Rensha

The Renshas were a Calishite family that conquered Loudwater and much of the Delimbiyr Vale, ruling it from the mid–12 to early 14 centuries DR.

History
Ibun Rensha and several of his family members left Calimshan at the head of a mercenary army and journeyed into northwest Faerûn. They took over Loudwater and laid claim to most of Delimbiyr Vale in the Year of the Scourge, 1150 DR, According to local stories, heroes of Loudwater of the time first sighted the approaching Rensha forces from Tragedy's Grotto in Loudwater.

This began a period known as the Rensha Rule. Seeing Mielikki's Green Regents and their Scions as threats to their reign, the Renshas banned the ritual to select Green Regents and Scions every Shieldmeet and hunted down any that they found, causing them to vanish for more than a century. The second lord, Misbah Rensha, ruthlessly crushed the last resistance to the family's rule, with the help of the archdevil Baalzebul.

Misbah Rensha made a treaty with Thay. This included the establishment of the Ivy Enclave in Loudwater and his marriage to a Thayan woman, the Red Wizard Thola, who also served as his court sorceress. He later had her poisoned to end her plotting.

Though the Renshas made the town more prosperous and expanded its connections with the outside world, they exploited the Vale's natural resources and despoiled much of the pristine beauty of the area. Under them, loggers cleared the forests away from the river and farmers claimed the land for agriculture, while miners strip-mined the mountains, all at a shocking pace, and the wealth flowed down the river and out of the vale.

Over time, the amoral Renshas descended into decadence and the pursuit of dark magic.

The last Rensha lord, Pasuuk Rensha ordered a band of talented mercenary hunters to obtain for him a unicorn's horn. His reasons for this were not known, but some worried it was for a ritual of dark magic that would link High Lord's Hall with the Nine Hells, and he was later confirmed to consort with devils. But, in the Year of Spilled Blood, 1315 DR, when they caught the unicorn, one of the hunters, a Nimbrali mercenary named Nanathlor Greysword, instead defended the beast and became the Green Regent Returned. He and his followers fought to overthrow the Renshas and liberate Loudwater, launching the War of the Returned Regent.

Finally, after two years of fierce fighting, the war culminated in the Battle of Tanglefork in the Year of the Wandering Wyrm, 1317 DR, when Pasuuk and the Renshas' forces confronted Nanathlor and his ragtag band. Nanathlor called on Mielikki for aid, and she awakened the trees around the battlefield and set them to attack Pasuuk's forces. In response, Pasuuk summoned a coven of devils to assault the trees. Ultimately, Mielikki's servants were victorious and the devils and Pasuuk were all killed in the fighting. Nanathlor became the ruler of Loudwater.

Although the Renshas were ousted from Loudwater, the family survived in Calimshan and continued to deal with devils. In the, Sanaja Rensha and Paronthen Rensha aided a failed Zhentarim plot to conquer the city.

Legacy
Being rather secretive, the Rensha lords left few records of their works.

The High Lord's Hall in Loudwater was built by the Rensha family during their rule. This walled manor displayed an odd mixture of southern Calishite and elven styles.

Symbol
The family crest was a single red moon against a field of gold.

Legends
Rumors told in Loudwater, such as by warehouse owner Agrath Dundai to Volothamp Geddarm sometime before 1366 DR, claimed there was a crypt beneath High Lord's Hall haunted by undead, namely the remnants of former Rensha High Lords of Loudwater, and that some of them had experimented with dark magic. This was all completely correct.

Notable Members

 * Ibun Rensha: First Rensha lord of Loudwater.
 * Misbah Rensha: Second Rensha lord of Loudwater and a diabolist.
 * Marzut Rensha: Fifth Rensha lord of Loudwater and an alienist.
 * Pasuuk Rensha: Final Rensha lord of Loudwater.
 * Paronthen Rensha: An emissary to the Zhentarim of Llorkh.
 * Sanaja Rensha: A wizard working with the Zhentarim.

Appearances

 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * The Truth of Hearts • To Sever the Snake's Head • Under High Lord's Hall