Thay
Thay is a mysterious and terribly powerful magocratic nation in east Faerûn, that was long-governed by the Zulkirs of the Red Wizards. Now, in the late 15th century DR, it is ruled by the necromancer lich Szass Tam, along with the Council of Zulkirs, who are supported by a near-endless chain of bureaucrats and local tharchions. The underpinning nature of Thay sees it engaged in an endless pursuit of arcane knowledge and power, a goal chased most ardently by the country's elite; such endeavors are fueled and expedited by rampant slavery, a practice woven into the tapestry of the country's long, dark history.
Culture
The Mulani of Thay maintain their people's tradition of shaving their heads and what little body hair they have. They are indoctrinated during youth to revere the traditions of their people, obey the laws of Thay and honor those who serve within the Red Wizards. Unlike the ethnic Mulani of Mulhorand, Thayans maintain a strong connection to the Art and are proud to send their children to apprenticeship under experienced Red Wizards.
The Rashemi commoners identify less with their cultural origins and see themselves as citizens of Thay, first and foremost. They shave their heads in imitation of the aristocratic Mulani, though their darker complexion give away their ethnic background.
All Thayans believe that fortune is given to the strong-willed rather than those who demonstrate compassion and care. As a people they seek personal power, primal fulfillment, and the procurement of wealth.
Music
There are several prevalent music styles customary to the lands of Thay. Among them, powerful Red Wizards and zulkirs are outliers, preferring to listen to exotic pieces of music recorded elsewhere via specialty recording and playback spells. Such outsider music is played by magic and slave musicians, always privately during meditation, spell memorization, and relaxation.
Thay's national music can be heard playing outside the private chambers of the sorcerous ruling class. This common man's music is heavily influenced by slavery and features heavy drumbeats that set the music's tempo and rhythm, reminiscent of a march. This type of music is played on "walking drums" – a unique percussive instrument found in Thay. These massive drums half-height a human man and are shaped like a spinning top toy. They are strapped to a drummer's chest and hammered with special paddles. A single drum orchestra can count to over a dozen musicians. This rhythm is joined by warhorns blasting martial-sounding fanfare. The trumpets join in one at a time, beginning with a single horn that begins a wandering melodic line to the drum beat, then is joined by a counter-melody from the second horn. These sonic duels alternate with brief harmonization of all the instruments, ending in a fanfare-like resolution. This music is also played during military marches and during long days of slave work. More private lower-class Thayan music could be heard in homes, clubs, and taverns. Faster melodies to dance to, often by attractive slave servers, staff, or other hired entertainment. These ditties were just as drum-centric, giving the beat to female vocalizations and singing. These drum-songs also came in slower, down-tempo varieties. Other instruments used in this type of music included yartings, piping glaurs, and orthunns. These songs, called "thaeraeden," or " "life-laments," had lyrics of repeated musical phrases that sounded like melancholic questions or challenges. Traditionally, thaeraeden sang about love troubles, commerce, and reputation in the eyes of the powerful Thayan wizards, referred to as "greatspells." There was little innovation and experimentation in Thayan music, and it remained virtually unchanged for centuries. They rarely incorporated new melodies or new instruments. Thayvian public tended to care little for new songs and preferred to hear old favorite tunes.Demography and Population
Beginning in the 10th century, Thay has maintained a vast "population" of undead zombies, who are enthralled as laborers and porters, moving goods between ships docked in Thay's numerous waterways. The number of undead have grown exponentially during the past decades under Szass Tam's rule, following the nation's civil war that ended in 1385 DR. By 1479 DR, Thay had the greatest concentration of undead in all of Faerûn.
Religion
The hierarchy of worship in Thay is abundantly clear to everyone within its borders: magic is revered first, religion is a distant second. Despite the common misconception, The Red Wizards do not worship fiends nor do they consider the Tanar'ri or Baatezu as gods. They see demons as dangerous allies, servants, or, for the arrogant, tools that can be manipulated to accomplish their goals. In fact, the Red Wizards simply do not have time that can be devoted to worship. Rather, they sometimes merely offer hollow words of worship to their patron deities, and only truly value the power of the arcane.
Although the Mulan people continued the worship of their old gods after they were transported to Toril by ancient Imaskar via a series of portals, they did so in that lands of future-Thay with names that were different from their neighbors in Mulhorand and Unther. Anhur, the Mulhorandi god of war, was known as "Ramathant", and came to count the Red Wizards as among his greatest enemies. Similarly, Horus-Re was known as "Helcaliant", and Isis as "Isharia".
Many of the evil-aligned deities of the Faerûnian pantheon have devoted sects in Thay, including Beshaba, Loviatar, Malar, Shar, Umberlee, the demi-power Gargauth and even incorporate non-human powers such as Jubilex, the aspect of Ghaunadaur, Vaprak and even Lolth. The church of Cyric was extremely popular for a brief time following his ascension in the Time of Troubles, though it waned greatly as the god was driven mad after reading the Cyrinishad. By this time the worship of Kossuth was fairly prevalent throughout the nation of Thay, however it exploded in popularity following the events of the Salamander War.
Foreign Relations
Thayans are considerably prejudiced towards non-human races, particularly dwarves and gnomes, who are regularly subject to racial epithets and provocations to violence. Elves are also held in low regard, though typically avoided and shunned rather than provoked. Orcs and half-orcs are well-tolerated within the badlands, as they are commonly found as enforcers and soldiers within Thayan legions. Centaurs are often kept as guards on Thayan slave plantations.
Laws
The ownership, sale, and creation of slaves is legal within the borders of Thay.
While it is illegal for anyone from Thay to sell items of military value outside the nation, this law is often individually ignored, and loosely enforced in the nation's famous enclaves found across the Realms.
In addition to operating under the laws of their home nation, the Red Wizard compounds are regulated by the Three Laws of the Enclave. These laws provide diplomatic immunity to the Red Wizards serving within an enclave and are required to be agreed upon by foreign city officials.
- The Law of Sovereignty states that any enclave located outside of Thay's borders is considered Thayan soil, and is subject to Thay's laws and regulations.
- The Law of Trade dictates that they sell their goods for 10% less than the standard rate and can both sell and accept slaves as payment (however their sale is often impractical due to local laws outside the enclave).
- The Law of Crafting regulates which goods the Red Wizards will, and will not, sell to the general public.
Agriculture & Industry
The nation is predominantly agrarian. The lush plantations of the Thayan plateau are rich with fields of wheat, oat, and barley and its orchards produce a variety of fruits, such as apples, citron, pears and figs. Enough food is harvested that the nation can feed those citizens it deems worthy, with enough goods leftover that can be exported in trade.
Trade & Transport
Prior to the Spellplague, Thay exported a variety of goods to other nations, as they regularly had an excess of grain and other foodstuffs to feed their own people. Both Chessenta and Thesk are dependent on Thayan exports to feed their people. Other exports include uniquely crafted furniture, sculptures, household items and jewelry crafted by slave craftspeople. These fine goods are often made from gold, silver or platinum, all of which are readily available from Thay's plentiful mines, as well as jade and lapis.
Maps
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The Plateau of Thay
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