Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

Tyraturos
The tharch of Tyraturos is literally the crossroads of Thay.
The Eastern Way crosses the High Road at the city that gives
the tharch its name. This makes Tyraturos a hotbed of merchant
activity, particularly in the slave trade. Just about any
kind of slave can be found for sale here, including exotic creatures
like lamias, centaurs, and the normally indomitable
drow. The tharchion here is a former priest of Waukeen by the
name of Dimon (LN male human Clr7 of Bane) who converted
to the worship of Bane soon after the return of the
Black Lord. The rampant corruption of Thay led Dimon to
the worship of tyranny as a way to impose order on the squabbling
factions of his homeland.
Tyraturos is the third-largest city in Thay, which makes it,
as one observer noted, “one of the filthiest and most unpleasant
cities in a filthy and unpleasant land.” Over 50,000
souls call this pit home, but that number can double during
the high trade seasons of the spring and fall. While the city
is not walled, it features a central citadel that houses a garrison
of over 8,000 warriors who stand ready to quell any
problems that may erupt. Here a traveler can purchase just
about anything—or anyone—she could want. Contraband of
all sorts used to be traded openly in Tyraturos, even though
such crimes are punishable by a quick death. Before the tharchion’s
conversion, it was accepted practice to bribe any potential
prosecutor, but Dimon has discovered a new zeal for
law under the Black Lord, and he has put a stop to the corruption
of his officers.
The tharchion taxes all goods moving along the great roads.
Until recently, customs officials could be persuaded to be circumspect
in their tax assessments, but under Dimon’s new
laws, they are no longer willing to accept such persuasion.
After Dimon made public examples of both the briber and the
recipient of the bribe by ordering both drawn and quartered,
the merchants of the city have resigned themselves to paying
up as a cost of doing business.
River Umber
Born in the Thaymount’s high glaciers, the River Umber is a
steep, swift torrent with many cascades in the first hundred
miles of its length. At Nethentir, it spills out from its rapids
along the First Escarpment into the placid waters of Lake
Umber. From Lake Umber, the river is navigable all the way
to the Sea of Dlurg, passing through a broad gap in the
Dragonjaw Mountains.
Vessels cannot ascend the Umber past Nethentir, but from
the twin towns on the lake, vessels regularly carry Thayan
grain, fruit, and timber out to the Sea of Fallen Stars. The
Aglarondans at Emmech grudgingly allow Thayan cargo vessels
to pass unless Aglarond and Thay are at war, which has
not been the case for several years now.
THAY
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People of Thay
Thay is a land of divisions, many of which determine a
person’s place in society and her access to power. While the
vast majority of Thayans are human, there is a substantial humanoid
population as well. Most of the nonhumans are either
slaves or warriors in the various armed forces of the Red Wizards,
but some have earned their emancipation.
Races and Cultures
Gnolls and orcs are the most common nonhuman humanoids
in Thay. They form the backbone of the Thayan armies, especially
the gnolls, who are often placed in city garrisons to
keep the populace in line. The less-controllable orcs are usually
employed as shock troops.
With the zulkirs’ current policy of peaceful trade, the orcs
often sit idle, itching for a fight of some sort. If one doesn’t
come quickly enough, they end up rioting among themselves.
To keep this violence from overflowing into the rest of the
population, the Red Wizards have set up a regular series of
gladiatorial games. Orcs, gnolls, and other violent humanoids
are pitted against one another in blood matches for the enjoyment
of ever-growing crowds of spectators.
Goblins and halflings are also not uncommon in Thay, although
they are almost always slaves. Their lives may not be
as violent as those of the gnolls and orcs, but they are just as
short. Tieflings and other planetouched creatures can be found
here as well, although these rare folk are judged more by their
human ancestry than their physical appearance.
In addition to the nonhumans, Thay is home to two distinct
human cultures: the Rashemi and the Mulan.
MULAN
Mulhorandi blood runs thick in the veins of the Mulan. These
are the descendants of renegades who rebelled against the Mulhorandi
Empire 400 years ago, and since those fateful days,
they have retained the power they wrested from their distant
masters. Nearly all the Red Wizards are of Mulan extraction.
There are a few exceptions, and most of these pass themselves
off as the children of Mulan parents.
The Mulan people are tall and slim, sometimes to the point
of being gaunt. Their skin is sallow, and they usually remove
what little body hair they have by means magical or mundane.
They wear intricately designed tattoos in place of hair, usually
on their bare skulls and where their eyebrows once were. These
tattoos often represent dragons, demons, devils, and other
creatures of ancient evil. They are extremely stylized, sometimes
to the point of being cryptic runes or even abstract designs.
Many Red Wizards use tattoo magic, and the fashion of
tattooing arose from this. Even those without the power of
the Red Wizards wish to look as though they do.
Almost all nobles in Thay are of Mulan descent, although
not all Mulan are nobles. At worst, lowborn Mulan are free