Red Wizards of Thay

The Red Wizards, formerly known as the Red Wizards of Thay before the War of the Zulkirs, were the notorious and nefarious magocratic ruling class of the inhospitable but well-inhabited country of Thay. They were historically accomplished slavers, demonologists and arcane experimenters before wholly embracing an ideal of undeath.

Organization
For centuries, the leaders of the Red Wizards and in fact all of Thay, was the Council of Zulkirs. The ruling body comprised eight of the most powerful Red Wizards, each of whom represented one of the schools of magic.

In the years following the War of the Zulkirs, the supreme ruler of the Red Wizards was the feared lich, Szass Tam.

Since Szass Tam's takeover, the exiled Red Wizards have transformed enormously, becoming a loosely organized chain of merchant enclaves who specialized in procuring magical items.

Activities
During the mid–14 century the Red Wizards spent much of their efforts spreading their influence via their trade enclaves. They used these havens to act as spies and concealed against for the nation of Thay. At the same time, the Red Wizards as a whole sought to expand their borders by attempting to outright conquer neighboring nations. The Red Wizard led Thay's assaults against the wild lands of Rashemen to the north, and Aglarond to the west.

When traveling across the realms, Red Wizards were always well protected. They were often accompanied either by the fearsome gladiators of Thay, or the Thayan knights, who dedicated their lives to the role as their protectors. They were hardly discreet in their journeys, often carrying themselves with boorish swagger or haughty detachment.

For nearly a century following Szass Tam's ascension as Regent of Thay, the Red Wizards suffered a great divide. The spellcasters in Thay who declared their loyalty to Szass Tam continued to act as magocratic overseers. Those that fled Thay or chose not to return to their homeland, were forced to live new sorts of lives. They operated as a sort of mercantile consortium to maintain financial independence, predominantly in the Moonsea and central Faerûn.

In the years following the Second Sundering, the Red Wizards were once again relegated to serving as agents the zulkirs. They were often directed to travel the Realms to acquire powerful magical items in order for the zulkirs to further consolidate their power.

Base of Operations


From the mid–14 century onwards, the Red Wizards maintained enclaves in many major cities all across Faerûn. While each one was considered an autonomous entity, each of them had the shared goal of greater accumulation of wealth. Prior to the Thayan civil war, the Red Wizards could act with complete unity within their enclaves, as they were considered to be set upon Thayan soil and only subject to Thayan law.

Only the tradition of separated autonomy survived the war.

Possessions
The most distinctive feature of the Red Wizards was their namesake red robes.

Relationships
While the Red Wizards help supreme authority in their homeland of Thay, they were not well trusted and in fact reviled across the Realms. Despite the suspicions held by many, the Red Wizards were often allowed to operate their enclaves in many Faerûnian cities. From here they ran a lucrative business in the trade of magical items, spells and even artifacts. This made them virtually indispensable to many of their clients, and as such allowed them to further expand their sphere of influence.

They constantly schemed to bring down their neighboring nations of Rashemen, where they were thwarted by the equally famed magicians the Witches of Rashemen; Aglarond, where they were turned back by the Simbul of the Seven Sisters; and Mulhorand, from where the people of Thay first emigrated.

During the height of their influence, the Red Wizards were the enemies of many forces in Toril. Amongst those who opposed them were the Witches of Rashemen, the Seven Sisters and their allies, the goodly Harpers, and even the Zhentarim, who disliked the Wizards encroaching on their territory. The Fangshields fought against th Red Wizards due to their horrific experimentation and creation of black unicorns.

Conversely they received great support from demons, devils, and drow.

History


Upon the earliest and greatest of the Red Wizards' victories was the Battle of Thazalhar in the. They delved into the demoncyst beneath Thaymount and used dark rituals to elicit the aid of the fearsome demon lord Eltab. The Red Wizards were then able to defeat the Mulhorandi god-king and free themselves from, foreign control.

When the elves of Cormanthor began to leave their forest in the, the Red Wizards set their sights on the ruins of Myth Drannor. They gradually and discreetly established themselves in the Dalelands in order to gain access to the ruined elven city.

After another failed attempt at securing Rashemen in the, the Red Wizards planned to infiltrate the nations of Faerûn legitimately — in Thayan enclaves which would publicly sell magic items and quietly also traffic drugs, wicked spells, and slaves. Using these they hoped to eventually have strongholds and resulting political infiltration that would make them indispensable and powerful, and eventually get them something along the lines of world domination.

In the, Red Wizards made an enemy of the since-imprisoned Eltab. The then-zulkir of necromancy Szass Tam attempted to enslave the demon lord to Thakorsil's Seat by means of the ritual of twin burnings, but was thwarted by some adventurers. Eltab sword revenge against the necromancer and the rest of his Red Wizards.

Less that a decade later, in the, Szass Tam plunged Thay into a civil war when he began a coup against his fellow zulkirs. The Red Wizards were divided into two seperate factions and fought each other in a war that lasted ten years. To defeat his foes, Tam harnessed the devastation of the Spellplague to gain god-like powers and ravage the landscape of Thay.

The rebel zulkirs were driven from Thay, as were their followers. The Red Wizards' dark plots came back to haunt them and many of their enemies used the group's turmoil to assault the many enclaves.

The final blow to the Red Wizards as they once stood came when the last remaining zulkirs, decades later, interrupted Szass Tam's plot to become a being of godlike power, preventing his ritual from reaching completion. Their efforts cost them their lives but likely saved Faerûn from one of the greatest threats it might have ever faced and prevented Szass Tam from ever attempting the ritual again - at least so long as it was conducted on Thayan soil. For the Red Wizards however, the death of the zulkirs ended what the Red Wizards once had been and gave way for the new order.

Outside of Thay, the words "Red Wizards" came to only be thought of as the quintessential merchant arcanists. The exile mages transformed their old enclaves into their new homes. What had once been a facade of a purpose, the accumulation of profit through selling magical items, became daily practice as the Red Wizards eked out new lives outside of Thay.

Members
The Red Wizards of Thay were highly selective about to whom they granted admittance. They nearly only took in members of the Mulan ethnic group. Each Red Wizard were expected to wholly dedicate themself to a single school of magic.

Those Red Wizards who lived outside of Thay in the post-Spellplague years forewent many of their old traditions, especially the shaved heads and plentiful tattoos preferred by the Mulani of Thay. For these individuals, the title of Red Wizards was passed on through heredity, adoption, or marriage.

Notable Red Wizards

 * Szass Tam:
 * Zhengyi:

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Dreams of the Red Wizards &bull; Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle


 * Novels:
 * The Haunted Lands
 * Unclean &bull; Undead &bull; Unholy


 * Video Games:
 * Baldur's Gate series
 * Baldur's Gate &bull; Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn &bull; Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
 * Neverwinter Nights series
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer