OOC: Red Wizard & Enclave Lore for Thayan Players
Sept 30, 2015 9:47:45 GMT -5
DOT, Malzaron, and 1 more like this
Post by Pedantry INC on Sept 30, 2015 9:47:45 GMT -5
The Red Wizards of Thay
// this was posted here by player request. I fully invite any messages suggesting additional information, as well as give full permission to staff to edit this post to include FRC relevant information.
Long considered a threat to peace in eastern Faerûn, the Red Wizards of Thay have a history of war and aggression toward their neighbors and even more distant lands. In recent years, they have also become the principal purveyors of magical goods to the powerful, wealthy, and the desperate throughout much of Faerûn. Ensconced in secretive walled enclaves in dozens of cities, the Red Wizards command fear and respect far outside the borders of their native Thay. These mercantile enclaves have become so successful that many Red Wizards have abandoned their dreams of military conquest for a more insidious and pervasive form of power—the power of gold.
The Red Wizards’ efforts to export their magical goods abroad have resulted in three main benefits for the Thayans. First, people of distant lands are beginning to view the Red Wizards as mysterious, perhaps intimidating, merchants, rather than as would-be conquerors. Second, the sale of magic items, even at a discount, is a phenomenal source of revenue for the Red Wizards. Much of this wealth flows back to the coffers of the zulkirs (the leaders), who use the profits to fund magical research, espionage, and whatever terrible secret interests they may have. Finally, demand for Thayan goods is so high that the Red Wizards can exact significant concessions from local rulers anxious to bring some of the wealth generated by a Thayan enclave into their cities. The trade enclaves provide the Red Wizards with secure bases of operation, spy networks, and resources abroad.
The zulkirs may still be creating terrible battle spells and monstrous magical war machines in the secrecy of their homeland, but the public facade of the Red Wizards has become that of reliable, if eerie, traders in magic.
FRC Specific Notes:
Hail Cormyrians,
Please note the following update to the FRC Rules and Server Information, regarding Red Wizard Player Characters. Please contact me or your Friendly Neighborhood DM of choice if you have any questions.
Red Wizard characters created before these requirements were posted do not have to transition; the requirements apply on a go-forward basis.
Players wishing to play a Red Wizard of Thay need to be aware of the following requirements. While the Red Wizard PRC is not mechanically supported in Neverwinter Nights or on FRC, it does provide in game benefits due to the status and influence of those having the class. Before a character can be a Red Wizard on FRC the following criteria must be met or the character will be invalid as a Red Wizard:
1. The player must submit an application to the DM Team and receive approval before his or her character can be a Red Wizard.
2. The character must be human, from Thay, and have a Thayan appearance.
3. The character's alignment must be non-good.
4. The character may dabble in other classes but wizard must be the primary character class for a Red Wizard.
5. The character must adopt a Spell School as his or her Chosen School and have the Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats in this school. Note: This does not mean the character must Specialize in a chosen school.
6. The character must have the Arcane Defense feat in his or her chosen school.
7. The character must take at least three additional metamagic or item creation feats (craft wand, empower spell, etc).
8. The character may not take the Spell Focus feat in the Spell School opposed to his or her Chosen School as defined by NWN. (see table below).
frc.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=serverrules&thread=12050&page=1
Thanks,
The Forgotten Realms Cormyr DM Team
Note: The previously stated Red Wizard requirements are shown here for reference only. If a Red Wizard character was made under the requirements below and the player would like transition to the revised requirements above, please contact a Friendly Neighborhood DM.
1. The player must submit an application to the DM Team and receive approval before his or her character can be a Red Wizard.
2. The character must be human, from Thay, and have a Thayan appearance.
3. The character's alignment must be non-good.
4. The character must be a wizard and specialize in a school of magic at creation. The character may dabble in other classes but wizard must be the primary character class for a Red Wizard.
5. The character must take at least three metamagic or item creation feats (craft wand, empower spell, etc).
Enclaves represented on FRC are the Enclave in the City State of Proskur and the Enclave in the Cormyrian city of Marsember.
Brief History
The history of the Red Wizards and Thay is fully covered in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. In short, a group of Mulhorandi wizards seceded from their homeland to form a country where wizards ruled instead of godkings. These wizards eventually created the current governmental structure in Thay and warred against their neighbors intermittently for centuries, with their plans often thrown into chaos because of arguing factions within the upper levels of the organization. While the more aggressive factions still plot and scheme, other Red Wizards—notably the zulkirs of Abjuration, Illusion, and Transmutation—have turned their hand to a burgeoning trade in magic items, carried out in Thayan enclaves in cities throughout Faerûn.
The Red Wizards are the magocratic leaders of the country of Thay. The most powerful Red Wizards are the zulkirs, each specialized in one of the schools of magic. These eight choose the tharchions (regional governors) who handle the day-to-day leadership of Thay while the zulkirs scheme and plot to rule the entire world.
Long-standing factions split the power of the zulkirs. Some push for isolating their land in order to safeguard their vast magical knowledge, while others advocate wars of conquest. Currently a faction favoring trade and mercantilism rules the day, rising from a class of ambitious, entrepreneurial mages with their eyes on the rich commerce of the Inner Sea and the kingdoms of the west. The Red Wizards' ability to forge and trade magic items in great quantities has given them control of a lucrative and influential trade. Thayan enclaves exist in dozens of cities around the Sea of Fallen Stars, walled compounds in which the Thayans enjoy immunity from local laws and tariffs while providing access to their many and varied magical wares.
Given their different magical specializations and conflicting philosophies, the Red Wizards may be involved in almost any sort of venture, from smuggling to adventuring to slaving. (Active slaving is currently discouraged by the zulkirs in places where such activity is illegal, since such efforts generate ill will toward the mercantile efforts.) A typical group includes a Red Wizard leader of 7th level or higher, one or two wizard subordinates, a cleric of Kossuth, and at least five bodyguards of moderate skill. All in the group are likely to be armed with magic items, with the spellcasters having many useful charged items.
The zulkirs each have their own plots, intrigues, and interests, Aznar Thrul is the cruel and savage zulkir of Evocation an the tharchion of the Priador. Although Thrul loathes Szass Tam, the lich holds him in check through some secret information or advantage.
Druxus Rhym is the steadfast zulkir of Transmutation. He is the greatest spokesperson of ruthless trade over isolation or military aggression, using his power and his alliance with Szass Tarn to encourage the others to cooperate.
Lallara is the zulkir of Abjuration, a chaotic and unreliable ally of Szass Tam and a woman with a taste for decadent pleasures. She collects unusual magic items and enjoys torturing slaves.
Lauzoril is the handsome zulkir of Enchantment, a scheming and dangerous opponent. He opposes Szass Tam and only grudgingly refrains from marching his armies on Thay's neighbors.
Mythrellaa is the zulkir of Illusion. She prefers isolation and rarely fratcrnizes with her peers, devoting her time to studies of the Shadow Weave.
Nevron is the hateful, aggressive, fiend-touched zulkir of Conjuration. The other zulkirs suspect he plans a surprise attack on Aglarond, which they would be forced to oppose in order to avoid the loss of valuable trade that would result. Aglarond doesn't trade with Thay, but other lands sympathetic to Aglarond do.
Szass Tam (NE male human lich is the shrewd zulkir of Necromancy. Over two hundred years old, he has tried to unite the zulkirs under his banner but lost prestige recently after a failed attempt to harness the power of a longimprisoned demon.
Yaphyll is the youthful zulkir of Divination. A strong supporter of Druxus and Szass Tam, she uses her magic to monitor the other zulkirs and events in Thayan enclaves throughout Faerûn.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The Organization
While the details of Thay are summarized in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the following statistics reflect the Red Wizards (characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class) and their apprentices of various levels (those without levels in the prestige class).
Headquarters: Thaymount, Thay.
Members: Approximately 1,000 actual Red Wizards, with approximately 5,000 practicing wizards in their service.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leaders: The zulkirs of Thay (loose council of eight Red Wizards, each specialized in a different school of arcane magic).
Religions: Kossuth, Bane, Shar, Loviatar.
Alignment: LE, NE, LN, CE.
Secrecy: None.
Symbol: A disk with a white star at the center and a red spiral moving counterclockwise from the center, with eight red spheres of increasing size on the spiral. The red represents the Red Wizards, the eight spheres represent the eight primary schools of magic, and the white star represents a fading fireball.
The Red Wizards rule Thay as the heads of a large quasi-military organization, the structure of which is more convoluted than it first appears.
Among Thayans, the terms “wizard” and “Red Wizard” have different meanings. A wizard is someone who wields arcane power in the form of spells. (While bards and sorcerers are known in Thay, the Red Wizards consider them inferior and treat them as such.) Although wizards may grow powerful, and that power deserves respect, only Red Wizards command true authority in Thay.
A Red Wizard is a practicing wizard who has been indoctrinated into the outermost circle of Thayan politics. In Thay, only Red Wizards are allowed to wear red robes, and those who violate this law are swiftly caught and slowly tortured, usually in a public manner. To avoid even the threat of such a punishment, most Thayans never wear anything red, and some refuse to don orange clothing as well. The only exceptions are the clerics of Kossuth, who stand outside the ban and are easily recognized by their holy symbols and their multicolored robes.
While most people outside Thay believe that all Thayan wizards are Red Wizards, this is not true. Only about one wizard in six is actually a Red Wizard. The rest are apprentices, low-level wizards, those unconcerned with politics, and those who have not yet proved their worth to Thay. In game terms, only characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class are called Red Wizards (although devious and foolish individuals may claim the title outside Thay with the intent to fool others). Choosing to become a Red Wizard requires careful thought, for while that path holds great power, the Red Wizard loses some of a traditional wizard’s versatility (by being obliged to select an additional prohibited school of spellcasting). Many wizards delay joining the Red Wizards for as long as possible, hoping that their wider variety of spells compensates for their shortcomings compared to those who donned the red robes earlier.
Hierarchy
Thay is ruled by eight zulkirs, each a powerful Red Wizard specialized in one of the eight schools of magic. When an existing zulkir leaves office (usually through death, although zulkir Szass Tam has been a lich for hundreds of years), a new zulkir is selected by the Red Wizards, with powerful Red Wizards holding more sway in the choice and the remaining zulkirs having the final say.
The Bureaucracy
The zulkirs appoint eleven tharchions, one for each of the country’s tharchs (counties or provinces). The tharchions act as governors for their regions, dealing with local issues and obeying the orders of the zulkirs. The tharchions may be of any character class, and some Red Wizards see this duty as a means of acquiring political power and eventually a position as a zulkir. Currently, one of the tharchions is also a zulkir, although this is a rare situation.
The tharchions appoint local bureaucrats, called autharchs, into positions at various levels. Autharchs function as mayors, military leaders, and ministers of various organizations such as trade guilds. Most autharchs have little authority and serve mainly as convenient scapegoats for occasions when a zulkir’s or tharchion’s plans go awry. The autharchs suffer a high turnover rate, since incompetent ones vanish or are killed and competent ones are promoted. The leader of a trade enclave, called a khazark, technically has an equivalent rank to an autharch running a very profitable guild in an equivalent-sized city, although the khazark tends to have higher status because he or she is always a Red Wizard. In situations where a Red Wizard is accused of a crime, the local autharch usually defers to his or her tharchion to avoid the possibly fatal blunder of confronting a Red Wizard who is under the protection of a higher-level politician.
While this chain of command works in theory, in practice the zulkirs hand down orders to the tharchions, autharchs, military, khazarks, or commoners with impunity. The only people with any real independence are wizards, who endure long apprenticeships to their cruel masters before being able to strike out on their own and possibly enter the ranks of the Red Wizards.
The Zulkirs
See the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting [above] for basic information on the zulkirs. The following section includes notes on the zulkirs’ relationships with the enclaves and other significant observations.
Aznar Thrul, the zulkir of Evocation, enjoys using his mastery of elements archmage ability to surprise foes with variants of spells using different energies. He has little involvement in the enclaves because they rarely sell items with powers from his specialized school. Instead, he has ordered his underlings to prepare powerful magic items of the Evocation school (such as wands of fireball) in anticipation of a great demand in black market items through the enclaves.
Druxus Rhym, the zulkir of Transmutation, maintains an alliance with Szass Tam. His enthusiasm helped persuade Tam to consider the enclaves as a viable option. Druxus was one of the earliest supporters of the enclaves and invested much of his personal fortune in the first three, which has been repaid fivefold. He is not averse to assassinating his political enemies, and one of his favorite methods is transforming his enemies’ equipment or food into poisonous vermin. One of his archmage powers is the teleport spell-like ability.
Lallara, the zulkir of Abjuration, is an enthusiastic supporter of the enclaves, since abjurative items are common commodities there. She is the sole sponsor of the enclave in Procampur, which brings her a great return in both money and slaves. She rewards enclave abjurers who send her information, and the khazark of the Procampur enclave is one of her favored former apprentices and staunchest supporters. She has the mastery of counterspelling archmage ability, which she has put to good use defeating rivals.
Lauzoril, the zulkir of Enchantment, is indifferent to the concept of enclaves, because they rarely sell his sort of magic. He has yet to sponsor an enclave and is considering sabotage and rumors to hamper the efficiency of the enclaves just to avoid any one faction from gaining too much power. He is fond of creating intelligent magic weapons loyal to him that sow discord among his enemies. He remains steadfastly opposed to Szass Tam and is looking for some magical means to wrest away control of the lich’s undead armies.
Mythrellaa, the zulkir of Illusion, has refused any involvement with the enclaves, although she has spies and informants in several large ones on the coast of the Inner Sea. She has the Greater Spell Penetration feat, making her illusions very difficult to disbelieve. Like Lallara, she pays close attention to what her agents in the enclaves have to say. After a falling-out with Szass Tam, she retreated to her tower and has professed neutrality in all dealings with the other zulkirs.
Nevron, the zulkir of Conjuration, has no interest in the success of the enclaves and has been focusing his attention on creating scrolls of demon-summoning spells. He is known to own a ring of wizardry and a robe of the archmagi, and many suspect he has demonic allies. Nevron opposes Szass Tam and is casually allied with Lauzoril, although he would betray the enchanter instantly if doing so would advance his own power.
Szass Tam, the feared zulkir of Necromancy, is hesitant to openly support the enclaves, but he is not working against them. He sponsors (through intermediaries) one enclave to monitor how it functions and to keep the balance of power from shifting away from him. Like Aznar Thrul, he anticipates a demand for more dangerous items and has set plans in action to stockpile items of this nature. Szass Tam has created hundreds of magic items during his lifetime, many of which are intentionally cursed so the wielder is eventually compelled to serve him. These are likely to make their way into the hands of greedy buyers in the near future.
Yaphyll, the zulkir of Divination, is an ally of Lallara and one of the few people who can focus the abjurer’s attention on important topics at critical times. She avoids danger by knowing about any plots against her before they come to fruition. She wears a magic amulet that protects her from penalties for aging and makes her appear to be thirty years of age. She has spies in every enclave, often giving the weaker ones strong protective items to ensure both their survival and their loyalty.
The Tharchions
The tharchions directly control the territories of Thay as noted below.
Azhir Kren is the aggressive tharchion of Gauros. She controls a strong army backed by Szass Tam’s legion of zombies. Her hatred of Rashemen may eventually lead her to cross the border with her forces, forcing the zulkirs to stop her.
Aznar Thrul is the tharchion of Priador as well as the zulkir of Evocation, as noted above.
Dimon, a cleric of waukeen, oversees the tharch of Tyraturos. Disillusioned with his faith, he retains his talents in finance and manipulation, which makes his tharch very profitable.
Dmitra Flass is the tharchion of Eltabbar. Beautiful, bald, and elaborately adorned with magic tattoos, she is known as the First Princess of Thay in other lands. She is married to the High Blade of Mulmaster, Selfaril Uoumdolphin. She is closely allied with Szass Tam and has an extensive spy network.
Hezass Nymar, a cleric of Kossuth, rules the tharch of Lapendrar. Weak-willed and corrupt, he does whatever the zulkirs tell him. Those within his church believe that the Firelord will soon come to cleanse Nymar of his weakness, and his fellow clerics debate whether he will survive the cleansing. If he were removed from office, the church would push to have another cleric of Kossuth take his place.
Invarri Metron is the tharchion of Delhumide. While this region used to be the capital of the Mulhorandi province of Thay, Invarri has little interest in picking over the ruins for treasure and instead has been working to increase his tharch’s farming output and strengthen its defenses against possible attacks by Rashemen.
Milsantos Daramos controls the tharch of Thazalhar. An aged patriot, he is pleased that Thay is finally being productive in the absence of ill-planned and disastrous wars, and he looks forward to Thay remaining prosperous until the day he dies.
Homen Odesseiron is the tharchion of Surthay and a “former” Red Wizard, having voluntarily removed himself from the ranks of his arcane peers to focus on the military might of his tharch. He used to lead raids against Rashemen and maintains a sizable army.
Nymia Focar is the tharchion of Pyarados. Because her tharch is a haven for those seeking glory and loot in the eastern mountains, she overcharges adventurers for equipment and taxes the mines there, resulting in a very wealthy province.
Pyras Autorian is the young tharchion of Thaymount. Chosen by Szass Tam, he is a civil servant of minimal skill and little more than a puppet of the lich. Szass Tam keeps him protected with bodyguards, spells, and magic items.
Thessaloni Canos is a skilled military commander and sailor, and has been tharchion of Alaor for over thirty years despite many attempts to slay or unseat her. She prefers to remain neutral in any conflicts between the zulkirs, and her ability to avoid offending them impresses as often as it infuriates.
The Red Wizards
While the zulkirs and tharchions may be the most prominent leaders of the country, the Red Wizards at all levels are seen as the epitome of the evil of Thay. Red Wizards hold the power of life and death over others in that land, and only other rival Red Wizards keep them from exerting that power at whim. Standing laws in Thay prevent the Red Wizards from simply seizing whatever food they want from farmers and any item they desire from merchants. Their main power is political, and those who regard themselves as above such mortal and mundane concerns quickly find themselves exiled or killed by other Red Wizards intent on preserving the status quo.
In practice, a Red Wizard is likely to have many contacts, allies, and enemies among the wizards and the Red Wizards, with servants of varying types and various power levels. If a Red Wizard is slain or disappears, his allies investigate. Although they most often assume that the disappearance is due to a rival and leave it at that, occasionally the allies try to find and destroy those responsible for the death.
The wizards of Thay grow up and are educated in a cutthroat environment of intrigue, competition, and cruelty. They have survived dangerous masters and evil rivals, and have experienced and witnessed magic that is prohibited by more ethical wizards. They are not fools, although some are megalomaniacs and cannot see the flaws in their own plans. The environment in which they are raised and trained makes them dangerous opponents, and no one should take them lightly.
The Guild of Foreign Trade
Thay’s enclaves in foreign lands are administered through the offices of the Guild of Foreign Trade, based in Bezantur. Fifty years ago, the guild was a mere shell of an organization that existed only for the purpose of selling charters to Thayan merchants who wished to trade abroad. The success of the magic item trade has made the leading officers of the Guild of Foreign Trade some of the most powerful, wealthy, and influential people in Thay.
The guild’s sprawling warehouses, buried vaults, and fortresslike buildings cover dozens of acres and employ hundreds of wizards, dozens of powerful magical guardians, and common guards, clerks, and laborers numbering in the thousands. From the guild wharves the yellow-sailed dromonds of Thay travel to all corners of the Inner Sea, carrying the output of Thay’s magical workshops under heavy guard. At these same wharves, wealth in the form of gold, slaves, and valuable trade goods returns to Thay in payment.
The Guild of Foreign Trade is administered by Samas Kul, a brilliant, ambitious man who stands high in the ranks of the Red Wizards. He is second only to the zulkir Druxus Rhym among those Red Wizards in the school of Transmutation, mostly due to the staggering wealth at his disposal. As the grand master of a government-sponsored guild, Samas Kul is nominally an autharch, but in truth his power and influence exceeds that of all but the strongest tharchions. Corpulent and cynical, Samas Kul goes about his business draped in gem-studded garments with rings worth thousands of gold pieces on each finger, flaunting the wealth that pours into Thay’s coffers (and his own) through the guild.
Several of the zulkirs are counted as members of the guild’s directing board, although in practice they leave Samas Kul to administer the operation while collecting bribes and payoffs of staggering amounts for their forbearance and continued good will. In theory the Guild of Foreign Trade passes on all profits to the state, but in practice the state receives much less than the zulkirs (or other highly placed Red Wizards) who happen to have their hands in the till.
Many lesser Red Wizards are nominally employed in the guild, answering to Samas Kul while they direct the revenues generated through their work back to the zulkirs who sponsored them. The Guild of Foreign Trade purchases items crafted by the wizards laboring in the zulkirs’ workshops and laboratories for sale abroad, and a number of Red Wizards are involved in commandeering the necessary resources to keep up the flow of goods. Other Red Wizards serve in the enclaves as administrators, spies, and guardians, as well as crafters of magical goods at each location. The guild attracts a significant number of the best and brightest low-ranking Red Wizards, who scheme for an opportunity to become a master or grand master of the guild and reach the elite ranks of those who can divert its profits to their own pockets with impunity.
Enclaves
The most visible face of the Red Wizards of Thay is the Thayan enclave. As described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the size of each enclave depends on the size of the settlement in which it is located; each enclave has a number occupants equal to roughly 1% of the population of the settlement. (Proskur’s population is approximately 14,000.)
Known Enclaves
The following cities have well-established enclaves of at least fifty Thayans: Athkatla, Baldur’s Gate, Calaunt, Calimport, Cimbar, Hillsfar, Hlath, Hlondeth, Innarlith, Iriaebor, Marsember, Messemprar, Mulmaster, Procampur, Ravens Bluff, Saerloon, Scardale, Scornubel, Soorenar, Telflamm, Waterdeep, Westgate, and Yhaunn.
[There is also a thriving enclave in Hills Edge - Per Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting]
Other large cities may have a single shop staffed by a handful of Thayan wizards or are visited at least monthly by traveling wizards with goods to sell. Countries with a long history of abuse and violence at the hands of the Red Wizards—such as Aglarond, Rashemen, and Mulhorand— refuse to allow any sort of permanent enclave within their cities.
Thayan enclaves are independent mercantile and political entities within an urban area in a non-Thayan country. Here people interact with Thayans in a peaceful manner, buy magic items, and make deals with the Red Wizards who control the enclave. An enclave is established after a Thayan diplomat negotiates with the local authorities. These negotiations usually entail lists of benefits for the local rulers, such as an increased amount of magic for their guards and protectors, as well as for the authorities themselves. Depending on the nature of the local authorities, the diplomat presents gifts or offers bribes in order to sweeten the deal. For peaceful or good nations, the gifts are benign or useful items such as potions of cure spells, wands of fly, magic shields, and so on. For more aggressive countries, the bribes are often items that can he used for illicit deeds, such as potions of invisibility, or combat items such as a wand of fireball or magic weapons. Once both parties agree that an enclave can be built, they discuss the exact terms.
The Thayans always require the local government to agree to three demands (known as the Three Laws of the Enclave) and refuse to establish an enclave unless the other party agrees to all of them. The Three Laws prevent abuse at the hands of those who oppose the presence of the Red Wizards on moral, cultural, or religious grounds. If such abuse occurs, the Thayans can claim that the local authorities have failed to provide protection for diplomatic envoys acting within the confines of the law, which would make the local government accountable to Thay itself.
The Law of Sovereignty: The enclave is treated as Thayan soil. Thayan law applies within, the Red Wizards are responsible for patrolling the enclave themselves, and the law of the rest of the country does not apply. The enclave's inhabitants are not immune to prosecution; for example, local authorities can demand that a man who murders someone elsewhere in town and then retreats to the enclave be turned over to the local law, whereupon the Thayans must comply. Slavery is permissible within the enclave, although if the local laws forbid slavery, few Thayans force this point by keeping slaves in the enclaves.
The Law of Trade: The Thayans price their goods and services at 10% below the normal cost. Their merchandise is primarily magic items, and some enclaves also sell mundane equipment such as tapestries and weapons. Technically the sale of slaves is permitted, but since local laws apply outside the enclave, this is futile in lands where slavery is outlawed. An enclave normally sells scrolls of 0-level spells for the cost of creating them if the customer buys an equal number of other magic items (including potions and scrolls of 1st level or higher). The Law of Trade also states that the Thayans can accept slaves as payment for items, and these slaves can be legally transported within the borders of the sovereign nation on the way to Thay. Most antislavery countries require that a potential slave in this situation must either be willing (such as a man selling himself into slavery to provide for his family) or a criminal convicted of a serious offense (such as murder or treason). The local government sometimes even trades criminals in exchange for Thayan goods.
The Law of Crafting: This law dictates what the Thayans will and will not create for sale to the general public. Normally an enclave only produces potions, scrolls (of up to 4th-level spells), wands, +1 armor, +1 weapons, and minor wondrous items. None of these may have abilities easily used for crime (such as potions of invisibility or a wand of charm person) or overtly destructive (such as a wand of fireball). They may also cast spells for hire. In general, the Thayans never create an item worth more than 2,000 gp, because such items dominate limited resources that could be used to produce cheaper and more desirable products. All items produced in an enclave are required to bear the mark of the Red Wizards and the insignia of the city where the enclave is located. They also refuse to create dangerous items (as described above) because should someone be harmed with an item created in an enclave, the Thayans could be held responsible. This policy also prevents such items from being used against them.
In exchange for these demands, the Thayans agree to donate 1% of the enclave's profits to the local government. The actual amount is rather soft, since an accurate count is not provided for the local government, and some enclaves allocate a portion of these funds to bribe local guardsmen and officials. Most enclave contracts include brief but regular periods of military service by the wizards in the enclave's employ, which allows the local government access to more spcllcasters.
Since the inception of the Thayan enclave, their numbers have increased quickly. Within the lands bordering on the Inner Sea, nearly every (90%) metropolis- level location has an enclave of one sort. Most (75%) large cities have one, many (50%) small cities do, some (30%) large towns do, and a few (10%) small towns have an enclave, while smaller settlements might have a single Thayan representative or none at all. A typical enclave holds a number of Thayans equal to 1% of the settlement's population. Guards and other support staff for the wizards, including servants, assistants, and mundane artisans, make up at least half of the enclave population. The remainder are wizards of various levels (some with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class), The highest-level wizard is the leader of the enclave, and always has at least one level in the Red Wizard prestige class.
-Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Proskur
Former members of the local thieves’ guild govern Proskur. The city has a reputation for honesty and the leader of the Proskur council is of good alignment. However, illicit activities in the city are tolerated as long as the council gives permission, which generally entails the council’s receiving a portion of the profits. Since a Thayan enclave usually proves quite lucrative, the council was more than happy to set aside a section of the city for the Red Wizards, and it has not been disappointed with the results. The council’s sanction also allows the Red Wizards to engage in some nefarious practices, such as the selling of rare and magical drugs and a quiet and small trade in slaves.
The Proskur Enclave
These statistics are for the Red Wizard enclave within the Dragon Coast city of Proskur. This enclave is a typical example of an enclave within a large city that has relatively loose laws and an open mind about controversial issues such as slavery and illicit substances.
Headquarters: Proskur, the Dragon Coast.
Members: Forty one wizards and Red Wizards plus over one hundred support staff, including guards and clerks.
Leader: Khazark Chathin Zurn.
Enclave Personnel Forty-one wizards, four of whom are Red Wizards, live and work in the enclave. Approximately one hundred other Thayans live in the enclave; these are mainly guards, servants, clerks, and skilled tradesfolk. A few clerics ensure that the Thayans can observe the religious practices of their homeland. Statistics for the wizards, clerics, and Thayan knights are summarized below. Most other Thayans in the enclave are commoners or experts of 1st–8th level; their statistics are given in the description of the area in which they work.
Most of the lower-level wizards rotate their work assignments every few weeks as ordered by the khazark to broaden their skills and prevent them from becoming too attached or loyal to a job or an employer. Because of this policy, only permanent employees are named in the entries for the enclave enterprises. Other positions are described as “two 3rd-level wizards and one 2nd-level wizard,” and so on.
Not all the wizards assigned to the enclave are accounted for in the location descriptions. The remainder are on leave, perhaps out adventuring or serving with the Proskur military or city guards to gain experience and thus be able to make more magic items when they return.
All the Red Wizards and Thayan wizards come from the Mulan race that makes up the ruling class of Thay. Most of the others in the enclave are of the Rashemi race. These people should not be confused with the native people of Rashemen or the language of that land, also called Rashemi.
The Wizards
Chathin Zurn is the khazark of the enclave, the potentate vested with the full power and authority of Thay in Proskur.
Torisk Haut is the spymaster of the enclave and second in command.
Murith Garas is the master of the enclave’s arcane trade.
Aloth Kakanos is frequently away on various missions for the khazark.
Urhun Kren is a master of tattoo magic.
Ramshan Doon runs the arcane gallery under Murith Garas.
Thazal Tabar runs the stores and workshops for scroll and potions.
Sopsek Zan is the secretary to the khazark.
Nephlas Phetoril, Tholan Ankh, Demtra Fahn, Umara Zaxim all live at this enclave.
Other Wizards: Four 4th-level, seven 3rd-level, eight 2nd level, and ten 1st-level.
The Clerics
So-Kehur is the high priest of the Temple of Kossuth.
Duma Varr is a Knight of the Fire Drake, and is responsible for the security of the Temple of Kossuth.
Thazar-Ke (NE male human Clr5 of Kossuth) is the Keeper of the Flame, in charge of tending the altar of Kossuth and second in command to So-Kehur.
Murithi is a cleric of Loviatar
Tholara is a cleric of Bane.
Zoha is a cleric of Shar.
Acolytes of Kossuth: three 2nd-level and six 1st-level.
The Thayan Knights
Nular Rhyn serves the khazark as bodyguard and advisor.
Savvis Daal is in charge of the slave pens in the underground levels beneath the enclave.
Magnus Varnserves Torisk Haut and often carries messages for the spymaster to his contacts in town.
Additional Knights: Arzel Phen, Azar Vrask.
Guards
The Thayans employ a detachment of thirty-six guards to defend of the enclave. The guards are organized into five six-man squads. A guard-sergeant leads each squad. The guards are under the command of Lieutenant Karvan Hur. Karvan Hur is subject to the orders of any of the Red Wizards or Thayan knights, but in practice the Red Wizards ignore the guards, and the Thayan knights shadow the high-ranking Red Wizards as ever-watchful bodyguards. In addition, the Temple of Kossuth quarters its own small detachment of guards.
About three-quarters of the common guards and all the leaders are Thayan. Karvan Hur hires a small number of local mercenaries to fill out his complement of guards, but watches these foreigners very closely.
Two of the guard squads are on duty by day and two by night. The squad with the day off is expected to spend half the day in weapons training and has the rest of the day free.
The Priador Emporium
The southeast corner of the enclave contains a collection of seven different stores, all part of the Priador Emporium—an import business from Thay. The consortium of Thayan merchants sponsoring the emporium pays well for the privilege of renting space in a foreign enclave and selling Thayan wares abroad.
The Thayan merchants who sponsor the Priador Emporium cleverly decided to import into Proskur goods that would appeal not only to the locals, but also the Thayans of the enclave. Most of the store proprietors are skilled craftsfolk who can fulfill the exacting orders of the enclave wizards for exotic leatherwork, jewelry, or carvings suitable for enchantment. Just as the members of the merchant cabal that sponsors the emporium rent space for their shops in the Proskur enclave, so do the store proprietors rent space in the emporium to ply their trades and import mundane Thayan goods that do not threaten the magic item business of the Guild of Foreign Trade.
On Thayan Soil
For any Thayan enclave, the Law of Sovereignty applies: The land on which the enclave sits is considered Thayan soil, and Thayan law is the only law. This is more than just words on a trade agreement—the Red Wizards consider the enclave’s land to be a part of Thay, and while they don’t go out of their way to offend their neighbors with strange Thayan customs, they are not averse to punishing lawbreakers in their own fashion.
A person caught stealing might be flogged, or branded, or (rarely) put to death. The Red Wizards have harsh penalties for those who offend or harm a Red Wizard, with beatings, imprisonment, and enslavement all common responses. This prevents most brave or foolhardy adventurers from strutting about an enclave, insulting folk and harassing the Red Wizards.
The Thayan soldiers patrol their enclaves day and night. If they see someone likely to cause trouble approaching or within the enclave, the soldiers confront the person in question. In many cases, those “likely to cause trouble” includes paladins and clerics of good faiths, particularly those opposed to the activities of the Red Wizards or Thay in general. In these cases, the soldiers politely ask the people to leave. If questioned, the soldiers respond that people like them tend to make the Thayans uncomfortable—just as they might feel uncomfortable if they were wandering about Bezantur in Thay itself. The guards explain that for the sake of courtesy, the visitors should leave, or at least find some place outside the enclave to leave their weapons to avoid worrying the local Thayans. Their business is welcome, but preferably without the heightened tensions of an armed outsider.
While this talk is occurring, more guards arrive to support their allies, and a nearby Thayan wizard or two might join the crowd. If troublemakers refuse to leave, the soldiers offer to escort them to the edge of the enclave or to the embassy, where one of the senior wizards can explain the situation. If still met with refusal, the guards may imprison the visitors as trespassers, which usually results in an overnight stay in the prison, a fine, and banishment from the enclave.
When your heroes visit an enclave, emphasize the difference between the surrounding town and the enclave itself. The people look and sound different, the buildings are decorated strangely, and armed guards are much more frequent. Most people sport tattoos, and shaven heads are the norm, even on women. The number of wizards is remarkably high, and when one in red robes walks by, everyone on the street goes quiet and lowers their eyes. The Red Wizards are in power, and they have both the will and the right to use that power on anyone within their domain.
Motivation and Goals
The zulkirs’ eventual goal is to rule the world. For centuries they tried to attain this goal with force of arms; now they are trying to do it with trade. Whether or not the enclave system allows them to slowly take over Faerûn, it provides them an incredible amount of resources for their other projects, which include raising armies, funding spell research, and paying spies and assassins in foreign countries.
The goal of the Thayan enclaves is to acquire information and wealth, which are funneled to the homeland. Contacts are also important, as is the patronage of individuals willing to make special deals for illicit goods or in exchange for favors. The leader of the enclave is responsible for tracking which items and services are selling well or poorly, and adjusting staff to accommodate productions of in-demand items.
While some individual Red Wizards are isolationists, seeking to close off their nation from others to protect their vast magical secrets, these are in the minority. To a Red Wizard, power is the fundamental currency, and magical power the most widely accepted and understood kind of force. Even those who have no intention of conquering the world wish to secure enough power to hold their little piece of it, destroy their old master, defeat a hated rival, or find a lost artifact. A Red Wizard who gives something away (particularly magic) usually has an agenda and is profiting somehow from doing so, although that profit may not be apparent to the recipient and may not be in terms of tangible wealth.
Recruiting
The Red Wizards have no interest in non-Thayans joining their ranks. Anyone who isn’t Thayan is worthy only of enslavement, and of the two races of humans living in Thay, only the Mulan (descendants of the Mulhorandi noble class) deserve true power. The Red Wizards have no interest in recruiting others to join their ranks, particularly those of the “inferior” Rashemi race native to their country.
Non-Thayans can be valuable tools and allies, however, and the Red Wizards are always looking for people willing to work for them, whether as spies, scouts, fences, smugglers, slavers, or on other tasks that they find too cumbersome or with which they don’t want to be directly associated. Such individuals can be found in almost any part of the world, particularly near places that have a significant enclave. These agents are often paid in magic items or magical services.
Just as they know that slaves are valuable property and should not be destroyed without good reason, the Red Wizards know that their contacts and servants outside Thay require some care and should not be abandoned simply when circumstances turn against them. They have a reputation to maintain as reliable merchants and employers, and they do not deliberately send skilled agents into circumstances where they are likely to be killed. In short, employees of the Red Wizards are not disposable, but can be sacrificed if their deaths accomplish some greater goal (or if saving them requires the expenditure of more resources than they are worth).
Allies
The Red Wizards have few allies, given their history of betrayal and aggression. Their allies consist of their agents, the Thayan branch of the church of Kossuth, people who value their merchandise (a tenuous alliance at best), and local spellcasters interested in trading magic. Some may have agreements with powerful fiends as well. While they maintain their roles as peaceful merchants, the Red Wizards may be able to make alliances with certain mercantile groups such as the Iron Throne, the Shadow Thieves, and the Rundeen. If they tread carefully, the Red Wizards might be able to ally themselves with more aggressive groups such as the Zhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon, taking a secondary role in their plans but able to quickly gain power when they feel the time is right.
A Thayan wizard almost always has a familiar, for while such a creature does make the wizard vulnerable to someone who could capture it, it gives him an extra set of eyes and ears with which to spy upon his enemy or be alert for attackers.
The greatest ally of a traveling group of Red Wizards is the presence of an enclave. An enclave can function as a temporary base of operations, a safe house, and a place to acquire magic items in an emergency. Within an enclave, the Red Wizards are politically on their home soil. Standing on safer ground and bolstered by the presence of their fellow Thayans, they are not likely to suffer abuse at the hands of foreigners. From within an enclave, a Red Wizard can find lodging and even arrange to be disguised or teleported to another location. A group of Red Wizards traveling in a hurry toward a nearby city is probably seeking a temporary refuge.
Enemies
While the Guild of Foreign Trade may wear a peaceful face, the Red Wizards are still devoted to evil goals as a whole, and so they are opposed by organizations that fight evil in Faerûn. Primary enemies of this type are the Harpers, who rarely oppose them overtly, seeking instead to thwart and reveal evil deeds the Red Wizards commit in the guise of peddlers of magic. The Harpers locate and liberate slaves on their way to Thay and destroy caches and shipments of dangerous Thayan magic items when they can.
The Lords’ Alliance opposes groups that seek to control the North through trade or treachery. While the Alliance doesn’t oppose the Red Wizards outright, it views them with suspicion, for any collection of wizards from a nation known to be interested in dominating the world poses a potential threat to freedom in the North. The Alliance confines its activities to spying upon Thayan enclaves and agents, reporting any unusual activities to local authorities and other groups such as the Harpers.
The Zhentarim keep a watchful eye on any known Thayans within their territory, for while many Red Wizards pay homage to Bane (the patron of the Black Network), the Zhentarim have their own plans for conquest of Faerûn and don’t want any interference from the red-robed wizards. Still, any invasion from Thay is likely to target Aglarond and Rashemen first, and Fzoul is sure that some accommodation could be reached if the two groups’ agendas came into active conflict.
Given their past conflicts, the people of Aglarond, Rashemen, and Mulhorand distrust the Red Wizards. While they make no concerted effort to confront the Red Wizards in normal situations, loyalists of these nations rarely hesitate to take advantage of an opportunity to foil a Thayan plot if it is within their power to do so.
While their nation as a whole is feared and disliked, individual Red Wizards rarely have personal enemies outside their own organization. As Red Wizards they may be generally mistrusted, but most have done nothing to offend anyone in particular. Of course, some make reputations for themselves as slavers, murderers, thieves, and oppressors, but these individual Red Wizards are either eliminated by adventurers or have sufficient resources to hold their attackers at bay, and their reputation usually sends potential victims scurrying for the hills.
Within the Red Wizards, intense rivalries flare. Wizards hate their former masters. Red Wizards distrust their former apprentices. Rival apprentices of the same master hate each other. Specialists of different schools feud over which path has the most power, and the lesser wizards envy those of greater power. These conflicts can escalate into small wars, particularly in Thay where bodyguard armies tend to be reflections of their masters’ power. In other lands, these skirmishes are loud and attract a lot of attention, and those who hate the Red Wizards often try to instigate such conflicts in the hope of wiping out Red Wizards with minimal risk on their part.
These battles over personal conflicts are rarely allowed to occur within an enclave or even a city containing an enclave, because the khazark has the authority to muster all the Thayan wizards within the enclave and destroy those responsible for the disruption, selling their personal effects within the enclave. As confident as some of the Red Wizards may be, none are so foolish as to invite attacks from dozens of wizards at once.
As with the Red Wizards as a whole, good groups such as the Harpers keep a close eye on individual members, confronting them if they are engaged in evil or illegal activity. The Zhentarim, the Lords’ Alliance, and other agencies suspicious of the Red Wizards watch individual members but rarely attack unless provoked.
Encounters
A Red Wizard almost never travels alone. Even exiles and those concealing their identities hire bodyguards to protect them. The only time a Red Wizard might be found traveling alone is if his escorts have all been slain.
The primary members of an encounter with Red Wizards are of course characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class. A Red Wizard outranks all other characters in the group, including other wizards, and the one with the greatest number of Red Wizard levels is the leader of the group.
Most Red Wizards travel with lesser wizards, usually referred to as apprentices regardless of the level of the wizard in question. Most apprentices are 4th level or lower and are oath-bound (and sometimes under a geas) to serve their Red Wizard master.
A Red Wizard party is usually accompanied by a cleric of Kossuth, who nominally reports to the Red Wizard but is a paid employee rather than an oath-bound servant. Some of the more evil Red Wizards travel with clerics of darker deities such as Bane, Loviatar, or Shar, but these priests are less tolerated in most lands, and so the cleric of Kossuth is a safer bet. A lucky Red Wizard might travel with a cleric accompanied by holy monks of Kossuth, although these monks tend to defend the cleric in preference to the Red Wizard.
Bodyguards round out the remainder of the group. A typical Thayan bodyguard is a 2nd-level fighter, although poorer or more frugal Red Wizards sometimes make do with 1st-level fighters or warriors. Only in the wilder lands or within the boundaries of Thay do they employ evil humanoids such as orcs, gnolls, or goblins as bodyguards.
A Red Wizard at home in Thay or traveling within that country is likely to have more bodyguards. Some powerful wizards have small armies at their command, rivaling the armies of the tharchions or zulkirs. These paranoid wizards are rarely foolish enough to use their armies to attack governmental soldiers, which would result in their swift elimination.
Combat and Tactics
The Red Wizards dictate how their allies function in combat. Each type of ally has an assigned role, and deviating from that is likely to get the ally killed—not necessarily out of spite (although that is possible), but by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Experienced troops learn to obey orders explicitly, since they have seen what happens when a squadron moves left instead of right and ends up at the center of a fireball intended for the enemy.
Red Wizards consider themselves great tacticians, although the wiser ones study battle records and listen to their advisers, particularly any Thayan knights in their employ. They prefer large-scale aggressive magic, such as confusion, cloudkill, and fireball. They are not above sacrificing their own troops to destroy an enemy, although if it can be avoided they will do so. (If their bodyguards bungle their orders and ruin an excellent attack plan, such a sacrifice is more likely.) Given their easy access to magic items, they prefer using scrolls and wands to their own spells unless truly powerful magic is needed. Some wizards (particularly abjurers) prefer to stay on the defensive, utilizing counterspelling and shielding magic. Many of these carry a wand of dispel magic just for this purpose.
Clerics are expected to take a support role in any combat encounter, enhancing the abilities and defenses of the Red Wizard and bodyguards, since their own attack magic is generally inferior to the powers available to a Red Wizard. They are expected to have prepared several cure spells of various levels, and they carry potions or scrolls with similar magic. When facing enemy spellcasters, they usually use hold person and silence spells to allow the Red Wizard to cast spells without being interrupted.
Thayan knights coordinate the soldiers and make sure the Red Wizard’s orders are enacted properly. They anticipate what the Red Wizard needs and protect him or her against melee attacks. A Thayan knight rarely strays from the Red Wizard’s side unless directed into the fray. This aggressive stance is favored by Thayan knights with access to the evasion ability, and Red Wizards have been known to take advantage of these skills by sending them into close combat with opponents and firing on them with area spells requiring Reflex saving throws. If suitably prepared or skilled, the knight is likely to emerge unscathed from the midst of a pile of enemy bodies.
Soldiers do most of the thankless work in combat. They are trained to use tactics that prevent enemies from spreading out, and they are particularly adept at forming lines that cannot be bypassed with a simple 5-foot step (in other words, their enemies must bull rush or overrun to get past them). The soldiers’ main purpose is to keep enemies from entering melee range with their Red Wizard employer. Because they are likely to be punished if they fail in their duty, they sometimes take great risks to prevent this from occurring—after all, an enemy fighter offers a quick, clean death compared to what an angry Red Wizard might do.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The greatest strength of the Red Wizards is their magical power. Red Wizards (and other Thayan wizards) have access to the best spells, the best items, and the best defenses for their money. Anyone planning to confront a Red Wizard in a magical combat should be more powerful than the wizard or prepared with items to compensate for the Red Wizard’s skill.
In addition to their magical strength, Red Wizards have many allies (even if these allies aren’t truly friends of the Red Wizard in question) and travel in groups. Unlike many of the stranger monsters in Faerûn or creatures with magical abilities, clerics, bodyguards, and even other wizards support the Red Wizards, and they are as familiar with each other as any adventuring party. These groups take advantage of terrain and each other’s skills as much as possible to defeat a foe.
The greatest weakness of the Red Wizards is their reliance on magic. If they can be forced into a dead magic area or an antimagic field (or if attacked from such a location), most of the Red Wizards’ magical might is useless, and they are forced to rely on their bodyguards and their own minimal combat abilities to defend themselves. Similarly, a silence spell thwarts much of their spellcasting ability.
Thayan Knight Prestige Class
While the Red Wizards are not opposed to blasting their opponents with deadly spells or shredding the minds of their enemies with dark magic, there are times when they need protectors who have mastered the art of swordplay. These protectors are the Thayan knights, familiar with magic and loyal to none but the tattooed mages.
The Thayan knights act as bodyguards and enforcers for the Red Wizards and as an extension of their reach. They lead common Thayan troops into battle and help guard the wizard enclaves. Although they are referred to as knights, they have no code of conduct, and the only rule that binds them is that their lives are worth nothing compared to the safety of the Red Wizards.
Almost all Thayan knights are fighters, although monks and rangers have been known to pursue this career. Barbarians are typically too reckless to concentrate on defense, and the Red Wizards consider other individuals too weak for the duties of a Thayan knight.
To qualify to become a Thayan knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Race: Human.
Region: Thay.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Skills: Intimidate 2 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 2 ranks, Knowledge (local, Thay) 2 ranks.
Social Status: No slaves.
Feats: Iron Will, Weapon Focus (longsword).
Alignment: Any nongood.
Special: Sworn allegiance to the Red Wizards of Thay.
The Thayan knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are:
Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Innuendo (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local, Thay), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Gained Abilities:
Horrors of Thay (Ex): Because of long exposure to the cruelty of her homeland, a Thayan knight gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects. At 4th level, these bonuses increase to +4 and +2, respectively. None of these bonuses apply against attacks from Red Wizards.
Zulkir’s Favor (Su): At 1st level, a knight undergoes a long and painful tattooing ritual. This magic tattoo, placed either on the back or the forehead, provides a +2 resistance bonus on Reflex saves. The tattoo also marks the knight as someone loyal to the Red Wizards. The knight automatically fails all saving throws against mind-affecting spells cast by a Red Wizard. When the tattoo is visible, the knight gains a +2 morale bonus on Intimidate checks as an extraordinary ability. The tattoo does not count as using a space for a magic item, but it does count toward the limit of magic tattoos permitted by the create magic tattoo spell.
Zulkir’s Defender (Ex): A knight of 2nd level gains a +2 morale bonus on attacks and damage against any creature that attacks or that she has previously seen attack a Red Wizard.
Fighter Feat: At 3rd level, a Thayan knight may choose any one feat (except Weapon Specialization) from the fighter bonus feat list in Chapter 3 of the Player’s Handbook or any feat with the [Fighter] descriptor from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Final Stand (Su): Once per day as a standard action, a knight of 4th level or higher can inspire her troops. Allies within 10 feet of the knight gain 2d10 temporary hit points. This ability affects a number of creatures equal to the knight’s class level + Charisma modifier and lasts the same number of rounds.
Zulkir’s Champion (Su): At 5th level, the knight receives a large magic tattoo across her face signifying her devotion to the protection of the Red Wizards. Once per day, the knight can take a +2 luck bonus on a single saving throw. This bonus can be taken after the die is rolled and after other modifiers have been applied to the roll. When the tattoo is visible, the knight gains a +4 morale bonus on Intimidate checks as an extraordinary ability. The tattoo does not count as using a space for a magic item, but it does count toward the limit of magic tattoos permitted by the create magic tattoo spell.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness. Some information omitted, primarily sidebars and statblocks. Additional reading can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, including the Red Wizard Class information.
// this was posted here by player request. I fully invite any messages suggesting additional information, as well as give full permission to staff to edit this post to include FRC relevant information.
Long considered a threat to peace in eastern Faerûn, the Red Wizards of Thay have a history of war and aggression toward their neighbors and even more distant lands. In recent years, they have also become the principal purveyors of magical goods to the powerful, wealthy, and the desperate throughout much of Faerûn. Ensconced in secretive walled enclaves in dozens of cities, the Red Wizards command fear and respect far outside the borders of their native Thay. These mercantile enclaves have become so successful that many Red Wizards have abandoned their dreams of military conquest for a more insidious and pervasive form of power—the power of gold.
The Red Wizards’ efforts to export their magical goods abroad have resulted in three main benefits for the Thayans. First, people of distant lands are beginning to view the Red Wizards as mysterious, perhaps intimidating, merchants, rather than as would-be conquerors. Second, the sale of magic items, even at a discount, is a phenomenal source of revenue for the Red Wizards. Much of this wealth flows back to the coffers of the zulkirs (the leaders), who use the profits to fund magical research, espionage, and whatever terrible secret interests they may have. Finally, demand for Thayan goods is so high that the Red Wizards can exact significant concessions from local rulers anxious to bring some of the wealth generated by a Thayan enclave into their cities. The trade enclaves provide the Red Wizards with secure bases of operation, spy networks, and resources abroad.
The zulkirs may still be creating terrible battle spells and monstrous magical war machines in the secrecy of their homeland, but the public facade of the Red Wizards has become that of reliable, if eerie, traders in magic.
FRC Specific Notes:
Please note the following update to the FRC Rules and Server Information, regarding Red Wizard Player Characters. Please contact me or your Friendly Neighborhood DM of choice if you have any questions.
Red Wizard characters created before these requirements were posted do not have to transition; the requirements apply on a go-forward basis.
Players wishing to play a Red Wizard of Thay need to be aware of the following requirements. While the Red Wizard PRC is not mechanically supported in Neverwinter Nights or on FRC, it does provide in game benefits due to the status and influence of those having the class. Before a character can be a Red Wizard on FRC the following criteria must be met or the character will be invalid as a Red Wizard:
1. The player must submit an application to the DM Team and receive approval before his or her character can be a Red Wizard.
2. The character must be human, from Thay, and have a Thayan appearance.
3. The character's alignment must be non-good.
4. The character may dabble in other classes but wizard must be the primary character class for a Red Wizard.
5. The character must adopt a Spell School as his or her Chosen School and have the Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats in this school. Note: This does not mean the character must Specialize in a chosen school.
6. The character must have the Arcane Defense feat in his or her chosen school.
7. The character must take at least three additional metamagic or item creation feats (craft wand, empower spell, etc).
8. The character may not take the Spell Focus feat in the Spell School opposed to his or her Chosen School as defined by NWN. (see table below).
| Chosen School | NWN Opposing School |
| Abjuration | Conjuration |
| Conjuration | Transmutation |
| Divination | Illusion |
| Enchantment | Illusion |
| Evocation | Conjuration |
| Illusion | Enchantment |
| Necromancy | Divination |
| Transmutation | Conjuration |
frc.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=serverrules&thread=12050&page=1
Thanks,
The Forgotten Realms Cormyr DM Team
Note: The previously stated Red Wizard requirements are shown here for reference only. If a Red Wizard character was made under the requirements below and the player would like transition to the revised requirements above, please contact a Friendly Neighborhood DM.
1. The player must submit an application to the DM Team and receive approval before his or her character can be a Red Wizard.
2. The character must be human, from Thay, and have a Thayan appearance.
3. The character's alignment must be non-good.
4. The character must be a wizard and specialize in a school of magic at creation. The character may dabble in other classes but wizard must be the primary character class for a Red Wizard.
5. The character must take at least three metamagic or item creation feats (craft wand, empower spell, etc).
Enclaves represented on FRC are the Enclave in the City State of Proskur and the Enclave in the Cormyrian city of Marsember.
Brief History
The history of the Red Wizards and Thay is fully covered in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. In short, a group of Mulhorandi wizards seceded from their homeland to form a country where wizards ruled instead of godkings. These wizards eventually created the current governmental structure in Thay and warred against their neighbors intermittently for centuries, with their plans often thrown into chaos because of arguing factions within the upper levels of the organization. While the more aggressive factions still plot and scheme, other Red Wizards—notably the zulkirs of Abjuration, Illusion, and Transmutation—have turned their hand to a burgeoning trade in magic items, carried out in Thayan enclaves in cities throughout Faerûn.
The Red Wizards are the magocratic leaders of the country of Thay. The most powerful Red Wizards are the zulkirs, each specialized in one of the schools of magic. These eight choose the tharchions (regional governors) who handle the day-to-day leadership of Thay while the zulkirs scheme and plot to rule the entire world.
Long-standing factions split the power of the zulkirs. Some push for isolating their land in order to safeguard their vast magical knowledge, while others advocate wars of conquest. Currently a faction favoring trade and mercantilism rules the day, rising from a class of ambitious, entrepreneurial mages with their eyes on the rich commerce of the Inner Sea and the kingdoms of the west. The Red Wizards' ability to forge and trade magic items in great quantities has given them control of a lucrative and influential trade. Thayan enclaves exist in dozens of cities around the Sea of Fallen Stars, walled compounds in which the Thayans enjoy immunity from local laws and tariffs while providing access to their many and varied magical wares.
Given their different magical specializations and conflicting philosophies, the Red Wizards may be involved in almost any sort of venture, from smuggling to adventuring to slaving. (Active slaving is currently discouraged by the zulkirs in places where such activity is illegal, since such efforts generate ill will toward the mercantile efforts.) A typical group includes a Red Wizard leader of 7th level or higher, one or two wizard subordinates, a cleric of Kossuth, and at least five bodyguards of moderate skill. All in the group are likely to be armed with magic items, with the spellcasters having many useful charged items.
The zulkirs each have their own plots, intrigues, and interests, Aznar Thrul is the cruel and savage zulkir of Evocation an the tharchion of the Priador. Although Thrul loathes Szass Tam, the lich holds him in check through some secret information or advantage.
Druxus Rhym is the steadfast zulkir of Transmutation. He is the greatest spokesperson of ruthless trade over isolation or military aggression, using his power and his alliance with Szass Tarn to encourage the others to cooperate.
Lallara is the zulkir of Abjuration, a chaotic and unreliable ally of Szass Tam and a woman with a taste for decadent pleasures. She collects unusual magic items and enjoys torturing slaves.
Lauzoril is the handsome zulkir of Enchantment, a scheming and dangerous opponent. He opposes Szass Tam and only grudgingly refrains from marching his armies on Thay's neighbors.
Mythrellaa is the zulkir of Illusion. She prefers isolation and rarely fratcrnizes with her peers, devoting her time to studies of the Shadow Weave.
Nevron is the hateful, aggressive, fiend-touched zulkir of Conjuration. The other zulkirs suspect he plans a surprise attack on Aglarond, which they would be forced to oppose in order to avoid the loss of valuable trade that would result. Aglarond doesn't trade with Thay, but other lands sympathetic to Aglarond do.
Szass Tam (NE male human lich is the shrewd zulkir of Necromancy. Over two hundred years old, he has tried to unite the zulkirs under his banner but lost prestige recently after a failed attempt to harness the power of a longimprisoned demon.
Yaphyll is the youthful zulkir of Divination. A strong supporter of Druxus and Szass Tam, she uses her magic to monitor the other zulkirs and events in Thayan enclaves throughout Faerûn.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The Organization
While the details of Thay are summarized in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the following statistics reflect the Red Wizards (characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class) and their apprentices of various levels (those without levels in the prestige class).
Headquarters: Thaymount, Thay.
Members: Approximately 1,000 actual Red Wizards, with approximately 5,000 practicing wizards in their service.
Hierarchy: Militaristic.
Leaders: The zulkirs of Thay (loose council of eight Red Wizards, each specialized in a different school of arcane magic).
Religions: Kossuth, Bane, Shar, Loviatar.
Alignment: LE, NE, LN, CE.
Secrecy: None.
Symbol: A disk with a white star at the center and a red spiral moving counterclockwise from the center, with eight red spheres of increasing size on the spiral. The red represents the Red Wizards, the eight spheres represent the eight primary schools of magic, and the white star represents a fading fireball.
The Red Wizards rule Thay as the heads of a large quasi-military organization, the structure of which is more convoluted than it first appears.
Among Thayans, the terms “wizard” and “Red Wizard” have different meanings. A wizard is someone who wields arcane power in the form of spells. (While bards and sorcerers are known in Thay, the Red Wizards consider them inferior and treat them as such.) Although wizards may grow powerful, and that power deserves respect, only Red Wizards command true authority in Thay.
A Red Wizard is a practicing wizard who has been indoctrinated into the outermost circle of Thayan politics. In Thay, only Red Wizards are allowed to wear red robes, and those who violate this law are swiftly caught and slowly tortured, usually in a public manner. To avoid even the threat of such a punishment, most Thayans never wear anything red, and some refuse to don orange clothing as well. The only exceptions are the clerics of Kossuth, who stand outside the ban and are easily recognized by their holy symbols and their multicolored robes.
While most people outside Thay believe that all Thayan wizards are Red Wizards, this is not true. Only about one wizard in six is actually a Red Wizard. The rest are apprentices, low-level wizards, those unconcerned with politics, and those who have not yet proved their worth to Thay. In game terms, only characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class are called Red Wizards (although devious and foolish individuals may claim the title outside Thay with the intent to fool others). Choosing to become a Red Wizard requires careful thought, for while that path holds great power, the Red Wizard loses some of a traditional wizard’s versatility (by being obliged to select an additional prohibited school of spellcasting). Many wizards delay joining the Red Wizards for as long as possible, hoping that their wider variety of spells compensates for their shortcomings compared to those who donned the red robes earlier.
Hierarchy
Thay is ruled by eight zulkirs, each a powerful Red Wizard specialized in one of the eight schools of magic. When an existing zulkir leaves office (usually through death, although zulkir Szass Tam has been a lich for hundreds of years), a new zulkir is selected by the Red Wizards, with powerful Red Wizards holding more sway in the choice and the remaining zulkirs having the final say.
The Bureaucracy
The zulkirs appoint eleven tharchions, one for each of the country’s tharchs (counties or provinces). The tharchions act as governors for their regions, dealing with local issues and obeying the orders of the zulkirs. The tharchions may be of any character class, and some Red Wizards see this duty as a means of acquiring political power and eventually a position as a zulkir. Currently, one of the tharchions is also a zulkir, although this is a rare situation.
The tharchions appoint local bureaucrats, called autharchs, into positions at various levels. Autharchs function as mayors, military leaders, and ministers of various organizations such as trade guilds. Most autharchs have little authority and serve mainly as convenient scapegoats for occasions when a zulkir’s or tharchion’s plans go awry. The autharchs suffer a high turnover rate, since incompetent ones vanish or are killed and competent ones are promoted. The leader of a trade enclave, called a khazark, technically has an equivalent rank to an autharch running a very profitable guild in an equivalent-sized city, although the khazark tends to have higher status because he or she is always a Red Wizard. In situations where a Red Wizard is accused of a crime, the local autharch usually defers to his or her tharchion to avoid the possibly fatal blunder of confronting a Red Wizard who is under the protection of a higher-level politician.
While this chain of command works in theory, in practice the zulkirs hand down orders to the tharchions, autharchs, military, khazarks, or commoners with impunity. The only people with any real independence are wizards, who endure long apprenticeships to their cruel masters before being able to strike out on their own and possibly enter the ranks of the Red Wizards.
The Zulkirs
See the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting [above] for basic information on the zulkirs. The following section includes notes on the zulkirs’ relationships with the enclaves and other significant observations.
Aznar Thrul, the zulkir of Evocation, enjoys using his mastery of elements archmage ability to surprise foes with variants of spells using different energies. He has little involvement in the enclaves because they rarely sell items with powers from his specialized school. Instead, he has ordered his underlings to prepare powerful magic items of the Evocation school (such as wands of fireball) in anticipation of a great demand in black market items through the enclaves.
Druxus Rhym, the zulkir of Transmutation, maintains an alliance with Szass Tam. His enthusiasm helped persuade Tam to consider the enclaves as a viable option. Druxus was one of the earliest supporters of the enclaves and invested much of his personal fortune in the first three, which has been repaid fivefold. He is not averse to assassinating his political enemies, and one of his favorite methods is transforming his enemies’ equipment or food into poisonous vermin. One of his archmage powers is the teleport spell-like ability.
Lallara, the zulkir of Abjuration, is an enthusiastic supporter of the enclaves, since abjurative items are common commodities there. She is the sole sponsor of the enclave in Procampur, which brings her a great return in both money and slaves. She rewards enclave abjurers who send her information, and the khazark of the Procampur enclave is one of her favored former apprentices and staunchest supporters. She has the mastery of counterspelling archmage ability, which she has put to good use defeating rivals.
Lauzoril, the zulkir of Enchantment, is indifferent to the concept of enclaves, because they rarely sell his sort of magic. He has yet to sponsor an enclave and is considering sabotage and rumors to hamper the efficiency of the enclaves just to avoid any one faction from gaining too much power. He is fond of creating intelligent magic weapons loyal to him that sow discord among his enemies. He remains steadfastly opposed to Szass Tam and is looking for some magical means to wrest away control of the lich’s undead armies.
Mythrellaa, the zulkir of Illusion, has refused any involvement with the enclaves, although she has spies and informants in several large ones on the coast of the Inner Sea. She has the Greater Spell Penetration feat, making her illusions very difficult to disbelieve. Like Lallara, she pays close attention to what her agents in the enclaves have to say. After a falling-out with Szass Tam, she retreated to her tower and has professed neutrality in all dealings with the other zulkirs.
Nevron, the zulkir of Conjuration, has no interest in the success of the enclaves and has been focusing his attention on creating scrolls of demon-summoning spells. He is known to own a ring of wizardry and a robe of the archmagi, and many suspect he has demonic allies. Nevron opposes Szass Tam and is casually allied with Lauzoril, although he would betray the enchanter instantly if doing so would advance his own power.
Szass Tam, the feared zulkir of Necromancy, is hesitant to openly support the enclaves, but he is not working against them. He sponsors (through intermediaries) one enclave to monitor how it functions and to keep the balance of power from shifting away from him. Like Aznar Thrul, he anticipates a demand for more dangerous items and has set plans in action to stockpile items of this nature. Szass Tam has created hundreds of magic items during his lifetime, many of which are intentionally cursed so the wielder is eventually compelled to serve him. These are likely to make their way into the hands of greedy buyers in the near future.
Yaphyll, the zulkir of Divination, is an ally of Lallara and one of the few people who can focus the abjurer’s attention on important topics at critical times. She avoids danger by knowing about any plots against her before they come to fruition. She wears a magic amulet that protects her from penalties for aging and makes her appear to be thirty years of age. She has spies in every enclave, often giving the weaker ones strong protective items to ensure both their survival and their loyalty.
The Tharchions
The tharchions directly control the territories of Thay as noted below.
Azhir Kren is the aggressive tharchion of Gauros. She controls a strong army backed by Szass Tam’s legion of zombies. Her hatred of Rashemen may eventually lead her to cross the border with her forces, forcing the zulkirs to stop her.
Aznar Thrul is the tharchion of Priador as well as the zulkir of Evocation, as noted above.
Dimon, a cleric of waukeen, oversees the tharch of Tyraturos. Disillusioned with his faith, he retains his talents in finance and manipulation, which makes his tharch very profitable.
Dmitra Flass is the tharchion of Eltabbar. Beautiful, bald, and elaborately adorned with magic tattoos, she is known as the First Princess of Thay in other lands. She is married to the High Blade of Mulmaster, Selfaril Uoumdolphin. She is closely allied with Szass Tam and has an extensive spy network.
Hezass Nymar, a cleric of Kossuth, rules the tharch of Lapendrar. Weak-willed and corrupt, he does whatever the zulkirs tell him. Those within his church believe that the Firelord will soon come to cleanse Nymar of his weakness, and his fellow clerics debate whether he will survive the cleansing. If he were removed from office, the church would push to have another cleric of Kossuth take his place.
Invarri Metron is the tharchion of Delhumide. While this region used to be the capital of the Mulhorandi province of Thay, Invarri has little interest in picking over the ruins for treasure and instead has been working to increase his tharch’s farming output and strengthen its defenses against possible attacks by Rashemen.
Milsantos Daramos controls the tharch of Thazalhar. An aged patriot, he is pleased that Thay is finally being productive in the absence of ill-planned and disastrous wars, and he looks forward to Thay remaining prosperous until the day he dies.
Homen Odesseiron is the tharchion of Surthay and a “former” Red Wizard, having voluntarily removed himself from the ranks of his arcane peers to focus on the military might of his tharch. He used to lead raids against Rashemen and maintains a sizable army.
Nymia Focar is the tharchion of Pyarados. Because her tharch is a haven for those seeking glory and loot in the eastern mountains, she overcharges adventurers for equipment and taxes the mines there, resulting in a very wealthy province.
Pyras Autorian is the young tharchion of Thaymount. Chosen by Szass Tam, he is a civil servant of minimal skill and little more than a puppet of the lich. Szass Tam keeps him protected with bodyguards, spells, and magic items.
Thessaloni Canos is a skilled military commander and sailor, and has been tharchion of Alaor for over thirty years despite many attempts to slay or unseat her. She prefers to remain neutral in any conflicts between the zulkirs, and her ability to avoid offending them impresses as often as it infuriates.
The Red Wizards
While the zulkirs and tharchions may be the most prominent leaders of the country, the Red Wizards at all levels are seen as the epitome of the evil of Thay. Red Wizards hold the power of life and death over others in that land, and only other rival Red Wizards keep them from exerting that power at whim. Standing laws in Thay prevent the Red Wizards from simply seizing whatever food they want from farmers and any item they desire from merchants. Their main power is political, and those who regard themselves as above such mortal and mundane concerns quickly find themselves exiled or killed by other Red Wizards intent on preserving the status quo.
In practice, a Red Wizard is likely to have many contacts, allies, and enemies among the wizards and the Red Wizards, with servants of varying types and various power levels. If a Red Wizard is slain or disappears, his allies investigate. Although they most often assume that the disappearance is due to a rival and leave it at that, occasionally the allies try to find and destroy those responsible for the death.
The wizards of Thay grow up and are educated in a cutthroat environment of intrigue, competition, and cruelty. They have survived dangerous masters and evil rivals, and have experienced and witnessed magic that is prohibited by more ethical wizards. They are not fools, although some are megalomaniacs and cannot see the flaws in their own plans. The environment in which they are raised and trained makes them dangerous opponents, and no one should take them lightly.
The Guild of Foreign Trade
Thay’s enclaves in foreign lands are administered through the offices of the Guild of Foreign Trade, based in Bezantur. Fifty years ago, the guild was a mere shell of an organization that existed only for the purpose of selling charters to Thayan merchants who wished to trade abroad. The success of the magic item trade has made the leading officers of the Guild of Foreign Trade some of the most powerful, wealthy, and influential people in Thay.
The guild’s sprawling warehouses, buried vaults, and fortresslike buildings cover dozens of acres and employ hundreds of wizards, dozens of powerful magical guardians, and common guards, clerks, and laborers numbering in the thousands. From the guild wharves the yellow-sailed dromonds of Thay travel to all corners of the Inner Sea, carrying the output of Thay’s magical workshops under heavy guard. At these same wharves, wealth in the form of gold, slaves, and valuable trade goods returns to Thay in payment.
The Guild of Foreign Trade is administered by Samas Kul, a brilliant, ambitious man who stands high in the ranks of the Red Wizards. He is second only to the zulkir Druxus Rhym among those Red Wizards in the school of Transmutation, mostly due to the staggering wealth at his disposal. As the grand master of a government-sponsored guild, Samas Kul is nominally an autharch, but in truth his power and influence exceeds that of all but the strongest tharchions. Corpulent and cynical, Samas Kul goes about his business draped in gem-studded garments with rings worth thousands of gold pieces on each finger, flaunting the wealth that pours into Thay’s coffers (and his own) through the guild.
Several of the zulkirs are counted as members of the guild’s directing board, although in practice they leave Samas Kul to administer the operation while collecting bribes and payoffs of staggering amounts for their forbearance and continued good will. In theory the Guild of Foreign Trade passes on all profits to the state, but in practice the state receives much less than the zulkirs (or other highly placed Red Wizards) who happen to have their hands in the till.
Many lesser Red Wizards are nominally employed in the guild, answering to Samas Kul while they direct the revenues generated through their work back to the zulkirs who sponsored them. The Guild of Foreign Trade purchases items crafted by the wizards laboring in the zulkirs’ workshops and laboratories for sale abroad, and a number of Red Wizards are involved in commandeering the necessary resources to keep up the flow of goods. Other Red Wizards serve in the enclaves as administrators, spies, and guardians, as well as crafters of magical goods at each location. The guild attracts a significant number of the best and brightest low-ranking Red Wizards, who scheme for an opportunity to become a master or grand master of the guild and reach the elite ranks of those who can divert its profits to their own pockets with impunity.
Enclaves
The most visible face of the Red Wizards of Thay is the Thayan enclave. As described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the size of each enclave depends on the size of the settlement in which it is located; each enclave has a number occupants equal to roughly 1% of the population of the settlement. (Proskur’s population is approximately 14,000.)
Known Enclaves
The following cities have well-established enclaves of at least fifty Thayans: Athkatla, Baldur’s Gate, Calaunt, Calimport, Cimbar, Hillsfar, Hlath, Hlondeth, Innarlith, Iriaebor, Marsember, Messemprar, Mulmaster, Procampur, Ravens Bluff, Saerloon, Scardale, Scornubel, Soorenar, Telflamm, Waterdeep, Westgate, and Yhaunn.
[There is also a thriving enclave in Hills Edge - Per Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting]
Other large cities may have a single shop staffed by a handful of Thayan wizards or are visited at least monthly by traveling wizards with goods to sell. Countries with a long history of abuse and violence at the hands of the Red Wizards—such as Aglarond, Rashemen, and Mulhorand— refuse to allow any sort of permanent enclave within their cities.
Thayan enclaves are independent mercantile and political entities within an urban area in a non-Thayan country. Here people interact with Thayans in a peaceful manner, buy magic items, and make deals with the Red Wizards who control the enclave. An enclave is established after a Thayan diplomat negotiates with the local authorities. These negotiations usually entail lists of benefits for the local rulers, such as an increased amount of magic for their guards and protectors, as well as for the authorities themselves. Depending on the nature of the local authorities, the diplomat presents gifts or offers bribes in order to sweeten the deal. For peaceful or good nations, the gifts are benign or useful items such as potions of cure spells, wands of fly, magic shields, and so on. For more aggressive countries, the bribes are often items that can he used for illicit deeds, such as potions of invisibility, or combat items such as a wand of fireball or magic weapons. Once both parties agree that an enclave can be built, they discuss the exact terms.
The Thayans always require the local government to agree to three demands (known as the Three Laws of the Enclave) and refuse to establish an enclave unless the other party agrees to all of them. The Three Laws prevent abuse at the hands of those who oppose the presence of the Red Wizards on moral, cultural, or religious grounds. If such abuse occurs, the Thayans can claim that the local authorities have failed to provide protection for diplomatic envoys acting within the confines of the law, which would make the local government accountable to Thay itself.
The Law of Sovereignty: The enclave is treated as Thayan soil. Thayan law applies within, the Red Wizards are responsible for patrolling the enclave themselves, and the law of the rest of the country does not apply. The enclave's inhabitants are not immune to prosecution; for example, local authorities can demand that a man who murders someone elsewhere in town and then retreats to the enclave be turned over to the local law, whereupon the Thayans must comply. Slavery is permissible within the enclave, although if the local laws forbid slavery, few Thayans force this point by keeping slaves in the enclaves.
The Law of Trade: The Thayans price their goods and services at 10% below the normal cost. Their merchandise is primarily magic items, and some enclaves also sell mundane equipment such as tapestries and weapons. Technically the sale of slaves is permitted, but since local laws apply outside the enclave, this is futile in lands where slavery is outlawed. An enclave normally sells scrolls of 0-level spells for the cost of creating them if the customer buys an equal number of other magic items (including potions and scrolls of 1st level or higher). The Law of Trade also states that the Thayans can accept slaves as payment for items, and these slaves can be legally transported within the borders of the sovereign nation on the way to Thay. Most antislavery countries require that a potential slave in this situation must either be willing (such as a man selling himself into slavery to provide for his family) or a criminal convicted of a serious offense (such as murder or treason). The local government sometimes even trades criminals in exchange for Thayan goods.
The Law of Crafting: This law dictates what the Thayans will and will not create for sale to the general public. Normally an enclave only produces potions, scrolls (of up to 4th-level spells), wands, +1 armor, +1 weapons, and minor wondrous items. None of these may have abilities easily used for crime (such as potions of invisibility or a wand of charm person) or overtly destructive (such as a wand of fireball). They may also cast spells for hire. In general, the Thayans never create an item worth more than 2,000 gp, because such items dominate limited resources that could be used to produce cheaper and more desirable products. All items produced in an enclave are required to bear the mark of the Red Wizards and the insignia of the city where the enclave is located. They also refuse to create dangerous items (as described above) because should someone be harmed with an item created in an enclave, the Thayans could be held responsible. This policy also prevents such items from being used against them.
In exchange for these demands, the Thayans agree to donate 1% of the enclave's profits to the local government. The actual amount is rather soft, since an accurate count is not provided for the local government, and some enclaves allocate a portion of these funds to bribe local guardsmen and officials. Most enclave contracts include brief but regular periods of military service by the wizards in the enclave's employ, which allows the local government access to more spcllcasters.
Since the inception of the Thayan enclave, their numbers have increased quickly. Within the lands bordering on the Inner Sea, nearly every (90%) metropolis- level location has an enclave of one sort. Most (75%) large cities have one, many (50%) small cities do, some (30%) large towns do, and a few (10%) small towns have an enclave, while smaller settlements might have a single Thayan representative or none at all. A typical enclave holds a number of Thayans equal to 1% of the settlement's population. Guards and other support staff for the wizards, including servants, assistants, and mundane artisans, make up at least half of the enclave population. The remainder are wizards of various levels (some with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class), The highest-level wizard is the leader of the enclave, and always has at least one level in the Red Wizard prestige class.
-Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Proskur
Former members of the local thieves’ guild govern Proskur. The city has a reputation for honesty and the leader of the Proskur council is of good alignment. However, illicit activities in the city are tolerated as long as the council gives permission, which generally entails the council’s receiving a portion of the profits. Since a Thayan enclave usually proves quite lucrative, the council was more than happy to set aside a section of the city for the Red Wizards, and it has not been disappointed with the results. The council’s sanction also allows the Red Wizards to engage in some nefarious practices, such as the selling of rare and magical drugs and a quiet and small trade in slaves.
The Proskur Enclave
These statistics are for the Red Wizard enclave within the Dragon Coast city of Proskur. This enclave is a typical example of an enclave within a large city that has relatively loose laws and an open mind about controversial issues such as slavery and illicit substances.
Headquarters: Proskur, the Dragon Coast.
Members: Forty one wizards and Red Wizards plus over one hundred support staff, including guards and clerks.
Leader: Khazark Chathin Zurn.
Enclave Personnel Forty-one wizards, four of whom are Red Wizards, live and work in the enclave. Approximately one hundred other Thayans live in the enclave; these are mainly guards, servants, clerks, and skilled tradesfolk. A few clerics ensure that the Thayans can observe the religious practices of their homeland. Statistics for the wizards, clerics, and Thayan knights are summarized below. Most other Thayans in the enclave are commoners or experts of 1st–8th level; their statistics are given in the description of the area in which they work.
Most of the lower-level wizards rotate their work assignments every few weeks as ordered by the khazark to broaden their skills and prevent them from becoming too attached or loyal to a job or an employer. Because of this policy, only permanent employees are named in the entries for the enclave enterprises. Other positions are described as “two 3rd-level wizards and one 2nd-level wizard,” and so on.
Not all the wizards assigned to the enclave are accounted for in the location descriptions. The remainder are on leave, perhaps out adventuring or serving with the Proskur military or city guards to gain experience and thus be able to make more magic items when they return.
All the Red Wizards and Thayan wizards come from the Mulan race that makes up the ruling class of Thay. Most of the others in the enclave are of the Rashemi race. These people should not be confused with the native people of Rashemen or the language of that land, also called Rashemi.
The Wizards
Chathin Zurn is the khazark of the enclave, the potentate vested with the full power and authority of Thay in Proskur.
Torisk Haut is the spymaster of the enclave and second in command.
Murith Garas is the master of the enclave’s arcane trade.
Aloth Kakanos is frequently away on various missions for the khazark.
Urhun Kren is a master of tattoo magic.
Ramshan Doon runs the arcane gallery under Murith Garas.
Thazal Tabar runs the stores and workshops for scroll and potions.
Sopsek Zan is the secretary to the khazark.
Nephlas Phetoril, Tholan Ankh, Demtra Fahn, Umara Zaxim all live at this enclave.
Other Wizards: Four 4th-level, seven 3rd-level, eight 2nd level, and ten 1st-level.
The Clerics
So-Kehur is the high priest of the Temple of Kossuth.
Duma Varr is a Knight of the Fire Drake, and is responsible for the security of the Temple of Kossuth.
Thazar-Ke (NE male human Clr5 of Kossuth) is the Keeper of the Flame, in charge of tending the altar of Kossuth and second in command to So-Kehur.
Murithi is a cleric of Loviatar
Tholara is a cleric of Bane.
Zoha is a cleric of Shar.
Acolytes of Kossuth: three 2nd-level and six 1st-level.
The Thayan Knights
Nular Rhyn serves the khazark as bodyguard and advisor.
Savvis Daal is in charge of the slave pens in the underground levels beneath the enclave.
Magnus Varnserves Torisk Haut and often carries messages for the spymaster to his contacts in town.
Additional Knights: Arzel Phen, Azar Vrask.
Guards
The Thayans employ a detachment of thirty-six guards to defend of the enclave. The guards are organized into five six-man squads. A guard-sergeant leads each squad. The guards are under the command of Lieutenant Karvan Hur. Karvan Hur is subject to the orders of any of the Red Wizards or Thayan knights, but in practice the Red Wizards ignore the guards, and the Thayan knights shadow the high-ranking Red Wizards as ever-watchful bodyguards. In addition, the Temple of Kossuth quarters its own small detachment of guards.
About three-quarters of the common guards and all the leaders are Thayan. Karvan Hur hires a small number of local mercenaries to fill out his complement of guards, but watches these foreigners very closely.
Two of the guard squads are on duty by day and two by night. The squad with the day off is expected to spend half the day in weapons training and has the rest of the day free.
The Priador Emporium
The southeast corner of the enclave contains a collection of seven different stores, all part of the Priador Emporium—an import business from Thay. The consortium of Thayan merchants sponsoring the emporium pays well for the privilege of renting space in a foreign enclave and selling Thayan wares abroad.
The Thayan merchants who sponsor the Priador Emporium cleverly decided to import into Proskur goods that would appeal not only to the locals, but also the Thayans of the enclave. Most of the store proprietors are skilled craftsfolk who can fulfill the exacting orders of the enclave wizards for exotic leatherwork, jewelry, or carvings suitable for enchantment. Just as the members of the merchant cabal that sponsors the emporium rent space for their shops in the Proskur enclave, so do the store proprietors rent space in the emporium to ply their trades and import mundane Thayan goods that do not threaten the magic item business of the Guild of Foreign Trade.
On Thayan Soil
For any Thayan enclave, the Law of Sovereignty applies: The land on which the enclave sits is considered Thayan soil, and Thayan law is the only law. This is more than just words on a trade agreement—the Red Wizards consider the enclave’s land to be a part of Thay, and while they don’t go out of their way to offend their neighbors with strange Thayan customs, they are not averse to punishing lawbreakers in their own fashion.
A person caught stealing might be flogged, or branded, or (rarely) put to death. The Red Wizards have harsh penalties for those who offend or harm a Red Wizard, with beatings, imprisonment, and enslavement all common responses. This prevents most brave or foolhardy adventurers from strutting about an enclave, insulting folk and harassing the Red Wizards.
The Thayan soldiers patrol their enclaves day and night. If they see someone likely to cause trouble approaching or within the enclave, the soldiers confront the person in question. In many cases, those “likely to cause trouble” includes paladins and clerics of good faiths, particularly those opposed to the activities of the Red Wizards or Thay in general. In these cases, the soldiers politely ask the people to leave. If questioned, the soldiers respond that people like them tend to make the Thayans uncomfortable—just as they might feel uncomfortable if they were wandering about Bezantur in Thay itself. The guards explain that for the sake of courtesy, the visitors should leave, or at least find some place outside the enclave to leave their weapons to avoid worrying the local Thayans. Their business is welcome, but preferably without the heightened tensions of an armed outsider.
While this talk is occurring, more guards arrive to support their allies, and a nearby Thayan wizard or two might join the crowd. If troublemakers refuse to leave, the soldiers offer to escort them to the edge of the enclave or to the embassy, where one of the senior wizards can explain the situation. If still met with refusal, the guards may imprison the visitors as trespassers, which usually results in an overnight stay in the prison, a fine, and banishment from the enclave.
When your heroes visit an enclave, emphasize the difference between the surrounding town and the enclave itself. The people look and sound different, the buildings are decorated strangely, and armed guards are much more frequent. Most people sport tattoos, and shaven heads are the norm, even on women. The number of wizards is remarkably high, and when one in red robes walks by, everyone on the street goes quiet and lowers their eyes. The Red Wizards are in power, and they have both the will and the right to use that power on anyone within their domain.
Motivation and Goals
The zulkirs’ eventual goal is to rule the world. For centuries they tried to attain this goal with force of arms; now they are trying to do it with trade. Whether or not the enclave system allows them to slowly take over Faerûn, it provides them an incredible amount of resources for their other projects, which include raising armies, funding spell research, and paying spies and assassins in foreign countries.
The goal of the Thayan enclaves is to acquire information and wealth, which are funneled to the homeland. Contacts are also important, as is the patronage of individuals willing to make special deals for illicit goods or in exchange for favors. The leader of the enclave is responsible for tracking which items and services are selling well or poorly, and adjusting staff to accommodate productions of in-demand items.
While some individual Red Wizards are isolationists, seeking to close off their nation from others to protect their vast magical secrets, these are in the minority. To a Red Wizard, power is the fundamental currency, and magical power the most widely accepted and understood kind of force. Even those who have no intention of conquering the world wish to secure enough power to hold their little piece of it, destroy their old master, defeat a hated rival, or find a lost artifact. A Red Wizard who gives something away (particularly magic) usually has an agenda and is profiting somehow from doing so, although that profit may not be apparent to the recipient and may not be in terms of tangible wealth.
Recruiting
The Red Wizards have no interest in non-Thayans joining their ranks. Anyone who isn’t Thayan is worthy only of enslavement, and of the two races of humans living in Thay, only the Mulan (descendants of the Mulhorandi noble class) deserve true power. The Red Wizards have no interest in recruiting others to join their ranks, particularly those of the “inferior” Rashemi race native to their country.
Non-Thayans can be valuable tools and allies, however, and the Red Wizards are always looking for people willing to work for them, whether as spies, scouts, fences, smugglers, slavers, or on other tasks that they find too cumbersome or with which they don’t want to be directly associated. Such individuals can be found in almost any part of the world, particularly near places that have a significant enclave. These agents are often paid in magic items or magical services.
Just as they know that slaves are valuable property and should not be destroyed without good reason, the Red Wizards know that their contacts and servants outside Thay require some care and should not be abandoned simply when circumstances turn against them. They have a reputation to maintain as reliable merchants and employers, and they do not deliberately send skilled agents into circumstances where they are likely to be killed. In short, employees of the Red Wizards are not disposable, but can be sacrificed if their deaths accomplish some greater goal (or if saving them requires the expenditure of more resources than they are worth).
Allies
The Red Wizards have few allies, given their history of betrayal and aggression. Their allies consist of their agents, the Thayan branch of the church of Kossuth, people who value their merchandise (a tenuous alliance at best), and local spellcasters interested in trading magic. Some may have agreements with powerful fiends as well. While they maintain their roles as peaceful merchants, the Red Wizards may be able to make alliances with certain mercantile groups such as the Iron Throne, the Shadow Thieves, and the Rundeen. If they tread carefully, the Red Wizards might be able to ally themselves with more aggressive groups such as the Zhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon, taking a secondary role in their plans but able to quickly gain power when they feel the time is right.
A Thayan wizard almost always has a familiar, for while such a creature does make the wizard vulnerable to someone who could capture it, it gives him an extra set of eyes and ears with which to spy upon his enemy or be alert for attackers.
The greatest ally of a traveling group of Red Wizards is the presence of an enclave. An enclave can function as a temporary base of operations, a safe house, and a place to acquire magic items in an emergency. Within an enclave, the Red Wizards are politically on their home soil. Standing on safer ground and bolstered by the presence of their fellow Thayans, they are not likely to suffer abuse at the hands of foreigners. From within an enclave, a Red Wizard can find lodging and even arrange to be disguised or teleported to another location. A group of Red Wizards traveling in a hurry toward a nearby city is probably seeking a temporary refuge.
Enemies
While the Guild of Foreign Trade may wear a peaceful face, the Red Wizards are still devoted to evil goals as a whole, and so they are opposed by organizations that fight evil in Faerûn. Primary enemies of this type are the Harpers, who rarely oppose them overtly, seeking instead to thwart and reveal evil deeds the Red Wizards commit in the guise of peddlers of magic. The Harpers locate and liberate slaves on their way to Thay and destroy caches and shipments of dangerous Thayan magic items when they can.
The Lords’ Alliance opposes groups that seek to control the North through trade or treachery. While the Alliance doesn’t oppose the Red Wizards outright, it views them with suspicion, for any collection of wizards from a nation known to be interested in dominating the world poses a potential threat to freedom in the North. The Alliance confines its activities to spying upon Thayan enclaves and agents, reporting any unusual activities to local authorities and other groups such as the Harpers.
The Zhentarim keep a watchful eye on any known Thayans within their territory, for while many Red Wizards pay homage to Bane (the patron of the Black Network), the Zhentarim have their own plans for conquest of Faerûn and don’t want any interference from the red-robed wizards. Still, any invasion from Thay is likely to target Aglarond and Rashemen first, and Fzoul is sure that some accommodation could be reached if the two groups’ agendas came into active conflict.
Given their past conflicts, the people of Aglarond, Rashemen, and Mulhorand distrust the Red Wizards. While they make no concerted effort to confront the Red Wizards in normal situations, loyalists of these nations rarely hesitate to take advantage of an opportunity to foil a Thayan plot if it is within their power to do so.
While their nation as a whole is feared and disliked, individual Red Wizards rarely have personal enemies outside their own organization. As Red Wizards they may be generally mistrusted, but most have done nothing to offend anyone in particular. Of course, some make reputations for themselves as slavers, murderers, thieves, and oppressors, but these individual Red Wizards are either eliminated by adventurers or have sufficient resources to hold their attackers at bay, and their reputation usually sends potential victims scurrying for the hills.
Within the Red Wizards, intense rivalries flare. Wizards hate their former masters. Red Wizards distrust their former apprentices. Rival apprentices of the same master hate each other. Specialists of different schools feud over which path has the most power, and the lesser wizards envy those of greater power. These conflicts can escalate into small wars, particularly in Thay where bodyguard armies tend to be reflections of their masters’ power. In other lands, these skirmishes are loud and attract a lot of attention, and those who hate the Red Wizards often try to instigate such conflicts in the hope of wiping out Red Wizards with minimal risk on their part.
These battles over personal conflicts are rarely allowed to occur within an enclave or even a city containing an enclave, because the khazark has the authority to muster all the Thayan wizards within the enclave and destroy those responsible for the disruption, selling their personal effects within the enclave. As confident as some of the Red Wizards may be, none are so foolish as to invite attacks from dozens of wizards at once.
As with the Red Wizards as a whole, good groups such as the Harpers keep a close eye on individual members, confronting them if they are engaged in evil or illegal activity. The Zhentarim, the Lords’ Alliance, and other agencies suspicious of the Red Wizards watch individual members but rarely attack unless provoked.
Encounters
A Red Wizard almost never travels alone. Even exiles and those concealing their identities hire bodyguards to protect them. The only time a Red Wizard might be found traveling alone is if his escorts have all been slain.
The primary members of an encounter with Red Wizards are of course characters with levels in the Red Wizard prestige class. A Red Wizard outranks all other characters in the group, including other wizards, and the one with the greatest number of Red Wizard levels is the leader of the group.
Most Red Wizards travel with lesser wizards, usually referred to as apprentices regardless of the level of the wizard in question. Most apprentices are 4th level or lower and are oath-bound (and sometimes under a geas) to serve their Red Wizard master.
A Red Wizard party is usually accompanied by a cleric of Kossuth, who nominally reports to the Red Wizard but is a paid employee rather than an oath-bound servant. Some of the more evil Red Wizards travel with clerics of darker deities such as Bane, Loviatar, or Shar, but these priests are less tolerated in most lands, and so the cleric of Kossuth is a safer bet. A lucky Red Wizard might travel with a cleric accompanied by holy monks of Kossuth, although these monks tend to defend the cleric in preference to the Red Wizard.
Bodyguards round out the remainder of the group. A typical Thayan bodyguard is a 2nd-level fighter, although poorer or more frugal Red Wizards sometimes make do with 1st-level fighters or warriors. Only in the wilder lands or within the boundaries of Thay do they employ evil humanoids such as orcs, gnolls, or goblins as bodyguards.
A Red Wizard at home in Thay or traveling within that country is likely to have more bodyguards. Some powerful wizards have small armies at their command, rivaling the armies of the tharchions or zulkirs. These paranoid wizards are rarely foolish enough to use their armies to attack governmental soldiers, which would result in their swift elimination.
Combat and Tactics
The Red Wizards dictate how their allies function in combat. Each type of ally has an assigned role, and deviating from that is likely to get the ally killed—not necessarily out of spite (although that is possible), but by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Experienced troops learn to obey orders explicitly, since they have seen what happens when a squadron moves left instead of right and ends up at the center of a fireball intended for the enemy.
Red Wizards consider themselves great tacticians, although the wiser ones study battle records and listen to their advisers, particularly any Thayan knights in their employ. They prefer large-scale aggressive magic, such as confusion, cloudkill, and fireball. They are not above sacrificing their own troops to destroy an enemy, although if it can be avoided they will do so. (If their bodyguards bungle their orders and ruin an excellent attack plan, such a sacrifice is more likely.) Given their easy access to magic items, they prefer using scrolls and wands to their own spells unless truly powerful magic is needed. Some wizards (particularly abjurers) prefer to stay on the defensive, utilizing counterspelling and shielding magic. Many of these carry a wand of dispel magic just for this purpose.
Clerics are expected to take a support role in any combat encounter, enhancing the abilities and defenses of the Red Wizard and bodyguards, since their own attack magic is generally inferior to the powers available to a Red Wizard. They are expected to have prepared several cure spells of various levels, and they carry potions or scrolls with similar magic. When facing enemy spellcasters, they usually use hold person and silence spells to allow the Red Wizard to cast spells without being interrupted.
Thayan knights coordinate the soldiers and make sure the Red Wizard’s orders are enacted properly. They anticipate what the Red Wizard needs and protect him or her against melee attacks. A Thayan knight rarely strays from the Red Wizard’s side unless directed into the fray. This aggressive stance is favored by Thayan knights with access to the evasion ability, and Red Wizards have been known to take advantage of these skills by sending them into close combat with opponents and firing on them with area spells requiring Reflex saving throws. If suitably prepared or skilled, the knight is likely to emerge unscathed from the midst of a pile of enemy bodies.
Soldiers do most of the thankless work in combat. They are trained to use tactics that prevent enemies from spreading out, and they are particularly adept at forming lines that cannot be bypassed with a simple 5-foot step (in other words, their enemies must bull rush or overrun to get past them). The soldiers’ main purpose is to keep enemies from entering melee range with their Red Wizard employer. Because they are likely to be punished if they fail in their duty, they sometimes take great risks to prevent this from occurring—after all, an enemy fighter offers a quick, clean death compared to what an angry Red Wizard might do.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The greatest strength of the Red Wizards is their magical power. Red Wizards (and other Thayan wizards) have access to the best spells, the best items, and the best defenses for their money. Anyone planning to confront a Red Wizard in a magical combat should be more powerful than the wizard or prepared with items to compensate for the Red Wizard’s skill.
In addition to their magical strength, Red Wizards have many allies (even if these allies aren’t truly friends of the Red Wizard in question) and travel in groups. Unlike many of the stranger monsters in Faerûn or creatures with magical abilities, clerics, bodyguards, and even other wizards support the Red Wizards, and they are as familiar with each other as any adventuring party. These groups take advantage of terrain and each other’s skills as much as possible to defeat a foe.
The greatest weakness of the Red Wizards is their reliance on magic. If they can be forced into a dead magic area or an antimagic field (or if attacked from such a location), most of the Red Wizards’ magical might is useless, and they are forced to rely on their bodyguards and their own minimal combat abilities to defend themselves. Similarly, a silence spell thwarts much of their spellcasting ability.
Thayan Knight Prestige Class
While the Red Wizards are not opposed to blasting their opponents with deadly spells or shredding the minds of their enemies with dark magic, there are times when they need protectors who have mastered the art of swordplay. These protectors are the Thayan knights, familiar with magic and loyal to none but the tattooed mages.
The Thayan knights act as bodyguards and enforcers for the Red Wizards and as an extension of their reach. They lead common Thayan troops into battle and help guard the wizard enclaves. Although they are referred to as knights, they have no code of conduct, and the only rule that binds them is that their lives are worth nothing compared to the safety of the Red Wizards.
Almost all Thayan knights are fighters, although monks and rangers have been known to pursue this career. Barbarians are typically too reckless to concentrate on defense, and the Red Wizards consider other individuals too weak for the duties of a Thayan knight.
To qualify to become a Thayan knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Race: Human.
Region: Thay.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Skills: Intimidate 2 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 2 ranks, Knowledge (local, Thay) 2 ranks.
Social Status: No slaves.
Feats: Iron Will, Weapon Focus (longsword).
Alignment: Any nongood.
Special: Sworn allegiance to the Red Wizards of Thay.
The Thayan knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are:
Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Innuendo (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local, Thay), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Gained Abilities:
Horrors of Thay (Ex): Because of long exposure to the cruelty of her homeland, a Thayan knight gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects. At 4th level, these bonuses increase to +4 and +2, respectively. None of these bonuses apply against attacks from Red Wizards.
Zulkir’s Favor (Su): At 1st level, a knight undergoes a long and painful tattooing ritual. This magic tattoo, placed either on the back or the forehead, provides a +2 resistance bonus on Reflex saves. The tattoo also marks the knight as someone loyal to the Red Wizards. The knight automatically fails all saving throws against mind-affecting spells cast by a Red Wizard. When the tattoo is visible, the knight gains a +2 morale bonus on Intimidate checks as an extraordinary ability. The tattoo does not count as using a space for a magic item, but it does count toward the limit of magic tattoos permitted by the create magic tattoo spell.
Zulkir’s Defender (Ex): A knight of 2nd level gains a +2 morale bonus on attacks and damage against any creature that attacks or that she has previously seen attack a Red Wizard.
Fighter Feat: At 3rd level, a Thayan knight may choose any one feat (except Weapon Specialization) from the fighter bonus feat list in Chapter 3 of the Player’s Handbook or any feat with the [Fighter] descriptor from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Final Stand (Su): Once per day as a standard action, a knight of 4th level or higher can inspire her troops. Allies within 10 feet of the knight gain 2d10 temporary hit points. This ability affects a number of creatures equal to the knight’s class level + Charisma modifier and lasts the same number of rounds.
Zulkir’s Champion (Su): At 5th level, the knight receives a large magic tattoo across her face signifying her devotion to the protection of the Red Wizards. Once per day, the knight can take a +2 luck bonus on a single saving throw. This bonus can be taken after the die is rolled and after other modifiers have been applied to the roll. When the tattoo is visible, the knight gains a +4 morale bonus on Intimidate checks as an extraordinary ability. The tattoo does not count as using a space for a magic item, but it does count toward the limit of magic tattoos permitted by the create magic tattoo spell.
- Source: Forgotten Realms - Lords of Darkness. Some information omitted, primarily sidebars and statblocks. Additional reading can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, including the Red Wizard Class information.
