Citadel

The Citadel was an ancient fortress-complex in Thay that served as the inner sanctum of Szass Tam and the country's infamous Red Wizards. Even before the wash of undeath overcame Thay, the Citadel was said to be an unholy place, haunted by utmost evil and teeming with secrets that should never see the light of day.

Location
The Citadel was located atop the tallest peak of Thaymount, a chain of volcanic mountains in the heart of the tharch that shared their name.

Structure
The central keep of the Citadel had a broad, flat roof that granted a panoramic view of the fortress-city beneath and the Thaymount mountains beyond.

Most of the Citadel and its dungeons were built by the fortress's original builders, and later expanded upon by its Red Wizard inhabitants. In its entirety, the Citadel was believed to have been similar in size and scope to the dungeon-complex of Undermountain, found on the opposite side of Faerûn.

Interior
One of the notable structures within the Citadel was its palace, which was the personal residence of Szass Tam. While the regent of Thay spent little time within his residence, the palace served as a place to house his greatest trophies and as a venue for the outlandish celebrations of the Thayan elite class.

Beneath the Citadel were a series of dungeons that were strictly off limits―even to most Red Wizards. They were reserved only for those that committed crimes against Thay, undead that required eventual destruction, and select students of Szass Tam himself. They were a lawless place of abject squalor, home to scores of undead, petty scavengers, and lawless gangs that eked out meager existences within.

Although much of the Citadel's lowest depths were never fully explored and charted, some information regarding the so-called Paths of the Doomed had been revealed over the course of the years. Within the bowels were the ruins of the ancient sarrukh, including statues to their lost spirit-gods, and monuments to their dominion over the other creator races.

Atmosphere
The walls within the deepest bowels of the Citadel were decorated with deteriorating yet still-intact bas-reliefs and wall paintings of unknown origin. These works of art were created by the sarrukh, the progenitor race of the lizardfolk, and believed to be distant relatives of those that dwelled within the Surmarsh.

Notable Locations
Within the Citadel's dungeon-complex were numerous smaller establishments, including residences, shops, and the like:
 * The Last Stop, a trading post that was situated in the lower reaches of the Citadel, immediately before a tunnel that led into the fortress's dungeons. Merchants, slavers, and agents of Thay all competed for the opportunity to take ownership of newly arrived slaves and glean whatever gossip or news from the world beyond that would benefit them the best.
 * Ravensblood Academy, an arcane academy for spellcasters found within the Citadel's dungeons. It catered to necromancers whom Szass Tam personally found promising.
 * Word of Recall, a specialized boutique in which mages offered a respite to denizens of the dungeons, in exchange for their memories and whatever meager coins they could offer.

Activities
The Citadel was connected to the Red Wizards' numerous dread rings established across the Realms, set in a specific pattern of arcane importance. This mystic arrangement was a necessary component of the ritual of the unmaking, the so-called "great work" that Szass Tam sought to achieve.

Defenses
Much of the Citadel was protected by arcane wards, which were set atop pre-existing enchantments placed by the Citadel's original builders.

History
The Citadel was an ancient structure with origins unknown to most across the Realms. It was constructed by the sarrukh race, well before the first millennium pre-Dale Reckoning.

After taking over the Citadel proper, the Red Wizards led a number of expeditions into the fortress's depths, with varying results. Some groups managed to extricate large caches of treasure, while most others never returned from within.

14 Century
"My agents in Thay report that Szass Tam has hidden himself away in the Citadel, an ancient fortress deep in Thaymount. They say he is preparing some new outrage. What it is I do not know."

- The Simbul, 1368 DR.

In the, Citadel and in fact all of Thaymount became engulfed with Red Wizard activities. Tharchions from across Thay, along with zulkirs of the eponymous council made numerous visits to the region, and doubled and redoubled the number of troops they garrisoned within.

A few years later, the ever-curious Simbul recruited a band of adventurers to infiltrate the Citadel and investigate Szass Tam and whatever schemes he was surely concocting. She used a unique spell to transport them within the labyrinthine dungeons beneath the ancient fortress.

According to history books a century later, and as Xenk Yendar would recall, in the mid-1370s DR, Szass Tam called all the other zulkirs and all the people of the Thaymount tharch, Xenk and his parents among them, to a grand celebration atop the Citadel on the eve of the summer solstice. A few of the common people carried sun symbols. But it was all a lie—instead, Szass interrupted Zulkir Dmitra Flass as she addressed the crowd and produced a red horn from under his robes. With it, he cast the beckoning death, thereby creating an army of undead under his control for his coup and following conquest of Thay. All who tried to flee were slain by Red Wizards in his service, among them Sofina. Xenk saw a girl his age, Ishira, standing alone and lost in the panic. In their fear, Xenk's parents tried to force their son into the ritual, but he refused and fled.

15 Century
Some time around the, the corpse of murdered storm giant king Hekaton was taken to the dungeons within the Citadel, and raised as a colossal undead death knight.

Rumors & Legends
According to reports from some agents working with the scholar Lhaeo, the Citadel housed a population of drow during the mid–14 century DR.

There was believed to exist a specific book that detailed at least some of what would be encountered within the Citadel's Paths of the Doomed.

Inhabitants
It was said that some members of the race that originally built the Citadel still resided within its depths as of the mid–14 century DR.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Lauzoril, a former Red Wizard who frequented the Last Stop trading post.
 * Sharade Quilbax, an agent who operated on behalf of Damand the zulkir of divination.