Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms
Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms
Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms
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Illustration by Matt Faulkner<br />
new settlement of Telflamm and claims the title<br />
Merchant Prince.<br />
952 Year of Rings Royal: Phsant founded.<br />
1038 Year of Spreading Spring: <strong>The</strong> Great Glacier retreats<br />
from the lands of Damara, Vaasa, and upper Narfell;<br />
many folk from Impiltur and <strong>The</strong>sk migrate north to<br />
the newly uncovered lands.<br />
1086 Year of the Seer’s Fires: Thay captures Nethjet and<br />
Nethentir, extending the tharch of Lapendrar.<br />
1110 Year of the Bloody Fields: Thay marches on Phent, but<br />
the combined forces of Impiltur<br />
and the <strong>The</strong>skian<br />
cities defeat the Red<br />
Wizards’ army.<br />
1177 Year of the Majesty:<br />
Princess Delile Balindre<br />
renounces her loyalty<br />
to the throne of Impiltur<br />
and declares Telflamm<br />
an independent citystate.<br />
1351 Year of the Crown: <strong>The</strong> Red<br />
Wizards obtain a concession<br />
in Telflamm.<br />
This grows into the<br />
largest of the Thayan<br />
enclaves, as it is a distribution<br />
center for<br />
Thayan goods throughout<br />
much of northern<br />
Faerûn.<br />
1360 Year of the Turret: <strong>The</strong><br />
Tuigan horde, led by<br />
Yamun Khahan, invades<br />
Faerûn by way of<br />
Thay. Having been defeated<br />
in Rashemen the previous<br />
year, Khahan turns his<br />
attention west, along the Golden Way. People of many<br />
nations rally to the cry of the Council of <strong>The</strong>sk. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
combined forces defeat the Tuigans at Phsant.<br />
1361 Year of Maidens: Tuigan bandits occupy Tammar.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y terrorize merchants traveling the newly reopened<br />
Golden Way for months.<br />
1362 Year of the Helm: <strong>The</strong> Merchants’ Council of Phsant<br />
takes action, sending to Tammar an army of one hundred<br />
of the best orc warriors the Zhentarim left<br />
behind. <strong>The</strong> Tuigan bandits cannot match the savagery<br />
of the orcs, and they are hunted down to the<br />
last man.<br />
1363 Year of the Wyvern: Tammar is rebuilt and restored<br />
to its former status. <strong>The</strong> surviving residents brave<br />
enough to return hail the orcs as heroes and welcome<br />
them into the community.<br />
1364 Year of the Wave: <strong>The</strong> Sharkjaws, a flotilla of pirate<br />
vessels under the corsair lord Evgruth the Red, descend<br />
on Telflamm and make the city their homeport.<br />
THESK<br />
179<br />
Evgruth extorts massive bribes from the merchants’<br />
council to spare Telflamm’s own trade.<br />
1366 Year of the Staff: <strong>The</strong> Shadowmasters drive out Evgruth<br />
and his pirate fleet with a bloody night of murders<br />
and arson.<br />
1368 Year of the Banner: <strong>The</strong> Red Wizards open an enclave<br />
in Phsant. <strong>The</strong> place is an instant hit with merchants<br />
up and down the Golden Way.<br />
1372 Year of Wild Magic: Current year. <strong>The</strong> Shadowmasters<br />
effectively take control of the Merchants’<br />
Council of Telflamm. Few outside of the<br />
council suspect the extent of<br />
the guild’s power.<br />
Government<br />
Representatives from the<br />
merchant councils of each of<br />
the land’s towns and cities<br />
gather once a year (or as<br />
events demand) to discuss<br />
issues of mutual import. How<br />
a city chooses its leaders or<br />
manages its affairs is of no<br />
interest to its neighbors.<br />
Councils of oligarchs (wealthy<br />
merchants or landowners)<br />
govern most towns in <strong>The</strong>sk,<br />
and the head of the council<br />
represents that town to the assembled<br />
oligarchs of the rest<br />
of the country. Milvarune is<br />
represented by its prince, as<br />
is Telflamm, but these<br />
nobles wield no more power<br />
than the leading merchants of<br />
Phsant or Nyth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> assembled leaders are<br />
known as the Council of <strong>The</strong>sk. <strong>The</strong> Council oversees no<br />
administration, commands no army, and has no responsibilities<br />
or authority other than the voluntary contributions<br />
of its member cities. <strong>The</strong>sk does not even have a capital city<br />
for the Council to meet in, although Phsant is most often<br />
chosen for its central location. Telflamm was the de facto capital<br />
for many years, losing its prestigious place only as the<br />
other settlements of the Golden Way grew from small towns<br />
to bustling cities.<br />
Within each town or city, a merchants’ council oversees<br />
most civic functions. Ascension to the council is usually based<br />
on demonstrated success in business and personal wealth. <strong>The</strong><br />
merchants’ councils keep an eye on any potential members,<br />
inviting someone to join when she has reached an appropriate<br />
level of achievement. <strong>The</strong> standards vary from town to town,<br />
although the minimum is ownership or control of property<br />
and enterprises worth 10,000 (in a small town) to 100,000 gp<br />
(in a large city such as Telflamm).<br />
A merchant lord of Phsant