The Red Wizards of Thay are among the most notorious villains in all Faerun. But besides being bald and robed in red, what’s their deal?
When it comes to villains of the Realms, two organizations leap to the top of the charts. The Zhentarim, of course, because who doesn’t love a group of shadowy mercenaries that maybe also have a secret evil agenda of conquest but they’re doing it economically? But then also, there’s the Red Wizards of Thay. And it doesn’t even come close before another “evil organization” registers. Like yeah, sure, there’s the Xanathar’s Guild, but they aren’t as evil a cadre as the evil cadre of Wizards known as the Red Wizards of Thay.
The Red Wizards of Thay carry a nefarious reputation as slavers, demonologists, necromancers, and experimenters driven to acquire power at any cost. The pursuit of power for power’s sake led to the conquest of a nation and the founding of an empire; one as often as not torn down by secret infighting and internecine Wizard conflicts. It all starts in Mulhorand.
Red Wizards of Thay – Beginnings
The Red Wizards of Thay can trace their origins back to a conspiracy of 10th-century Mulhorandi spellcasters, known then as the Red Wizards of Mulhorand. This secret society sought sovereignty beyond the oppressively codified structure of Mulhorand, through whatever means necessary.
In the Year of the Spouting Fish, the Red Wizards found victory at last. At the Battle of Thazalhar, they discovered a demoncyst. Demoncysts were pockets of the Abyss bleeding into the world. To a group of Wizards already hungry for power enough to overthrow a god-king, this was exactly what they needed.
After a series of dark rituals, conducted beneath the volcanic Thaymount, the Red Wizards sought the aid of the Demon Lord Eltab. Without thought to future consequences, because that kind of thinking only “holds back Wizardry” the Red Wizards worked with the Demon Lord to overwhelm the city of Delhumide, defeat the Mulhorandi god-king, and gain sovereignty over the province of Thay.
Once they did, they got to work immediately seeing how fast and how far their reach could exceed their grasp. In the early years, Thay was a relatively aggressive power. For instance in 934 DR, the year of Fell Wizardry, they attempted to conquer their neighbors in Rashemen, but were repulsed. The next year they transported a horde of orcs from the Spine of the World to Thay.
So it would go for centuries: a Red Wizard scheme launched into neighboring lands followed by a power-hungry, hubris-filled overreach that left Thay reeling. All the while, the Red Wizards consolidated their power within the monocratic nation of Thay. Failed invasions would lead to bloody changes in the regime, but the Wizards were always in power.
Especially since their experiments resulted in huge advantages for those who could control them. Thay opened a permanent gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire. They delved into the ruins of Myth Drannor, uncovering lost elven magic and more demonic power. But in between grand invasions and megalomaniacal plans that often hurt Thay more than they helped, cracks in the leadership settled in.
The Lichlord of Thaymount Rises
And in those cracks, an ambitious Zulkir of Necromancy, none other than the eventual archlich Szass Tam, rose to prominence. While Tam was also given to making big military moves that ended up costing the Red Wizards precious strength, it was done so calculatedly.
Because while Thay would lick its wounds, plunging the people into a time of apparent peace, Tam built his strength. And his invasions often led to his enemies within the Red Wizards finding themselves in weaker positions than they started. Until at last it bubbled over in the Year of Risen Elfkin, when Szass Tam plunged Thay into a civil war. The lich launched a coup against the rest of the Zulkirs, and the Red Wizards were split into two factions: rebel Zulkirs, and those loyal to Tam.
Of course as Szass Tam consolidated his rule as Archregent of Thay, the rebel Zulkirs who managed to survive his wrath fled. And then one rebel faction quickly became many, often operating in opposition to each other as rebel mages set up conclaves and magical mercantile consortiums across the face of Faerun.
But somewhere in Thaymount, Szass Tam dreams of conquest. A bargain with a dark god has lit a fire under the immortal. And in Faerun, his enemies do as they ever have: seek infernal power to try to topple the lich lord. Soon it may all come to a head.
Only theRed Wizards of Thay can lose as much as they have and still be considered a credible threat to Faerun!
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
