Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

Revenue from the sale of discounted magic items in the enclaves
has far exceeded expectations. Thayan merchants have
long traded their nation’s goods throughout the world, but
they are finding their wares in high demand these days. Before
the change in policy, the vast bulk of Thayan exports were raw
foodstuffs, timber—including that of the highly prized blackwood
tree—and Thayan artwork, jewelry, and crafts, mostly
fashioned by skilled slaves. Such trade continues to this day,
cementing Thay as a mercantile powerhouse.
Everyone the Thayans do business with is aware of their
horrible history and their evil ways. The prices and quality of
their wares, however, are just too good to turn down. This suits
Szass Tam and the rest of the zulkirs, who have not given up
their goal of world domination. The current plan is to use the
greed of other people as a tool against them. Bearing discounted
goods, Thayans should be able to work their way into
every major economy on Faerûn. Once the Red Wizards have
become entrenched in a nation, they can learn enough about
the locals to dismantle them quietly from within.
Not all the zulkirs agree with this policy. This is particularly
true of the more aggressive leaders such as Aznar Thrul,
as well as those who aren’t in a position to line their own pockets
with the wealth brought in by this new venture, such as
Zulkir Nevron of the school of conjuration. As with most
large projects in Thay, this one could be brought low at any
point by the bickering of the zulkirs.
LAW AND ORDER
Anyone, foreigner or Thayan, traveling in Thay must carry
a pass issued by a tharchion allowing the traveler to use specific
roads and visit specific cities. All tharchions delegate the
task of issuing passes to minor officials and officers, which
means that a travel permit for most points can be purchased
with a suitable bribe (generally, 10 to 50 gp for foreigners).
Soldiers, messengers, and officials engaged in the performance
of their duties are exempt from the requirement to
obtain permission to travel, but they generally carry tokens
of their authority.
Outsiders traveling without authorization find it difficult,
if not impossible, to move about the plateau. Patrols constantly
scour the roads and byways, searching for escaped
slaves (and the occasional brigand, criminal, or foreign spy).
The penalty for being caught is usually death. Those found
inside a Red Wizard’s estate, on the other hand, are in for an
even worse fate as the subject of painful magical experiments.
The laws of Thay are simple, and the penalties are brutal.
They are mostly concerned with establishing who’s in power.
The tharchions and zulkirs consult a set of tomes known as the
Library of Law when faced with a serious problem. However,
most of the time, the authorities ignore these books in favor
of expediency. These are the most important laws of Thay.
Only Red Wizards may wear red robes, so that all shall be able
to identify them instantly.
Do not steal from other Thayans or harm their belongings,
especially their slaves.
THAY
161
Do not kill or harm another Thayan. (In practice, this means,
“Do not kill or harm anyone from your class or above.”)
Obey the orders of your betters.
The proscription against wearing red robes is unusual, but
Thayans take it so seriously that most refuse to dress in any
clothing of that color. The penalty for being caught in such
garb is execution on the spot. It’s rumored that some of the
forces of the Red Wizards always carry a spare red robe or two.
This is then supposedly thrown onto the body after the guards
have killed someone, giving them an excuse for their actions.
The laws of Thay are enforced by whoever claims to have
jurisdiction over the people involved or the location in which
the disturbance occurred. In Thay, just about every Red
Wizard employs slaves or commoners as private guards. The
more powerful the person, the more numerous and more
skilled the guards. In Thay, might makes right, and the Red
Wizards have plenty of might. The trouble comes when more
than one group of guards claims jurisdiction over any particular
issue. This happens often, and when it does, a fight usually
breaks out.
DEFENSE AND WARCRAFT
Thay is a military powerhouse, its combined armies outnumbering
those of all its neighbors put together. However, due
to a lack of cooperation between the various forces, Thay has
never been as effective as it should be.
Each zulkir and tharchion is expected to form a body of
troops known as a legion. Only a sponsor’s resources limit the
legion’s makeup and size. Other Red Wizards are permitted
household forces or bodyguards, too. The wealthiest of them
may have thousands of troops at their disposal. Sadly—or fortunately,
depending on one’s point of view—the disparate
Thayan forces work together as poorly as do their leaders.
Only during extreme threats to the entire nation are the various
armies able to put aside their differences and work with
one another. Even then, their cooperation is hardly complete.
The various legions include a motley conglomeration of
races and even monsters in their numbers. Goblin slaves, orc
and half-orc mercenaries, and human cavalry are the most popular
troops. Gnolls are common, but due to their cowardly natures,
they are most often deployed as skirmishers and raiders
rather than as front-line troops. Companies of hill giants, ogres,
and trolls make terrifying foes on the field of battle.
Cavalry units use many different kinds of mounts, including
creatures not ridden anywhere else in Faerûn. Centaurs,
manticores, leucrottas, griffons, hippogriffs, giant
beetles, and even dragons serve Thay’s elite troops, although
horses are much more common. The most notorious units feature
female riders mounted on the feared black unicorns bred
by the Red Wizards. The best-known army of Thay is the
Griffon Legion, a group of some four hundred Red Wizards
commanded by the tharchion of Pyarados—currently Tharchion
Nymia Focar—soaring through the skies on the backs
of griffons.