High Imaskar

High Imaskar was an empire that stood on the shattered ruins of Mulhorand on the eastern shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars, after the Spellplague of 1385 DR. It represented one of two nations of Imaskari survivors in the 15 century DR, until its eventual destruction in 1487 DR, during the final events of the Second Sundering.

Geography
High Imaskar claimed the ravaged lands that remained of the Mulhorandi kingdom after the Spellplague. The Spellplague scoured the lands, reducing them to a blasted range of mountains, chasms, rivers of lava, and earthmotes. The terrain made transportation all but impossible by anything but by air. Transportation in High Imaskar was usually accomplished via the huge redwing insects, bred by the Imaskari to carry passengers and cargo through the harsh lands.

To the east, across the Dragonsword Mountains, lay the Plains of Purple Dust, a new extension of the Raurin Desert beyond. The highly inhospitable region was plagued by large purple worms and dust devils.

Society
High Imaskar was divided into the cities of Skyclave and Gheldaneth. Skyclave was a miracle of magic and the seat of the empire. Gheldaneth was the last remnant of the Mulhorandi kingdom but existed as a vassal to the revived Imaskar. Skyclave attempted to recapture the grandeur and glory of the original Imaskar Empire with two significant changes. Empress Ususi's first imperial decree abolished the Imaskari tradition of slave-holding and outlawed slavery on pain of death. Skyclave itself was a huge single tower, enchanted to be larger on the inside than the outside. It was a symbol of the former might of the Imaskari wizards and it housed the revived Academy of Imaskar.

Gheldaneth, in contrast, was a failing metropolis where the remnants of the Mulan people, including a large number of tieflings that claimed to be descendants of the gods of the Mulhorandi pantheon, found themselves unable to resist the renewed might of High Imaskar. While the edict banning slavery also applied to the vassal city of Imaskar, a second edict was enforced in Gheldaneth prohibiting the worship of the old Mulhorandi pantheon. The local detachment of vengeance-takers had to put down several revolts led by priests of the illegal religion. The majority of palaces, temples, and academies of old Gheldaneth were submerged in the devastation of the Spellplague, and a large number of treasure hunters occupied the city, hoping to plunder the sunken quarter of the city.

Government
High Imaskar was ruled by its founder, Empress Ususi Manaallin, for almost 90 years. To avoid the same problems that toppled the old Imaskari Empire, she established the Body of Artificers, Planners, and Apprehenders as a foil to her power. In 1479 DR, Empress Ususi was about to retire, and decided that her successor should be someone unrelated to her.

Foreign Relations
High Imaskar maintained trade relations with Deep Imaskar, but the backward and introspective sister city grew jealous of its brighter sibling and that resent was festering.

High Imaskar also recognized the need to have allies in a world that didn't quite recognize it as a full kingdom yet. To that end, they gave favorable trade deals to the dragonborn and genasi kingdoms of Tymanther and Akanûl, despite the enmity between these two nations.

Because of their history with the old empire of Imaskar, Chessenta was an enemy of High Imaskar. Even when there was no open war between them, Chessentan war parties usually attacked High Imaskari outposts and vessels. Because of this, in 1478 DR High Imaskar gave the dragon principalities of Murghôm favorable trade deals in exchange for Murghômi pirates to retaliate against Chessenta.

History
The original great empire of Imaskar was destroyed around, when the gods of their slaves, the Mulan, rose up and shattered the empire. Some of the Imaskari retreated to Deep Imaskar in the Underdark beneath the Hordelands.

After the Spellplague of 1385 DR, explorers from Deep Imaskar set out to see if the Mulhorandi persisted, and many of the younger Imaskari of Deep Imaskar left with Ususi when she decided to create a nation in the now desolated Mulhorandi lands. Under her guidance, they relocated the old Palace of the Purple Emperor to the barren lands and founded the city of Skyclave. Ususi was crowned Empress, the first Imaskari ruler since the destruction of the old Imaskar Empire, nearly 4000 years before.

In 1479 DR, the blue dragon Gestaniius used an army of dragonspawn, purple worms and other minions to try to conquer High Imaskar, as part of her plot to gain more points in Brimstone's xorvintaal. This threat was ended thanks to aid from irregular Tymantheran forces in the form of the Platinum Cadre and the Lance Defenders envoys Daardendrien Medrash, Daardendrien Balasar and Kanjentellequor Biri. This, however, damaged the relationship between Tymanther and High Imaskar, as the latter didn't help the dragonborn during their political crisis with Chessenta, as they had promised.

The empire of High Imaskar came to an end during the Second Sundering, when the Mulhorandi gods returned to Faerûn and incited the Mulhorandi rebellion. When the war was over, in early 1487 DR, High Imaskar was no more, and the survivors were forced to flee to the Plains of Purple Dust or to other planes.

Settlements

 * Skyclave (pop. 18,000)
 * Gheldaneth (pop. 22,000)