Unclean

Unclean is the first novel of The Haunted Lands trilogy by Richard Lee Byers.

"The realm of Thay has long been ruled by the uneasy peace of an alliance of wizards, but all along there has been one who believes he is the true master. And when that one wizard finally moves against his former allies, his homeland could be only the first of his conquests."

Summary
In the country of Thay on Mirtul 5 1375 DR, Druxus Rhym, the zulkir of the transmutation, was assassinated in his home in Eltabbar, the capital city, by an unknown assailant.
 * Prologue:

Meanwhile, without authorization from the Council of Zulkirs, Azhir Kren, the tharchion of Gauros, and Homen Odesseiron, the tharchion of Surthay, led their provinces’ forces in an invasion of the realm of Rashemen, Thay's neighbor to the north. However,the Rashemi somehow learned of the invasion and ambushed the Thayan army as it was crossing the River Gauros in the Gorge of Gauros. Azhir and Homen's legions were saved by the lich Szass Tam, the zulkir of necromancy, who used his magic to stop the Rashemi attack and enable the Thayans to retreat across the river into Thay. After the battle, Szass Tam met with the two governors and told them that he would help them conceal their insubordinate actions and the disastrous defeat by informing the Thayan people that the costly engagement had occurred to stop an attack on Thay by a band of Rashemi warriors. In gratitude for Szass Tam’s assistance, Azhir and Homen pledged their absolute loyalty to the undead wizard.

Around Mirtul 7-8, the bard and warrior Bareris Anskuld, who had been adventuring across the world for the previous six years, returned to his home in the Thayan port city of Bezantur searching for his love, the young artisan Tammith Iltazyarra. When Bareris met with Tammith's family, he learned that his beloved had recently sold herself into slavery in order to pay a gambling debt that her father, Boravik, had with the White Raven gang of Bezantur.
 * Chapter 1:

Also at that time, Szass Tam met with one of his supporters, Dmitra Flass, the tharchion of Eltabar and a Red Wizard of illusion, to discuss the murder of Druxus, who had been one Tam's strongest allies. Szass Tam commanded Dmitra to use the large and extensive network of spies and covert agents that she operated on the undead mage’s and her own behalf to arrange for Samas Kul, the master of the Guild of Foreign Trade, to be chosen as the new zulkir of transmutation, since he would ally himself with the lich.

On Mirtul 10, the blood fiend Tsagoth was summoned from the Abyss and ordered to infiltrate the palace fortress of Aznar Thrul, the zulkir of the evocation and the tharchion of Priador, to find Mari Agneh, his predecessor.
 * Chapter 2:

Meanwhile, while patrolling the Pass of Thazar in the Sunrise Mountains, Aoth Fezim, a warmage and a rider of the Griffon Legion of Pyarados, and his griffon familiar Brightwing, discovered that a large force of undead was approaching Thazar Keep. After a brief clash against some of the undead creatures, Aoth and Brightwing swiftly made their way to Thazar Keep and warned the fortress’s garrison about the imminent assault. Aoth, Brightwing, and Thazar Keep’s defenders fought valiantly against the undead army, which was led by a nighthaunt named Ysval, but they were soon overwhelmed. Aoth and Brightwing were the only survivors of the attack and quickly journeyed to notify Nymia Focar, the tharchioness of Pyarados, about the fall of Thazar Keep.

By Mirtul 12, Dmitra’s agents completed the necessary actions to ensure that Samas was elected, and after the governor used her magic to personally spy on the common people of Eltabbar, she secretly ordered her spymaster, Malark Springhill of Mulmaster, to journey to the city of Surthay to learn the truth about the battle at the Gorge of Gauros.
 * Chapter 3:

Determined to find Tammith and free her from bondage, Bareris tracked her to the city of Tyraturos, where he forcibly interrogated a slave trader and learned that his beloved and a large number of other slaves had been secretly purchased by Red Wizards necromancers. As Bareris then wandered the city questioning people in order to discover the whereabouts of the necromancers and the group of slaves, he was assailed by an assassin named Calmevik and an undead child-like creature, who had been instructed by the wizards to kill anyone inquiring into their business. Bareris managed to slay his two attackers, and although he soon discovered that the necromancers had departed from Tyraturos with the slaves and traveled north, he fell ill due to a wound inflicted on him by the undead child.

Years before 1375 DR, Mari Agneh was deposed by Aznar Thrul as tharchioness. She then had appealed to Szass Tam and his allies among the zulkirs to help her keep her position, but they had declined to assist her. When Aznar had learned about Mari’s petition, he had taken her as a prisoner and abused her as his personal sex slave.
 * Chapter 4:

Once Aoth reported to tharchioness Nymia Focar sometime around Mirtul 19-20, he was promoted to an captain within the Griffon Legion and joined a force that the governor assembled to destroy the undead host, which was advancing down the Pass of Thazar. Nymia’s legions engaged the undead army of Ysval at the west end of the pass. Following a brutal battle, the undead horde defeated the Thayan troops and forced them to retreat but were turned back at morning's light. Afterward, the undead horde dispersed into smaller bands in order to ravage the countryside of Pyarados.

When Malark reached Surthay on Mirtul 25, he questioned several of the soldiers who had been involved in the fight against the Rashemi forces. He shared his life story with one of the soldiers before taking his life: Originally from the cities and settlements of the Moonsea, Malark was gifted with eternal youth from a potion that he had drunk many centuries earlier. He became a monk of the Order of the Long Death before developing a unique appreciation for death as one of its purveyors in Faerûn.
 * Chapter 5:

While the undead were laying waste to eastern Thay in late Mirtul, Nymia and Aoth traveled to the Flaming Brazier temple in Eltabbar to meet with Szass Tam and the three zulkirs who were allied with the lich: Samas Kul; Yaphyll, the zulkir of the divination; and Lallara Mediocros, the zulkir of the abjuration. The meeting was also attended by Iphegor Nath, the High Flamelord, the head of the church of Kossuth, the elemental god of fire. After Nymia and Aoth provided Szass Tam and the other lords with full accounts of the Thayans’ two defeats at Thazar Keep and the Pass of Thazar, they were informed by Tam that Milsantos Daramos, the tharchion of Thazalhar, was bringing his troops to Pyarados to assist her in combating the undead marauders. Szass Tam informed the assembly that the Red Wizards necromancers would use any Thayan corpses they found to manufacture undead soldiers to reinforce the two tharchions' legions, and that he would send his forces to aid in the elimination the undead horde. The lich then convinced Iphegor to command several of the church of Kossuth’s militant orders to join the fight against the undead, and he also supplied the priests with magical torch-like weapons to aid them.

By the time Malark arrived at Surthay, Bareris had recovered from his virulent fever, left Tyraturos and journeyed north in pursuit of Tammith and her captors. As he tracked his beloved north, Bareris discovered, Red Wizard necromancers and their agents had marched a significant number of slaves into the sparsely populated northern region of Thay. When Bareris eventually caught up with the slave procession in the open country of the north, he tried to secure Tammith's release by negotiating with those in command of the caravan, Muthoth and So-Kehur. His efforts failed however, and Bareris was attacked by the mages and their guards. Bareris killed several of the soldiers, but he was soon incapacitated by the wizards and barely managed to escape. Before the Red Wizards or the guards could find him, Bareris was saved by a small band of gnoll warriors who formerly served in the Thayan legions.

On Mirtul 26, Tsagoth located Mari's hidden prison cell and following a brief discussion, transformed her into a fiend that resembled his own form. The blood fiend abomination then persuaded the transformed, former tharchioness to kill her former tormentor, Aznar Thrul.
 * Chapter 6:

While the slave procession continued to journey north, Bareris was taken to the gnolls' encampment where he learned that Tammith and the other slaves were being taken to the ruined city of Delhumide. Bareris convinced the gnoll chieftain, Wesk Backbreaker, and his followers to assist him in secretly entering Delhumide and rescuing Tammith.

After more than a tenday of travel, Tammith, a fellow slave Yuldra and the rest of the caravan arrived in Delhumide, they were taken through a magical portal that transported them to an undead manufactory hidden within the Sunrise Mountains.

A few mere days after the meeting at the Burning Brazier, Nymia Focar's army of soldiers, Red Wizards, Burning Braziers and Black Flame Zealots in Pyarados divided into several companies in order to eradicate the undead army as rapidly as possible. When Aoth's troops reached the small village of Dulos, they discovered that a band of undead had massacred its inhabitants and were occupying the settlement. They destroyed the marauders and one of Tam's necromancers, Urhur Hahpet, began raising the deceased as dread warriors to aid the Thayan legions. Later than night, Aoth shared a night of passion with Chathi Oandem, a priestess of Kossuth who had tended his wounds earlier that day. By this time, Nymia’s other companies also achieved victory in their respective missions.
 * Chapter 7:

Meanwhile on the same day, Muthoth and So-Kehur traveled to an undead manufactory hidden underground in the Sunrise Mountains and reported the details of their battle with Bareris Anskuld to the atropal Xingax. The undead outsider was the overseer of the stronghold, where he and necromancers of the Red Wizards continually experimented in the creation of various undead creatures, including types that became extinct centuries earlier and those that were entirely new to Toril. After Xingax watched Tammith strike a blood orc guard, he took her as his own, and by means of a dark spell, had her magically transformed into a unique and formidable type of vampire, binding her her to serve the necromancers and their cause, against her will.

Bareris infiltrated Delhumide on Mirtul 30 and reached the magical portal, located within a temple of Horus-Re with the aid of the gnoll chieftain Wesk and his tribe. When the group was attacked by a Red Wizard, Bareris killed him, stole his crimson robes and entered the gateway alone, disguised as Mulan spellcaster.
 * Chapter 8:

Once he arrived within Xingax's dark sanctuary, Bareris managed to find Tammith only to be assaulted by his former love, while she was not in control of her actions. Bareris was able to incapacitate Tammith and escape, but was confronted by Xingax on his way out. Bareris was nearly defeated by the outsider, but he managed to wound the mighty undead entity and fled into the Sunrise Mountains on the dawn of the first day of Kythorn.
 * Chapter 9:

Upon learning that the undead had assaulted the sizable town of Thazrumaros and overrun its eastern half, Nymia Focar hastily began reuniting her army on Kythorn 4. While many Thayan warriors were slain in the battle but they ultimately prevailed and the countryside of Pyarados was cleansed of the undead. Since Milsantos and his soldiers had also been successful in southern Thay, Nymia and Milsantos decided to join their forces, advance up the Pass of Thazar and retake the its keep. That night, Nymia, Aoth, Milsantos, Urhur and others discussed the foes they had so far encountered in battle. Aoth notably brought up the cleric of Bane he had encountered nearly a month before, and stressed that while they had destroyed a great number of zombies and raised Thayans, the original horde of more esoteric lacedons, quells and other exotic undead led by the nighthaunt. The war council dispersed for the evening and Aoth reunited with Chathi.
 * Chapter 10:

On Kythorn 5, Aznar Thrul briefly met with his longtime "friend" Shabella, the high priestess of Mask, and learned of the recent military victory that had been attributed to his political rival Szass Tam. Afterwards, Thrul returned to Mari Agneh's cell to pleasure himself with her company. After he disrobed and abused the young "woman", she revealed her new identity and turned into a savage tanar'ri without conscience or reasoning. Though he defended himself with fire and lightning, Mari slayed Aznar, and ravaged a group of the dead zulkir's men-at-arms and Red Wizards. The fiend Tsagoth briefly witnessed her new form briefly before fleeing from a group of oncoming wizards. Mari slaughtered many of the warriors and a pair of Red Wizards before she was finally destroyed by one of the spellcasters.

As Bareris traveled through the Sunrise Mountains, he was pursued by undead that Xingax had sent to hunt him down. After days of evading the creatures, Bareris was assailed by a banshee on Kythorn 7, but defeated the spirit with the assistance of Mirror, the ghost of a paladin who lived many years before. Mirror took Bareris to meet his companion, the gravecrawler Quickstrike within old, subterranean tombs. The ancestor worm told the bard that the ghost would help him stay hidden from his undead pursuers and guide him back to Thay.
 * Chapter 11:

Meanwhile, Dmitra arranged for a secret meeting between herself, Yaphyll, Samas Kul, and Lallara Mediocros shortly before the Council of Zulkirs was scheduled to convene in Eltabbar at Szass Tam’s request.

When Dmitra met with her three fellow zulkirs in one of her safe-houses on Mirtul 9, she revealed to them that she had discovered that Szass Tam had orchestrated the murders of both Druxus Rhym and Aznar Thrul, betrayed the Thayan legions that had attempted to invade Rashemen by providing critical information about their plans to the Rashemi, and portrayed the failed assault as a Rashemi attack on Thay in order to create a climate of fear in the country. By effectively and expeditiously solving the crises, the lich wanted to convince the nobles, legions, and common people that he was the one individual who could end the nation’s woes and should be made the supreme ruler of Thay. To prevent Szass Tam from becoming the country’s sole sovereign, the three zulkirs agreed to Dmitra’s request for them to pledge that they would oppose any attempt by the undead wizard to attain greater authority.
 * Chapter 12:

When the Council of Zulkirs met on Mirtul 11, Szass Tam proposed to make himself temporary regent to eliminate the threats and menaces facing Thay, but all of the other mage-lords voted against him. After retiring to his chamber, Szass Tam had his agents alert the citizens of Eltabbar that the other zulkirs had denied him the authority that he needed to save the realm. As news caused violent riots to erupt throughout Eltabbar, Szass Tam secretly sent Tsagoth and other demons to kill the rioters in an attempt trick the city’s common people into believing that Zulkir Nevron and his conjurers summoned fiendish creatures to slaughter them. Nular Tabar, castellan of Eltabbar attempted to maintain order in the city streets.

When the riots progressed, Szass Tam used magic to appear in multiple places around Eltabbar and quelled the fighting, further endearing him to the capital's citizens. Fearing the power of Szass Tam following the failure of his initial plan, Dmitra instructed Malark to discover his next scheme.

Bareris and Mirror reached the Pass of Thazar on Mirtul 13, where they encountered Aoth and Brightwing while the partners were scouting the area to ensure that all the undead had retreated from the area. When Aoth and his griffon took Bareris and Mirror to the Thayan encampment, the bard told the battle mage, Nymia and Milsantos about Xingax's undead manufactory.
 * Chapter 13:

Aoth, Bareris, Nymia, and Milsantos realized that Szass Tam had secretly commanded the Red Wizard necromancers to create the undead horde that had attacked eastern Thay in order to become the nation's supreme ruler. They understood that the lich had to seem a successful and triumphant leader to manipulate the Council of Zulkirs into naming him regent, so he manufactured a threat to the eastern tharchs and inserted himself into a crucial role in its defeat. The allies ascertained that Szass Tam had magically bound his followers so that they would immediately die if they attempted to reveal information about his plans. Since Szass Tam failed to persuade the other zulkirs to elect him regent, Aoth and his comrades were not certain of the lich's current aims or if they could trust any necromancers as they prepared to assault the Keep of Thazar. In order to learn the truth, Aoth, Bareris, Chathi, who were accompanied by Mirror, decided to interrogate one of the Red Wizards: Urhur Hahpet.

Once the four defeated Urhur's undead minion and incapacitated the mage, he confirmed their deductions but died from Szass Tam’s binding enchantment. Following the interrogation, Nymia and Milsantos decided to imprison the necromancers within their legion and destroy their undead servants to protect their own soldiers. They were aided in this task by the griffon riders and the clerics of Kossuth.

The next day, Nymia and Milsantos' army assembled outside the Keep of Thazar and prepared to attack the undead horde in the fortress, which was shrouded in a magical gloom created by Ysval. The priests of Kossuth summoned a colossal lava elemental that demolished the keep's fortifications and created a large breach in its walls. The nighthaunt destroyed the gigantic elemental and the Thayan forces quickly advanced through the stronghold's opening. When Chathi, and other clerics of Kossuth attempted to use the torch-like weapons previously supplied by Szass Tam, the implements exploded and killed their wielders and everyone nearby. The shocking destruction of Kossuth’s servants nearly caused the legions to succumb to panic and collapse, but Milsantos and the other leaders rallied their forces and reestablished order.

The Thayan men-at-arms, wizards and remaining priests fought courageously against the undead, but their eventual defeat was inevitable. In the hope of changing the inevitable outcome, Milsantos and Nymia led a small band of elite warriors directly against Ysval while griffon riders held off the remaining undead and necromancers. While Mirror battled and defeated one of the Ysval's officers, an angel of decay, Bareris was assailed by Tammith. He beheaded his former love, hacked her skull to pieces and pierced her heart with his sword in an attempt to release her from her undead existence. Afterward, Bareris joined Nymia, Aoth, Brightwing, and Mirror in confronting Ysval, and together they destroyed the nighthaunt. Following Ysval's demise, one of the surviving Thayan spellcasters dispelled the unnatural darkness enveloping the fortress. The purifying sunlight caused the wraiths and many of the other spectral undead to either perish or disappear, and provided Nymia and Milsantos' legions with a significant advantage over the remaining creatures. The Thayan forces soon destroyed all the undead entities and reclaimed the Keep of Thazar.

Since the last meeting of the zulkirs in Eltabbar, Szass Tam withdrew from the Council of Zulkirs and used force of arms to become Thay's sole ruler. The lich secretly commanded the legions of Gauros and Surthay, newly augmented by a massive infusion of undead warriors, to march south to Bezantur as it granted control of nearly the entire southern half of the country with a hold on the ports located on the coasts of the Alamber Sea. Bezantur and all of Priador were vulnerable due to the recent deaths of Thrul and the commander of the tharch's armies. Along with Surthay and Gauros, Szass Tam also controlled High Thay and Lapendrar, so Azhir and Homen's host was granted free passage south and their progress was kept a secret from the Council of Zulkirs.
 * Chapter 14:

By Kythorn 17 Malark had discovered Szass Tam’s plans and alerted Dmitra, who then sent him to the Keep of Thazar to meet with Nymia and Milsantos and convince them to oppose the undead wizard. After speaking with Malark, the two tharchions decided to side with the council and ordered their forces to march to Priador. Nymia also instructed Aoth and the company of griffon riders to harass Szass Tam’s legions in order to slow their advance and keep them from reaching Bezantur before the Council could assemble a sufficient army to oppose them.

Before the aerial contingent departed, Aoth persuaded Bareris to join the forces against battling Szass Tam and his followers rather than seek out revenge on Xingax. At Bareris' request, Aoth assigned him to the Griffon Legion and provided him with a rider-less griffon. Milsantos and Nymia ordered their troops to kill the necromancers whom they had imprisoned before the assault on the Keep of Thazar.

While Malark, Mirror, Aoth and the griffon continually harassed the legions of Surthay and Gauros, Dmitra and the Council of Zulkirs met in Eltabbar during the last tenday of Mirtul to discuss the war that Szass Tam had begun. Since many nobles, legions, and common people throughout Thay would join Szass Tam’s cause and oppose the council, Dmitra pleaded to her six fellow zulkirs that they needed to directly lead their forces in battle, in a display of authority to secure support among the populace. Dmitra also convinced her peers that they must personally fight alongside their followers or Szass Tam and his forces would easily achieve victory.
 * Chapter 15:

The Griffon Legion’s relentless campaign of harassment slowed Szass Tam’s host long enough for the Council of Zulkirs to lead a sizable force into a position to intercept them before they could reach Bezantur, which Samas had readied to resist a siege. Since his army was now in a disadvantageous position, the lich and his subordinates withdrew for the engagement. Shortly afterward, on Mirtul 27, Szass Tam teleported himself to the encampment of the Griffon Legion to speak with Aoth, Malark, Bareris, and the aerial company's other leaders. The lich informed them of how their success in delaying his forces had led to what would be a protracted and destructive war that would engulf all of Thay. Szass Tam gave Aoth and his comrades an opportunity to join him, but they refused his entreaties and committed themselves to his opposition.

In early Flamerule, the vampiric Tammith arrived at Xingax' lair within the Sunset Mountains. Her body survived the mutilation at the hands of her former lover Bareris, and assumed transformed into a colony of bats before she was compelled to return by her creator.
 * Epilogue: