Szass Tam

Szass Tam is a powerful lich and member of a group of eight Zulkirs who rule the country of Thay. He is the Zulkir of Necromancy and commands huge legions of undead troops, which follow his vampire and lich generals. Szass Tam is the ruler of Thaymount; however, rumor says that he is under the command of Larloch, searching for ancient artifacts.

Appearance
Szass Tam is tall, his face has fine-boned, intellectual features with dark eyes and a whispy black beard. He wears a vermillion robe with voluminous sleves trimmed with gems and gold. He is gaunt and pale, but only his withered hands and the hint of dy rot occasionaly wafting from his person truly attest his lichdom. He often has an ebony staff with him.

History
Szass Tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy in Thay, its most influential Red Wizard, and&mdash;observers say&mdash;the true ruler of Thay. A lich for the last two hundred-odd years, Szass Tam achieved his present power through great arrogance, the skills and preparation to back up his overwhelming ambitions, and the brilliant schemes of one of the most cunning and intelligent beings in all Faerûn.

Recent History
In 1375 DR, Szass causes the murders of the zulkirs Druxus Rhym and Aznar Thrul and betrayes a Thayan army under the command of tharchions Azhir Kren and Homen Odesseiron to the Rashemi to create a climate of fear within the Thayan population. He hinders the proper investigation of the murders and solves these issues by himself. He thus tries to convince the nobles, legions and common people that he is the only one who can deal with these problems, in order to get him elected supreme ruler of Thay. Dmitra Flass rallies the zulkirs originally loyal to him to stand against his aspirations, Szass decides to achieve rulership by force and declares war to all opposing zulkirs. When Dmitra's council achieves a great victory against his undead army at the Keep of Thazar, Szass calls upon the united armies of Gauros and Surthay to march south towards the great city of Bezantur.

Personality
Like other Red Wizards, Szass Tam prefers to remain unseen, working through lackeys and servitor creatures (including vast armies of undead) while he plots and schemes. His own undeath gives him patience. He's quite prepared to abandon servants and attempts that fail, and simply try again later in a better way. Those who meet him (Or seemingly real magical images of himself that he creates and sends far across Faerûn) discover Szass Tam to be calm, cultured, and even pleasant. Tam is polite but blunt, and he can be plunged instantly into cold, controlled rage by insolence or deliberate defiance. On the other hand, he seems to admire those who cross or foil him by cleverness, as long as they treat him politely. He is always spinning more simultaneous intrigues than most Faerûnians have years in their lives, seems content to view existence as a great game, with plots and schemes as the playing pieces-or, if you prefer, weapons. In The Crimson Gold, Tam shows a desire to find someone worthy of sharing lichdom with him.

Appearances

 * Red Magic (1991)
 * Crusade (1991), minor appearance
 * "Red Ambition", from the Realms of Magic anthology (1995)
 * The Crimson Gold (2003)
 * Unclean (2007)
 * Undead (2008)

Externals links

 * Perilous Gateways: Portals of Thay - The Undeath Portal, a free web supplement by Robert Wiese (2002).