and the country is ruled by themysterious Simbul.

Alamber Sea� Also called the SahuaginSea for the kingdom of those peoplethat resides in the depths. This sepa-r a t e s t h e a n c i e n t k i n g d o m s o fMulhorand and Unther and is mostlyplied by ships from Thay.

The Aldor� Island where the Wizards�Reach meets the Alamber Sea. Theentire island is a naval base for the RedWizards.

Altumbel� Peninsula holding the city ofSpandeliyon, called the City of Pirates.Known as the least lawful city on theInner Sea, it was founded by the refu-gees from Aglarond driven out by thehalf-elves who now rule the country.

Amruthar� Neutral city on the RiverLapendrar. Not possessed by Thay, itacts as a entry port for goods going toThay.

Assassins� Said to be the main politicalexpediters in Thay.

Autharch� Subsidiary noble, answer-able to the Tharchion or Tharchionesswho appointed him.

Bezantur� Seaport city of Thay, thelargest city of that country, comparableto Waterdeep in size. �Ruled by thieves.�

�Bread Basket of the East"� Anothername for Thay, which supplies grain (athigh prices) to most of the easternRealms.

Chessenta� Collection of city-states onthe south coast of the Wizards� Reachwho rebelled from the ancient kingdomof Unther and now vacillate betweenopen warfare and armed peace with

one another. An excellent market formercenaries.

The Citadel� Mighty fortification in theThaymount, built by pre-human resi-dents who are said to still reside indevolved form in its lowest dungeons.

Cities of the North Coast� Four citiesand six towns, each independent butformed into a loose alliance of defenseagainst the colossus of Thay. Currently,four of the smaller towns are in flamesfrom an attack by Thay.

The cities are, from west to east,Delthuntle, Nethra, Teth, Laothkund,Hilbrand, Lasdur, Taskaunt, Escalant,Murbant, and Thasselen.

Delhumide� Ruined city that had beena capital of Thay in ancient times. Saidto be laden with hidden magic.

Eltabbar� Capital city of Thay, a city ofwizards. The Tharchioness is such abeauty that she is known as the FirstPrincess of Thay (though only outsidethe country).

First Escarpment� Cliffs that form theplateau of the Priador. Forms part ofthe main border of Thay except in timesof conquest.

Giants� Wall� Cyclopean wall erectedby giants as a returned favor to the firstking of Aglarond to defend the countryfrom the incursions of Thay.

The Golden Way� A traderoad leadingfrom the empires of the East throughRashemen to Thesk and Telflamm.

Impiltur� Young kingdom to the northand west of Thay. Ruled in fact by acouncil of lords in the name of thewizardess who wears the crown, whois named Sambryl.

Lapendrar� �River of Sorrows,� sonamed because of the gold miners whohave died working along its banks andthe army from Aglarond that died inbattle there. Forms the western bound-

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ary of much of Thay except in periodsof conquest.

Lauzoril� Prominent Red Wizard whohas declared a vendetta of sorts againstthe Harpers.

Mulhorand� Ancient empire of thegod-kings south of Thay. The Red Wiz-ards are said to have come from there.

Mulsantir� Lake and river that markthe northern boundary of Thay and theborder between Thay and Rashemen.

Narfell� Ancient kingdom that satbetween modern Impiltur and Rashe-men. Its ruins are still rich.

Nentyarch� Wizard-ruler of the wil-derness between Impiltur and Rashe-men, where the ancient land of Narfellhad its roots. Anyone entering the terri-tory without the good will of this rulerdoes not return.

The Plain of Purple Dust� Desert on theeast side of the Sunrise Mountains. Anylands on the other side of this desert areknown only in ancient legend.

The Priador� Flat plateau on whichmost of Thay rests.

Pyarados� City of Thay. Jumping-offplace for adventurers going into theSunrise Mountains.

Rashemen� Country to the north ofThay, protected by the Witches ofRashemen.

Raumathar� Ancient kingdom that satwhere Rashemen now is. Died in war ofmutual elimination with Narfell.

Skuld� City of Shadows, capital ofMulhorand.

Slave Farms� The agriculture (exceptfor kitchen gardens) of Thay takesplace on these immense plantationswhich are owned by the Red Wizardsand Tharchions of Thay.

Slavers� The scum of the Inner Seasare hired by Thay to kidnap citizens ofother Realms to become slaves in Thay.

Slavery� Basis of the economy of Thay.Two-thirds of the people of the nationare slaves. No one in the ForgottenRealms wants to be a slave in Thay.

Sunrise Mountains� The eastern bor-der of Thay. Virtually impassable. Saidto be the home of lammasu and griffins.

Surmarsh� Extensive swamp area tothe west of Lake Mulsantir between theRivers Thay and Sur. Home of crimi-nals, refugees, and lizard men who areallied with Thay.

Surthay� Northernmost city of Thay, alakeport on Lake Mulsantir. The North-ern Bulwark.

Szass Tam� The Zulkir of Necromancyin Thay. He is said to know undead asno one has known them before.

Telflamm� A city-state on the shore ofthe Easting Reach, one of the terminalpoints for the Golden Way. Ally andtrading rival of Thesk.

Tharch� Political division of Thay,ruled by a Tharchion or Tharchioness.

Tharchion or Tharchioness� Ruler of aTharch. Almost absolute rulers withintheir domains, but answerable to theZulkirs.

Thay� The nation ruled by the RedWizards. Cities of Thay include Eltab-bar, Bezantur, Tyraturos, Pyarados,and Surthay.

Thaymount� Small range of moun-tains, probably volcanic, that rise out ofthe Priador and form the West Wall ofThay when she has shrunk her bordersin times of retreat. The Citadel guardsthese mountains, and the rivers Lapen-drar, Umber, and Eltab are fed fromtheir heights.

Thesk� An alliance of trading townsand cities along the western end of theGolden Way. The largest city and capitalof the country is Milvarune. The othermain city is Phsalt, city of sages. Theother towns are Thassalra, Phent,Inkar, Tammar, Two-stars, and Tezir-On-The-Marsh.

Tyraturos� Crossroads city of Thay,where the High Road and the EasternWay meet. Sometimes called the �capi-tal of Southern Thay�. The greatestinterior markets of Thay happen here.The slave markets are particularlyextensive.

Witches- The true rulers of Rashemen.It is said that only their magic has keptRashemen free from domination byThay.

Wizards� Reach� The arm of the InnerSea that divides Aglarond and Thayfrom the cities of Chessenta. The Citiesof the North Coast are arranged alongthe north coast of this arm.

Yuirwood� Largest forest in the area ofThay. Former home of the Yuir elves,who are some of the progenitors of thehalf-elves of Aglarond. Now forms theborder between Aglarond and the Cit-ies of the North Coast.

Zulkirs� The Red Wizards who actuallyrule Thay. There are said to be eightZulkirs, one for each school of magic.The actual names of these wizards arenot usually known.

RumorsThe following rumors can be found in

di f ferent places in the Forgot tenRealms, as indicated by the headings. Ifyou want to follow any of these up, talkto your DM.

l Agents of the Red Wizards of Thayhave openly slain merchants in West-gate and Scardale-port, and it is whis-pered that the fell Red Magic Cult is stir-ring again; perhaps the Red Wizardswill resume their quest for world domi-nation soon, in the Inner Sea Lands.

l A tavern in Ordulin, The StrandedFish, has been set afire and destroyed ina brawl between local bravos and abearded, robed mage of great power,thought to be one of the Red Wizards ofThay. The mage escaped the blaze, andhis present whereabouts are unknown.It is certain that agents of the city�sCouncil, and the City Guards, are look-ing for him.

l The incidence of abductionsthroughout the Inner Sea area is grow-ing greatly. Authorities are afraid (forreasons they�d rather not discuss) thatthe Red Wizards are adding to theirslave coffles. Many young men andwomen with some experience in adven-turing, though not as magic-users orclerics, are going missing.

Close To Thayl Armies of �walking dead� are said tobe advancing steadily northwards fromThay, led by armored skeletal warriorsof great power and fell aspect. Impilturfears that Thay will overwhelm all theEastern Lands, and then turn west tocrush the Coastal Cities, Impiltur, andAglarond.

l The Red Wizards of Thay have sentlegions of elementals against rebelliousneighboring satraps, destroying four ofthem (the coastal cities of Lasdur,Taskaunt, Murbant, and Thasselen)utterly, taking those lands (and that of

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Hilbrand, which surrendered without afight) under Thay�s banner. Escalant,the most powerful of the cities, is cur-rently under siege.

l It is thought that such vast numbersof elementals could not be summonedby spell, but rather a gate or portal wasopened directly to the Plane of Elemen-tal Fire. The sages of Phsalt warn that ifall the hosts of Thay were musteredand hurled against these new forces,Thay would quickly go down to defeat.Whatever means the Red Wizards havefor gaining such forces must be ended,they say, and magical forces must begathered immediately to match thispresent strength.

l The adventurers� band led by thefighter Mane, formerly resident in Sha-dowdale, has disappeared in the South.There is talk of their defeat and death inthe Yuirwood, but others say they havefallen in battle with the Red Wizards inThay, or even that Mane has becomechieftain and war leader of the nomadsof the Shaar. Nothing is certain, how-ever; all is speculation.

l Strange creatures have been sightedin the Yuirwood (west of Thay), and arethought to be spreading. Throughoutthe fall, trolls seemed to be growingmore numerous, and then owlbearswere reported. As the weather grewcolder, a bulette was seen, and it wasrapidly followed by other, nameless orunique, creatures, things which seemto be expanding outwards from thedepths of the woods. The adventurerSparleye was last seen in this area withhis company, the Men of the PurpleArrow. Others who have gone into thewoods have no returned, and tradersare avoiding the area.

l Selfaril, High Blade of Mulmaster(one of the cities in opposition to ZhentilKeep) is said to be seeking a wife: TheTharchioness of Eltabbar, First Princessof Thay. The young, bald-headed Thar-chioness has sent a golden earringsoaked in her perfume to Selfaril, andhe has sent her in return a cloak ofsnow-white Yeti fur. Having thus

exchanged gifts, they may now visittogether with no gossip of scandal,instead of only through envoys, and yetpart honorably, if they do not want tobe mated. Selfaril wants Thay as an allyagainst Zhentil Keep, and dares notspite its ancient customs.

l To the south of old, vast Thay, thee v e n m o r e a n c i e n t k i n g d o m o fMulhorand has been jolted in the pastyear: the Statues That Walk have begunto move once more. Over a thousandstone statues of time-lost origin standall about this dusky-hilled country. Atodd but long separated intervals, thesestone men animate and walk aboutapparently towards specific (now-vanished?) destinations. They stop attimes and then move on again, fight anywho bar their way or attack them, andat times hew at rocks or clear pathwaysthrough cer ta in areas . This la t terbehavior is a frightening thing whenthese areas are many-towered cities ortanglewood forests. The stone men aremute and apparently non-intelligentand no one has yet found a way to con-trol them. Some have crossed throughthe border walls into Thay as well asinto Unther, a desert land that lies southand west of Mulhorand. Tholaunt,Divine Precept of Mulhorand (one ofthe �god-kings� of Mulhorand) says thecoming of the statues to life is not hisdoing nor that of any of his family, asfar as he can tell, and adds that thepower of controlling the statues is notknown to his family. Some have whis-pered of s t r i fe within his family ,though, and say that the Statues may beunder the control of another.

l In Aglarond, report is that The Sim-bul, the famous dweomercrafter whorules that country, appears to have lefther court shape-changed (perhaps as acat or falcon) and vanished. Upon herhigh seat she left a signed letter direct-ing her council to govern Aglarondwisely and dispose of several specificmatters (no details are known) thus andso. It is thought she may have headednorth to speak with the elves aroundthe Great Dale (with whom she has an

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uneasy alliance), and/or to ovserveevents in the strategic Dalelands anddiscuss things with the remaining elvesin Myth Drannor. There are rumors ofwar between Zhentil Keep and thenorthern dales and Scardale and itsneighboring dales, as well as the sud-den announcement of the formation ofthe Iron Throne, a merchant alliance,which intends to operate in the area.The Simbul is known for her unpredict-able behavior and mastery of magic,and the tale most often told of her is herunaided destruction of the Red Swordm e r c e n a r y c o m p a n y a t M i s t -bridge.

l Huge balls of fire, four or five innumber, appeared in the sky above theTowers of the Blade in Mulmaster short-ly after the Simbul left Aglarond. Thereas a battle involving magic within theTower and rumor has it that the Simbulwas involved.

Quest for GemsThe Nentyarch, ruler of vast lands

east and north of Impiltur, has sentagents into the realms, seeking blackgems for some unknown magical orreligious use.

In ThayIyachtu Xvim has been seen in Thay

recently, on some quest for his father.

Schools and Spells ofthe Red WizardsThe following are the spells availablefrom the various schools of the RedWizards. If you are unfamiliar with aspell, talk to your DM.

The School of IllusionCantrips:

FootfallGroanHideMaskMirageMoanNoisePalmRattleThumpTwo-D�lusion

First Level SpellsAudible GlamerChange SelfDetect MagicNystul�s Magic Aura (*)Phantasmal ForcePhantom ArmorRead Magicspook

Second Level SpellsAlter SelfBlindnessBlurDeafnessFascinateHypnotic PatternImproved Phantasmal ForceInvisibilityLeomund�s Trap (*)Mirror ImageMisdirectionVentriloquism

Third Level SpellsFearHallucinatory TerrainIllusionary ScriptInvisibility 10� RadiusParalyzationSpectral ForceWraithform

Fourth Level SpellsDispel ExhaustionImproved InvisibilityMassmorphPhantasmal KillerShadow Monsters

Fifth Level SpellsAdvanced IllusionDemi-Shadow MonstersDreamProjected ImageShadow DoorShadow MagicTempus Fugit

Sixth Level SpellsDemi-Shadow MagicEyebiteMirage ArcaneMisleadPermanent IllusionPhantasmagoriaProgrammed IllusionShadesVeil

Seventh Level SpellsAlter RealityMass InvisibilitySequesterShadow WalkSimulacrumWeird

THE SCHOOL OF ALTERATIONCantrips:ChangeColored LightsDimFirefingerGatherHairyHazeKnotMutePolishPresentRainbowRavelShineSpillSproutStitch

TangleTarnishTieUntieWrap

First Level SpellsAffect Normal FiresAura Fire*Burning HandsChromatic OrbColor SprayComprehend LanguagesDancing LightsDarknessDetect MagicEnlargeEraseFeather FallFirewaterGaze ReflectionHold PortalJumpLightMeltMendingMessagePhantom ArmorPrecipitationRead MagicShocking GraspSpider ClimbWall of FogWizard Mark

Second Level SpellsAlter SelfBindContinual LightDarkness 15� RadiusDeeppocketsFlaming SphereFog CloudFools GoldIrritationKnockLevitateMagic MouthPyrotechnicsRope TrickShatterStrengthVocalizeWhispering WindWizard Lock

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Third Level Spells:BlinkCloudburstContinual DarknessDeludeExplosive RunesFlyGust of WindHasteInfravisionItemLeomund�s Tiny Hut (*)Melf�s Minute Meteors (*)Phantom WindSecret PageSlowTonguesWater BreathingWind WallWraithform

Fourth Level Spells:Dimension DoorEnchanted WeaponExtension IFire Gate*Fire ShieldLeomund�s Secure Shelter (*)Minor CreationOtiluke�s Resilient Sphere (*)Plant GrowthPolymorph OtherPolymorph SelfRainbow PatternRary�s Mnemonic Enhancer (*)Solid FogStoneskinUltravisionVacancyWizard Eye

Fifth Level Spells:Airy WaterAnimal GrowthAvoidanceDistance DistortionDreamExtension IIFabricateLeomund�s Secret Chest (*)Major CreationPasswallStone ShapeTelekinesis

TeleportTransmute Rock to Mud

Sixth Level Spells:Control WeatherControl Winds *Death FogDisintegrateExtension IIIGlasseeGuards and WardsLower WaterMirage ArcaneMordenkainen�s Lucubration (*)Move EarthOtiluke�s Freezing Sphere (*)Part WaterProject ImageStone to FleshTenser�s Transformation (*)Transmute Water to Dust

Seventh Level Spells:Astral SpellDuo-DimensionMordenkainen�s Magnificent Mansion(*)Phase DoorReverse-GravityThe Simbul�s Synostodweomer * (*)StatueTeleport Without ErrorTormentTruenameVanish

Eighth Level Spells:GlassteelIncendiary CloudOtiluke�s Telekinetic Sphere (*)PermanencyPolymorph Any ObjectSink

Ninth Level Spells:CrystalbrittleMordenkainen�s Disjunction (*)Shape ChangeSuccorTemporal StasisTime Stop

SCHOOL OF ENCHANTMENT ANDCHARMCantrips:CurdleDistractFlavorFreshenWiltWink

First Level Spells:Charm PersonDetect MagicFriendsHypnotismRead MagicRunSleepTaunt

Second Level Spells:BindDeeppocketsForgetRay of EnfeeblementScare

Third Level Spells:ChantCharm Undead *Hold PersonSuggestion

Fourth Level Spells:Charm MonsterConfusionFire CharmFumbleLeomund�s Secure Shelter (*)Magic Mirror

Fifth Level Spells:ChaosDolorFabricateFeeblemindHold MonsterLeomund�s Lamentable Belabourment(*)

Sixth Level Spells:EyebiteGeasGuards and WardsMass Suggestion

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Seventh Level Spells:Charm PlantsTruename

Eighth Level Spells:Antipathy/SympathyBindingDemandMass CharmOtto�s Irresistible Dance (*)Sink

Ninth Level Spells:Mordenkainen�s Disjunction (*)Succor

THE SCHOOL OF DIVINATION

First Level Spells:Detect IllusionDetect Invisibility *Detect MagicIdentifyRead Magic

Second Level Spells:Detect EvilDetect InvisibilityDetect Poison *ESPKnow AlignmentLocate ObjectPredict Weather *Read Illusionist Magic

Third Level SpellsClairaudienceClairvoyanceDetect Charm *Find Traps *

Fourth Level Spells:Magic Mirror

Fifth Level Spells:Contact Other Plane

Sixth Level Spells:Legend LoreTrue Sight

Seventh Level Spells:Find the Path*Stone TellVision

THE SCHOOL OF CONJURATIONSAND SUMMONINGS

CantripsBeeBluelightBugGnatsMouseSpiderTweakUnlock

First Level Spells:ArmorDetect MagicFind FamiliarMountPushRead MagicUnseen Servant

Second Level Spells:Monster Summoning IPower Word, Sleep

Third Level Spells:Assist *Flame ArrowMaterialMonster Summoning IIPhantom SteedSepia Snake Sigil

Fourth Level Spells:Evard�s Black Tentacles (*)Monster Summoning III

Fifth Level Spells:Conjure ElementalBeckon (reverse of Dismissal)Fire Stones *Leomund�s Secret Chest (*)Monster Summoning IVMordenkainen�s Faithful Hound (*)Summon Shadow

Sixth Level Spells:Conjure AnimalsDeath SpellEnchant an ItemEnsnarementInvisible StalkerMonster Summoning V

Seventh Level Spells:Drawmij�s Instant Summons (*)Limited WishMonster Summoning VIMordenkainen�s Magnificent Mansion(*)Power Word, StunPrismatic Spray

Eighth Level Spells:MazeMonster Summoning VIIPower Word, BlindPrismatic WallSymbolTrap the Soul

Ninth Level Spells:Alter RealityGatePower Word, KillPrismatic SphereWish

SCHOOL OF INVOCATION/EVOCATION

Cantrips:BelchBlinkChillColorCoughCreakDampenDirtyDustyNodSaltScratchSmokepuffSneezeSourSpiceSweetenTapTwitchWarmWhistleYawn

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First Level Spells:AlarmCircleDetect MagicGreaseMagic MissileRead MagicShieldTenser�s Floating Disk (*)Write

Second Level Spells:Combust *FireballFlame Dagger *Flash *Melf�s Acid Arrow (*)Stinking CloudTasha�s Uncontrollable Hideous Laugh-ter (*)WebWhipZephyr

Third Level Spells:Lightning BoltMaterialMelf�s Minute Meteors (*)

Fourth Level Spells:DigFire Lance *Fire ShieldFire TrapIce StormOtiluke�s Resilient Sphere (*)ShoutWall of FireWall of Ice

Fifth Level Spells:Bigby�s Interposing Hand (*)CloudkillCone of ColdFire Stones *Leomund�s Lamentable Belabourment(*)SendingWall of ForceWall of IronWall of Stone

Sixth Level Spells:Bigby�s Forceful Hand (*)Chain LightningContingencyDeath FogGuards and WardsOtiluke�s Freezing Sphere (*)SpiritwrackTenser�s Transformation (*)

Seventh Level Spells:BanishmentBigby�s Grasping Hand (*)Delayed Blast FireballForcecageMordenkainen�s Sword (*)Torment

Eighth Level Spells:Bigby�s Clenched Fist (*)BindingDemandFire Storm *Incendiary CloudOtiluke�s Telekinetic Sphere (*)

Ninth Level Spells:Astral SpellBigby�s Crushing Hand (*)Energy DrainMeteor Swarm

SCHOOL OF ABJURATION

Cantrips:CleanDryDustExterminate

First Level Spells:Deny ColdDeny Fire*Detect MagicProtection From CantripsProtection From EvilRead Magic

Second Level Spells:Dispel MagicPreserveProtection From Evil, 10� RadiusProtection From Specific Lycanthrope,10� Radius (pick one)

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Protection From Normal Blunt Weap-ons *Protection From Normal Edged Weap-ons *Protection From Normal Missiles *Protection From Plants, 10� Radius*Protection From Poison*Resist Energy Drain*

Third Level Spells:Dispel IllusionProtection From All Lycanthropes�10�Radius *Protection From Electricity�10�Radius *Protection From Specific Elementals�10� Radius* (pick one)Protection from Illusions *Protection from Magical Blunt Weap-ons*Protection From Magical Edged Weap-ons*Protection From Magical Missiles *Protection from Paralyzation*Protection From Specific Undead�5�Radius* (pick one)Protection From Water *Remove Curse

Fourth Level Spells:Minor Globe of InvulnerabilityNon-DetectionProtection From All Elementals�10�Radius *Protection From All Undead�5� Radi-us*Protection From Breath WeaponsDragons *Protection From Breath Weapons�Non-Dragons *Protection From cold�15' Radius*Protection From Fire�15� Radius*Protection From Gas�5� Radius *Protection From Mechanical Traps *Protection From Petrification�10�Radius *Protection From Possession�10�Radius *Protection From Shapechangers�10�Radius *Turn Magic*

Fifth Level Spells:Anti-Magic ShellAvoidanceDismissalGlobe of InvulnerabilityProtection From Acid *Protection From Magical Traps�5�Radius *Spell Immunity *

Sixth Level Spells:Protection From Any Traps�5' Radius*Protection From Magic�5� Radius *RepulsionSpiritwrackVolley

Seventh Level Spells:BanishmentPrismatic SpraySequester

Eighth Level Spells:Mind BlankPrismatic WallSerten�s Spell Immunity (*)

Ninth Level Spells:ImprisonmentPrismatic Sphere

SCHOOL OF NECROMANCY

First Level Spells:Detect MagicDatho�s Delirium#Read MagicSummon Undead *

Second Level Spells:Feign DeathSpeak To Dead*

Third Level Spells:Animate DeadAssist *Charm Undead *

Fourth Level Spells:Belten�s Burning BloodMagic JarSpendelard�s Chaser#

Fifth Level Spells:Grimwald�s Greymantle#Reincarnation

Sixth Level Spells:Animate Dead Monsters *

Seventh Level Spells:CloneThe Simbul�s Synostodwoemer * (*)

Eighth Level Spells:Body Sympathy#Regenerate *

Ninth Level Spells:Restoration*

(*) Spells that must be found, cannot betaught in the normal schools.* = New Spells, see Magic of Thaychapter.# = New Spells introduced in theFORGOTTEN REALMS� Boxed Set,DM�s Sourcebook. See that book fordescription.

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dotes. However, when the going getstough, the wizards go shopping�for agood assassin.

The Assassins� GuildThe presence of assassins is a way oflife in Thay. Since there is no legal meth-od of appeal of any judgement by any-one, frustrated litigants must go to theultimate appeal, the Assassins guild.

In Thay, the guild is composed ofequal numbers of magic-users andthieves, with the occasional fighterthrown in for muscle.

The guild itself is legal, or at least thereis no law against its activities. Individualmembers who do commit murders canbe punished for them, if they are caught,but the Zulkirs realize that the assassinsperform a service and do not do anythingto suppress the Guild itself.

The only black mark the Assassinshave is their connection to the School ofEnchantment and Charm, but theymanaged to stay removed from theattempt many years ago of that Schoolto take over the country, and thereforemanaged to stay intact and unregu-l a t e d . M e m b e r s o f t h e S c h o o l o fEnchantment and Charm, who are thebest of the alchemists, are valued mem-bers of the Guild.

The Army of ThayThe army of Thay is a polyglot collec-tion of many troop types. The only uni-fying factor is the troops� universaldread of the Red Wizards.

OrganizationIn general, the troops are divided upinto foot Legions of between 800 and2,000 soldiers or cavalry Legions ofabout 400 to 1,000 horsetroops. EachTharchion and each Wizard is sup-posed to either supply a legion or a Cir-cle of magic-users. In general, theTharchions supply troops and the Wiz-ards supply Circles, but this is notalways the case. Some Wizards preferto hire mercenaries to add to the

legions rather than risk themselves onthe battlefield, and a couple of Thar-chions have enough influence to form aCircle; there are also Wizards who sim-ply refuse to have anything to do withthe army. No Tharchion has this option.

Legions of foot soldiers can be skir-mishers, light foot, heavy foot, artillery-men (though this is mostly handled byWizard Circles), and even garrisontroops. Each legion has its own uniquearmor and banners, and some havegreat reputations.

One of the most feared is the newLegion of Myrkul�over 1,000 zombiesmarching to the drums of priest/ ser-geants. While they are not excellentfighters, their aspect can scare anopposing regiment from the field, andthey feel no fear nor pain. Moreover,foes of this legion know that if they diewithout totally disabling wounds, theymay join this dismal legion.

Horse Legions can actually consist oftroopers riding any number of differ-ent animals. Most of the Horse Legionsare, indeed, horse cavalry, but the Grif-fin Legion is the finest aggregate ofthese fierce creatures ever made. ThisLegion (sponsored by the Tharchion ofPyrardos) has been in development forcenturies and still only numbers 350men and their steeds. Except for majorinvasions of other countries or the less-frequent defenses of Thay, this Legionspends most of its time patrolling theSunrise Mountains.

No matter what sort of animal theyare riding, Thayvian cavalry is knownfor its fighting ability everywhere in theRealms. The early Zulkirs decided that,whatever state the foot troops were in,Thay needed cavalry that could speedfrom one end of the country to the oth-er to meet a threat or surprise a foe.Most of the Tharchions sponsor cavalryLegions, and their combination ofheavy armor and archery makes them apotent factor in any battle. It is onlywhen they must fight in territory that isnot friendly to cavalry, such as theUmber Marshes or the Gorge of Gaurosthat they must stand aside and let thefoot troops move forward.

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The CirclesCircles are an innovation of the RedWizards that makes their armies trulydreaded in any battle where the Circlescan see their foes clearly. A Circle con-sists of a Wizard and his followers andservants. Through their rituals, and useof the Circle spell, the apprentice/followers of the Wizard can add theirpower to that of the Wizard, allowinghim to cast spells as if his level wereincreased by the levels of every appren-tice in the Circle.

This means that the wizard can mem-orize spells as if he were a higher levelwizard, though he cannot memorizeany spells of a higher level than he nor-mally knows. Thus, a 13th level Wizardwith 2 apprentices of 3rd level, 2 of 2ndlevel, and 2 of 1st level can memorizespells and cast them as if he were 25thlevel, though he cannot memorize the7th, 8th and 9th level spells that a 25thlevel wizard could memorize.

MAGIC OF THAYThe following are spells known only tothe Red Wizards of Thay of certainschools and those people who may havegotten hold of and translated one oftheir spellbooks. There is one excep-tion, The Simbul�s Synostodwoemer,which is called something else in Thay,but is called by that name here becauseit is the name applied to it in FR4, TheMagister. Like the Simbul, the Red Wiz-ards learned this spell from a spell bookthey captured in a battle with theWitches of Rashemen.

School of AlterationAura Fire (Alteration)Level: 1 Components: V,SRange: 8� Casting Time: 3 segmentsDuration: 4 rounds/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 12 linear feet/level with-in a 4� radiusExplanation/Description: This spell isvery similar to the faerie fire druid spellof the same level. However, the magic-user must make motions in the air withboth hands as if outlining the body to beoutlined with light, and the resultinglight is a reddish glow.

Fire Gate (Alteration)Level: 3 Components: V, MRange: 0 Casting Time: 1 segmentDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Spell casterExplanation/Description: This spell is

like dimension door, but the user mustgo from one fire to another fire. Theuser can move 5� per level of the spellcaster. If the user appears in a placealready occupied, he remains in thePlane of Elemental Fire, helpless, untilsomeone rescues him in the same fash-ion as a misused dimension door user. Ifthe intended destination fire has beenput out, the spell does not work, but it isconsidered spent regardless.

Control Winds (Alteration)Level: 6 Components: V, SRange: 0 Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: 1 turn/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 4� /level radius hemi-sphereExplanation/Description: This spell isidentical to the 5th level druid spellexcept that there is no material compo-nent to the spell.

The Simbul�s Synostodweomer(Alteration/Necromantic)Level: 7 Components: V, SRange: 0 Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: SpecialSaving Throws: NoneArea of Effect: SpecialExplanat ion/Descr ipt ion: This spel lallows the caster to use the magicalenergy of any spell already memorizedby the caster to heal the caster oranother being.

This second spell must be cast in theround following the casting of the syn-

ostodweomer; even if this subsequentcasting is incomplete or interrupted,the synostodweomer works. The sec-ond spell is lost from the caster�s mind,and any material components are con-sumed in the normal manner-butrather than taking effect, the spell�senergy is channeled into the caster,who can absorb its energy as healing orpass it on by direct touch to another sin-gle being. A spell used to heal by thismeans yields energy enough to heal 2hp of damage per level of the spell. Onlyif there is excess energy can the casterchoose to heal both self and anotherbeing�the other being is completelyhealed, and the remaining energy healsthe caster (excess energy being lost).Such healing occurs in the round fol-lowing the infusion of spell energy. Ifthe caster has extra energy but isunable to touch another injured crea-ture during this time, the extra energyis lost.

Once the synostodweomer is cast,whatever spell the caster casts on thefol lowing rounds is used to heal ,regardless of the caster�s subsequentw i s h e s o f t h e l e v e l o f t h e s p e l lunleashed. If no spell is cast on the fol-lowing round, the magic is lost and nohealing occurs. Spells from scrolls andspell-like magical items effects, as wellas spells cast by beings other than thecaster of the synostodweomer cannotbe used for such healing.

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School ofEnchantment/CharmChant (Enchantment)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: 0 Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: Time of chantingSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 3� radiusExplanation/Description: This spell islike the 2nd level clerical spell of thesame name, but the user must havean instrument to accompany thechant.

Charm Undead (Enchantment/Necromantic)Level: 3 Components: V, SRange: 6� Casting Time: 4 segmentsDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: Neg.Area of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spell islike charm monster, but only affectsundead. Note that undead that arenormally immune to charm spells arenot immune to this spell, though theyhave normal saving throws.

School of DivinationDetect Poison (Divination)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: 0 Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 round/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spell isjust like the 1st level druid spell ofsame name (UA). However, the mate-rial component is powdered unicornhorn.

Predict Weather (Divination)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: 0 Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 2 hours/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 16 square milesExplanation/Description: This is simi-lar to the 1st level druid spell of the

same name, but the material compo-nent is airborne pollen which must bethrown into the air and the chance ofbeing correct is 50% plus 2% per levelof the magic-user. The maximumchance of correctness is 90%.

Speak With Dead (Necromantic/Divination)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: 1� Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This is likethe 3rd level cleric spell but the bodymust be present and its voice boxintact, and only 3 questions may beasked, no matter what the level of themagic-user. The dead answer to thebest of their knowledge, but usuallyin riddles.

Detect Charm (Divination)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: 3� Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 turnSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This spell islike the 2nd level clerical spell of thesame name. However, the materialcomponent for this spell is a heartflo-wer, a plant that has petals that looklike a heart. The user inhales thecrushed petals.

Find Traps (Divination)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: 3� Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 1 turnSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 1" pathExplanation/Description: This is likethe 2nd level clerical spell of the samename. However, this actually detectsthe intent to do harm with a mecha-nism. It does not detect traps that arethe result of circumstances. Thespell�s material component is a smallstring noose that must be broken.

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Find the Path (Divination)Level: 7 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 turn per levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This is justlike the clerical 6th level spell exceptthat the material component is atorch whose flame will always pointin the correct direction. If the torch isblown out, the spell is over. The samething can be done with a lanternflame.

Stone Tell (Divination)Level: 7 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 1 turnSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One cubic yard ofstoneExplanation/Description: This spell islike the clerical 6th level spell of thesame name. However, the materialcomponent is a stick of chalk withwhich the magic-user must sketch aface to do the talking. This face mustbe complete with eyes, ears, and noseor the mouth will not be able todescribe what it �saw,� �heard,� and�smelled.�

School ofConjurations andSummoningsPower Word: Sleep (Conjuration)Level: 2 Components: VRange: 6� Casting Time: 1 segmentDuration: 5 rounds/levelSaving Throw: Neg.Area of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spell islike the normal 1st level sleep spell,but it needs no somatic or materialcomponents.

Assist (Necromantic/Conjuring)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 4 seg.

Duration: 1 round + 1/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One personExplanation/Description: This spell islike the clerical 2nd level spell aid(UA), but does not include the bene-fits of the bless. The material compo-nent is a small vial of pungent herbs,the scent from which the recipientmust inhale.

Fire Stones (Conjuration)Level: 5 Components: V, S, MRange: 4� Casting Time: 1 round/stoneDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: 1/2Area of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spell islike the 6th level druid spell fireseeds, but it uses amber instead ofseeds and berries.

School of EvocationCircle (Evocation)Level: 1 Components: V, SRange: Touch Casting Time: see belowDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: The circle of magic-usersExplanation/Description: This spell issimilar to the clerical spell combinefound in the Unearthed Arcana.

This spell is what makes the Circlesof the Red Wizards truly dreaded inany battle where the Circles can seetheir foes clearly. A Circle consists ofa Wizard and his followers and ser-vants. Through use of this spell, theapprentice/followers of the wizardadd their power to that of the Wiz-ard, allowing him to cast spells as ifhis level were increased by the levelsof every apprentice in the Circle.

This means that the wizard canmemorize spells as if he were a high-er level wizard, though he cannotmemorize any spells of a higher levelthan he normally knows. Thus, a 13thlevel Wizard with 2 apprentices of

3rd level, 2 of 2nd level, and 2 of 1stlevel can memorize spells and castthem as if he were 25th level, thoughhe cannot memorize the 7th, 8th and9th level spells that a 25th level wiz-ard could memorize. The apprenticeshelping the wizard must be of thesame school. Note that any school butEvocation must use this spell at 2ndlevel, not first.

If the wizard is a member of morethan one school, his spellcasting abili-ty can only be helped for those spellswhose school the Circle�s apprenticesare part of. It is possible to set upmore than one Circle to help one wiz-ard, if they are needed.

To set up a Circle, the apprenticesmust gather into a circle, each mem-ber touching the ones to his sides insome manner. Then each apprenticemust speak the spell, which puts himinto a trance. The length the spelltakes to cast depends on how manylevels the apprentice has, because itinvolves him effectively ordering hislife and putting it at the disposal ofthe wizard. Magic-users with moreexperience have had more life to putin order. In effect, casting the spelltakes 1 turn for each level of experi-ence.

Once all the apprentices are in thetrance, the wizard can step into thecircle they have formed and draw ontheir power to help him memorizeand throw spells.

Between the time necessary to gointo the trance and the time to memo-rize extra spells, one can see that thistakes a long time. It is no good for foil-ing ambushes.

Combust (Evocation)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 4 seg.Duration: SpecialSaving Throw: 1/2Area of Effect: 30 lbs. per levelExplanation/Description: This spellmakes a combustible object burst into

flame. The damage done is 1d6 per 30lbs. of object, and the spell does 1d6per level of the caster per turn untilthe object is consumed or the flame isextinguished. This is not a magicalflame.

Fire Lance (Evocation)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: 6� + 1� /levelCasting Time: 3 segmentsDuration: InstantaneousSaving Throw: 1/2Area of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spelluses as its material components anytorches or other fire in the area. Ifthere is no open fire within direct lineof vision up to 30� per level of magic-user, the spell does not work. If thereare fires, they go out when the spell iscast. If there are more individual fires(separated by more than 2� of non-fire) than the level of the magic-user,the fires farthest away do not go out.

However, a small number of firesdoes not detract from the damagedone by the spell. The caster is, inessence, using the presence of thefire to open a momentary gate to thePlane of Elemental Fire and direct itsenergy at a subject.

The energy of the spell looks like alance of fire, which gives the spell itsname. The caster must make a spear-throwing motion at the subject,which is automatically hit. The lancedoes 1d6/level to the subject.

Fire Storm (Evocation)Level: 8 Components: V, S, MRange: 16� Casting Time: 5 segmentsDuration: 1 roundSaving Throw: 1/2Area of Effect: 2� cube/level, mini-mum 16� cubeExplanation/Description: This is likethe 7th level druid spell of the samename. The material component forthis form of the spell is charcoal fromthe cremation of a dead magic-user.

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Flame Dagger (Evocation)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 3 seg.Duration: 1 round/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 1� long, dagger-likebladeExplanation/Description: This spellcreates a flaming dagger that is likethe 2nd level flame sword of thedruid (UA) but does 2-5 damage with+2 vs. undead and those vulnerableto fire. It is otherwise the same.

Flash (Evocation)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: 10� + 1� /levelCasting Time: 3 segmentsDuration: InstantaneousSaving Throw: 1/2 the time blindedArea of Effect: 2� radius sphereExplanation/Description: This spellcreates a blinding flash of light in itsarea. Everyone affected is -5 to anyroll to hit anything�thieves are -25% in all skills for the duration of theeffects.

The effects last for 2-20 rounds.Roll seperately for each victim unlessthe DM says not to. A successful sav-ing throw versus magic cuts theeffect time in half.

School of AbjurationDeny Cold (Abjuration)Level: 1 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 turn/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This spellhas much the same effect of the 1stlevel clerical spell resist cold, but itacts to repel cold, rather than tough-en the body to endure it. The materialcomponent is a swatch of fur from afur-bearing animal.

Deny Fire (Abjuration)Level: 2 Components: V, S, M

Range: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 turn/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This spellhas much the same effect of the 2ndlevel clerical spell resist fire, but itacts to repel fire and heat, ratherthan toughen the body to endure it.The material component is a sliver ofred or gold dragon hide.

Protection from SpecificLycanthropes�10� Radius (Abju-ration)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 4 + level/roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This spellmust be learned separately for eachform of lycanthrope from which thecaster wishes protection. The spellsets up a circle of protection aroundthe subject that moves with him, onethat keeps out 49 hit dice (round allhit point pluses down unless theyexceed + 3) of the type of lycanthropeprotected against. If there are morelycanthropes than are protectedagainst, the remaining lycanthropescan cross the circle and attack.

The material component of thisspell, and the derivative spellsdescribed later, is wolfsbane, whichmust be crumbled up and scattered ina circle around the caster during thecasting of the spell.

Protection From Normal Weap-ons (Abjuration)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 5-8 roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius spherearound subjectExplanation/Description: This is actu-ally three spells, and each must be

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learned separately. The three spellsare protection from blunt weapons,protection from edged weapons, andprotection from missiles. All threespells may be applied to the samerecipient at the same time. The recipi-ent and anyone within the radius,which moves with the subject, cannotbe touched by a non-magical weaponof the type protected against. Themissile protection does not encom-pass large objects such as ballistabolts or stones hurled by giants.

The material component for thisspell is a piece of a broken weapon ofthe proper type.

Protection from Plants�10�Radius (Abjuration)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 5-8 roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: All forms ofvegetable life, including fungi, slimes,molds, and the like are unable to pen-etrate this protective sphere thatmoves with the subject. If it is movedtoward plant life that is capable ofmovement, the plant is pushed away.If the plant life is immobile, thesphere cannot move any farther inthat direction unless the subject hasenough strength and mass to uprootthe plant under normal circumstanc-es.

The material component is ashfrom the burned remains of someform of dangerous slime or mold.

Protection from Poison (Abjura-tion)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 6 seg.Duration: 3-12 rounds (1d10 + 2)Saving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: No form ofpoison, ingested in any fashion,

affects the protected individual, andany such poison already in the sub-ject�s system is permanently neutral-ized.

The material component of thespell is a sprig of belladonna.

Resist Energy Drain (Abjuration)Level: 2 Components: V, SRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 1 turn/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This spellgives the subject a saving throw vs.death magic any time he is attacked byundead that drain energy levels. If thesaving throw is made, the undead can-not steal the life energy of the subject.This does not work against any sort ofattack besides the touch of an undead.

Protection from All Lycanth-ropes � 10� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 3 Components: V, S, M

Range: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 5-30 roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This spell islike protection from specific lycan-thropes, but it works against alllycanthropes.

Protection from Electricity�10�Radius (Abjuration)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 3-12 (3d4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: All withinthe radius, which moves with thesubject, are immune to any electricalattacks and associated effects.

The material component is a pieceof tektite.

Protection from SpecificElementals � 10' Radius (Abjura-tion)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 4 + level/roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This is actu-ally four spells, each of which mustbe learned individually. The area ofprotection, which moves with thesubject, protects all within from thedirect attacks of either air elementals(including all similar creatures suchas djinn and invisible stalkers), earthelementals (including xorn), fire ele-mentals (including efreet and sala-manders) , or water elementals(including tritons and water weirds).The circle of protection affects a max-imum of 24 hit dice of the specific ele-mental creatures. If an elementalcreature has more that 24 hit dice, orthe creatures exceed that number intotal, the extra creatures (or theentire creature if it has more dice)can pass the circle. There is nothingstopping the elementals from hurlingobjects past the circle, if they arecapable of doing that, and attacks cango out of the circle.

The material component of thisspell is a vial of water versus fire ele-mentals, a smoldering ember versusair elementals, a small fan versusearth elementals, and a lump of earthagainst water elementals.

Protection from Illusions (Abju-ration)Level: 3 Components: V, SRange: much Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 5-30 (5d6) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spelllets the subject see through any

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illusion or phantasm, but he knows itfor what it is and it becomes almosttransparent to him, so he can seewhat it may be hiding.

Protection from Magical Weap-ons (Abjuration)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 5-8 roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This is actu-ally three spells, and each must belearned separately. The three spellsare protection from magical bluntweapons, protection from magicaledged weapons, and protection frommagical missiles. All three spells maybe applied to the same recipient at thesame time. The recipient cannot betouched by a weapon of the type pro-tected against, but note that this pro-tection does not apply to spells suchas magic missile or Mordenkainen�sSword which simulate the effects ofweapons.

The material component for thisspell is a piece of a broken magicalweapon of the proper type.

Protection from Paralyzation(Abjuration)Level: 3 Components: V, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 5-8 turnsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This protec-tion extends to all forms of paralyza-tion, muscle and nerve paralysisincluded. A hold spell does not workon the protected individual, nor doesany sort of paralyzation brought onby gas.

The material component for thisspell is dried and ground up carrioncrawler tentacle, which the castermust swallow after speaking thespell.

Protection from SpecificUndead�5� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 10-80 (10d8) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This is actu-ally several spells, each of whichworks against a different form ofundead and must be learned sepera-tely. This protects all within its cir-cumference, which moves with thesubject, from all physical attacksfrom the undead, but not magic spellsor other attack forms. If a creatureleaves the protected area it is thensubject to physical attack. The protec-tion restrains up to 35 hit dice/levelsof undead; excess hit dice/levels canpass through the circle.

The material component for thisspell is dust taken from a tomb guard-ed by the specific type of undead.

Protection from Water (Abjura-tion)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 5-8 turnsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: No form ofwater, solid, liquid, or gas, can pene-trate this sphere of protection, whichmoves with the subject. If those beingprotected come upon a form of water,the substance simply does not touchthem; thus they do not slip on ice,sink into a body of water, etc.

The material component for thisspell is a handful of dry desert sand.

Protection from All Elemen-tals�10� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 4 + level/roundsSaving Throw: None

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Area of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This pro-tects against all elementals. Thesphere of protection, which moveswith the subject, protects all withinfrom the direct attacks of air elemen-tals (including all similar creaturessuch as djinn and invisible stalkers),earth elementals (including xorn), fireelementals (including efreet and sala-manders), and water elementals(including tritons and water weirds).The circle of protection affects a max-imum of 16 hit dice of elemental crea-tures. If an elemental creature hasmore than 16 hit dice, or the crea-tures exceed that number in total, theextra creatures (or the entire crea-ture if it has more dice) can pass thecircle. There is nothing stopping theelementals from hurling objects pastthe circle, if they are capable of doingthat, and attacks can go out of the cir-cle.

The material component of thisspell is a piece of a substance thatcame from neither the Prime Materi-al Plane nor any of the ElementalPlanes.

Protection from All Undead�5�Radius (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 10-80 (10d8) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around cast-erExplanation/Description: This spellworks against all forms of undead. Allwithin the circumference of thissphere of protection that moves withthe subject are protected from allphysical attacks from the undead, butnot magic spells or other attackforms. If a creature leaves the pro-tected area it is then subject to physi-cal attack. The protection restrainsup to 35 hit dice/levels of undead;excess hit dice/levels can pass

through the circle.The material component for this

spell is dust taken from a vampire�scasket.

Protection from BreathWeapons�Dragon (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 6-12 (2d4 +4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This protec-tion is not limited by alignment ortype of dragon breath, it extends toall forms of dragon breath.

The material component of thisspell is a gold coin, which is destroyedin the spell.

Protection from BreathWeapons�Non-Dragon (Abjura-tion)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 6-12 (2d4 +4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This protec-tion is not limited by alignment ortype of breath, it extends to all formsof breath weapon not used by adragon.

The material component of thisspell is a platinum coin, which isdestroyed in the spell.

Protection from Cold�15�Radius (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 6 seg.Duration: 5-8 (d4 +4) turnsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 15� radius aroundcasterExplanation/Description: All withinthis sphere of protection that moveswith the subject are protected fromthe effects of normal cold as low asabsolute zero. Against magical cold,the spell acts as the clerical spell

resist cold, but with enhanced bene-fits ( + 6 on saving throw, damage onequarter normal or one-eighth if saveis made).

The material component of thespell is a smoldering ember.

Protection from Fire�15� Radi-us (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 5-8 (d4 +4) turnsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 15� radius aroundcasterExplanation/Description: All withinthis sphere of protection that moveswith the subject are able to withstandflame and heat of the hottest sort,even of elemental or magical nature.

The material component for thisspell is a vial of water.

Protection from Gas�5� Radius(Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 6 seg.Duration: 5-8 (d4 +4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around cast-erExplanation/Description: All withinthis sphere of protection that moveswith the subject are immune to theeffects of any form of gas-poisongas, breath weapons which are gas-eous in nature, spells which generatenoxious clouds such as stinking cloudand cloudkill, and all similar forms ofnoxious, toxic, vapors.

Protection from MechanicalTraps (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 8 seg.Duration: 5-20 (5d4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: Traps ofmechanical nature do not functionagainst the subject of this spell, but

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they are not revealed.The material component for this

spell is a thimbleful of axle grease.

Protection from Petrification�10� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 5-20 (5d4) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: All withinthe confines of this sphere of protec-tion that moves with the subject areabsolutely immune to any attackform, magical or otherwise, whichcauses flesh to turn to stone.

The material component of thisspell is a pinch of scales from thesnakes on a medusa�s head.

Protection from Possession�10� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 10-60 (10d6) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This spellgenerates a sphere of protection thatmoves with the subject and protectsall creatures within its confines frompossession by magical spell attackssuch as magic jar; attack forms aimedat mental control or possession orpsychic energy drain which arepsionically or magically based; ordemon, devil, night hag, or similarcreature possession (obsession). Evendead bodies within the magic circleare protected.

The material components for thisspell are fragments from a formermagic jar.

Protection from Shape-changers� 10� Radius (Abjura-tion)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 5-30 roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 10� radius around cast-erExplanation/Description: This spell islike the protection from all lycan-thropes spell, but it also worksagainst other types of shapechangers,such as doppelgangers, some formsof dragons, druids, jackalweres, andthose under the influence of poly-morph spells.

Turn Magic (Abjuration)Level: 4 Components: V, SRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This spellcan take two forms, but the form canbe chosen on casting the spell.

The spell works the same in eithercase, but the duration is different.The spell can either be cast to last for10-60 (10d6) rounds, or to last indefi-nitely unless it is triggered. If the lat-ter form is used, the spell works onceand then must be recast to be usedagain.

This spell distorts the three normaldimensions with regard to magicspells directed at its subject. Any spellcast at the subject usually rebounds,in part or in whole, upon the caster.The distance between, and area occu-pied by, the subject and the spell cast-er are not as they seem when themagic activates the spell. Four impor-tant exceptions must be noted:

1. Spells affecting an area and nottargetted specifically at the subjectare not turned.

2. Spells delivered by touch are notturned.

3. Magic contained in devices,

which include wands and rings butdo not include scrolls, are not turned.

4. Psionic powers are not consid-ered magic for the purposes of thisspell.

When a spell is cast on the subject,roll 1d10. The result is both the pro-portion of the spell returned to thecaster and the bonus to the savingthrow against the spell. If the spell is adamage spell, multiply the roll by 10to get the percentage of damage thatreturns to the caster. The remainderhits the individual protected by theturn magic spell. The number is alsoadded to the saving throw against thespell of the person with turn magic.The remainder is added to the savingthrow of the attacking spell caster.

If the spell normally has no savingthrow, the amount rolled on the dl0is the proportion of a roll of d20 for asave. In other words, if the roll is 5,both the subject and the attackingspell caster have saving throws of 16.If the roll was a 7, the turn magic userhas a saving throw of 14 (20-7 = 13),and the attacker has a saving throwof 18 (20-3 = 17). This saving throw isnot modifiable by any considerationof protection, race, etc.

If an attacking spell has a top limitof number of levels of character itcan affect, then the total levels of thecaster and the turn magic subjectmust not exceed the number of levelsthe spell can affect. Otherwise thespell is a failure.

As long as the turn magic effect ison, the wearer cannot accept a spellvoluntarily.

If both caster and subject are pro-tected by turn magic or rings of spellturning, then a resonance is set upthat can negate the spell, make itaffect both fully and equally or someother unpleasant possiblities. DMsshould look at the DMG, page 131, onrings of spell turning to get the exactpossible results.

Protection from Acid (Abjuration)Level: 5 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This spellprotects the subject from all forms ofacid, up to a damage limit of 20 hitdice or a time limit of 9-12 turns(d4 + 8), whichever comes first. Thus,the subject could be protected fromthree breath attacks from the small-est size of black dragon (normally6HD of damage per attack), and stillhave some protection left over, aslong as the attacks all happened with-in the time period.

The material for this spell is a goldmirror.

Protection from MagicalTraps�5� Radius (Abjuration)Level: 5 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 3-12 (1d10 + 2) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: Magicaltraps do not function within 5� of thesubject of the spell, but they are notrevealed, either.

The material component of thisspell is a thimbleful of axle grease.

Spell Immunity (Abjuration)Level: 5 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 1 turn/levelSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One individualExplanation/Description: This spell isidentical to the clerical 4th level spellof the same name WA).

Protection from Any Traps�5�Radius * (Abjuration)Level: 6 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 roundsDuration: 2-8 (2d4) rounds

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Saving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This spellcombines the aspects of the protec-tion from mechanical traps and pro-tection from magical traps spells.Except as shown above, it is identicalto those spells.

Protection From Magic�5�Radius (Abjuration)Level: 6 Components: V, SRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 5-30 (5d6) roundsSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 5� radius around sub-jectExplanation/Description: This verypowerful and invisible globe of pro-tection, which moves with the sub-ject, prevents any form of magic frompassing in or out of its confines, butnormal things are not restricted. Anymagical item touching the globe mustbe saved for with a 50% likelihood ofthe object being drained of all magicfrom the power of the globe�thesave equals 11 or better on d20.

If multiple magical items encounterthe globe simultaneously, the leadingitem (a magical sword held in advanceof its owner, for instance) is the firstaffected, then the others are checked

in order of descending power untilthe first item fails its save, at whichtime the globe is cancelled and theitem is drained of its magic.

School ofNecromancyDetho�s Delirium (Necromantic)Level: 1 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 2 seg.Duration: 1 round + 1 round/level ofcasterSaving Throw: NegatesArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: The casterof this spell touches a being who isdrugged, drunken, unconscious, orsleeping, while speaking the mysticwords and ringing a small silver orbrass bell (which can be reused). Thetouched creature receives a savingthrow against spells at - 2; if the saveis failed, the creature begins to speak.(A creature feigning drunkenness orunconsciousness is not affected bythis spell.) The affected being speaksat random, in all languages known toit, and on random, rambling, topics. Itcannot hear questions and cannot beforced by mental or magical controlto give specific answers�any attemptto use such control is 96% likely toawaken the creature. While the crea-

ture speaks, there is a 22% chanceper round (not cumulative) that it willreveal names, truenames, passwords,words of activation, codes, direc-tions, and other useful information.Note that the speaker will rarely iden-tify such fragments of speech forwhat they truly are, and hearersmust speculate themselves on themeanings. Dreams, rumors, jokes,and fairy tales may be mumbled bythe speaker, not merely factual infor-mation.

The spell will be broken before itsduration is over if the affected crea-ture is awakened.

Summon Undead (Conjuration/Necromantic)Level: 1 Components: V,S,MRange: See Below Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 1-8 turns + 1 turn/level ofcasterSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: 100� radius per level ofcasterExplanation/Description: The nearest2-12 undead of hit dice equal to or lessthan the level of the caster and within100� per level of the magic-user, musttravel to the caller at normal pace. Thesummoned undead will not be hostile,nor are they under the control of thesummoner. They may act as they wish.

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Once they have arrived at the summon-er, the undead may turn around and goback where they came from, attackanyone in their way, talk to the sum-moner, or perform any other actionthat seems reasonable to them.Unthinking undead (such as zombiesand skeletons) with a purpose immedi-ately return to their station. Wanderingunthinking undead stay and wait fororders (for which the caster needscharm undead or a potion of undeadcontrol or something similar) unlessthere are obvious foes besides the sum-moner to attack.

This is both a Necromancy and aConjuration spell, but it is not taughtin the Conjuration school. The sum-moner must have bone dust that isscattered to the wind during the spellcasting.

Speak With Dead (Necromantic/Divination)Level: 2 Components: V, S, MRange: 1� Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: See descrip-tion in School of Divination.

Assist (Necromantic/Conjuring)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 4 seg.Duration: 1 round + 1 round/level ofcasterSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One personExplanation/Description: See descrip-tion in School of Conjuring.

Charm Undead (Enchantment/Necromantic)Level: 3 Components: V, SRange: 6� Casting Time: 4 segmentsDuration: SpecialSaving Throw: NegatesArea of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: See descrip-tion under School of Enchantment.

Belten�s Burning Blood (Necro-mantic)Level: 4 Components: V, S, MRange: 1�/level of casterCasting Time: 4 segmentsDuration: 3 roundsSaving Throw: NegatesArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: By means ofthis spell, a magic-user can cause anycreature who is presently bearingopen, bleeding, wounds (i.e. one whohas been damaged by edged weaponsrecently and whose wounds have notyet been dressed or healed) to suffer3-12 hit points of additional damageper round, by causing a subtle, tem-porary change in the victim�s bloodthat causes it to be corrosive to adja-cent tissue.

The subject must have blood to beaffected, and any creature immuneor resistant to fire or corrosive dam-age cannot be affected. The materialcomponents of the spell are the visi-ble blood and a pinch of saltpeter.Once the spell is cast, the caster doesnot have to concentrate on the spell.It continues to work as the caster per-forms other actions.

The spell causes no damage if thesubject�s saving throws (versus spellsat -3) are successful in each of thethree rounds of the duration. If onesaving throw is made, the subject stilltakes damage during the other tworounds of the duration. No hit roll isnecessary and the subject need noteven be in sight of the caster as longas the caster is familiar with the sub-ject and the subject is within range.Astral or ethereal subjects cannot beaffected.

Targets who have altered theirshape or entered other objects (suchas a tree or stone) are still vulnerableto this spell as long as they are bleed-ing. Creatures who have powers ofregeneration are only affected as longas they have open wounds.

Animate Dead Monsters (Necro-mantic)Level: 6 Components: V, S, MRange: 1� Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: PermanentSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: This spell isjust like the clerical 5th level spell ofthe same name (UA) but the materialcomponent is just the body to be ani-mated.

The Simbul�s Synostodweomer(Alteration/Necromantic)Level: 7 Components: V, SRange: 0 Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: SpecialSaving Throws: NoneArea of Effect: SpecialExplanation/Description: See descrip-tion in School of Alteration.

Regenerate (Necromantic)Level: 8 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 3 roundsDuration: PermanentSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This spell islike the 7th level clerical spell of thesame name. The material componentis a lizard that can naturally regrowits limbs, which must be slain as partof the spell.

Restoration (Necromantic)Level: 9( Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 3 roundsDuration: PermanentSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: Creature touchedExplanation/Description: This spell islike the clerical 7th level spell of thesame name, but its material compo-nent is a patch of wight�s skin.

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RELIGION OF THAYThe basic Alignment of Thay is neutralevil. The Red Wizards dislike religion asa general practice, and refuse to give itany prominence in their government.This is a result of the country�s origins,which consisted of a gang of Mulhoran-dese wizards rebelling against the stul-tifying theocracy of Mulhorand.

This is not to say that the Red Wiz-ards do not themselves worship thegods. One of the principal gods of manyof the Wizards is Myrkul, which tiesinto the exhaustive study of Necroman-cy in the Realms.

Entries for the gods worshipped inThay are organized thus: Name(s), port-folio, alignment, home plane, symbol,and notes.

Azuth, The High One, Patron ofMagic-Users, Demipower, LN, ArcadiaSymbol: A human hand, forefingerpointing upward, outlined in a nimbusof blue fire.

Azuth is worshipped in a desultoryway in Thay as the patron of magic-users. Wizards with no real affinity forreligion pay him lip service and occa-sionally make sacrifices in his name. Hisform has been seen in Thay at one timeor another, but has never stayed long.

There are major temples in his honorin Eltabbar and Bezantur, smallershrines in Tyraturos and Pyarados.Attendance at any of the shrines is des-ultory. The highest ranking priest ofAzuth in Thay is 7th level.

Bane, Lord Bane, the Black Lord, Godof Strife, Hatred, Tyranny, GreaterPower, LE, AcheronSymbol: A black hand, open, withthumb and fingers aligned together�sometimes on a red field.

Bane does not have the respect inThay that he does in Zhentil Keep, buthe is worshipped mostly among theTharchions and Tharchionesses.

There are temples to Bane in Eltab-bar, Bezantur, Tyraturos, Pyarados,and Surthay, and major shrines in theruins of Delhumide and on the Aldor.There is also a private shrine in the Cita-

del for the Tharchion.The highest ranking priest of Bane is

12th level�the high priest of the templeof Bane in Bezantur. He is watched veryclosely by most of the Zulkirs, who feelhe may be an agent of Zhentil Keep.

Beshaba, Maid of Misfortune, BlackBess, Lady Doom, Goddess of Mischief,Misfortune, Ill Luck, Accidents, Treach-ery, Betrayal, Lesser Power, CE, AbyssSymbol: Black antlers on a red field.

Beshaba is propitiated more thanworshipped throughout Thay. Theresearching magicians of Thay have nowish to suffer ill luck half-way througha magical ceremony.

Shrines to Beshaba appear every-where there are magic-users in Thay,but there is no temple to her name any-where.

Bhaal, Lord of Murder, God of Death,Lesser Power, LE, GehennaSymbol: a circle of red blood tears, fall-ing counterclockwise, about a whiteskull.

Bhaal is also worshipped mostly bythe ruling class of Thay, particularlythose who have gained their high posi-tions through the elimination of compe-tition. T h e v e r y a c t i v e G u i l d o fAssassins has at least one temple toBhaal in each city of Thay.

The main temple of Bhaal is in Eltab-bar, the center of politics in Thay. Theprincipal heirophant of this religion inThay is 10th level, and he reports to thePriest of Bane in Bezantur.

The God-Kings, Masters of the Earth,gods and rulers of Mulhorand, lords ofrulers everywhere, Lesser Powers, LN,Prime Material PlaneSymbol: A ziggurat-like tower of whiteon a blue field.

The God-kings are the rulers ofMulhorand, and not officially appreci-ated in Thay. However, many Thayvianswho are not Red Wizards still worshipthe gods of their fathers. The worship isnot extensive, and is repressed in manyparts of the country.

The only temple to the god-kings is a

ziggurat outside the walls of Bezantur.The high priest of that temple is contin-ually being arrested for sedition by theZulkirs, so the most powerful cleric inresidence is 8th level, and that one hasbeen in charge only three months.

Gond, Wonderbringer, god of black-smiths, artificers, crafts and construc-tion, Lesser Power, N, ConcordantOppositionSymbol: A toothed wheel of brass,bronze, iron, or bone.

Gond is the god of the tradesmen and,somewhat, the merchants of Thay. Hisworship is relatively weak but is notsuppressed by the rulers, who considerhim a good example to the craftsmen.

The main temple of Gond is in Tyra-turos, and is presided over by a cleric ofthe 9th level.

Helm, He of the Unsleeping Eyes, Godof Guardians, Lesser God, LN, NirvanaSymbol: An open, staring eye, oftenpainted on a metal gauntlet.

Helm is the patron of many of the sol-diers of Thay and of the Inner Seaslands in general. His worship is not sup-ported by the heirarchy, but it is toler-ated in mercenaries.

Bezantur is the home of the main tem-ple to Gond, but there are temples in allthe main cities and shrines in ever gar-rison and tax station. The highest levelcleric is the Grand Master of the Orderof Helm, a 9th level cleric who operatesout of the Citadel.

Ilmater, God of Endurance, Suffering,Martyrdom, Perseverance , LesserPower, LG, Twin ParadisesSymbol: The bloodstained rack orcrossed hands bound at the wrist.

Ilmater is the god of the slaves andlower classes in Thay. There is an activeworship among the slaves of Thay.

There are no temples to Ilmater, butshrines of sorts, usually mobile, areavailable throughout the realm. Ilmateris worshipped communally, and thehighest level cleric in his service is a 5thlevel priest who is also a runaway slavewho wanders the entire country, dodg-ing patrols and ministering to his flock.

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Iyachtu Xvim, The Godson, Son ofBane, Demipower, LESymbol: A pair of green, glowing eyeson a black field.

The Godson is rarely worshipped. Heoften acts in his father�s interests, andhas been seen many times in Thay, nodoubt attempting to further his father�sworship.

There are no temples to the name ofthe godson; he is worshipped throughthe worship of Bane.

Kossuth, The Lord of Flames, TheFirelord, Tyrant among Fire Elemen-tals, God of Elemental Fire, LesserPower, N, Plane of FireSymbol in Thay: A sceptre outlined infire.

All of the elemental rulers are wor-shipped to some extent in Thay, butKossuth is pre-eminent among the ele-mental lords. The Red Wizards havelong concentrated on fire magic, andKossuth and Myrkul are the closestthing to the dominant gods of Thay.

There are temples to Kossuth all overThay, but the main temple is in the cityof Tyraturos, whose surrounding dryplains are the most amenable to his sen-sibilities. The temple is open to the skyand surrounded by eternal flameswhich accept the sacrifices of animalsand slaves that propitiates Kossuth.

The highest ranking cleric for Kos-suth is a 16th level high priest in thattemple.

Leira, Lady of the Mists, Goddess ofDeception, Illusion, Demipower, CN,LimboSymbol: A triangular plaque, pointdownward, painted in cloudy, swirling,grays.

Leira is the inspiration of the Illusion-ists of Thay. She is not held in highregard throughout the Realm, butthere is a medium-sized temple dedi-cated to her worship in Eltabbar, whoseTharchioness is thought to be a studentof the school of Illusion. The highestranking cleric of this worship is 8thlevel, and resides in the Eltabbar tem-ple.

Loviatar, Maiden of Pain, Goddess ofPain, Hurt, Patron of Torturers, Demi-power, LE, GehennaSymbol: A black whip of nine strandswith barbed tips.

Loviatar is the handmaiden of Baneand Bhaal, and worshipped as suchamong Thayvian nobility. There is atemple in her name in the city of Bezan-tur (which is known as the City of aThousand Temples), but otherwise sheis worshipped along with Bane andBhaal. The highest ranking cleric ofLoviatar alone is the high priestess ofthe Bezantur temple. She is 8th level.

Malar, The Beastlord, The Stalker,God of Wild, Marauding Beasts, Blood-lust, and Hunting, Demipower, CE, Tar-terusSymbol: A taloned, bestial claw.

Malar is the only one of the Gods ofFury who is much worshipped in Thay.In general, the Gods of Fury are tooindependent for the liking of the RedWizards. However, the bloodlust andkilling fever of his worship are popularamong the rulers of Thay who enjoyhunting.

Malar has his distinctive woodlandtemples in special copses (which areavoided and despised by druids) outsidemost of the cities of Thay and scatteredamong the usual hunting preserves inthe Realm. The high priest of Malar is a12th level priest residing in Pyarados,where the hunt ing in the SunriseMountains is best. This priest can alsoact as a cleric of the other Gods of Furyif needed.

Mask, Lord of Shadows, God ofThieves, Intrigue, Lesser Power, NE,HadesSymbol: Black velvet mask.

Mask is as popular among the under-world of Thay as he is anywhere else inthe Realms.

There is a major temple to his wor-ship in the city of Bezantur, where thethieves are dominant, but he only haseasily-disguised shrines elsewhere inthe Realm. Many Red Wizards givesome worship to Mask in hopes of his

50

assistance in their various conspiraciesto gain power.

The high priest of Mask in Thay is a13th level cleric who travels all over thecountry to keep eyes on his flock. Themaster of the temple at Bezantur is a10th level cleric who answers to themaster of the temple when he is intown.

Myrkul, Lord of Bones, Old LordSkull, God of the Dead, Wasting, Decay,Corruption, Parasites, Old Age, Dusk,Fall, Exhaustion, Greater Power, NE,HadesSymbol: A skull or skeletal hand.

Myrkul is the patron of necroman-cers, and the college of necromancy isone of the most powerful in Thay.Myrkul and Kossuth are the dominantgods of Thay.

There are temples to Myrkul in everycity of Thay and shrines in every slave-farm and tax station. The main templeis in Surthay�home city of the Zulkir ofNecromancy.

The high priest of this religion inThay is a 16th level high priest whoresides in Surthay.

Mystra, The Lady of Mysteries, God-dess of Magic, Greater Power, LN, Nir-vanaSymbol: A blue-white star.

Mystra is worshipped in some waysby all magic-users, and the Thayvianwizards are no exceptions. Usually,however, she is not worshipped exclu-sively by any of them.

Mystra has temples in all the cities ofThay. They are usually restricted to RedWizards and their entourages. Thelargest temple is in Bezantur, but thechief temple is the scarcely-smaller onein Eltabbar. The high priestess of Mys-tra is a 14th level cleric in Eltabbar.

Shar, Mistress of the Night, The Ladyof Loss, Goddess of Darkness, Night,Loss, Forgetfulness, Greater Power, NE,HadesSymbol: Circle of black with a border ofdeep purple.

Shar i s worshipped a long with

Myrkul, and turned to for consolationwhen a loved one dies.

Every temple to Myrkul has a shrineto Shar, and there are major temples toher alone in Bezantur, Eltabbar, andPyarados. The temple in Surthay is partof the temple to Myrkul, but has its ownwing.

The main cleric of Shar in Thay is a12th level priestess who reports to thehigh priest of Myrkul.

Talona, Lady of Poison, Mistress ofDisease, Goddess of Disease, Poisoning,Demipower, CE, TarterusSymbol: Three teardrops in a triangle,apex upwards.

Since the plagues of a hundred years

before, Talona has been worshipped bythe lower classes and some members ofthe ruling class in a propitiary way tokeep her plagues away from the wor-shippers. Also, the Assassins worshipher along with her patron, Bhaal.

There is a major temple to Talona inBezantur, and every temple of Bane hasa shrine to her. There are also privateshrines in the homes of several mem-bers of the nobility and merchants andin the guildhalls of the Assassins Guild.

The chief priest of Talona is a 9th levelcleric who runs the temple in Bezantur.

Waukeen, Liberty�s Maiden, Mer-chantsfriend, Goddess of Trade, Money,Lesser Power, N, Concordant Opposi-

tionSymbol: A woman�s full face or profilewithin a circle of gold.

The growing middle class of Thayworships Waukeen. The Zulkirs are notcertain what their attitude toward thisgoddess should be, but then they arenot certain what to do about a lot ofthings concerning the middle class.

There is a temple of Waukeen in Tyra-turos, and of course one in Bezantur.The offial highest-ranking cleric ofWaukeen is an 8th level priest in Tyra-turos, but Dimon of Tyraturos, theTharchion, is rumored to be a high-ranking priest of the goddess.

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The entries on persons presented inthis section are arranged as follows:Name, Base of Operations, Level andClass, Alignment, Deity, Race and Sex.

Zulkir Szass TamDelhumide24th level Magic-User, School of

Necromancy, Red Wizard of ThayNE MyrkulLich MaleSzass Tam is zulkir of the School of

Necromancy, third head of his familysince the first days of Thay. He has beenaround for 250 years, 195 of them as alich. He understands undead as no oneelse can.

U n l i k e m o s t l i c h e s , S z a s s T a mpresents a very human-like aspect tothe world. His clothes are not rotting,and his body is very well preserved,thanks to the preservation spell he hasapplied to himself that he renews everyfew weeks. Occasionally he gets forget-ful and his body starts to rot a bit, sothere is a slight smell of the grave abouthim, but he keeps himself heavily per-fumed to cover that scent.

Because of this preservation, SzassTam does not frighten low level peopleaway if they look at him. He does haveall the other aspects of a lich, includingthe freezing touch.

Szass Tam�s greatest goal is thedestruction of Rashemen. He felt hewas on the verge of attaining personalimmortality without becoming a lichwhen he had to leave his researches tolead an invading army into Rashemen(He could have not led the army, butthat consideration is not something hepays much attention to). The Witches ofRashemen routed the army and SzassTam was so badly hurt in the battle thathe had to become a lich to survive at all.

Now he works on his contribution tothe armies of Thay, Myrkul�s Legion, athousand zombies or more dedicated tothe destruction of Rashemen. Current-ly he is sending this legion, backed upby the usual forces at the Gorge ofGauros, into Rashemen to gain hisrevenge.

Szass Tam�s SpellbookSzass Tam has every Necromancy spell

in his spellbook, including the namedspells that are not normally in every nec-romancer�s book. He also has cold of cold,dimension door, and phase door; and oth-er spells that may be useful.

He also has two unique spells that areonly also known by a couple of his mosttrusted apprentices.

Preservation (Alteration/Necro-mancy)Level: 3 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turnDuration: 1 day per level of casterSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One medium sized crea-tureExplanation/Description: This spell pre-serves meat and other foods as if it hadjust been killed. It does not work oncooked food. It can be used on deadpeople to keep them intact until theycan be raised (the time preserved doesnot count toward the time elapsedbefore raising) or spoken to. It can alsobe used on a zombie or lich or similarundead to keep the body from rotting.

Animate Dread Warrior of Tam(Necromancy)Level: 6 Components: V, S, MRange: Touch Casting Time: 1 turn

MAJOR PERSONALITIES OF THAYDuration: PermanentSaving Throw: NoneArea of Effect: One creatureExplanation/Description: This spell isused on any newly-dead person onwhom the preservation spell has beenplaced. The body becomes a zombie ofunusual power (see INVASION OF THELIVING DEAD in the Adventures Sec-tion) and ability. It does not work onskeletons.

The body affected must be a personwith good fighting ability, though itneed not originally have been a fighter.However, the body loses any skills otherthan fighting skills it had, so fighters arethe best candidates.

Szass Tam has many magical items.Among them is a wand of whips. Thiswand shoots forth a whip-shaped fieldof white, shimmering, magical force toa maximum (horizontal and vertical)range of 7�. The wielder of the whipnames, looks at, or concentrates upon aspecific subject creature or automaton(i.e. golem, undead, homonculus, or thelike), and the whip attacks this creatureand this creature only . The whipremains in existence for 4 rounds; if thesubject is beyond 7� from the wandwhen it is cast, the whip flashes instant-ly (in one segment) to the limit of itsrange, and hangs motionless, waiting,at the point closest to its subject. Other-wise the whip strikes once per round,as a Qual�s feather token (see DMG)does: at +1 to hit and damage, doing 2-7 hit points of damage per strike, andbinding fast an opponent for 2-7 roundsif a save vs. spell is not made after eachsuccessful strike.

Once a whip has bound an opponent,the wand wielder cannot release it tostrike again. The whip cannot changesubjects. A whip may follow an opponentthat it has struck at least once beyond 7�,moving with the subject even if the sub-ject teleports, blinks, plane shifts, enters arock or plant, etc. The whip hits invisibleand ethereal, but no astral, creatureswithout penalty. The wand of whips maybe recharged. Only magic-users maywield it.

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Alzegund the TraderWanders (Cormyr, Sembia , and

Dragon Reach)10th level magic-user, Red Wizard of

ThayLE KossuthHuman MaleAn old, bald, war-scarred necroman-

cer who openly wears robes marked onthe breast and back with a red flamebadge, he travels the trade routes withsix grim men-at-arms, guarding thosecaravans the Red Wizards want keptsafe. Alzegund also spies on the militarystrength of Cormyr and of ZhentilKeep. He is said to possess a magical bagof tricks and a wand of lightning.

Alzegund is a member of the Schoolof Evocation, and specializes in firemagics. Because he does so much trav-eling and guarding, he has not climbedas high in his profession as his agewould indicate, but he seems to enjoyhis work. Indeed, while his guard main-tains a tight-lipped and dour watch overhim, he is continually buying drinks forother travelers and exchanging stories,some of them at the expense of his mas-ters, the Red Wizards.

Of course, he is principally drawingout his drinking partners to get infor-mation from them by making themthink he is a harmless tosspot that lovesthe Red Wizards no more than most oftheir neighbors. Very few high-rankingofficials are taken in by this demeanor,but he can often get vital informationfrom lower-ranking persons, and some-times uses his magics (he is a proficientalchemist) to do favors for them, whichhe then claims a reward for by forcinginformation from his �friends� or evenhaving them steal things for him.

His men-at-arms are all human males.Their membership changes over theyears, but now consists of a 6th levelfighter, the sergeant, three 4th levelfighters who have been with Alzegundfor a couple of years, and two 2nd levelsword-apprentices who are on theirfirst trip with Alzegund.

AilothHillsfar and Sembia6th level magic-user, Red Wizard of

ThayLE KossuthHuman MaleAiloth is a white-haired, 6th level

magic-user who first came to the Sem-bia region with Alzegund about twentyyears ago. He ostensibly left Alzegundto find his own way in the world, but hewas actually left in Sembia purposely togather information in Sembia and Hills-far. He acts as a moneylender and �dis-tressed goods/damaged goods� buyerwhile maintaining a small spy networkfor the Red Wizards.

Ailoth (pronounced (EYE-loth) has notbeen extremely subtle in his machina-tions. His contacts with the Red Wiz-ards are well-known in both Hillsfarand Sembia, though not all of his spiesare known and he still occasionallygathers significant information.

Of course, his business is one of thestops of the trading caravans that Alze-gund shepherds, so Ailoth can report tohis spymaster.

Ailoth might be a good candidate asthe instigator of the assassinationattempts described in the AdventuresSection under the title �Threat ofDeath.�

In keeping with both his cover identi-ty and his needs as a spy, Ailoth is amember of the School of Diviners, buthe has also learned a couple of thespells of the School of Invocations/ Evo-cations and School of Alterations incase he gets into a fight. In general, hekeeps the evocation and alterationspells in mind, along with whateverdivining spells he thinks will be neces-sary for his mission.

There are no named spells in hisspellbooks.

NaglathaSelgaunt5th level magic-user, Red Wizard of

ThayNE, AzuthHuman Female

This young, black-eyed, black-haired,grim-faced woman has risen quickly inthe ranks of the Red Wizards due to herfanatical zeal for all Red Wizard causes,and her ruthless, reckless, furtheringof them. Naglatha�s allegiance and iden-tity are not known to any authorities inthe Dragonreach area; recently arrivedin Selgaunt, she is posing as a merchantdealing in curios and rarities of theSouth-while in reality recruiting mer-chants and men-at-arms for the RedWizards� cause; it is likely the Red Wiz-ards are planning disruptive raids to setone power against another, if it seemslikely that any of them would aid orreinforce any lands Thay is at war with.

Even Alzegund is unaware of Nagla-tha�s position with the Red Wizards,though he has benefitted from herrecruiting. All he knows is that there isa recruiter called �The Black Flame�who is bringing people into his cara-vans. Naglatha recruits while wearing ablack full-face mask enbroidered withred flame designs, and none of herrecruiting subjects have seen her face�at least while she is recruiting them. Ofcourse, she uses her identity as a mer-chant to s ize-up possible recrui tsbefore she approaches them as theBlack Flame.

Naglatha has two bodyguards whoare supposed to be eunuchs from theland of Mulhorand. Actually, they areThayvian fighters who have not been

53

turned into eunuchs at all, but it is con-venient to have them act as eunuchs inpublic. Therefore, they are fatter andmore clean-shaven than normal forbodyguards, and they tend to wear richclothes and jewelry.

Naglatha operates a small curio shopin the Sembian city of Selgaunt. Sheleaves �for the South� once a year and isgone for about 3 months, while shereports to her masters in Thay. One ofthe eunuchs remains in charge of theshop while the other accompanies her.

One of the eunuchs who originallyaccompanied her to the area aboutthree years ago was killed in an acci-dent about one year ago. When shecame back �from the South,� next, shehad a new eunuch.

The veteran eunuch is Milos Long-reach, a 4th level fighter with ST 16 andbracers of defense (AC 4). He uses amassive scimitar which actually acts inall ways as a bastard sword.

The new �eunuch� is a 3rd level thief(he came recommended as a fighter, buthis skills and attitude are those of athief) named Heraclos the Quick who isnot at all comfortable in his role. He is aveteran carouser who is constantlyscheming to get away from the shopand get in some drinking (among otherthings). Naglatha has detected this ten-dency and keeps an eye on him, but hehas still managed to get away a fewtimes. His predeliction for gallivantingmay yet expose his mistress�s machina-tions.

Naglatha is a member of both theSchool of Illusion and the School of Divi-nation, and has a full complement ofspells appropriate to the 5th level foreach school.

LauzorilEltabbar18th level magic-user, Zulkir of the

School of Enchantment and Charm,Red Wizard of Thay

NE, KossuthHuman MaleLauzoril is not known outside of Thay

as a Zulkir, but his position as a leader

of the Imperialist party (such as it is) hasgotten out to the neighbors of Thay andto their friends. His actions as leader ofthis party has attracted the attention ofthe Harpers, which has, in turn, attract-ed Lauzoril to them.

Lauzoril has no liking for the Harpersand spends much of his time schemingto destroy the members of that organi-zation.

One of his schemes involved the crea-tion of the magic scimitar called Shazze-lim and the sending of a guardsmanwith the scimitar to kill a prominentmember of the Harpers (the rangerDove Falconhand). This plan went awrywhen the guardsman picked a fightwith the wrong woman (the knightJasilmer) and died. Shazzelim has nowbeen captured by the masters of Zhen-til Keep, so it may still be fulfilling itsfunction as best it might in the hands ofwarriors of that organization, whichhas its own grudge against the Harpers.

Lauzoril is not pleased by the currentspate of invasions of Thay�s neighbors.He feels that all of the attention theseefforts will gather can only persuadethe Harpers and their allies to �do some-thing� about Thay, and, unlike many ofhis compatriots, Lauzoril has a healthyrespect for what the Harpers can do.

In many cases, characters originatingin Thay can get involved in the prob-lems described in the �Adventures InThay� section because Lauzoril is trying

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to undermine the various plans for con-quest and end the menace before otherforces in the world combine to actagainst Thay and destroy it utterly.

Lest anyone think that Lauzoril is anice man, however, he is also a sourcefor assassination missions againstrulers of other countries of the Realms.His master plan for conquest is to assas-sinate all the major players on theboard of the Realms, then move whiletheir fo l lowers are uncerta in anddemoralized.

Lauzoril is a relatively young man forhis level, and is always very charmingto anyone he talks to. Even when heseems to be about to order one�s imme-diate execution, he is charming. Peoplehe has ordered slain in their presencehave gone to the executioner smiling.

ShazzelurtExperience Point Value: 800Gold Piece Sale Value: 4000

The following is a description of thedagger carried by Lauzoril, which is amate to the sword Shazzelim, now inpossession of Zhentil Keep. Lauzorilwas so pleased with the sword that hemade the dagger for his own use.Description: A wavy-bladed dagger ofrather poor steel but keen edge, with aguard of iron curved into a flame motif.Its grip is of leather, dyed red, andwrapped in gold wire. Shazzelurt isneutral evil, has an intelligence of 16and an ego of 15, and communicates byspeech (alignment tongue, common,Thayvian, and gnollish). It is +1 to hit,can detect magic in a 1� radius if thebearer so wills it while touching thehilt , and in like manner can locateobject in a 12� radius. It can also detectsecret doors in a 1/2� radius at the bear-er�s will when it is unsheathed, andread magic. It will heal its bearer onceper day, at the bearer�s will, and has aspecial purpose: to slay bards. Any bardstruck by Shazzelurt is disintegratedunless the victim saves vs. spells.

Sabass of ThayBezantur23rd level wizard, Red Wizard of

Thay, School of Conjurations and Sum-monings

NE, AzuthHuman MaleSabass is an old man with long gray

mustaches and small goatee beard andthe usual bald head of a Red Wizard ofThay. He has been a wizard for manyyears. His career has been very adven-turous for a Red Wizard; he spent manyyears in Impiltur and the unsettled areaknown as Ashanath to the west ofRashemen, and gained an enviable rep-utation as an adventuring magic-user.

Now he is very sedentary, and theleader (such as there is one) of the politi-cal party known as the Researchers.Sabass is not interested in wars of con-quest that disrupt trade and keep himfrom procuring his needs for h isresearches, and he speaks against theImperialists whenever the subjectcomes up. Other Researchers are con-tent to let him express their views,which are fairly similar. Specifically, theResearchers want to be left alone intheir researches and feel the Red Wiz-ards should not be expending valuabletreasure and magic on foolish adven-turing in other lands.

Sabass is especially not enthusedabout the current invasion of the NorthCoast cities using salamanders andefreeti (see �Fire Time�). Adventurersgoing to him can probably gain assist-ance in stopping this invasion, whichSabass knows could bring down thewrath of the other elemental lords andperhaps destroy the Balance.

Gombdalla ofPyarados

Yuirwood (for the moment)20th level Red Wizard of the School of

Enchantments and CharmsNE, MalarHuman FemaleGombdalla could have been Zulkir of

t h e S c h o o l o f E n c h a n t m e n t s a n d

Charms, but she much prefers to beworking in the field. In many ways sheis sorry she let Lauzoril have the posi-tion, as she considers Lauzoril a cowardand a ditherer who doesn�t know whento act.

Gombdalla�s main interest is in ani-mals and monsters. She prefers non-humans to humans in any dealing. Shedoes not ignore humans or refuse towork with them�she even relies onhumans for her defense-but she is fas-cinated by the �wild� demi-human peo-ple such as satyrs and t ro l l s andcentaurs (she considers dwarves, elves,halflings, and orcs to be merely strange-looking humans). In Pyarados she hasthe largest collection of obscure mon-sters known in the Realms. Many ofthese creatures are now in the Yuir-wood with Gombdalla.

Gombdalla is determined to make hercurrent scheme work, as part of herscheme to take over the School ofEnchantment from Lauzoril.

Besides the satyrs and centaurs andtrolls, Gombdalla has her own entou-rage of about ten attendants (of whichfour are effective in a fight) and Spar-leye�s adventuring band with her. Thegeneral power of these attendants canbe adjusted to best match that of anyadventurers running into them.

Gombdalla has several Conjurationspells, such as most forms of summonmonster, in her spell book along withher Enchantment spells. Her attendantsinclude a journeyman (8th level) of theSchool of Abjuration and an apprentice(4th level) of the School of Divinationwho also has some Alteration spells.

The SimbulAglarond (wanders widely, in dis-

guise)27th level magic-userCN (good tendencies), MystraHuman femaleThe Simbul is the ruler of Aglarond, a

tall silver-haired lady of awesome magi-cal powers (and an impressive array ofmagical items, which she rarely uses)whose personal power has kept the

forces of Thay from overwhelming herkingdom. She is a mysterious, lonelya r c h m a g e w h o s e p r o p e r n a m e i sknown only to her sisters (Sylune ofShadowdale, now deceased; Alustriel ofS i l v e r y m o o n ; t h e b a r d S t o r mSilverhand; and the ranger Dove), andwhose truename is secret even fromthem. The Simbul travels widely inmany planes, shapeshifting constantly,to work mysterious ends understand-able only to herself. She can be ruthlessif necessary, but usually avoids combatif possible. She bears some sort of mag-ic that provides immunity to fear,charm, hold, suggestion, and similarmagics, such as Serten�s Spell Immunity.

Besides being an awesome opponentto any character coming from Thay, theSimbul is an excellent NPC for instigat-ing player character activity in Thay.She is continually looking for informa-tion about Thay and agents to satisfyher needs for action in Thay. At thistime, she is making a circuit of the East-ern Realms, looking for informationand assistance. She can find the playercharacters and ask them to assist her. Inthe Realms, if the Simbul asks, you ful-fill her needs. She�s a good friend, and adeadly enemy.

Bulzo TarhairTyraturos10th level thiefN, MaskHalfling MaleBulzo is the master thief of the half-

lings of Tyraturos. He is slightly grayingwith a cheery smile and the aggravatinghabit of disappearing from sight andreappearing at one�s right elbow whenone is looking to the left, etc.

The halfling thieves of Tyraturos arein competition with the human thievesof the area, and have an elaborate net-work of sewers and other under-ground pipes that are big enough forthem but not for humans to escape into.Fortunately for Bulzo and his brothers,the human thieves of Tyraturos do nothave the �in� with the authorities thatthe thieves of Bezantur do.

55

Bulzo has been an adventurer and isfascinated by them. He frequentlyshows up in front of bewildered adven-turers and asks if he can help. If he can,he is very helpful, but he always leaveswith a little �memento� of the encoun-ter, above and beyond any payment hemay have negotiated for his assistance.

Bulzo has a great fund of adventuringstories and knows at least somethingabout most of the major personalities ofsouthern Thay and something of themajor people, such as Szass Tam, of thenorthern Tharches. He even adven-tured with Valerios Theokillos and willadvise characters to buy their equip-ment in Tyraturos, because it will costentirely too much in Pyarados.

Bulzo will also talk about the law, orlack of same, of Thay, to anyone who isinterested. He says he is not happyabout the state of legal anarchy in Thay,a good thief likes to know just whatlaws he is breaking in a country; thecurrent system of rule by whim is notconducive to easy planning. Actually, hethinks of it as an interesting challenge.

Among his other items, Bulzo has aring of invisibility, which is what heuses for his appearing and disappear-ing.

Azhir KrenTharchioness of the Gorge of Gauros11th level fighterNE, MyrkulHuman FemaleAzhir Kren is a hard-bitten woman

who has risen to the top the hard way,despite the influence of her mother, aRed Wizard who died fighting in Rashe-men 10 years ago.

Azhir took after her father, a fighterw h o w a s o n c e T h a r c h i o n o fDelhumide, and started as a fighter atan early age. She showed a true profi-ciency with weapons and survivedmany battles in the front ranks beforebecoming a leader.

Since it is possible that charactersmay have to fight Azhir in the �Invasionof the Living Dead� adventure, herfighting statistics are as follows:

Azhir Kren, F11 Fighter; AC 0; hp 83;MV 9�; #AT 1; Dmg 5-14 (two-handeds w o r d + 3 p l u s S t r e n g t h b o n u s ) ;THAC0 7; AL NE; ST 16, IN 12, WI 12,DX 15, CN 17, CH 14Equipment: Azhir has her father�s two-handed sword +3 and her own platemail +2. She also wears a ring of feath-er falling.

Homen OdesseironTharchion of Surthay7th level magic-user, four schools of

magic: Necromancy, Conjuration/ Sum-monings, Abjuration, Invocation/ Evo-cation, Red Wizard of Thay

NE, MyrkulHuman MaleAs Tharchion of Surthay, Homen is

the guardian of the North. He managedto rack up an enviable reputation bybeing a s tudent of four di f ferent(though not antithetical) schools of mag-ic, but the time it took to become profi-cient in four schools finally took its tollon him and he retired from active mag-ic use, though he keeps in practice anduses his spells occasionally.

Homen is now in his seventies, but stillbright and interested. He can move aboutspryly when he needs to. He is tall andonly slightly bent, with a completelyshaved head and face. He always wears agreen robe-the color appeals to him.

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Homen is constantly trying to discov-er a means of foiling the Witches ofRashemen, and pays well for informa-tion about them. He has an extensivelibrary of hearsay evidence about theWitches, most of it written by hisscribes as he interrogated people withinformation about Rashemen.

Player characters who have been onthe Rashemi side of the �Invasion of theLiving Dead� adventure had best giveSurthay a wide avoidance, for Homenwill not be gentle with anyone whofought for the Rashemi and may knowanything about the Witches.

Dickon SharkenPyarados5th level fighterNE, HelmHuman MaleDickon came to Thay in his late teens,

already an experienced mercenary. Hehas been in the Sunrise Mountains sev-eral times as a member of several dif-ferent expeditions, and gets a goodrecommendation from the survivors asa fighter and good follower of orders.

People he has worked for have fewergood things to say about his cruelty andsadism.

However, Dickon is a ready fighterand quite capable for his level. He canbe added to any party and he will carryout his end of things very well. He thenreports everything he saw to ValeriosTheokillos, no matter what assuranceshe gave to the party.

Dickon Sharken, F5 fighter; AC 3; hp25; MV 12�; #AT 1; Dmg 3-10 (long-sword plus ST add); THAC0 15; AL NE;ST 18(23), IN 10, WI 12, DX 15, CN 12,CH 11.Equipment: Dickon is wearing chainmail and fights with long sword andshield. He carries a heavy crossbow as amissile weapon. He has no magic,though he covets it and might evenbetray his master if given the opportu-nity to possess some. Of course, he�drather just possess the magic and givehis usual report to Valerios.

Constable HargunSkullknuckle

Chief of Police, BezanturGnoll ChieftainNE, GruumshGnoll maleHargun is the chief of the constabu-

lary of Bezantur. As a look at that city�sTharchionness�s description in the Poli-tics section will show, Hargun has aunique position for masters of thewatch of any town, since he is essential-ly working for the Thieves� Guild.

Hargun is just as happy in this posi-tion, as he has almost no problems withfinding thieves and solving thefts. Hispatrols, made up almost entirely of hisgnoll brethren, concern themselveswith keeping down riots (a duty theyenjoy greatly) and looking into othercrimes of violence.

Hargun is not an honest policeman�he does not stay bribed. He will gladlytake hush money from an adventurer,and betray him the next minute.

Hargun Skullknuckle, Gnoll Chieftain;HD 4; hp 20; AC 3; MV 9�; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8 (scimitar) or 1-2 (whip); THAC0 15; ALN E

Belanna Telmister(Shayanna)

Amruthar4th level fighter/thief/clericN, Erevan IlesereHalf-elf femaleBelanna Shayanna is the daughter of

a noble family of Aglarond whose youn-ger brother was stolen by slavers threeyears ago. She is now trying to find thebrother, and looking for help fromadventurers in this theoretically neu-tral city.

Belanna has disguised herself as ahuman as best she can and taken on themore human name of Telmister. She haslittle money with her, but can promise

substantial rewards from her family,which is very influential in the town ofVelprintalar in Aglarond.

Belanna�s brother, Beltraegor, is nowa slave in the household of TharchionDimon of Tyraturos, where he is now ahorse handler. He is called Bell. He wasstolen before he learned any magic, andhis natural empathy was horses andother animals was seen as a good thingto take advantage of. He is now 35, ayoung age for half-elves, and quitebored with his job in the stables ofTyraturos.

Belanna is quite a bit older than herbrother, about 63, though she looks tobe in her early thirties. She has hadsome experience as an adventurer. Herattributes are as follows:

Belanna Shayanna, MU4/T4; AC 4; hp16; MV 12�; #AT 1; Dmg 1-6 (shortsword); THAC0 20; ST 13, IN 17, WI 11,CN 15, DX 17, CH 16; AL NEquipment: Belanna has leather armor,her short sword, and her spell books,plus assorted traveling gear.Spells in her spellbook:

Firs t Level : charm person, detectmagic, hold portal, magic missile, pro-tection from evil, read magic, shield,ventriloquismSecond Level: bind, forget, levitate,locate object, rope trick, scare.

Belanna will happily use her thievingabilities and magic to help a party ofadventurers if they promise to help herrescue her brother.

5 7

Adventures in ThayPotential IncitingIncidentsThe following adventure descriptionsare meant to introduce the DM to meth-ods of get t ing their FORGOTTENREALMS� game players to journey tofar-off, forbidding Thay. The descrip-tions provide just the bare bones of theadventures. We start with a rumor thatis taken from the Player Notes section,then go to the facts behind the rumor,then give some ideas on how to intro-duce the PCs to the adventure.

Some of the rumors given in the Play-ers� Notes are not expanded on here.Those are meant to be left open to theDM for his own campaign, to be used ass/he sees fit. Some of them can be usedas side issues to the adventures present-ed here, but the use is entirely up to theDM.

In Far LandsThreat of Death

The Rumor: Agents of the Red Wiz-ards of Thay have openly slain mer-chants in Westgate and Scardale-port,and it is whispered that the fell RedMagic Cult is stirring again; perhaps theRed Wizards will resume their questfor world domination soon, in the InnerSea Lands.

The Facts : The Red Wizards arealways resuming their quest for worlddomination. They never stopped. How-ever, this has little to do with it (see com-ments on the Armies of Living Dead andLegions of Elementals). In fact, the mer-chants were agents of Zhentil Keepwho were trying to edge into the localslave-napping operation of the repre-sentatives of the Red Wizards. Notwishing to let their rivals push intotheir territory, the Red Wizards struckback through their agents.

Adventure Hooks: Adventurers try-ing to find a captured friend (see thenext adventure) might have been chas-ing the merchants that the Red Wiz-ards� agents slew. With the death of themerchants, the only clue to the fate of

the PCs� friend is gone�unless theagents took the records of the deadmerchants and know where the personwas sold.

Alternately, the merchants slain werenot the real targets of the Red Wizards.The agents were new to the area andgot the wrong targets. The real mer-chants of Zhentil Keep are worried, andhire the PCs to defend them, �in casethe Red Wizards attack us next.� Ofcourse they don�t mention their realaffiliation or why the Red Wizardsmight be after them.

This gives the PCs the opportunity ofdefending a position rather than attack-ing it-the usual adventurer situation.Give them the opportunity to set trapsand spring ambushes. Of course, theyalso have the chance to find out justwhat the Zhentil Keep merchants aredoing and who they are affiliated with.Then the PCs can take whatever actionthey feel necessary�from freeing theslaves taken and killing the merchantsthemselves to simply holding the mer-chants up for more money by using thethreat of telling the local authoritieswhat is going on. There is lots of area inbetween, depending on the alignmentsand motivations of the player charac-ters.

In either case, the player characterscan end up fighting the agents of theRed Wizards, which should include sev-eral fighters (adjusted according to thenumber of adventurers) and at leastone Red Wizard (actually of a level com-patible to that of the playercharacters�probably somewhere from5th to 15th) of the school of Evocationwith a couple of the special Red Wizardspells (see the Magic chapter) in hisspellbook.

Assuming they are successful, theplayer characters have earned theenmity of the Red Wizards (and per-haps Zhentil Keep, too) and gainedsome information on the magics ofThay that will make them want to trav-el there.

Sold into SlaveryThe Rumor: The incidence of abduc-

tions throughout the Inner Sea area isgrowing greatly. Authorities are afraid,for reasons they�d rather not entertain,that the Red Wizards are adding totheir slave coffles. Many young menand women with some experience inadventuring, though not as magic-usersor clerics, are going missing.

The Facts : True enough. Recentexcesses (see the Closer To Home sec-tion following) have reduced the slavepopulation of Thay and the recruitersare redoubling their efforts to get moreslaves for the farms and experiments ofthe Red Wizards.

Adventure Hooks: For a small groupof players, get their characters alldrugged (perhaps the wrong tankardsof ale in a tavern they don�t know).They wake up without their gear,chained in a slave coffle on its way byslave ship to Thay.

This is certainly a good start to a dif-ferent adventure. The players must getfree (any good thieves in the group?),turn the tables on their kidnappers, andtake over the slave ship they have beenchained to. Note that Thay does not useslaves on oars�that is a position for aspecialist, not a slave. This ship ismostly a wide-bottomed sailing cargoship, anyway, with a relatively smallcrew of about a dozen 0�level charac-ters and the slavers, who are of a com-patible level and number with theplayer characters.

The slavers have the advantage ofgear (including, perhaps, some of thePCs� equipment) and their freedom, butthey must sleep and eat in shifts andcannot all be awake and ready whenthe player characters make their break.

From this point, the characters cantry to get home, or perhaps go on toexplore this strange land that tried tosteal them into slavery.

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Rescue!The Rumor: A friend of the player

characters has gone missing. Now he orshe has been seen on a slaver ship goingto Thay.

The Facts: Sure enough, the friendhas been taken.

Adventure Hooks: If the player char-acters want to see their friend again,they must take ship themselves and tryto find and rescue their friend from thefate feared universally throughout theRealms, to be a slave in Thay.

If you have a large party of playercharacters , the capture- the-partyadventure above is too cumbersome touse. Instead, give the characters incen-tive to find the slavers and get theirf r i e n d b a c k ( m a y b e h e h a s t h edestroyed map to the next treasurecommitted to memory). This can be adashing journey across the Realms,ending with a sea chase and battle offthe coast of Thay, perhaps with Thay-vian naval triremes within hailing dis-tance that must be dissuaded frominterfering (remember that the Thay-vian navy has magic-users, too).

well-trained toops of Rashemen againsta heavy infantry with little training butno morale problem whatsoever.

Assuming that you would rather runa role-playing game, assume that thePlayer Characters are adventurersexploring the ruins of Raumathar whenthey are contacted by the Witches ofRashemen. Play up this contact withlots of eerie effects and mysteriousappearances and disappearances-theWitches are like that.

The Witches want the adventurers toinfiltrate the camp of the living deadand destroy the leaders�the DreadWarriors created by Szass Tam (see Per-sonalities section for description of thischaracter and of his spell of animatedread warrior:

These super-zombies are the tacticalcommanders of the Legion of Myrkul,and if they can be destroyed, the zom-bies will have to have living com-manders who are m u c h m o r evulnerable to the spells of the Witches.

Elements of the adventure includecreeping through a camp of the dead,

where most of the inhabitants are alertand moving or just standing and watch-ing, and avoiding the gaze of a divinerwith wizard eye who observes a differ-ent section of the camp every minute.Once the characters reach the head-quarters they must deal with the DreadWarriors. There are as many of them aswill make a good struggle for the playercharacters.

DREAD WARRIORFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: 1-12Armor Class: 2-4Move: 9�Hit Dice: 4% In Lair: NilTreasure Type: NilNo. of Attacks: 1Damage/Attack: 3-10Special Attacks: NilSpecial Defenses: NilMagic Resistance: See BelowIntelligence: LowAlignment: Neutral EvilSize: M

Close To HomeInvasion of the Living Dead

The Rumor: Armies of �walking dead�are said to be advancing steadily north-wards from Thay, led by armored skele-tal warriors of great power and fellaspect. Impiltur fears that Thay willoverwhelm all the Eastern Lands, andthen turn west to crush the Coastal Cit-ies, Impiltur, and Aglarond.

The Facts: Zulkir Szass Tam hasfinally completed the manning ofMyrkul�s Legion and decided to test outhis army of zombies against the hatedRashemi. With the cooperation andsupporting forces of the Tharchionessof Gauros, the zombies are on themarch.

Adventure Hooks: Of course, thiscould be the golden opportunity to tryout the BATTLESYSTEM� Fantasy Com-bat Supplement rules with a full scalebattle between the lightly armed but

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Psionic Ability: NilAttack/Defense Modes: Nil

Dread Warriors are like zombies, butthey must be created just after deatha n d t h e y s t i l l r e t a i n s o m e s m a l lintelligence�enough to carry out uni-maginative orders.

A Dread Warrior must be createdfrom the body of a fighter, who retainssome of his fighting skill. That�s why hehas 4 hit dice. He is also usuallyarmored well, as he is a valuable part ofthe army of Thay.

Dread Warriors are turned as a wightis turned, and they have all the immuni-ties to various magics that zombies do.They are faster than normal zombies,and have a normal initiative roll. Thedamage they do is 3-10 (1d8 +2) or byweapon type +2 (for Strength). In anysituation requiring Strength, they havethe equivalent of 18(01). The weaponsthey use are the same that their fight-ers� bodies used.

Dread Warriors have the ability tocommand other zombies, and convey tothem commands as complicated as theycan understand. This exceeds the usualzombie limit of a dozen words, but isstill not very complex.

THE ZOMBIES OF MYRKUL�S LEGIONThese zombies are the same as the

zombies given in The Monster Manual,but they have been equipped withdecent armor, and have an armor classof 5, not 8.

Fighting the ZombiesThe alternative to the player charac-

ters trying to sneak in among the zom-bies , part icular ly i f you have aninexperienced player character groupthat is notably incapable of sneaking, isto have them join the Rashemi indefending either the northeast wall ofthe Gorge of Gauros or some Rashemitown against the zombie army.

Fight the rest of the battle abstractly,either using die rolls or your own whimto determine the success of the fight,and provide occasional reports to theplayer characters about how their alliesare doing. Face the player characters

with 20 or so heavily armored zombiesto battle. If they have a cleric whodrives most of the zombies away, thenconfront them with Dread Warriors insufficient number to leave some whichcan continue to attack, even if the clericis successful against them.

If the player characters are success-ful in their area of the battle, then theRashemi, backed up by their redoubt-able Witches, will probably be success-ful in their part of the battle. Then theplayer characters can try to press theattack back on the commanders of thezombies. Depending on the level of theplayer characters, they might evenmeet the Tharchion of Gauros, orZulkir Szass Tam himself. See the Per-sonalities Section for more detail onthese people.

If the player characters are not ofsufficient level, run them up against asubsidiary necromancer with somehuman or gnollish guards and use thatas the final threat to the party.

Fire TimeThe Rumor : The Red Wizards of

Thay have sent legions of elementalsagainst rebellious neighboring satraps,destroying four of them (the coastal cit-ies of Lasdur, Taskaunt, Murbant, andThasselen) utterly, taking those lands(and that of Hilbrand, which surren-dered without a fight) under Thay�sbanner. Escalant, the most powerful ofthe cities, is currently under siege.

It is thought that such vast numbersof elementals could not be summonedby spell, but rather a gate or portal wasopened directly to the plane of elemen-tal fire. The sages of Phsalt warn that ifall the hosts of Thay were musteredand hurled against these new forces,Thay�s army would quickly go down todefeat. Whatever means the Red Wiz-ards have for gaining such forces mustbe ended, they say, and magical forcesmust be gathered immediately to matchthis present strength.

The Facts: The Zulkir of Conjurationand Summoning is working with theTharchion of the Lapendrar to rid Thay

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of the competition of the North CoastCities once and for all . The Zulkiropened up a gate to the Plane of Ele-mental Fire and obtained the help of theLords of Fire (the tributary lords to Kos-suth, Lord of Flames). The lord of sala-manders has provided a troop (about100 beings) of those monsters and theSultan has given the command of atroop of efreeti to the Zulkir.

In return, the Zulkir and the Thar-chion have promised to leave the SouthCoast ablaze forever, a place on theMaterial Plane for fire elementals tocavort to their hearts� content. Ofcourse, the Zulkir intends to renege onthis promise if he can somehow make itseem like he tried but was unsuccess-ful. The Lords of Fire, of course, intendto use the North Coast as simply a step-ping stone to taking over the Realms asa satrap of their domain.

Adventure Hooks: No matter howyou approach this adventure, it is notmeant for a low level party. Charactersshould probably be 7th level and aboveto have a chance of success. The firstpossible variation on this adventure, ofcourse, is a simple battle against anarmy of salamanders and efreeti, plusthe two or three human Thayvianlegions who are backing them up.Unless the player characters are ofincredibly high level, this would best bedone using the BATTLESYSTEM� Fan-tasy Combat Supplement rules, withthe player characters either part of orleading the defenders of Escalant (whoare a mixed bag of troop types hired asmercenaries�and who do not havevery high morale against this kind ofinvading army).

Another approach is to give the play-er characters the mission of stoppingthe invasion at the source�the gateopened up to bring the salamandersand efreeti through.

The site of the gate is at the village atthe top of the First Escarpment next tothe River Lapendrar. The name of thevillage is First Falls. At this time, the sitecan be told by the pillar of smoke risingabove it, the afteraffect of the whole-sale burning the salamanders did just

for fun after they came through thegate. The village is in ruins, and some ofthe villagers, who mostly work to sup-port the local travel tax collectors, fish,and do enough farming to keep them-selves alive, are trying to rebuild.

The gate itself is on the opposite sideof town from the river. It is standing byitself in a burned-out patch of grass,and looks like a steady flame about tenfeet high and six feet across, but thereis nothing around it to burn. The gate isguarded by an honor guard of salaman-ders and efreeti (adjust numbers to suitnumber of characters and power ofparty).

The gate can be destroyed with a sim-ple successful dispel magic (it wasestablished by a 24th level wizard) or ablow with a rod of cancellation or someother such anti-magic attack. If the gateis destroyed, the salamanders andefreeti are drawn back to their ownplane, since they were not shieldedwith the elemental transference magicsthat let such beings live on the MaterialPlane otherwise.

This is a stopgap. After all, anothergate can be formed, but it gives time fora more powerful party to perform thefollowing mission. If there is a morepowerful player party available, theycan perform the mission. Otherwise,say that a powerful party of NPCs hasfinally gotten together and, now thatthe invasion threat does not have to bemet, they will perform the final mis-sion.

The final mission is for a very power-ful and suitably protected party toenter the Elemental Plane of Fire andtry to bring this invasion to the atten-tion of Kossuth, Lord of Flame. TheLord of Salamanders and Sultan of theEfreeti do not have their lord�s permis-sion for this little excursion, and Kos-suth may just see this as an attempt tobuild up their power to match his own.Besides, he realizes that this will even-tually attract the attention of the otherelemental rulers, none of whom wishthe Lord of Flames to gain such anadvantage over them.

Naturally, the Lord of Salamanders

and Sultan of Efreeti do not want theirexpedition brought to the attention oftheir master. No matter what their actu-al motivations, they know that he willtake the above interpretation of theiractions, and they will not be able to dis-suade him. Therefore, they will attemptto stop the player characters in someway that does not leave the trademarksof their interference.

Thus, rather than use salamandersand efreeti against the party, they willtry to destroy them in a way that looksaccidental or at least not attributable totheir efforts.

Mane EventThe Rumor: The adventurers� band

led by the fighter Mane, formerly resi-dent in Shadowdale, has disappeared inthe South. There is talk of their defeatand death in the Yuirwood, but othersay they have fallen in battle with theRed Wizards in Thay, or even that Manehas become chieftain and war leader ofthe nomads of the Shaar. Nothing is cer-tain, however; all is speculation.

The Facts: Mane gathered togetherhis friends (who could be the playercharacters) and took them on an expe-dition into the Yuirwood of Aglarond.He had found a map that led to the trea-sure of the pirate leader known asRedsail, who disappeared 200 years agoafter a 40-year career of killing andlooting throughout the Inner Sea.

Adventure Hooks: This is a wide-openadventure with lots of places to go. Ifthe player characters are in Mane�sband, they enter the Yuirwood, followthe map, and are confronted by a bandof satyrs. Unlike their merry woodlandand meadow creature cousins foundelsewhere, these satyrs are fierce andwarlike. Redsail managed to bury histreasure in a spot close to the center ofthe forest because he was on goodterms with the remnants of the Yuirelves who lived there. Now, however,the elves are gone and the satyrs havetaken refuge from their oppressors inthe darkest part of the forest.

Worse for the party, the satyrs have

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some allies. One group of allies is a tribeof centaurs. The other group is a RedWizard, Gombdalla of Pyarados, andher entourage. For details on Gombdal-la, see the Personalities section.

Naturally, the Red Wizard and satyrshave long-since found Redsail�s trea-sure, and are using it to build up theirpower base in the forest.

Gombdalla�s principal plan is to orga-nize the satyrs and centaurs as a fifthcolumn inside Aglarond for the nextThayvian invasion.

If you do not want to team your nor-mal player characters up with someonenamed Mane, you can, of course, readthem the rumor and then have themconfronted by a member of Mane�sband who had been deathly ill andcould not go with them on this mission.The NPC can either be recovered or stillvery ill, depending on whether youwant him or her to accompany the play-er characters (this is also a good way tointroduce a new character to the party,if such a thing is needed).

The former companion to Mane has acopy of the map that Mane left with himor her. He or she wants to find out whathappened. The companion is very surethat Mane is not a chieftain of nomads.Mane hated nomads...

In this case, you can send the partyafter Mane, and have them run into thesame situation. Mane�s party has beenwiped out. Perhaps Gombdalla and herpeople have more magical weapons anditems because of what they took fromMane and company. And their plans todestroy Aglarond from within havesome help from the other fell beaststhat are starting to congregate in theYuirwood.

This means that this adventure cancoincide with the following one.

Out of the WoodsThe Rumor: Strange creatures have

been sighted in the Yuirwood and arethought to be spreading. Throughoutthe fall, trolls seemed to be growingmore numerous, and then owlbearswere reported. As the weather grew

colder, a bulette was seen, and it wasrapidly followed by other nameless orunique creatures, things which seem tobe expanding outwards f rom thedepths of the woods. The adventurerSparleye was last seen in this area withhis company, the Men of the PurpleArrow. Others who have gone into thewoods have not returned, and tradersare avoiding the area.

The Facts: Sparleye and the Men ofthe Purple Arrow are, in fact, Thayvianagents. They disappeared into thewoods at the order of Gombdalla, whowanted some human backup if the non-humans she is dealing with provedintractable. Now the band is helpingtrain the satyrs and centaurs in masstactics and getting them used to thearmor that was sent from Thay in thesummer. The trolls, owlbears, and oth-er monsters are some of Gombdalla�spets that she is expending to keepsnoopers out of the area while shetrains the satyrs and centaurs.

Adventure Hooks: As far as the worldknows, Sparleye and his followers wereadventurers. Perhaps a little nastierthan some, but still just adventurers.Moreover, the Council of Aglarond isvery concerned about all these mon-sters, which they thought had beeneradicated from the Yuirwood centu-ries ago. They want someone to go inand find out what is going on.

If the party looking for Mane (orMane�s party) arrives in Aglarond, theymay get asked to look into this matter aswell. Aglarond is offering a sizablereward (which should depend on thecompetency of the adventuring party)and helping Aglarond is helping theSimbul�a lady who is always a goodperson to befriend. She would proba-bly be doing this herself, but she is notavailable right now.

The Statues That WalkThe Rumor: To the south of old, vast,

Thay, the even more ancient kingdomof Mulhorand has been jolted in thepast year: the Statues That Walk havebegun to move once more. Over a thou-

sand stone statues of time-lost originstand all about this dusky-hilled coun-try. At odd but long separated intervals,these stone men animate and walkabout apparently towards specific(now-vanished?) destinations. Theystop at times and then move on again,fight any who bar their way or attackthem, and at times hew at rocks or clearpathways through certain areas.

This latter behavior is a frighteningthing when these areas are many-towered cities or tanglewood forests.The stone men are mute and appar-ently non-intelligent and no one has yetfound a way to control them. Somehave crossed through the border wallsinto Thay as well as into Unther, a des-ert land that lies south and west ofMulhorand.

T h o l a u n t , D i v i n e P r e c e p t o fMulhorand (one of the �god-kings� ofMulhorand) says the coming of thestatues to life is not his doing nor that ofany of his family, as far as he can tell,and adds that the power of controllingthe statues is not known to his family.Some have whispered of strife withinhis family, though, and say that theStatues may be under the control ofanother.

T h e F a c t s : A s a m a t t e r o f f a c t ,Derlaunt, Precept of Gheldaneth, andcousin to Tholaunt, is entirely responsi-ble. He found an old record that seemedto indicate a method of controlling oneof the statues, which would be a defi-nite coup in the ongoing power gamesthat occupy the time of the god-kings.He performed the ritual as best hecould interpret it. He rapidly found that(1) he could not control the statue and(2) the ritual as he performed it hadawakened all of them. He has no idea ofhow to stop them. He already triedwhat should be the reverse of the rit-ual. No good.

A d v e n t u r e H o o k s : T h e s i m p l e s tadventure can take place anywheresurrounding M u l h o r a n d , o r i nMulhorand itself. One of the statues ismarching straight at a town or city. Itmust be stopped.

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STATUE THAT WALKSFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: 1Armor Class: 2Move: 12�Hit Dice: 100 Hit Points% In Lair: NilTreasure Type: NilNo. of Attacks: 1Damage/Attack: 5-30Special Attacks: NilSpecial Defenses: See BelowMagic Resistance: See BelowIntelligence: Non-Alignment: NeutralSize: L (18� tall)Psionic Ability: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Statues That Walk are actually over-sized stone golems. However, they donot have the ability to cast a slow spell.Their strength is comparable to that ofa fire giant.

The Statues were built as caretakersby a race long-since gone in the Realmswhen members of that race knew theywere dying out from a series of plaguesthey could not fight. The race wasproud of its monuments and buildings,and built the Statues to maintain theglory of these structures and tear downanything that would detract fromthem.

The Statues performed their dutiesfor centuries until the magic-users andpriests of the lizard-men who supplant-ed the builders found a method of stop-ping them (a very long and drawn-outritual taking days and needing specialglyphs to be drawn on every one of theStatues. The Divine Precept will discov-er this ritual in a few months). Thelizard-men could not harm the Statues,but they could take apart the buildingsthey guarded and did so, using them fortheir own structures which were latertaken down and reused by the humanswho supplanted the lizard-men.

The Statue will march into the townand, when it runs into a building, tear itdown, then go on to the next one. Thetown is on the site of one of the monu-ments built thousands of years ago by

the creators of the Statue. At this point,the remains of the monument are about200 feet under the current ground sur-face, but the Statue knows where itshould be by the number of paces hetook to get to it, and he will keep tearingthe town apart until he finds the monu-ment or is certain that he cannot findthe monument , a t which t ime hebecomes rigid again and waits fororders.

If the ritual for stopping is not per-formed on each of the Statues, they willeach stop when they get to the site ofone of the monuments or buildingsthey are supposed to take care of andfind that it is not there. They are await-ing the order to go on to the next job ontheir rounds. They stop because thel i z a r d - m e n � s s p e l l p e r m a n e n t l ydestroyed the Statues� ability to moveon from one job to the next. They haveto be started by the ritual the Precept ofGheldaneth performed to go on to thenext assignment.

There are no known vestiges of theoriginal culture remaining except theStatues. However, you can assume thatone or two (being used for entirely dif-ferent purposes, of course) are stillaround if you want to surprise the play-er characters by having a Statueapproach an ancient wizard�s towerand start polishing it.

The Simbul�s JourneyThe Rumor: In Aglarond, the Simbul,

the famous dweomercrafter who rulesthat country, appears to have left hercourt shape-changed (perhaps as a cator falcon) and vanished. Upon her highseat she left a signed letter directing hercouncil to govern Aglarond wisely anddispose of several specific matters (nodetails are known) thus and so. It isthought she may have headed north tospeak with the elves around the GreatDale (with whom she has an uneasy alli-ance), and/or to observe events in thestrategic Dalelands and discuss thingswith the remaining elves in Myth Dran-nor. There are rumors of war betweenZhentil Keep and the northern dales

and Scardale and its neighboring dales,as well as the sudden announcement ofthe formation of the Iron Throne, amerchant alliance, which intends tooperate in the area. The Simbul isknown for her unpredictable behaviorand mastery of magic, and the tale mostoften told of her is her unaided destruc-tion of the Red Sword mercenary com-pany at Mistbridge.

Huge balls of fire, four or five in num-ber, appeared in the sky above the Tow-ers of the Blade in Mulmaster shortlyafter the Simbul left Aglarond. Therewas a battle involving magic within theTower and rumor has it that the Simbulwas involved.

The Facts: The Simbul gained someinkling of the various plans of the RedWizards and has decided to check forherself. The incident at the Towers ofthe Blade was a side issue, dealing withthe importunings of the First Blade,who thought that the Simbul wouldmake a better mate for him than theFirst Princess of Thay. She proved himwrong.

Adventure Hooks: The Simbul is farafield when suddenly Thay has invadedRashemen (see INVASION OF THE LIV-ING DEAD) and the North Coast cities(see FIRE TIME) and even has infiltra-tors in the Yuirwood (see MANE EVENTand OUT OF THE WOODS). If theadventuring party consists of peoplewho have done favors for the Harpers,or are known to be upright souls, theSimbul will suddenly reveal herself tothem and ask that they go back to herhome country and investigate thesethings. She is in the middle of a majorinvestigation herself, and cannot sparethe time. She knows the player charac-ters can handle the assignment. Shegives them a small vial of a strange liq-uid. If they expose the liquid to the air,she will know they need help and fly toaid them. But it had better be impor-tant.

You can use this encounter as a wayto get player characters into any of theother adventures. The Simbul�s vialcontains an air elemental which willfind her quickly, and she will take what-

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ever form will return her to the partythe quickest. She will tell them that shecannot be with them instantly, so theyhad better use the vial when they knowthey are up against a major problem,such as journeying into the ElementalPlane of Fire, but before they get intothe middle of it. The vial will not work ifthey go to another plane.

In ThayGodson�s Quest

The Rumor: Iyachtu Xvim has beenseen in Thay recently, on some questfor his father.

The Facts: Bane is not happy withThay and the Red Wizards. While it istrue that some of the Wizards worshipBane, most tend to neglect worship ofany god, or worship more neutral dei-ties. Worse, the Red Wizards have madeit plain that many of them have theeventual goal of accumulating enoughpower to become gods themselves.

There is not much he can do aboutthis, but he has sent his son in responseto an exhortation by the High Priest ofBane in Bezantur to punish these blas-phemers.

The Godson is attempting to find aRed Wizard foolish enough to call onhim to destroy other wizards. With allthe conflicting plots and counterplotscurrently affecting Thayvian culture, itis only a matter of time.

In the meantime, he is using interme-diaries (disguised priests of Bane) toestablish himself as an assassin of pow-erful targets, the better to be contactedby Red Wizards who might want to usehis services.

Adventure Hooks: Any contact withthe Godson should be by high-levelcharacters. The player characters arecontacted by a rich merchant (whomight or might not be Thayvian, butwho is currently in Thay) who needshelp. He has heard that he is marked fordeath by a rival, and he fears that hismercenary bodyguards are inadequatefor the job. He needs help in the form ofmagic and clerical power, and he comes

to the adventurers to supply it.The merchant is sufficiently power-

ful that he can recruit the adventurersfrom outside of Thay if need be. Thegodson likes to advertise his intent(though not necessarily his presence)before killing a victim, so there is timefor the characters to arrive.

From there, it is simply a matter ofwaiting, and perhaps experiencing theculture of Thay first-hand, until theGodson finally shows up.

IYACHTU XVIM, �The Godson�DemigodARMOR CLASS: -2MOVE: 13�HIT POINTS: 96NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 9-12/9-12 or byweaponSPECIAL ATTACKS: See BelowSPECIAL DEFENSES: True SightMAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%SIZE: L (12� tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful EvilWORSHIPPERS� ALIGNMENTS: LawfulEvilSYMBOL: A pair of green, glowing eyeson a black fieldPLANE: Prime Material (Acheron)CLERIC/DRUID: nilFIGHTER: 15th Level FighterTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: VS:22 (+4, +10), I:17, W:16, D:20, C:20,CH:17

The son of Bane, he serves as theinstrument of his father�s will, travelingconstantly about the Prime MaterialPlane to wherever Bane desires to takea direct hand in local affairs. He fightswith his great clawed hands or with the

Soul Blade, a giant +3 LE scimitar thatdrains 2 life energy levels whenever ithits a living opponent (level 0 = death,not undead status). The Godson is usu-ally naked and has mottled brown-black , sca led skin . He has green,burning eyes and can create darkness15� radius about himself at will. Onceevery 66 turns he can plane shift fromAcheron to the Prime Material Plane orvice versa.

Iyachtu does not like wearing gar-ments, and cannot abide the burningtouch (2-12 hit points damage perstrike) of silver in whatever form.

Much of the Godson�s past deeds andtrue nature are a mystery to mortals inthe Realms, even among the h ighpriests of Bane, but few creatures wishto meet him personally to satisfy theircuriosity.

The Wizard�s TowerThe Rumor: The wizard Dillomat has

not been seen outside of his tower formonths. It is thought that he may havedied, as he was old and feeble when lastseen. The Autharch of the northeastregion of Tyraturos is looking for braveadventurers to enter the tower (and itsmany guardians and pitfalls) and find outDillomat�s current status and whetherthe Red Wizards should reclaim the tow-er for some other of their number. Dillo-mat has no known heirs.

The Autharch has received authorityto offer anyone entering the tower firstpick of the contents (one pick per per-son) if Dillomat has indeed died, or ahelathy reward in platinum coins if Dil-lomat is still alive, but incommunicado.It is difficult to determine which condi-tion is the more deadly for adventurersentering the tower.

The Facts: The Autharch first sent hisown people into the tower. They didn�tcome out. The first offer, 100 gp to eachprospective adventurer, went beggingwhen the report of the missing tax col-lectors came out.

Dillomat is not dead, or at least he isnot dead on this plane. He left foranother plane about three months agoand has not returned.

However, Dillomat�s tower is notunoccupied. He had collected a smallband of monsters as helpers and associ-ates, and they are still in residence. Infact, they are being fed by a couple ofdoppelgangers who slip out of the tow-er, change form, and go shopping in themarket. They are also responsible forseveral recent disappearances.

Space considerations forbid extensivedetailing of the monsters to be found inthe tower, but they involve several dif-ferent types from several planes. Theirmain function is to guard the tower.

Adventure Hook: This one is obvious.Scale the monsters and the magical itemrewards to meet the actual level of play-er characters. Remember that Dillomatlived in this tower. There may be traps,but not many and not trapping themain corridors and living areas. Thevar ious monsters should be t rapsenough.

No monster should be of Large size,and probably several Small size mon-sters would be appropriate. One mys-tery to point out is that several of thesemonsters need food and water, and thatis available. If the characters are ini-tially driven out, perhaps they figurethis out and trace the doppelgangersand gain another entry that way.

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