Thay

Thay was a mysterious and terribly powerful magocratic nation in east Faerûn, that was long-governed by the Zulkirs of the Red Wizards. During the late 15 century DR, it was ruled by the necromancer lich Szass Tam, along with the Council of Zulkirs, who were supported by a near-endless chain of bureaucrats and local tharchions. The true nature of Thay laid in the endless pursuit of arcane knowledge and power by the country's elite, a dynamic that was fueled by rampant slavery. This driving force permeated the country's dark history.

Society
For most of Thay's history, the country operated under a strict social hierarchy. The Red Wizards were considered the upper echelon of Thayan society, a magocratic noble class that was followed by Mulan bureaucrats, priests, merchants, soldiers, and mixed Mulan-Rashemi artisans, craftspeople, semi-skilled workers and common laborers, where a mere step above the nation's great many slaves of nearly every race, that had been accumulated from across the Realms.

In the years following Szass Tam's seizure of power in 1385 DR, leading up to the Second Sundering, the Thayan people mostly led hard, destitute lives. It was a land whose governing philosophy held that undeath was a preferred state of being for its people, full of boundless possibilities and immeasurable power. During most of the 15 century the living had no means to achieve prominence within Thay, as their mere existence was an affront to the beliefs of the reigning Szass Tam.

Culture
The Mulani of Thay maintained their people's tradition of shaving their heads and what little body hair they had. They were indoctrinated during their youth to revere the traditions of their people, obey the laws of Thay and honor those who served within the Red Wizards. Unlike the ethnic Mulani of Mulhorand, Thayans maintained a strong connection to the art and were proud to send their children to apprenticeship under experienced Red Wizards.

The Rashemi commoners identified less with their cultural origins and saw themselves as citizens of Thay, first and foremost. They shaved their heads in imitation of the aristocratic Mulani, though their darker complexion gave away their ethnic background.

All Thayans believed that the gods sent luck to the strong and resolute, not to the gentle and compassionate. As a people they sought personal power, primeval fulfillment and the procurement of wealth.

Inhabitants
Beginning in the 10 century, Thay maintained a vast "population" of undead zombies, who were enthralled as laborers and portagers, moving goods between ships docked in Thay's numerous waterways. The number of undead grew exponentially during the decades under Szass Tam's rule, following the nation's civil war that ended in 1385 DR, and by 1479 DR the Thay had the greatest concentration of undead in all of Faerûn.

Relations
Thayans were considerably prejudiced towards non-human races, particularly dwarves and gnomes, who were regularly the subject of racial epithets and provocations to violence. Elves were also held in low regard, though typically avoided and shunned rather than provoked. Orcs and half-orcs were well-tolerated within the badlands, as they commonly found as enforcers and soldiers within Thayan legions.

Religion
The hierarchy of worship in Thay was abundantly clear to everyone within its borders: magic was revered first, religion was a distant second. Despite the common misconception, The Red Wizards did not worship fiends nor did they consider the Tanar'ri or Baatezu as gods. They saw demons as dangerous allies, servants or for the extremely arrogant, tools that could be manipulated to accomplish their goals. In fact, the Red Wizards simply did not have time that could be devoted to worship, and merely offered hollow words of worship to their patron deities, and only truly valued the power of the arcane.

Although the Mulan people continued the worship of their old gods after they were transported to Toril by ancient Imaskar via a series of portals, they did so in that lands of future-Thay with names that were different from their neighbors in Mulhorand and Unther. Anhur, the Mulhorandi god of war, was known as "Ramathant", and came to count the Red Wizards as among his greatest enemies. Similarly, Horus-Re was known as "Helcaliant", and Isis as "Isharia".

Many of the evil-aligned deities of the Faerûnian pantheon had devoted sects in Thay, including Beshaba, Loviatar, Malar, Shar, Umberlee, the demi-power Gargauth and even incorporated non-human powers such as Jubilex, the aspect of Ghaunadaur, Vaprak and even Lolth. The church of Cyric was extremely popular for a brief time following his ascension in the Time of Troubles, though it waned greatly as the god was driven mad after reading the Cyrinishad. By this time the worship of Kossuth was fairly prevalent throughout the nation of Thay, however it exploded in popularity following the events of the Salamander War.

Government
For centuries, Thay was ruled by a council of eight powerful mages known as zulkirs, each of whom specialized in a different school of magic. This Council of Zulkirs appointed the nation's tharchions and tharchionesses, civil governors of the realm who ruled over the the vast provinces of Thay, known as "tharchs". Each tharchion chose their own "autharch", who acted as mayors, military commanders and magistrates, to enact their will over their lands and take blame as a scapegoat, should the need arise. Their enclaves were led by "khazarks", who held approximately the same authority as the autharchs, albeit in strongholds located in foreign countries.

Each governing official was indebted to their superior, which created a sense of suspicion and fear among the nation's bureaucrats. Various rival factions and competing interests arose as a result of this dynamic, and the nation was not able to unite under a single vision for many years. There was heavy turnover among the lesser bureaucrats, as each authority could assign blame in descending order of importance. While only the Red Wizards acted with real independence, their ranks were afflicted by similar scheming and in-fighting.

This lack of unification continued for many years, until Szass Tam seized power as the regent and supreme ruler of Thay, during the chaos of the Spellplague. Thereafter, the zulkirs served as his vassals and the tharchions and lesser magistrates fell in line.

Ruling bodies

 * Red Wizards: The Red Wizards served as a quasi-military organization within the hierarchy of Thay. They were independently-operating agents who answered only to their own superiors, a stature often denoted by the wizard's own personal power and influence. They were under the protection and authority of the eight reigning zulkirs. They were protected by the "knights" of Thay, martial enforcers who would readily lay down their lives to save those of the Red Wizards.


 * Council of Zulkirs: Chosen from among the most powerful of the Red Wizards, this loosely-structured council was comprised of eight magocratic rulers, each of which specialized in one of the schools of magic. After being purged during the Thayan civil war, a number of liches were appointed to the council, who served as Szass Tam's vassals.

Bureaucracies

 * Guild of Foreign Trade: This administrative organization oversaw the purchase of magical items, from the private arcane workshops owned by Thay's reigning zulkirs, and facilitated their export and sale via the nation's enclaves. The guild was a driving force of Thay's foreign economy.


 * Guild of Portages: Prior to the 11 century DR, this group was responsible for the conveyance of goods between the rivers of Thay. They were known for charging exorbitant rates for their portage, but were replaced by the undead slaves of Shevas Tam.

Laws
The ownership, sale and creation of slaves was legal within the borders of Thay.

While it was illegal for anyone from Thay to sell items of military value outside the nation, this law was often individually ignored, and loosely enforced nation's famous enclaves found across the Realms.

In addition to operating under the laws of their home nation, the Red Wizard compounds were regulated by the Three Laws of the Enclave. These laws provided diplomatic immunity to the Red Wizards serving within an enclave and were required to be agreed upon by foreign city officials.
 * The Law of Sovereignty stated that any enclave located outside of Thay's borders was still considered Thayan soil, and was subject to Thay's laws and regulations.
 * The Law of Trade dictated that they sell their goods for 10% less than the standard rate and could both sell and accept slaves as payment (however their sale was impractical due to local laws outside the enclave).
 * The Law of Crafting regulated which goods the Red Wizards would, and would not, sell to the general public.

Economy
Considering that the slave trade carried such weight in the Thayan economy, a practice that was heavily frowned upon throughout the rest of Faerûn, it was no surprise that the nation was predominantly agrarian. The lush plantations of the Thayan plateau were rich with fields of wheat, oat and barley and its orchards produced a variety of fruits, such as apples, citron, pears and figs. Enough food was harvested that the nation could feed those citizens it deemed worthy, with enough goods leftover that could be exported in trade.

Trade
Prior to the Spellplague, Thay exported a variety of goods to other nations, as they regularly had an excess of grain and other foodstuffs to feed their own people. Both Chessenta and Thesk were dependent on Thayan exports to feed their people. Other exports included uniquely crafted furniture, sculptures, household items and jewelry crafted by slave craftspeople. These fine goods were often made from gold, silver and platinum, all of which were readily available from Thay's plentiful mines, or jade an lapis.

Enclaves
Thay was famous throughout the Realms for the trade of magical items, an industry sponsored by the Red Wizards, who sold their crafted goods in the major cities of Faerûn. In addition to acquiring wealth from the sale of arcane curios that were manufactured in Thay, these enclaves were used to gather intelligence, another valuable commodity, for the Red Wizards and Council of Zulkirs. Among the Faerûnian cities known to have enclaves were Athkatla, Baldur's Gate, Proskur, Ravens Bluff, Scardale and Waterdeep, among others.

Slavery
Slavery was a common practice in Thay, a tradition that continued on from the ancient empire of Mulhorand. Somewhat ironically, the slaves themselves were the nation's most important resource, and were never to be needlessly destroyed. Slave markets were restocked with war prisoners, conquered Rashemi, or people who were sold into slavery. While folk of Mulan descent removed all body hair, at least on the head, and Rashemi freemen at least clipped their hair short, slaves were not allowed to cut their hair at all. They could be easily distinguished by the heavy and filthy mass of hair they wore.

The zulkirs and other prominent Red Wizards grew rich beyond imagination by means of this sinister trade. From within their strongholds and estates, they used this wealth to constantly scheme and plot for mercantile and military domination of neighboring nations.

In addition to the export of slaves themselves, Thay earned its wealth from a number of vast, slave-harvested timber plantations. Due to their readily-available work force, Thay was able to ship out great amounts of lumber cut from pine, maple and regional Thayan blackwood trees.

Military
The nation of Thay possessed what was likely the strongest military in east Faerûn even seen by the 14 century DR. However they were rarely, if ever, led effectively in thanks to the competitive bickering that permeated the Thayan ruling class. Each zulkir and tharchion were empowered to raise their own legion, limited only to their own personal capital. Many Red Wizards supplemented their forces with magical beasts, such as Zulkir Maligor and the darkenbeasts he used to complement his legion of gnolls. Red Wizards would always fight alongside their legions in every military engagement, if only to preserve order among the mixed and often-chaotic armies.

During the 15 century, the armies of Thay were largely comprised of ruthless undead, including skeletons, ghouls, boneclaws, wraiths and liches under the command of Regent Szass Tam's necromancers. The Dread Legions were a regiment of particularly cunning skeletal and zombified warriors who fought without fear of death or destruction. They supplemented these undead legions with many monstrous creatures including tieflings, ash giants and Abyssal myrmidons.

Infantry
Infantry legions ranged in size anywhere from 800 to 2,000 soldiers and were comprised of a wide range of forces, from armored knights, human slaves, goblins, gnolls, undead warriors and even fiends from the Outer Planes. The Thayan army was notorious for their use of monstrous giant-kin such as trolls, ogres and hill giants. In fact, one of Thay's finely-trained, deadliest regiments was Gruumsh's Legion, a unit comprised entirely of orcs and orogs. Thayan breeding experiments led to the creation of neo-orogs, and both the black and red breeds were found within its borders in significant numbers.

The humanoid soldiers of Thay often wore armor of mirror-bright silver that gave off blinding reflections. Beneath the armor they wore white cloth slipcovers to prevent over-heating and betraying their location. Slaves were typically given sandal-boots, spears, headscarves, loincloths, and&mdash;if they were lucky&mdash;a baldric hung with waterskins.

Cavalry
The riders of Thay were an even more diverse group of nearly-unarmored lancers, mounted archers and heavy knights who rode a wide variety of mounts ranging from giant cats, manticores, leucrotta, hippogriffs, giant beetles and very seldom, dragons. The Griffon Legion of Pyarados was the most famous of Thay's aerial squadrons, as was the infamous black unicorn cavalry, a regiment of all-female riders that were widely-feared throughout the Realms.

Navy and Seafaring
The nation of Thay kept a small, but highly-efficient navy based out of a naval base located on the island-tharch of Alaor. They were much more regimented than the infantry and cavalry, as they all fell under the authority of Alaor's tharch. As of the 14 century, the navy was comprised of several hundred magically-aided ships led by the great and terrifying metallic vessel called the Red Scourge.

Thayan vessels were named using magic-related themes such as spells, schools of magic, or wizards, such as Alkammar, Black Tentacle, Enchanter, or Lightning Bolt.

Origins
The nation of Thay came about when a sect, calling itself the Red Wizards, declared its freedom from the god-kings of Mulhorand. The sect's center of strength was in the northern provinces where the natives did not have the inbred reverence for the god-kings. After razing the city of Delhumide they declared themselves the free nation of Thay in 922 DR, under the leadership of the Red Wizard Ythazz Buvaar. Since then, Mulhorand has defended itself, quite successfully, against two invasions from Thay.

The small upstart nation quickly prospered with their vast slave-driven economy. With a lust for greater power, a group of renegade Red Wizards attempted their first march on Rashemen in 934 DR, and faced a costly defeat in the Gorge of Gauros by the Witches of Rashemen. Despite the temporary economic setback, Thay grew rapidly and ranks of the greedy, imperialistic Red Wizards swelled too large for them to effectively govern their own people. After years of bickering during the 10 century DR, the Red Wizards decided upon their system of rule and formed the Council of Zulkirs. One master of each of the eight schools of magic had a seat on the council, who in turn collectively appointed the tharchions who ruled over their given tharch.

Conflict and conquest
A few dissident Red Wizards disagreed with this system of rule and attempted to seize the nation for themselves during the 11 century. Their forces were put down by the Zulkirs in 1074 DR.

The armies of Thay marched on Aglarond and Rashemen many times and folk feared that the time would soon come when the zulkirs mobilized again. One such undertaking occurred in the year 1201 DR, when the newly-appointed zulkir of evocation, Narvonna Kren, formed a tenuous alliance with the established zulkir of illusion Nymor Thrul and infamous lich and zulkir of necromancy, Szass Tam, in an attempted invasion of Aglarond. The assault was ultimately unsuccessful and the Gray Sisters repulsed the Thayan forces in the Yuirwood and Zulkir Thrul was blamed for the failure by Tam. The dark lich suffocated the master illusionist, which left a power vacuum within the Council of Zulkirs. Chaos ensued as a number of lesser wizards competed for the high seat of office and Szass Tam withdrew his forces to his private estate, disgusted with the behavior of his colleagues.

Salamander War
In 1357 DR, the tharchion of Lapendrar Hargrid Tenslayer joined forces with the zulkir of evocation, Aznar Thrul, and the zulkir of conjuration, Nevron, in what was the then-most-ambitious plan of conquest ever undertaken in Thay. By means of powerful magic, the trio appealed to Fyzzar, Lord of the Salamanders, and Grand Sultan Marrake of the efreeti within the City of Brass, to aid Thay in a ruthless campaign against the independent coastal cities of the Alamber Sea and Sea of Fallen Stars. In return, the Red Wizards and tharchion promised then to maintain a permanent portal on Toril, that connected the Prime Material plane to the Elemental Plane of Fire. However, this agreement was struck without the approval or favor of Kossuth, the primordial Lord of Flame.

While the Thayans originally intended to simply banish the elemental forces once the zulkirs seized the lands they desired, the Red Wizards were only able to send the efreeti back to their other-planar domain and the voracious salamanders ran rampant across Priador. Having brought their nation to the brink of annihilation, the outmatched triumvirate reached out to the rest of the Council of Zulkirs and began fighting back against the elemental reptiles with the combined forces Thay's standing army, monstrous humanoids such as gnolls and goblin-kin, and the vast undead forces of Szass Tam which had been reluctantly withdrawn from an offensive in Rashemen. The Salamander War, as it came to be known, lasted for over a year until Aznar Thrul made a grand appeal to Kossuth. The Lord of Flame sent his own elementals to Faerûn and drove the salamanders horde out from Thay. Worship of Kossuth grew exponentially in Thay and its political landscape was permanently changed for decades to come.

Notable Locations
Thay was divided into 11 tharchs, each ruled by a separate tharchion. This small but essential tharch, only encompassed the small, craggy island of the same name in the Sea of Fallen Stars. Despite its size, it housed Thay's largest naval base and was vital to the nation's navy.
 * Alaor:
 * Delhumide:
 * The tharch of Delhumide consisted of the lands immediately east and north of Lake Thaylambar atop the plateau. The region's namesake city, along with many other settlements, were largely destroyed in Thay's war for independence from Mulhorand.


 * Eltabbar:
 * One of the most important regions of Thay, this tharch was home to the magocratic nation's capital of the same name. While it was previously unstable and rife with political uncertainty, by the late 14 century it had come under authoritative control. It was located on the northern half of the Thayan plateau, overlooked by the north-facing cliffs of Thaymount.


 * Eltabbar:
 * Gauros:
 * This small region, located on the northeastern portion of the plateau east of the River Gauros, featured the mineral-rich Gorge of Gauros. It had been seen a great number of conflicts between the Thayans and Rashemi warriors.


 * Lapendrar:
 * Extending beyond the Thayan plateau out to Escalant and the Sea of Fallen Stars, this region was bisected by the River Lapendrar. The tharch waned in significance since 1357 DR, and was ruled by Tharchion Eseldra Yeth since the death of Hezass Nymar in 1385 DR. Following the Spellplague it was known as the "Contested Lands".


 * Escalant:
 * Nethentir:
 * Thasselen:
 * Tilbrand:
 * Priador:
 * This coastal area encompassed nearly all of Thay's southern border, beyond the First Escarpment and was the most-recently established tharch in Thay. The citizens of Priador, along with the tharchioness of Bezantur Mari Agneh, were thralls to the despotic zulkir of evocation] Aznar Thrul for several years until his assassination in 1375 DR.


 * Bezantur: While Eltabbar was the capital of Thay, Bezantur was considered the heart of the dark nation. It was a prosperous but foreboding port city where any vice or depravity could be indulged.
 * Murbant:
 * Pyrados:
 * Situated on the southeastern portion of Thay, west of the River Thazarim, this tharch was highly-valued for its access to the mineral-rich Sunrise Mountains east of the First Escarpment.


 * Pyarados:
 * Surthay:
 * Strong garrisons dotted this tharch, whose lands bordered the southern coast of Lake Mulsantir, in strong defiance to the northern lands of Rashemen. During the 14 century, Tharchion Homen Odesseiron would occasionally lead his considerable forces on raids into the lands of the Wychlaran.


 * Surthay:
 * Tharch:
 * Located directly in the center of Thay, this tharch had a rich history of military might, its forces serving as reserves for the outlying regions. The range of volcanic mountains, from which the region drew its name, loomed over the region and filled its skies with smoke and cinder..


 * The Citadel:
 * Thazalhar:
 * This southeastern region of Thay housed the trade routes that linked Thay and the frontier of Mulhorand, Durpar and Raurin. The plains east of the Thazarim Riber were the site of many great battles between Thay and Mulhorand which transformed the verdant farmlands into what was essentially a mass graveyard.


 * Tyraturos:
 * A vast province in the southern end of the plateau, Tyraturos had a number of vital trade routes running through its borders, including the Eastern Way and the High Road.


 * Tyraturos:

Settlements

 * Amruthar:

Geography
Few invasions ever overcame the great mountains girding the Plateau of Thay, and the secretive and suspicious Red Wizards raised barriers just as formidable to discourage travelers from venturing into their lands. Despite its seclusion and rather paranoid inhabitants, Thay was a largely fertile region, full of farms and orchards that received ample water from a a number of flowing rivers and a deep lake rich with aquatic life.

During the Spellplague however, the plateau of Thay rose thousands of feet above Toril, melting its glaciers and causing great volcanic eruptions within Thaymount. Over the following century, it became a dark and foreboding land of lifeless badlands, windswept mountains and barren deserts. By the 15 century, the skies over Thay were plagued with ash and smoke that spewed skyward from the volcanic peaks of Thaymount.


 * Regions:
 * Plateau of Thay: This lush and verdant oasis held most of Thay's population. It was covered with plantations, tended by slaves, and dotted with villages and small fortresses
 * First Escarpment: Offering a nigh-surmountable natural barrier, this sheer cliffside elevated the plateau above the surrounding badlands. Its walls ranged anywhere from 50' (15.2 m) to over 200' (61 m) in height.
 * Second Escarpment: Similar to the outer escarpment, this inner cliffside elevated the mountains of Thaymount above the surrounding region. Within its walls were a number of gold mines and Thayan garrisons, granting the Red Wizards tight control over who traveled in and out of the volcanic peaks.


 * Mountains:
 * Thaymount: These rugged, volcanic mountains were located at the center of Thay, atop the Second Escarpment atop its innermost plateau. A "dampening field" over the mountain range, established some time in the late 13 century, prevented magical scrying or divination spells from granting insight over the area to anyone who attempted to spy upon the tightly-controlled region of the Red Wizards' domain.


 * Sunrise Mountains:


 * Seas:
 * Wizards' Reach:
 * Alamber Sea:
 * Sahuagin Sea:


 * Lakes:
 * Lake Thaylambar: The deep waters of this vast icy lake were rich with sea life, including great schools of fish and even seldom-seen dragon turtles. It was located in central Thay and fed the rivers Thay and Thazarim.


 * Rivers:
 * River Gauros: Flowing north from the Sunrise Mountains, past the ruins of Delhumide, this river was surrounded by barren lands that had little life or vegetation.
 * River Lapendrar: Thay's second-longest river was an important trade route for the southern tharchs. It flowed from Thaymount, southwest past the escarpments before pouring into the Alamber Sea near the city of Escalant.
 * River Thay: Spanning the northeastern portion of the Thayan plateau, this vast river was vital to the nation's economy, particularly the northern tharchs.
 * River of the Dawn: This river on the southern end of Thazalhar, marked the border between Thay and Mulhorand.
 * River Umber: Rather unimportant in comparison to the Realms other waterways, this river flowed east from Thaymount, granting the Thayans a means to convey goods and forces in their conflicts with nearby Aglarond.
 * River Sur: This shorter river was rather narrow and fast at the First Escarpment but widened and slowed down before opening into Lake Mulsantir west of the Surmarsh. It formed Thay's northern border with the nation of Thesk.
 * River Thazarim: Located on the eastern side of Thay, between Pyrados and the Sunrise Mountains, this southern-flowing river featured a number of magnificent waterfalls before pouring into the Alamber Sea.


 * Swamps:
 * Surmarsh: This bleak and putrid swamp was was a select hunting ground for those Thayan nobles who sought to hunt down horrid creatures. Its feverish waters were plagued by tribes of lizardfolk, abhorrent ropers, otyughs and slithermorphs, the rare undead known as skuz and even black dragons.

Organizations

 * Burning Braziers
 * Black Flame Zealots
 * Brothers and Sisters of the Pure Flame
 * Order of the Salamander

Classes

 * Thayan gladiator

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * The Crimson Gold
 * The Haunted Lands
 * Unclean
 * Undead
 * Unholy
 * Red Magic
 * Realms of Magic: "Red Ambition"


 * Games:
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer