Shoon Imperium

The Shoon Imperium was the dominant government of much of south and western Faerûn during the sixth age of Calimshan (27 – 450 DR). It was the most well-documented of all of Calimshan's royal dynasties.

Founding
The Imperium started as the idea of Akkabar Shoon the Elder, the scion of a minor branch of a fairly insignificant noble family with a history of breeding talented wizards. At the age of 16, Akkabar had the privilege of being made the apprentice of the Vizera Wizard-princess Rhynda Ithal of Tethyr. He lived and studied in Myratma with the queen for more than six years until his apprenticeship was over. He then moved to Calimport and, after four years of selling his prestigious magical abilities to the highest bidder, he became a major figure in the city's social elite. After another six years of work, he managed to ingratiate himself into the royal court of syl-pasha Kadar el Tarsaj, quickly earning the right to marry the syl-pasha's fifth daughter and, as a wedding gift, was granted the position of syl-vizar of his home city Memnon.

Akkabar erected magical defenses around himself, his wife and his home while political strife (some of which he secretly instigated) resulted in the murder of his rivals. Within six months he'd gained the throne of Calimshan.

Three years later Akkabar's former tutor, Princess Rhynda, arranged to marry her grandson Nishan to Akkabar's granddaughter Arhymeria in order to stabilize relations between Tethyr and Calimshan. Despite objections from nobles on both sides of the border, the deal was made and 4-year-old Arhymeria was sent to Ithmong to be fostered at court as a lady-in-waiting. After she was wed to the king, Akkabar wanted to use the girl to steal Rhynda's magical secrets but, over the past ten years, Arhymeria had grown distant from her family. She refused her grandfather, becoming Rhynda's apprentice instead.

Arhymeria and her husband were both in their early 70s when Akkabar managed to arrange for pirates to murder almost the entire Tethyrian royal family, including his granddaughter. He arranged for his grandson Amahl to take the Tethyrian throne but Amahl proved just as reluctant to be a puppet king as his sister was to being a thief. Unfortunately, he also never married nor sired an heir so Akkabar had Amahl poisoned and placed Amahl's nephew, also named Amahl on the throne of Tethyr.

Amahl II didn't last more than 13 years before he died and his son became Amahl Shoon III. To ensure that his progeny lasted long enough, Akkabar spent the next dozen years at Amahl IIIs side, ensuring that he was protected and that he shared his vision. The precautions worked, though Akkabar was killed in mysterious magical circumstances. Due to Akkabar's magical extension of his life and frequent deaths among his family, Amahl III was his closest living heir and so inherited the throne of Calimshan. Now the king of both countries, Amahl crowned himself Qysar or 'overlord of kings' over the 'Shoon Imperium'. Amahl granted his youngest sister's husband governorship of Tethyr and moved his throne and the court to Shoonach.

Birth of an Empire
Five years after his reign as Qysar had begun, a coup was planned by three powerful Calishite noble families who were upset with the change in the status quo. They staged two 'hunting accidents' that resulted in the deaths of three of Amahl's four sons. Paranoia and cruelty became the watchword for the rest of Amahl's reign. He became a recluse, emerging from the palace at Shoonach only once, to announce his plan to dominate the lands around him.

Amahl's son Aleph, upon his ascension to his fathers throne, began the royal lines tradition of being known only by their family name. He was an ineffectual leader and so not much is remembered of him. However, during his reign the construction of several major roads were begun. Intended to be used by the Imperium's armies, they would instead become major trade routes. Shoon I's reign was also marked for the five massive tidal waves that struck Calimport, Memnon, Almraiven, Manshaka, and Teshburl at the same time which led to the building of at least two temples to Umberlee in every coastal settlement.

The Imperium Rises
Shoon II was noted for his persecution of priests stemming from grievous personal losses that divine magic failed to prevent. He died without an heir and so adopted his newborn nephew on his deathbed. He also named his friend Hazamir al Aktorral as riqysar (regent) until his adopted son came of age.

Hazamir wasn't particularly interested in ruling the Imperium, preferring to concentrate on his own magical studies. The army gained a lot of power from Hazamir's negligence but they also conquered a lot of territory in the Lake of Steam region and the Shaar.

Shoon III was a spoiled boy but he was also paranoid of losing the opulence he surrounded himself with. He ordered Hazamir's execution after deciding that he didn't trust him and spent his entire reign guarding himself against outside influences. So focused was he on those he didn't know that he failed to see the assassination attempt of his own brother.

Amahl Shoon IV was known mostly for having people killed. Over 200 nobles as well as countless others died at his command. He descended into madness after only a decade on the throne and was justly killed by his younger brother two years later. In 236 DR Amahl IV seized control of the hoard of Rhimnasarl and instigated a period of intense magical research and experimentation among the mages of the Shoon Imperial Court. Many of the artifacts and spells of the Shoon Empire can be dated to this time, one such example is the Fanged Shield of Shyk Korort.

Amahl Shoon V was the younger brother of Amahl III & IV and so had spent his life learning The Art and adventuring, thinking himself safe from responsibility. When he returned home he found the qysar mad and, unable to stage a coup, confronted his brother. When Amahl IV attacked him, he was forced to slay him with his magic. He was immediately coronated by a grateful populace. Amahl V was an enlightened leader, restoring the rights of the clergy that were taken away by his uncle Shoon II, sponsoring many impressive artistic works as well as the building of the Edificant Library and an impressive Selûnite cathedral. His was a reign of peace, order and prosperity.

Amahl Shoon VI, third grandson of the last qysar, was a warrior with a reputation for tough but fair leadership. A huge contrast to his predecessor, he only lasted for fifteen months and is only remembered for one thing – putting down the slave rebellion known as the Harakhti Uprisings. He was killed by a scorpion sting two days after returning to Shoonach from his campaign.

Shoon IV was a political genius, but he was also a necromancer. These facts made him respected but also despised. The Calishar Emirates grew exponentially under his reign and trade prospered in the Imperium as a result. Also, by allowing the demihuman realms of Tathtar and Meiritin to grow without his influence, they provided new, nonhuman ways of thinking that, once copied, benefited the empire greatly. Also, his insistence of using undead monsters in his armies greatly angered his generals, however the use of undead, in an event known as the Death Parade, did effectively put down the Tethyrian unrest that occurred in the lands between Ithmong and Shoonach.

The Imperium was shocked when Shoon IV didn't survive the transformation into a lich and his great-granddaughter (whom he had named as his heir merely as a formality) became the first unwed female ruler of Calimshan. Qysara Shoon V surprised her court by being almost as good a ruler as her predecessor. She limited the influence of spellcasters that had grown over the last qysars reign and tirelessly sponsored the Imperiums armed forces. As a result, her armies managed to conquer a full half of the Shaar, the Nelanther Isles and some territory on the Chultan Peninsula.

No one knew exactly how Shoon VI came to be such a powerful wizard, but when he replaced his mother on the throne after she died of a fever, he quickly began diverting resources to developing the Imperium's magical power. He allowed his mothers armies to act almost autonomously and left the rulership of the Imperium itself to several hand-picked, highly skilled vizars. He managed to greatly improve the Imperium's intelligence network before being betrayed by his own personal guard after only 9 years on the throne.

Shoon VII killed his uncles slayers to win the throne, though it was he himself who'd paid them to murder him in the first place. He quickly centralized the entire Imperium's power on himself, controlling nearly everything and delegating little. It would have been disastrous if he'd died but he was such a demagogue that everyone who listened to him speak was inspired to loyalty and so he avoided the assassins blade. He was a harsh, blunt qysar who demanded loyalty through force from anyone who could be a threat to his power and believed that the ends always justified the means. When the merchant class complained about a recent drastic increase in crime, the qysar dumped oil into the sewers of every city in the Imperium, set it on fire with magic and burned the thieves out of their holes. However, the fires grew out of control and more than three million of his subjects were killed as the foundations and buildings of his cities were burned away. Before the criminals could possibly recover, Shoon had installed his own loyalists to run most illegal enterprises for him. Shoon VIIs reign saw the rise and fall of Vashalar wherein a nazir of the Imperium, in an effort to impress his qysar, exponentially increased the size of the Imperiums borders all the way north to the High Moor. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of Cormyr, who invaded Vashalar, defeated the nazir and sent the Imperiums northern border all the way back to the Giant's Run Mountains. After sustaining injuries fighting with Iryklathagra, Shoon VII decided to embark upon the path to lichdom. He named his daughter as his heir, moved most of his magical research to Debukkher, cloaked himself in illusions that made him appear much weaker than he actually was and waited for his daughter to try and assassinate him.

Fall
Qysara Shaani was a vapid pawn who always picked spending time in her harem over time with matters of rulership. Those who manipulated her gladly allowed her to continue her lifestyle while they got on with making the Imperium suit their desires. Regional nobles bought the loyalty of the Imperiums generals out from under those in Shoonach and after 60 years of Shaanis 'rulership' the Imperium was on the brink of collapse.

Amahl Shoon VII was Shaanis youngest grandchild. Sequestered in secret near the Lake of Steam, he managed to eradicate the beholder influence on the region and then gathered an army and a fleet to attack Calimport upon the Qysaras death. After 4 weeks of fighting, he took back control of the Imperium from the various nobles and advisors who had initiated a bloodbath trying to gain as much power for themselves as they could. He declared himself qysar but ruled over a burned shell of an Imperium. He initiated campaign after campaign to bring the Imperium under his total control but he hated and feared magic and so made it illegal. He initiated a genocide of magic users and overtaxed the priesthood. Although he had his great-grandfathers way with words (and his lack of ethics) there were just too many problems besetting the Imperium. When Tethyr rebelled against Shoon Rule, Strohm I planted the final nail in the Imperiums coffin, killing Amahl VII and allowing Iryklathagra to destroy Shoonach, thus ending one of the largest human empires that Faerûn had ever seen.