Shoon Imperium

The Shoon Imperium (pronounced: /ˈʃuːn/ SHOON) 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 Calimshan's royal dynasties.

History

Founding

The Imperium started as the idea of Akkabar Shoon the Elder, the scion of a minor branch of a relatively insignificant noble family with a history of breeding talented wizards. At 16, Akkabar was 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, where he became a significant figure in the city's social elite after four years of selling his prestigious magical abilities to the highest bidder. 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, had 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 to stabilize relations between Tethyr and Calimshan. Despite objections from nobles on both sides of the border, they made the deal, and 4-year-old Arhymeria was sent to Ithmong for the court to foster as a lady-in-waiting. After she eloped with 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 be a thief. Unfortunately, he 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 III's side, ensuring that he was protected and shared his vision. The precautions worked, though Akkabar died under mysterious and magical circumstances. Due to Akkabar's magical extension of his life and frequent deaths in his family, Amahl III was his closest living heir, and he 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.

Upon his ascension to his father's throne, Amahl's son Aleph began the royal line's tradition of being known only by their family name. He was an ineffectual leader, and history did not remember much of him. However, during his reign, they constructed several major roads. Intended to be used by the Imperium's armies, they would instead become significant trade routes. At the same time, the five massive tidal waves that struck Calimport, Memnon, Almraiven, Manshaka, and Teshburl marked Shoon I's reign, which led to the building of at least two temples to Umberlee in every coastal settlement.

The Imperium Rises

Shoon II was known 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 riqysar until his adopted son came of age.

Hazamir was interested in something other than ruling the Imperium, preferring to concentrate on his 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 luxury 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 brother.

Amahl Shoon IV was primarily known 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 his younger brother, two years later, justly killed him. In 236 DR, Amahl IV seized control of the hoard of Rhimnasarl and instigated intense magical research and experimentation among the mages of the Shoon Imperial Court. Many of the artifacts and spells of the Shoon Empire are from this time; one such example was 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 had to slay him with his magic. A grateful populace immediately coronated him. Amahl V was an enlightened leader, restoring the rights of the clergy taken away by his uncle Shoon II, sponsoring many impressive artistic works and the building of the Edificant Library and an impressive Selûnite cathedral. His was a reign of peace, order, and prosperity.

Amahl Shoon VI, the 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 was remembered for one thing: putting down the slave rebellion known as the Harakhti Uprisings. A scorpion sting killed him 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. 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 on 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 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 Imperium's 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 precisely how Shoon VI became such a powerful wizard. However, 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 mother's armies to act almost autonomously and left the rulership of the Imperium itself to several hand-picked, highly skilled vizars. He significantly improved the Imperium's intelligence network before being betrayed by his guard after only nine years on the throne.

Shoon VII killed his uncle's slayers to win the throne, though it was he 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 assassin's blade. He was a harsh, blunt qysar who demanded loyalty through force from anyone who could threaten 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 died as they burned the foundations and buildings of his cities away. Before the criminals could recover, Shoon had installed his loyalists to run most illegal enterprises for him. Shoon VIIs reign saw the rise and fall of Vashalar wherein a nazir of the Imperium, to impress his qysar, exponentially increased the size of the Imperium's 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 Imperium's northern border back to the Giant's Run Mountains. After sustaining injuries fighting with Iryklathagra, Shoon VII embarked on the path to lichdom. He named his daughter his heir, moved most of his magical research to Debukkher, cloaked himself in illusions that made him appear much weaker than he 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 Imperium's 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 Shaani's youngest grandchild. Sequestered in secret near the Lake of Steam, he eradicated the beholder's influence on the region. Then, he gathered an army and a fleet to attack Calimport upon the Qysara's death. After four 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 control but hated and feared magic and made it illegal. He began a genocide of magic users and overtaxed the priesthood. Although he had his great-grandfather's way with words (and his lack of ethics) there were too many problems besetting the Imperium. When Tethyr rebelled against Shoon Rule, Strohm I planted the final nail in the Imperium's coffin, killing Amahl VII and allowing Iryklathagra to destroy Shoonach, thus ending one of the largest human empires that Faerûn had ever seen.

Family Tree

1st wife

Akkabar Shoon the Elder

Munaa yr Shunnari el Tarshaj

1st son

Una

Akkabar the Younger

Arhymeria

Nishan Ithal II

Amahl I

Amahl II

Amahl III

youngest daughter

Rahman Cormal

1st son

2nd son

3rd son

Aleph (Shoon I)

Qamar

Ksan

Aleph (Shoon II)

daughter

1st son

Vymar

Shoon II's niece

Jadhar

Aleph (Shoon III)

Amahl IV

Amahl V

only daughter

1st son

2nd son

Amahl VI

Shoon IV

additional child

1st wife

2nd wife

only son

3rd wife

Oma

grandson

Jahar el Tavarn

Munaa (Shoon V)

1st son

2nd son

3rd son

Kahlar (Shoon VI)

1st daughter

Nada

Karak Tiiraklar II

Selara

Nadim el Jhotos

11 other children

Kodos (Shoon VII)

Shaani

1st child

2nd child

3rd child

Shaan

Amahl VII

Appendix

Connections

Shoon Imperium over the Kingdoms of
Mir, Iltkazar, Tethyr, and the Calishar Emirates

0 DR – 107 DR & 123 DR – 450 DR

Akkabar Shoon • Amahl Shoon III • Shoon I • Shoon II
Shoon III • Amahl Shoon IV • Amahl Shoon V • Amahl Shoon VI • Shoon IV • Shoon V • Shoon VI • Shoon VII • Shaani • Amahl Shoon VII