OFFICIAL GAME ACCESSORY

OLD EMPIRESby Scott Bennie

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2History of the Old Empires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Lands Surrounding the Old Empires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

People and Society of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Geography of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Current Economy of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Current Politics of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Laws of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Adventurers in Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Religion of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Personalities of Unther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Culture of Unther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

People and Society of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Geography of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Current Economy of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Current Politics of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Religion of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Personalities of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Mercenary Companies of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Culture of Chessenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Personalities of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Culture of Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Adventurers in the Old Empires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Technology of Mulhorand 34 Southern Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Magical Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

People and Society of Unther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Encounters in Mulhorand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Geography of Unther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 New Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Religion of Unther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Credits

Editing: Mike Breault Typography: Kathleen C. MacDonaldCartography: Diesel Cover Art: BromKeylining: Dee Barnett Interior Art: Valerie Valusek

TSR, IncPOB 756Lake Geneva,WI 53147 USA

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9274ISBN 0-88038-821-89274XXX1501

INTRODUCTION

“The span of earthly things is as adream; but a fair welcome is given hewho has reached the South.”

�Old Mulhorand saying

The South, the ancient South, is theplace where mankind first reachedgreatness in the Forgotten Realms atthe beginning of the age. The remnantsof this greatness are the three king-doms of Mulhorand, Unther, and Ches-senta, kingdoms of mystery and ancientempires.

This book tells of the rise and fall ofgreat realms, of god-kings and ancientmagic whose power is unmatched any-where in the Realms. This is the story ofthe Old Empires.

The ancient south can be termed �aslumbering giant.� It is an extremelypowerful land that wishes to be leftalone to engage in its own self-indulgent, decadent pursuits, not car-ing what goes on beyond its borders.

Still, many of their neighbors do notsee them this way. When a plague oc-curs elsewhere in the Realms, you canoften hear whispers of Southern magic.The South is considered to be a place oftwisted power, better left untouched.Even the most reckless adventuringparties give the South a wide berth.

Yet it is rich in magic, and on occasionoutsiders venture to Mulhorand or Un-ther and become entangled in the laby-rinthine politics of their gods.

Many things are unique to the OldEmpires. They have strange gods. Theywield weird and powerful magic. Andthere is a hint of the weirdest magic ofall�technology, a word that causeshardened sages to shudder. There arestrange monsters and strange men,great treasures and unknown delights,and life-ending perils. In short, nearlyanything that an adventurer couldwant. This book documents all of these.

How to Use this BookThis may be the hardest section of thissupplement to write, perhaps because

the answer is so easy that you have to becareful not to miss the forest for thetrees. There are two ways to use anyRPG supplement. One is to read throughit solely for pleasure, enjoying the workfor its own sake. The other way is to useit as a source of background and adven-ture in your campaign.

If you are running a campaign out-side of the Forgotten Realms, this bookcan still be useful. This book containsdozens of new spells, magical items,characters, and monsters that can betaken out of this supplement and usedin any campaign, regardless of setting.Cityscapes may be redesigned for use inother campaigns. Adventure ideas andrumors can be transferred to other set-tings. This is meant not just as aForgotten Realms book, but as a sourcebook for any inventive Dungeon Masterrunning campaigns in any world.

The other use, of course, is as aFORGOTTEN REALMS� game supple-ment. If you are running charactersfrom outside the Old Empires whotravel in these reaches, please makesure you read through the book care-fully. Any land has its customs and ta-boos that seem strange to outsiders,and the Old Empires is no exception.How a character deals with cultureshock can be as interesting as how acharacter handles a new monster, asboth are unfamiliar challenges that testhis ability.

If you are running characters fromthe Old Empires, be sure that the char-acters realize that the attitudes of theirhomelands are often quite differentthan other places in the ForgottenRealms. They should understand theirhomelands, and be able to imaginewhat it was like to be a child there,what they were taught, and what theywere brought up to believe.

The Old Empires is known as a high-powered area. There is lots of magic,much of it quite strange. There are alsomajor challenges in obtaining thismagic, which is how it should be. Theessence of an adventure is not casually

fulfilling a quest, but discovering a ma-jor challenge and using every resourceyou have, including your intelligence,to succeed.

As you read through The Old Em-pires, you will find that this supplementplaces a strong emphasis on the politicsand the personalities of these king-doms; this book is full of strange namesand devious political factions, all schem-ing to achieve their ends. There are tworeasons for this.

First, one distinguishing feature ofthe Forgotten Realms is the number ofdistinct and interesting characters thatplayer characters can interact with; asit says in the Source Book of the Realms(p. 17) �more than anything, these indi-viduals are the Realms.� In the sameway, these characters are the essenceof the Old Empires.

The second reason is the nature ofhigh-level campaigns. Many high-levelcampaigns collapse very quickly whenthe emphasis is solely on monster bash-ing and treasure snatching. The secretto a successful high-level AD&D® cam-paign is to get the PCs to interact withthe campaign world in ways other thancombat. There is a lot of fun in gettinginvolved in politics, making plans andalliances, and outwitting truly cleverNPCs. It isn�t easy to run a good politicalcampaign (and most players don�t wanta campaign where the action consistsonly of political maneuvering), butwhen it works, it�s a real thrill.

If the details in the political sectionsseem too trivial, you can feel free to ig-nore them, but you might want to giveit a try. It can be a lot of fun. The politicsof the Old Empires, like its characters,operate on a grand scale.

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HISTORY OF THE OLD EMPIRESToward the end of the previous age,

tribes of humans were pushed out ofthe Great Kingdoms of the southeast,which were covered in desert. Legendsspeak of a great war in which powerfulhumans fought against the gods towrest away their power. The humanswon and became god-kings, but the wardestroyed their kingdoms. These god-kings, Re and Enlil, led the shatteredremnants of their peoples into Mulho-rand and Unther. The two god-kingsand their spouses became the leaders ofthe royal houses of these two nations.

The people of Unther, who pridedthemselves on the purity of their race,warred against �barbarian� peoples anddrove them from their lands, but thegod-kings of Mulhorand, who wereopenly worshiped by these people, tookthem in as full citizens. Since then, thepeoples of Mulhorand have primarilybeen racially mixed Turami and Mulan(the race of Unther and Mulhorand).

Two thousand years before the startof the current age, Mulhorand and Un-ther began to develop huge cities in theriver deltas of their lands. Magic in-creased the fertility of the already richsoils and the two nations prospered.Prosperity enabled the god-kings tobuild larger states and, over the courseof centuries, large empires were estab-lished. The two lands clashed occasion-ally, but the rulers of Unther andMulhorand both realized that warfarewould result in mutual destruction, soall conflicts were carefully limited andthe border of the Alamber Sea kept thepeace.

Mulhorand expanded to the northand east, conquering the Priador Pla-teau (which is modern Thay), Thesk,and beyond even into Ashanath andRashemen.

Lands farther north paid tribute toMulhorand and its god-kings. At itspeak, the Mulhorand Empire stretchedas far east as Semphar. While the em-pire was not the kindest of masters, itdid bring laws, culture, and magic tothousands of people who had notknown these things before.

Unther was somewhat less kind to its

conquests. It expanded north as far asYuirwood, where it warred for centu-ries against the elven tribes. It reachedwest as far as Chondath, swallowedmost of the eastern Shaar, and evenwent to war against the southerndwarves in the Great Rift. Unthergained a reputation for having fierceand ruthless warriors who were hatedby those they conquered.

At their peak, 1,000 years before thestart of the current age, the First Em-pires of Mulhorand and Unther were ata level that has never been equalledsince. Their magic was extremely pow-erful, and they had learned a newscience�technology�that gave themgreater power.

Two events brought the first greatAge to an end. One was the rebellion ofthe archmage Thayd (after whom thelater-day Red Wizards named theirkingdom), who challenged the might ofthe god-kings, along with that of manyof the most powerful wizards of Mulho-rand and Unther. Thayd�s goal was tooverthrow the god-kings and unite theempires into a single grand Overempirethat would be able to achieve limitlessdominion over the Realms. After muchdestruction, the god-kings triumphedand the wizards were slain. After thattime, in Mulhorand, the god-kingsplaced magic under their strict control,and created a bureaucracy of priests tomaintain its control. Mulhorand be-came the bureaucratic theocracy that itremains to this day.

The people of Mulhorand and Unthermight have rebuilt their losses, exceptfor the Orcgate Wars. Five years afterthe deaths of the wizards, a huge gate-way opened in southwestern Thay. Itwas a gateway from a world of orcs.Millions of orcs had come from anotherworld, seeking a new place to live. Theyimmediately clashed with the empiresof Mulhorand and Unther, and overrantheir northern and western posses-sions. The god-kings themselves stirredinto battle, and orc-shamans sum-moned their pantheon in response.Gods died, cities were laid waste, andentire regions were devastated. In the

3

end, the orcs were either slaughteredor driven into the far north, but theholds of Mulhorand and Unther ontheir far-flung provinces were broken,and the two empires dwindled. Thegod-kings withdrew into their towers,creating continually reincarnating in-carnations to lead their cities. Thus theFirst Empires of Mulhorand and Un-ther ended.

The lands lost by the southern em-pires were quickly retaken, but not bythem. Instead, two new powers rose toprominence after the Orcgate Wars, thepowers of Narfell and Raumathar.These were warlike nations that coa-lesced out of the migrating northerntribes that were paid to fight as merce-naries in the Orcgate Wars. They hadweapons of iron (as opposed to thebronze weapons that Mulhorand andUnther used at the time) and soon de-veloped powerful magic of their own.They quickly subdued large tracts ofland, replacing Mulhorandi culturewith their own.

Unther was never able to regain itssouthern empire after the OrcgateWars, and soon its holdings in Chon-dath collapsed.

So proud Mulhorand and Untherwere now reduced to small kingdoms,once-great powers that were twilightkingdoms in the brilliant shadows ofNarfell and Raumathar, the two newgreat powers.

And, for the most part, the two na-tions were content, for both still pros-pered; their rulers still built greatmonuments, and their peoples neverstarved, and wise men prophesied thatthe fiery powers of the north wouldsoon consume each other.

The prophecy came true. Eventually,Narfell and Raumathar went to war. Itwas a bitter and bloody struggle, full ofthe tales of great heroes: Rauthok, Jes-thren, Halduplac, and many others whowere naught but names to the king-doms of the south.

Several times, the two northern gi-ants tried to convince Unther and Mul-horand to join in the war, but the lordsof the south merely shook their heads

and fortified their borders, waiting for

It came. Narfell and Raumathar heldone final cataclysmic battle and de-

the inevitable.

stroyed each other. Netherworld fiendsfought against dragons, cities wereburned. One hundred and fifty years be-fore the founding of Cormyr, the nationsof Narfell and Raumathar were dead,their people scattered into tiny enclaves,their lands in ruins. Mulhorand and Un-ther decided to pick up the pieces.

Unther leaped across the EasternReach and founded cities on that bodyof water�s northern coast. Mulhorandexpanded northward under the mili-tary leadership of Anhurtep, a vigorousincarnation of the god-king Anhur, andfounded the cities of Bezantur, Tyra-turas, Amruthar, Delhumide, and Neth-jet. Mulhorand offered to take in thesurvivors of the war and bring prosper-ity to the starving victims of the greatwar. Mulhorand heroes slew many ofthe monsters summoned by the wiz-ards of Narfell and Raumathar, andonce again the standard of Mulhorandflew over the battlements of thePriador. Thus began the Second Empireof Mulhorand and Unther.

Unther, which had declined greatly,could not reach the elves of Yuirwoodwith its traders or its armies. The costof expansion bankrupted its treasury,and taxes were raised. Rebellionsagainst the taxes were ruthlesslycrushed, and harsh laws were broughtdown to preserve public order. Some ofthe hardest hit by these taxes and lawswere adventurers, who were beginningto bring wealth from the ruins in Nar-fell and Raumathar and complainedmost bitterly against the confiscation ofmost of the fortunes that they fought sohard to acquire. Some of these adven-turers turned to freebooting, becomingpirates in the Sea of Fallen Stars. Othersled rebellions in a number of cities hardhit by the tax: Delthuntle, Laothkund,and Mourktar.

Eventually a large group of cities onthe southern coast of the Wizard�sReach also broke away to form what isknown as the Union of Chessenta,

Chessenta achieved brief glory early

though using the word �union� to de-

in its history under the great generalTchazzar, the war god, who was actu-ally a polymorphed red dragon. The

scribe Chessenta is a joke.

Chessentan Empire held sway as farwest as Chondath, and even subduedUnther and held it as its vassal. Afterthe death of Tchazzar, the Empirebroke up; Unther tore free from its in-fluence, and its distant outposts wereruined. The union�s confederation ofcity-states swore fealty to a centralmonarch, but each city-state seemed tohave a different idea about who themonarch actually was. The union even-tually deteriorated into a constantlychanging network of warring factions;it remains this way to this day. Therehave been two Cimbar vs. AirspurWars, an Akanax vs. Soorenar War, anAkanax vs. Luthcheq War, and threeMordulkin vs. Luthcheq Wars.

There has been so much warfare inChessenta that mercenaries from allover the Realms have flocked to join;there is almost always at least one ma-jor war going on there at all times. Forthe last century, Chessenta has been re-putedly one of the best places to go toget mercenaries; even Mulhorand regu-larly relies on their services.

And what of the other two lands?Mulhorand kept its Second Empire to-gether for a little longer, until the RedWizards rebelled four hundred yearsago and created the nation of Thay.

Mulhorand made a half-hearted at-tempt to take Thay back, failed, and de-cided to concentrate on its bitter internalpolitics. Unther is even worse: Its militaryis gutted by corruption and archaicweapons and tactics, its immortal ruler(Gilgeam son of Enlil) has become embit-tered by misfortune and rules a small,wasted, overtaxed tyranny, aided bygreedy administrators. As a result, Un-ther is on the brink of revolt.

Current OperationsAt this time, there are a number of no-table schemes and events taking place

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in the Old Empires: Mulhorand, the old-est empire, is suffering from a recentspate of assassinations that climaxed inthe assassination of Pharaoh Akonho-rus. The assassins have not been identi-fied and are known to use magic tocharm the victims� friends or body-guards into becoming their murderers.The new pharaoh is Horustep III, whois a child of 11. In most nations, thiswould mean that he would be easily ma-nipulated by his advisors, but in Mulho-rand it means that a Pharaoh is finallyyoung enough and energetic enough towant to make changes. (The Fangs ofSet, an organization responsible forAkonhorus�s death, also has plans todeal with Horustep, and the priests ofHorus-Re are not happy about the situa-tion either.)

There is a major confrontation brew-ing between the priests of Horus-Reand the priests of Anhur in Mulhorand.The priests of Horus-Re, who have beenthe de facto rulers of Mulhorand forcenturies, are blaming Anhur for pastdefeats and are trying to destroy hispriesthood by stripping its leaders oflands and traditional power and ap-pointing its greatest members to ex-tremely dangerous positions. Anhur�sfollowers are becoming more bitter intheir opposition to the priesthood ofHorus-Re. The priests of Anhur are alsogoing to embark on a private enterpriseto purge the Alamber Sea of pirates andthe influence of the Thayvian fleet.

Unther is collapsing. The alliance ofthe bandit chief Furifax and the cult ofTiamat are plotting to overthrow thegovernment, which is extremely un-popular. An incarnation of Tiamatschemes in the small town of Firetrees.Other factions are trying to align them-selves with whomever they believe willbe the winning side. Messemprar is inrevolt; the palace is under siege, and thearmies of Unther have been turnedback, forcing the god-king to hire aforce of Chessentan mercenaries tocrush them. There is trouble even inUnthalass, the capital of Unther.

In Chessenta, the rulers of the city ofLuthcheq are waging a war of terror

against wizards. They have invented wit-chweed to prevent magicians from oper-ating in their city, and they have hiredmercenaries to assassinate wizardsacross Chessenta. Their goal is to clearChessenta of all wizards and march inwith their army, unopposed. (This is a lu-dicrous notion, but the lords of Luthcheqare considered to be lunatics.)

Cimbar is under attack by an allianceof warriors from Airspur and Soorenar,who plan to destroy the city and dividethe spoils evenly.

Timeline-2488 DR The great kingdom of

Raurin destroyed. Exilesflee into the west, eventu-ally settling on the shores ofthe Alamber Sea.

-2135 DR

-2087 DR

-1967 DR

-1961 DR

-1500 DR

-1250 DR

-1087 DR

The god Re founds the cityof Skuld and gives it thename �City of Shadows�.This is Year 1 of the Mulho-rand calendar.The god Enlil finds pearls onthe west coast of the Alam-ber. He founds the city ofUnthalass (�City of Gems�).Unther and Mulhorandclash at the River of Swords.The first Mulhorandi/Un-ther War begins.Gods agree that the River ofSwords will be the eternalboundary between Mulho-rand and Unther. There areoccasional clashes, butthere is never a major warbetween the two southernpowers again.Expansion of Unther andMulhorand.Unther battles against theelves of Yuirwood and thedwarves of the Great Rift.Mulhorand, for the mostpart, ignores them.The Thurgist Adept Thaydrebels, along with most ofthe wizards in Unther andMulhorand.

-1081 DR

-1076 DR-1075 DR

-1071 DR

-1069 DR

-1050 DR

-1048 DR

-900 DR

-734 DR

-623 DR

-150 DR

-148 DR

-135 DR

Thayd and his conspiratorsdefeated. Thayd is exe-cuted, but prophesies thatMulhorand and Unther willnever be as great again.Orcgate opens.First battle of the OrcgateWars. Orcs overrun manynorthern settlements, slay-ing thousands.Battle of the Gods. Re is slainby the orc-deity Gruumsh.Orc pantheon defeated.Orcs driven from the south.Power struggle betweenOsiris and Set to succeed Re.Set murders Osiris.Osiris resurrected by Isis.Horus-Re battles Set, castshim into the desert and be-comes chief of the Mulho-rand pantheon. Set worshipis abolished. The tower ofSet in Skuld is destroyed.Rise of Narfell andRaumathar.Enlil decides to leave theRealms. Gilgeam, son ofEnlil, becomes King of Un-ther. This is Year 1 of the Un-theric calendar.Narfell attempts invasion ofMulhorand and Unther bysea. The two southern na-tions defeat the Narfell fleet.Neither northern empire at-tempts to invade the OldEmpires again.The great conflagration.Narfell and Raumathar de-stroyed in one final battle.Monsters and minor powerssummoned in the last battleinvade the south after thebattle ends.The god-kings� final battle.An alliance of the Sum-moned is defeated and theyare sent back to their homeplanes.Founding of Bezantur.Other cities soon built onthe coastal areas of the Wiz

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1 DR

108 DR

202 DR

205 DR

482 DR

504 DR

643 DR

679 DR

681 DR

731 DR

823 DR

922 DR

929 DR

ard�s Reach as Mulhorandand Unther once again ex-pand northward.Founding of Cormyr. Thisyear is 2134 on the Mulho-rand calendar.First Great Flood of theRiver Alamber nearly de-stroys Unthalass.Tribes of �barbarians� fromthe south invade southernUnther and Mulhorand.Mulhorand and Untherchase defeated barbariansback to their base settlementand exterminate them. Adying shaman propheciesthat their empires shall sooncrumble.Delthuntle and Laothkundbreak free of Unther.Teth and Nethra declare theirindependence. Unther beginsa long campaign against theNorth Coast Cities.The wizard Nezram leaveshis tower on the shores ofAzulduth.Unther forced to recognizethe independence of theNorth Coast Cities. Unthernever recovers from thislong, costly, and bloodycampaign. End of SecondUntheric Empire.Nezram�s tower destroyedby the green dragon, Cha-thuulandroth. Nezram�schildren scattered or slain.Second Great Flood of theRiver Alamber devastatesUnthalass.Mourktar breaks free ofUnther.Battle of Thazalhar. The RedWizards ensure their inde-pendence from Mulhorand.End of Second MulhorandEmpire.Alliance of Chessenta drivesUnther back beyond theRiders to the Sky Mountains.

976 DR Mulhorand invasion ofThay defeated at the RiverThazarim.

1018 DR Death of King Tchazzar inbattle against the sahuagin.His body is never found.

1030 DR Establishment of Zulkirs asruling body of Thay.

1098 DR Thay attempts first invasionof Mulhorand. Thay is de-feated at Sultim and with-draws.

1117 DR Mordulkin defies the king ofCimbar, beginning thebreak-up of Chessenta intosquabbling city-states.

1154 DR Siege of Cimbar by theLords o f Akanax andSoorenar. The king is unableto get assistance from his al-lies and is forced to sign apact imposing harsh limitson his power. Akanax re-fuses to sign, recognizing itslord as the true king.

1161 DR The Kurunak clan becomethe Lords of Luthcheq undersuspicious circumstances.

1183 DR Paladins in the service ofOsiris clear the River ofSwords of werecrocodilesand Sebek worshipers.Werecrocodiles relocate toAdder River delta.

1248 DR Rehorusteb II becomesPharaoh of Mulhorand.

1280 DR Thay�s second invasion at-tempt overwhelms Mulho-rand. Sultim is besieged andnearly falls before reinforce-ments arrive. Priests ofAnhur are made scapegoats.

1301 DR First recorded resurgence ofthe Cult of Tiamat in Unther.

1311 DR Rezim becomes vizier ofMulhorand. He begins topersecute the church ofAnhur. Chessentan merce-naries replace Anhur wor-shipers as guards of the city.

1317 DR Great Plague of the InnerSea begins. Chessenta isdecimated, Unther suffers,but Mulhorand is largelyunaffected.

1320 DR Akonhorus II becomes Phar-aoh of Mulhorand. Resur-gence of the Cult of Set, asSeti is born. The Simbul be-comes Queen of Aglarond.

1323 DR Great Plague ends.1324 DR Luthcheq invades Mor-

dulkin to take advantage ofheavy losses in the plagueyears. Luthcheq loses war;losses are b la med o nwizard-spies in the serviceof Mordulkin. Luthcheq be-gins persecution of wizards.

1346 DR Cult of Tiamat summons theDark Lady.

1350 DR Cult of Set gains control ofSampranasz, though this re-mains hidden. Seti formsthe Fangs of Set.

1357 DR The present. Fire elemen-tals ravage the coastal cities.The Pharaoh of Mulhorandis assassinated by the cult ofSet, leaving Horustep III, theboy-king, on the throne. Ri-ots in Messemprar.

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LANDS SURROUNDING THE OLD EMPIRES“An old neighbor is a good neighbor.”

�Old Mulhorand saying

During the course of their long history,the slumbering giants of the south haveinteracted with many different racesand nations. This section details thesenations and their current relations tothe Old Empires. Note that several ofthese powers were dealt with in moredetail in FR6, Dreams of the Red Wiz-ards; a brief description of these na-tions is offered for readers who do nothave that supplement, which is recom-mended for DMs running campaigns inthat corner of the Realms. More infor-mation on the eastern sections, Raurinin particular, will be revealed in a fu-ture supplement.

ThayThe land of the Red Wizards has beenthe chief enemy of Mulhorand for cen-turies, ever since the Wizards over-threw its control. Thay is a magocracy,ruled by powerful wizards. The nationis divided into 11 provinces, known asTharches; each Tharchion has virtuallyabsolute authority over his province.

Overall, the nation is governed by acouncil of Red Wizards, whose author-ity supercedes that of the Tharchions.One wizard from each school of magic(necromancy, conjuration, enchant-ment, etc.) is represented on the coun-cil. These representatives are known asZulkirs.

There are two factions in Thay: Impe-rialists, who want to expand their terri-tory (at the expense of Rashemen,Aglarond, Mulhorand, or the nine citiesof the coast), and the Researchers, whobelieve that a wizard should not engagein a military enterprise unless he cangain immediate benefits. Neither fac-tion is well organized; most political re-sults come from the actions ofindividual Zulkirs.

Thay has tried to invade Mulhorandtwice, and has been soundly defeatedon both occasions, but a Mulhorand in-vasion of Thay in 976 DR was also de-feated, and the two powers are

stalemated. At present, only one of theZulkirs harbors an ambition to destroyMulhorand. Lauzoril, Zulkir of theschool of Enchantment and Charm, hasallied with the Cult of Set to assassinatethe incarnations of the god-king. His ac-tivities are not sanctioned by the otherschools of Red Wizardry, but theywould not mind if he succeeded.

In Mulhorand, the priests of Anhurand Nephthys both actively advocatethe destruction of the Red Wizards andthe seizure of Thay. The priests ofOsiris are also favorable to an invasion,but they do not press their opinions.The priests of Thoth are uncertain, andthe priests of Horus-Re and Isis areagainst it.

There is some trade between Mulho-rand and Thay, mostly in foodstuffs(which are sold back and forth) andslaves (which Mulhorand buys fromThay). Neither nation trades magicalitems or weapons with the other.

Semphar and MurghomTo the east of Mulhorand are two na-tions that have had many dealings withthe great power through its history:Semphar and Murghom. Both nationswere part of the great Mulhorand em-pire long ago. They have since won acertain degree of autonomy.

The people are renowned for theirskill with horses; they boast one of themost skilled cavalry forces in theRealms. Each nation consists of semi-autonomous farming villages ruled by asingle chief (usually a respected elder)known as an ataman. The atamansgather together only in times of war,plague, or other catastrophes.

Murghom is semi-independent. Thegod-kings of Mulhorand may demandfood from them in times of famine, andmen and horses in times of war. Mulho-rand has not demanded either in centu-ries, leaving them in peace, and indeedmost see Murghom as a nation with noties to Mulhorand whatsoever. Sem-phar, though claimed by Mulhorand asits easternmost province, is entirelysovereign.

Murghom and Semphar are rivals;they have had many territorial disputesand minor wars in their histories, typi-cally for the disputed lands betweenthe River Ghaast and the River Haqar.

The lands on the north shore ofBrightstar Lake are heavily infestedwith undead and other monsters,which have spread as far north asShalhoond, �The Great Wild Wood.�

To the east of Semphar are the his-toric eastern boundaries of the empireof Mulhorand at its height, theGodswatch Mountains. It is said that onthe highest peaks, it is possible to findThe Road to the Gods. None have beenable to confirm this legend.

Aleaxtis, Kingdom of theSahuaginPerhaps the most predatory neighborof the Old Empires is Aleaxtis, the King-dom of the Sahuagin.

While the exact location of the king-dom is unknown, it is believed to existsomewhere north of The Ship of theGods, a large volcanic island. The great-est concentration of sahuagin in Aleaxtisis the city is known as Vahaxtyl, which ishome to about 13,000 sahuagin. Theruler of Vahaxtyl is Kromes, an absolutetyrant who believes in sinking any ship,be it Mulhorandi, Untheric, or Thayvian.He also continuously raids the Unthercities of Messemprar and Mourktar. Kro-mes is a sahuagin prince with 8 + 8 HitDice, 8th-level shaman ability, and manymagical items.

While the Cults of Set and Tiamathave approached the sahuagin for an al-liance, the surly creatures have refusedall overtures. Certain lords of Thayhave paid them regular tribute to en-sure that they do not bother Thayvianvessels, but the sahuagin do not oftenkeep this bargain. The sahuagin arewidely feared even by the pirate-chiefsand the Red Wizards.

Plains of Purple DustSouth of Brightstar Lake and west ofthe Sword Mountains is a vast, windy

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desert that extends southward toRaurin. Elminster says that the forefa-thers of the god-kings of Mulhorandand Unther lived here, and this once-fertile land�s destruction was the pun-ishment meted out by other deitiesafter victory in the god-wars. Othersages have other explanations, thoughElminster�s is likely the most credible.

By all accounts, though, the Plains ofPurple Dust is a land as wonderful as itis terrifying.

The plain floor is covered with (as onemight guess) purple dust, which radi-ates a faint magic (though no use hasbeen found for it). This dust constantlyblows into the air, giving the sky a red-dish tint. Many giant animal bones canbe found on the floor of the plains. Thefierce winds howl as they whip throughthese remains of the long-dead. Thosewho enter the plains must cover theirmouths with a wet cloth in order tobreathe.

Very few creatures are native to theplains. Purple worms can be found bur-rowing through its surface, thoughother burrowing creatures, such asbrown dragons, dislike its compositionand avoid it. A nomadic tribe of sludar(mongrelmen) wanders the deep wastesand barely survives in these inhospita-ble lands. Human nomads stay close tothe western border.

There are two oases in the plains: theGrinning Skull, where a large pool ofwater is shielded by the skull of a deadgreat wyrm, and the Lonely Lake,which lies to the east of the SwordMountains. The Grinning Skull is usu-ally frequented by mongrelmen, whilethe Lonely Lake is held by a family ofwizards descended from the great Mul-horand mage Nezram, who disap-peared mysteriously centuries ago. TheNezramites, as they are called, are sus-picious of strangers, especially adven-turing companies; their only friendsare the human nomads that live in thewestern section of the plains.

There are many stories about hiddenmagic and wealth in the plains. The mostfamous is the story of the traveler whocame upon the Purple Stair, an entrance

to a mysterious land under the earth.This land was allegedly full of strange

beasts thought long-dead. It was ruled bya race of cruel lizard people, twice as tallas normal lizard men, who wielded pow-erful magic. None have confirmed thislegend, but the story of the Underrealmhas scared many a child at bedtime.

The Coastal CitiesWhen Unther expanded to the northcoast of the Wizards Reach following thefall of Narfell and Raumathar, they rebuiltmany of the cities of their previous em-pire, which had fallen in the OrcgateWars. But Unther was not strong enoughto hold them, and, like the other mem-bers of Unther�s empire, the Coastal Cit-ies declared their independence.

These cities are Delthuntle, Nethra,Teth, Laothkund, Hilbrand, Lasdur,Taskaunt, Escalant, Murbant, and Thas-selen. They have been under the con-trol of Thay at one time or another formost of the last 400 years, but they arecurrently free of Thay�s control.

Each city is independent, but there isa loose association for purposes of mu-tual defense and some trade pacts. Thewestern cities are usually slow to re-spond to a threat to their eastern neigh-bors from Thay.

Most of these cities are actuallytowns. Only Delthuntle, Laothkund,Hilbrand, and Escalant have popula-tions over 5,000 people. Delthuntle andLaothkund have populations of about50,000 each, while Hilbrand and Esca-lant have about 20,000 each.

Historically, these cities have been inconflict with Chessenta, pirates, Thay,and each other, in that order. Until thisyear, Chessenta was considered the big-gest threat to the continued security ofthe Coastal Cities.

Recently, a plot has been hatched byseveral Thayvian nobles, the Zulkirs ofConjuration and Summoning, andHargid Tenslayer, Tharchion of Lapen-drar. They plan to rid Thay of competi-tion from the Nine Cities of the NorthCoast by creating a gate into the elemen-tal plane of Fire and making a deal with

certain lords of that plane to destroy thecities. So far, Lasdur, Taskaunt, Murbant,and Thasselen have been destroyed, andEscalant is under siege. (For more de-tails, see �Fire Time� in FR6, Dreams ofthe Red Wizards.) The future of theCoastal Cities is uncertain.

AglarondOriginally, only satyrs and sylvan elvesinhabited this forest west of Thay andnorth of the Nine Cities. Except for oc-casional skirmishes with the ancientUnther empire, this land had fewencounters with men. It was shieldedby Mulhorand and Unther during theOrcgate Wars, though the battles withthe surviving orcs of that war took theirtoll on Aglarond�s inhabitants, and evilmonsters began to invade the depths ofYuirwood, Aglarond�s forest.

At the beginning of the current age,human fishermen and pirates from thewest moved into the area, settling onthe rocky shores. They began to chopaway at the Yuirwood, and over thecourse of generations eventually madetheir way into the heart of the forest.

Here they encountered the elves. Theelves had been devastated by plagueand by monster attacks. They felt thatthese humans, primarily hunters andadventurers, were their best alliesagainst the drow and the trolls thatthreatened to destroy them. One gener-ation later, the drow were driven un-derground, the trolls all but eradicated,and the satyrs driven westward out ofthe forest, where they settled in theChondalwood.

The Yuirwood is now controlled by astrong and energetic tribe of half-elves.Aglarond remains under half-elvenrule; its current monarch is the Simbul,the mysterious and powerful sorceresswho has been linked with the Harpersand who is considered the greatest en-emy of the Red Wizards of Thay. TheSimbul has been seen in Mulhorandonly once; while none know truly whather business was, many guess at an alli-ance between the Harpers and thepriests of Anhur.

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Aglarond is too far from Mulhorandand Unther to trade directly, but someof its products are shipped throughmerchant sailors of the Nine Cities.

The royal banner of Aglarond is threewhite stars against a blue field.

RaurinThe great southern desert is a vastwasteland of stone, sand, and dust. Twoages ago, it was the home of the firstgreat kingdoms of Man, who grew tosuch power that they challenged thegods and triumphed. In that conflict,the entire region was ravaged, and theland is now virtually uninhabitable. Thesurvivors of that conflict fled to thewest, to the shores of the Alamber Sea.

The land is home to a number of wan-dering tribes. Some of the sludar mon-grelmen from the Plains of Purple Dustalso inhabit Raurin, as do human no-mads. On its far western edge is thechain of high mountains known as theGiant�s Belt, a group of nearly impass-able mountains. In the center of thischain is Fuirgar, home to hundreds ofstone giants. Two passes allow travelthrough the belt�the treacherous Roll-ing Stone Gap and the supernaturallycold Midwinter�s Pass (named becauseit feels like midwinter all times of theyear).

To the south are the Dustwall Moun-tains, which shield Durpar and Thom-mar. To the north are the Plains ofPurple Dust. To the east are legends�no account yet exists of someone re-turning from a land east of Raurin.

A number of creatures that origi-nated in Raurin are known throughoutin the Old Empires.

Brown dragons thrive. Blue dragonsscour the skies near the Giant�s Belt.There is known to be at least one settle-ment of efreet�in the ruins of an oldcity, whose riches they guard with ex-treme diligence. Then there are humanand humanoid nomads.

There are many ruins, some contain-ing artifacts of great power, lost andforgotten in the ancient god-wars. Manyof these magical items have been gath-

ered for use by the Cult of Set. Some- ship the Creation Spirit. They claim thatwhere in these lands is the great tower this being created the world, lives in allof Set, in which the manifestation of the things, and is more powerful and wisemost evil deity of the Mulhorandi pan- than all the other gods combined. Thattheon sits and schemes. Many who have they do not share this belief amongentered the desert have come out trans- other peoples is a testament to theirformed into minions by his power. ability to judge the reactions of others.

DurparSouth of great Raurin is a much blessedbody of water known as the Golden Wa-ter, the inland sea of the south. Sur-rounding this long, narrow waterwayare a number of kingdoms, either longforgotten by the west, or the subject ofwild myths.

Certainly the kingdoms of the south-east are very different than those of thewest.

The cities of Durpar are small butthriving, and they always keep a well-defined and defended boundary withtheir eastern neighbor, Ulgarth. Thecapital of Durpar is called Heldapan.

Veldorn

Durpar is a nation of traders. Theymake finished goods and specialtyitems, such as soap, spice, fine cloth,and rope, then sell it to the rest of theRealms. The merchants of Durpartravel in large caravans, moving northalong the edge of Raurin, first into Mul-horand, then into Unther, and finallyinto Chessenta. These merchants thusdistribute Durpar goods to the othernations of the Realms. The merchantsof Durpar charge high prices for theirgoods, and each journey has the poten-tial to make a fortune, or to get every-one in the caravan killed. Chessentanmercenaries are usually hired to guardthe caravans on their journey.

The people of Durpar are a practicalpeople, and they often provide Mulho-rand and Unther with services that arenormally beneath the two ancientpowers (making soft goods). Durpar isreputed to be impossible to make �fair�bargains with (the merchant alwayswins in the end), but the merchants areunimpeachably honest and always pro-duce goods of unequalled quality.

Durpar tends to keep its political andreligious structure a closely guarded se-crets, even from the Chessentan mid-dlemen. It is known that Durpar isgoverned by a council of merchants,that illusion magic most heavily pre-dominates, and that Durparians wor-

In the far southwest corner of theGolden Water, the inland sea to thesouth that is home to a number of king-doms, is the nation of exiles, Veldorn.Veldorn is a kingdom of monsters: be-holders, dragons, vampires, half-orcs,were-creatures all dwell here.

No one knows how Veldorn came tobe. The premise behind Veldorn is thateach type of creature could establish alarge domain where they could do asthey pleased. Any who attempted to in-terfere in the affairs of one Beast-Chief-tain, as the leaders became known,would incur the wrath of all of theother lords of Veldorn.

Several times, the peace of Veldornhas been violated, and in all cases, theinvader has been destroyed.

The ruler of Veldorn, whose chief re-sponsibility is to arbitrate disputes, isSaed, a centuries-old vampire. Saed is re-spected and feared by all of the otherBeast-Chieftains, including the beholder-twins Xaoch and Veoyh, his main rivals.

Traders come to Veldorn on the GreatSouthern road and provide the Beast-Chieftains with goods and slaves at thecity of Lastarr, a free city of the edge ofVeldorn. The Beast-Chieftains have di-vided the kingdom into small city-states,each ruled by a different chieftain, withsome enclaves of humanoids tolerated inthe Bluetip Mountains and on the Beas-tlands Plateaus (home to many wild ly-canthropes). Saed rules the nominalcapital of Veldorn, Vaelan.

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Eastern ShaarWest of the Golden Way is a huge ex-panse of grassland and rolling prairie,known as the Shaar. The Shaar has twosections; the rich and fertile WesternShaar (known simply as the Shaar), andthe sparser Eastern Shaar, which ismore of a wasteland. The Eastern Shaaris located directly south of Mulhorandand Unther. When the empire of Un-ther was at its height, nearly 2,500years ago, the Eastern Shaar was underits control, and there were many greatcities. Now its roads are buried undergrass, and its cities are dead things,homes for nomads and bandits.

Many bandit tribes use the EasternShaar as a base, raiding southern Un-ther and Mulhorand or the rich farm-ing towns of the Shaar. The largestbandit tribe is the Grey Ghosts, led bythe outcast Chessentan mercenaryFurifax (12th-level fighter). The GreyGhosts have struck as far east as Dur-par and as far north as Chessenta. Furi-fax has been trying to unite all thebandits in the Shaar into a consolidatedfighting force and launch an attackagainst Unther; he has had limited suc-cess, but he has attracted the attentionof the Cult of Tiamat.

Furifax�s base is a fortress south ofUnthangol Pass; his bandit tribe num-bers at least 5,000 trained soldiers, eachof whom rides one of the fine steedsthat run wild in this region. He is the defacto lord of the lands between Hard-castle and Azulduth. The small tradingtowns of this area pay tribute to him.

In the northeastern portion of theEastern Shaar is Azulduth, the Lake ofSalt. This place is renowned by wizardsfor its healing properties. Many havemade the journey southward to bathein its waters, which are said to be sobuoyant that it is impossible to sink.

This lake is the source of the River ofSwords that forms the border of Mul-horand and Unther. On its far north-eastern shore is the ruined tower ofNezram, who is accounted the greatestMulhorand mage of this age. The towerwas destroyed by the green dragon

Chathuulandroth seven centuries ago.There are, of course, rumors of un-touched chambers in the tower�s foun-dation that may contain Nezram�sgreatest secrets.

In the center of the Eastern Shaar is ahuge rift, larger in size than Sembia andalmost 1,000 feet below sea level at itsdeepest point. This is Underhome, thehome of the southern dwarves. Thisvery proud race lives by mining raresubstances from deep under groundand trading them at the trading villageon the outskirts of Eartheart, a city onthe western edge of the rift whosethousand-foot towers rise from thefloor of the rift to loom above the cliffs.

The dwarves raise domestic animalsby the surface of the Riftlake, a largelake in the center of the rift.

Their greatest city is Underhome; itsgates are sealed by a strange whitemetal called hizagkuur. None butdwarves are permitted to enter Under-home. The dwarves dislike outsiders;they are cold even to the traders towhom they sell their metals. They dis-trust adventurers and dwarves fromthe north. They have a historic enmityagainst Unther, due to the wars two mil-lennia ago. The adage about dwarvesnever forgetting or forgiving a wrongdone to them is especially true when itconcerns the dwarves of the Great Rift.

These days, the dwarves mine theirmines and forge weapons and othertools in peace. Occasionally, duergar na-tions from deep in the earth comeacross the tunnels of the southerndwarves and there is battle, but in thelast two centuries, the dwarves havehad no enemies.

ChondathChondath is a nation west of Chessenta,on the south coast of the Vilhon Reach.

It consists of a loosely federatedgroup of towns and cities bound to-gether in a defense and trading alliance;each city and town in Chondath isobliged to provide men for the nation�smilitia and free food and board for thearmy should it pass through. Goods

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from Chondath may pass through eachtown without tax or tariff, thoughgoods from other nations are subject tothese charges.

There are two major cities in Chon-dath. Hlath, the eastern port, some 130miles from the Sea of Fallen Stars, is atrading city specializing in woodproducts and lumber from the Chon-dalwood. It is heavily fortified to pro-tect it from pirates and bandits. It has apopulation of 2,000.

The central government of Chondathis in Arrabar, a city of 5,000. Its econ-omy is based on the trading that occursin its large, open market. People cometo Arrabar to buy goods from wander-ing caravans from the south, and thenresell them to other people to the northand west. Arrabar is heavily fortifiedand has a small town militia as its guard.

Each town in Chondath sends repre-sentatives to Arrabar, who hold a week-long meeting once each year to discussnational problems. A lottery deter-mines who chairs the meeting. In timesof crisis, there are emergency meet-.ings, and people from other nations(such as Turmish) are also invited.

Most of Chondath is covered by adense forest called the Chondalwood. Itis a thick, hot section of woods, home totreants, lone druids, and satyrs. Manyof the satyrs that were driven fromYuirwood settled here, and the Chon-dalwood is also known as �the SatyrWood.�

Recently a fiend named Yrkhetep, apowerful mage from the lower plane ofHades, entered Chondath and Turmishand began wreaking havoc. A numberof major battles have taken place, andmercenaries from Chessenta have beenhired by several towns for defense.

See I14, Swords of the Iron Legion,for more details.

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY OF MULHORAND“Compared to all other known nations,Mulhorand is paradise. The gods cre-ated Mulhorand to show the mortals ofother lands what the afterlife could belike.”

�Old Mulhorand saying

The people who inhabit Mulhorandcome from three racial stocks. Therulers of Mulhorand come from thetribes of ancient Raurin; they are sallow,tall (almost as tall as western men), andthin. They do not have much body hair.This racial type is called the Mulan.

The original inhabitants of Mulho-rand were a mahogany-skinned peoplesimilar to those in Turmish. They aretall and muscular, with dark skin, flatfaces, and short hair; this racial type iscalled the Turami. This race occupiespositions in the upper hierarchy of sev-eral priesthoods and is renowned for itsskill in architecture, art, and stonema-sonry, which are considered middle-class skills in Mulhorand.

The third racial type is that of Amn,Tethyr, and the western nations of theInner Sea. People of this racial type,which the Mulhorandi refer to asTethens, make up the bulk of Mulho-rand�s slaves, since they usually come toMulhorand through the slave marketsof Thay.

The Population ofMulhorandWhen a new pharaoh takes the throne,typically his first act is the commission-ing of a census, which takes severalyears to complete. Since the last censuswas nearly 40 years ago, the followingfigures are only estimates.

There are about 900,000 sentient peo-ple within Mulhorand, including slaves(who are counted as 7/10 of a person inthe census). The vast majority of thesepeople are humans, as the god-kingslong ago discovered that demihumanswere unwilling to give their total loyaltyto the god-kings; the god-kings thus ex-pelled them from the land.

Approximately 250,000 people live in

Mulhorand�s cities and towns; the restdwell in the countryside. In the cities,there are nearly equal numbers of slavesand freemen, while slaves outnumberthe landholders and their families in thecountryside by a five-to-one ratio.

In general, there are three socialclasses in Mulhorand: the nobility, themiddle class, and the slaves.

The NobilityBureaucrats are the most mobile of

the group; it is possible to advance froma slave to a bureaucrat if one is in a posi-tion to get a good education. Bureau-crats include tax-collectors, scribes,messengers, and even spies. They takedirectives from the priesthood and gen-erally carry out the priesthood�s delib-erately vague orders with greatefficiency. For example, if a priest ofHorus-Re wanted to discredit a rival,the priest would mention aloud that itwas be fortunate for him if somethingunpleasant happened to the rival; thebureaucrat is expected to interpret thisorder and carry it out without implicat-ing his master.

Bureaucrats enable their masters tofulfill their ambitions without gettingtheir hands dirty.

Wizardry is considered to be an hon-orable profession. All mages mustswear allegiance to the god-king and totemples of Thoth and Horus-Re. Theyspend most of their time researchingnew magical items or examining old ar-tifacts, so they stay out of the majorityof the political affairs of Mulhorand.

The priests are the major power bro-kers in Mulhorand. They control vasttracts of land and thousands of slaves.

The pharaoh allows them to deter-mine the policies of the land. By far themost powerful priesthood is that ofHorus-Re, but other groups controllarge areas of land and slaves. Some ofthe more ambitious priesthoods, suchas the priesthood of Anhur, have en-gaged in a number of secret enterprisesdevised to promote their visions of amore aggressive Mulhorand. (If itseems as though religion is the least im-

portant concern of the priesthoods,well, it is.)

The pharaoh, the incarnation ofHorus-Re, sits on the throne in Skuld. Heis more of a figurehead than a ruler, andthis is mostly by choice, for reasons ex-plained earlier. Theoretically, the priest-hood, mages, and bureaucrats mustobey every whim of the pharaoh, but hehas yet to exert his authority. One nota-ble quote from the priesthood is this:�The pharaoh wishes to be involved inthe important affairs of the land. Designhim a new temple so that he will take hismind off such a foolish notion.�

The pharaoh is always male and al-ways an incarnation of Horus-Re [ex-cept for a brief time after the loss ofThay, when an incarnation of Thothtook the throne (all of the other incar-nations of Horus-Re were dead)].

The priesthoods are hereditary; theirmembers are almost always the descen-dants of incarnations of various deities,which are known as the divine houses.The houses are usually referred to bytheir Thayvian names, as listed below:

House of Horus-Re: House of HelcaliantHouse of Thoth: House of TholauntHouse of Osiris: House of OsriantHouse of Anhur: House of Ramathant

Descendants of female incarnations arenot given a House name, nor are de-scendants of Set incarnations.

Mulhorand is a thoroughly patriarchalsociety. The first two sons of a House aresaid to be nobles; the eldest is entitled toat least 2/3 of the father�s land and slaves,while the younger son can have no morethan 1/3. Other sons, and all daughters,must fend for themselves.

Nobles of all varieties must shavethemselves bald, and typically paint oneto three blue circles on their foreheads.These indicate learning, knowledge ofmagic, and familiarity with the laws,customs, and religious rituals of theland. (Very roughly, one circle meansthat the man is an educated freeman,two circles mean he is a mage, andthree circles mean he is a priest.)

If a noble wishes to maintain hispower in Mulhorand, it is almost always

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necessary to have friends in the priest-hood of Horus-Re. However, as it is pos-sible to strike at a priest through hisfriends and the power struggles in thatpriesthood can be extremely treacher-ous, it is best to avoid having too manyclose connections. On the other hand, itis usually a good thing to help a personrise to power.

Priests regularly strip or reduce thelandholdings of their enemies, and in-crease those of their friends.

Some of the current influentialpowers include the following:

�Horustep III, House of Helcaliant,Pharaoh of Mulhorand, incarnation ofHorus-Re. Horustep is only a child; hetends to be demanding and more domi-neering than adult incarnations ofHorus-Re. He ascended to the throne inthe summer of this year, following theassassination of his father Akonhorus.

He seems determined to exercisepower far more decisively than hispredecessors.

� Rezim, House of Helcaliant, 14th-level priest. Rezim is the vizier of Mul-horand, its most powerful political posi-tion, and uncle to the current pharaoh(Rezim is not an incarnation). He is infa-mous for his ruthlessness and his cun-ning. He is sometimes called �the bestvizier that treasures can buy,� thoughhe values political support and loyaltyabove all.

Lately, his recklessness has borderedon megalomania. His most recent pro-posal would allow the direct sale ofslaves (who are normally leased) to noblefamilies, who would be free to do whatthey willed to them without interfer-ence from the temples (working condi-tions are monitored by the priesthoodson a regular basis). Rezim argues thatslavery would be more efficient withoutinterference from the temples; criticsbelieve this is a gift to the wealthy land-owners who placed him in power. Thenew pharaoh does not approve; Rezim�sinfluence is on the decline, but he is stilla very powerful man.

� Brathes, 11th-level fighter, body-guard of the new pharaoh. Brathes is aworshiper of Anhur and is actively

working to seal the breach between thepharaoh and that priesthood. This dis-mays the priests of Horus-Re, who hopeto destroy the priesthood of Anhur.Brathes has been a friend of Horustep�ssince early childhood and is trusted bythe pharaoh, but most believe he willeventually overstep his bounds and bedestroyed. Few follow his fortunes, butthe priests of Anhur are counting heav-ily on his influence.

� Mardikan, 10th-level priest, Houseof Helcaliant. He has been the chief rivalof Rezim for years. Tall, proud, and im-pulsive, Mardikan is not nearly asshrewd as Rezim, and he has a vengefulstreak that has played into Rezim�shands many times. Mardikan has beenallowed to survive politically becausehe draws opposition to Rezim into theopen and prevents him from being de-throned by more devious conspirators.

Lately, though, Mardikan has learnedfrom his mistakes and senses that Re-zim is no longer invulnerable. He in-tends to gather together a majority ofpriests of Horus-Re to follow him, thuspreventing Rezim from giving the phar-aoh to the Anhurites. It may work.

The political scene in Mulhorand ismore unstable than it has been in centu-ries. Should Rezim be dismissed as vi-zier, there will be many factions risingfrom within the priesthood of Horus-Reto take his place. It is a situation thatmay be exploited by outside forces,most notably the priests of Set and theRed Wizards.

Noble Titles of MulhorandMulhorand does not have a formal hier-archy of titles that are passed on fromfather to son. People who are recog-nized as nobles are referred to as�Lords,� while their spouses or chosenconcubines are referred to as �Ladies.�

Provincial governors and the rulersof cities are referred to as �Precepts.�Incarnations are referred to as �DivinePrecepts.� Since the internal politics ofMulhorand can be volatile, these titlesare not hereditary.

The major honors given in Mulho-

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rand are bureaucratic positions. Suchtitles as �Keeper of the Royal Comb,��Master of the Pharaoh�s Horse,� etc.are the major honors and sources ofpride; without some sort of bureau-cratic responsibility, no matter howtrivial, a nobleman is said not to matterin Mulhorand.

Wizards are referred to as �Lord Wiz-ards�; wizards that also belong to thepriesthood of Thoth are referred to as�Lord High Wizards.� Priests are re-ferred to as �Lord Priests� and impor-tant priests as �Lord High Priests.�

The Middle ClassThere is a sizable middle class in Mulho-rand. While the middle class owns onlysmall tracts of land, it includes manyskilled craftsmen whose talents are indemand. Artists, builders, traders, mer-cenaries, and scribes are the mostnoted members of this class (with horsegroomers, navigators, and militarycommanders added to this list in timesof war). There are also freemanfarmers who lease slaves from thechurch to serve as their work force.

Because members of this class are of-ten wealthy, they are seen as marriageprospects for the daughters of noblefamilies.

Adventurers, often considered to bemembers of the middle class elsewhere,are treated with disdain in Mulhorand.Adventuring is seen as the same thingas grave robbing; no one honors adven-turers in Mulhorand, and few consortwith known adventurers. City guardsand Preceptual militia keep a watchfuleye on all adventurers.

Some craft guilds exist in Mulhorand,of which the Scribes� Guild is the mostfamous. Compared to the priesthoods,the guilds are honorable groups thatfight to protect the rights and securityof their members. They have a reputa-tion for pushiness and making unrea-sonable demands in an attempt to gettheir own way. Some craftsmen at-tempt to work independent of theguilds, but they are subject to thewhims of Mulhorand politics, since one

needs good connections to survivewithout (and against) the guilds.

Nearly all professional soldiers andguards in Mulhorand are Chessentanmercenaries. These are paid by the cit-ies and precepts in which they are sta-tioned. The priesthood of Anhur haspurchased many slaves and is trainingthem to be a military force, but this isnot approved by the pharaoh.

SlavesMost of the people of Mulhorand areslaves, the official property of thechurches. Landholders are not permit-ted to buy slaves (yet) but may rentthem from a temple. Each temple buysits own slaves, which it trains for itsown purposes.

Slaves in Mulhorand are reasonablywell-treated. Food is plentiful and noone starves. Killing a slave is a capitalcrime, and any slave who is unfairlypunished is able to make a complaint tothe priests of Osiris, who judge howslaves are treated in Mulhorand. Pun-ishment for abusing a slave usually in-volves forfeiture of some lands andpossessions. Work is hard and some-times dangerous, but few masters arewilling to be responsible for the acci-dental death of a slave.

All slaves must take an oath to obeythe gods and whatever master the godssee fit to give them. It is not uncommonfor a master to pay his slaves when theyare returned to their priesthood; thisoften favorably impresses the priestswho own the slaves. Life as a slave inMulhorand is not easy or particularlypleasant, but it is better than a slave�slife in other lands, especially Thay.

The Society ofMulhorandMulhorand is a lawful neutral society. Itbelieves in order and discipline, and de-spises change. Each member of societyis expected to obey the law withoutquestion, respect the authority of thepriests without question, and honor thegods without question. Mulhorand rep-

resents paradise on earth�stability andsecurity for all eternity. These con-cepts, in the eyes of a faithful Mulho-randi, cannot be challenged.

Underlying the society, however, is agreat deal of corruption. The priest-hood is an object of political dominationrather than religious worship, and eachpriesthood suffers from infighting,power struggles, and useless bickering.

The unifying forces of the god-kings,tradition, and isolation from externalforces prevents Mulhorand from disin-tegrating into petty city-states, as hap-pened in Chessenta, or into an impotenthas-been, as happened to Unther. WhileMulhorand lacks the will and the man-power to regain its lost empire in thenear future, it still is a power to be reck-oned with in the eastern section of theInner Sea.

Mulhorand is a land of arrogance.The nobles of the realm consider them-selves superior to the people of everyother nation. They believe Mulhorandto be more civilized, more prosperous,more creative, and (if they were ever in-terested in conquest again) more pow-erful than all of the nations on theoutside. Of all the lands in the Realms,they reason, only Mulhorand is ruledby gods.

They do not hide this arrogance fromoutsiders; even the slaves are haughty,for they are not the property of men,but of gods. Mulhorand is hidebound inits belief that it will be eternal, that noenemy will ever be able to destroy it.

Customs ofMulhorandMulhorand has a number of uniquecustoms, which are generally adheredto by all classes.

First, beyond all other things, Mulho-rand is a theocratic state, ruled by thepriesthood. Mulhorandi are supposedto be willing to submit to the authorityof the priests in all things, and most ofthem do so willingly.

Mulhorandi always show great re-spect whenever a priest walks by, usu-

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ally by bowing their heads or byturning away so as not to interfere inthe priest�s journey. Priests expect theseshows of respect.

Mandatory prayers occur four timesdaily: at waking, at mid-day, at dinnertime, and at bed time. There is one holyday each week, when all men, noblesand slaves alike, are expected to congre-gate under the balconies of temples andlisten to the priests.

Priests are the only ones permitted toslay cattle for the consumption of meat.This must be done while performingholy rites (almost always by acolytes) orthe meat is considered to be unclean.

Mulhorandi often seem to have an ob-session with death, spending much oftheir time constructing their tombs andpreparing for the afterlife. This is not asmorbid as it sounds. Mulhorandi believethat the afterlife is a continuation of life,not a journey to paradise or damnation.Thus the people of Mulhorand do theirbest to prepare for the next existence.

Language ofMulhorandThe Mulhorandi language comes froma language family known as Rauric.Only Mulhorandi and Untheric survivefrom this linguistic family; Mulhorandihas preserved much of the old tongue,while Untheric has evolved greatly overthe course of the millennia.

Mulhorandi is an inflected languagewith many verb tenses and cases; wordorder is relatively unimportant. It oftensounds thick and slow compared toother languages; some say this is due tothe heavy influence of priestly ritualson everyday speech. Basic Mulhorandiwriting consists of complicated picture-glyphs, each of which represents a dif-ferent idea; it has become somewhatmore abstracted over the course of thelast thousand years and consists of a vo-cabulary of tens of thousands of picto-graphs. Most Mulhorandi know a basicvocabulary of about 3,000 pictographs,while scribes, wizards, and priestslearn a more extensive vocabulary.

GEOGRAPHY OF MULHORANDGeneral Description“Mulhorand is the gift of its rivers. Noother force of nature, not even thegods, is responsible for its greatness.”

�Old Mulhorand saying

Present-day Mulhorand is only a frac-tion of the size it was when its empirewas at its peak, but it is still a large andpowerful kingdom. Its northern borderis the River of the Dawn, though itclaims the Priador and all of Thay as itsrightful domain, and Mulhorand couldmarch into Thazalhar unopposed if it sochose. Its eastern border is not estab-lished, but Mulhorand is thought tohave mastery of lands as far east as theSunrise Mountains and the RiverMurghol, though Mulhorand has notowns or outposts east of Ganathwoodor the Fields of Ganath. The easternborder extends southward to theSword Mountains, at the eastern edgeof the Great Vale, as far south asAzulduth, the lake of salt. The westernborder extends from Azulduth alongthe River of Swords.

Within this expanse are desert, ruins,mountains, fertile fields, and cities thatwere great 2,000 years before the firststone was place on Waterdeep, beforethe Zhentarim ever unleashed an evilscheme, before Bane was even awarethat the Realms existed, a time whenthe world was young, even to the elves.The words Mulhorand and �eternity�are the same in the language of the Mul-horandi.

Mulhorand lies within a series of plains,plateaus, lowlands and valleys. There arefour distinct geographic divisions:

The Menesankh, or Plain of Life, ex-tends in a crescent around the southerntip of the Alamber Sea as far north asSkuld; this is a mainly dry area of flatplains, irrigated by rivers, with occa-sional marshland.

The Asanibis is the Mulhorand namefor the Great Vale, which is a land ofhills and plains that lies between theSword Mountains and the Menesankh.

The mountainous areas, which in-clude the Sword Mountains in the south

and the Sunrise Mountains in the north,are called the Furitep. These ruggedpeaks are said to be impassable, thoughthis not quite true; one can get throughthem in the summer, with the help of adonkey.

The fourth distinct region, theTaranoth, is a series of high plains thatrises from the sea between Skuld andSultim; this area is known for itsgloomy climate and spectacular cliffsand falls.

Despite its arid climate, there is agreat deal of cultivated lands in Mulho-rand along the edges of the rivers andin the Great Vale. Farmland is eitherowned privately by a noble or run bythe church. Laborers on church farmsare slaves owned by the temples.

Mulhorand usually saves its excessproduce for times of famine, so it ex-ports very few crops. Crops grown in-clude wheat, hay, and barley, with figs,dates, grapes, oranges, and other fruitsgrown in the Great Vale. Cattle and pigsare the typical herd animals.

There are trees that are felled alongthe edge of the Sword Mountains, typi-cally cedars and beech. One major for-est, Ganathwood, lies along the borderof the Murghom-Mulhorand border inthe gap between the Sword and Sunrisemountains.

The River of SwordsThis long river forms the border be-tween Mulhorand and Unther. It is di-vided into two portions: The LowerSwords, which flow in two parts fromtheir sources to their junction by theruins of Sekras, and the Upper Sword,which flows from Sekras to the Alam-ber Sea.

The Lower Swords are named theBlue Sword and the Green Sword. TheBlue Sword River lies entirely in Untherand has as its source a fresh waterspring in the southeastern portion ofthat country. The Green Sword Riverflows from its source in Azulduth, theGreat Salt Lake, and carries a consider-able amount of salt with it. The GreenSword is undrinkable.

From the junction at Sekras, the riverflows northward to the Alamber. Thiswater is bitter but drinkable, and it car-ries a lot of sediments. A machine thatpumps the river and filters the salt stilloperates at Sekras, though none but ahandful of priests of Thoth know itsworkings. The river floods in summertime, though it is somewhat less pre-dictable in its floods than the River ofSpears, which lies to the east. Large,flat-bottomed boats carry cargo be-tween Unther and Mulhorand settle-ments on either side of the river, and acanal bypasses the pumps and allowsaccess to the upper river.

Sekras is a small city. It was once thecenter of the cult of Sebek, but now it isinfested with werecrocodiles. Paladinsin the service of Osiris, with the tacit ap-proval of the priests of Horus-Re, de-stroyed the city and scattered theinhabitants.

Alongside the upper river are manysmall farms. The lower river is mostlyuninhabited, except for hermits andwizards who choose to sequester them-selves from the control of the priests ofThoth. This area is known to be thehome of a number of sphinxes.

The River of Swords was given thatname because it was here long ago thatthe god-kings of Unther and Mulhorandlaid down their swords and swore anoath of eternal peace between the twokingdoms.

The Great ValeThe Great Vale, or Asanibis, is thebreadbasket of Mulhorand. Here ongreat farms slavers and freeholders la-bor to produce food to feed the cities ofMulhorand. The Great Vale begins inthe shadow of the Sword Mountains,where the god-kings and their servantsare buried in elaborate tombs on thevale floor and on the mountainside. An-cient step pyramids mix with obelisksas 3,000 years of the honored dead findhousing to continue their existence inthe afterlife.

Ancient pumps provide continued irri-gation for these farms, and the flooding

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of the River of Spears provides thesefarms with much-needed sediment.

Priests of Osiris and priestesses of Isistravel into the Great Vale and use theirmagic to enhance the fertility of thisland. Slave farms are owned by thechurches, with individual faiths al-lowed to build their own farms andcompete in the selling of goods, thoughthe majority of these farms belong toHorus-Re and are sublet to the priestsof Osiris (which gives the priests ofHorus-Re the threat of revoking theleases on the farms if the priests ofOsiris should turn against them).

Crops grown here include wheat (em-mer) and barley (this is also the centerof Mulhorand�s ale, beer, and winemak-ing); sheep, goats, pigs and cows are theprincipal animals herded in this region.

The Great Vale is primarily a dwellingplace of humans. There are four towns,Surbroar, Klondor, Ulzel, and Mishtan,each of which have between 2,000 and5,000 people. Towns serve as a place ofgathering during celebrations and trad-ing; there are some slave farms withmore people than the towns.

Near Mishtan is the Land of the Dead,to which thousands of slaves andfreemen are brought at flood time tohelp with the construction of newtombs. Transportation in this region isby horse (for nobles), by river, or by foot(poorly tended roads lie some distancefrom the river in a parallel course, and aroad connects Mishtan and Klondor). Atthe present time, Klondor is threatenedby an attack of the dreaded Skriaxit (seethe scenario �Rage of Dust� in the adven-tures section).

Sword MountainsThis chain of high, allegedly impassablemountains (no one in Mulhorand climbsmountains��because they�re there�has never occurred to them) separatesMulhorand from the Plains of PurpleDust; when the wind is very active onthe Plains, it blows red dust over themountaintops and onto the westernslopes. Within these mountains are anumber of fierce monsters that plague

southern Mulhorand, most notably Ges-taniius, a great wyrm blue dragon thathas fed on the slaves working in theLand of the Dead for well over 600years, the descendants of the wizardNezram, and dracosphinxes.

On the edge of the Sword Mountains,in the Great Vale, are some of the tombsof the dead god-kings. The greatesttomb, that of Horuseres II, was carvedout of the very mountainside and is saidto lead into a treacherous series of natu-ral caverns where the pharaoh and hisriches were entombed. None have eversacked his tomb, but several minions ofHorus-Re (see new monsters, DivineMinions) guard it at all times.

River of SpearsThis fast-flowing river has its source inthe Sword Mountains and its mouth atGheldaneth. It has two tributaries, theMishtan and Klondor, named for thetwo towns nearest their sources. Theriver provides water for the Great Valeand its many farms. For large craft, thisriver is only easily navigable nearGheldaneth, though small vessels regu-larly race along the water near Ulzeland Surbroar, carrying small cargoesand passengers. It is considered a riskyride. The River of Spears floods regu-larly in the summer, providing new soilfor the farmlands and moisture thatlasts most of the year; these lands are ir-rigable ten months of the year.

River of ShadowsThis long, winding river has its sourceat a spring near the Sword Mountains.It does not flow as fast as the River ofSpears, but its waters are rocky andtreacherous. It is also less predictable inits floods. At the delta, near Skuld, arelarge slave farms that raise flax andpapyrus and herd sheep. The major cit-ies along this river are Jhalhoran,which is connected to Maerlar and Sur-broar by the Great East Road, and Skuld(City of Shadows), the capital of Mulho-rand. It is from Skuld that the River getsits name.

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The Cliffs of LeapingHorsesThis is the horse land of Mulhorand,where great brown and white steedsrun along the plains; some are capturedand used as draft animals; since the de-cline of the priesthood of Anhur theyare no longer taken for charioteering.This is a large area of high plains, sev-eral hundred feet above sea level.These plains are arid, but hardy plantsthrive here. A number of less welcomebeasts�hippogriffs and griffons�alsouse this area as hunting grounds. Thereare no major human settlements here,though some Mulhorandi have smalloutposts where they capture horses.

This coastline is also dotted with anumber of sea caves that serve as basesfor some of the pirates that roam theAlamber Sea.

River RauthengflowNorth of the Cliff of Leaping Horses isthe great river Rauthenflow. It beginsat Brightstar Lake in eastern Murghom,flows swiftly to its union with the RiverMurghol, and then rushes into theAlamber Sea at Rauthgor. These rain-bow falls are considered to be one ofthe most spectacular sights in all theRealms, and the area is known to be ahaven for mermaids. The Rauthenflowis an extremely swift river, noted for itscataracts, rapids, and whirlpools. Fewboats attempt to ride the rapids ofRauthenflow; the river cannot beforded and the only bridge is at Rauthil,on the great Eastern Trading Road.Most of the countryside around theRauthenflow is quite arid, inhabitedonly by the most nasty of monsters.

This river is considered to be part ofthe highland plain region called theTaranoth.

River of the DawnThe River of the Dawn is the northernborder of Mulhorand, though Mulho-rand still claims to rule the Priador(Thay). This river separates Mulhorandfrom Thazalhar, the region of Thay that

was devastated when Thay broke freeof Mulhorand 400 years ago. Thay has asmall settlement in this region wherethe Tharch and his bodyguard enforceThay�s claim on this land, though Mul-horand regularly sends troops here toenforce its own claim. There are occa-sional clashes, but Thay does not wishto prod Mulhorand into a full-scale war,so conflicts are carefully limited.

The river is an extremely swift one,even faster than the Rauthenflow.There is but one bridge, which is part ofthe Great Eastern trading road; mer-chants use this to bring their goods intoand out of Thay. Though both nation�srulers disapprove, there is active tradebetween Thay and Mulhorand.

The Alamber SeaThis body of water is the easternmostpart of the Inner Sea. It serves as a bor-der between Mulhorand and Untherand is the home of a major sahuaginkingdom, the Aleaxtis, which is at bestan undependable ally of Thay. Manytrading vessels use the Alamber Sea onthe profitable trade route between theports of Sultim and Bezantur. Untherand Mulhorand recognize this sea asopen water, free for either nation touse, but neither country controls it.

The northernmost island in this sea isthe Aldor, which is the Thayvian navalbase. Currently, the dominant navaland merchant power in this area isThay; both Unther and Mulhorand findit more convenient to ship their goodsin Thayvian hulls and accept Thayviangoods than build their own ships andfind their own markets.

There are also many pirates that livein small remote coves hidden along des-olate stretches of the coast of both Mul-horand and Unther, and on islandssouth of the Aldor. They prey onsmaller coastal trading vessels and oc-casionally surprise the crews of largervessels who bring their ships into shoreor make emergency repairs. Thayviannavy crews regularly raid these piratebases; sometimes the pirates disguisethemselves as fishermen and try to

avoid their notice, though Thayvianmarines are not noted for caring whothey kill, capture, or throw into slavery.This has resulted in a considerablenumber of Mulhorand fishermen beingkidnapped by Thay.

Recently, the priests of Anhur havesecretly built a large fleet, moored nearSultim. They have bought many slavesand have trained them in seacraft; theyintend to sail against the Aldor andbreak Thayvian naval domination in theAlamber Sea. The priests of Anhurhope to persuade the new pharaoh tosupport this enterprise, as they believeThay is now weak with internal strifeand the Alamber is ripe for the taking.The result of this battle is yet to be seen.

The priests of Horus-Re are alarmed.The priests of Anhur are determined tosail in the spring; Thayvian spies havewarned the ruler of the Aldor of the at-tack, but the administrators do not be-lieve that Mulhorand, �the senile giant,�has the will to fight.

Ship of the GodsThis small island in the Alamber Sea isan active volcano. Its last eruption was400 years ago, killing thousands (the is-land was settled by Unther at the time).Now, it is used as a haven for pirates.The volcano has begun to come to lifeagain, and the diviners in Skuld predictthat it will issue a cloud of darknesswithin the next three years that willcover the city in ash.

Main CitiesSkuldSkuld, City of Shadows, City of Eternity,is the oldest surviving city in theForgotten Realms, with the possible ex-ception of Underhome, the dwarvencity in the Great Rift. In nine years, thecity will celebrate its 3500th anniver-sary. It boasts that in that time no invad-ing army has ever breached its walls,and that no invading army ever will, forMulhorand is eternal.

While it is generally agreed that

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Waterdeep is the most splendid city inthe Realms, an inhabitant of Skuldwould argue heatedly with that state-ment. The Skuldians say that no placein the Realms can match the grandeurof the City of the Gods, the great towersin which the manifestations of the godsare housed. This may be true, but therest of Skuld is squalid and decrepit, es-pecially by comparison to the inner city.Ancient homes with patchwork repairsline the city streets. The markets aresmall and cluttered in comparison withthose of the northern cities; even thepalaces of city officials are rundown.And, probably most damning of all,Skuld is not a cosmopolitan city.

Elves, halflings, and gnomes are for-bidden in its streets, unless they have aletter of entry issued by city bureau-crats or one of the temples.

Half-elves and dwarves may enter,but they may not bear weapons or ar-mor unless a special (and expensive�ten gp and up) permit is issued by thecity authorities. As most half-elves anddwarves who do enter Skuld come aspart of mercenary companies, this is agood revenue-generating rule.

Visitors to the city are confined to ei-ther of the two merchant�s wards or theshipyards, and they may not enter therest of the city. All wards are sur-rounded by high walls and heavy, well-guarded gates.

Trade comes in by sea or by the roadto Maerlar. A low seawall serves as abreak against tidal waves, natural orotherwise, and protects the city at a dis-tance of three miles from shore. On theeastern side of the city, there is a largecluster of tenements that have built uparound the walls. This is the slave sec-tion; though it�s outside the main wall, itis considered to be part of the main city.

Entering through the sea gate, thereare two shipyards: the naval yard,which contains Skuld�s fleet of 20 oldand rotting ships, and the merchantyard. Seagoing traffic docks at the mer-chant yard. Visiting crews are housedin inns located near the docks; this is arough-and-tumble place.

Licensed merchants may operate busi-

nesses and store cargo in the adjacentwarehouse district. The warehouse dis-trict was once accessible by draw-bridges over the River of Shadows, butthat gate has long been closed.

The merchant district contains shops,inns, moneychangers, and stores thatsupply adventurers, except for weap-ons and arms; only priests of Horus-Reor Osiris are allowed to sell weaponry.

The eastern gate leads to the road toMaerlar. This is the most heavilyguarded of the gates. A garrison of 500mercenaries from Chessenta arehoused between an outer and innergate as a precaution. The greatestthreat to Skuld, in the opinion of itsleaders, comes from adventuring par-ties, not armies. Adventuring partiescan find some inns and stables, but atinflated prices. This opens into the pal-ace district, where the wealthy of Skuldlive, and the palace itself, from whichthe vizier of Mulhorand and his bureau-crats rule the city and advise the phar-aoh. To the south of the palace district isthe crafts district, where goods aremanufactured (often by licensed for-eigners), and the eastern merchantward, where more goods are boughtand sold.

The central ward is the people�sward. Here more than 40,000 peopleare housed�20,000 slaves (mostlyslaves to the privileged) and 20,000freemen. The dwellings can only be de-scribed as a sprawling slum, with a fewdwellings preserving the distinctivedecorative style of Old Mulhorand.There are temples and shops inter-mixed with the dwellings in this area.

The temple of Osiris, on the southernwall adjacent to the merchant andwarehouse districts, is the gateway tothe catacombs, where the dead of thecity are buried. A number of monstersare known to live in the catacombs and,most notably several families of were-crocodiles and rakshasas. The most im-pressive building is the twin temples ofHorus-Re, whose huge pillars rise wellabove the surrounding houses. Be-tween the temples is the gate to the Cityof the Gods, shaped in the symbol of

Horus, and a large prayer tower fromwhich the god-kings make pronounce-ments, usually once every century.

The god-kings dwell in huge toweringpalaces in the city where only priestsmay go. Each palace is an architecturalmarvel, built thousands of years ago bylong-dead slaves. The tallest tower isthat of fallen Re, where the corpse ofhis manifestation is entombed. A secretpassage connects the palace of thepharaoh, incarnation of Horus-Re, withthat of his manifestation, and here theincarnation comes for counsel. Thereare reputed to be arsenals of magicwithin this inner city.

Goods coming into the city are heavilytaxed, unless the merchant is charteredby the god-king of Mulhorand, in whichcase his goods are exempt from taxes.The priests of Horus-Re control thecharters and line their pockets with themoneys gained from them. Guards inthe city are all mercenaries from Ches-senta. They may not possess weaponsor armor within the city unless theyhave a permit from the bureaucrats;they may not cast spells without per-mission from the temple of Thoth,which charges heavily to grant thisright.

There are no establishments that ca-ter to adventurers, though one can usu-ally find work at taverns in themerchant district as a bodyguard orarmed escort for caravans. It is possibleto join the city guard, though one mustswear total fealty to the god-king andhis priests.

The punishment for crimes is oftendeath by decapitation, performed pub-licly in front of the temple of Horus-Re.Capital crimes include murder, blas-phemy, entering a forbidden area, lyingto a priest of Horus-Re, assault against apriest, theft from a priest, cursing apriest, killing a slave without due cause,theft of a lord�s property, entry onto alord�s estate without permission, andassault against a guard.

There are trials, and sometimes thedefendant can get off with forced ex-pulsion from Skuld and a bane spell (seenew spells).

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The city is supposed to be ruled bythe vizier, the strong right hand of thepharaoh. In truth, the vizier is too busyto run the city, so its affairs are handledby a high-level priest of Horus-Re; it isnot considered to be a very great honor.

The current chief administrator ofthe city is Ceianre of the House ofHorus. The captain of the guards is tra-ditionally appointed by the priests ofAnhur, but the priests of Horus-Re haveusurped that function, giving it toTeldartham (8th-level fighter), a cham-pion of the Horus-Re priesthood. Thecity itself has an unofficial brotherhoodof guardians from the priesthoods ofAnhur, Osiris, and Isis: its leader is be-lieved to be Halcaunt (13th-level pala-din), a worshiper of Osiris. Thisbrotherhood believes that the cult ofSet has a base somewhere in Skuld,from which it is conspiring to destroyMulhorand. The Brotherhood of Skuldhas made some contact with famous ad-venturing parties and personalities,most notably the Simbul.

Skuld has a total population of about95,000.

GheldanethGheldaneth is the second largest city inMulhorand. Where Skuld is a contrastof high towers and ugly sprawl,Gheldaneth is mostly sprawl. There is alarge port facility, as goods come byship from Unthalass and foodstuffscome from the Great Vale by water orby land.

The city is governed by the priests ofThoth, and the largest building is notthe palace but the great universitywhose towers line the northern wall ofthe city. It is compulsory for every citi-zen of Gheldaneth to learn how to read,write, count, and to be able to answersimple questions about the history ofMulhorand and its deities.

Even slaves are taught to read andwrite. The very best students in Gheldan-eth may be accepted as apprentices to theScribes� Guild, which is one of the mostprestigious positions in Mulhorand. So-cial class is not a barrier to entry.

Adjacent to the university is the wiz-ards� college, which is open only to initi-ates of Thoth. All new candidates foradmission to the college are magicallyscreened to ensure that they are notThayvian spies trying to learn the se-crets of Thoth. All wizards in Mulho-rand must travel here or to the templein Skuld to study wizardry.

Major temples in Gheldaneth are ded-icated to Thoth, Nephthys, Horus-Re,and Isis. The population of this city isabout 80,000.

NeldorildThe fourth largest city in Mulhorand isthe coastal city of Neldorild. This is acity of the rich, where noble familieswho wish to get away from the politicsand woes of the realm come to retire. Itis a relatively new city and slaves andmasons still work endlessly on newstructures. It is ruled by the priesthoodof Nephthys. There is also a small port,Rasolind, five miles down the coast,

which is used as a supply station for theMulhorand fishing fleet based inDelgora (the docks used to be inNeldorild, but the fleet was forced outof the city once it became a place for thewealthy). Theft is a capital offense inNeldorild.

Including its slaves, the population ofNeldorild is about 40,000.

MishtanOne of a number of small towns in theGreat Vale, Mishtan�s major claim to im-portance is that it is the gateway to theLand of the Dead, the burial grounds ofthe Pharaohs and their families. Newconstructions are constantly beingbuilt, and the tombs of the pharaohs forthe next three generations have beenplanned; at flood time, the town teemswith masons, artisans, and slaves.

Mishtan is ruled by the temple ofOsiris, which oversees the Land of theDead. It has a population of 2,000, butbooms to over 30,000 at construction

time; these temporary workers arehoused in makeshift dwellings that sur-round the town.

SampranaszThis small town is important only be-cause it is the real center of the cult ofSet. Sampranasz has been destroyedthree times in its history (first duringthe Orcgate Wars, and twice since thenby natural disaster).

There are many hidden ruins withinthese walls; these are used by the cultas meeting and worship places. Thetown ruler is a military governor (Sa-nuet, 13th-level LE fighter) who was ap-pointed and trusted by the priests ofHorus-Re but is secretly in the serviceof Set.

The town is a fishing port. Its coastlinehas some marshland where papyrus canbe found in abundance. The town has apopulation of 3,000; those who do notserve Set disappear very quickly.

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CURRENT ECONOMY OF MULHORAND“Mulhorand prospers, as it has alwaysprospered, depending not on the unre-liable fortunes of other powers.”

�Pharaoh Akonhorus II

Mulhorand is a slave-based agrarianeconomy. Foodstuffs are grown onslave farms in the Great Vale. There aresmall farms that are owned by land-owners, but the costs of slave leasingmakes them prohibitively expensive.The slave farms are not an efficient sys-tem, but they provide more thanenough food for the country�s needs.

Food grown in Mulhorand is used inMulhorand; food exports are almostnonexistent, though when the northsuffers from drought some tradershave bought grain from freeholders tosell elsewhere. While Mulhorand oftenhas a food surplus, it is usually pre-served by magic for years of drought,which, thanks to the interference of theRed Wizards of Thay in the weather ofthe eastern Inner Sea, come more fre-quently these days. Mulhorand is con-tent to grow for its needs and does nottry to compete economically with Thay;this is in perfect harmony with most ofits political policies for the last threecenturies.

Each slave farm is controlled by atemple, and temple bureaucrats care-fully count and monitor distribution ofgrain. Some temples are bribed by free-holders to put them down as having lessgrain than they possess, thus enablingthem to sell the surplus to traders andavoid taxes.

Mulhorand produces papyrus, a reedthat can be spun into a variety ofproducts including paper. Over thecourse of centuries, Mulhorand has in-creased the efficiency of this process,and Mulhorand paper is considered tobe of extremely high quality, sought af-

ter by wizards throughout the Realms.The slave farms of papyrus harvestersin the delta of the River of Spears arerun by the temples of Thoth andNephthys; both temples have waxedrich from the proceeds. Flax grows inthe north, from which fine linen ismade; this has made certain temples ofAnhur and Osiris quite rich.

While Mulhorand imports slaves (usu-ally from Thay), it never exports them.Selling Mulhorand citizens into slavery,or even selling Mulhorand slaves to for-eigners in Mulhorand, is a capital of-fense. The general belief is that being aslave in Mulhorand is better than being afreeman in other nations. It is consid-ered an insult to the pharaoh to assumethat temple property can be resold tooutsiders. This is yet another example ofMulhorand arrogance.

Mulhorand does export wood toThay, usually from the edges ofGanathwood. It is not a major business,and Mulhorand must rely on importsfrom the south for truly fine woodsthat are finding increasing popularityin furnishings.

Mulhorand has several major mines.Gold is plentiful in the rivers, particu-larly in the Great Vale, and there areseveral gold mines in the Sword Moun-tains. These mines are perhaps themost ancient ones ever devised by hu-mans, using dwarven shaft-miningtechniques. A good number of preciousstones are mined in Mulhorand: agate,amethyst, and jasper are the most valu-able. Granite is also plentiful; many for-eign sculptors insist on Mulhorandgranite for their works.

Mulhorand imports iron, fine timber,silver, incense, spice, and perfume.These scarce commodities are providedby traders from the south.

CoinageCoinage in Mulhorand has been aroundfor many years. Coins are primarilymade of gold, dated and engraved withthe face of the current pharaoh as asymbol of authenticity; the edges havedemarcations to prevent further shav-ing. There are two major coins: the pre-cept, a small coin worth three to fivesilvers elsewhere, and the pharaoh,worth one to two gold crowns else-where. The Mulhorand rate of ex-change is six precepts to one crown.

Only nobles and the middle class usecoins. Most goods in Mulhorand arebartered, especially among the lowerclasses and slaves, who are permitted toown property if given as gifts for goodservice (the temples are allowed to con-fiscate this money since technically theslaves are their property and thereforeanything that belongs to them belongsto the temple).

Real property in Mulhorand comesfrom two sources, first being the own-ership of cattle and livestock. Meat isconsidered to be a valuable commodity,and cattle farmers are among the mosthonored freemen. However, diseasesplague herds and flocks on frequent oc-casions, so it is not always a stablesource of wealth.

The second source of wealth is own-ership of land. The drawback to thisform of wealth is that the temples canconfiscate land at any time. Were it notfor the priesthood of Osiris, which al-lows a displaced freeholder to chal-lenge the temples in a just court, thepower of the priests of Horus-Re wouldbe virtually absolute.

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CURRENT POLITICS OF MULHORAND

“All thy affairs are sound and prosper-ous; every responsible incumbent hasreported to me, saying that all the Phar-aoh’s affairs are sound and prosperous.”

�Rezim, typical report toPharaoh Akonhorus

There are two forms of government inMulhorand�a central governmentbased in Skuld and run by the vizier(who may be overruled by the pharaoh,but usually isn�t), and preceptual govern-ments in cities and over wide areas.There are 16 precepts in Mulhorand,each of whom is appointed by the vizier,though in areas that are controlled by apriesthood, the vizier appoints preceptsrecommended by that priesthood.

The vizier is the most important indi-vidual in Mulhorand. He is always themost dominant priest of Horus-Re. Heappoints or approves of the appoint-ments of all high-level bureaucrats andall major officials. He can strip people ofland, titles, and freedom as he wills. Heis virtually a dictator, though sometimesa vizier who is too unpopular is re-moved by the pharaoh.

Aside from the pharaoh, the onlychallenge to the absolute authority ofthe vizier is from the justices, who arechosen from the priests of Osiris. It is aduty of Osirisian priests to uphold thelaw, and a complainant may challengeeven the vizier in a court of law. Theburden of proof, of course, lies with thecomplainant. However, the judges inMulhorand are honest and honorablemen.

Because the leader of each priesthoodwields a lot of political power, fightingfor the high priesthood is the source ofbitter rivalry in all orders, with the ex-ception of that of Osiris. Favoritism andpolitical opportunism is rampant inMulhorand. The political leadership inMulhorand is often extremely ruthless;there are few assassinations of person,but many of character.

The incarnations are mostly specta-tors to these power games. Incarna-tions are the religious heads of eachpriesthood, but they consider politics tobe too mundane to be the pursuit of

gods, so mortals are given tacit ap-proval for their political in-fighting.

Each priesthood can be roughly di-vided into three factions: conservative,mainline, and radical. There is oftenfighting for leadership of each of thefactions of each priesthood. The con-servative faction wants as little changeas possible. The radical faction believesthat change is essential. The mainlinefaction wants to preserve the power ofits priesthood by avoiding violent dis-agreements between the conservativeand radical elements.

Each faction of each priesthood playsa part in determining the goals and di-rection of Mulhorand. It is not uncom-mon for a faction of a priesthood tohave more in common with a faction ofanother priesthood than the other fac-tions of its own priesthood. These fac-tions can be lumped together accordingto their general goals, as follows:

Status Quo: These people want topreserve the current state of Mulho-rand and refrain from wars against for-eign powers, including Thay. They be-lieve that Thay will eventually rejoinMulhorand on its own volition. Factionsin this camp include the conservativeand mainline factions of Horus-Re andIsis and the conservative factions ofThoth and Osiris.

Consolidationists: These people be-lieve that a war should be wagedagainst Thay, but that now is not thetime to wage it. This faction wants tobuild up the Mulhorand nation andmake careful preparations, which theybelieve will ensure that Thay fallsquickly. Factions in support of this in-clude the radical factions of Horus-Reand Isis, the mainline factions of Thothand Osiris, and the conservative fac-tions of Anhur and Nephthys.

Expansionists: This group believesin restoring Mulhorand to the propertyboundaries that existed at the height ofthe Second Empire. They wish to purgethe Realms of all traces of Set, to de-stroy the Red Wizards, and to reclaimThay as part of Mulhorand. They wantto restore Mulhorand�s army andmarch on Thay as soon as possible. Fac-

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tions in support of this include the radi-cal factions of Thoth and Osiris and themainline and radical factions of Anhurand Nephthys.

Current political issues in Mulhorandinclude the following:l The Thayvian problem.l Rezim�s plan to sell slaves directly to

freeholders instead of leasing them.(This has raised strong opposition fromthe priests of Osiris, and there is grow-ing strain between those two tradition-ally friendly priesthoods.)l The sahuagin problem.l The cult of Set problem.l Complaints by traveling merchants

about poor road conditions and lack ofprotection against bandits. Rezimwants to enact a stiff road tax (as inThay) and promises to repair the roadslater. The merchants do not trust him.l Attempts by freeholders to expand

their trade and produce more items, sothey can compete more effectivelywith Thay. This is supported by Rezimand the church of Nephthys, but manywithin the church of Horus-Re see it asan attempt to destroy the traditionalapproach to handling goods in Mulho-rand that keeps the nation safe fromshortages.l Attacks by monsters on the Eastern

Road and in the Great Vale have been in-creasing, and the people are beginningto demand that the dangerous areas becleared.l Major conflicts between the priests

of Horus-Re and Anhur are leading toincreasing violence between their fol-lowers. The priests of Horus-Re havestripped the Anhurites of their tradi-tional dominions, embarrassed them atevery opportunity, and would like todestroy the priesthood outright.

The precepts in Mulhorand oftenhave their own political struggles. Theprecepts are listed below and rated asmajor, minor, or no importance in politi-cal terms:

Aina (no): Includes the town of Aina,and the farms at the mouth of the Riverof Swords. Precept is Alakin (8th-levelpriest of Thoth).

Gheldaneth (major): Includes Ghel-daneth and the area at the mouth of theRiver of Spears. Precept is Derlaunt(13th-level priest of Thoth); Tholaunt,Divine Precept of Thoth (his incarna-tion) can overrule Derlaunt�s decisions.

Surbroar (no): Includes area aroundSurbroar. Precept is Kesia (5th-levelfighter who serves Isis).

Klondor (minor): Includes areaaround Klondor and east to the Plainsof Purple Dust. There are many mon-sters in this region, so there is a largegarrison of Chessenta mercenaryguards. Precept is Haskrayth (12th-levelfighter, chief of the mercenaries, whoserves Assuran).

Ulzel (no): Serves area around Ulzeland the immediate south. Precept isNessisi (10th-level priest of Isis).

Mishtan (major): Serves Mishtan andthe Land of the Dead. Precept is respon-sible for the tombs of the pharaohs andother important Mulhorandi. Its pre-cept is Temis (12th-level priest of Osiris).

Jhalhoran (minor): Serves Jhalhoranand lands west; responsible for road pa-trols on the Great Eastern Trade Road.Precept is Ulara (13th-level priest ofNephthys). Nephita, the current incar-nation of Nephthys, also dwells here.

Skuld (minor): The reason the pre-cept of Skuld is only a minor position isthat the vizier has the ability to over-rule the precept on any matter, and theprecept is really only second-in-command of Skuld. The current pre-cept is Ceianre (11th-level priest ofHorus-Re).

Maerlar (no): The main job of this pre-cept is to make sure that the crossroadsare continually guarded. Attaining thisposition is usually considered to be thevizier�s way of telling a henchman that

the vizier is disappointed in him. It cur-rently has no precept; one is expectedto be appointed within the next sixmonths, though Rezim may keep itopen for a while longer in case someonedisappoints him.

Rauthil (no): This position is identicalto that of Maerlar, except that this pre-cept has less territory to guard. Rezimlikes to keep either Rauthil or Maerlarwithout a precept at all times, to have aplace to put his enemies. Its currentprecept is Ethnestus (4th-level priest ofHorus-Re).

Rauthgor (no): This precept looks atwaterfalls all day, lives in a small iso-lated keep, and if the pirates don�t gethim, the sahuagin will. This position isgiven to an enemy that the vizier wantsto eliminate. The current precept is Bo-kasin (10th-level fighter/6th-level priestof Anhur).

Ganath (major): This is a major postbecause it is located in Murghyr, capitalof Murghom. It is mostly a diplomaticpost, as the precept of Ganath is also theMulhorandi ambassador to Murghom.It is considered a nice place to get awayfrom the infighting of Mulhorandi poli-tics, and is typically given to old, re-spected priests of Horus-Re. Thecurrent precept is Imthalos (17th-levelpriest of Horus-Re).

Sultim (major): This was once a minorpost, but as Sultim is the fastest grow-ing city in Mulhorand, the importanceof this post is now equal to that of Ghel-daneth. The precept is responsible forthe safety of Mulhorand�s largest portand is supposed to try to bring order tothe chaos of Outer Sultim. None havecome close to succeeding in the latterresponsibility.

This was typically the post held by thehigh priest of Anhur, but Rezim hasstripped the priests of Anhur of thatprivilege; the current precept is Kora-mon (10th-level fighter who servesHorus-Re).

Thazarim (minor): This precept hasone major responsibility�to ensure theintegrity of the northern border, sinceThay has invaded twice. The preceptlives in a small citadel just south of theRiver of the Dawn.

This was also traditionally an Anhurpost, but they have been stripped ofthis as well. The current precept isMulhortep (15th-level fighter). Mulhor-tep is a competent general and proba-bly the best man for the job.

Sampranasz (minor): This precept isreally in the service of Set. The preceptcontrols the town of Sampranasz andthe surrounding area. The current pre-cept is Sanuet (13th-level fighter).

One may wonder whether a personcan refuse the position of precept,given the lack of honor or the certaindanger of various precepts. The answeris yes, but those who refuse have ru-ined their political careers. When a per-son refuses the vizier, tradition has itthat he is expected to leave the bureau-cracy forever.

In the case of Rauthgor, where an An-hurite holds the post, Bokasin felt thatthe priesthood needed to hold at leastone precepthood to maintain a sense ofhonor; refusing would have been a seri-ous blow to the integrity of the priests ofAnhur. To protect Bokasin, the Anhuri-tes are spending a lot of flax money onimproving the fortifications.

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LAWS OF MULHORAND“The justice of a god is a lack of partial-ity. When you see one whom you know,treat him as though you know him not,and those who are close to your personas those who are distant from you. Donot avoid the petitioner, but hear hiscase with eagerness. Be not angeredwithout justice. Great is justice when itsjustices are great; in the eyes of truth, aslave and a pharaoh are as one.”

-The Code of Justice ofthe priests of Osiris

In Mulhorand, there is no uniformcode of justice; each precept has itsown laws, which are for the most partsimilar but sometimes have unusualvariations.

There are both good and bad aspectsto Mulhorandi justice. The bad aspectsare that punishments are very severe.They consist of banishment fromMulhorand with a curse, imprison-ment, or execution. Property and goodsare usually confiscated and lost forever.There are many deaths over whatwould elsewhere be trivial offenses.

Civil disputes are handled by a tribu-

On the other hand, the system of jus-tice is very good. Justice is handled by

nal of the priests of Osiris. Anyone may

the priests of Osiris, who often sendpriests from town to town to hear casesand render judgments. The judges aregenuinely fair, reasonable, and incor-ruptible. On the other hand, the burdenof proof is usually on the accused toprove his innocence, not on the accuser.

Capital crimes include murder, killinga slave, damaging church property,theft from a church, using a god�s namein vain, grave robbing, teachingMulhorand magical spells to foreigners,assaulting a priest, building a dam onthe River of Spears, and espionage.

Imprisonment or banishment crimesinclude theft, insulting a priest, assault,selling weapons to foreigners, leadingforeigners to grave sites, stating mali-cious falsehoods about the nobles of therealm, hurting a slave, lying to a priest,cursing a priest, and wearing armorwithout a permit. Wizards are neverbanished.

request that a tribunal be called to set-tle disputes of property and marriage.They charge a rather expensive fee forthis service.

The greatest power that a judge ofOsiris has is the ability to call an inde-pendent inquiry. If a judge views anypolitical situation as suspicious, he cancall up to two other judges and deter-mine if any laws were broken. The re-sults of this inquiry are given to thevizier, who has the right to ignore themif he feels like it.

Magical spells and divinations are fre-quently relied on to determine thetruth in Mulhorandi courts. Most re-cently, following the assassination ofAkonhorus II, there was an inquiry todetermine whether the guards whokilled him were responsible for theiractions.

ADVENTURERS INMULHORAND

The inquiry concluded that theywere magically controlled, had noawareness of their actions, and there-fore weren�t responsible. It was con-cluded that the cult of Set wasresponsible. In other nations, as thepriests of Osiris are quick to point out,justice would have consisted of a sum-mary execution and the real culpritswould never have been discovered.

The major threat to the system of jus-tice in Mulhorand is Rezim, the vizier. Heeventually plans to strip the priests ofOsiris of their ability to put any of hisservants on trial; all crimes committedby the priests of Horus-Re would betried by priests of Horus-Re. Given thatRezim has enough political problems atthe moment, it�s not likely he�ll push this;he would very much like to free himselfof the legal yoke of the Osirisians.

“Adventure? Ha! Excitement? Bah! AMulhorandi craves not these things!”

�Yeda, high priest of Akonhorus I

Mulhorandi, being residents of para-dise, are scornful of the idea that pro-

Mulhorandi might be banished for

fessional adventuring companies can

minor crimes like spitting in the sight of

do anything other than create chaos.Most precepts and officials persecute

all treasure hunters and adventurers,with the exception of mercenaries thathave been specifically hired to guard orpatrol the cities. The general belief isthat adventuring companies do not fitinto Mulhorand society, and thus theythreaten its traditions.

There are a few ways that a PC adven-turer can come from Mulhorand.

First, an adventurer might be a ban-ished Mulhorandi (but a wizard is killedrather than banished so that he cannotreveal the secrets of Thoth to the ene-mies of Mulhorand).

a priest, or saying an obscenity in a tem-ple, which can be interpreted as af-fronts to the temple.

Second, a Mulhorandi can be an es-caped slave; the life of a Mulhorandslave is better than a slave�s life in mostother places (especially Thay), but it stillisn�t that pleasant.

Third, a Mulhorandi might be sent byhis priesthood (especially the priest-hood of Anhur) to make allies in thewest.

Fourth, a Mulhorandi might be in-trigued by the different lifestyles of thewest and wish to experience them first-hand.

It is not recommended that a wizardof Mulhorand be allowed outside ofMulhorand. If the DM allows this, thewizard shouldn�t have access to thenew spells listed in the Appendix of thisbook; player characters who wantthese spells must be very conniving andwork very hard to wrest these secretsfrom Mulhorand.

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RELIGION OF MULHORAND“The gods are content and happy-hearted, and life is spent in gladlaughter.”

�Old Mulhorand saying

From their very beginnings, the peopleof Mulhorand used the Egyptian pan-theon as their own; the pantheons ofMulhorand and Unther are the onlylands where worshipers venerate fami-lies of deities in the Realms. The gods ofEgypt are for the most part god-kings ofMulhorand. The pharaoh of Mulhorandis almost always an incarnation of thegod Horus, and the other members ofthe royal family are incarnations of theother gods of this pantheon.

To understand the gods, it is neces-sary to understand a number of basicconcepts. The true gods of Mulhorand,Egypt, and the other cultures on otherworlds that employ this pantheon livein the outer planes.

However, this pantheon prefers todwell physically at a holy place withinthis plane. This physical form of the de-ity is called a manifestation. It is immor-tal, very powerful (sometimes ofGreater Power status), and is the mas-ter of that deity�s affairs on the plane.

For most purposes, the manifestationof a deity can be considered to be thedeity, with one essential difference. Adeity who leaves the plane may pass onthe power of his manifestation to an-other; when the manifestation of Re(also known as Ra) was slain during theOrcgate Wars, he passed on his powerto the manifestation of Horus, who tookthe name Horus-Re.

In more extreme circumstances, a de-ity who clashes with another deity andwho has a greater following amongmortals may demand that the rivalmanifestation surrender his power; if awar deity who had a greater number ofworshipers than Anhur arose, he mightforce Anhur to surrender the power ofhis manifestation. When a manifesta-tion is successfully challenged for hisworshipers or destroyed in combat, heis forever banished from the plane,though a gate spell might summon thedeity�s true form.

Another important concept is that ofan incarnation. The incarnation is amortal form of a deity. An incarnation isvery powerful, equal to a high-levelcharacter, occasionally possessing mi-nor divine powers, but still capable ofbeing slain (Tholaunt, an incarnation ofAnhur, was slain 30 years ago by Vale-rios of Pyardos, one of the Tharchionsof Thay). Incarnations compose most ofa pharaoh�s royal family, but the eldestis always an incarnation of Horus-Re.An incarnation has the general temper-ament of a manifestation, but it is notunder the direct control of the deityand can be affected by mortal weak-nesses and foibles.

A third term that is used in Mulho-rand is the cult of a god. A cult is agroup of worshipers devoted to a singlegod within a pantheon of deities. Thus acult of Isis recognizes all deities of thepantheon but focuses devotion on thegoddess Isis.

Mulhorand is an absolute theocracy.The priests are the instruments of thegovernment of the pharaoh, who is re-sponsible only to the gods for his action.All land that is not privately owned be-longs to the god-kings. All slaves are theproperty of the god-kings and must berented from the church of Horus. Theymust be treated well, for they are theproperty of the gods. All commands ofthe god-kings must be obeyed. This ar-rangement gives great power to thepriesthood.

In spite of this, the deities of Mulho-rand are not fanatics devoted to abso-lute control over the people. Most of thereal power in Mulhorand belongs to thepriests. The gods generally believe thatmortals should be in charge of most oftheir daily affairs. They do not believein exporting their worship to other na-tions: in Mulhorand, one worships thegods of Mulhorand, and in other na-tions, one worships the gods of that na-tion. This is seen as a reasonable andtolerant philosophy. The gods of Mulho-rand place their trust in the priests torun the nation, intervening on veryrare occasions, which gives the worldthe impression that the god-kings are

23

�slumbering� and �in their dotage.� Itshould be noted that Horus-Re and theother members of this pantheon con-sider Mulhorand to be a paradise thatrarely needs the intervention of deities.It will be noted more than once in thistext that the priests do not share theirmasters� disinterest in the day-to-day af-fairs of this land.

The goal of a Mulhorand citizen, ofany social or economic class, is to have agood life and to make preparations forthe afterlife. It is the belief of those whoworship the gods of Mulhorand that lifeafter death is merely a continuation oflife; when one expects to die, one mustprepare for a journey. This beliefshapes much of Mulhorand culture,art, and architecture.

Mulhorandi worship many gods, butmost of these are local cults that springup and disappear every few genera-tions. There are seven major deities,however, who have extensive priest-hoods and influences. The followingsection is a brief description of this pan-theon, their names, titles, and symbols,the spheres and weapons allowed theirpriests, and the power of their manifes-tations and incarnations.

Central PantheonAnhur(Ramathant in Thay, Rumathep in Un-ther)

God of War, Champion of PhysicalProwess, General of the Gods of Mulho-rand, Supreme Marshall of All Armies

Status: CG, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: A cord bound with a khopesh

Spheres: Major�All, Charm, Combat,Guardian, Protection; Minor�Divination, Elemental, Healing, Nec-romantic

Weapons Allowed: Any (though lance isthe only allowable polearm)

Special Requirements: Minimum STR13, DEX 14, CON 12

Special Abilities: At 10th level, priests ofAnhur get 3/2 attacks with meleeweapons. At 20th level, priests ofAnhur get two attacks per round.

Ethos: Priests of Anhur are obliged todefend the territory of Mulhorand,out to its historic boundaries. Theyare to smite the enemies of therealm, and keep its people, high-born or slave, safe from evil.

In the days before the Orcgate Wars, atthe height of Mulhorand�s power, thegod Anhur was one of the most re-spected in Mulhorand; he had a cultthat was second only to Re�s in size. Af-ter the death of Re, Anhur retained histitle of general of the gods, but he grad-ually fell from favor. Horus-Re is thegod of eternity and perpetual order,while Anhur is an aggressive advocateof change and conflict; the two gods donot get along well. Priests of Horus-Rehave blamed Anhur and his priesthoodfor many of the losses suffered by Mul-horand (the priests of Horus-Re havehired Chessentan mercenaries to re-place the armies, as most Mulhorandisoldiers worship Anhur).

Today, the cult of Anhur is small butextremely vigorous. Priests of Anhurhave converted many of the Chessen-tan mercenaries to his worship, and thepriesthood is growing. The bitternessbetween the priests of Anhur andHorus-Re has created more than itsshare of conflict, and there is muchcourt intrigue between these two fac-tions, though the priests of Anhur arenot yet powerful enough to openly chal-lenge Horus-Re.

The center of Anhur�s worship is Sul-tim, though he has temples across Mul-horand and in Chessenta, where hiscult is growing in popularity.

Horus-Re(Helcaliant in Thay, Hokatep in Unther)

Lord of the Sun, Master of Vengeance,Ruler of Mulhorand, Protector of thePriador, Overseer of Thesk, Guardianof Semphar, Pharaoh of the Gods.

Status: LN(G), Greater Power, PrimeMaterial Plane

Symbol: A hawks head with a pharaoh�scrown surrounded by a solar circle.

Spheres: Major�All, Astral, Charm,Combat, Sun, Summoning; Minor�Creation, Divination, Elemental,Guardian, Animal, Healing, Necro-mantic, Protection, Weather

Weapons Allowed: Mace, Staff, Staff-Sling

Ethos: Priests of Horus must provideleadership. They are sworn to usechurch property honestly. They areto guard the persons, property, andhallowed places of Horus-Re withtheir lives. They are the sworn ene-mies of Set.

Horus-Re is the chief deity of Mulho-rand, a fusion of the gods Horus and Re.When the manifestation of Re was slainduring the Orcgate Wars, he be-queathed his power to the young godHorus, who took the name Horus-Re.

Horus-Re then assumed the positionof chief deity of the Mulhorand pan-theon, banishing the usurper Set.

Horus-Re is a confident deity who be-lieves strongly in the concept of maat(justice, honor, order, and righteous-ness). Horus-Re believes that Mulho-rand is eternal, and to promote eter-nity, one must deny change, so Horus-Re tries to discourage change. Themanifestation of Horus-Re is said to ex-ist everywhere throughout Mulhorand.

The center of Horus-Re�s worship is inSkuld, but there are many templesthroughout Mulhorand devoted to him.

Isis(Isharia in Thay, Ishtar in Unther)

Goddess of Weather, Lady of the Rivers,Mother of the Harvest, Lady of All Love

Status: NG, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: Ankh and Star

Spheres: Major�All, Animal, Charm,Creation, Guardian, Healing, Necro-mantic, Plant, Protection, Weather;Minor�Divination

Weapons Allowed: Staff, Flail

Special Requirements: Isis is servedonly by priestesses. No men may bepriests of Isis.

Special Abilities: At 10th level, a priestessof Isis gets a bonus spell: controlweather (as per 7th-level priestspell).

Ethos: Priestesses of Isis are charged toprotect the heroes of Mulhorand.They often fashion charms for thosewhose deeds have won her favor.

While Osiris is the god of the harvest, itis to Isis that Mulhorand prays at plant-ing; her priestesses use their weathercontrol spells to ensure a bountifulharvest.

Isis, wife of Osiris and sister of Thoth,is the most beloved deity of the com-mon people. She has many aspects:wise woman, dutiful wife, joyful lover,mother of children, benign rainstorm,and nurturer of babes and harvests. Isisis always seen as a woman of even tem-per and great dedication.

The center of Isis�s worship is in theGreat Vale. There are many temples de-voted to her elsewhere, including inUnther, where the manifestation ofIshtar surrendered her power to Isis(the people of Unther worship in thename of Ishtar, but their devotion reallygoes to Isis).

Nephthys(Nesharia in Thay, Neselthia in Unther)

Goddess of Commerce, Wealth, and theDead, the Devoted Lady, the AvengingMother of the Gods

Status: CG, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: Horns around a lunar disk

24

Spheres: Major�All, Astral, Charm,Creation, Healing, Necromantic,Sun; Minor�Divination, Guardian,Protection, Weather

Weapons Allowed: Staff, Flail

Special Requirements: Nephthys is onlyserved by priestesses. No men maybe priests of this cult.

Ethos: Priestesses of Nephthys arecharged to be faithful to their hus-bands and to encourage faithful-ness in others. Priestesses ofNephthys are sworn to avenge thedeath of those Mulhorandi killed bythe Red Wizards of Thay.

While Isis, Nephthys�s sister, is goddessof love, Nephthys is the goddess of de-votion and trust. Her trustworthinessalso makes her popular with thewealthy, who pray to her to protecttheir fortunes. Nephthys is a sworn en-emy of the Red Wizards of Thay, as theRed Wizards slew many of her fol-lowers in the fall of the Priador.

Thus Nephthys has assumed �theAvenging Mother� persona, that of amother who will do anything to protector avenge her children.

The center of Nephthys�s worship isin Neldorild. Most housewives build ashrine to her in their homes, and theystore goods for the afterlife in a chest orcupboard dedicated to her.

Osiris(Osriant in Thay, Ozrikotep in Unther)

Lord of Nature, Guardian of the Dead,Judge of Mulhorand

Status: LG, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: White Crown

Spheres: Major�All, Animal, Combat,Creation, Guardian, Healing, Necro-mantic, Plant, Protection, Sun;Minor�Charm, Divination, Protec-tion, Summoning, Weather

Weapons Allowed: Staff, Sling, Ham-mer, Mace, Flail, Staff-Sling

Special Requirements: WIS 15

Special Abilities: Priests of Osiris maytake an extra spell at each spell level,provided that it is in the Plant sphere

Ethos: Priests of Osiris are sworn tojudge and mediate disputes hon-estly. They must use their powers toassist in the harvest. They must liveby the code of maat, and perform allburial rituals for the dead.

Osiris is a respected deity in Mulho-rand, but his cult is small. He was slainby Set but brought back to life by Isisand Nephthys, so he is the god of death,as opposed to Horus-Re, god of life.Priests of Osiris are the justices of Mul-horand, so a high Wisdom is a requiredattribute.

The priests of Osiris must follow theconcepts of maat (justice, honor, order,and righteousness). Should a priest actin a manner contrary to maat, he isstripped of his powers and authority(much as a paladin who has gone off thepath loses his paladinhood). Paladinsand rangers in Mulhorand are all devo-tees of Osiris.

The priests of Osiris avoid court in-trigue and adventure, preferring todeal with everyday concerns.

The centers of Osiris�s worship are inJhalhoran and Mishtan. While there arenot many temples elsewhere devoted toOsiris, most tombs contain shrines dedi-cated to him, and decorations that ven-erate him.

Set(Typhon elsewhere)

God of Evil, the Desert, and the Night,Lord of Carrion, Father of Jackals,Brother of Serpents, the Outcast of theGods, King of Malice

Status: LE, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: Coiled Cobra

Spheres: Major�All, Animal, Charm,Combat, Elemental, Guardian, Nec-romantic, Protection, Summoning;Minor�Creation, Healing, Weather

Weapons Allowed: Spear, Staff, Mace,Whip, Flail, Hammer, CompositeBow

Special Requirements: Priests of Setmust shave their heads.

Special Abilities: At 5th level, a priest ofSet may create poison in the samequantity as a create water spell. At10th level, he may summon oneminion of Set (as per new spell sum-mon minion, once per day). At 15thlevel, any pointed weapon theywield is automatically poisonous(opponents� saving throws vs. poi-son suffer a -2 penalty; those whofail die in 1d4 rounds).

Ethos: Priests of Set are charged to de-stroy the priesthoods of Horus-Reand Osiris, to bring Set to his right-ful place as god-king of Mulhorand,and to spread the cult of Setthroughout the Realms. They are tosacrifice sentient creatures andwealth to him.

Set, brother of Osiris, is the most evildeity worshiped in Mulhorand. He issaid to have challenged the authority ofRe and Osiris for the leadership of the

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gods, slew Osiris (who was laterbrought back to life by Isis), and wasthen defeated by Horus and cast intothe desert. While only evil people ven-erate Set, sometimes those who travelin the desert make offerings to him toappease his wrath.

The center of Set�s worship is in Sam-pranasz (this is a closely guarded se-cret). There are many enclaves of Setworship, some of them outside Mulho-rand. The manifestation of Set is said toreside in a tower somewhere in the des-ert Raurin.

Thoth(Tholaunt in Thay, Thalatos in Unther)

Lord of Magic, Scribe of the Gods,Knower of All Secrets, King of Knowl-edge, Protector of Murghom

Status: N, Greater Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: An ibis head superimposedagainst an ankh

Spheres: Major�All, Astral, Charm,Creation, Divination, Elemental,Healing, Necromantic, Summoning,Sun; Minor�Animal, Guardian,Plant, Protection

Weapon Allowed: Staff

Special Requirements: Priests of Thothmust have Wisdoms of 17. Beforeentering the priesthood, they musthave advanced to 5th-level wizard,then they must switch classes.

Ethos: Priests of Thoth are commandedto research magic, to protect the se-crets of Thoth, and to spread magicthroughout Mulhorand. They arecommanded to protect Mulhorandfrom the traitors and necromancersof Thay. The priests of Thoth are touse weaponry as little as possible,for magic is their weapon.

Thoth is the lord of magic, one of the old-est deities of the Mulhorandi pantheon.He is also one of the most vigorous.

Thoth is vizier of the gods and scribeto the pharaoh Horus-Re. Incarnations

of Thoth have been given credit for thecreation of many of Mulhorand�sunique magical items and its experi-ments with technology.

The center of Thoth�s worship is Ghel-daneth, but he has temples across Mul-horand and in some parts of Unther.

The priesthood of Thoth is smallerthan all other major deities, due to thedifficult entry requirements.

Other DeitiesOther deities from the Egyptian pan-theon have very small cults or centersof worship, and do not play a part in thepolitics of the Old Empires, These dei-ties include the following:

Hathor (Goddess of Childbirth, NG): De-picted as a woman with a cow�s head,this is the goddess venerated by moth-ers. She is also the goddess of folk mu-sic, dance, and poetry. This goddess isworshiped in the farmlands by serfsand slaves, whereas Nephthys is wor-shiped in the cities and by the rulers.

Geb (God of the Earth, N): This god ismostly worshiped by miners, who setup crude shrines; his image adorns theopenings of mine shafts.

Sebek [God of Rivers, N(E)]: Thiscrocodile-headed deity is worshiped inthe wetlands, away from the cities. Thiscult has been persecuted for severalcenturies. All crocodiles are said to behis children.

Mask (God of Thieves, N): This is the onedeity not native to Mulhorand who hasachieved any amount of popularity; hisfollowing is small and limited to thieves.

The God-Kings: These are blood rela-tives of the incarnations, but no divinespirits reside within them. They aremortals with exceptional god-given abil-ities (high stats and levels), but they donot possess divine power. There aremany god-kings in Mulhorand (see �Per-sonalities,� page 30).

Powers of the GodsIn their physical forms as manifesta-tions and incarnations, the gods of Mul-horand have a number of specialpowers that are available only to them.These are not as powerful as the abili-ties available to true Powers in theirotherworldly forms.

Following is a listing of these abilities.A number in parentheses indicates howmany times each day that power maybe used. These are guidelines; all deitiesmay not have access to all of thesepowers.

ManifestationsAll have the following abilities:

All Divination Spells (at will)Planar Travel/SurvivalComprehend/Speak All Languages/MagicContinual Light/Darkness (at will)Geas (at will)InfravisionPolymorph Self (at will)Remove Curse/Fear (at will)Teleport (no error)

Greater Powers have the followingabilities:

Command (three-round duration)Control Weather/Temperature (at will)Death Spell (2)Dispel Evil/Good/Magic/Illusion (6)Gate (2)Heal (2)Holy Word/Unholy Word (1)Improved Invisibility (at will)Polymorph Any Object (1)Polymorph Other (3)Protection From Evil/Good, +3, 30�

radiusQuest (2)Restoration (3)Resurrection (1)Time Stop (1)True Seeing (3)Wish (1)

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Lesser Powers have the followingabilities:

Command (two-round duration) (2)Death Spell (1)Dispel Evil/Good/Illusion/Magic (3)Gate (1)Heal (1)Limited Wish (1)Polymorph Others (1)Protection From Evil/Good, +2, 20�

radiusQuest (1)Restoration (1)Summon Minion (2)True Seeing (2)

IncarnationsAll have the following abilities:

Command (two-round duration) (1)Comprehend Languages/TonguesDetect Good/Evil Dispel Magic (2)Detect Lie (3)Know Alignment (at will)Polymorph Self (at will)Summon Minion (1)Teleport (no error)True Seeing (1)

The GodsAnhurManifestation

AC: +5MOVE: 15, Fl 24HIT POINTS: 250THAC0: 1#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 6d10 + 14/6d10 + 14MR: 20%CLASSES: Ranger 20, Mage 7STR 25 (+7, +14) DEX 25 CON 25 INT19 WIS 12 CHA 12

SA: Special weapon (lance), negates en-emy�s strongest ability (no savingthrow), destroys all undead within 50yards.

Incarnation

AC: +5MOVE: 15HIT POINTS: 125THAC0: 3#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 1d10 + 12/1d10 + 12MR: 5%CLASSES: Ranger 18, Mage 3STR 24 (+6, +12) DEX 24 CON 22 INT18 WIS 11 CHA 12

SA: The incarnation of Anhur mayturn undead as an 18th level priest.Weapons: Two-handed sword, or greatspear.Armor: Scale mail.Other Items: Per individual incarnation.

The manifestation of Anhur appears as amuscular human, usually a heroicfighter.

Horus-ReManifestation

AC: +2MOVE: 15, Fl 15HIT POINTS: 300THAC0: 2#AT: 2

DMG/ATT 3d12 + 14/3d10 + 14MR: 75%CLASSES: Fighter 19, Priest 18, Mage 19STR 25 (+7, +14) DEX 25 CON 23 INT25 WIS 21 CHA 24

SA: Double Power to any magical itemor weapon he uses: 18d6 fireball(wand), monster summoning VII, shapechange, and project image (each at will),spear kills all shapechanged creatures(no saving throw); awe effect stuns upto 10HD (or levels).SD: Immune to 1st- to 5th-level spellswhen using sword. Immune to 1st- to7th-level illusion/phantasm spells; manyspell immunities due to high Wisdomscore.

Incarnation

AC: +1MOVE: 15HIT POINTS: 150THAC0: 6#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 1d6 + 12/1d6 + 12MR: 50%CLASSES: Fighter 15, Priest 14, Mage 16STR 21(+4, +9) DEX 22 CON 21 INT 21WIS 20 CHA 21

Weapon: Staff +3Armor: None (AC 4 is natural, plus DEXadjustment)Other Items: Per individual incarnationSA: The incarnation of Horus-Re has anawe effect, at will, that causes all crea-tures up to 4HD (or levels) to be stunnedwhile in his presence.SD: High Intelligence makes him im-mune to all illusion/phantasm spells of3d level or lower; high Wisdom grantshim immunity to the following spells:cause fear, charm person, command,friends, hypnotism, forget, hold per-son, ray of enfeeblement, scare.

The manifestation of Horus-Re appearsas a muscular man with the head of ahawk. The incarnations of Horus-Reare human in appearance but have fa-cial features that suggest a hawk (sharpnose, glittering eyes). They may alsospeak with birds at will.

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IsisManifestation

AC: +2MOVE: 12, Fl 24HIT POINTS: 200THAC0: 11#AT: 3/2DMG/ATT: 1d10MR: 90%CLASSES: Ranger 10, Mage 20STR 10 DEX 20 CON 19 INT 25 WIS 23CHA 23

SA: May cast any spell as a 20th-levelmage, an unlimited number of times.Magical headdress puts her in mentalcontact with any native Mulhorandideity.

Incarnation

AC: +1MOVE: 12HIT POINTS: 100THAC0: 13#AT: 1DMG/ATT: By weaponMR: 70%CLASSES: Fighter 8, Mage 18STR 10 DEX 19 CON 18 INT 23 WIS 22CHA 22

SA: The incarnation of Isis may use anyWeather spell at will, as an 18th-levelcaster. She may, at will, stun up to 6 HDor levels with her divine awe.SD: The incarnation of Isis is immune to1st- to 5th-level illusion/phantasm spellsand to the following spells due to herhigh Wisdom: cause fear, charm per-son, command, friends, hypnotism, for-get, hold person, ray of enfeeblement,scare, fear, charm monster, confusion,emotion, fumble, suggestion.Weapons: Magic khopesh or maceArmor: ClothOther Items: Per individual incarnation

The manifestation of Isis appears as abeautiful woman, typically a sorceress.

NephthysManifestation

AC: 2MOVE: 12, Fl 12HIT POINTS: 150THAC0: 12#AT: 3/2DMG/ATT: By weaponMR: 30%CLASSES: Fighter 8, Priest 14, Mage 16STR 17 (+1, +1) DEX 21 CON 20 INT 20WIS 18 CHA 21

SA: Death rays (120-yard range, savingthrow vs. spell with +6 penalty); divineawe stuns 4HD or levels, or lower.SD: Immune to 1st- and 2nd-levelillusion/phantasm spells.

Incarnation

AC: 2MOVE: 12HIT POINTS: 75THAC0: 14#AT: 1DMG/ATT: By weaponMR: 15%CLASSES: Fighter 6, Priest 12, Mage 14STR 16 (+0, +1) DEX 16 CON 19 INT 19WIS 17 CHA 20

SA: The incarnation of Nephthys has di-vine awe that affects all creatures of2HD or levels or lower, at will; may casta deathbolt, as per the manifestation,once every two rounds, saving throwwith +3 penalty.Weapons: By individual incarnationArmor: NoneOther Items: Per individual incarnation

The manifestation of Nephthys appearsas a beautiful woman in royal garb.Nephthys is the twin sister of Isis.

OsirisManifestation

AC: +2MOVE: 12, Fl 24HIT POINTS: 200THAC0: 5#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 3d10 + 12/3d10 + 12MR: 70%CLASSES: Ranger 16, Priest 20, Mage 18STR 24 (+6, +12) DEX 19 CON 23 INT22 WIS 22 CHA 23SA: Special weapon (scepter) negates all4th-level or lower spells cast at him;awe effect stuns all creatures of 8HD orlevels or lower; anyone who touches hisbody in battle must roll a successful sav-ing throw vs. death or die; shapechangeat will; controls all vegetation in a 200-yard radius, at will.SD: Sees all invisible objects and illu-sions for what they really are.

Incarnation

AC: 0MOVE: 12HIT POINTS: 100THAC0: 6#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 1d6 + 11/1d6 + 11MR: 65%CLASSES: Ranger 15, Mage 15, Priest 18STR 23 (+4, +10) DEX 18 CON 20 INT21 WIS 19 CHA 20SA: The incarnation of Osiris may useany Plant spell at will, once per round;awe effect stuns all creatures of 2HD orlevels or lower, at will.SD: Immune to 1st- to 3rd-level illusion/phantasm spells; immune to followingspells due to high Wisdom: cause fear,charm person, command, friends, hyp-notism.Weapons: Typically wields a magicalmace.Armor: None (base AC 4, plus DEX bonus)Other Items: Per individual incarnation

The manifestation of Osiris appears tobe a muscular green man, dressed in re-gal robes.

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SetManifestation

AC: +4MOVE: 18HIT POINTS: 300THAC0: 4#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 7d10/7d10MR: 50%CLASSES: Fighter 17, Illusionist 20,Priest 15STR 14 DEX 20 CON 24 INT 24 WIS 23CHA +2SA: Touch transforms victim into min-ion of Set (saving throw vs. spell); spearcauses 7d10 points of damage; can cre-ate a lethal poison (saving throw at +4penalty, those who fail die in 1d4rounds) at will.SD: Immune to 1st- to 6th-level illusion/phantasm spells; +3 or better weaponrequired to hit; any who touch Set mustroll successful saving throw vs. poisonor die; has appropriate spell immunitiesfor high Wisdom.

Incarnation

AC: +3MOVE: 15HIT POINTS: 150THAC0: 4#AT: 2DMG/ATT: By weaponMR: 25%CLASSES: Fighter 17, Illusionist 18,Priest 12STR 14 DEX 20 CON 22 INT 22 WIS 21CHA +2SA: The incarnation of Set has divinehorror that affects all creatures of 2 HDor levels or lower at will; may createpoison (saving throw at +4 penalty,those who fail die in 1d4 rounds) at will.

SD: Immune to 1st- to 4th-level illusion/phantasm spells; high Wisdom gives im-munity to the following spells: causefear, charm person, command, friends,hypnotism, forget, hold person, ray ofenfeeblement, scare, fear.Weapons: By individual incarnation(typically magical spear)Armor: Scaly skin (natural AC 1, plusDEX bonus)Other Items: Per individual incarnation

The manifestation of Set appears as amuscular man with a jackal�s head.

ThothManifestation

AC: +3MOVE: 12, Fl 24HIT POINTS: 280THAC0: 11#AT: 1DMG/ATT: By weapon type +8MR: 95%CLASSES: Fighter 5, Mage 30STR 20 (+3, +8) DEX 20 CON 24 INT 25WIS 25 CHA 18

SA: All spells inflict maximum damage;negates any single magical spell, item,or weapon in 100-yard radius; scepterhas a death spell, usable by touch.SD: See above.Incarnation

AC: 0MOVE: 12HIT POINTS: 140THAC0: 12#AT: 1DMG/ATT: 1d6 +7MR: 90%CLASSES: Fighter 3, Mage 25STR 19 (+3, +7) DEX 20 CON 21 INT 24WIS 23 CHA 17

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Armor: None (natural AC4, plus DEXbonus)Other Items: Per individual incarnationSD: High Intelligence makes him im-mune to all illusion/phantasm spells of6th level or lower; high Wisdom grantshim immunity to the following spells:cause fear, charm person, command,friends, hypnotism, forget, hold per-son, ray of enfeeblement, scare, fear,charm monster, confusion, emotion,fumble, suggestion, chaos, feeblemind,hold monster, magic jar, quest

The manifestation of Thoth appears asa thin but muscular man with the headof an ibis or a baboon. The incarnationsof Thoth are human in appearance buthave facial features that suggest an in-quisitive and thoughtful mind.

Special NoteDuring the Avatar series of modules(Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep), allof the gods of the Realms are affectedby certain events that strip them oftheir abilities. This includes the gods ofMulhorand. All of the incarnations ofthe gods are in a coma while that seriestakes place, and the manifestations ofthe gods are reduced to the power oftheir incarnations.

Following that series, the gods arelikely to be shaken from their compla-cency, seeing that events elsewhere canaffect them, and that they may not be aseternal as they believe.

As usual, this is a matter for the DM todecide.

PERSONALITIES OF MULHORANDThe information on notable personagespresented in this section is listed in thefollowing order:

NameBase of OperationsLevel and Class, and TitleAlignment, Deity ServedRace, Sex

This section details only those promi-nent fighters and adventurers and no-bles who are not involved in the centerof the political struggles in Mulhorand;the people in this section prefer actionto politics. Information on Vizier Rezim,Pharaoh Horustep III, and other politi-cally active people can be found in the�The Nobility� part of the �People andSociety of Mulhorand� section.

DerlauntGheldaneth13th-level Mage, Precept of GheldanethN, ThothHuman male

Derlaunt, cousin to Tholaunt (the cur-rent incarnation of Thoth) is the rulerof the city of Gheldaneth. He is a wiz-ened old man, having attained thepower he sought after many years ofstruggle, and now finds himself too oldto enjoy it in the way he desired.

Derlaunt has found himself bored oflate, and turned to alleviate his bore-dom through archeology. Hundreds ofStatues-That-Walk (see �Colossus,Stone� in the �New Monsters� section)dot the landscape in Mulhorand; Der-launt thought he found a way to animateone of them and put it under his control.If he had been successful, it would havegiven him a lot of prestige; unfortu-nately the ritual backfired and all of thestatues were animated at once. And Der-launt controls none of them (see �TheStatues That Walk� adventure).

Derlaunt is an easily irritated oldman. He is extremely snobbish towardall but Mulhorand nobles. Any attemptto accuse him of wrongdoing will likelycause him to order the town guard tothrow the accusers in prison.

Derlaunt is a wrinkled old mulan whowears wizard�s robes adorned with ascarab of life.

The Fangs of SetThe current incarnation of Set is Seti,who lives in disguised form in Skuld; heis a merchant who travels the coast ofthe Alamber Sea, corrupting those hecontacts. His will is primarily carriedout by four noted henchmen: Hodkam-set, Nekiset, Hamsetis, and Suliyar, to-gether referred to as the Fangs of Set.

This adventuring company exists tofurther the will of Set, sometimes inde-pendently on minor tasks, and some-times as a single unified force on majorendeavors. Each commands a numberof high level henchmen (1-2 fighters,levels 7-12, 1-2 wizards, levels 7-9, and1-3 priests, levels 5-11) and six minionsof Set.

HodkamsetWanders22nd-level Necromancer, Lord of SetLE, SetHuman male

Hodkamset is the most powerful wiz-ard in the service of Set.

Originally, his name was Sesostris; hewas one of the most powerful wizardsin the service of Osiris�a powerful nec-romancer in the service of the Lord ofthe Dead. He made enemies in thepriesthood of Horus-Re, who feared hispower and attempted to discredit him.

Sesostris�s reputation was ruined,and since he received no help from hisown priesthood, he faked his owndeath, changed his appearance andturned to the cult of Set. Since then hehas become the right hand of Seti, thecurrent incarnation of Set.

Hodkamset is an ambitious man. Hehas many contacts in Sampranasz, andhe has spies throughout Mulhorand. Hehas an alliance with Zhentil Keep. Hesends followers of Set throughout theRealms in search of items of power.Hodkamset has quite a few of his own,

including a staff of the necromancer(see the �New Magical Items� section)and a jewel of Karathoth.

Hodkamset�s major schemes are two-fold.

First, he intends to kidnap the boypharaoh and replace him with an evilshapechanger, a rakshasa in the serviceof Set. This rakshasa would createchaos in the priesthood of Horus-Re,and allow Seti to take the throne andlead Mulhorand to its rightful place asthe sole power in the Realms.

Second, Hodkamset has put togethera team of resourceful and powerful ser-vants of Set. This group travels theRealms in search of lost magic; he hopesto have enough powerful artifacts at hiscommand that he could wage waragainst the manifestations of the godsthemselves. This adventuring companyis detailed later.

As one might guess, Hodkamset issomething of a megalomaniac. He is de-termined to lead Set to glory, destroythe priests of Horus-Re, and bringdown the gods themselves.

Hodkamset is also extremely devious;he should never be underestimated. Healways travels in disguise and alwaysmakes his contacts under an assumedname, so that no one knows thatHodkamset really exists. He has magicalitems that prevent scrying, detection ofalignment, and true seeing. Hodkamsetuses spells to disguise his appearance;typically he travels as a little old lady,leaning on her staff. In his true form, heis middle aged, with long silvery hairthat suggests age, but he has a youngface. He is of mulan racial stock.

NekisetWanders19th-level priest, High Priestess of SetLE, SetHuman female

Nekiset is a turami female of greatbeauty and evil. She is the leader of theFangs of Set, an adventuring party inSet�s service, which she controls bysheer ruthlessness. She is very close to

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Hodkamset; the few people who knowthem both well have speculated thatthey are lovers.

Nekiset was raised in Sampranasz andspent her early days as a slave. She ter-rorized the other children and becamethe leader of the slave group when shewas very young, a fact that impressedher master. While passing through Sam-pranasz she came to the attention ofSeti, incarnation of Set, who was im-pressed by her devotion and her capac-ity for evil. Nekiset was ordered freedfrom her life as a slave so that she couldjoin Set�s priesthood. Nekiset proved tobe extremely gifted; she rose in a re-markably short time to be one of themost powerful priests in Mulhorand.

Nekiset�s goal is the same as Hodkam-set�s; to overthrow the pharaoh and thepriests of Horus-Re. She was responsiblefor organizing the assassination of Phar-aoh Akonhorus II, through careful useof charm magic on the pharaoh�s body-guards while the pharaoh slept. Thereare times when she wonders aboutHodkamset�s sanity, but she admires hisbrilliance and his cruelty. Eventually, sherealizes that she will have to destroyHodkamset to take her rightful place atSet�s right hand, but she is willing towork with him until they achieve domi-nation over Mulhorand.

Nekiset is a tall, dark-skinned turamifemale with a bald (shaven) head. Shewears dark robes with the insignia ofSet.

HamsetisWanders22nd-level fighter, Strong Arm of SetLE, SetHuman male

Hamsetis is the third of Seti�s three pow-erful human servants. He is probablythe greatest fighter in the south. He wasa slave of the Red Wizards, who usedhim as a gladiator. He constantly re-belled against their brutal treatmentand was beaten severely. Neverthelesshe continued to win his fights, evenwhen nearly crippled. The priests of

Set were impressed by his physicalprowess and purchased him from hismasters. His spiteful former master de-cided to maim Hamsetis and make himuseless to his new masters.

The priests of Set are not kind, butthey know how to handle their com-modities. Hamsetis was fully healed.

The young fighter swore vengeanceagainst the Red Wizards, but he alsoswore an oath of loyalty to Set, who oc-casionally allies with the lords of Thay.Hamsetis has been encouraged by Setito pretend to help the other priest-hoods of Mulhorand against Set; theyconsider him to be a good and honor-able man and a matchless warrior, andhe is trusted by the vizier and otherhigh-level bureaucrats.

Hamsetis is an honorable man, butvery bloodyminded in his vengeance.He enjoys killing, especially in one-on-one duels, but treats worthy adversar-ies with respect. He has no politicalambitions, except for a keen desire todestroy the Red Wizards. He belongs tothe cult of Set out of a sense of grati-tude. He is short, muscular, and dark-skinned, seemingly a mix of rashemiand turami.

Hamsetis typically attacks with longsword and dagger, which gives himthree attacks per round. Attacks withthe long sword suffer a -2 penalty to theattack roll, while attacks with the dag-ger suffer a -4 penalty to the attack roll(these penalties partially cancel theweapon bonuses and Hamsetis�s Dex-terity bonuses). In extreme circum-stances, the dagger and the sword arepoisoned.

SuliyarSkuldRakshasa Lord in the Service of SetLE, SetRakshasa male

Suliyar is a rakshasa rajah (lord), out-cast from its homeland east of Raurin.He was the ruler of a great tribe of rak-shasas, but he was deposed and sent to

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wandering. He was found by Nekiset,who recruited him into the worship ofSet.

Suliyar is a proud and savage crea-ture; he believes that serving Set willbring him the power and the prestigethat he is due. He believes that Set hasinfluences that extend beyond theRealms, and that one day he will con-quer a large dominion and rule as a ma-harajah. Suliyar enjoys hunting andplaying with humans, and regularlystalks the streets of Skuld.

He especially enjoys killing initiates ofHorus-Re. He doesn�t particularly carefor the other members of the Fangs, butsometimes finds their deviousnessamusing.

Suliyar is always accompanied byfour rakshasa bodyguards. One ofthese rakshasas is to be used byHodkamset to replace the child phar-aoh Horustep III in his current scheme.Suliyar typically disguises himself as ayoung mercenary soldier.

GestaniiusSword MountainsGreat Wyrm Blue DragonLE, Set (very loosely)Dragon female

Gestaniius is the greatest of the bluedragons of the south. Her lair is on theeastern edge of the Sword Mountains.

She is one of the most foul-temperedbeasts in the Realms; she enjoys razingtrading caravans and small villages forfun. One of her paws was crippled incombat with a brown dragon long ago,and she walks with a noticeable limp.

What drives Gestaniius is her burningneed for revenge against the browndragons who murdered her children(even though the blue dragons startedthe battle, Gestaniius still blames thebrown dragons for the results). She willdo anything to get back at them. Shehas a loose alliance with the cult of Set,but they haven�t gotten the results shewanted.

Game Mechanics: Gestaniius has 95hp. Use the blue dragon statistics in vol-

ume I of the Monstrous Compendium.Due to her injury, her ground move-ment is reduced to 6, and she suffers a-3 penalty to her attack and damagerolls with her second claw attack.

HalcauntSkuld13th-level Paladin, leader of the Broth-erhood of SkuldLG, OsirisHuman male

Halcaunt is the most tireless fighteragainst the cult of Set in all of Mulho-rand. He continually warned pharaohAkonhorus and his servants of thethreat of Set; he is something of a pa-riah among the bureaucracy after hisprediction came true. Nonetheless, Hal-caunt continues to urge for Mulhorandto be purged once and for all of the in-fluence of Set. He has formed the Broth-erhood of Skuld, a group ofadventurers, to assist in this purpose.

Halcaunt is known to be a grim,overly serious individual. In manyways, he�s more like a Westerner than aMulhorandi.

He is fanatically driven in his quest topurge Mulhorand of all traces of thecult of Set.

There are other members of theBrotherhood of Skuld, including Urius(11th-level wizard, based in Gheldan-eth) and a number of low-level priestsof Osiris who see Halcaunt as a leader.The main priesthood of Osiris treatsHalcaunt as a fanatic, a source of em-barrassment.

Halcaunt is a tall muscular mulan. Hewears armor that has been painted blueand a helm shaped like the hawk-symbol of Osiris.

Hethhab is the current incarnation ofAnhur. He has disguised himself as awarrior of Anhur and has distinguishedhimself as a slayer of monsters. To pre-vent a personality cult from formingaround him, Rezim, vizier of Mulho-rand, has appointed Hethhab Defenderof the Eastern Way. This post confersthe responsibility to protect the easternsections of Mulhorand from banditsand monsters. It is a job with a veryhigh turnover rate due to death, as themonsters in the region are quite deadly.

Hethhab rides with a company of sixdisguised divine minions of Anhur,wandering the east to protect Mulho-rand from monsters.

That Hethhab is still alive is a sourceof considerable annoyance to Rezim,who does not suspect his true identity.

Hethhab is present in the �Rage ofDust� scenario. Use the statistics for theincarnation of Anhur given in the �Reli-gion of Mulhorand� section (under�Anhur� in �The Gods�).

KneshaSultim (outer)16th-level BardN, HathorHuman female

Knesha was a scribe for the bureaucratsin Skuld when she made a mistake in cal-culating the taxes. This mistake cost thetreasury thousands of pharaohs.

Knesha was imprisoned for her error,but she escaped and fled to the north.She is considered an outlaw, but as nolaw exists in Outer Sultim, no one both-ers her.

Knesha�s chief talent is satirical po-ems. Knesha�s most frequent choice isRezim (of course). She is rather boredwith her life as a bard; she wouldrather go on great adventures. Knesha�sfavorite pastime is studying the placeswhere magical items were lost in battlelong ago. There is no greater authority(save for the incarnation of Thoth) onthe lost relics and artifacts of the southin the entire Realms.

Knesha is a beautiful turami femaleknown for high-pitched laughter(which has earned her the nickname�Hyena�).

Knesha is willing to show parties ofadventurers where these items are lo-cated, but her price is steep.

ShutepThe Great Vale6th-level ThiefN, MaskHuman male

There are many people who have triedto rob the graves of the god-kings. Somehave tried to use brute force, othershave employed stealth. Few of thesethieves have been as resourceful asShutep of Jhalhoran.

Shutep is a confidence man. He likesto manipulate parties of non-Mulho-randi, especially greedy adventuringcompanies.

Typically he joins up with such aparty, earns their trust, tells them awild story that involves them breakinginto a major tomb in the Land of theDead, then he grabs a major treasureand leaves the company stuck with theconsequences. He�s not malevolent, justgreedy and somewhat cowardly.

Shutep is a well-built mulan malewith curly hair and a scar on his chest.He typically passes himself off as a mer-chant, and is skilled at disguise.

Shutep wears a ring of dishonesty onone of his toes; it enables him to tell liesthat seem like the truth to detect liespells.

HethhabThe East RoadIncarnation of Anhur (secret), De-fender of the Eastern WayCG, AnhurHuman male

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CULTURE OF MULHORANDMulhorand has a distinctive culturethat has developed over thousands ofyears. There is, however, a reluctanceto experiment with new and foreignstyles.

The ArtsPaintings in Mulhorand tend to be flatand well-detailed, but with very littlesense of perspective. Many paintingsdeal with religious scenes, depicting thegods and their deeds. The most impres-sive aspect of these paintings in recentcenturies is their sheer size; the belief isthat the gods must be portrayed as fun-damentally greater than humans orthey will be insulted.

Therefore, the gods are usually muchtaller, more handsome, more heroicallyproportioned, than the humans in theirpaintings. This tradition does give thegods a rather bland and uniform ap-pearance; the smaller, more varied hu-mans are usually the most interestingfigures in these paintings.

Sculpture has been a major art formin Mulhorand, though the last greatperiod of sculpting was hundreds ofyears ago.

Stories and poetry in Mulhorandhave evolved from great epics about thegods at the time of the First Empire, tohousehold fables in the Second Empire,to the present-day hymns and chants ofpraise to the deities. These psalms, asthey are sometimes known, possess agreat deal of literary power. The latesttrend is toward �realism��mixing theold fables with hymns of praise to pro-duce works of great diversity andbeauty. Many verses are put into song.Mulhorandi music typically relies onflutes and reed instruments; stringedinstruments are considered strange inMulhorand.

ArchitectureGreat monuments line the streets ofSkuld, support the roofs of major tem-ples, and stare at pharaoh's graves in

the Land of the Dead. The greatestsculpture is the tomb of the pharaohHoruseres II, which is carved out of anentire mountain face. The great draco-sphinx of Klondor is also an awesomesculpture. Monument building is asconstant in Mulhorand as the floodingof the River of Spears.

While the majority of buildings inMulhorand are made from bricks,there have been a number of monu-ments made from granite, sandstone,and limestone.

The earliest monuments were steppyramids, with a central crypt con-cealed by tiers of granite or limestone.By the time the First Empire reached itspeak, the step pyramid had been re-placed by the slope pyramid, of whichthe 600-foot-tall Tomb of Re in Skuld isthe largest.

Pyramid building thrived for hun-dreds of years, even making its wayinto Unther. However, the First Empirewas soon to come to an end followingthe Orcgate Wars, and Mulhorand�svigor for great projects diminished. Thetomb of their god was the last greatachievement.

But centuries later, at the beginningof the current age, Mulhorand had re-established its dominance in the east-ern Inner Sea, and the Second Empirewas born.

This new empire brought with it anew vitality. Monuments were againconstructed, including the Face of theGods, the previously mentioned tombof Horuseres. The main style of archi-tecture was the Untheric style, whichemphasized obelisk building. Tall tow-ers rose into the air, and soon the godsin Skuld were building vast prayer tow-ers to house their manifestations.

Following the loss of Thay and theend of the Second Empire, the buildingof prayer towers in Mulhorand ceased.It was more important to fortify the cit-ies of Mulhorand. After about 100years, the military period was over andMulhorand once again went back to

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building monuments, trying to recap-ture its lost glory. The new fashion,which remains to the present day, con-sists of tall, broad buildings of granitefor ornate temples.

Tombs are no longer grand, but con-sist of underground chambers withelaborate interior decoration. The tem-ple style of architecture, as it is called,borrows heavily from Unther, with hugestone columns supporting a massiveroof. In typical Mulhorand fashion, thecolumns are sculpted to resemble thegods, and temples are painted with hugescenes commemorating the deities.

AthleticsMulhorand is sometimes called theLand of Feasts, and this tradition is onethat never stops. In Floodtime, there is afive-day festival in which eating, drink-ing, music, and sports are mixed ingreat celebrations. People flock to thecities to engage in and watch athleticcompetitions, typically running, wres-tling, and charioteering.

Athletics have always existed in Mul-horand, but have never been as promi-nent as they are at this time.

Chessentan mercenaries havebrought the Great Games from theirland, and mercenary companies com-pete biannually in the Great Arena ofSkuld, along with Mulhorandi whohave a mind to compete.

The Chessentans usually win, butthe Mulhorandi, stung by the chal-lenge, are improving rapidly, espe-cially in wrestling.

ClothingMost Mulhorandi wear simple un-adorned clothing, typically a white tu-nic, black headdress, a belt, andsandals. In colder weather more color-ful garments may be worn, but thefashion in Mulhorand is for clothing tobe plain.

TECHNOLOGY OF MULHORANDThroughout its history, Mulhorand hasbeen a tool-using culture. The inventionof magic has substituted for some of thefunctions of tools, but magic is rare.

Only the dwarves can call themselvesmore technically advanced than the an-cient Mulhorandi. Between the Firstand Second Empires, political stabilityand a historically secure border withUnther enabled the Mulhorandi to de-velop new technologies.

At this time, the ancient khopesh be-came a sturdier, scimitar-like weapon,and a number of swords were devel-oped. Sages of Thoth, interested in thedevelopment of Mulhorandi weaponry,examined the ruins of Sekras and dis-covered that experimentation in weap-ons thrived between -700 and -200 DR.By the beginning of the Second Empire,the sword had become firmly estab-lished as the weapon of choice for theMulhorandi armies.

Furthermore, there is evidence tosuggest that trading between thedwarves of the Great Rift and Mulho-randi gave the humans the secrets offorging steel. It was steel weapons thatenabled Mulhorand to carve out an em-pire in the north. This more or lessended Mulhorandi developments inweaponry. Meanwhile the gods, whowere more conservative than their fol-lowers, still used weapons of highly en-chanted bronze.

Most of the weapons employed in thewest, with the exception of the pike andother polearms, are used by warriors inMulhorand. The preferred rangedweapon has always been the compositebow, which came into prominence dur-ing the First Empire. It played a majorrole in the victory in the Orcgate Wars.

Armor in Mulhorand was typicallyscale mail, but has since evolved to in-clude chain and plate mail. Full plate ar-mor is exceedingly rare, possessed onlyby the greatest fighters. Armor may beworn only by authorized guards or bysoldiers in wartime; if others are caughtin armor, they are required to surren-der it immediately. If they resist, theyare imprisoned or exiled. Armor was

traditionally made from bronze, butnow it is constructed from steel.

A number of other technical innova-tions occurred between the First andSecond Empires, notably the inventionof the wheel and the block and tackle.The wheel led to the invention of thechariot, which gave warriors additionalprotection in battle and enabled themto maneuver on the battlefield far morequickly. The block and tackle enabledbuildings to be constructed more easily(the great pyramids of the First Empirewere all constructed without thesetools, relying instead on humanstrength and teamwork).

The most interesting of the technicalinnovations, though, was the inventionof the pressure engine. The priests ofThoth devised a way to use dams andengines to harness the power of Mulho-rand�s rivers, which they used to grindgrain and pump water into far reachesof the desert, fertilizing the desert soil.A period of desert settlement followed.It ended when the pharaoh disap-proved of a plan to build a huge dam onthe River of Spears, feeling that techno-logical innovation had gone too far. Heordered all development on river andsteam technology ended.

Eventually the engines fell into disre-pair, though a few steam engines, pow-ered by stones of everburning, yetpump water into isolated areas. Therehas recently been a rebirth of interestamong a small faction of Thoth priests,known as the Technologists. They aredefying the ancient order against work-ing with steam technology and are try-ing to rediscover the secrets of theancients, master them, then see whatelse can be done with this weird formof magic.

The traditional form of magic contin-ued to thrive in Mulhorand. Even be-fore the founding of the Old Empires,the mages of Raurin had discovered theexistence of Great Magic�8th- and 9th-level spells. Like many others, their de-scendants in Mulhorand tried forcenturies to discover 10th-level spells,but they eventually became convinced

that spell effects for mortals and im-mortals alike cannot go beyond the 9th.

Instead, the mages researched manyspells, which eventually became part oftheir legacy to the Old Empires. Re-cently, they have developed numerousnew spells (see the �New Spells� sec-tion), but they have altered the lan-guage of their magic to make itextremely difficult to teach these spellsto non-Mulhorandi. Even the mages ofSet, who have learned these spells, donot teach them to outsiders (they be-lieve that they are destined to rule Mul-horand, and they have no wish to seethese new spells fall into the hands ofthe Red Wizards, their arch-enemies).

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PEOPLE AND SOCIETY OF UNTHER“How great are the Mulan, of which Un-ther is the purest! How great are theirworks, how cunningly wrought! Howskilled are their minds and how mightyis their magic! Let all nations praise theMulan, of which Unther is the purest!”

�A hymn of the priests of Gilgeam

The people of Unther are divided into anumber of different racial types. Themost common race is the Mulan, whichis also the race of the god-kings of Mul-horand. As mentioned earlier, a race oftall, slim, sallow-skinned humansknown as the Mulan fled the destruc-tion of their parent civilization inRaurin and settled around the AlamberSea and the Wizard�s Reach. The Mulancleared their land of demihumans, hu-manoids, and the native humans, thedark-skinned Turami. Many of the lat-ter were taken in by Mulhorand, wherethey were responsible for most of thegreat achievements of that culture.

The upper classes of Unther consist al-most entirely of Mulans, descendants ofthe lords of all. They have bred almostexclusively within their own familiesand claim to be �pure� Mulan (as op-posed to those of Mulhorand). The mid-dle classes of Unther consist ofmerchants and freeholders, whose fore-fathers were originally traders frommany lands; they are always human, butvary greatly in racial type. The lowerclasses are either poorly paid servants offreeholders or slaves. These can be ofany race�human, demihuman, or evenhumanoid (enslaved ogres are some-times used to construct buildings).

The Population ofUnther

There are three social classes inUnther:

The NobilityThe chief noble of Unther is the king,who is currently (and has been for overa millennium) Gilgeam the Great, themanifestation of an extra-planar Power.

Unlike the god-kings of Mulhorand,who are known to treat their domin-ions with benign neglect, Gilgeam is nei-ther benign nor neglectful.

The administrators and major land-holders of Unther are the priests of Gil-geam. Priests and prominent followersof Gilgeam hold every major position inthe cities of Unther, in its armies, and inits bureaucracy. To worship another de-ity, even Ramman or Ishtar, whose wor-ship is (reluctantly) approved byGilgeam, is to exile one�s self from anypossible position of political power.

Members of the noble class live veryluxurious lives in the Palace District ofUnthalass; their every whim is satisfiedby their slaves�and by the treasury ofUnther. It is a tradition in Unther thatthe gods are not always kind, that life ishard, and that one must worship thegods in spite of this, rather than relyingon their beneficence. The idea that thepeople of Unther would not appreciatebeing taxed to pay for the extravaganceof the nobility has not occurred tothem. Their attitude is: yes, the cities ofthe North Coast and Chessenta didrebel, but they were ingrates with toomuch foreign blood in their veins. Thewords �it could never happen here� areoften heard in the palaces of Unthalass.

The number of nobles in Unther ismuch smaller than in other nations.This is unusual, especially given thelong history of the kingdom. Many no-ble families have fallen from favor; in aperiod of a few months a family couldchange from being the king�s favoritesto having all of its lands confiscated andall family members sold into slavery.Families frequently fall from favor;someone must take the blame for thecatastrophes that befall Unther (theblame cannot be directed at the king, ashe is never wrong).

It is very rare for members of the un-derclasses to be promoted into the no-bility. In these cases, the new nobleswere all servants of the priesthood ofGilgeam who rose to favor (they mustalso be pure-blooded Mulan). Usuallythe new nobles were grandchildren of

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fallen nobles and are being restored totheir ancestors� status after decades offaithful service.

Nobles in Unther wear the badges oftheir house and station and often painttheir faces silver, especially on ceremo-nial occasions. They once used the fore-head circles still displayed by nobles inMulhorand, but those fell out of fashion.

Noble Titles in UntherTitles in Unther include �Great Lord�(for the favorites of the King), �HighLord� (for the high priests of the King),and �Lord� (for other Mulan nobles). Thefirst-born male in Unther is the heir ofthe estate and known as �Young Lord�;other children are sent into the priest-hood, the military, minor posts in the bu-reaucracy, or the wizardry schools.

All nobles and their children aretaught how to read, write, and do basiccalculations.

The Middle ClassThe middle class in Unther consists oflow-level bureaucrats (scribes), guardsand military commanders, traders,teachers, and freehold owners.

Unlike the situation in Mulhorand, thegovernment of Unther does not have astranglehold on its economy. It considersoperating trading companies and miningoperations to be a task beneath the dig-nity of any civilized Mulan, so it has al-lowed freeholders, who are wealthyforeigners, to run these operations,which are taxed heavily. There areabout an equal number of freeholdfarms and temple-run farms. Due to re-cent drought conditions, Unther im-ports about 30% of its food from Thay,and there are often severe shortages.

The freeholders run their operationsto make money and would rather lettheir slaves go hungry than buy enoughfood to give them a reasonable meal.Freeholders force their slaves (or hiredfreemen, in times of slave shortages) towork hard hours for little pay. It shouldbe noted that there are more sensibleand humane managers, especially near

Shussel, but these are the exceptionand not the rule.

Traders are more compassionate. Anumber of trading companies fromDurpar and the far south travelthrough Mulhorand into Unther, butthe expenses and risks of travelingmake these goods very expensive.Most traders pay protection money toFurifax and some of the other promi-nent bandit chiefs of the Eastern Shaar.There are a number of trading compan-ies stationed in Unthalass that buygoods from southern traders, then sellthem in Chessenta or Thay.

A third middle class career is that of asoldier. A livable wage can be earnedas a city guard, bouncer, bodyguard, oras an escort for a merchant caravan.

Most members of the Untheric mid-dle class who enter the army becomeofficers, although their battle tacticsand methods are considered to be old-fashioned by the standards of the west(the army of Unther still uses mostlybronze weapons).

The middle class is generally incapableof prospering in Unther due to restric-tive taxation. Those with contacts inother lands who still see potential busi-ness in Unther have been encouragingcertain idealistic adventurers to come toUnther and fight against the govern-ment, in the hopes that Gilgeam and hispriests will be overthrown and a morefavorable regime will come to power.

SlavesSlaves are the lowest form of life in Un-ther. Unlike Mulhorand, where slaveshave the protection of the law and some-times seem to have favorable treatmentas church property, the slaves in Untherhave no rights. If a freeman murders aslave, he may have to pay financial com-pensation to its owner, or give him a newslave, but the slave�s life is not consid-ered to be very important.

Slaves may belong to either freeholdsor the temple of Gilgeam. It is a com-mon practice to brand slaves on thebacks of their left arms. This identifiesthe person as a slave (in the event he es-

capes) and who he belongs to. If theslave is purchased, he is branded againbelow the original mark. Some slavesmay have as many as five or six brands.They are typically bought from othernations, or are given slavery as a sen-tence for some crimes. When there is ashortage of slaves, officials of the tem-ple of Gilgeam sometimes convict peo-ple of nonexistent crimes and thensentence them to slavery on the spot.This is known as �Gilgeam�s Justice.�

Slaves perform nearly every functionnecessary for Unther to survive, fromgrowing food, to mining, to buildingmonuments.

The Society ofUntherIn essence, the society of Unther is oneof the most miserable tyrannies that theRealms have ever known. The Overall,the governing powers in Unther, arelawful evil, but many of their enforcersare chaotic evils with no respect for thelaw. Ruling this society is a once benefi-cent deity who has been corrupted bylong years of absolute power. At hissides are his lackeys, who have no re-gard for human life and less regard fornon-humans. The vast underclasseshave no hope; their goal is not to pros-per but to survive. They have finally be-gun to see that the only way to ensuretheir survival is the one thing their an-cestors considered unthinkable�theforced removal of the god-king Gilgeamfrom power and the destruction of thenobility of Unther.

Thus at present Unther is an ex-tremely chaotic society. Each memberof the society is either trying to figureout a way to come out on top in the newregime, or how to survive the comingbloodbath. The only possible exceptionto this might be the king, who is so en-thralled with his own personal pleasureand so convinced that he is invinciblethat he feels no force in the Realmscould topple him. Perhaps even worsefor Unther are the number of foreignpowers that are looking on and waiting

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for the resolution of this civil strife, inthe hopes that they can plunder the an-cient secrets of this once great land.

Current Economy ofUnther“It is Fate that wills that slaves must la-bor all their lives for the good of Un-ther. I know that it is folly for the godsto challenge Fate.”

�Gilgeam

Unther is a slave-based economy thatproduces minerals for sale, serves as atrade route for southern merchants,and a market for foodstuffs.

While there are farms in the Green-fields that produce barley, rice, andother staples of Unther�s diet, 25% ofthe food consumed in Unther is pro-duced elsewhere. Half of the food inUnther is bought by the priests of Gil-geam for their use and the use of theirslaves, and the other half is bought byfreemen to feed themselves and theirslaves. When food is in short supply, theslaves go hungry first.

The major products produced by Un-ther are raw metals, most notably iron,which is extremely valuable in its pureform, as well as some gold. It is thistrade that allows the nation to survive.Although there are forests in Unther,they are too far from the trade routesto make lumber a profitable resource,and there are fierce monsters thatwould need to be eliminated first. Thismay become a commodity for Unther atsome later date.

The coin of Unther is the sheka, amuch-debased gold piece. It is not worthmuch to foreign merchants. True wealthin Unther is foodstuffs and cattle, whichcan be traded for virtually anything.

Politics of UntherThe center of power, as it always hasbeen, and as the rulers claim it alwaysshall be by the decree of Fate itself, isthe god-king, currently Gilgeam.

Gilgeam is a symbol of eternity andconstancy; even the oldest man in Un-

ther remembers Gilgeam as his king,and Gilgeam has not changed. The phi-losophy of Unther has always been thatlife is hard, and the ability to endurehardship is the greatest virtue, no mat-ter how unfair that hardship may be. Itis this philosophy of life that has al-lowed Gilgeam to survive as the king ofUnther for so long, and it is this philoso-phy that makes Gilgeam so confidentthat he can continue to survive.

Since even a god cannot administerevery affair in the entire realm, he givesmuch of his power to administrators.The priests of Gilgeam are the adminis-trators of Unther. Much of Gilgeam�stime is given to pursuing personal plea-sures, so the priesthood does the major-ity of the day-to-day work, though theking insists that every major decision bemade by him.

The nation is divided into 13 fiefs,each of which has a Great Lord whooversees that territory. Followers of Gil-geam who own large tracts of land areLords, and they are expected to assistthe Great Lords in the administration ofthe realm.

This is the nation�s political structurein theory. In fact, many of the GreatLords live in Unthalass and rely on re-ports from administrators stationed inoutposts to give them reports from theirfiefs. Great Lords often maintain resi-dences in each of the major towns andcities of their fiefs, but they usually ig-nore them, allowing the lesser Lords tobully the people whenever they want.The Great Lords� chief responsibility isto make certain that all taxes are paid.Great Lords are notorious for chargingeven more than the recommended taxand pocketing the difference.

At present, Unther is extremely un-stable and may collapse. Here is a list ofthe major factions, the leaders of eachfaction, and their intended plans for thefuture.

Gilgeam: This faction includes the fol-lowers of the deity Gilgeam, who is thetraditional god of Unther. Gilgeamdoesn�t believe that there is a politicalproblem in Unther, and that if there

was one, he would defeat whoeverchallenged him in battle and then de-stroy their followers with great ease.He laughs at the cult of Tiamat anddoesn�t know about the Dark Lady. Heis filled with hatred for the bandit Furi-fax, whom he wishes to kill with hisbare hands.

His followers include the Great Lordsof the cities:

Gudea (13th-level fighter, ruler ofSsintar): He knows that it is suicide totell the king the truth about how des-perate the situation is, so he�s been talk-ing in secret with Furifax and the cult ofTiamat trying to ensure his continuedsurvival if Gilgeam falls. He is a naturalpessimist who deals in worst case sce-narios. He has no leadership ambitions.

Tukulti (10th-level mage, ruler of Fire-trees): Tukulti is a fool who feels thatthe rebellions are minor problems,mainly because he hasn�t been touched.He is jealous of all the other GreatLords, with good reason. He wants tobe the King�s right-hand man, but hehasn�t a chance.

Teumman (6th-level fighter, ruler ofDalath): He is mostly concerned withlining his pockets from freeholders�money and crushing all local trouble.He doesn�t care about what�s going onelsewhere, and he has no ambitions.

Annunaki (10th-level cleric of Gilgeam,ruler of Messemprar): Annunaki is one ofthe most brutal of all the Great Lords, aswell as the most scheming and ambitious.He would like the king to settle down andleave governing Unther to him.

At present, he is more concernedwith surviving the siege of the palacedistrict. He is too proud to negotiatewith the �underclasses� and will neversurrender.

Ekur (8th-level cleric of Gilgeam,ruler of Shussel): He is a marginallycompetent but vicious ruler. Ekur ispromising concessions to the priest-hood of Isis should they give the kingtheir support in case of a rebellion. Thepriestesses of Isis are too smart to be-lieve him. He believes that a catastropheis at hand, and he wants to ally withsomeone who can protect him in case

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Gilgeam is destroyed.Karigulzu (4th-level cleric of Gilgeam,

ruler of Red Haven): Karigulzu is a mi-nor priest sent as a sacrificial lamb tothe most dangerous town in Unther. Hebelieves that he�s more clever than heactually is. He sees himself as one daybeing the most powerful man in Un-ther, though he is too stupid to dream ofbeing disloyal to Gilgeam.

Zimrilim (10th-level cleric of Gilgeam,ruler of Unthalass): Zimrilim is a bril-liant man, the right-hand of Gilgeam. Heis aware that he has a lot of rivals for hisposition and that he is the most likelyscapegoat for the current difficultiesthat Unther is experiencing. Zimrilimplans to import as many Chessentanmercenaries as needed to crush all op-position, and then he hopes that themercenaries will go away when the re-bellion is crushed.

Shuruppak (20th-level fighter, 7th-level mage): Shuruppak is the execu-tioner and assassin of Gilgeam. Hewants to kill people. He doesn�t haveany ambitions, as long as he can kill hisenemies. (See �Personalities of Unther�for his statistics.)

The Gilgeam faction controls thearmy, is loyal to Gilgeam, and is by farthe richest faction in Unther.

The Cult of Tiamat: This cult believesthat the gods are evil and therefore themythological enemy of the gods, theDragon Queen Tiamat, must be good.This is a rather simplistic view, but inharsh times, people tend to look atthings in black and white. This cult isgetting widespread support through-out Unther as the only ones willing tostand up against Gilgeam, though thepriests of Gilgeam do not yet realizehow powerful the cult is becoming, orthat an incarnation of Tiamat is presentin Unther. Its leadership and major al-lies are as follows:

Tiglath (14th-level cleric of Tiamat,Firetrees): Tiglath is a rather pleasant ifvengeful woman. She isn�t interested inpolitical power, she just wants to destroyGilgeam, and the cult of Tiamat is a

means to an end. (See �Personalities ofUnther� for more detailed information.)

Shudu-Ab (10th-level cleric of Tiamat,Unthalass): Shudu-Ab is the leader ofthe cult of Tiamat in the city of Untha-lass. She is a vicious woman who seesthe cult as her means to power. Sheplans to assassinate Tiglath when therebellion is over and take control of Un-ther as Tiamat�s regent.

Furifax (13th-level fighter, EasternShaar): While not a servant of Tiamat,he has allied his vast band of bandits(2,000 elite troops with horse, plate mailand shield, and long sword) with thecult and has already fomented revolt.(See �Personalities of Unther� for moredetails.)

Skuthsiin (Green dragon, Methwood):This beast has been ordered to beTiglath�s mount in battle. (See �Person-alities of Unther� for more details).

The Priesthood of Ishtar: This priest-hood is based in Shussel. At present thisfaction is trying to stay neutral in thegrowing rebellion against Gilgeam, butthe recent attacks against her cult byGilgeam�s priests have not endeared herto the group. The leaders of the priest-hood are as follows:

Ibalpiel (10th-level cleric of Ishtar,Shussel): Ibalpiel is the high priestess ofIshtar. She is dismayed by any prospectof bloodshed and wishes to keep the cultaway from the fighting. She is the mostpowerful priestess of the cult, but shehas lost much of her authority since shetook an unpopular stand on this issue.

Utuhegel (6th-level cleric of Ishtar,Unthalass): She is the chief priestess ofIshtar in Unthalass. She believes verystrongly that Ishtar must oppose Gil-geam, and is trying to rally together thepriestesses around her.

The Priesthood of Ramman: Thispriesthood is based in the Greenfieldsbut has a large temple in Unthalass.They really don�t care about the revolt;they believe the priests of Gilgeam willcrush it easily and sell the survivors toThay. They are not a factor in the poli-tics of Unther.

The Northern Wizards: This is one ofthe two factions of wizards in Unther;this order is based in Messemprar. His-torically they have seen themselves asthe protectors of Messemprar. Theyhave sworn an oath to protect it and itscitizens from those who would do themharm. When the revolt started in Mes-semprar, the wizards realized that theirenemy was now the army of Unther.

Their goal is to keep the army out, tryto quiet the rebellion, then negotiatewith Gilgeam for a peaceful settlementand a guarantee of an increased foodsupply. Given that the Reaper is in Mes-semprar to hunt and kill down the mem-bers of the Northern Wizards, theirefforts are probably doomed to failure.

There are six wizards of 10th level orhigher, and about 30 apprentices of 5th-8th level. The leaders are as follows:

Shurlash (16th-level mage, Messem-prar): Shurlash is easily the most pow-erful wizard of northern Unther. He isrenowned for his honor and his hon-esty, but tends to be blinded to thewickedness of others, believing that ev-eryone is really good inside.

Larsa (13th-level mage, Messemprar):Larsa is Shurlash�s closest friend andvery much like him in philosophy.

Nimrud (12th-level mage, Messem-prar): Unlike the other wizards,Nimrud is pessimistic and believes thatGilgeam is going to butcher everyonehe can once the rebellion is done. He be-lieves that Gilgeam must be overthrownfor the continued survival of Unther.

Ziusudra (11th-level mage, Messem-prar): A rather cowardly wizard, hewould like to leave Messemprar as soonas possible and find someplace safe.

Asshurat (11th-level mage, Messem-prar): This sorceress believes that apeaceful solution is the only sane an-swer to the problems of Unther. Shealso realizes that they should be waryof possible treachery.

Tammuz (10th-level mage, Messem-prar): Tammuz is having fun; he thinksthat the rebellion is much more excitingthan studying spells all day. He�s child-ish, immature, and no one pays muchattention to him.

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Borsipa (7th-level mage, Messem-prar): This apprentice, one of the mostpowerful, is actually a spy for Gilgeamand his priesthood. She frequentlysends messenger birds to a Gilgeam out-post, and is the Reaper�s contact in Mes-semprar. Her current duty is to helphim assassinate the Northern Wizards,and she has no qualms about carryingout that duty.

The Slave Revolt: There are a numberof prominent leaders of the revoltagainst the rule of the Gilgeamites.These leaders are as follows:

Dama (10th-level fighter, Messem-prar): Dama is a former gladiator fromChessenta who was captured by Thay-vian slavers, then sold to a wealthy free-holder in Unther.

He is a highly charismatic demagogue(Charisma 17) with great strength(Strength 18/84). His goal is to create asmuch trouble as he can and bring thepriests of Gilgeam to their knees; he isruthless in dealing with people whohave more moderate views. He is cha-otic neutral, with some evil tendencies.

Ruduk (8th-level enchanter, Messem-prar): Ruduk is an agent of Lauzoril,one of the Red Wizards of Thay.Lauzoril wishes to destabilize Unther,in the hopes that Thay may capturepermanent bases on the South Coast.

Lauzoril does not wish, however, forthe Red Wizards to be associated withthe current unrest, so he has given Ru-duk a great deal of autonomy. Ruduk isworking behind the scenes, usingcharm spells to sit up unrest. Rudukisn�t really interested in Unther; he�strying to advance his fortunes with theRed Wizards.

The Traders: The merchants of Untherform the bulk of the foreigners that livein the country at the present time.

The traders wish for lower taxes andtariffs, in the hopes that can buy and sellmore goods. They have not, however,taken a united stand on the current un-rest. Some merchants believe the onlyway to make things better is to over-throw Gilgeam; these traders are send-

ing agents to hire mercenary companiesfrom Chessenta to aid the rebels in Mes-semprar. Others believe that if they sup-port Gilgeam and he wins, they�ll havegreater influence in Unther. The major-ity, however, are taking a �wait and see�position. Some important charactersamong the traders are as follows:

Avid (1st-level mage, wanders): Thisyoung wizard is from Durpar. His fa-ther�s largest caravan was confiscatedby the priests of Unther due to �a localemergency.� This caused his father�strading company to collapse and his fa-ther to take his own life. Avid has cometo Unther for the sole reason of gettingrevenge on the priests of Gilgeam by en-couraging the rebellion. He has been aleader among the foreign traders whowant Gilgeam removed from the plain.

Jehokim (5th-level fighter, Unthalass):Jehokim is an old adventurer who founda great treasure and retired to run sev-eral inns across Unther. (There is at leastone Grey Chimera inn in each major cityof Unther and Mulhorand; Jehokim isthe owner of each of these and rentsthem out to others for a share of theprofits.) Jehokim is the leader of the �let�sget on Gilgeam�s good side� movement.He is willing to do anything he can to im-prove his fortunes, including namingtraitors to the priests of Gilgeam.

The Enclave: This is the most power-ful cabal of wizards in Unther; only thepriests of Thoth rival them in the south.The Enclave feels that it should stayneutral in this conflict, but not all mem-bers agree. For more information, see�Personalities of Unther,� Isimud andEsarhadden.

The Laws of Unther“Justice is dead in Unther! The priestsof Gilgeam mock its corpse and, drunkwith blood, dance upon its grave!”�Dama the Demagogue of Messemprar

It may seem like there are no laws inUnther; in practice, this is correct. Es-sentially nobles may do what theywant, including breaking agreements

(just refusal of services), confiscation,murder (summary execution), and evenmore hideous deeds.

However, this has not always beenthe case. The ancient law of Enlil wasthe code that Unther has followed, atleast until the last two centuries. Itsprinciples called for �justice, the de-struction of evil and wickedness so thestrong shall not oppress the weak, andthe land shall be enlightened.� The codeof Enlil is a collection of case laws, de-scribing all sorts of crimes and the ap-propriate punishments.

Most of these punishments are of the�an eye for an eye� sort. Murder is pun-ishable by death, in all cases. Thieveswould have a hand removed if caughtin an act of thievery. The code of Enlilalso enforced the idea that a laborerwas responsible for any accidentscaused by the imperfections of his la-bors; if a house collapsed on a man be-cause it was poorly constructed, thebuilder would be put to death. The codeof Enlil was severe, even by the stand-ards of the Realms, but at least it wasconsistent and fair. Laws applied to allclasses of society, including slaves (whoare now far more numerous than theywere even in the days of the SecondEmpire). In the days of the Second Em-pire, slaves could be rewarded withmoney, and might even borrow moneyto purchase their freedom!

Justice was the province of thepriests of Enlil. Upon Enlil�s departurefrom the Realms, this duty passed to thepriests of Gilgeam. Regional justiceswere appointed by the king to overseejustice and to protect the code of Enlil;these justices are still appointed andstill swear an oath to uphold the code,but at best the judges of Unther are in-different to injustice, and at worst theyuse their position to bully, steal, andmurder as they will.

If two nobles have a quarrel, theytake their dispute to the king, who hasthe right to decide the issue. The kinggenerally supports his favorite of thetwo nobles, though he is lenient in hispunishment unless he dislikes the los-ing noble. If a foreigner has a dispute

against a noble or freeholder, the for-eigner always loses. If, on the otherhand, two foreigners have a dispute inUnther, they may both end up as slavesfor wasting the time of the king and hisservants with trivial matters.

Because there is no real law in Un-ther, most freeholders and traders relyon assassins to resolve their disputes.These assassins are usually Chessentanmercenaries and cutthroats, many ofwhom are skilled poisoners. Some trad-ers use mercenaries as hired muscle tothreaten those who do not pay theirdebts on time.

The Army of UntherThe ultimate form of justice in Untheris the army. Lately the army of Untherhas increasingly relied on Chessentanmercenaries (as does Mulhorand), butUnther still keeps a standing army.

The army of Unther is considered tobe backward and poorly trained; its sol-diers are little better than slaves and itsofficers are often bullies, second andthird sons from noble families whowere forced into a military career be-cause they did not stand to inherit any-thing. The weapons and armor used byUnther are bronze swords and platemail; missile weapons include a com-posite short bow that fires flight ar-rows. The only cavalry units arecharioteers. There is no air cavalry.

The standing army of Unther is10,000. Of these, 2,000 are bowmenand 1,000 are cavalry. The main forcenumbers 4,000 and is based in Untha-lass, though recently it fought in Mes-semprar against the Northern Wizards.The army is typically divided into unitsof 60; 1st- to 3rd-level fighters lead eachunit. There are also 12 mages, of levels3-6, with the main force; these mageshave sworn allegiance to Gilgeam.

The main fleet in Unthalass was at-tacked by pirates three years ago. Allbut five ships were destroyed or cap-tured; one of the captured ships wasone of the greatest magical relics of therealm, the Ship of the Gods.

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GEOGRAPHY OF UNTHERGeneral Description“This land is nature’s plaything, onelives or dies according to her whims.”

�Saying of the priestesses of Ishtar

Mighty Unther�s land holdings are nowonly a fraction of what they used to be.Once they extended far to the west,north, and south. Unther was once con-sidered greater than Mulhorand, forUnther was larger and more aggres-sive. Unther still cannot be consideredto be a small nation, but it is truly a na-tion in decline.

Unther�s eastern border is the Alam-ber Sea, which it shares with Mulho-rand. The border extends from thewest coast of the Alamber Sea down theRiver of Swords to Lake Azulduth, theLake of Salt. West of Azulduth, Unthercontrols territory to Unthangol Pass,then the border turns north to theSmoky Mountains and Methwood. TheWinding River and Lake Meth form thewestern boundary, which winds itsway north to Messemprar at the mouthof the River of Metals, on the edge ofthe Alamber Sea. The Riders to the SkyMountains are claimed by both Untherand Chessenta, though Chessenta is notin a condition to contest the claim.

Topographically, Unther is dividedinto a number of different regions. Thelowlands around the crescent of thesouth end of the Alamber Sea, knownas Menesankh, the Plain of Life, areshared with Mulhorand. These are fer-tile fields that are irrigated by the riversat the southern end of the Alamber Sea,most notably the River of Swords andthe River Angol; this region extends asfar north as Red Haven.

The second region is the Marthessel,the Smoky Mountains, which extendsin a chain as far east as Chondath, andincludes the Adder Mountains. This isan area of rough hills, rugged coast, andactive volcanoes. The mountains arehigh, but are not as high as the SwordMountains in Mulhorand. There arefrequent earthquakes in the southernportion of this region, and few humans

live there. The Ship of the Gods, the is-land in the Alamber Sea, is consideredto belong to this chain.

The third region, which covers mostof the realm, is the Methtir, or NorthernPlains. These lowlands extend eastfrom the Riders to the Sky Mountains tothe Alamber. It is an area of wild woodsand arid grasslands.

There are a number of agriculturalproducts grown in Unther; the Turamipeoples that first inhabited the Green-fields had been farmers and hadfarmed the Menesankh lands for thou-sands of years before the Mulan emi-grated from Raurin. The primarygrains are barley and rice (which wasonly recently introduced into Mulho-rand). Sesame seeds are grown andmade into oil, and flax is grown to makecloth. There are many herd animals;sheep (there are over 200 words in Un-theric to describe sheep), oxen, cattle,goats, and donkeys are all raised for do-mestic use. Lately the fields have beenless productive, and the Untheri havebeen forced to buy foodstuffs fromThay at high prices.

There are few trees in Unther, withthe exception of the Methwood. Noneare felled, if only because the monstersof the Methwood make the practicehighly unsafe.

River of SwordsThis long river forms the eastern bor-der of Unther. The western tributary,the Blue Sword River, lies entirely inUnther, as its border extends as far eastas the Green Sword River and LakeAzulduth. There are no Untheric settle-ments or farms on this river, aside froma few small outposts. These outpostswere recently captured by the banditchief Furifax.

For more information on the River ofSwords, see Mulhorand.

River AngolThis swift waterway has its source inthe springs of the Unthangol Moun-

tains. It is famous for its unpredictablefloods. Near the mouth of this river arelarge farms tended by slaves owned bythe king. Dikes have been build to con-tain floods, but at least once in everyten years there is one flood that spillsover, and at least once every 50 yearsthere is a major catastrophic flood.

Recently the slaves of the River Angolfarms were freed by Furifax, who in-tends to use them as part of his invasionforce of the Greenfields.

The GreenfieldsHistorically, the Greenfields have beenthe breadbasket of Unther, especiallynow that the fertility of its extremelyrich soil is enhanced by magic. Thefarms in this region are generally pri-vately owned and tended by slaves.About 70% of Unther�s food comesfrom this region.

This region is also known for beingthe home of androsphinxes and gynos-phinxes, which occasionally raid cattlefarms whose herds graze in this area.Large bounties are placed on the headsof sphinxes, but the moneys offered areso small that no one who has the powerto challenge these beasts will accept therisk. Slaves are sometimes sent to huntthem; few that run into a gynosphinxreturn home.

This area is frequently raided by ban-dits, and a garrison of 1,000 militia sol-diers is permanently stationed in thearea. They are generally considered notto have the resources to challenge thestrategically superior and better armedbandits.

On the west side of the Greenfields isa group of mysterious mages known asthe Enclave. They have no known loyal-ties to any of the factions in Unther,though they have angered the king byrefusing his summons on several occa-sions and not paying their taxes. It issaid to be one of the most knowledge-able cabals of wizards in the entireRealms, but none have entered theirchambers or knows their true power.

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River AlamberThis very long and swift river forms thewestern boundary of the Greenfields. Itssource is a network of streams on thenorthern side of the Unthangol Moun-tains. It provides needed sediment forthe Greenfields, but, like the RiverAngol, it is unpredictable in its floods (ex-cept that its major floods usually occurin the same year as the River Angol�s). Itsfloods are so severe that the city of Un-thalass has nearly been destroyed twiceby them in recorded history.

East of Alamber is the Greenfields,while west of Alamber is the desolationknown as the Black Ash Plain. Thereare two settlements along the Alamberriver: Unthalass, capital of Unther, liesat its mouth, while the town of Fire-trees is downstream.

Black Ash PlainThis large area extends south from theSmoky Mountains as far as the AlamberRiver. The region gets its name from theash spewed onto the plain by the SmokyMountains, though �grey soot� wouldbe a more appropriate name, except di-rectly after an eruption, which occursfrequently.

There are no human habitationshere. Brown dragons tunnel happilythrough the soot and through the rockyvolcanic soil, and a tribe of black-skinned stone giants (locally referred toas ash giants) lives in the dormantmountains on the eastern edge of theplains. The soil is not fertile, though ashfrom these plains mixed with irrigablesoil has been known to increase thesoil�s fertility.

The Smoky MountainsThe Smoky Mountains is a chain of vol-canoes that run across Unther fromwest to east. There are two branches ofthese mountains. The eastern branch isdormant, with occasional puffs ofsteam exiting its vents, but few erup-tions. The western branch is more ac-tive, with two volcanoes in particular,Mt. Fussel, and Mt. Temmikant, erupt-

ing frequently. A venerable red dragonlives on Mt. Temmikant; its name is Guy-anothaz. It is as harmless as a venerablered dragon can be�centuries ago, anadventuring company known as theDragon�s Bane attacked it, blinded it,and stole most of its hoard. It guardswhat few gems and coins it has left andsurvives by eating pumice stones. Itknows every inch of its lair, but it is toofrightened to venture into the open.

Mount Fussel is known to be thehome of a number of flocks of dreadedpyrolisks, and it is said that salaman-ders swim in its molten core.

MethwoodThis large, hot woodland is filled withcypress, date palms, cedar, juniper, andmulberry trees, with lots of vinegrowth. The vegetation is very thickand difficult to travel through withoutusing a blade to cut the thick vines. Inancient times, Unther had a number ofdruids and nature worshipers whobuilt great, tiered homes in the trees;now there are no intelligent creaturesnative to these woods.

Near the center of the forest are quitea few groups of vicious chimerae, eachof which guards its territory fiercely.The old green dragon Skuthosiin scoursthe edges of Methwood and beyond insearch of food.

There are a number of elephants,monkeys, leopards, and other, less dan-gerous, creatures within the confinesof this forest.

It is said that within the heart ofMethwood are the ruins of a great lostcity of the original Turami inhabitantsof Unther. If so, it has never beenfound, not even by the adventurers ofUnther at its zenith, and most dismissthis legend as mere fancy.

MethmereThis long, narrow lake has a windingcoastline. It is a clear blue lake, backedon the west by the Riders to the SkyMountains. Several plesiosaurs swim inthe depths of this lake, and bandits use

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isolated settlements on this coastline asbases. A number of fishing vessels alsoply the waters; at least two dozen regis-tered craft sail the lake at peak time. Thelake is known for its large population ofsalmon, trout, and bass. There are nomajor settlements near Methmere. TheWinding River, an extremely swift andtreacherous waterway, flows intoMethmere, and the River of Metals,which is far slower than its westerncounterpart, flows from Methmere intothe Alamber Sea at Messemprar.

The Winding RiverThis is the longest and wildest river inthe Old Empires; even the bravest ofnavigators refuse to travel on its churn-ing white waters. The lands around theriver are desolate, home only to mon-sters and beasts. There are rumors ofhermits and trolls living near the water,but none have confirmed this. Itssource is in the Adder Peaks.

River of MetalsThis river flows from Methmere intothe Alamber Sea at Messemprar. It getsits name because there are large de-posits of metals, especially gold, withinits muddy waters. There have been atleast two gold rushes at various pointsin the river, but few try to pan it thesedays. Messemprar is its only settlement.

Cities of UntherUnthalassAn age ago, Unthalass was the greatestcity in the Realms, a town of floweringgardens, white streets, and beautifulhomes. The city boasted of magnificentvistas of the Alamber Sea. The people ofthe city were confident and rich,dressed in bright clothing. Beneath thegreat ziggurats of the gods, there wasneither poverty or misery.

What changes an age makes! Cer-tainly no inhabitant of the City of Gemsat its zenith would recognize Unthalassnow.

Twice floods have nearly destroyedthe city, and both times the city neverfully recovered. The buildings are wornand cracked, and the paint of its ancientdecorations has long since faded.

The city is divided into three districts:the port district, the main district, andthe Palace. The port is sheltered by asea wall that extends three miles fromshore; there is one breach in the seawall where ships may come throughtwo at a time (depending on the size ofthe ships). The wall was recently dam-aged by pirates, but it is now nearly asgood as new. The port district is rela-tively clean and well stocked with serv-ices for trading ships and their crew,including hostels and taverns.

There is, however, a heavy port taxthat discourages many traders from us-ing Unthalass.

The main district is also known as theGreat Slums. Slaves and their mastersalike operate in their rundown build-ings, built on the ruins of previous tene-ments destroyed by flood.

The only bright objects on the streets

are the idols of Gilgeam that dot everycorner. All citizens who walk the streetsare obligated by law to bow their headsat his image as they pass.

These slums were built on top of theoriginal city of Unthalass that was de-stroyed by flood; there are legends ofgreat treasures buried in these ruins,but the undercity is also the home of anumber of very nasty monsters, nota-bly wererats. The undercity is said tobe ruled by a tribe of lamia, led by thelamia noble Ereshkigal. None have en-countered her and escaped alive, so thestories of the Queen of Tortures remainonly hushed whispers that are usuallyspoken in barrooms.

The most spectacular section of Un-thalass is the central mound of Gilgeam,which is raised above the city on the ru-ins of previous palaces. Behind the Im-perial Wall are beautiful homes for theprivileged, lush gardens, and the ziggu-rat of Gilgeam itself. This structure is astep pyramid whose levels are coveredin gold, silver, brass, bronze, and othermetals. At its peak is a shrine of blue-

enameled brickwork, capped by gold.The edges of the ziggurat are decoratedwith floral designs and studded withprecious stones. The ziggurat of Gil-geam rises for 16 tiers and is nearly 800feet in height, one of the largest struc-tures in the entire Realms. Here Gil-geam lives in luxury while the rest ofthe nation crumbles.

The city is governed by Zimrilim(10th-level cleric of Gilgeam). The popu-lation of Unthalass is about 70,000.

ShusselShussel is a city on the northern traderoute of Unther. It serves as a supplystation for fishermen and other dwell-ers by the sea. It used to be a miningcommunity, as there were large de-posits of iron in nearby hills, but thesewere exhausted long ago. The plains tothe north were once good farmland,but they are now desert.

Shussel is a city in decline. Three cen-turies ago its population was about70,000; it has now diminished to 25,000.

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The city is largely slums. It is ruled byLord Ekur (8th-level cleric of Gilgeam)and a large force of Chessentan merce-naries. There is a major temple of Ishtarhere; only their intervention preventsmost of the inhabitants from starving.The port facility is small and does notreceive much traffic, but is heavily for-tified to guard against the sahuagin.

MessemprarThis city was once the largest city in Un-ther and was a regular stop on a traderoute between Sultim, Bezantur, andMourktar. Now ships avoid the westcoast of the Alamber entirely.

The city is currently in chaos. Theroyal palace has been under siege by anangry mob for several weeks, as a taxrevolt escalated into food riots and thena full-scale revolt. Many city guardsmenhave been killed. The city is divided intoseveral factions: The lord and his guardcontrol the palace district, the North-ern Wizards control the southern sec-tion (and the city gates to the outside),and the �non-slaves� (ex-slaves whohave renounced their freedom) controlthe dock district.

Ships from Mourktar have been paidby certain adventurers in league withthe slaves to keep supplying the citywith food. A small army from Unthalasswas turned away by the wizards� guild.

Gilgeam has sent his assassin, theReaper, to kill off the wizards; he is alsohiring a mercenary army from Mor-dulkin to march on Messemprar. Hedoes not have the money to pay the mer-cenaries, which means the mercenarieswill have to exact their payment fromthe treasures of the city. The army willarrive at Messemprar in three weeks�time. It is likely that the army will de-stroy the city, unless the slaves get somehigh-level assistance and arms.

In normal times, the leader of the cityis Lord Annunaki (10th-level cleric ofGilgeam). The population of Messem-prar (for now) is 30,000.

FiretreesThis small town is noted for the fire-trees, from which it takes its name.These deciduous trees have red blos-soms that shine at night with a naturalphosphorescence.

Firetrees is a farming community onthe edge of the Greenfields; it has ware-houses where grain is stored, as well asfacilities to load caravans (the RiverAlamber is too fast for cargo to beshipped by water). The city holds feastsand festivals where the people of theGreenfields may relax from their la-bors. Firetrees is also the center of thecult of Tiamat, the most powerfulgroup in opposition to Gilgeam.

The city�s ruler is Lord Tukulti (10th-level wizard, in the service of Gilgeam).Tukulti is not a strong ruler; most of thepeople of Firetrees ignore him and hisedicts, or insult them openly.

The population of Firetrees is about7,000.

DalathDalath is a small mining town in the in-terior of Unther, near the easternSmoky Mountains. These mountainsand the surrounding hills are rich inmetals, gold, iron, copper, and lead.These are Unther�s largest exports;without the income from these miner-als, the economy would collapse.

Dalath is a rough-and-tumble placethat distrusts strangers and despisesthe king and his taxes. Most of Dalath�sinhabitants are slaves or freeholderswho have left their families behind inthe large cities to work here for several

years. The mines are run by freeholdmerchants who do not care for thesafety of their miners. The town ischronically undersupplied; it went onstrike ten years ago over lack of food,and the freeholders brought in merce-naries to slaughter the miners and thenreplaced them with more slaves.

The town is governed by Lord Teum-man Bloodletter (6th-level fighter), whoserves Gilgeam but is really under thethumb of the freeholders. The town hasa population of about 6,000.

SsintarThis is a small trading post set up nearthe edge of Methwood. The King has agarrison of about 1,000 troops sta-tioned here. These troops are here toprotect the coast from invasions fromMethwood and to march into Shussel intimes of trouble. There are mines onthe edge of Ssintar with substantial de-posits of copper and some iron. Thetown is governed by Lord Gudea (13th-level fighter) who is known for histoughness but is considered the mosthumane and honorable of Gilgeam�sLords.

The population of Ssintar is about4,000.

Red HavenThis is a small fishing village that lies onthe trade route between Shussel andUnthalass. It was once a much largertown, but recent attacks by sahuaginand pirates have decimated the popula-tion and sent many others fleeing to thesafety of the large cities. It is ruled byLord Karigulzu (4th-level cleric of Gil-geam), commonly referred to as �thatfat fop.� The population of Red Haven isabout 1,500.

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RELIGION OF UNTHER“I am All Religion, I am All Worship,none may breathe in Unther withoutblessing Me.”

�Gilgeam

In the beginning, the people of Untherused the Sumerian pantheon as theirown; these were the manifestationsclaimed by the god-kings who fled theruins of Raurin to settle in Unther.

Unlike Mulhorand, which cherisheseternity and unchanging continuity, re-ligion in Unther experienced majorchanges during its history.

The first big change occurred whenmany of the Sumerian deities died inthe Orcgate Wars. The Untheri foundmany new gods and goddesses to wor-ship, all belonging to the Babylonianpantheon.

Enlil himself retired; he appointed hisson, Gilgeam, as his successor as king ofthe gods. At first, Gilgeam was a justruler. But sometimes even the gods cango mad.

Gilgeam was a proud god-king. As thecenturies passed and Unther declinedin prosperity and influence, as taxesrose and the people�s hatred grew, Gil-geam became a cruel and jealous lord.

All other deities, with the exceptionof Ishtar and Ramman (who were toopopular to persecute) were banishedfrom the plane. Limits were eventuallyset on the number of worshipers thatIshtar and Ramman could have (andtheir temples would turn over half oftheir funds to Gilgeam), and all otherUntheri were obligated to worship Gil-geam alone.

However, trade with the otherRealms has imported a lot of foreign de-ities into Unther, which are worshipedin secret.

Central PantheonGilgeamMaster of Wars, Father of Victory, Godof the Sky and the Cities, SupremeRuler of Unther, Chessenta, Threskel,Chondath, Turmish, the Shaar, andYuirwood

Status: LE, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: A red fist backed by a gold sunagainst black

Spheres: Major�All, Charm, Combat,Elemental, Guardian, Protection,Summoning, Weather; Minor�Creation, Divination, Necromantic,Weather

Weapons Allowed: Mace, Staff, Staff-Sling, Flail

Armor Allowed: Scale

Ethos: Priests of Gilgeam are to obeytheir lord without question. They areto enforce his will. They are to slayhis enemies. They are to persecuteall who will not worship him. Theyare to smite the enemies of Unther.

Gilgeam is the supreme leader of thegods of Unther (what few are left) andruler of the land. His manifestation livesin Unthalass and has emerged from thecitadel many times to smite his enemieswith divine power. He is a god knownfor his jealousy, cruelty, and pride; he iscovetous of wealth, taxing the peopleheavily.

Gilgeam himself is a god of physicalprowess; if a warrior of great strengthand fighting ability is captured, Gilgeamwill offer him freedom if the warriorcan defeat him in a wrestling match.Then Gilgeam will kill him with his barehands.

Gilgeam has no incarnations, if onlybecause an incarnation of Gilgeammight be filled with the sense of justiceand honor that he himself lost long ago.Nor does Gilgeam have any heirs,though he enjoys the company ofwomen (a son could prove to be a threatto the security of his throne).

The cult of Gilgeam is the most power-ful in Unther, if only because few othercults are allowed. Idols to Gilgeam mustdecorate every street corner and everyhome, and those who deface his imagewill die. Gilgeam is a tall, handsome, verymuscular man with long, golden hairand beard. He typically wears kinglyrobes, but goes into battle with his mace

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and a bronze skirt that covers his lowertorso and his upper legs.

The power of his manifestation is asfollows (see the �Religions of Mul-horand� section for the abilities of amanifestation):

AC: -4MOVE: 15HIT POINTS: 350THAC0: -5#AT: 3DMG/ATT: 2d10 + 12/2d10 + 12/2d10 + 12MR: 50%CLASSES: Fighter 26, Priest 15, Mage 18STR 24 (+16, +12) DEX 25 CON 25 INT23 WIS 20 CHA 22

SA: Wrestling (causes 2d10 + 12 damagewith a bear hug, with a 35% chance ofinstantly killing any opponent with aStrength score below 20). Awe effect vs.all creatures of up to 6 HD (or levels).SD: Immune to 1st-to 5th-level illusion/phantasm spells. Immune to the follow-ing spells due to high Wisdom: causefear, charm person, command, friends,hypnotism, forget, hold person, ray ofenfeeblement, scareWeapons: Mace +4 inflicts 2d10 pointsof damageArmor: None; natural armor class with-out Dexterity bonus is 2.

Ishtar(Isis in Mulhorand)

Goddess of Weather, Lady of the Rivers,Mother of the Harvest, Lady of All Love

Status: NG, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: Female hand clutching a glow-ing crystal rod

Spheres: Major�All, Animal, Charm,Creation, Guardian, Healing, Necro-mantic, Plant, Protection, Weather;Minor�Divination

Weapons Allowed: Staff, FlailArmor Allowed: None

Special Requirements: Ishtar is onlyserved by priestesses. No men maybe priests of Ishtar.

Special Abilities: At 15th level, a priest-ess of Ishtar gets a bonus spell: con-trol weather (as 7th-level priestspell).

Ethos: Priestesses of Ishtar are chargedto aid farmers and the common peo-ple of Unther, to protect them fromstarvation. They may not directly at-tack the injustices of Gilgeam, butmay try to soften their effects.

Ishtar is the goddess of love and fertil-ity. She is the most beloved deity in Un-ther, but her priesthood has littlepower. Long ago Ishtar gave the powerof her manifestation to the Mulhorandgoddess Isis, and so the goddess wor-shiped in Unther is not the real Ishtar,but she allows them to use her name.Ishtar has one incarnation in Shussel,which is the site of her major temple.

Gilgeam is quite jealous of Ishtar andher popularity. He has recently decreedthat neither she nor Ramman may trainworshipers to learn priest spells of 6thlevel or higher. The priesthood of Ishtaris quite upset, and is considering givingsupport to the growing rebellionagainst him.

Ishtar is portrayed as a beautiful fe-male with golden hair and blue eyes;her incarnation takes on this form andhas the following statistics:

AC: -1MOVE: 12HIT POINTS: 100THAC0: 13#AT: 1DMG/ATT: By weaponMR: 70%CLASSES: Fighter 8, Mage 18STR 10 DEX 19 CON 18 INT 23 WIS 22CHA 22

SA: The incarnation of Ishtar may useany weather spell at will, as an 18th-level caster. She may, at will, stun up to6 HD (or levels) due to divine awe.SD: The incarnation of Ishtar is immuneto 1st- to 5th-level illusion/phantasmspells, and to the following spells due tohigh Wisdom: cause fear, charm per-

son, command, friends, hypnotism, for-get, hold person, ray of enfeeblement,scare, fear, charm monster, confusion,emotion, fumble, suggestion

RammanGod of War, Thunder, Rain, Storms

Status: N, Lesser Power, Prime MaterialPlane

Symbol: Lightning bolt through a stormcloud

Spheres: Major�All, Combat, Elemen-tal, Guardian, Protection, Weather;Minor�Divination, Healing, Necro-mantic, Summoning

Weapons Allowed: Sword, lance, staff,short bow, spear, javelin

Armor Allowed: Chain

Special Requirements: Minimum STR13, DEX 14, CON 12

Special Abilities: At 10th level, priests ofRamman may fire a 10d6 lightningbolt, once per day.

Ethos: Priests of Ramman are obliged tohelp defend Unther against weathermagic used by other nations (nota-bly Thay). They are to protect Un-ther from foreign invaders and toserve the King.

Ramman is a relatively new deity, intro-duced into Unther during the height ofthe Second Empire. The worship ofRamman complements that of Ishtar;Ishtar is the deity of fertile soils, whileRamman is the deity of the skies whoserains help crops flourish. Ramman isconsidered to be a less than caring de-ity. Recent limits on the spells usable bythe priests of Ramman have severelyhurt the ability of Unther to defend itscrops from the Red Wizards, who areusing weather magic to concentrate theavailable clouds in the eastern region ofthe Inner Sea over their territory.

Ramman is portrayed as a man with ahomely face but a massive build. His in-carnations are typically farmers andsoldiers, and he is worshiped in the

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Greenfields. There is often confusionbetween Ramman and Ramatep, theUntheric name for Anhur, but they arenot the same deity (though confusionover names has caused other deities tomerge their manifestations).

The statistics for Ramman�s incarna-tion are as follows:

AC: -2MOVE: 12, Fl 48 (A)HIT POINTS: 150THAC0: 5#AT: 2DMG/ATT: 20/20MR: 50% + SpecialCLASSES: Fighter 15, Mage 15STR 21 (+3, +8) DEX 20 CON 22 INT 19WIS 15 CHA 15

SA: The incarnation of Ramman uses amallet of lightning (it returns to him ifthrown). This mallet always inflicts 20points of damage per attack, evenagainst targets that have protectionagainst lightning.SD: Ramman is immune to all 1st- to4th-level spells. He is immune to the fol-lowing spells due to high Wisdom:cause fear, charm person, command,friends, hypnotismWeapons: Typically wields a magicalmallet Armor: Scale mail +3

TiamatQueen of Chaos, Nemesis of the Gods

Status: LE, Lesser Power, Prime Mate-rial Plane

Symbol: Five-headed dragon

Spheres: Major�All, Animal, Charm,Combat, Divination, Guardian, Nec-romantic, Protection, Weather;Minor�Animal, Elemental, Sum-moning

Weapons Allowed: All priest weaponsArmor Allowed: Any

Special Requirements: WIS 14

Special Abilities: 16th-level priests ofTiamat may summon a young adultdragon as a mount.

Ethos: Priests of Tiamat are sworn todestroy the power of the god-kingsof Unther, to seize the realm forthemselves, to get as much treasureas possible and sacrifice it to theDark Lady.

Tiamat is a cult deity, born in oppositionto the god Gilgeam. The gods taught thepeople that Tiamat was their major en-emy, so when the gods became unpopu-lar, veneration of their greatest enemygrew as a protest. In Unther, people ofall alignments belong to the cult ofTiamat, even people of good align-ments, because Gilgeam is such a tyrantthey cannot see how Tiamat could beworse.

Tiamat�s manifestation in this planewas destroyed long ago by the god Mar-duk (who is no longer in the Realms),but because of the summoning ritualsperformed by various priests, she hasbeen able to send an incarnation. Herincarnation has added power in Untherbecause of the strength of her cult. Itcan change form at will, and usuallyposes as the Dark Lady, a sorceresswith long, dark hair and dark robes,who lives in Firetrees. The other formis a three-headed dragon (all five headsare only available to the manifestationof Tiamat; the incarnation has theheads of a red dragon, a blue dragon,and a green dragon).

AC: -12MOVE: 6, Fl 18 (C)HIT POINTS: 192THAC0: -7#AT: 6DMG/ATT: 3d8 + 12/2d10 + 12/3d10 + 12/2d8 + 12/ 1d6 + 12 (x2)MR: 70%

SA: Each head may breathe once everythree rounds, and no more than onehead may breathe at a time. Breathweapon per head is the same as a greatwyrm of each species (24d8 + 12 for theblue head, 24d6 + 12 for the greenhead, and 24d10 + 12 for the red head).The dragon form of Tiamat horrifies all

with 4 HD (or levels) or less. She has thefollowing spells, cast as if she is 24thlevel: two each of 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-,5th-, 6th-, and 7th-level wizard spellsand one 8th-level wizard spell; and twoeach of 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-levelpriest spells. Each head has the choiceof breathing, spellcasting, or biting.Tiamat cannot attack with her claws,but can wing buffet and tail lash.Tiamat�s tail stinger can also strike onecreature; those who are struck mustroll successful saving throws vs. poison(with a -4 penalty) or die in one round;those who succeed with their savingthrows are slowed for 2d4 days, or un-til the poison is neutralized.SD: Each head of Tiamat of has 48 hitpoints; when full damage is inflicted onthe head, it becomes useless and cannotattack. When two heads are immobi-lized, Tiamat teleports away.

Other DeitiesThere are a number of other deitiesworshipped in Unther; these deitieswere introduced by merchants fromthe other parts of the Realms or by im-migrants. All worship of these deities isillegal and subject to persecution. Thesedeities are worshiped by only a smallfraction of Unther�s population.

Anhur (CG): This war deity is wor-shiped mainly by a few Chessentanmercenaries who were converted toAnhur worship in Mulhorand, thenjourneyed to Unther to serve on free-holds. This deity is not as popularamong the mercenaries as Tempus, buthis following is growing fast.

Bane: There are agents of the Zhen-tarim everywhere these days, and Un-ther is no exception. A small group ofBane worshipers have set up in Untha-lass, trying to extend their contacts intoMulhorand and learn the secrets of thesouth for Zhentil Keep, as Manshoonhas expressed an interest in learningsouthern magic and the secrets of thepriest of Thoth.

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Mask (God of Thieves, N): The numberof thieves in the cities of Unther is in-creasing rapidly (especially when the ri-ots in Messemprar provide excellentlooting opportunities). Thieves usuallypay homage to Mask.

Mystra (LN): This goddess of wizards isquite popular among the wizards of Un-ther. She is believed to be the patron ofthe mysterious Enclave.

The Old Gods (LN, LG, NG): This cultworships gods from the golden age ofUnther: Enlil, Marduk, Nanna-Sin, andUtu. The cult of the Old Gods is mostlynostalgic; its priesthood cannot gainspells beyond the 2nd level. Gilgeamdoes not persecute members of this cultbecause he sees them as madmen withno power.

Sebek [God of Rivers, N(E)]: Thiscrocodile-headed deity is worshiped inthe wetlands, away from the cities. Thiscult has been persecuted for severalcenturies. All crocodiles are said to behis children.

Tempus (CN): This is the chief warriorgod worshiped (aside from Gilgeam ofcourse) in Unther. He is a favoriteamong the Chessentan mercenariesthat many of the freeholders havebrought in to protect their farms frombandits.

Umberlee (CE): Not commonly wor-shiped, pirates on the Alamber do payhomage to her, though usually theirsacrifices consist of cargos they cannotsalvage.

Waukeen (N): This god is worshiped, inprivate, by merchants who travel intoUnther from abroad. A recent attemptto build a secret temple was foiled by thepriests of Gilgeam, who razed the build-ing in which the services were held.Since then, there have been a great dealof bitter feelings between the priests ofWaukeen and those of Gilgeam.

PERSONALITIES OF UNTHER“Can the gods make men mad in the landwhere the gods themselves are mad?”

�Isimud, leader of the Enclave

IsimudGreenfields24th-level MageLG, MystraHuman male

Isimud is the leader of the Enclave, agroup of wizards in the western Green-fields. He is an old man, nearly blind, re-lying on magical aids to help himcontinue his quest for new magic.

Isimud seeks the location of certainartifacts of the Old Unther Empire andwishes to recover them to preventthem from falling into the hands of Gil-geam, or the Cult of Tiamat, or Furifaxand the bandits. He laments that thereis no force of a more benevolent naturethat promises to take control of Unther.He would be willing to support any be-nign faction that gathers public sup-port, but none have as yet.

He appears as a wizened old manwith a long, white beard and a cap withmany mystic runes. He wears strangelenses on his face, and his familiar, atalking owl named Ibuth, reads aloudfor him when his eyesight fails.

ShuruppakWanders20th-level Fighter/7th-level MageNE, GilgeamHuman male

Shuruppak is referred to as �TheReaper� in Unther, for his approach isdeath. He is a great fighter-mage, clad inblack robes, protected by bracers of de-fense AC 2, who wanders from city tocity, killing anyone he feels is an enemyof Gilgeam. Shuruppak is a psychopathprone to fits of extreme violence,known to take his sword to anyonewhen he�s in a bad mood.

When Gilgeam orders him to killsomeone, Shuruppak takes a group ofhigh-level mages and priests in Gil-

geam�s service with him. He has failedonly once�when he was ordered tobring in the Enclave; he killed several ofthe order before he was driven back bythe most powerful wizards of that or-der. He is currently in Messemprar try-ing to put down the riots, mostly bytaking hostages and executing them inpublic until the people quiet down. Thisstrategy has not worked.

Shuruppak wears black robes and ahood adorned with a red skull maskthat covers the top half of his face. It issaid that he was horribly scarred in bat-tle long ago, but this is untrue. He hasbeen a figure of dread for so long thathe considers himself to be The Reaper.

Shuruppak has been given a numberof special powers by Gilgeam. As thereare plenty of opportunities for playercharacters to encounter him, his statis-tics follow:

AC: -3HIT POINTS: 135THAC0: 1#AT: 3DMG/ATT: By weapon + 8SA: SpellsSD: 50% magic resistance, mirror im-age (five images) three times per day,immune to enchantment/charm andslow spells.STR 20 (+3, +8) DEX 21 CON 18 INT 16WIS 17 CHA 16

Shuruppak typically wields a two-handed sword +3 and wears bracersof defense, AC 2.

TiglathFiretrees14th-level PriestN, TiamatHuman female

Tiglath is the current high priestess ofTiamat. She was once part of Gilgeam�sharem; she does not speak of her expe-riences there, but she is filled with ha-tred and a desire for revenge againstthe king. Tiglath�s face has a large star-

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shaped scar that surrounds her eyes,nose, and mouth.

Tiglath is not an evil woman, whichmay eventually lead her into conflictwith her deity. For now, Tiamat is will-ing to accept her service, using her ha-tred to corrupt her and change her toLawful Evil. She has been close friendswith the bandit Furifax for many yearsand often rides to the eastern Shaar tocoordinate his actions with that of thecult of Tiamat.

FurifaxEastern Shaar13th-level FighterLE, TempusHalf-elf male

Furifax is the most famous bandit in thesouthern Realms; he is known for bothextreme bravery and ruthlessness.

His plans are meticulous; he is an ex-cellent leader who is respected andloved by his followers. He is also ex-tremely cruel to his enemies, believingthat the end justifies the means.

Furifax is a half-elf who strongly fa-vors the human side of his heritage; hehas no idea who his parents were, ex-cept that they were travelers slain bybandits in the eastern Shaar. He was notslain but raised by the bandits andeventually became their chief. On a raidinto southern Unther he was capturedand sold into slavery in the royal palacein Unthalass.

When he fell into disfavor with hismaster, he was slated to face Gilgeam inthe arena, but he escaped before thematch could take place. He vowed thathe would decide the time and place fortheir contest. He returned to the east-ern Shaar, killed several rival bandits,and became the leader of the largestand most successful bandit group.

Since then, he has placed agents inevery major city in Unther, inciting dis-sent and spying on royal activities. Hehas begun his plan for rebellion, whichmay succeed. He needs a group of high-level adventurers to face the manifesta-tion of Gilgeam and expel it from the

plane. He has allied with the cult ofTiamat, but he feels that this is notenough.

Furifax is tall for a half-elf, nearly theheight of an average man, slim but wiryand muscular. His hair is sandy brown,and his eyes are auburn. He wears asandy brown tunic and carries a longbow, a long sword +3, boots of stridingand springing, and a ring of armor, AC 0.

When opponents surrender, he stripsthem of most of their weapons, arms,and treasure. He usually leaves themsome food and sufficient weapons forthem to defend themselves in danger-ous territories.

AC: -3HIT POINTS: 77THAC0: 7#AT: 2DMG/ATT: By weapon +3 (x2)STR 18/06 (+1, +3) DEX 17 CON 14 INT17 WIS 17 CHA 16SD: Boots of Striding and SpringingWeapon: Long sword +3 (named �TheCompanion�)

Furifax has access to more powerfulweaponry, but because he has had TheCompanion for many years, he wouldprefer not to have any other weapon;he also calls it �my brother of arms.�

EsarhaddonGreenfields8th-level MageLG, MystraHuman male

Esarhaddon is the youngest of themembers of the Inner Council of theEnclave, the wizards who live on theedge of the Greenfields and attempt topreserve Untheri magic. Esarhaddon isIsimud�s apprentice, but he has none ofhis master�s patience. He is filled withhatred for the king and is trying to pushthe Enclave into military action to over-throw Gilgeam and take control of Un-ther and rule it as a magocracy.

Esarhaddon is the only one whowants to pursue this; the other wizards,

looking at the example set by Thay,wish to avoid politics. Esarhaddon doeshave a considerable following amongthe younger apprentices. His long-range plan is to get control of the En-clave and turn it into a politicalinstrument, but he is so impatient thathe may decide to join in Furifax�s rebel-lion and aid them in their battle againstGilgeam. With the permission of theother wizards, he made contact withFurifax. He has solicited a promise thatthe Enclave�s holdings will not betouched, in exchange for a promise thatthe Enclave will not intervene on theside of Gilgeam.

Esarhaddon is young and impulsive,brilliant but impatient. He is less inter-ested in the pursuit of knowledge thanpolitics, but his elders dismiss this asyouthful exuberance. Esarhaddon is agolden-haired Mulan with blue eyesand a somewhat homely face.

ShulgiMessemprar5th-level ThiefCE, MaskVampire male

Shulgi was once a thief from Cormyr. Hewas searching an ancient tomb for trea-sure when the roof collapsed and thesarcophagus opened, trapping him witha vampire. The inevitable result was thatShulgi also became a vampire. Shulgiwas under his master�s influence for sev-eral years, until an adventuring com-pany called the Destroyers of Ghostskilled his master, setting Shulgi free.Fearing that he would be next on the ad-venturers� list of victims, Shulgi fled Cor-myr, making his way east. Eventually hesettled in the city of Messemprar.

Shulgi poses as a retired business-man, but he still enjoys thieving. Sincefreed from his master�s influence hehas not partaken of human blood, buthe steals enough money using his vam-piric abilities to pay for livestock,whose blood he drains. Shulgi enjoysthieving even more now that he is avampire. He has begun to set up a

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Thieves� Guild in Messemprar.He is not a particularly evil vampire,

but if anyone really annoys him, he�llkill in a slow and evil fashion.

Since he remembers how poorly hismaster treated him, he doesn�t createother vampires. So far no one has no-ticed that Shulgi is a vampire. He hastaken advantage of the riots to loot sev-eral places of value, but he feels that thesituation is getting so out of hand in Un-ther that he may leave for Chessenta.

Shulgi is a short, fat vampire, withpale skin (he uses make-up to make him-self appear more human) and a stutter.

SkuthosiinMethwoodVery Old Green DragonLE, TiamatDragon male

Skuthosiin, nicknamed �the Venomous�(for obvious reasons) is the greatestdragon alive in Unther at this time (withthe exceptions of the incarnation ofTiamat and Guyanothaz, the blind reddragon of Mt. Temmikant). It claims to bethe offspring of the infamous Cha-thuulandroth, who razed the tower ofthe archmage Nezram in Mulhorand, butno one believes this. Skuthosiin is an ex-tremely egotistical beast that considers it-self to be the most powerful creature inUnther, though it is somewhat morehumble when Tiamat is around.

Skuthosiin has recently been forcedby the cult of Tiamat to join them intheir attacks; it serves as the personalsteed for Tiglath. This is a recent devel-opment. The dragon and its rider arenot close friends. Skuthosiin is not in-terested in politics, just food and a largehoard. The dragon bears a grudgeagainst an archer from Ssintar thatonce pierced its armor and gave it apain that lasted for weeks; it intends todestroy every living creature in thatcity when the time comes.

Skuthosiin is a wily creature. In battleit likes to lure its victims into an unsafemountainous area, then start an ava-lanche. It has destroyed several adven-turing companies this way.

CULTURE OF UNTHER“For now, and forever, the world shalllook upon the works of Unther and befilled with wonder.”

�Old Untheric saying

Unther is, despite its current lowpoints, one of the richest cultures in theRealms.

In ancient Raurin, even before thewar against the gods, there were twodistinct nations, which scholars nameproto-Unther and proto-Mulhorand.The proto-Unther culture was a moreaggressive culture; it believed in achiev-ing absolute supremacy over its domin-ions. The gods of Unther have, sincetheir beginnings, been uncaring entities(as opposed to the gods of Mulhorand,who are merely neglectful). The philos-ophy of Unther has always been thatlife is hard and cruel, and only throughhard work and submission to one�s de-ity can one survive. This seems to be itsphilosophy throughout history, evenbefore the coming of Gilgeam.

Yet art and culture flourished in Un-ther, almost as well as in more-prosperous Mulhorand. Scholars debatehow a culture whose major concern wassurvival could possibly produce suchart. The answer seems to be that instruggling to survive, the Untheri cre-ated tools that enabled them to flourishand develop a wealthy civilization.

Arts that flourished in Unther includeceramics, sculpture, and architecture.The Untheri were not great workers inmetals, nor is their land rich in preciousstones, like Mulhorand, but in manyways the Untheri were more creativewith their resources. Everyday objectslike jugs were decorated in beautifulpatterns and overlaid with colorfulenamels. Walls were covered in mosaictiles. Glazed inlaid patterns of great ani-mals adorned city gates. There werestatues in even the poorest of homes;most of these were idols of local godswho were worshiped in householdshrines.

For the most part, art and architec-ture in Unther was smaller in scale butmore inventive than in Mulhorand.

Early in its history, Unther developedthe ziggurat, a step pyramid that wassometimes elaborately decorated withart and enamel plates.

Temples were square buildings sup-ported by columns. There were a num-ber of obelisks, tall narrow towersmeant to mark important places, com-memorate the gods, and serve as look-out posts.

Cities were built with high walls andramparts on hills overlooking the sea,surrounded by moats of water fromnearby rivers.

Horticulture and irrigation was alsoimportant to the people of Unther.There are accounts of elaborate gar-dens, watered by dams on the rivers,which covered many square miles.These arts have been lost, and the an-cient dams were swept away by theforce of the swift rivers they tried tocontrol.

For centuries, all Untheri exceptslaves have learned how to read andwrite. Poetry is especially important tothe old peoples of Unther. In Unther,poems are meant to be chanted, alongwith musical accompaniment (typicalinstruments include drum, lyre, harp).The lamentation, a verse full of melan-choly expressions of sorrows, is an ex-tremely popular verse-form in Unther.

Another popular form of literature inUnther is the epic poem. There are ep-ics that describe the birth of the gods(highly dubious in their authenticity,but beautifully written). The most fa-mous epic is the Epic of Gilgeam, whichdescribes the life of the current king ofUnther, and is required to be taught toall of the Untheri.

Gilgeam�s current unpopularity hasled to a new and previously unknownform of poetry in Unther�the satire�as poets secretly parody many of the fa-mous passages of the Epic of Gilgeam.

The Untheri are also noted for manybooks of proverbs and wise sayings.

In many cultures, the works of theancients are valuable treasures. This isespecially true in Mulhorand, whosejewelry and metalwork are considered

to be valuable by the peoples of thewest. In Unther, the major treasures�pottery, buildings, and sculpture�arenot considered to be valuable by mostpeople.

There are those who admire art forits own sake, however, who considerthe sculptures and pottery of Unther tobe without equal.

Pursuit of the arts�and war�has al-ways been the foremost recreation ofthe Untheri. In recent times, athleticcompetitions have been introduced byChessentan mercenaries and are be-coming popular in Unther. Gilgeam of-ten portrays himself as a perfect athleteas well as a perfect king. In Unthalass,Gilgeam has recently instituted gladia-torial games, in which criminals fighteach other for sport. This cruel practicehas sickened even some of the nobility.

Clothing in Unther is similar to that inMulhorand. Nobles do not wear asmuch jewelry, but their raiment is usu-ally multicolored and displays elaboratepatterns to reflect their high social sta-tus. Nobles also wear elaborate head-gear. The skirt worn by both males andfemales is often frilled. Untheri maleswear long, well-groomed (oftenbraided) beards.

Language of UntherThe language of Unther is called Un-theric. It belongs to the same languagefamily as the language of Mulhorand,but it so greatly changed over thecourse of many centuries that there arenow very few similarities between thetwo languages.

The runes used by the Untheri are en-tirely different from those used by theMulhorandi; these runes pre-date theirmigration from Raurin. Early Unthericwriting consisted of syllabic hiero-glyphs (runes that represent one sylla-ble, as opposed to the hieroglyphs ofMulhorand, which represent one word)and seems to have had at least minor in-fluence on the alphabet of Thorass (OldCommon).

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PEOPLE AND SOCIETY OF CHESSENTA“In Chessenta, the people are incapableof living a quiet life, or allowing othersto live quietly.”

�Heptios the Archmage

Unther and Mulhorand are relativelystable and united societies, and the so-cial structure does not vary much fromregion to region. In Chessenta, this isnot the case; each city is a different soci-ety and may contain substantial differ-ences in social mix, laws, and character.The peoples of Chessenta are of manyraces: common humans are the Mulani(Unther/Mulhorand), Turami (Turmish),Rashemi (Rashemen), and Amnite(Amn); there are also more than a fewelves, half-elves, half-orcs, orcs,dwarves, and halflings mixed in the cit-ies. Airspur and Mordulkin are particu-larly well-known for their cosmopol-itan mix of races.

As in the other nations of the Old Em-pires, there are three social classes: no-bility, middle class, and slaves/serfs.The rulers are usually Mulan humans,descended from those who originallyrebelled against Unther.

The Population ofChessentaChessenta is an ancient land, in manyways the most energetic of the Old Em-pires. While large sections of the coun-try remain unoccupied (the AdderPeaks, for instance), it is estimated thatthe population stands at close to 1.2 mil-lion sentient beings, including the Flam-ing Spike orc tribe of the Akanapeaks,whose population is estimated at 50,000(though they suffered heavy losses inthe recent wars in Chondath). Of thispopulation, about 300,000 live in the cit-ies and 900,000 in the countryside.

Given its political divisiveness, there isno standing army to represent Ches-senta as a nation. When outsidersthreaten Chessenta, the armies of Cim-bar and Akanax threaten each other intocooperating; so far this has only oc-curred on one occasion�when Unthertried to reclaim Chessenta 300 years ago

and failed miserably. There is no centralcouncil to discuss Chessentan affairs,though Cimbar sends ambassadors to allcoastal cities except Luthcheq. Thiskeeps a dialogue going among the Ches-sentan cities to discuss trade threatsfrom the North Coast cities.

The social classes of Chessenta are asfollows:

The NobilityThe nobles of Chessenta live in rich pal-aces in large cities. They can be of anyclass, though given the large number ofwars that plague Chessenta, they usu-ally belong to the warrior group.

Whereas Mulhorand worships the di-vine, Chessenta�s obsession is withphysical conflict. Rulers are often re-tired warriors who place their sons atthe heads of the army. They typicallyrule the city and send troops out intothe surrounding countryside to collecttaxes; taxes are kept and used by thecity, not sent to a central authority.

To be cast out of the noble class, onemust be outlawed. The punishment ofbanishment requires a public trial.

Noble Titles of ChessentaThere is no hierarchy of titles in Ches-senta. The rulers of cities are generallyknown as kings; the Sceptanar of Cim-bar uses the title Overlord or GreatKing to signify his claim as the one trueruler of Chessenta. (Of course, theother kings of Chessenta do not refer tothe Sceptanar as the Great King.)

People who perform great deeds onthe battlefield are officially known as�Hero of...,� with the name of the battleadded to their title. This is consideredto be part of their name; those giventhis title are permitted to add heroicemblems to their shields and wear acopper ring on the third finger of theirleft hand. It is possible to be a hero inmore than one battle, and heroes oftenreceive additional pay as a matter of re-spect for their deeds. Most importantly,a hero is considered to be part of thenoble class; it thus is possible for a slave

to be elevated into the nobility.To be a hero, one must perform great

deeds in battle that are witnessed by acommander of noble rank. The title isnot given out as a whim, and there israrely more than one hero in a battle.Heroism is sometimes given out posthu-mously; the only benefit such heroesreceive is a grave in the noble burialgrounds with a marker to recognizetheir deeds.

There are no special titles for priestsor mages, which are not the most re-spected classes in Chessenta. Both areconsidered to be less than noble profes-sions, except in Cimbar, which recog-nizes teachers and philosophers fromthese classes as the pinnacles of humanachievement. There is nothing particu-larly honorable or dignified about be-ing a member of these classes; it is theact of teaching or philosophizing that isseen as dignified in Cimbar. One mustalso engage in public discussions anddebates between philosophers to gainproper recognition.

The Middle ClassThe middle class in Chessenta bears a

greater resemblance to the tradesmen,merchants, and farmers of the westernRealms, rather than the tightly con-trolled realms of Mulhorand, Unther, oreven Thay. The middle class controlsmost of the money in Chessenta, andthe city governments believe that it is intheir best interest to let the middle classthrive so the governments rake in thetaxes.

The majority of farmers are freehold-ers with serfs to help in the fields.Slaves typically fulfill household duties,while serfs are paid minimal wages andgiven land of their own to use whileproviding a portion of crops producedon the land to the owner. In actual prac-tice, the differences between serf andslave are minimal.

The only city that places major restric-tions on the merchant classes is Luth-cheq. Businesses in that city areforbidden to use wizards, shelter wiz-ards, or even have dealings with wizards

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outside of the city. The penalties for vio-lating this law are confiscation of allproperty and possessions and death bywitchweed burning as a witch-friend.Merchants usually get around these re-strictions by setting up other companiesin other cities, selling to their other com-panies, and then hiring middlemen tosell to wizards. The lords of Luthcheqtypically persecute one merchant everyten years or so to demonstrate that theirlaws may not be flouted. Then theymove on to matters of greater interest.Naturally, many traders in the Inner Seaare extremely nervous during their vis-its to Luthcheq, and some merchantsavoid that city altogether.

Members of the middle class in Ches-senta typically dress in upper classstyle, but without royal insignias or sig-nets of heroism. They are clean-shavenand their hair is cropped short. Theywear short, white tunics with capesthat fall to the knees and cover theshoulders. Only mages and the crippledare permitted to carry staves.

SlavesSlavery in Chessenta is less widespreadthan in Mulhorand or Unther; farmworkers are typically serfs, not slaves,though the differences are minimal.Slaves are often criminals who areforced into service in dangerous places,such as the mines, or serfs purchasedfrom slave traders (some are Thayvianin origin).

Slavery is considered part of the natu-ral order; philosophers claim that somemen are naturally servile, and many ofthese servile men are slaves. Work con-ditions among slaves vary greatly.

Slaves in the mines work in awretched, unsafe environment, butmost slaves live hard but not unpleas-ant lives. It is considered a virtue to re-ward slaves for hard work or jobs welldone; masters can give slaves their free-dom at any time. Slaves are not brandedas in Unther, but they are forced towear a thread around their wrists toidentify them as slaves. The threads are

easily broken, but escapes are for themost part a very rare occurrence.Slaves may shave or cut their hair, butmost masters require them to wear abeard, at least until they are sure theslave will not escape.

Most slaves are kept illiterate, exceptin the city of Cimbar, where it is com-pulsory that all citizens and slaves beable to read and write.

Demihumans in ChessentaThe major enclave of nonhumans inChessenta is the Flaming Spike tribe inwestern Chessenta. This tribe has a rep-utation, which seems to be exagger-ated, for barbarism and cruelty.

These orcs often raid the cattle andsheep herds on the north shores of theAkanamere, but they rarely attack hu-mans. Most battles between the Flam-ing Spike and Chessenta have beeninitiated by Chessenta; the garrison atRodanar is especially eager to kill them.The Flaming Spike tribe is more aggres-sive in Chondath.

A number of orcs have left the tribeto become traders in Airspur, wherehalf-orcs are fast becoming the domi-nant members of its society. Because ofthis, a large dwarven mercenary com-pany has offered its services to Cimbar,which is currently at war with Airspur.For the most part, however, the orcs ofAirspur have adopted human valuesand compete with human traders forbusiness, not racial reasons. The arch-mage Heptios says that orcs who adopthuman values may be the greatestthreat the Realms have ever known.

The second source of demihumans inChessenta are the mercenaries. Whileall of the peoples of the Old Empiresshare a congenital wariness of and un-ease with all things elven, half-elves areconsidered to be fully human and arerarely the object of discrimination.Dwarves are also commonly found inmercenary companies, though south-ern dwarves consider Chessenta to stillbe part of Unther and thus an enemy.�Even the most drunken dwarf never

forgets, even when he does not remem-ber correctly� is a common (if unfair)saying in Chessenta.

One city that does not like demihu-mans, as one might expect, is Luthcheq.While orcs, half-orcs, and half-elves aretolerated, full elves are considered to becreatures of magic; any caught in Luth-cheq are burned. Dwarves are consid-ered to be earth magicians and alsosubject to burning.

Naturally, most demihumans avoidLuthcheq, and some demihuman com-panies have joined in battles againstLuthcheq out of vengeance, which hasonly deepened the prejudice of thelords of Luthcheq against demihumans.

The Society ofChessentaChessenta is generally considered tohave a neutral society, subject to re-gional variations. Cimbar is probablybest described as lawful good, whileAkanax is lawful neutral, and Luthcheqis lawful evil.

In Chessenta, there are a number ofmotives that drive people. The peopleof the outside see the Chessentan�sfeasts and wars and often view them asa riotous, drunken people. While it istrue that Chessentans feast and fight of-ten and long, this description misses thefundamental facet of a Chessentan�scharacter-passion. Chessentans are anextremely energetic people who rarelydo things except to an extreme. Compe-tition is very important to their way oflife, as is art. The Chessentans live fortoday, but without the fatalism or des-peration of those who believe that theworld will soon end.

This tendency toward excess anddriven behavior enables them to createworks of beauty that cannot be foundelsewhere in the Realms. It also encour-ages them to engage in savage warfarewith appalling frequently. Chessenta isa land that does not believe in doinganything half-way.

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GEOGRAPHY OF CHESSENTA“Chessenta is a mosaic of a nation thatwas made by ten different artists, all ofthem blindfolded.”

�Heptios, mage of Cimbar

In physical size, the alliance of Ches-senta is the largest of the Old Empires.However, Chessenta is really a collec-tion of city-states with no unity whatso-ever, though each state has ambitions(some would say delusions) toward be-ing the center of this virtually nonexist-ent nation.

Historically, the border of Chessentain the west begins at the coast on theedge of the Akanapeaks, the mountainsthat border the Akanamere. This bor-der goes south to the Adder Peaks, andthen runs along the Winding River,Methmere, and the River of Metals to itsmouth on the coast of the Alamber. TheUntheric city of Messemprar lies acrossthe border on the south side of theriver.

The border then shifts northward,following the coast, as far west as thecity of Reth. The region between Mes-semprar and Mt. Thulbane, Threskel,considers itself to be an independentnation, but most consider this area tobe part of Chessenta.

Chessenta has numerous geographi-cal regions. In the west are the Akana-peaks, and to the east are the Riders tothe Sky Mountains. Between these twomountain ranges are the hills ofMaerth, which separates the AdderRiver valley to the east and the AkanulPlains on the west. Threskel is lowplains and beaches, with the exceptionof the lonely mountain, Mt. Thulbane.

The Riders to the SkyThis mountain chain is on the south-eastern border of Chessenta. These aremostly hills ranging between 3,000 and5,000 feet in height. On the southernend are a number of cliffs that arehome to the tuuru, a race of giant bird-like lizards (pteranodons).

Legends exist that in ancient daysthese huge birds were used as mountsby the warriors of Unther. Given the

size, weight, and strength of thepteranodons, it is doubtful that theycould support a human rider; eitherlarger varieties once existed or the leg-end is a hoax.

There are also the ruins of an ancientaarakocra civilization on the slopes, butthis tribe was hunted to extinction acentury ago for sport by mercenariesfrom Chessenta.

The eastern portions of the Riders tothe Sky have mostly been cleared,though some bandit and outlaw tribesuse them as bases to wage raids on Un-ther and Chessenta. The western por-tions, along the edge of the WindingRiver, are much wilder. There are trollvillages, and duergar inhabit under-ground caverns.

Half-drow who were exiled fromYuirwood long ago are rumored to liveamong the trolls.

Adder RiverThe Adder River is a wide, slow, muddyriver that runs from the Adder Peaks tothe Bay of Chessenta. It is known forthe lush vegetation that surrounds it,and its deadly snakes (the king of Un-ther was once bitten by an adder whilecrossing this river). It would be easy tonavigate, except for the Adder Swamp,which blocks the mouth of the river.The Adder Swamp is known to be hometo a community of werecrocodiles, whoare very protective of their territory.They are currently at war with a com-munity of wererats.

The Hills of MaerthBetween Akanamere and the AdderRiver are the Hills of Maerth. These lowbut rugged hills are known for theirrare minerals; a large number of an-cient mines dot the surface of the hills.

Recently large tracts of the hills ofMaerth were purchased by the well-known plane-wandering archmageAzurax Silverhawk (23rd-level mage),who is seeking a philosopher�s stone.

The AkanulThe Akanul is the most fertile region offarmland within Chessenta. Large plan-tations of cash crops line the shores ofthe Akanamere; these crops are deliv-ered by ship to Akanax and Soorenar.These lands have been farmed for cen-turies; they deliver over 50% of Ches-senta�s food supply. Many of the warsthat have been fought in Chessentahave been over these lands and accessto their crops.

AkanamereThis great fresh-water lake is the larg-est in the Old Empires. The lake is richin fish, and its shores are fertile. Thereis also at least one active pirate vesselactive in this area, as well as a family ofvodyanoi and a small community of liz-ard men. Two small trading villages, Os-lin and Maerduuth, are situated on thesoutheastern coast of the lake, whilethe town of Rodanar sits on the north-ern shore. The mercenary company,Lords of the Inner Reach, is stationed inOslin; it has been employed by farmerswho wish to displace rival farmers andtake over their lands. The river Akax,which runs between the Akanamereand the Bay of Chessenta, is navigabledown its entire length by small- andmedium-sized ships.

AkanapeaksThese are the highest peaks in Ches-senta, with the exception of Mt.Thulbane. The only known passagethrough the Akanapeaks is the gap ofReth. The western slopes of the peaksare home to a large orc tribe, the Flam-ing Spike, which inhabits ancient dwar-ven mines that were carved in themountains over three millennia ago. Theorcs raid into western Chessenta andHlath and Nun in eastern Chondath.

Bay of ChessentaThis great bay is considered by many tobe the best natural harbor in the east-ern Inner Sea region. At its northeast-

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ern end is the Watcher�s Cape, on whichstands a lighthouse that is nearly 800feet high. This light, known as theDrakelight, is lit whenever a fleet of pi-rate ships is spotted entering the Bay. Agarrison of 300 troops, 100 each fromLuthcheq, Soorenar, and Mordulkin,maintain the lighthouse and guardagainst pirate and other attacks. Thisgarrison is well supplied; by treaty allthree of the cities maintain their troopshere, even if the cities go to war againsteach other.

Mount ThulbaneThis extinct volcano is the highest peakin Chessenta; it is said that the god As-suran, patron of Chessenta, lives on thispeak. At the foot of the mountain arethe fields of Pryollus, where competi-tions are held every two years to deter-mine the finest athletes in Chessenta.These grounds are currently beingused by the king of Mourktar, who ishaving an athletic competition to deter-mine who will succeed him (see the�The Name of the Game� scenario).

Cities of ChessentaRethReth is the westernmost city ofChessenta�a fast-growing port andtrading center. It forms a loose alliancewith Hlath and Nun to protect eachother from attack from the sea, thoughReth failed to protect Hlath in recentbattles against a powerful netherworldmage named Yrkhetep (see I14, Swordsof the Iron Legion). To the west of Rethis the forest of Nun, which is inhabitedby the Autunuk tribe of hybsil.

Reth is ruled by a council of mer-chants, who keep tariffs here lowerthan in any other city in Chessenta,which makes it an extremely attractiveport. Its disadvantage is its distancefrom the major production centers,though iron is mined in the Akana-peaks. The city is separated from therest of Chessenta by the Gap of Reth,which is spanned by a wall (with a gate

for traffic to pass through) to protectfrom invasion. Being good merchants,the Lords of Reth wish to stay out ofarmed conflicts. The Wraith of the In-ner Sea, a mercenary complement offour large vessels, uses this port as itshome base. The population of Reth is35,000.

AirspurThis trading port was once one of themost important in western Chessenta,but has since been overtaken by Reth. Itis still a powerful presence in the region.

Airspur is known (some say infa-mous) for the many half-orcs that popu-late it�30% of the population of the cityis half-orc. The city is currently in anaggressive phase, having allied withSoorenar in its current war againstCimbar. The city fields an army of 3,000troops, of which 500 are archers and500 are cavalry. The city has a popula-tion of 20,000. Three notable merce-naries use Airspur as its base�theSailors of the Crimson Sea, the War-dogs, and the Sunlords. Many of thesehave fought recently in Chondath andhave sustained heavy losses. The lord ofAirspur is Khrulis (8th-level half-orcfighter), a crafty and pragmatic, thoughgreedy, ruler.

CimbarCimbar is commonly thought of as thecapital of Chessenta, the place set downby the war god Tchazzar as the centerof his nation�s power forever (or at leastfor as long as the city�s kings could pre-vent Chessenta from deteriorating intoa group of warring city-states).

Cimbar is known for its rich culture.Participation in the arts, philosophy, andmusic is compulsory for its citizens. Theway to eternity, it is said in Cimbar, isthrough a sound body, an inquiringmind, and a creative spirit. The streetsare clean and the buildings are beautiful.Cimbar is the quintessential symbol of arich, prosperous city in its golden age.

The city is divided into two major sec-tions: Old Cimbar and New Cimbar. Old

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Cimbar was built as a port by the Un-theri 500 years before the founding ofCormyr. This section includes the GreatPalace, the home of the Sceptanar in theshadow of an old Untheri pyramid,many libraries where books and worksof art are kept, and the University, thelargest center of learning in the Old Em-pires, larger than even the schools ofThoth in Gheldaneth. Cimbarians bragthat it is the largest center of learning inthe entire Realms.

There are three sections to the Uni-versity. There is the college of mages,where magic is studied, the college ofsages, where bestiaries and books offacts describe (with some contradic-tions) every known part of the Realms,and the artist�s college, where poetry,painting, and music are taught todozens of eager students. Studies alsoinclude mathematics and astronomy.Cimbar boasts one of the largest liter-acy rates in the Realms; even slaves aretaught to read and write.

New Cimbar is a large cluster of resi-dences and thriving shops. The port isthe largest of any in the region. On theoutskirts of the city are theaters, whereplays are performed, the hippodrome,where horses and chariots race, andthe arena, where athletes test theirskills.

In spite of its tradition of arts, Cimbaris also a city of warriors. It has the sec-ond largest fleet in the eastern InnerSea (only Thay�s is larger), and the larg-est number of warships at any port inthe region. The main enemy of the Cim-barian navy is not Thayvian vessels, butthose of the cities of the North Coast;there have been numerous sea battlesbetween Cimbarian and North Coastvessels as both attempt to dominate theseas and the valuable trading route.

The army of Cimbar numbers 15,000,of which there are 100 air cavalry (grif-fon), 100 mage artillery (3rd to 5thlevel), 1,300 marines, 9,000 infantry,2,000 archers, and 2,500 cavalry. Thepopulation of the city is 90,000. Thereare usually at least six mercenary com-panies in Cimbar as well.

The king of Cimbar is the mageknown only as the Sceptanar (15th-levelmage); he holds the ancient scepter andcrown of Tchazzar and is considered tohave the best claim of all who claim tobe king of Chessenta. He rules with ab-solute authority, though a senateelected from the land-holding males ofCimbar meets frequently to make pro-posals; the king usually at least listens totheir advice.

AkanaxSouth of Cimbar is its philosophical op-posite, the harsh city of Akanax.

Akanax is a city of warriors; its malecitizens are bonded into the militaryand trained to be warriors; those incap-able of fighting are slain. Men are for-bidden to marry before the age of 20and cannot live with their wives untilthe age of 30. Akanax scorns the arts ofCimbar but admires its fighting spirit.

The city is organized like a militarycamp. Women exist to serve the men,who eat at a common mess and train to-gether constantly. Buildings are simple,practical structures without much or-namentation. Much of the population ofAkanax lives outside of the city, in fieldsthat have been converted into militarycamps. Children in Akanax are notraised by families, but belong to thestate. Throughout its history, Akanaxhas had many wars; the Akanul paysregular tribute to Akanax.

Maerduuth was once a large city, un-til it was nearly totally destroyed in awar against Akanax 50 years ago.

Strangers are only barely tolerated inAkanax, and are generally viewed withextreme suspicion. Because of this, nomercenary companies are based inAkanax.

Occasionally warriors of Akanax des-ert to form their own mercenary com-panies; many of the mercenaries inMulhorand are of Akanaxian origin.

The city has a population of 20,000;this is deceptive, as many of its citizenslive in the camps outside of the city onits southern plains. The actual numberof people in the region is 70,000. Much

of the city was destroyed ten years agoin a war against Soorenar.

The army of Akanax numbers over20,000; there are at least 5,000 archersand 15,000 infantry. It has a very smallnavy of ten warships. The ruler ofAkanax is the absolute tyrant Hippartes(19th-level fighter); he is considered tobe the finest soldier in the south.

The city is currently at peace, thoughit expects war with Luthcheq any timenow. Soorenar has invited Akanax tojoin in Soorenar�s attack against Cim-bar; Akanax is considering the pro-posal, as well as an invasion of Soorenarthat would give Akanax control of theRiver Akax.

RodanarRodanar was founded by the war godTchazzar, as Chessenta needed a fort todefend itself against incursions fromthe orc tribes of the Akanapeaks. Twocenturies ago it was a large city, but awar against Akanax destroyed it, andthe small town that was rebuilt on thesite is a vassal of Akanax. It serves as atrading center for the western interiorof Chessenta, and as a garrison loyal toAkanax. It is run in stoic military styleby Hyurkes (8th-level fighter).

The town�s population is 5,000, ofwhich 1,000 are in the direct service ofthe garrison.

SoorenarThis large, aggressive port city is at themouth of the river Akax. The lords ofthe city are related to the Lords of Luth-cheq (though without the latter�s homi-cidal hatred of wizards). They arecurrently planning a grand alliance todestroy Cimbar and unite Chessentaunder Soorenar�s rulership. Its allies inthis enterprise are Luthcheq and Air-spur. It is trying hard to persuadeAkanax to join the alliance, thoughmany grudges remain from their lastwar.

Soorenar is divided into two sections:East and West Soorenar, which are sep-arated by the Akax River delta. Only a

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ferry service across the Akax providestransportation between them, as thereare no bridges on the river. EastSoorenar is the smaller of the two sec-tions; it contains docks, storage facili-ties, and amenities for adventuringparties and mercenary companies.Most of the people in Soorenar live onthe western side, which is heavilyguarded.

Soorenar�s attitude toward warfare isto purchase victory with money andtreasure. It likes to buy the services ofhigh-level wizards and use them to dev-astate the enemy; it is somewhat atodds with Luthcheq over this practice.

Soorenar�s standing army is 5,000, ofwhich 1,000 are cavalry, 1,000 arearchers, and 3,000 are infantry. Thearmy has been boosted to 15,000 forthe current war against Cimbar. Thishuge increase has been accomplishedby forced induction of its citizens andslaves, as well as the service of 5,000mercenaries. The lords of Soorenar areLord Thurik (10th-level fighter), LadyYashur (8th-level mage), and LordBrolkchant (8th-level fighter). These arethe representatives of the three leadingnoble families. Any decision regardingSoorenar must be unanimous.

LuthcheqThis �city of madness� is one of the mosttroubled and destructive in the entireRealms. The lords of this city, the familyKaranok, are devotees of the strangedeity named Entropy, an entity that isdevoted to the destruction of magic. Aspriests of Entropy, the lords of Luth-cheq feel that it is their responsibility tohunt down and slay all wizards, notonly within Luthcheq, but all over theRealms.

The lords of Luthcheq pay large boun-ties for captured wizards, who theyburn at the stake in witchweed fires. As-sassins in the pay of Luthcheq are stalk-ing a number of prominent targets, mostnotably Elminster of Shadowdale. Thelords have had secret talks with agentsof the Zhentarim, in which the destruc-tion of Elminster occupied most of the

discussion, though the use of magic bythe Zhentarim and the Red Wizards pre-vents (fortunately) the formation of twodangerous alliances.

Luthcheq is a member of the north-ern alliance with Soorenar and Airspur.They have not yet, however, providedtroops to the war against Cimbar; se-cretly the lords of Luthcheq hope thatthe alliance and Cimbar will destroyeach other and allow Luthcheq to takecontrol of the north. Luthcheq claimsthat it needs all of its troops to defendagainst Mordulkin incursions; Mor-dulkin is its historic enemy even fromthe days before the Karanoks obtainedpower.

The city is divided into the Port Sec-tion, the Trading Section, the PalaceSection, the Temple of Entropy, and theSlave Farms, where witchweed isgrown.

Priests of Entropy wander the streetscarrying censors filled with burningwitchweed to purge the city of magic.

The population of Luthcheq is be-lieved to be about 50,000; there is no ac-curate counting made of the citizensexcept for the slaves. The army of Luth-cheq consists of nearly 10,000 troops,with 8,000 infantry, 1,000 archers, and1,000 cavalry. The navy consists of 15large warships. No mercenary compan-ies (or sane adventurers) use Luthcheqas a base; those suspected of associatingwith wizards are also burned. The cur-rent lord is Maelos, high priest of En-tropy (18th-level priest).

MordulkinThis city sits on the eastern shore of theBay of Chessenta. It is a family enclave,ruled by the Jedea ever since the rebel-lion that ousted Unther from Chessenta.The city is ruled by the most powerfulmage in the Jedea family and is a havenfor wizards. These things alone wouldearn it the enmity of the lords of Luth-cheq, but the city of Mordulkin has beenLuthcheq�s major enemy on the trade

routes and on the battlefields, and thereis a good deal of enmity between the twocities that predates the rise of theKaranoks in Luthcheq.

Mordulkin is divided into sectionswhich are run by guilds: The merchants�guild runs the merchant district, thecraft guilds organize the crafts district,and the builders� guild runs the residen-tial district. There is a central mercenaryguild, and all adventuring companiesand mercenary forces that enter Mor-dulkin must register with the guildwithin 24 hours or face imprisonment.

The city is wealthy and is subse-quently home to the largest organizedthieves� guild in the south. The secondlargest port facilities in Chessenta (onlyCimbar�s are larger) are located here.Mordulkin tries to keep its relationswith the North Coast cities cordial, un-like other Chessentan cities. The king ofMordulkin is not interested in unitingChessenta and will not willingly join analliance against Cimbar.

The population of Mordulkin is about35,000. The army of Mordulkin has8,000 members�6,000 infantry and1,000 each of archers and cavalry.

For every 100 members, there is alsoone mage, level 1-5 (roll 1d6, subtract 1,treat all results of �0� as a 1st-levelmage). The city has an extensive schoolof mages, but not as large as Cimbar�s.The current king of Mordulkin is Her-cubes (12th-level mage).

MourktarThe city of Mourktar is a free city onthe edge of the flat, sandy plains ofThreskel. Mourktar claims to be inde-pendent of Chessenta, while the othercities claim that Mourktar is part ofChessenta. Since the other Chessentanci t ies are general ly too far f romMourktar to threaten it, Mourktar is forall purposes an independent city.

Mourktar is a small but aggressivetrading city. It has a large port facility tohandle goods for the farmers and

herdsmen of Threskel. Small miningcommunities in the Riders to the SkyMountains sometimes ship their goodsto Mourktar, as it is closer than Mor-dulkin to the major trade centers of Be-zantur and Sultim. Troubles in Unther,however , have made the Sul t im-Messemprar-Mourktar trade route lessattractive to traders in the last century.There have also been major problemswith pirates and the sahuagin.

Mourktar is full of traders and merce-naries who hope to profit from the riotsof Messemprar, as well as from whatthey hope will be an upcoming civil warin Unther.

Mourktar�s population is 10,000. Ithas a permanent army of 500 soldiers,and it drafts a force of 2,000 from thecity�s population and the surroundingregion. In spite of its mercantile charac-ter, political power in Mourktar is heldby the king, who is descended from thelords who led Mourktar�s break fromUnther. The current ruler of the city isking Theris (8th-level fighter). Theris isdying without an heir, and his god hasinstructed him to call a tournament todecide who will be his successor (seethe �The Name of the Game� scenario).

ThamorThamor is a small trade city in the inte-rior of Threskel. It was founded bymerchants from Mourktar and Mes-semprar as a free city where goodscould be exchanged between Untherand Mulhorand without duty or tax.Both Unther and Mulhorand objected,so Thamor was forced to abide by thetrade laws of the two neighbors.

This certainly hurt its growth, butThamor is still a sizable settlement of3,000 people, mostly merchants tradinggoods with the miners in the Riders tothe Sky Mountains and farmers insouthern Threskel. The city is subjectto controls by Mourktar. Its leader isLeppidon (3rd-level fighter).

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CURRENT ECONOMY OF CHESSENTA“The fields are rich with grain and fruit,the cattle are fat, the mines are rich,and the traders to the North are angry.”

�The Sceptanar of Cimbar

Were Chessenta a united nation under awise king, it is said that it would easilydominate the Inner Sea area througheconomics. With the exception of theGreenfields of Mulhorand, there is noregion of the Old Empires that is morefertile than the Akanul. The hills andmountains are teeming with valuablemetals�iron, silver, copper, and gold.There are forests of fruit�trees andfields of grapevines. In short, Chessentahas all of the materials to be a tradingpower of the first rank.

However, given the disunity of Ches-senta, it is unlikely that this potentialsouthern super-nation will ever emerge;even if a conqueror did unite the city-states again as Tchazzar once did, hecould only do so with a war that woulddevastate Chessenta for years to come.

There is no nationalism. Chessentanspride themselves on being members oftheir city-states, not of Chessenta. Thecity-states continue to fight, againsteach other as well as against their rivalson the North Coast.

This independence applies not just tocity-states, but to individual farmersand merchants. Farms are run by afreeholder, who uses slaves and serfs toperform his labors. A farm in Chessentaemphasizes quality over quantity,which makes the produce more valu-able. Much of the foodstuffs producedin Chessenta comes from the Akanul;the Akanul feeds Reth, Airspur, Cimbar,Soorenar, and Akanax. (Most cities keepa reserve of magically preserved foodin case of war; this reserve can last upto three years.) There are farms northof the Akanamere, but they producecattle and grapes for export, whichbrings great wealth to these farmers.

Merchants form merchant compan-ies in one city, and try to ally themselveswith the merchant guilds in other citiesso they may have a broader market tosell their goods.

Chessentan governments usually place

a 15% tax on all exports, which accumu-lates as traders travel from city to city.This tax ensures revenue for the cities ofChessenta, which enables them to com-mission artists to make great statues�ormercenaries to tear them down.

The major imports of Chessenta in-clude horses, which are used by thecavalry of various armies and merce-naries. (Oddly enough, many peoplethink of Chessenta as a center of merce-nary activity, so when mercenaries passthrough to Mulhorand or Unther, theyare always thought of as �Chessentanmercenaries.�) In times of shortage,Chessenta purchases food from Thay.Chessenta also imports slaves and occa-sionally exports its criminals to Thay towork there. The nobles of Chessentaalso import foods and products notcommon to their land: cheese, pork,glass, and perfumes. Chessenta relieson other nations to supply the bulk ofits magical weaponry, and enchantedtrinkets from Thay (such as dancing fig-urines with musical accompaniment)are popular among the nobles.

Most cities have a reserve of treasureconsisting of a large supply of gold, sil-ver, and jewelry from the days whenUnther first built the cities. This re-serve is used in emergencies and en-ables the cities to pay for high-levelwizards to assist them with magic intimes of wars. Some reserves of trea-sure are hidden or inaccessible (see the�The Eater of Magic� scenario for oneexample).

Some cities have been plundered andhave lost their treasure (most notablyAkanax). Others are spending it soquickly that they will likely soon runshort of funds (Luthcheq is paying largebounties for mages).

The Crafts ofChessentaChessenta has several interesting ex-ports. The first is Chessentan wine,which is said to be among the finest inthe Realms and is heavily in demand inthe west for its rich character. The sec-ond is statues and art. The people of

Chessenta, especially those in Cimbar,believe that great art is the highest tri-umph of humanity. Sculptors in Ches-senta venerate the human form,boasting that they have �taken man andmade him as the gods.� Chessentan art-ists receive large commissions to makestatues of prominent individuals andgive them heroic qualities. Chessentansculptors typically work in granite,which is imported from Mulhorand;the sculptures are painted when theyare finished.

The quality of Chessentan iron is con-sidered to be quite high. It is in demandfrom smiths in the west. There are alsotalented smiths in Chessenta who makefinished products, most notably inAkanax and Maerduuth. Chessentangold and silver are major exports.

Sheep are raised for their wool on theplains north of Akanamere. Olive oil isalso a major export.

Chessentans rely on a network of mer-chants to provide them with their goods.Chessentan merchant companies placeagents in distant lands to look for newproducts and markets and to representthe Chessentan merchant guilds to theirnobility. There is an alliance betweenChessenta and Durpar merchants; sincea journey across the Inner Sea is consid-ered to be too long even for industriousmerchants, Chessentan merchants buythe surplus of the Durpar merchantsand then resell it in Cormyr and Sembiafor a large profit.

CoinageThe governments of each Chessentancity-state mint their own coins, typi-cally from silver and gold. The silverpiece is called a talent, and the goldpiece is known as a drake. The coins areusually traded by merchants; any at-tempt to debase coins results in themerchants refusing to accept them aspayment. Coins are minted with aruler�s face on one side, and a divinesymbol (usually commemorating a bat-tlefield victory) on the reverse.

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CURRENT POLITICS OF CHESSENTARegional RulersThe land of Chessenta is controlled bythe city-states, which do not accept acentral governing body or ruler; therulers of Cimbar, Akanax, and Mordul-kin all claim to be the true Overlord ofChessenta and add this to their other ti-tles; except for the purposes of protocol(where it creates strains between thegovernments), this claim is meaningless.

There are no regional divisions inChessenta; city governments claim asmuch territory as they can reasonablygovern, and sometimes more. Whereterritorial claims clash, there is fre-quently war. Territories and small com-munities are usually ruled by a localstrongman or council. These territorialgovernments sometimes offer alle-giance to city governments in exchangefor troops in times of need. In wartime,the territories are expected to providetroops to the central government, butfew ever do (though they complainquite violently when they are neglectedby their parent city).

Cities are ruled by their traditionalrulers, who are known as kings. Thekings must usually listen to the adviceof a council, which discusses the city�sproblems in a private forum. Councilmembers are usually elected fromproperty-holding male citizens. Theking can ignore their advice, but whenthe advice is ignored too often, thatking may be ousted from power.Akanax and Luthcheq do not have tra-ditional councils, but they are run as ab-solute tyrannies with lip-service paidfrom military subordinates (in the caseof Akanax) and family members (in thecase of Luthcheq).

The politics of the cities in Chessentaare subject to frequent change. Thecurrent relationships between the cit-ies can be described using the followingterms:

Subjugated means that another cityhas gained control over the city beingdescribed.

Enemy means the city is at war withthe city named.

Adversary means the two cities are

traditional enemies, but they are notcurrently at war.

Neutral means the cities have no par-ticular historical hatred.

Rival means that there is a historictrade competition between the two cit-ies, but no significant history of militaryconflict.

Allied means that they are currentlyallies, but not necessarily strong allies.

All the cities not mentioned in eachcity�s listing are neutral to that city.

AirspurAllied: Luthcheq, SoorenarAdversary: RethEnemy: Cimbar

AkanaxAdversary: Luthcheq, SoorenarRival: CimbarSubjugated: Maerduuth, Oslin

CimbarEnemy: Airspur, Luthcheq, SoorenarRival: Akanax

LuthcheqAllied: Airspur, SoorenarAdversary: Akanax, MordulkinEnemy: Cimbar

MordulkinAdversary: LuthcheqRival: Mourktar

MourktarAdversary: Aleaxtis (sahuagin)Rival: Mordulkin

RethAllied: Hlath, NunAdversary: Airspur

SoorenarAllied: Airspur, LuthcheqAdversary: AkanaxEnemy: Cimbar

The current major political question inChessenta involves the position of Mor-dulkin and Akanax regarding the cur-rent war. Mordulkin is stronglytempted to attack its traditional enemy

Luthcheq, and should Akanax take theopportunity to avenge its losses in thelast war against Soorenar, there couldwell be full-scale war in Chessenta be-tween the Northern Alliance (Airspur,Soorenar, and Luthcheq) and the Trian-gle (Cimbar, Akanax, and Mordulkin)Alliance. Most military experts believethat such a war would certainly resultin the defeat of the Northern Allianceand a hastening of what is viewed as aninevitable conflict between the two ma-jor powers of Akanax and Cimbar.

However, the city-states are not eachother�s only enemies. The cities of theNorth Coast are bitter trade rivals, butthey have their own problems with anattack from Thayvian fire elementals(see the scenario �Fire Time� in FR6,Dreams of the Red Wizards).

Unther would like to avenge the lossof its territory, but the Untheric armyalso has more pressing problems.Should the Triangle Alliance decide toattack, they would probably defeat theNorthern Alliance. Such a conflictwould divide Chessenta into three pow-erful political regions: the West Coast,ruled by Cimbar, the East Coast, ruledby Mordulkin, and the Interior, ruledby Akanax.

The following is a brief description ofthe politics of each of the city-states ofChessenta.

RethReth is ruled by a council of merchants,the leader of which is Murzig Hekka-tayn (3rd-level mage). There are a num-ber of important issues that concernReth at this time:

Separatism: There is a groundswell ofsupport for formal separation fromChessenta to officially become part ofChondath. This initiative is not sup-ported by the council, which believethat the status quo works and that Rethdoesn�t need closer ties with Chondath.

Orcs: Raids from the orcs of theAkanapeaks are becoming more fre-quent. There are a number of peoplewho wish to strike back at the orcs. Therulers realize that Reth would be de-stroyed in a war with the orcs.

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Airspur: A number of traders wouldlike Reth to ally with Cimbar against itsold enemy, Airspur, in the current war.They believe that they would get alarger share of the merchant traffic withDelthuntle and Altumbel if Airspur suf-fered a major defeat. The council isstrongly against a war with Airspur, ifonly because wars are expensive.

Likely Course: Reth will stay neutralin the Cimbar-Airspur conflict. Theywill not attack the orcs, though theywill bolster their defenses. Reth will notjoin Hlath at this time, but close ties willcontinue between the two cities.

AirspurThis city is ruled by a military councilled by the half-orc Khrulis (8th-levelfighter). The town was previously a the-ocracy, belonging to the priests ofBhaelros (known as Talos in the north);these priests sacrificed a maiden everymonth to their deity and were ex-tremely unpopular. Khrulis and hishalf-orcs are actually a considerable im-provement, though there is a great dealof discontent in this city. Sources of dis-satisfaction include the following:

The half-orcs: Many refugees of abloody civil war between the orc tribesfrom the Akanapeaks came to live inAirspur. They are not particularly be-loved, though they hold a lot of politicalpower. Many humans oppose the warwith Cimbar, and believe the half-orcsare sending the humans to die in battleso the Flaming Spike orcs can take overthe city. This is actually nonsense, buthuman bigotry against orcs runs quitedeep.

The war with Cimbar: There aremany people in Airspur who havefriends in Cimbar, and the war is notpopular. So far pressure from the mili-tary, which is firmly controlled byKhrulis, has kept the peace. But this isnot a popular war.

The priests of Bhaelros: To alleviatehis present troubles, Khrulis is usingthe hated priests of Bhaelros as scape-goats. People opposed to his programsare accused of being supporters of the

sacrifice. People who are vocal in theiropposition to Khrulis are sometimescharmed into performing Bhaelrosianceremonies in public. In this way Khru-lis can easily discredit his enemies. Sofar this has worked, but there is a dan-ger that the cult of Bhaelros may be-come an acceptable opposition force(i.e., Khrulis may force people to jointhe cult of Bhaelros because it providesthe only opposition!). All of the realpriests of Bhaelros were killed long agoor fled into the wilderness.

Likely Course: Khrulis is already dis-covering that he is not likely to win thewar against Cimbar. He is also startingto realize that it�s ludicrous to wage apolitically unpopular war for no gain.

He will probably sue for peace withCimbar, perhaps offering them militaryassistance against the Northern Alli-ance. Half-orc tension will continue togrow, and refugees may flee to Reth orbuild a new city on the northern shoresof the Akanamere. Khrulis will likelysurvive, though certain anti-orc fac-tions may hire adventurers to assassi-nate him �to free Airspur from half-orctyranny.�

CimbarCimbar is one of the most stable cities inChessenta, with very few internal dis-sents. It is led by a king known as theSceptanar (15th-level mage), who is ad-vised by a large council.

Despite its relative stability, Cimbarhas a few problems:

The war with the Northern Alliance:The current strategy of the Sceptanar isto let the enemy come to Cimbar, useCimbar�s naval advantage to keep thefood supplies coming in, and wait for thealliance to fall apart (or for Mordulkinand Akanax to join the war against theAlliance). This is a good strategy but nota popular one, as many feel that the cityshould go on the offensive.

The Mob: This is a group of peasantsand mercenaries and young peoplewho like to get together to listen todemagogues, shout, and occasionallyriot, pillage, and murder. This is the

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dark side of Cimbar�s enlightenment.The Mob members don�t see them-selves as a problem; instead they thinkeveryone else is the problem. It is fairlyeasy to manipulate them into violentacts, though they have a strong distrustfor foreigners.

The priests of Tchazzar: Thesepriests are proclaiming that Tchazzarwill return soon to lead Chessenta intoa new golden age. Few people takethem seriously, though their dema-goguery makes them a hero to TheMob.

Slavery: A number of noted philoso-phers have been calling for a ban onslavery, which they view as immoral.Most people ignore them.

Likely Course: There is no real chal-lenge to the Sceptanar�s authority, un-less Tchazzar did come back, which isnot outside the realm of possibilitysince he is not dead (see the �Religion�section).

If no one comes to their aid in the cur-rent war, it is quite likely that Airspurwill pull out and that Cimbar will thengo on to crush Soorenar. The Mob andslavery will continue as they have donefor many years.

AkanaxThe city of tents, as it is referred to incontempt by the victorious Soorenar, isa military dictatorship. Any who dis-obey the orders of King Hippartes(19th-level fighter) is either executed orbanished. Hippartes wants to stay outof the current conflict for as long aspossible, in the hopes that Soorenar andCimbar will weaken each other. Somegenerals support an attack on Soorenar,while a few view Cimbar as the majorthreat and are pushing for Akanax tojoin the Northern Alliance.

Hippartes�s goal is to improveAkanax�s markets and complete the re-building of the city.

Likely Course: There is no one whoeven remotely threatens the control ofKing Hippartes; unless he should die ofa disease or in battle, Akanax will re-main stable. Akanax will eventually join

Cimbar against Soorenar, but the twocities will argue over the future of thatport. There are two possibilities: 1)Akanax allows Cimbar to controlSoorenar with the condition thatAkanaxian goods pass through withouttariffs, and that Soorenar provide fi-nancial assistance for the reconstruc-tion of Akanax or 2) Cimbar and Akanaxgo to war, with the winner becomingthe dominant power in Chessenta for atleast one generation.

LuthcheqThe city of madness has many politicalproblems, all of them having to do withthe mad Karanoks. This clan is deter-mined to push their plan to destroy allmages in the Realms, regardless of howimpossible their task may be.

To understand Luthcheq, it is neces-sary to know the Karanoks. Here is abrief summary of prominent familymembers and their abilities.

Maelos (18th-level priest of Entropy):He is a bitter old man who sees magiceverywhere and knows only one way todeal with it. While he is the figureheadruler of the city, most of the affairs ofthe city are run by his son.

Jaerios (13th-level priest of Entropy):Jaerios is the real ruler of Luthcheq. Heloves to exercise power. He is not asdriven to hate wizards as his fatherMaelos (though he still believes in thecreed of the Karanoks), but he enjoyswatching them burn. He is a debauchedmegalomaniac in the classic CE mold.

Naeros (12th-level fighter): Naeros isJaerios�s son. He is arrogant beyond be-lief. He loves to walk the street with hispersonal guard of high-level fightersand priests of Entropy, watching peoplerun away.

Naeros is known as the Marker, be-cause he likes to disfigure his victimsbefore they die. Naeros believes that itis impossible for him to die, and that hecan do anything he wants. He is an ab-solutely evil monster who particularlyhates members of adventuring parties.He has been badly spoiled by his fatherand his grandfather; if anyone should

harm or kill him, the wrath of the entireKaranok clan would fall upon them.

Saestra (vampiress): Saestra, knownas the Lady of the Night, was locked in acrypt by her brother as part of a crueljoke and left there for nine days andnine nights before the crypt wasopened again. By the time she exited,she was a vampiress. She has success-fully concealed this fact from her fam-ily even when she manipulated theminto killing her vampire master. She hastwo personalities�one is sweet and to-tally innocent and loving, and the otheris a savage killer. Either personality cancome out at a moment�s notice, depend-ing on her hunger.

These are only a few of the membersof the enchanting Karanok family. TheDM can always come up with newmembers; as one Karanok is killed, anew Karanok will surface to take hisplace, each more repulsive than thelast. There are a number of specificproblems that Luthcheq faces that gobeyond the Karanoks:

Merchant Revolt: The taxes in Luth-cheq are quite high, and the merchantsare tired of it. They may soon go on strikeand withdraw their services unless theKaranoks agree to lower taxes to thesame level as other cities in Chessenta.

The Magus Society: This is a group ofmages and mage-friends devoted to thedestruction of the Karanoks and to thedestruction of the witchweed fields.

They are a secret society; unfortu-nately they have already been discov-ered by spies for the Karanoks. Thespies are planning to trap the mages, assoon as they make a contact with a pow-erful foreign wizard.

Border Disputes with Mordulkin: Themajor enemy of Luthcheq, Mordulkin,is active on the borders of its territory.This could easily escalate into full-scalewar.

Likely Course: The Karanoks havemade too many enemies. They will bekilled, most likely by adventurers try-ing to rescue or avenge friends. Luth-cheq will be conquered by Mordulkin,which may destroy the city to prevent itfrom bothering anyone again.

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MordulkinThis is one of the most stable cities inChessenta, ruled by the mage Hercubesof the Jedea family (12th-level mage).This is a large city with powerful guilds,which makes it perhaps the most �west-ern� of all of the cities in the entire OldEmpires. Politically, it wants to becomethe largest power east of the AdderRiver and develop the region into a citystate that will rival Cimbar in wealthand culture. Luthcheq is seen as its ma-jor enemy, and the lords of Mordulkinwould love nothing better than an op-portunity to burn Luthcheq to theground and sow its fields with salt sonothing could grow there again.

There are a number of important is-sues in Mordulkin. The most importantis the war; even though Mordulkin isnot yet involved, the people of Mor-dulkin for the most part believe thatthere can never be peace while a stoneof Luthcheq stands.

Every day, a mob of hundreds of peoplemarch on the royal palace, chanting �Wewant war!� King Hercubes is hoping thatLuthcheq will overextend itself in its waragainst Cimbar, and then Mordulkin canstrike with a decisive advantage.

Likely Course: Mordulkin will declarewar and suffer heavy losses. Luthcheqwill be destroyed, but those Karanokswho escape the destruction will hire as-sassins to kill the lords of Mordulkin.

MourktarThe city-state of King Theris has been aquiet place until very recently, whenthe king announced his imminent deathand a tournament to replace him (seethe �The Name of the Game� scenario).

The Tournament: The majority of theguilds believe that a tournament to re-place Theris is insane, as Mourktarcould be stuck with a totally inept rulerand quickly end up as part of Unther,Chessenta, or even Thay. The army,however, is fiercely loyal to Theris andis willing to put up with the successorproduced by a tournament; if he�s thewrong man for the job, they feel theycan always replace him later.

The Sahuagin: The sahuagin of thekingdom of Aleaxtis are a major threatto the continued safety of Mourktar.They sink trading ships and raid fishingboats and coastal farms. The people (es-pecially fishermen and farmers) are de-manding that the sahuagin be stopped.

Theris knows that the city does nothave the military might to stop an at-tack by the sahuagin.

Likely Course: Anything could hap-pen with a tournament deciding thefate of Mourktar. A great leader couldbring about a rebirth of trade with Mul-horand and Thay, resulting in renewedprosperity; a terrible leader might de-stroy the city.

Soorenar

Given that Airspur and Luthcheq arewilling to follow its lead, this isn�t a totalfantasy, but the lords of Soorenar haveunderestimated the might of Cimbar.They have also seriously underesti-mates the resolve of Akanax, whichLord Brolkchant believes is a con-quered people who will obey their mas-ters in Soorenar when ordered toattack Cimbar. Fortunately forSoorenar, the other lords are less pro-vocative and believe that the coopera-tion of Akanax can be acquired throughdiplomacy.

There are no major centers of inter-nal dissent in Soorenar. There is a fam-ily of werecrocodiles that inhabits thesewers and comes up to eat people; sofar the werecrocodiles just eat peasantsand tradesmen, so the nobles have ig-nored them.

The rulers of Soorenar are descendedfrom the three founding families thatdefeated the armies of Unther andpushed them out of Chessenta.Soorenar is an aggressive city whoselords believe that it is destined to ruleChessenta; it is a city of grand, unrealis-tic designs. Its rulers view Soorenar asthe dominant power of the region dueto its recent triumphs against Akanax.They believe that once they conquerCimbar, the rest of the nation will bowto them.

Likely Course: With the war againstCimbar stalled and Airspur�s support un-certain, Soorenar will hire high-levelmages to attack Cimbar itself. This willlikely alienate Luthcheq and antagonizeAkanax by bringing back memories oftheir own bombardment. The war willend in a crushing defeat for Soorenar,the lords will flee, and the city will eitherbe destroyed or occupied. Akanax andCimbar may go to war over its control.

Laws of ChessentaThe legal system in Chessenta uses a re-vised version of Unther�s Code of Enlil.There is a long list of punishable of-fenses, but Chessenta adds the conceptthat a man convicted of a capital crimehas the right to defend himself before ajury, which must render a unanimousverdict. According to the laws of Ches-

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senta, when a tyrant oppresses the peo-ple, a person who slays him is blameless.Some say this is the most enlightenedconcept of justice in the Realms.

Unfortunately, not all of the cities inthe Old Empires follow this code. Sen-tencing in Luthcheq is decided by thewhims of the Karanoks. Sentencing inAkanax is decided by a less-than-unbiased military tribunal. However inReth, Airspur, Cimbar, Soorenar, Mor-dulkin, and Mourktar, the revised Codeof Enlil is applicable.

Punishments for crimes are not asharsh in Chessenta as in Unther; theyconsist of four levels: fines, imprison-ment, banishment, and execution. Mur-der and treason are punishable byexecution; public troublemaking is pun-ishable by banishment (starting a fightor causing a riot are examples of trouble-making).

RELIGION OF CHESSENTA“The gods forgive Chessenta, but wehave better things to do with our timethan pray.”

�Hercubes of Mordulkin

Chessenta has no basic alignment; reli-gion is not as important to Chessenta asit is to theocracies such as Unther andMulhorand. Nonetheless, religious wor-ship has its place in this society.

AnhurGod of Might, Warrior of the South

Anhur is the same deity as in Mulho-rand. He has been brought back intoChessenta by mercenary companieswho have spread his worship. Mor-dulkin is its center, but many of the sol-diers of Akanax have adopted him aswell, though he is chaotic by militarystandards. His Chessentan worshipersportray him as a southern power, not aMulhorand deity, and the current per-secution of the cult of Anhur in Mulho-rand has bolstered his image as a non-Mulhorand deity elsewhere. Thepriests of Horus-Re do not like this, as itwill be harder to displace Anhur fromMulhorand if he has a broad base ofworship.

AssuranLord of the Three Thunders, God of Re-venge, Doombringer, Hoar

Status: LN, Lesser Power, NirvanaSymbol: Three lightning bolts

The worship of Assuran is an ancientone; he is an Untheric deity whose wor-ship was driven from that realm by thepriests of Ramman, but who was re-vived in Chessenta. The center of hispopularity is Akanax, among the offi-cers (many of the soldiers are turning tothe worship of Anhur).

AzuthThe High One, Patron of Mages

Status: LN, Demipower, Arcadia

Symbol: A human hand, forefingerpointing upward, outlined in animbus of blue fire

Azuth is worshiped by mages in Cimbarand Mordulkin, the two centers ofmagic in Chessenta. Once every year,his worshipers sacrifice specially cre-ated magical items in his honor. Hisform has only been seen once in Ches-senta, in the company of the archmageHeptios. The main temple of Azuth is inCimbar.

EntropyThe Great Nothing, Swallower of Gods,Magechill

Status: NE, Greater Power, UnknownSymbol: A field of pure black

Entropy is the deity of the Karanoks. Itis an extremely weird entity, a giganticsphere of annihilation that no force�divine, magical, or mortal�may stop.

Worship of Entropy consists of el-dritch rites and human sacrifices, pref-erably of wizards. Priests of Entropyare brought up to hate magic.

The only known temple in the Realmsdedicated to Entropy is in Luthcheq;the temple is encased in a large hemi-sphere of black glass.

LathanderMorning Lord, God of Youth, Vitality,Self-perfection, Athletics

Status: NG, Greater Power, ElysiumSymbol: A wooden disk of rosy pink

hue, or a statue of two wrestlers

Lathander is worshiped in Chessenta,though not as the commander of crea-tivity (that sphere belongs to Melith) butas the perfect athlete.

Sacrifices to Lathander begin all ath-letic competitions, and athletes pray tohim to ensure that they perform attheir best. Lathander is portrayed instatuary as a runner or a wrestler, com-peting against great heroes. He some-

times comes to test great athletes; henever loses, but if his opponent demon-strates great ability, he grants a boon.Lathander�s priesthood is small, butmany pray at his shrines.

TchazzarFather of Chessenta, the InvincibleWarrior

Status: CE, Demipower, Prime MaterialPlane

Symbol: Red dragon against a mountain

Tchazzar was the father of Chessenta.He was also a polymorphed red dragon,who began an interesting experiment.

Tchazzar believed that if he were totake on human form, unite and ruleChessenta for a time, and then disap-pear mysteriously, a cult would be cre-ated to worship him. It did.

Tchazzar is still alive, and he feelsthat the power of his followers beliefswill give him god-like powers. Tchazzaris a great wyrm red dragon with theabilities of a demipower (use the incar-nation abilities in the �Religions of Mul-horand� section). Priests of Tchazzarmay cast only 5th-level or lower spells.Tchazzar�s worship is concentrated inCimbar and Soorenar.

WaukeenMerchant�s Friend, Goddess of Trade,Money, Protector of Traders

Status: N, Lesser Power, ConcordantOpposition

Symbol: A woman�s full face or profilewithin a circle of gold

Waukeen is the most popular deity ofthe middle class in Chessenta. She isworshiped as the protector of traders bytraveling merchants, who have spreadher worship as far south as Durpar.

There are temples to Waukeen acrossChessenta; the largest is in Reth.

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PERSONALITIES OF CHESSENTAHeptiosCimbar17th-level MageNG, LathanderHuman male

The most powerful native magician inChessenta is Heptios of Cimbar. Heptiossees himself as a philosopher; he hasabandoned the wizard�s life to wanderthe streets of Cimbar and speak to thecrowds. Heptios believes that rationalthought must always overcome emo-tion, that passions lead people along ir-responsible and dangerous paths.

Heptios is despised by the Mob (andthe feeling is mutual); the Mob has triedto kill him several times but, due to hiscube of force, they have never beenable to touch him.

Heptios leads a small band of philoso-phers, known as the Heptain. They teachabout the importance of rationalism andphilosophy over superstition. Heptios hasbeen linked to a secret society known asthe Numbers Cult, which attempts totranslate magic into mathematics andthen create equations that will conquerthe world. Heptios has disavowed any in-volvement in this cult, whose basic prem-ise is based on a fallacy.

Heptios lives with his friends in smallhomes, moving from house to house.He has his own quarters in the Univer-sity where he keeps his magical itemsand spells, but he rarely visits it; he pre-fers the company of people and inter-esting conversation to the isolation ofmagic. He is a short old man, fat andbald; he wears brown robes and a hood.

HippartesAkanax19th-level FighterLN, AssuranHuman male

The current king of Akanax is its great-est warrior�Hippartes. He first distin-guished himself in a number of warsagainst Maerduuth, and he was respon-sible for the final victory of Akanax that

brought the city to its supremacy in theAkanamere region. But then Hippartesbecame involved in politics, fell into dis-grace, and was banished from the city.He worked as an adventurer for a time(a profession that he holds in contemptthese days).

Eventually he learned that Akanaxwas faring badly in its war againstSoorenar. He gathered together a smallarmy and marched across Unther andChessenta to join in the battle.

Hippartes then saved Akanax frombeing totally burned by Soorenar. Theruling council, against the advice of Hip-partes, sued for a shameful peaceagainst Soorenar; they were soonousted by soldiers who made Hippartestheir king.

Hippartes believes that through disci-pline and courage, Akanax can becomethe major power in Chessenta. He istaking steps to guide Akanax to thatdestiny over the long term. He willbring Akanax into the Cimbar-Soorenarwar, but not before it is to Akanax�smaximum benefit. He would like con-trol of Soorenar when the war is over,but if that isn�t possible, he�d settle forimproved access to trading markets.

Hippartes is a gruff man who tends tointimidate people. He has three sons,Phillipus (10th-level fighter), Cassarian(8th-level fighter), and Themothys (7th-level fighter), who serve as his chieflieutenants. He is a strong man in hisearly 50s with dark red hair.

KreodoReth9th-level Fighter/6th-level ThiefN, AssuranHalf-orc female

Kreodo is the leader of the Wraith ofthe Inner Sea, which is essentially agroup of privateers. She began her longcareer as a slave of the Flaming Spikeorc tribes, then escaped and fled toReth.

After numerous adventures, shemade her way to Mordulkin and joinedthe thieves� guild. She decided that she

would like to live on the sea, so she pur-chased a ship, hired a crew, and be-came a pirate.

Kreodo appears to be almost entirelyhuman, with long, black hair and blueeyes (very rare for a half-orc). She is acruel enemy, but usually treats her vic-tims with courtesy; if they surrender,she�ll make certain they are treatedfairly until they can be returned home.

TherescalesLuthcheq3rd-level Mage/10th-level ThiefNE, EntropyHuman male

Therescales is an agent of JaeriosKaranok; though he is a practicedmage, he is a mage who is willing to be-tray the Mage Society for the promiseof power. Therescales (pronouncedThur-ESK-el-eez) poses as a lawful neu-tral mage in the society. He is urging thesociety to bring in powerful magesfrom other nations to deal with theKaranoks (of course he�s leading theminto a trap).

Therescales enjoys betraying peoplefor fun and profit; he is also a cowardwho will cringe and confess to anythingif threatened with physical force. Sinceit is likely he will meet characters in-volved in rescuing friends from Luth-cheq, here are his stats:

AC: 1HIT POINTS: 30THAC0: 16#AT: 1DMG/ATT: By weaponSTR 12 DEX 17 CON 14 INT 16 WIS 11CHA 12SD: Ring of false alignment

Therescales wears bracers of defense,AC 4 and has a ring of false alignmenttuned to lawful neutral; this masks histrue alignment and makes any alignmentdetection magic read lawful neutral.

Therescales is a young, thin blondman (he claims to be a half-elf) with adark cloak and a dagger at his belt.

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MERCENARY COMPANIES OF CHESSENTAChessenta is famous for, among otherthings, the large number of mercenarycompanies that flock from across theInner Seas to fight in its conflicts.

Some of the mercenary companieshave achieved reputations that havegone beyond the borders of Chessenta.These companies are detailed here.

The Wraith ofthe Inner SeaThis is a fleet of four ships that serve asprivateers along the coast of Chessenta.Their commander is the half-orc �SeaQueen� Kreodo, who is documented inthe �Personalities� section.

Her ships are the following:Sea Queen (dromond): 200 Crew, 50

Marines, and eight 3rd-level mages andfive 6th-level mages. This Kreodo�s flag-ship, captained by Kreodo herself. Thefirst mate is Rutters (8th-level fighter).

Sea Horse (dromond): 200 Crew, 30Marines, and five 4th-level mages andone 9th-level mage. This ship is com-manded by Captain Morgalshym (11th-level thief), and its first mate is Brawn(8th-level fighter). The mage isCurnetheres, an outlaw of Luthcheqwho decided to join the crew to get re-venge against the city.

Sea Jewel (dromond): 200 Crew, 100Marines, and three 5th-level mages.This ship is a heavy marine support ves-sel. Its captain is Bendensar (6th-levelthief), ex-thieves� guild assistant of Mor-dulkin, and his first mate is Lorien (5th-level mage), a female elf who ran awayfrom Yuirwood for a life of adventure.

Sea Quest (dromond): 200 Crew, 50Marines, and two 7th-level mages. Thisis a fast attack vessel whose mages havegust of wind spells for the sails; the shiphas a reinforced hull for ramming. Thisvessel is meant to cut off a ship if it tries

to flee. Its captain is Sturion (10th-levelfighter) and his first mate is Perithor(7th-level fighter).

When the Sea Queen�s fleet getswithin attack range of a vessel, they flyher colors (a black crown against ablood red field) and attack. Their favor-ite tactic is to try to surround their preyfrom all sides, then close in for the kill.

The RenegadesThis mercenary group is formed fromsoldiers exiled from Akanax. It is led bythe infamous Helyos (13th-level fighter,see the �Name of the Game� scenariofor his stats). The full complement ofthe renegades is as follows: 70 cavalry(F3, lance, AC 2 with shield), 20 infantry(F2, long sword, AC 4), and 90 archers(F1, long bow and broad sword, AC 8).Lieutenants of the company includePyrimestes (10th-level fighter) andHamilcar (8th-level fighter). There areten 1st-level mages who stay behind theinfantry and cast sleep spells behind ashield wall. The company uses heavywarhorses.

The Renegades are known for theirruthlessness when they pillage theirvictims, and for demanding a high price(double normal price for mercenaries).Their reputation makes them the sub-ject of fear throughout Chessenta. Theyhave no base city; they wander Ches-senta in search of opportunity andplunder. They have most recently beenemployed by Soorenar, though they arecurrently at Mount Thulbane for theMourktar tournament, where Helyoshopes to become king of Mourktar.

Sailors of the Crimson SeaThis mercenary company recently sawaction in Chondath at the battle ofThurgabanteth and had many casualties.

Their name is an elaborate metaphor:�the crimson sea� refers to a bloody bat-tlefield, and �sailors� refers to soldierswho ply their trade on that crimson sea.

Their current complement is as fol-lows: 60 cavalry (F2, lance, AC 2), 20 in-fantry (F2, long sword, AC 4), 60infantry (F3, long sword, AC 2), and 40archers (F1, long bow, AC 8). Their lead-ers are Lhrek Jarsyn (7th-level fighter)and his assistant Iarnan Chall (7th-levelwizard).

The Sailors pride themselves on beingon the �right side� of the conflicts theybecome involved in, though they neverwork for free.

The Society of the SwordThis is the largest and most famousmercenary force in Chessenta, cur-rently based in Cimbar. Its complementincludes the following: 200 cavalry (F4,long sword, AC 2), 100 infantry (F4,long sword, AC 2), 500 infantry (F2,long sword, AC 2), and 200 archers (F2,long bow, AC 7). There is also a comple-ment of five 5th-level and ten 3rd-levelmages, and the wizard Belvorides (11th-level illusionist). The company is led byStilmus (13th-level fighter) and his lieu-tenants Thareus (10th-level fighter) andAronidas (8th-level elven fighter/mage).

The society�s first rule is that a goodmercenary should be worth twice theprice he charges. Stilmus is obsessedwith honor and challenges to that honor.He is a hated enemy of Helyos, who washis lieutenant in one of his old merce-nary companies; Helyos tried to killStilmus to gain control of that company.

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CULTURE OF CHESSENTA“Our love of things of the mind andthings of beauty should not lead to ex-travagance, nor to softness of the mindor body. In Chessenta, we avoid allexcesses.”

�Heptios

Of all of the human nations in theknown Realms, no other nation hasever achieved the cultural level thatCimbar and many of the other cities inChessenta have attained. This mayseem like an outlandish claim, but evenin Waterdeep, philosophy, astronomy,poetry, theater and other forms of cul-ture seem backward compared to theachievements of Chessenta.

The people of Chessenta are knownfor their confidence and energy. Forthe most part, this energy is spent onuseless wars, as the city-states try toavenge long-ago defeats, or fight to ac-quire access to trade routes. On theother hand, the peoples of Chessenta,especially those of Cimbar, are filledwith a tremendous love of literatureand beautiful things, of knowledge andfree-thinking.

In the west, exploring the nature ofthe universe is done in a very practicalstyle: one travels to the outer planes,makes observations, and then writes atreatise to be kept in the dusty libraryof a sage such as Elminster. In Ches-senta, study of the nature of the uni-verse is done in an abstract,philosophical way. One need not wan-der the planes to discover the nature ofthings; one can find it in the structureof a blade of grass.

Theater, which is not a major art formelsewhere in the Realms, thrives inChessenta. Authors produce plays(tragedies, comedies, etc.) for actingcompanies, which perform for large au-diences in the theater districts of Cim-bar, Soorenar, and Mordulkin. Poetsread poetry in public squares, and phi-losophers debate in the centers of busystreets.

For warriors, the major pastime isathletic competition, which is ex-tremely important for the people ofChessenta; all wars cease during the

one-week period every two years thatthe Thulbanian Games take place.

Competitions are always individualevents, as Chessentans prefer solitaryheroic figures to teams. Champions ofthe games are great heroes in theirhome cities; a slave can become as fa-mous as a noble if he performs well.

The most popular sport is wrestling,which comes in two styles: traditional(equivalent to modern greco-roman)and the pankration, which is a combi-nation of wrestling and kick boxing in afight to the finish; only biting, eye-gouging, and breaking fingers is illegal.Other sports that are popular are char-iot racing (over a grueling obstaclecourse), boxing, running, long jumping,javelin throwing, and the discus. Dur-ing the nights, poets and theater groupsentertain crowds, and there are greatfeasts. In feasting, even the Mulhorandiare not as adept as the Chessentans.

Though Chessentans are not greatmonument builders, they are nonethe-less considered the most skilled archi-tects in the Realms. Their main palaces

are built in what is known as temple-style: a large square roof supported byelaborately decorated columns. Thesebuildings are typically made from mar-ble or granite.

As Chessenta has a slightly cooler cli-mate than the other nations of the OldEmpires, its people are usually clothedin long, flowing robes and tunics. Ath-letes compete in the nude, which non-Chessentans believe to be very strange(this contributes to the widespread per-ception that Chessenta is a nation ofwild men).

Language ofChessentaChessentans once spoke Untheric, butabandoned that language 200 years agofor the common tongue of the west (us-ing a variation on Untheric writing intheir written records, though they havereduced the runes to an alphabeticalwriting scheme). Untheric is oftenknown as a second language, if only tounderstand ancient writing.

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ADVENTURES IN THE OLD EMPIRESSnake DanceLocation: This scenario takes place in alarge city in the west. It is meant to in-troduce the players to some of the con-flicts of Mulhorand.

The Rumor: There is a strange, evilsouthern cult making its presenceknown in the west. This group is ru-mored to be making contact with theZhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon.

The Facts: The cult is the Cult of Set,of course. Hodkamset, leader of theFangs of Set, has sent a number of oper-atives into the west for the purpose ofspreading the Cult of Set, and to acquiremagic.

In the course of one of their thefts,Mefraset, a female mage, put a ring ofreverse alignment on her finger, whichsuddenly transformed her to chaoticgood and filled her with loathing for theCult of Set. She knows many ofHodkamset�s diabolical plans and in-tends to stop them. The other cultmembers, on the other hand, have fig-ured out what happened to Mefrasetand want to capture her and reversethe effect of the alignment switch.

Encounter: The encounter can beone for characters of any level; just ad-just the levels of Mefraset and the pursu-ers accordingly. Low-level characterswill be facing ordinary fighters and cler-ics who are either in the service of theCult of Set or whose services have beenbought by the cult. High-level parties canface minions of Set and a rakshasa.

The characters are walking down thestreet when a tall, bald woman pushesthem aside and runs past them. She isbeing chased by men who obviouslydon�t have her continued health in mind.

If the player characters do nothing,then they�ve blown the scenario. Moveonto another encounter. If the charac-ters rescue her (and it should be an easyfight at this point), the woman identifiesherself as Mefrahur, a mage of Mulho-rand, who has been gathering informa-tion on the activities of the Cult of Setoutside Mulhorand. (This isn�t reallytrue, but Mefraset has no idea whatshe�s doing outside Mulhorand in thecompany of someone as evil as the Cult

of Set; she has made up this story be-cause it seems like the only logical wayto explain what happened. She alsochanged her name, because she cannotsee herself as having anything to dowith Set.) She mentions the nameHodkamset as the leader of a companyof high-level adventurers in the serviceof Set. She says that they have a schemeto overthrow the pharaoh of Mulho-rand and replace him with Set, and thatthey are looking for magical items to aidthem in their conquest. She also tellsthe characters the location of her hid-ing place.

At this point, a larger party of assas-sins attack. Use as many as you need toengage the entire party; Mefraset willrun away during this fight. After thefight, the characters can track Mefrasetto her hide-out.

In the meantime, the Cult of Set foundMefraset and neutralized the alignmentswitch. She realizes that she told thePCs too much, and that they must die toprotect the cult.

When the PCs find Mefraset, she willpose as Mefrahur, doing her very bestto appear convincing in the role. Amember of the Cult of Set will appear tobe holding a sword to her throat. Shecasts a spell on the PCs when she feelsshe can achieve surprise, and the restof the cult joins in the ambush.

If the PCs have a recurring nemesisfrom within the Zhentarim, then hemay be substituted for the Cult of Setmember as the one holding Mefraset�hostage.� Or, if you don�t want to em-ploy the nemesis here, use one of hischief minions.

This should be an extremely toughfight that the PCs will be very hardpressed to win, all the more so becauseMefraset will be using weird southernmagic (see the �New Spells� section). Ifthe PCs win, they find Mefraset�s spellbook, in a totally undecipherable lan-guage (Mulhorandi magic, which non-Mulhorandi can read only with aMulhorand read magic spell), and thering of reverse alignment in a box. Theywill also have had their first taste of thesouth.

The Eater of MagicLocation: Chessenta, centering onCimbar.

(Note: This rumor was first men-tioned in the DM�s Sourcebook of theRealms, p. 43. It is dated Eleasias [Au-gust], Year of the Prince [DR 1357].)

The Rumor: The Sceptanar, self-proclaimed ruler of Chessenta (hishome city is Cimbar), has sent an envoyto Sembia, Cormyr, and the Dalelands,seeking word of those who unleashedthe magic-eater in Scornubel twowinters ago. The Sceptanar has a simi-lar creature imprisoned in an ancientglobe in the Crypt Royal. He is offeringgold, magical treasures, griffins, or no-ble maidens of his realm to anyone whocan safely unleash the magic-eaterwithout harming the people or trea-sures of Chessenta. He also wants it re-turned to its own home plane, orcontrolled to do his bidding in a certaintask.

The Facts: The Sceptanar is less in-terested in dealing with the creaturethan in luring adventurers to Cimbar,where he hopes they can be persuadedto help defend the city against its cur-rent enemies. If he could get the magic-eater under his control, though, hewould be very happy.

The magic-eater is really a hakeashar(see the �New Monsters� section). It istrapped in the heart of a pyramid builtin the days when the city was under thecontrol of Unther; the pyramid was adeliberate attempt to recreate the Mul-horandi style.

The hakeashar is trapped in a glasssphere that is welded to the floor; nophysical force can release the sphere.

The sphere is directly over a con-cealed plate in the floor that leads to thetreasure vault, which the Sceptanarwould like to get into. The plate cannotbe opened by physical force or bymagic (thanks to a wish spell)�this in-cludes phase door and passwall spells.There is a tiny engraved impressionwith the coat of arms of Cimbar im-printed into the floor. The plate canonly be opened by pressing the royal

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signet ring of Cimbar into the floorplate (it is currently on the left hand ofthe Sceptanar). What riches and dan-gers lie beneath the plate are for theDM to decide; they should both be verygreat.

The Sceptanar would like to use thehakeashar as a weapon in the currentwar. He is also worried that the crea-ture might fall into the hands of thelords of Luthcheq, who hate magic andwould do anything to get their hands ona creature capable of destroying magic.If the characters succeed in their quest,they will find that the Sceptanar is a fairman, but rather stingy; he would preferto short-change the characters as op-posed to cheating them entirely out oftheir reward.

Rage of DustLocation: Klondor, Mulhorand, Plainsof Purple Dust

The Rumor: A swirling sandstormhas formed in the heart of Raurin, thegreat desert, and is said to be headingnortheast into the Plains of PurpleDust. The storm is nearly a dozen milesacross. Some say this is the coming ofthe dreaded skriaxit, the storm ofdeath, and some are leaving the GreatVale for safer ground.

The Facts: The dust cloud is indeedthe skriaxit; in fact, it is a full strengthskriaxit storm with 18 members.

The black storm has generated alarge sandstorm around it. It is carryingthat dust with it as it heads toward theGreat Vale. It will strike the town ofKlondor in a week�s time, undoubtedlykilling everyone in the town unless it isstopped.

The skriaxit has a reputation forslaughtering mages and warriors of ex-treme power. The PCs should bewarned, very strongly, that the skriaxithas been known to swallow parties ofextremely well-armed, high-level ad-venturers. If the PCs ignore that warn-ing, well, it is their choice to walk intoalmost certain death.

There is an easier way to still theskriaxit. The skriaxit loves to cause

death and destruction, but is not neces- try to avenge their martyr�s death. Re-sarily very discriminating about what it zim will try to bribe the PCs not to fulfillkills, except that the victims should be Hethhab�s dying request; failing that,reasonably intelligent mammals. If the he�ll hire assassins to deal with them. IfPCs were to drive a very large herd of this also fails, he will have the PCs out-cattle or pigs into the heart of the storm lawed to make their words seem less(at least 5,000 head), that would be credible. It is up to the PCs to escapesufficient to quiet it. with their hides and integrity intact.

Where can the PCs get this informa-tion? The priests of Thoth might know.To get access to the priests of Thoth, thePCs may need the assistance ofHethhab, the Defender of the EasternWay, a man in the service of Anhur whois very concerned about the skriaxit.

Hethhab is really an incarnation ofAnhur (see the �Personalities of Mulho-rand� section); as such, he can get theplayers access to Tholaunt, incarnationof Thoth, in Gheldaneth.

The answer is not written in thetomes of Thoth, but Tholaunt, incarna-tion of Thoth, says that there is a legendthat the archmage Nezram once qui-eted a skriaxit without being harmed;this knowledge might be known to theNezramites, the descendants ofNezram.

Magic QuestLocation: Outer Sultim

Rumor: A rather shady merchantnamed Verdegond claims that he has aspell book with translations of over adozen Mulhorand magical spells intothe magical language of the west. He iswilling to sell this book to the highestbidder. He is currently in Outer Sultim,where he plans to make the sale.

The Facts: The majority of thesespells are variation of the cantrip spell,which has no real value. However,there are at least five Mulhorand magi-cal spells, including the extremely valu-able read Mulhorand magic. It is wortha lot.

The PCs would have to travel to thePlains of Purple Dust, where theNezramites live, and persuade them totell them how. There is one problem�the Nezramites don�t like strangers! It isup to the PCs to figure out a way to dealwith their hostility, then get enough ani-mals together to stop the skriaxit.

Optional Complication: When thePCs feed the skriaxit a herd of animals,it is not enough. That is when Hethhab,the incarnation of Anhur, reveals him-self for what he truly is. He and his min-ions ride into the heart of the storm;before he rides he asks the PCs to stayout of the storm, but to ride to Sultim totell his priesthood of what happened. Aminute after Hethhab rides into thestorm, it is stilled. The deity and hisminions are dead.

Rezim�s spies learn what happened.Rezim worries that if the priests ofAnhur learned that an incarnation ofAnhur died a heroic death while on a su-icide mission that Rezim gave him, therewill be open warfare as the Anhurites

There are several complications. Thepriests and mages of Thoth are after it,and they are very upset. Agents of theThay Zulkir Lauzoril are also after thebook. The player characters are goingto have to deal with them and Verde-gond, who has a habit of stealing backhis sales and selling them twice.

This scenario should keep the playercharacters on their toes, as fake spellbooks, angry mages, and deadly assas-sins await at every turn. Every timethey turn around, there is someonewith a sword or staff pointing at themsaying: �Okay, pal, where�s the book?� Ifthe DM desires, the chases can take oncomic overtones, but the scenario�andthe prize�is a very serious one.

Terrible Swift SwordLocation: Shussel, Unther

Rumor: Mysterious murders havebeen taking place among the merchantsin the city of Shussel. There is one re-port which claimed that a sword with-out a wielder slew one of the

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merchants, then flew into the shadowsand could not be pursued.

The Facts: Havell (4th-level fighter), amerchant from Shussel, has a fanaticalhatred of travelers from other lands(such as Durpar) who exposed him as afraud and drove him out of business. Hediscovered a cache of magical potionsthat enable him to turn ethereal for 1d4+1 hours. These potions also enablehim to handle objects that are not ethe-real as long as they remain in the PrimeMaterial plane.

Thus Havell can wield a sword andthe sword appears to be wielding itself.

Merchants may hire player charac-ters to serve as bodyguards. The char-acters will be hard-pressed to defeat asword whose wielder is ethereal,whom they cannot harm except fromthe Ethereal plane (give Havell a +4 at-tack roll bonus with the sword whilehe�s ethereal).

They might talk to relatives of thesword�s victims, who would likely nameHavell (among others) as someone whoheld a grudge against the victims. Asearch of Havell's quarters uncoversthe potions.

City on the Edge of

Location: Messemprar, Unther

Oblivion

Rumor: There is trouble in Messem-prar, one of the major ports in Unther,due to severe food shortages. Shipsbearing food to Messemprar can makea big fortune, if they can get past the sa-huagin and the pirates and make it intoport.

The Facts: This scenario can begin atany coastal city on the Inner Sea, suchas Selgaunt, Suzail, Procampur, orTelflamm. The player characters couldpurchase a ship, buy lots of grain andother foodstuffs, and then make theperilous voyage to Messemprar. Or theplayer characters might sign on forsuch a voyage with a merchant captain.

During the voyage, the player charac-ters have to deal with the dangers of theInner Sea. The crew could have an evil

sailor on board who is urging them tomutiny and sell the cargo to his masters(the pirates or the Red Wizards). Piratesmight attack, sahuagin might try toboard the ship and capture it. This is upto the DM.

When the ship gets to Messemprar,there are two Unther naval boats withorders to board any ship that tries toenter the harbor of Messemprar. Theyare also instructed to sell the survivorsof its crew into slavery (the crew knowsof this policy). The ships are too faraway for the Northern Wizards to as-sist; the PCs must defeat the Unthervessels on their own.

If the ship makes it into Messemprar,the PCs find that they are already toolate. The food riots have escalated into afull-scale revolt; the authorities of thecity are either dead or under siege inthe palace district. The hungry towns-people try to seize the ship, distributeits cargo, and impound the vessel.

Any resistance results in the playercharacters becoming hunted by therebels. The player characters mightfind sanctuary with the Northern Wiz-ards� Guild, but then maybe the eldersof the guild are murdered one by one.The PCs are (naturally) the prime sus-pects. Can they clear their names? Canthey escape the madness of Messem-prar? These questions can only be an-swered by the ingenuity (or lack of it) ofyour players during the campaign.�City On The Edge of Oblivion� is in-tended as a novel-sized adventure forthe characters.

The Weed That KillsLocation: Luthcheq, Chessenta

Rumor: The lords of the city of Luth-cheq in Chessenta are mad (in Ches-senta this is not considered to be rumor,but fact). Their goal is the destructionof all magic, and the painful deaths ofall who wield magic.

Their agents are suspected of kidnap-ping some of the most powerful magesin the Realms, intending to burn themto death in a big bonfire.

The Facts: This rumor is absolutelyaccurate.

This scenario is a �friend in need� sce-nario: the PCs are friendly with a magewho has been kidnapped. The kidnap-pers were spotted chartering a ship tosomewhere east in the Inner Sea re-gion. To rescue their friend, the PCsmust get their own ship and chase afterthe kidnappers. They may pick up thetrail of the kidnappers at several ports,but for maximum dramatic effect thechase should end in Luthcheq, with thePCs arriving just hours before the burn-ing is to take place. The PCs then haveto sneak into the castle where the wiz-ards are being held captive, free them,and escape.

Aggressive PCs might want to slay theroyal family of Luthcheq, which willcreate a rather large vacuum in the pol-itics of Chessenta. But this wouldn�t bethe first time that adventurers changedthe destiny of a nation, and it would behard for any new ruling family to beworse than the old one.

The Name of theGameLocation: Mourktar, Threskel, Mt.Thulbane

Rumor: Theris, king of Mourktar, isdying and he has no heir. On the in-structions of his god, Assuran of theThree Thunders, he is leaving histhrone to the most worthy successor.To find this successor, he is holding atournament of athletic skills at the baseof Mount Thulbane. This tournament isopen to any who choose to participate.The winner of this tournament will bethe new king.

The Facts: There is indeed a tourna-ment to be held by the slopes of Mt.Thulbane. It is open to both human andhalf-elven men and women; women areforbidden to compete in boxing andwrestling and thus labor under a handi-cap. To qualify, one�s Strength and Dex-terity must both be 14 or better; eachcompeting character must also roll aStrength check and a Dexterity check

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(roll 1d20 for each). If either roll fails,the character fails to qualify.

The events in the tournament arewrestling, discus-throwing, running,chess, boxing, swimming, jumping, rid-ing, archery, and charioteering.

Whoever gets first place in eachevent receives five points, whoever getssecond place gets two points, and who-ever finishes third gets one point.

The two competitors with the highestpoint total must then meet in a duel todecide the winner.

The winners of these events are usu-ally judged by rolls against their profi-ciency scores. A failed skill roll meansthat the character loses the event. If thecharacter succeeds with his roll, he re-cords how much he exceeded what heneeded to roll. If, for instance, SirJheaol needed a 16 to make his Cha-rioteering proficiency, and he rolls a 5,he made his roll by 11. If no other per-son made his roll by more than 11, SirJheaol would win the contest.

Throughout the event descriptions,the term �Difference Score� (DS) will beused to mean the difference betweenthe score needed to succeed and the ac-tual roll of a successful check. In thepreceding example, Sir Jheaol�s DS is 11.

Some characters have no proficiencywith the skill in question. In this case,take the appropriate ability score andhalve it (round fractions down) to getsuch a character�s score in the profi-ciency. For example, a chess playerneeds the gaming proficiency. Tendrosdoesn�t have it. He has an Intelligence(the necessary attribute) of 15. His pro-ficiency score is therefore 7.

Since there should be 64 competitors(including any PCs who are in the con-test; see the �Running the Tournament�section) entered in each event, this roll-ing could get very tedious. As an alter-native, assume that each PC enteredhas a 2% chance of finishing in eachscoring position (i.e., roll percentiledice; a roll of 01-02 means that PC camein first, 03-04 means he came in second,and 05-06 means he came in third. Ifmore than one PC ends up in a particu-lar scoring position, just give each PC

the points for that position).If no PCs are entered in the competi-

tion, then it really doesn�t matter whowins (unless the PCs know someone inthe contest). Just give the players the im-pression of exciting contests and manydeeds of skill and valor, then just makeup a winner and move on to things theplayers are more interested in.

Magical aids are forbidden in this con-test. All contestants are forbidden fromhaving magical assistance. If such is dis-covered, the character is disqualified.All characters are inspected for magicbefore the contest (with a weapon orwand that has the detect magic ability);if magic is detected, the character is dis-qualified.

Rules for CompetitionWrestling: This contest is resolved us-ing the nonlethal combat system (2ndEdition Player�s Handbook, pages 97and 98).

These matches are of a very brutalstyle called the pankration. When anopponent is knocked unconscious, thematch is over. All damage sustained ishealed by priests.

This event is done tournament-style,with winners fighting winners until thefinal round, and a consolation matchbetween the two semifinalists. Thelosers in the first round of the wrestlingmatch are eliminated from the entiretournament.

An optional rule: One round after be-ing put in a hold, a character may breakout of it by rolling a Strength vs.Strength check. Both competitors mustroll Strength checks; if the person inthe hold succeeds and his DS exceedshis opponent�s, the hold is broken.

Discus-Throwing: This is purely aStrength check. There are threethrows; any who fail even one checkare out of this event (any who fail twochecks are out of the competition en-tirely). If all three checks are successful,the Difference Scores are added to-gether, plus the character�s level if he isa member of the fighter class. The high-est score wins.

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Running: Characters must make along distance running check. HighestDS wins.

Note: Unless a runner is protected byhis comrades, friends of one of theother competitors will try to cheat, giv-ing a -5 penalty to the unprotected char-acter�s roll.

Chess: This contest is a straight gam-ing proficiency check (1d20 vs. eachcharacter�s Charisma).

Boxing: This contest uses the nonle-thal combat rules on pages 97 and 98 ofthe 2nd Edition Player�s Handbook. Theobject is to knock the opponent uncon-scious. This event is done tournament-style, with winners fighting winnersuntil the final round, and a consolationmatch between the two semifinalists.The losers in the first round are elimi-nated from the rest of the tournament.

Swimming: Those competitors with-out the swimming proficiency cannotcompete. Each contestant makes twoswimming proficiency checks; if eitherfails, the character is out of this event.The two DS�s are added together to de-termine the winner.

Jumping: Competitors are perform-ing a running broad jump (see the jump-ing proficiency in the 2nd EditionPlayer�s Handbook, page 61). Highestjump wins. Characters without thisproficiency cannot win.

Riding: This is a long-distance event;characters must ride bareback and un-armored. They may provide their ownhorse, or ride steeds provided by theMourktarians. There is an assassinationattempt against the current top twoleaders of the competition. They mustfight against the assassins, and suffer a-1 penalty to their proficiency checkfor each round they spend in battle.

All except those prominent charac-ters who are designated as cheatershave a -3 penalty to their riding check;highest DS wins.

Archery: This competition uses thecomposite long bow (appropriate non-proficiency penalties apply).

Characters must hit AC -4 to score abull�s eye; the character with the mostbull�s eyes in 20 shots wins.

Charioteering: The eight highest scor-ing contestants qualify for the finalevent�the chariot race. It can be re-solved by making charioteering checksand seeing who has the highest DS, or itmay be resolved using a more compli-cated system.

The DM uses a copy of the chariotrace oval provided on the back of thecover. Place figures or other pieces torepresent each rider and position themon spaces 1 to 8 (starting positions go byDS score totals coming into this event�highest total in position 1, etc.).

There are ten laps; after each lap, eachchariot�s position changes as follows:

Successful Charioteering Checks *

DS * * Position Change12+ Gain 3 Rows7-11 Gain 2 Rows3-6 Gain 1 Row0-2 No change

Failed Charioteering Checks *

Roll Failed By Position Change1-2 Lose 1 Row3-4 Lose 2 Rows5-6 Lose 3 Rows7 + Crash!

* A roll of �20� always fails and alwaysloses at least three rows (and may causethe chariot to crash, if a roll of 20 indi-cates failure by 7 or more). A roll of �1�always advances the contestant threerows.

* * This is the DS for this lap�s roll only.

For example, Milfur of Chondath has aDexterity of 13, which (with the cha-rioteering proficiency�s +2 modifier)gives him a charioteering proficiency of15. He is in 5th place at the start, whichmeans his marker is on the #5 space. Af-ter the first lap, he rolls a 4, for a DS of11. Checking the above chart, Milfuradvances two rows, to the row of posi-tion 3.

Up to three chariots can be in eachrow, one per lane. If there is anotherchariot already in lane 1 of row #3, thenMilfur can move to lane 2 or 3 of row

#3. If there are already three chariots inrow #3, Milfur cannot advance (by thesame token, if a chariot loses groundbut the row it is supposed to fall back tois filled, it does not fall back).

Charioteering checks are made in or-der from the front of the pack to theback (i.e., the lead contestant rolls firstand moves, then the second-place con-testant, etc.).

Contestants can advance beyond row#1 and they can fall behind row #8.

If two chariots are in adjacent lanes,they may attack each other after allcontestants have rolled their cha-rioteering checks for that lap. The onlyweapons available are whips, which aresupposed to be used on horses. Due tothe difficulty of the attack (chariotsbumping, opponents also attacking,having to steer, etc.), the targets of whipattacks are considered to be AC 0). If anattack is successful, the victim must rolla successful charioteering check to pre-vent the chariot from crashing.

Example: Murzul of Thay is in Posi-tion 1, Lane 1. Milfur of Chondath is Po-sition 1, Lane 2. They may attack eachother. Naturally, they both do. Milfurmisses but Murzul hits. Milfur rolls asuccessful charioteering check andavoids crashing.

A charioteer, if he wishes, may volun-tarily reduce any gains made on his cha-rioteering check or even move back onerow to make an attack against anothercharioteer. For the chariot to voluntarilymove back, it must be able to fall back tothe position directly behind it, staying inthe same lane, to make the attack.

It is possible for someone in lane 1and someone in lane 3 to both attacksomeone in lane 2.

If a chariot crashes, the charioteersuffers 1d4 points of damage, plus 1d8points if there is a chariot in the lane di-rectly behind him.

If all but one contestant are out of therace before the last lap, the last remain-ing contestant is the winner. The lastcontestant eliminated would come insecond place, and the next to last to beeliminated would end up in third place.

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If two or more chariots are tied for aposition, the inside chariot wins.

The Final Duel: This is meant to testthe combatants� ability in a real fight.

Both contestants must agree before-hand that the loser�s body will beburned and placed in an anti-magicfield so he can never be resurrected;this fight is to the death. A contestantmay back out of the duel beforehandand forfeit his claim. Theris, king ofMourktar, believes that the crownshould be worth the ultimate risk, andthat anyone who wants it must be will-ing to accept that risk.

If one of the contestants forfeits, thecharacter who is in third place maychallenge.

Running the TournamentDMing a tournament of this size is a ma-jor undertaking. A DM must have a ros-ter of at least some of the majorcontenders for the tournament; exam-ples of four of these competitors with allnecessary information is provided be-low.

Allow 64 competitors to compete inthe tournament at the start. At least 32will be eliminated in the wrestling, andanother 16 in the boxing. A list of atleast 16 contenders, including PCs, willbe useful. When running the first tworounds of boxing and wrestling for thePCs, use the following table. After that,roll randomly and fill out the final 16positions:

01-60 Easy opponent (1st- to 3rd-levelfighter, Strength 14-15). Shouldbe a victory.

61-85 Tough opponent (4th- to 6th-level fighter, Strength 16-17). Atough fight.

86-00 Major opponent. Roll ran-domly on the list of tough guys.

If the DM trims down the list to an eliteof 16 competitors, it should be less cum-bersome to score the tournament, andeasier for each competitor to comeacross as a distinctive personality.

It should be noted that this need not bethe only thing happening during thetournament. Players who are not in-volved can make deals with other non-competitors, make friends, place bets onthe competition, pick pockets, or watchout for sneaky plots. The throne ofMourktar is at stake, and there are a lotof people who will do anything to get it.

The tournament is an opportunity forthe DM to introduce new friends andenemies to the player characters. Letthe characters role play and interactwith other characters.

Prominent Contestants: The follow-ing are men who are major contendersfor the crown:

Theriheb (Mulhorand, 9th-level pala-din): He is cousin to the current incar-nation of Osiris. He is an extremelyhonorable man, if aloof, and a fiercecompetitor. LG, STR 17 (+1, +1) DEX

16 CON 14 INT 13 WIS 16 CHA 17, hp79, THAC0 12, NWP: Riding 19, Cha-rioteering 18, Swimming 17, Etiquette17, Riding (airborne) 14. No missileweapons. Will not cheat.

Helyos (Chessenta, Akanax, 13th-levelfighter): Helyos is a mercenary for hire.He is considered one of the toughestfighters in Chessenta, and one of themeanest too. Under his rule, Mourktarwould become a haven for pirates. N,STR 18/70 (+2, +4) DEX 14 CON 17 INT10 WIS 12 CHA 14, hp 89, THAC0 8,NWP: Riding 15, Charioteering 16,Swimming 18, Blind-fighting, Gaming10 (with chess). Weapon specialist inlong sword, proficient with compositelong bow. Will cheat.

Nebuseddar (Unther, 11th-levelfighter): While Gilgeam didn�t wish toleave his kingdom, he welcomed the op-portunity to add Mourktar to his king-

dom once again, and he sent one of hisfinest champions. Nebuseddar�s highcharacteristics are a divine gift. LE, STR19 (+3, +7) DEX 18 CON 17 INT 14 WIS10 CHA 13, hp 104, THAC0 10, SA +2 toattack roll with all wrestling moves, -2on initiatives for wrestling, NWP: Cha-rioteering 20, Riding 13, Swimming 19.Is not proficient with composite longbow. Will cheat.

Sorn (Thay, 14th-level fighter):Though he is posing as a simple trader,Sorn is really a servant of Lauzoril, aZulkir (Red Wizard) of Thay. His ordersare to win the crown or assassinate thewinner. CE, STR 18/55 (+2, +4) DEX 16CON 15 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 15, hp 74,THAC0 7, NWP: Charioteering 18, Rid-ing 14, Swimming 18. He is proficientwith composite longbow. Will definitelycheat.

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SOUTHERN MAGIC“Magic is the essence of life”

�Saying of the priests of Thoth

Spells from southern nations, such asThay, Mulhorand, and Unther, have al-ways been a source of dread and super-stition to the peoples of the north. Thereasons for this fear are clear. Southernmagic is strange and powerful; north-erners who battle a party of southernmages should be ready to face spellsthey have never seen before.

There is one fundamental differencebetween the magic of the south andthat of the north: its writing system,known as the Thoth mage-script.

Following the rebellion of the RedWizards of Thay, the priest-mages ofThoth decided to create a new magicalscript with which to write their spells.This writing was meant to prevent theRed Wizards from learning the priests�secrets.

This writing is undecipherable to astandard read magic spell. A readsouthern magic spell is required to per-form this function; these can be learnedonly from southern mages. Since thecreation of mage-script, it has spreadand been adopted as a standard by allmages of Mulhorand and Unther, andby some in Chessenta. While southernmages also have standard read magicspells, these are rarely used.

Southern mages have all spells listedin the Player�s Handbook, but nonelisted in the Magister or otherFORGOTTEN REALMS� modules.

Southern mages have developedmany spells that are not known else-where in the Realms. Most of thesespells were devised by the priest-magesof Thoth during the reign of the Mulho-rand Pharaoh Thothibistep II, followingthe loss of Thay to the Red Wizards.Some of these spells are described inthe following section:

Wizard SpellsLevel 1 Level 2Barrier Damage MirrorBreathe Move ObjectIgnite Flame Run

LadderWard

Level 3FootholdProt./TelekinesisTargetWitchweed

Level 5DeathguardEtherealnessMummySandstorm

Level 7Resist InjuryTime LoopTrick

Level 9ArmyCallSoul Shift

Priest SpellsLevel 1BeckonCleanseStumble

Level 3Detect AmbushDetect CurseChill

Level 5Major CurseSummon Minion

Level 7BaneTimewarp

ThunderballTumble

Level 4Agitate WoundsComm. ElementalDuneSlumber

Level 6EnfeebleJavelinReverse MissileWorship

Level 8BombardDeathboltDevastate

Level 2InscribeOmenStormvoice

Level 4Animal VisionThunderstrokeWeapon Immunity

Level 6Dying CurseResist Magic

Italicized spells are reversible.

Wizard SpellsFirst-Level SpellsBarrier (Abjuration)

Range: SpecialComponents: V,S,M

Duration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: 10' radiusSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the caster to create amagical barrier that protects him fromdamage. This barrier is a magical wallthat surrounds the wizard in a ten-footradius. This wall can withstand 5 pointsof damage per level of the caster, to amaximum of 25 points, before it goesdown and attacks may go through. Thewizard may not cast spells that causehit point damage through the barrier,nor may he physically attack throughthe barrier.

The barrier is considered to have thecaster�s Armor Class, but it does not geta saving throw against spells�it auto-matically suffers full damage fromspells. (But, if a spell knocks down thebarrier, the wizard within is entitled toa saving throw vs. the excess damage.)

The material component for this spell isa piece of jade or amethyst worth 50 gpor more; this is consumed in the casting.

Breathe (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the creature touchedto breathe normally in places where itwould normally suffocate (in water, un-der an avalanche, while buried by asandstorm, etc.).

The material component for this spellis a cloth that must be held over thecaster�s mouth during the casting of thespell.

Ignite Flame (Evocation)

Range: 10 yardsComponents: V, SDuration: 3 rounds or lessCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Negates

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With this spell, a wizard can create asmall area of hot flame, typically athree-inch-square area. If cast on ex-posed flesh, this causes 1d3 points ofdamage per round for three rounds be-fore being extinguished. The victimmay put out the flames by spending oneround smothering them (he receivesdamage for that round, but the flamesare automatically put out).

If this spell is cast on flammable mate-rial, it grows into a small fire, automati-cally destroying flammable materialssuch as paper, causing exposed flasks ofoil to explode, and creating a bonfire.These targets still receive a savingthrow.

The fire produced by an ignite flamespell is considered to be normal, notmagical, fire.

Ladder (Alteration)

Range: 20 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turnCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

By means of this spell, the caster cre-ates a firmly anchored ladder of force,one foot wide, and ten feet long, + tenfeet per level of the caster, to a maxi-mum length of 60 feet. This ladder iseasy to climb (no Dexterity check is re-quired). This ladder may be used toclimb walls and pits, or it may be laidhorizontally and used to cross chasms.

The material component for this spellis a knot of wood.

Ward (Enchantment)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: 10-foot cubeSaving Throw: Negates

This spell enables the caster to set up anarea with an invisible magical barrier.Those who enter the warded area have

a strong compulsion to turn back andnot pass through again (a successfulsaving throw vs. spell is required toavoid retreat). Creatures of 5 Hit Dice(or levels) or more are unaffected.

Anyone with magical protection fromfear may pass through without havingto roll a saving throw. This spell doesnot affect undead of any level.

The material components are thefeathers of a vulture.

Second-Level SpellsDamage Mirror (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/level + SpecialCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 10� radiusSaving Throw: None

This spell is the bane of those who liketo melee wizards. If a damage mirrorspell is active, the wizard is not pro-tected against attack, but if the wizardis struck by a weapon, every creaturewithin a ten-foot radius of the wizardsuffers an identical amount of damage.Thus an archer firing at range against awizard is not be affected, but a swords-man ten feet away from the wizard is.This spell affects all creatures withinthat ten-foot radius, including thecaster. The spell is canceled once it hasbeen triggered; if the opponent hasmultiple attacks in that melee round,only the first successful attack triggersthe damage mirror spell. This spell isnot affected by spells or magical at-tacks, except for dispel magic, whichhas a normal chance of negating it.

If the caster is somehow immobilizedand then assassinated by an instant killattack (e.g., slitting his throat), the as-sassin is also affected (he will kill him-self as well as the wizard), but he mayroll a Dexterity check to avoid killingthe wizard when he realizes what ishappening.

The material component for this spellis crushed glass from a broken mirror.

Move Object (Alteration)

Range: 10 yardsComponent: SDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 1 objectSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the caster to point to asingle small object and move it. The wiz-ard may move an object weighing up totwo pounds per level. He cannot per-form complex movements with this spell(he can pull a dagger from its sheath,provided that it is not chained, but hecannot unbuckle and unloop a belt). Awizard can use this spell to activate le-vers from a safe distance. This spell can-not be used to animate weapons andmake them attack from a distance.

Run (Alteration)

Range: 60 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell causes a single creature torun at triple ground movement. Thus acreature with a normal running move-ment of 12 will have a ground move-ment of 36 while under the effect ofthis spell. This spell can affect any crea-ture, including horses and summonedcreatures, but it is not cumulative withhaste spells.

Creatures moving at their maximummovement gain a -2 bonus to their Ar-mor Class while under the effect of thisspell. This spell does not affect othermovement rates, including flight, bur-rowing, swimming, and climbing.

The material component is a rabbit�sfoot.

Thunderball (Evocation)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: Special

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Casting Time: 2Area of Effect: 20� radiusSaving Throw: Special

The thunderball spell is an explosiveburst of lightning accompanied by aclap of thunder. This spell causes 1d6 +1 points of damage to all creatureswithin its area of effect (no savingthrow) and all within its area of effectmust roll successful saving throws vs.spell or be deafened for 1d4 rounds. Inaddition, the caster may elect to targetthis spell against a single creature. Thiscreature is automatically deafened, andit must roll a successful saving throwvs. spell or suffer double damage.

The material component for this spellis an amber rod.

Tumble (Enchantment/Charm)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 3 rounds +1 round/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Negates

This spell causes a single creature totrip and fall to the ground. The victimcontinues to tumble and roll about forthe duration of the spell. The targetcannot attack or cast spells while underthe influence of this spell. The target re-tains all Dexterity bonuses to his ArmorClass. The victim is allowed a new sav-ing throw each round; a successful sav-ing throw negates the spell.

The material component for this spellis grease, which is consumed in thecasting.

Third-Level SpellsFoothold (Alteration)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 900 square feetSaving Throw: Negates

A foothold spell causes stony hands toappear from the ground. These try tograb the legs of all creatures in a 30� by30� area or 90� by 10� area (dependingon the desire of the caster). Creaturessuccessfully held by this spell cannotmove, but they may attack normallyand cast spells. Characters trapped bythis spell are considered to have an ef-fective Dexterity of 1.

The foothold spell cannot affect air-borne or invisible creatures. A success-ful saving throw negates the effects ofthis spell on a target, but a new savingthrow must be rolled every round thetarget is in the area of effect.

The material component for this spellis a vulture�s claw.

Protection From Telekinesis(Abjuration)

Range: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell protects the target againstmagic that moves its physical form,most notably levitate, repulsion, andtelekinesis spells, but not reverse grav-ity, which is a fundamental alteration ofthe laws of nature. This spell adds a +4bonus to any saving throws involvingthese kinds of magic, or allows a normalsaving throw against attacks that havenone, such as repulsion. This does notprotect individuals from spells that in-volve teleportation.

The material component is a block ofblack granite.

Target (Alteration)

Range: 50 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,SDuration: 1 rounds/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Negates

This spell enables the wizard to affect asingle target. If the victim fails his sav-ing throw, he becomes marked so thatall missile attacks, including arrows,bolts, javelins, and ballistae attacks gaina +2 bonus to attack and damage rollsagainst him.

Witchweed (Evocation)

Range: 50 yards +10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 40� radiusSaving Throw: None

This spell creates a cloud of smoke thatis utterly inhospitable to wizards. Allwizards caught in this cloud cannot castspells; they also suffer 2 points of dam-age per round they remain in the cloud.The cloud is stationary; once in place, itmay only be moved by a gust of windspell.

The material component for this spellis burning tobacco (or some other nox-ious, fume-producing plant).

Fourth-Level SpellsAgitate Wounds (Necromancy)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Special

By means of this spell, the caster can af-fect a creature that has been woundedby an edged weapon. This spell reopensbound wounds (or causes unboundwounds to bleed severely), inflicting2d6 points of damage. Those who rollsuccessful saving throws vs. spell sufferno further damage from this spell. Ifthe saving throw fails, however, the vic-tim suffers 1d3 additional points ofdamage per round until the wound isdressed and bound (or bound again, asin the case of reopened wounds).

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Creatures without blood, such asskeletons, are unaffected by this spell,as are those with regeneration abilitiesand those under the effects of a periaptof wound closure.

The material component for this spellis a pinch of salt.

Command Elementals(Enchantment/Charm)

Range: 40 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,SDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Negates

This spell enables the caster to com-mand (or wrest command of) a singlecreature from one of the elemental orpara-elemental planes.

The target is permitted a savingthrow, but elementals of low intelli-gence or lower suffer at -4 penalty tothe roll. If the saving throw is failed, thewizard can maintain his control overthe elemental for the duration of thespell, overriding all other controls onthat elemental, including other com-mand elemental spells.

Dune (Conjuration)

Range: TouchComponents: V,SDuration: 1 hour/levelCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

When this spell is cast, the wizard cre-ates a magical sand dune that can carryone man-sized creature per two levelsof experience of the caster (e.g., 3 crea-tures at 6th and 7th level, 4 creatures at8th and 9th level, etc.) through anysandy area with a movement rate of 4per level of the spellcaster. This dunecan move only through sandy areas.

The material component for this spellis a pinch of sand.

Slumber (Enchantment/Charm)

Range: 60 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 5 rounds/levelCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

When a wizard casts a slumber spell, hecauses a comatose sleep to come uponone or more creatures (other than un-dead and certain other creatures withimmunity to sleep effects). All creaturesto be affected must be within 50 feet ofeach other.

The number of creatures that can beaffected is a function of Hit Dice orlevels. This spell affects 4d10 Hit Dice (orlevels) of monsters. Monsters from otherplanes of existence and monsters withmore than 9 Hit Dice are unaffected.

The center of the spell is determinedby the spellcaster. Creatures with theleast Hit Dice in the area of effect are af-fected first; creatures that would beonly partially affected are not affectedat all.

The material component is a pinch ofdust.

Fifth-Level SpellsDeathguard(Abjuration/Necromancy)

Range: TouchComponents: V,SDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell creates a guardian spirit thatprotects the character from attacksfrom the Ethereal plane.

The guardian has one function:Should any attack reduce the hit pointsof the creature it has been assigned toguard to zero or below, the guardian in-tervenes and suffers the damage in-stead of the character, saving thecharacter from death. Once the guard-ian saves its master�s life, it is destroyed.

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The character does not suffer anydamage from the attack that wouldhave killed him, be it damage from fall-ing from a cliff, dragon breath, or aweapon strike. Note that if the attackdoesn�t bring the character to zero hitpoints or below, the character takes fulldamage (the guardian prevents only le-thal blows).

Etherealness (Alteration)

Range: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Negates

This spell temporarily sends one crea-ture into the Ethereal plane.

The target must remain in the Ethe-real plane during the duration of thespell; any attempt to return to thePrime Material plane will fail, except bythe intervention of Powers or a wishspell. If the wizard attempts to shift thetarget into the Ethereal against its will,the target is entitled to a saving throw.

The material component for this spellis a drop of oil of etherealness, or oilfrom a creature native to the Etherealplane.

Mummy (Necromancy)

Range: 50 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

With this spell, the mage can animateup to one corpse per four levels of expe-rience he possesses (all fractions arerounded down). These corpses have allof the abilities, including hit points, of amummy (see volume I of the MonstrousCompendium).

When the spell has run its course, orwhen the mummies are slain, thecorpses crumble to dust.

The material component is mummydust.

Sandstorm (Evocation)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 60� radiusSaving Throw: None

By means of this spell, the caster cre-ates a vortex of violently churningsand. All creatures within the area ofeffect suffer 3d10 points of damage.The sand also blinds creatures whilethey are within its area of effect, andthere is a 50% probability that any crea-ture trying to move in the area fallsdown.

The sandstorm also extinguishestorches and small fires.

The material component for this spellis a fistful of sand.

Sixth-Level SpellsEnfeeble (Necromancy)

Range: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 6Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell enables a wizard to weakenthe physical characteristics of his tar-get, making him weaker and less agile.The wizard must touch the victimwithin three rounds of casting the spell.If he connects, the victim loses 1 pointeach of Strength and Dexterity, perma-nently. Characters with exceptionalStrengths have their Strengths reducedto 18. One point of Strength or Dexter-ity may be restored by a restoration,limited wish, or wish spell. Characterswho have either characteristic reducedto 0 become shadows.

The material component for this spellis essence of shadow.

Javelin (Evocation)

Range: 80 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 6Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: ½

This spell causes a javelin to becomefilled with deadly energy. The castermay hurl this bolt at any creaturewithin range of this spell. The javelinstrikes without error and inflicts 1d10points of damage for every two levels ofexperience of the caster, to a maximumof 10d10 at 20th level. The target is enti-tled to a saving throw vs. spell with a -3penalty; success indicates that the tar-get suffers only half damage.

The material component of this spellis a javelin.

Reverse Missile (Abjuration)

Range: 80 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,SDuration: 3 rounds/levelCasting Time: 6Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell reflects attacks from all mis-sile weapons, including spells such asmagic missile and Melf�s acid arrow,and large missiles such as ballistae at-

tacks (but excluding non-missile rangedattacks, such as fireball and disinte-grate spells). The missile returns tostrike the person who fired it, as long asthat person is within the range of thespell (if he is beyond range, then themissile drops to the ground upon reach-ing the range limit). All reflected mis-siles automatically strike their targets(no attack roll is needed) and always in-flict double damage.

Worship (Enchantment/Charm)

Range: 0Components: V,SDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special

The worship spell raises the effectiveCharisma of the caster to 22. Charac-ters of 3 Hit Dice (or levels) or less whoare in clear view of the caster automati-cally fall to their knees and praise thecaster. Creatures of 4-6 Hit Dice (orlevels) get a saving throw to avoid theeffect. Creatures above 6 Hit Dice areunaffected. Unwilling victims of thisspell roll a reaction check when thespell is finished, with a +8 penalty tothe roll.

Using this spell to impersonate aPower is very dangerous.

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Seventh-Level SpellsResist Injury (Abjuration)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell protects the caster from in-jury, so that all attacks cause only halfdamage against him (rounded down).For instance, if a warrior inflicts 13points of damage with an attack againsta wizard who has an active resist injuryspell, the attack is reduced to 6 points ofdamage. (Attacks that already get a sav-ing throw, such as a fireball spell ordragon breath, inflict half damage if thesaving throw fails, or one-quarter dam-age if it succeeds).

This spell does not help the casteragainst attacks that charm, drain lifelevels, or totally destroy (such as deathor disintegration spells).

The material component for this spellis an amethyst or jade pendent, whichmust be worn for the duration of thespell.

Time Loop (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: 20-foot cubeSaving Throw: Special

This spell creates an area within whichthe flow of time repeats itself contin-ually, until the duration of the spell (astimed in the outside world) expires.

Creatures caught in the time loop seethe world as flickering chaos, and areunable to affect it in any way. Charactersoutside the loop perceive those trappedas endlessly repeating one set of actions;those outside may affect the characterswithin the time loop with ranged spellsand attacks, but if they physically enterthe loop, they too are trapped.

The material component for this spellis a powder of crushed diamond, ruby,emerald, and sapphire dust, with eachcrushed stone being of at least 100 gpvalue.

Trick (Alteration/Illusion)

Range: 80 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

This powerful illusion enables the wiz-ard to exchange his appearance and po-sition with that of any target withinrange. The wizard and the target areboth teleported to each other�s posi-tions. To others, the target and thecaster seem to have the voice and physi-cal appearance of the other; in effect,none knows that a switch occurs unlessthe caster has warned them before-hand. A true seeing spell will detectthis. Note that the teleport is not with-out error, and thus this spell entailssome risk on the part of the caster andthe target.

The material component for this spellis a ball of wax.

Eighth-Level SpellsBombard (Evocation)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 8Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: ½

When this spell is cast upon a singlecreature within spell range, giantstones appear and bombard the target,inflicting 10d6 points of damage perround. A successful saving throw vs.spell reduces the damage by half. Eachsuccessive round, a new bombardmentstrikes the target, causing 10d6 pointsof damage.

This spell lasts one round for every

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four levels of the caster, rounded down(thus a bombardment from a 16th-through 19th-level wizard lasts fourrounds, a bombardment from a 20th-through 23rd-level wizard lasts fiverounds, etc.). Each new bombardmentstrikes before any other actions takeplace in the round.

The spell is ended if the target movesout of range. A successful dispel magicspell cast on the target also negates thisspell. A creature with magic resistancechecks this each round�a successfulmagic resistance roll ends the spell; thischeck is rolled before the damage forthe round is rolled.

The material component for this spellis a piece of meteoric iron.

Deathbolt (Necromancy)

Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 8Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Special

This spell causes a bolt of death energyto strike its target, which may be anyliving Prime Material creature. Whenthis bolt strikes, the target dies unless itrolls a successful saving throw vs. spell.Even if the roll succeeds, the victim suf-fers 10d6 points of damage.

The material component for this spellis vampire ichor.

Devastate (Alteration)

Range: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 8Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell causes all of the caster�s spellsto strike with devastating effect. All tar-gets suffer a -5 penalty to saving throwsagainst the caster�s spells, and all dam-age done by the caster�s spells is in-creased by +2 per die (but the totaldamage cannot exceed the maximum

possible rolled damage without thebonus�e.g., a fireball spell cannotcause more than the 60 points of dam-age that is the maximum possible to rollon the fireball spell�s limit of 10d6).

The material component for this spellis a solid gold pendant with the insigniaof the caster, which must be wornaround the caster�s neck for the dura-tion of the spell.

Ninth-Level SpellsArmy(Conjuration/Summoning)

Range: 500 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 2 turns/levelCasting Time: 9Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

By means of this spell, the caster is ableto create an instant army, which risesfrom the ground in the form of earth,stone, or sand soldiers. These soldiersare AC 4, have a movement rate of 3,have 2 Hit Dice each (THAC0 19), haveone attack per round, inflict 1d6 + 2points of damage per hit, and have 20%magic resistance. They are immune toall enchantment/charm spells, and theyserve only the summoner. It requires a+1 or better weapon to affect them.The caster can summon one unit of tensoldiers for every four levels he pos-sesses (round all fractions down). Theunits must appear within a 250-yard ra-dius, placed as the caster sees fit. Whenthe spell duration expires, the unitsvanish.

The material component of this spellis a diamond of at least 5,000 gp value,which must be crushed in the casting.

Call (Conjuration/Summoning)

Range: SpecialComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell is a variant of the gate spell. Itattracts the attention of a single nativeof the Prime Material plane. The castercalls the name of the being, who be-comes aware that someone wants himto appear. That individual is free to ac-cept or reject the call. If the offer is ac-cepted, the being is instantly teleportedwithout error to a spot of the caster�schoosing, within 200 feet of the caster.If the offer is rejected, the call is si-lenced, and no teleportation takesplace. A demand spell may be usedprior to this spell to persuade the targetto accept.

The target need not be known to thecaster, but his exact location must be;this spell does not provide the casterwith that information. A call can onlyaffect Prime Material creatures on thePrime Material planes. (It can reach par-allel Prime Material worlds, but cannotreach into the Ethereal, Astral, or otherplanes of existence.)

The material component is a minia-ture wax statue of the target.

Soul Shift (Necromancy)

Range: 10 milesComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 9Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special

This extremely powerful spell willtransfer the soul of the necromancerfrom his own body into a previouslyprepared corpse. This corpse must bewithin the area of effect of the spell andbe unmarred by disease, wounds, or in-jury. At any time during this spell�s du-ration, the necromancer may choose toabandon his body and travel into thecorpse. The necromancer�s true bodyremains alive, but in a soulless, zombie-like state.

When the necromancer�s soulreaches its new home, he must immedi-ately roll for resurrection survival; hedies if he fails. If the necromancer suc-ceeds, his new body is restored as it wasbefore death, except for the loss of 1

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point of Constitution, which is sacri-ficed in the transfer. The necromancerretains the knowledge of all of the spellshe knew prior to transfer. This transferis one-way; he cannot return back to hisformer body.

The material component for this spellis a crushed ruby of at least 1,000 gpvalue.

Priest SpellsFirst-Level SpellsBeckon (Conjuration/Charm)

Sphere: AnimalRange: 1-mile radiusComponents: V,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell affects one creature of semi-intelligence or lower. This creaturemust either be able to be affected by ananimal friendship spell, or be a domesti-cated pet of the caster. When a beckonspell is cast, the creature hears thecaster calling and rushes to his side asfast as possible. If the creature is far-ther than one mile from the caster, itwill not come.

The material component is a piece offood that is favored by the pet.

Cleanse (Alteration)

Sphere: AllRange: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell causes all grime, dirt andstains to be removed from the casterand his vestments, enabling the priestto present himself to his congregationin immaculate condition. All clothingthat the caster wears is restored to itsoriginal color. If the caster was exposed

to any minor, incidental diseases, thediseases are cured, provided they hadnot already reached a noticeable level.This does not affect diseases such asmummy rot, rat bites, or lycanthropy.Even wounds are cleansed and infec-tions are purified (healing 1 point ofdamage, if no cure wounds spells hadbeen applied previously).

The material component for this spellis a piece of soap.

Stumble (Charm)

Sphere: CombatRange: 20 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Negates

This spell causes one creature within itsarea of effect to stumble. While the vic-tim is affected by a stumble spell, hesuffers a -4 penalty to his attack rolls,his movement rate is halved, and heloses all bonuses due to Dexterity. If thetarget roll a successful saving throw vs.spell, he is completely unaffected.

The material component for this spellis a drop of oil.

Second-Level SpellsInscribe (Alteration/Conjuration)

Sphere: AllRange: 10 feetComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the words of thecaster to be directly etched on a piece ofpaper, vellum, or papyrus. All thecaster need do is speak the words, andthey are inscribed in the appropriatelanguage on any appropriate writingsurface within ten feet.

The material components for thisspell are squid ink, a hawk's feather,and papyrus.

Note: In Mulhorand, this spell may beused only by the priests of Thoth whoare appointed to be scribes.

Omen (Divination)

Sphere: DivinationRange: SpecialComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

When a priest casts this spell, he is ask-ing for the approval of his deity regard-ing an action. This does not tell thecaster whether the character is in dan-ger, merely if the deity approves of himperforming the action. For instance, agood character may want to know ifbribing a government official into adju-dicating a land dispute in his temple�sfavor meets with his god�s approval.The deity disapproves of bribery, so theanswer is �no.�

The caster has a chance equal to 60%+ 2%/level of getting a correct answer.

The answer is an obvious �yes� or �no,�though it is likely to be expressed by asymbol; seven swans flying overheadmay mean �yes,� while a clap of thunderin a clear sky may mean �no.�

The material component of this spellis a gem of at least 100 gp value, whichmust be sacrificed to the deity in thecasting.

Stormvoice (Alteration)

Sphere: WeatherRange: SpecialComponents: V,SDuration: 1 roundCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Special

This spell enables the caster to speakwith the voice of a storm. The castercan be heard clearly at ten times nor-mal distance. All creatures within a 20-foot radius of the caster must rollsuccessful saving throws vs. spell or be

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deafened for 1d4 rounds and beknocked from their feet.

Third-Level SpellsDetect Ambush (Abjuration)Reversible

Sphere: DivinationRange: 50 yards +10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: Negates

This spell detects people of hostile in-tent who mean to do harm to the casterby lying in ambush. It doesn�t detecttraps that will surprise the caster, or in-dividuals who might do harm to thecaster if they were encountered; thetarget of this spell must be expectingthe caster to come and be lying in waitto harm him.

The target gets a saving throw, modi-fied by the caster�s Wisdom bonus; forinstance, if the caster has an 18 Wis-dom, the target suffers a -4 penalty tohis saving throw.

The reverse of this spell, undetect-able ambush, makes a person waiting inambush proof against this spell.

The material component for this spellis a possession taken from an enemy(not necessarily the one who is lying inambush).

Detect Curse (Divination)

Sphere: DivinationRange: 10 yardsComponents: V,SDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 1 objectSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the caster to magi-cally examine an item or creature to seeif it has been subject to a curse spell. At12th level, the caster is able to deter-mine if the spell is bestow curse, majorcurse, dying curse, or bane. This spell

does not detect magical items that aredesigned for malign effects, such as anecklace of strangulation, which wasdesigned to have a lethal effect.

Chill (Alteration/Evocation)

Sphere: CombatRange: 50 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: ½

This spell creates a 30-foot-radius areaof cold air. The caster can center thecoldness on one creature in that area,causing 1 point of damage per casterlevel, to a maximum of 10 points. A suc-cessful saving throw vs. spell reducesdamage by ½.

Each succeeding round, the castercan continue inflicting 1 point/level ofdamage to any creature that is stillwithin the area of effect. If all creaturesleave the original area of effect, thisspell is negated.

The material component for this spellis a feather.

Fourth-Level SpellsAnimal Vision (Alteration)

Sphere: AnimalRange: 100 yards + 20 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell links the vision of the priest tothat of a single animal, be it mammal,reptile, or insect. Typically, the animalis one sacred to the priest�s religion, butit need not be.

As long as the animal remains withinthe range of the spell, the caster can seethrough its eyes, using whatever spe-cial visions it possesses. There is noother link between the caster and theanimal: The priest has no control over

where the animal goes (unless he em-ploys other spells for this purpose), andhe suffers no damage if the creature iskilled.

The material component for this spellis a morsel that is desired by the animal(e.g., if it is a cat, then catnip is a suitablecomponent).

Thunderstroke (Evocation)

Spheres: Combat, WeatherRange: 40 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: ½

This spell enables the priest to call uponthe wrath of his deity and summon abolt of lightning to strike a single target.

This bolt causes 2 points of damageper level of the cleric, to a maximum of40 points. If the target rolls a successfulsaving throw vs. spell, the damage ishalved.

The material component for this spellis the priest�s holy symbol, which is notdestroyed in the casting.

Weapon Immunity (Abjuration)

Sphere: ProtectionRange: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the priest to becomeimmune to one particular weapon.This may include such weapons aslong swords, bastard swords, maces,or heavy crossbow bolts; it must be aspecific weapon.

When the priest is struck by thatweapon, it will do no damage to him.This protects the priest even frommagical weapons. Monster attacks,such as claws and fangs, are not in-cluded in the effect of this spell, norare magical attacks, such as fireball

spells. Only one weapon immunitymay be active at a time.

The material component for this spell isa piece of amethyst, jade, or lapis lazuli.

Fifth-Level SpellsMajor Curse (Abjuration)Reversible

Sphere: ProtectionRange: TouchComponents: V,SDuration: Permanent until dispelledCasting Time: 7Area of Effect: 1 creature or itemSaving Throw: Special

This spell is similar to the third-level re-move curse, except the spell effect ispermanent. The curse can have one ofthe following effects (roll percentiledice):

01-50

51-75

76-00

Reduces one ability score to 3(the DM determines whichrandomly)-4 penalty to victim�s attackand saving throw rollsMakes victim 50% likely todrop whatever he is holding(or do nothing in the case ofcreatures that don�t usetools); roll each round.

If the victim fails a saving throw vs.spell, the curse becomes permanent; ifthe saving throw is successful, thecurse lasts only one turn per level of thepriest who cast it.

The spell can be cast on an item, typi-cally in a tomb where the item is not tobe disturbed. Those who touch it fallvictim to the curse.

The reverse of this spell, remove ma-jor curse, removes the effects of a ma-jor curse or bestow curse spell.

Summon Minion(Conjuration/Summoning)

Spheres: All, SummoningRange: 10 yardsComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn/level

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Casting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the caster to summonone divine minion (see the �New Mon-sters� section for a description of divineminions). The divine minion serves thepriest faithfully, performing any com-mand that does not violate the dictatesof its deity; this includes giving up itslife in combat. Only one minion mayserve a priest at a time.

The material components for thisspell are the priest�s holy symbol and alarge gem of at least 1,000 gp value,which must be sacrificed to the deity inthe casting.

Sixth-Level SpellsDying Curse (Abjuration)

Sphere: ProtectionRange: UnlimitedComponents: V,SDuration: Permanent until dispelledCasting Time: 2 turnsArea of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

When the priest casts a dying cursespell, he is avenging himself against fu-ture death. Anyone who kills the priest,even if the priest is later resurrected,becomes the victim of a major curse,with no saving throw. Only a wish or aremove bane spell can remove thiscurse.

Resist Magic (Abjuration)

Sphere: GuardianRange: 0Components: V,SDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 8Area of Effect: The casterSaving Throw: None

This spell grants the priest 2% magic re-sistance per level of the priest, to a max-imum of 40%. This magic resistancefunctions identically to the magic resist-ance possessed by certain monsters andbestowed by certain powerful artifactsand relics. This spell effect can be castonly upon the priest, not upon others.

Seventh-Level SpellsBane (Abjuration)Reversible

Sphere: ProtectionRange: TouchComponents: V,SDuration: Permanent until dispelledCasting Time: 9Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Special

When a priest casts a bane spell, he be-stows an extremely powerful curse onthe target.

After casting the spell, the priest musttouch the intended target within oneturn, or the spell expires. If he makescontact, the target gets a saving throw. Ifthe saving throw is successful, the victimreceives a major curse, which only a re-

move curse spell (if cast by a Power), or areverse bane or a wish can remove. Ifthe saving throw fails, the victim suffersthe following effects: a -5 penalty to allattack and damage rolls, while oppo-nents receive +5 bonus to their attackrolls against the victim; the victim fails allsaving throws, and all attacks againsthim cause maximum damage.

The reverse of this spell, reversebane, removes the effect of any cursespell, except for instantaneous curse ef-fects (e.g., it won�t teleport the partyback to the dungeon after they�veopened the cursed scroll).

Timewarp (Alteration/Divination)

Sphere: DivinationRange: 0Components: V,SDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell enables the priest to send abeing back in time. The timewarp has amaximum range of two minutes, whichenables the character to go back to anaction he made in the previous roundand negate it. It also grants new savingthrows, attack and damage rolls, andforces opponents to make similar rolls.Note that this affects only those directlyinvolved with the target; it does not giveeveryone in melee new rolls, just thetarget and those attacking him. Thisspell ages the caster one year.

The material component is sand.

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MAGICAL ITEMS“An item of great utility is one to becherished into eternity.”

�A saying on the tomb of PharaohRamenhorus III in the Great Vale

PotionsWhile not renowned for their skill in al-chemy, the mages of Mulhorand andUnther have long experimented withdevising potions, oils, and other similarproducts. Here are a few of them:

Oil of Agelessness: This oil is madefrom the nectar of roses from the gar-dens of Ishtar in Unther. When one vialof this oil is applied to the body of a hu-man or demihuman, the normal agingprocess halts for six months.

Continued applications, therefore,can keep one young indefinitely. The se-cret of this oil is known only to thepriestesses of Ishtar. It is one of themost eagerly sought secrets of south-ern magic.

XP Value: 800

Oil of Armor: This thin, nearly invisi-ble oil is applied to skin to give it thetoughness of armor. Each applicationlasts 6 + 1d6 hours. Its base AC is 4,modified by Dexterity and rings of pro-tection. There are no cumulative ef-fects with armor.

Oil of armor is used in Unther, wherecertain priesthoods forbid the wearingof armor.

XP Value: 400

Oil of Beauty: This oil, a mixture of ol-ive oil, crushed pearl, and ash from thePurple Plains, is used by the priestessesof Ishtar. When this is placed on theirbodies, their Charisma increases by 1d4points for 1 + 1d3 turns. This does notensure that those who view them willfall madly in love with them, but it doesenable them to make a good impression.

XP Value: 400

Powder of Obsession: This pink pow-der is used as a defense by the priest-esses of Isis, though only on rareoccasions. This magical powder is cast

into a ten-foot-radius sphere, at a rangeof 30 feet. When it is cast, those whoare caught in its area of effect must rollsuccessful saving throws vs. spell orthey pursue their actions mindlessly. Ifthey fail the saving throw and are incombat, they do not care who they at-tack, even if it one of their comrades;they continue to attack the nearest tar-get for 4 + 3d4 rounds.

If the target is eating or drinking, hecontinues that activity for the durationof this oil�s influence, even to the pointof eating or drinking other people�s bev-erages, not stopping even if attacked.

XP Value: 500

RingsRings are a common decoration amongthe nobles of Mulhorand, and mostwear at least one magical ring. Ringsare often handed down from genera-tion to generation as a token of remem-brance, though in Mulhorand many ofthe most powerful magical rings areburied with nobles at death.

Ring of Dizziness: This cursed magi-cal item is sometimes found in thetombs of Mulhorand, placed there topunish grave robbers. This appears tobe a normal magical ring, perhaps aring of protection. When used in an ac-tual combat where the wearer may behurt, the wearer becomes violentlydizzy. The wearer must roll a success-ful saving throw vs. spell or be unableto attack. Even if the saving throw issuccessful, all of the victim�s attacks suf-fer a -4 penalty to the attack roll, and allattacks against him gain a +4 bonus tothe attack roll.

XP Value: None

Ring of Immunity: When this ring isworn, the wearer becomes immune toall diseases and infections. This includesmagical diseases, such as lycanthropyand mummy rot. The character regainsthe maximum number of hit points perday (3 hit points) from rest, as he neednot be bothered by fever or infection,regardless of his level of activity.

This ring is a simple silver circle, andis another creation of the incarnationsof Thoth.

XP Value: 1,000

Ring of Protection From Undead:This charged magical item is a band ofwhite gold, with the insignia of Horus-Re on its front. When any undead triesto touch the wearer, the wearer has theoption of using one charge to preventcontact. Use of a charge must be de-clared before the undead rolls its attackagainst the wearer. Each charge pre-vents the wearer from being struck byany undead in that round (if the weareris being attacked by two wights, onecharge prevents contact from both ofthem).

This does not protect the characterwhen he is surprised. The ring contains25 + 3d10 charges.

XP Value: 2,500

Ring of Strength: This ring, madefrom the finger bone of a stone giant,gives its wearer exceptional strength.Those who wear a ring of strength gainthe following Strength (depending onwhich ring they have):

D100 Roll Strength XP Value01-35 18 (00) 1,50036-65 19 2,00066-80 20 2,50081-00 Cursed! �

A ring of strength may be worn by allclasses. A cursed ring has the equiva-lent Strength of 21, but if the wearer isin melee, he sees his friends as his ene-mies (and vice versa) and attacks hisfriends. A ring of strength is not cumu-lative with other forms of Strength en-hancers (girdles, gauntlets, etc.)

Ring of Thunder: This charged magi-cal item was a gift to Jurnail, a highpriest of Anhur, from his friends in thepriesthood of Thoth several centuriesago. It was almost certainly crafted byAzonthoth, an incarnation of Thoth.The ring is silver with a lion�s face en-graved in gold with a topaz mane.

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This ring is a powerful defensive andoffensive weapon. It can emit a bolt oflightning that inflicts 10d6 points ofdamage (successful saving throw vs.spell cuts this damage in half) per roundto all creatures in a ten-foot radius ex-cept the ring wearer. Each charge lastsone turn; a ring of thunder typically has25 + 6d6 charges.

XP Value: 4,000

Ring of Windwarding: When this ringis worn, a ten-foot-radius area aroundthe bearer is protected from all winds.All within its area of effect are shieldedfrom wind storms, gust of wind spells,attacks by air elementals, etc. If thewearer is caught in the middle of a sand-storm or a blizzard, this ring preventsthe wearer from being affected.

XP Value: 1,000

Rods, Staves, andW a n d sThe staff was the original symbol of au-thority in the Old Empires, so it is notsurprising that many of these itemswere first developed in this part of theRealms.

There a number of new and deadlystaves, rods, and wands that have re-cently seen use:

Rod of Generalship: This magical rodis a two-foot-long scepter of pure gold,decorated with rubies, diamonds, andpearls. When this rod is raised in battle,the troops commanded by the generalgain a +2 bonus to their attack anddamage rolls and morale, and a -2 bo-nus to their Armor Class.

This effect lasts 3d4 turns and may beused only once per day. This rod may beused once per day; it has a 200-yard-radius area of effect. It is a favored bat-tlefield item of the priests of Assuran ofthe Three Thunders. It has also beenused by the priests of Horus-Re andAnhur. Three of these items are knownto exist.

XP Value: 5,000

Staff of Fury: This staff is used in con-junction with a wizard's normal arsenalof spells. When a wizard casts spellsand holds this device, all spells add +1to their casting time, but become devas-tatingly powerful. Damage spells gain+1 per die, even exceeding maximums.All saving throws against the wizard�sspells suffer a -2 penalty. Each time thisfunction is used, it drains the staff of acharge.

This staff can also be used as a defen-sive weapon. In this case, the castercannot perform any offensive actionthat round, but he may use the staff toblock up to three successful attackseach round, be it with a weapon in me-lee, or at range with a missile weapon.Each block drains the staff of onecharge; the wizard must specify howmany potential attacks he is blocking atthe start of the round. The staff is re-chargeable.

XP Value: 8,000

Staff of the Necromancer: This staffbelongs to Hodkamset, the most power-ful mage in the service of the god Set(with the exception of his incarnations).Hodkamset made this alabaster stafffrom the spine bones of a dragon.

Hodkamset pursued the art of necro-mancy and built this item to aid in hisspellcasting. It was stolen from him bythe priests of Osiris in battle two yearsago, but assassins of Set retrieved it be-fore the priests could destroy it, andonce again Hodkamset wields it.

It has a maximum of 25 charges, andabsorbs magic as a staff of the magi. Inaddition, it has the following powers,which cost no charges: detect magic,speak with dead, protection from good.

The following powers cost onecharge per use: animate dead, darkness15� radius, dispel magic, hold person.

The following powers cost twocharges per use: command undead, en-feeble, feeblemind, life level drain *.

* This attack drains one life level, hasa 100-foot range, and automaticallystrikes one target within that range, nosaving throw.

XP Value: 13,000

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Wand of Salt: This evil wand is used bythe followers of the Cult of Tiamat.

This item produces powerful crampsand thirst pangs in any who are struckby its beam, so they suffer 2d6 points ofdamage per round (half if a savingthrow vs. wand is successful, with anew saving throw applicable eachround). This continues until they spendone full round drinking water, in whichcase the cramps stop. This wand canalso render a 50� by 50� section of landinfertile. This wand is made of saltsteel,a magically hardened salt whose mak-ing is known only to the mages of Un-ther. The surface is overlain with sandto give it a sparkling appearance. Onlytwo of these cruel weapons are knownto exist.

XP Value: 5,000

Wand of Sleep: This wand is con-structed from green willow vines fromGanathwood that are entwined and en-chanted to become hard as stone.When the command word is spoken,the wand emits an 80-foot-long cone ofsleeping gas, ten feet wide at its baseand 30 feet wide at its end. All caught inthis cone must roll successful savingthrows vs. wand or fall asleep for 3d4rounds.

Creatures with immunities to sleephave their normal resistance againstthe effect of this wand. This wand maybe used only by a wizard.

XP Value: 4,000

Wand of Water-Finding: This usefulitem has saved many travelers in thedesert heat. If this wand is activatedwithin 50 miles of any source of drink-ing water, the wand begins to vibrate;the closer the wand is to water, thestronger the wand vibrates. If waterlies beneath the surface at a depth of500 feet or less, the wand shoots a beaminto the earth that draws water to thesurface. The water found by this wandis always drinkable; it may not be pure,but it generally does not adversely af-fect the health of the character.

XP Value: 2,000

Miscellaneous MagicAs one might expect, miscellaneousmagical items of new and unusual typesare plentiful in the south. Here are onlya few examples:

Amulet of Protection From Align-ment Change: This magical talismanhas a ruby as its centerpiece. This amu-let protects the wearer against the ef-fects of magic designed tofundamentally alter a person�s align-ment. While this does not protect acharacter from spells that charm thecharacter into actions that he wouldn�tnormally do, it does prevent the effectsof a helm of opposite alignment andsimilar items. It cannot stop the align-ment reversal process of an artifact orrelic, but may (at the DM�s option) slowit down.

XP Value: 3,000

Book of Thoth: This is not one of thethree famed tomes of the god Thoth,but rather a tome written by his incar-nation. It is a large, worn, leather-bound brown volume without a title,fixed with a lock in the shape of a ba-boon�s head. Once per day, it can per-form a legend lore spell on any itemthat is placed on its cover; when this oc-curs, the book opens and turns to apage where the legend of the item is de-scribed. The book closes once the entryis read and locks itself. Should the bookbe forced open, the caster finds that allpages are blank, and the book is neveruseful again.

XP Value: 3,000

The Claw of Nezram: The great wiz-ard Nezram made a number of uniquemagical items before he left the Realmsfor parts unknown. One of the most un-usual is the claw of Nezram. It is a rep-lica of a humanoid hand made fromivory, studded with rubies, with sharpclaws instead of fingers.

The claw has several functions. Itsmundane function causes it to scratchany part of the wielder�s body on com-mand, to relieve an itch. If ordered intocombat, the claw has two options. First,

83

it may slash at an opponent, causing1d6 points of damage; if it inflicts maxi-mum damage on any attack, it grabs thetarget around the throat and causes2d10 points of damage per round untilthe target is dead. Second, it may grabat a target�s weapon hand, negating oneattack each melee round (e.g., if a victimhas 3/2 attacks, he loses his first-roundattack and one of his second-round at-tacks). The claw is AC 0. If 50 points ofsharp-edged damage is done to it, itstops attacking for 24 hours; 200 pointsof such damage completely destroys it.

The claw is intelligent; any new mas-ter trying to control it must battleagainst a neutral alignment, 12 Int, and16 Ego (as per intelligent swords). Thehand glows red if rubies (other than theones embedded on the hand) are within50 feet.

Nezram is known to have constructedat least five claws, one of which is in thepossession of Hodkamset, the mostpowerful wizard of the Cult of Set.

XP Value: 3,750

Dice of Chancelessness: This insidi-ous magical item was created by Huriot,an enterprising follower of Mask andthe greatest Prince of Thieves thatSkuld has ever known. Five centuriesago, he was captured, convicted ofgrave robbing, and brought to the phar-aoh for his final justice. Huriot per-suaded the pharaoh to let a game ofchance decide his fate: If he won, hewould be sold into slavery, and if helost, he would be executed. He broughtout a pair of dice.

These dice were magical, created by agreat wizard. They would roll any num-ber that the owner desired; in thehands of the owner, they would rollwhat he wanted, while in the hands ofanother, they would roll as the originalowner desired. The pharaoh detectedthe magic, discovered what they were,and used his divine powers to reversethe effect.

Huriot had planned to lose the game,gambling that a display of honesty mightearn a pardon from a magnanimouspharaoh. He won instead and was placed

in slavery for the rest of his days.No one ever heard of Huriot again, ex-

cept for an inscription in that pharaoh�stomb: �Huriot was here.�

XP Value: 500

Gloves of Lightning: This magicalitem, usable by all classes, is a powerfulweapon. Once every three rounds (upto three times a day), the wearer maypoint at a single target and fire a strongburst of electricity that automaticallystrikes. This burst inflicts 8d6 points ofdamage (a successful saving throw vs.wand cuts this in half).

Gloves of lightning cannot be wornwith gauntlets; both gloves are neces-sary to fire the lightning.

XP Value: 2,000

Horn of Command: This horn ampli-fies the sound of one�s voice so that itcan be heard three times farther thannormal.

The greatest ability of this item, how-ever, is its suggestion power. Once eachday, a person using the horn can issue asuggestion to all within a 60-foot radius.A successful saving throw vs. spell ne-gates this effect (but only for that indi-vidual). The person using the horn maydirect the command at a single being(giving a penalty of -3 to the savingthrow) or at all of the beings within theradius (each gets a saving throw). Thesuggestion must be in a language the af-fected beings understand.

XP Value: 2,000

Jewel of Karathoth: This powerfulitem, one of the greatest creations of theincarnations of Thoth, is a jewel with1d3 + 4 facets. Activating this jewel cre-ates an exact duplicate of the activatingcharacter, which under the character�scomplete control. This duplicate fights,casts spells, and uses magical items asthe user wills. This duplicate lasts for 3+ 1d4 turns, then vanishes.

Once a duplicate is killed, or once hedisappears, one facet of the jewelcracks and cannot be used again. Onceall facets are cracked, the gem is use-less. Only one character can be sum-

moned out of the jewel at a time; a newduplicate cannot be summoned until 48hours have passed. When a duplicatedisappears or is killed, all of his magicalitems disappear.

The effects of all spells cast by the du-plicate disappear with the duplicate, ex-cluding spells with an instantaneouseffect (the effects of a duplicate�s fire-ball spell do not disappear, but the ef-fects of his haste spell do). A duplicate isalso forbidden to use any sort of crea-tion magic, including wishes.

The jewel is typically one of the morevaluable gemstones (no specific varietyis needed), and when one glances intoit, one can see the faint impression of anibis, Thoth�s symbol.

XP Value: 5,000

Necklace of Protection AgainstCharm: This beautiful item is worn bythe Precepts of Mulhorand. It is a goldcollar that hangs down to the chest,studded with gems. It provides a +4 bo-nus to all saving throws against charm/enchantment magic. Furthermore, bylooking into the gems of this necklace,the wearer is aware of the identity andlocation of the spellcaster. Protectionsagainst scrying prevent this effect.

XP Value: 2,000

Robes of Protection: These robeswere typically worn only by the priestsof Horus-Re, but they are now worn bypriests of many different religions.They are said to be sewn by priestessesof Nephthys.

These robes, soft to wear but solidagainst the blows of the enemy, are em-blazoned with the symbol of the appro-priate deity. They provide protectionfor Mulhorand priests in battle and inplaces where it is not acceptable towear armor. Roll on the following tableto determine the Armor Class protec-tion of a particular robe:

D100 Roll Armor Class XP Value01-05 6 2,00006-15 5 2,50016-35 4 3,00036-50 3 3,50051-70 2 4,00071-85 1 5,00086-00 0 6,000

Only members of the priest class maywear these robes. They are almostnever seen outside of Mulhorand.

Scarab of Life: This is a jeweled beetleinset on an ankh. When this is worn onthe brow of a priest, it enables him tocure critical wounds, once per day, andraise dead once per week. Any use ofthis item has a 10% chance of renderingit inoperative; command words are nec-essary to use either function.

XP Value: 3,000

Scarab of Venom: This is a scarab-shaped gem, much favored by warriorsin the service of Set. When placed onthe hilt of their swords, it coats theblade with a poison, up to two times perday (wielder decides when). This poisoncauses an extra 3d4 points of damageimmediately (no saving throw), and thevictim must also roll a successful savingthrow vs. poison or die in 1d4 rounds.

This poison lasts 1d4 rounds on theblade, then evaporates.

XP Value: 2,000

Stone of Everburning: This stone isunremarkable, except that it radiatessearing heat at all times. If a stone ofeverburning contacts exposed flesh, itinflicts 1d3 points of damage for eachround of contact. The stone�s most re-markable property is its longevity;some have stayed hot over 3,000 years,even when continuously immersed inwater. These items are used in thesteam engines of Mulhorand.

XP Value: 500

Talisman of the Beast: This item wascreated by the Beast-cults, which werequite popular in Mulhorand and Un-ther at the height of their second em-

84

pires (circa 1 DR), but have since beenforgotten.

These talismans have two functions:first, they enable their wearers to com-municate with animals at will, and sec-ond, they enable the wearers to changeinto the form of an animal three timesper day. These animals cannot be mon-sters or giant-sized animals, simply nor-mal beasts, from the size of a fly to thatof an elephant, bear, or tiger.

While in animal form, the characterhas the hit points and Armor Class of hishuman form, but all the special abilitiesof the beast that he has transformedhimself into. The wearer must revertinto his human form (or demihuman orhumanoid form) before taking on thecharacteristics of an animal again.

The talisman is a string of multi-colored beads strung on papyrus reeds,which spin to form animal pictures.Only two of these talismans are knownto exist.

XP Value: 2,500

Talisman of Tongues: This medallionenables an individual to understand alllanguages and their writings, as per atongues or comprehend languagesspell. The talisman of tongues also en-ables the wearer to speak these lan-guages. Furthermore, it enables thewearer to read magic and read Mulho-rand magic, at will.

Only one of these talismans is knownto exist, since the priests of Thoth havebeen hunting them down and destroy-ing them to prevent foreigners from be-ing able to decipher the secrets ofMulhorandi magic.

XP Value: 3,500

Talons of the Danse Macabre: Theseitems were created by the priests ofHoar/Assuran in Chessenta; eight pairsare known to exist, most scatteredamong treasure hoards across theRealms. These magical items appear tobe eagle�s talons, plated in a dull silverthat resembles pewter. When two ofthem are thrown down, and the propercommand word is given, they immedi-ately attack, causing 2d4 points of dam-

age per round for one turn before theybecome inactive for 24 hours. They canbe stopped with the proper commandword, or a successful dispel magic spellcast against 12th-level magic (whichalso neutralizes them for 24 hours). Noweapon can touch them in combat andthey appear to be indestructible.

XP Value: 3,000

Weed of the Witch (Witchweed): Thefoul fumes of this weed affect all wiz-ards. When burned, it produces a 30-foot-radius vaporous cloud. Any wizardwithin its vapors begins to cough vio-lently, is unable to cast spells, and suf-fers 2 points of damage per round. Theweed burns for 10 + 1d6 rounds.

This long green weed is grown andused frequently in Luthcheq, a city inChessenta where wizards are forbid-den. When burned, it produces a foulstench similar to burning tobacco.

Witchweed is typically bundled inshipments of 13 stalks.

XP Value: 1,000

Swords, Daggers,MiscellaneousWeapons, and ArmorWhile the people of the Old Empire arepowerful mages, they are not re-nowned for creating weapons of might.Nonetheless, a number of noteworthyweapons have been produced in Mul-horand over the course of time.

Armor of Horus: This armor is scalemail +4. It is the equivalent of AC 2,and also gives the wearer resistance toall fire and lightning attacks (fire andlightning attacks automatically inflictonly ½ damage, ¼ damage if the appro-priate saving throw is successful).

XP: 3,500

Dagger of Set: This horrible, snake-shaped blade is a throwing dagger usedby warriors in the service of Set.

It is a dagger +2, with a typical range.Should it roll a natural 19 or 20, it hasfound a vital organ of its victim and kills

him instantly. Furthermore, it remainsin the wound and continues to inflict1d4 + 2 points of damage each round,until it is pulled free (an 18 or greaterStrength is required to pull it from thewound; the action takes one round).For each round it is in the wound, roll1d20; if a 19 or 20 is ever rolled, it hasfound a vital organ and killed its target.

The number of daggers of Set that ex-ist is unknown.

XP Value: 2,000

The Bladeless Sword: This sword wascreated by the smith Holin. It has a hiltof solid silver (a much rarer metal in thesouth than gold) and is encrusted withopals. The blade itself is magical; it is in-visible and intangible, seemingly with-out existence. The blade is really in theEthereal plane; it harms only thosecreatures that require magical weaponsto strike them.

It causes double damage to any crea-ture affected only by magic, and it in-flicts triple damage to undead. For thepurposes of calculating damage, it isconsidered to be a khopesh sword +4.

XP Value: 4,000

Staff of Osiris: This staff is made out ofdark brown mahogany and is coveredwith painted hieroglyphs. It is a quar-terstaff +3. It is a favored weapon ofthe priests of Osiris; at least 20 areknown to still exist today.

In addition to its attacks, the staffblocks one successful attack eachround; the first successful melee attackagainst the wielder is automatically ne-gated. This does not prevent ranged at-tacks, such as missile weapons andspells, from causing damage but it doesstop sword thrusts, other staves, dag-gers, and other melee weapons.

In spite of its name, a staff of Osirismay be used by any priesthood, includ-ing Set's.

XP Value: 1,500

Staff of Stunning: This is a quarter-staff +3, with the added benefit that,on a natural roll of 18-20, a blow fromthis quarterstaff knocks the opponent

85

unconscious (no saving throw) for 3d4rounds. If a natural 18-20 is not a suc-cessful attack against the opponent, thestaff has no effect.

These staves are typically made fromyew; many of them are used by sailorson the Alamber Sea.

XP Value: 1,000

Artifacts and RelicsThere are many artifacts and relics na-tive to the Old Empires; this entire bookcould easily be filled with these items.Here are only a few of the most famousones:

Ankh of Life: This powerful symbol ofdivinity was lost millennia ago in theOrcgate Wars. It was the holy symbol ofthe manifestation of Re. It is a worn anddirty rod of birch wood, without anyornamentation, one foot long, in theshape of an ankh.

It has the following powers: resurrec-tion (2/day), restoration (3/day), regen-erate (3/day), destroy undead, 30�radius (3/day), continual light (at will).

The destroy undead power slays allundead of less than 7 HD (or levels), andinflicts 12d8 points of damage (no sav-ing throw) to all undead of 7 Hit Dice orhigher.

If used by a mortal, the ankh drainsone level of experience each time apower is used (and only a wish directlygranted from a deity can restore thelost level).

This relic is sought after by the priestsof Horus-Re and Osiris, as they wish toplace it with the mummified body of themanifestation of Re in the Tower of Eter-nity in Skuld. Any who present it to anincarnation or manifestation of eithergod would be richly rewarded.

Chariot of Re: There were originallythree of these artifacts, the chariots ofthe gods Re, Horus, and Osiris, in thedays before the Orcgate Wars. Only oneis known to still exist; the Chariot of Reis the oldest of the artifacts of great

magic still in active use in Mulhorand.Legend speaks of it being constructedby a god named Ptah, who has neverbeen worshiped in the Realms, even inthe old days of Mulhorand.

The Chariot of Re is constructed fromgold, emblazoned with Re�s solar discagainst an ankh. The chariot can move,without horses, at a speed of up to 96;any who fight from it receive a bonus of-4 to their Armor Class, and those at-tacking them receive a -4 penalty totheir attack and damage rolls. Thosewho ride in the chariot are 75% magicresistant. Anyone struck by an attackfrom the chariot has to roll a successfulsaving throw vs. spell or suffer blind-ness for 2d4 turns. The chariot alsogrants a +4 bonus to the morale ratingof all friendly troops within a 200-yardradius, and it gives a -4 morale penaltyto enemy troops within that radius.

Font of Time: This powerful artifact islocated somewhere in eastern Mulho-rand. Little is known about it, exceptfor a few words in the UniqueMageries, a book of spells belonging tothe wizard Nezram:

�Of all the artifacts created by the an-cients, the most marvelous and terrify-ing was the great Font. This was apearl-white pool, contained in a milk-colored crystal that appeared in a mi-rage in the eastern wastes. The waterswere too bitter to drink. But if onelooked into the font in the light of a fullmoon, one could see scenes from the an-tiquity of Mulhorand that one wouldswear were real. And indeed they are.For if one concentrates on that image�...but I shall say no more, in hopes thatnone shall follow where I have traveled.�

No knowledge exists about the originof the font, except in the archives ofThoth. The font of time can enable anywho look into it, during a full moononly, to see images of Mulhorand in thedays of its original empire. It is possibleto possess the body of an individualfrom that image, and thus experience

life in Mulhorand at the height of itspower. To return home, one must findone�s way to the font at the time of thenew moon, when it is possible to lookback at one�s self, and return to one�sown form.

Galley of the Gods: This ship was usedby the people of Unther in several navalbattles, most notably in the defeat ofthe Narfell Armada. It is said to havebeen constructed by a deity namedEnki, though he has never been activelyworshiped in the Realms. This galley is200 feet long, 30 feet wide, and requires150 oarsmen. It has a cargo capacity of250 tons and can support up to 300 ma-rines for an extended trip.

The ship has a 95% seaworthinessrating, and a movement of 15 mphwhen fully crewed (450 yards perround), or 25 mph at emergency speed(750 yards per round). In extremeemergencies, the ship can sproutdragon wings and lift off the water atemergency speed.

This flight lasts a maximum of oneturn. At least 120 oarsmen are requiredfor the ship to fly.

The ship has a dragon prow with mul-tiple heads chained together (the symbolof the ancient gods� victory over Tiamat).The prow is magical; it can shoot a 6d6lightning ball (20-foot diameter) up to400 yards, once per turn. The lightningball can be fired only when the prow isfacing its target. Those caught in its areaof effect can roll saving throws vs. spell;success means that the victim sufferedonly ½ damage.

The ship and those within the ship areimmune to fire and lightning. The shipitself has a 35% magic resistance. Intimes of war it is armed with four ballis-tae (two on each side) and a rear cata-pult. The Lords of Unther have used thisas a military and a cargo vessel.

Recently, this vessel has been stolenfrom its berth in Unthalass by pirates. Itis believed to be hidden somewhere inthe waters near the Ship of the Gods.

86

ENCOUNTERS IN MULHORANDRoll 1d8 and 1d12 and add the results to determine the creature encountered on theappropriate random encounter table.

Civilized (Day)Roll Creature(s) Encountered

2 Minions, divine3 Rake4 Noble or official5 Snake, poisonous6 NPC, notable7 Rat8 City guard9 Merchant

10 Tradesman11 Tradesmen (2d4)12 Laborer13 Pilgrims14 Priest15 Ruffians16 NPC party17 Thieves18 Gentlemen19 DM special20 DM special

Civilized (Night)Roll Creature(s) Encountered

2 Vampire3 Rakshasa4 Press gang5 NPC, notable6 Courtesan7 Minions, divine8 Mercenary9 Drunk

10 City watch11 City watch12 Carousers *13 Thieves14 Bandits15 Jackals16 Assassins17 Wererats18 Mummy19 DM special20 DM special

* 3d4 men (0th- to 2nd-level fighters) who are in-terested in a good time and will not bother peopleunless provoked.

Great ValeRoll

23456789101112131415161718

1920

Creature(s) EncounteredDragon, brownDracosphinxWraith, desert (night only)NPC, notableLionsMerchantsRatsLaborerHerd animalsHerd animalsPilgrimsSlavesMinions, divineRats, giantScorpions, largeMummyColossus, stone (10% chance of

being active)DM specialDM special

WastesRoll Creature(s) Encountered

2 Efreeti3 Dragon, blue4 Dracosphinx5 NPC, notable6 Jackals7 Minions, divine8 Mercenary9 Snakes, poisonous10 Patrol11 Dogs, wild12 Scorpions, huge13 Sahuagin (coastal only)14 Bandits (slavers)15 Rats, giant16 Gynosphinx17 Scorpions, giant18 Dragon, brown19 DM special20 DM special

87

Colossus, Stone

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:(RF)

Any/OutdoorsRareSolitaryAnyNilNon- (0)NilNil

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 2MOVEMENT: 12HIT DICE: 22 (100 hp)THAC0: 5NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30SPECIAL ATTACKS: FearSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: See belowSIZE: H (18� diameter sphere)MORALE: Fearless (19-20)XP VALUE: 18,000

Long before the coming of the lizard folk, a race of giants walkedthe Realms. They were destroyed by a great plague, but duringtheir days of glory they built many magical marvels, amongwhich were magical warriors that fought their battles for them.These warriors would defend their monuments, of which theywere extremely proud, so that no creature who came after themcould destroy the memory of their race.

Of the magical warriors, the only ones that survive are theStatues-That-Walk, also known as stone colossi. Each colossus isreally an extremely powerful stone golem.

Combat: The colossus is similar to a stone golem, except that itis larger and cannot cast a slow spell. A colossus is programmedonly to attack with its fists; it never uses a weapon. It has aStrength of 23 for the purposes of breaking or throwing things.

A + 2 or better weapon is needed to harm a colossus. A rock tomud spell slows them for 2d6 rounds. Its reverse, mud to rock,heals all damage inflicted upon the colossus. A flesh to stone spelldoes not harm a colossus, but it render the colossus vulnerable tonormal attacks in the following round. All other magic has no ef-fect against it.

The stone colossus has one special attack form. Its march is soterrifying that all creatures of less than 3 Hit Dice immediatelyflee for 2d6 rounds, dropping whatever they have in their hands,while those between 3 Hit Dice and 5 Hit Dice must roll successfulsaving throws vs. wand to resist this fear. Any creature above 5Hit Dice (or levels) is automatically immune.

Habitat/Society: A colossus is an automaton, artificially cre-ated and under the direct control of whomever is able to manipu-late the runes of its creation. Once it is activated, a colossus triesto destroy any edifices it discovers that were not constructed byits creators; this is part of its programming. Its programming maybe altered, but none have discovered the ritual as yet. To stop itwhen it is on a rampage requires a ritual that takes days to per-form and glyphs to be drawn on every single colossus, active orinactive.

Ecology: Colossi are not natural creatures. Thus they play nopart in the ecology of the world. They neither eat, sleep, nor re-ally live. They perform their assigned tasks until they are de-stroyed, deactivated, or the tasks are completed.

Dragon, Brown

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Any arid/DesertVery rareSolitary or clanAnySpecialHighly (13-14)SpecialNeutral (evil)

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

3 + special1-4/1-4/3-30See belowVariableSee belowG (54' base)Fanatic (17-18)Variable

1 (2-5)2 (base)12, Br 2414 (base)7

Age Category1 Hatchling2 Very Young3 Young4 Juvenile5 Young Adult6 Adult7 Mature Adult8 Old9 Very Old10 Venerable11 Wyrm12 Great Wyrm

Body Lgt. (�) Tail Lgt (�) AC Breath Weapon7-19 6-16 5 2d6 + 2

20-31 17-28 4 4d6 + 432-43 29-38 3 6d6 + 644-55 39-50 2 8d6 + 856-67 51-60 1 10d6 + 1068-80 61-70 0 12d6 + 1281-93 71-84 -1 14d6 + 14

94-106 85-95 -2 16d6 + 16107-120 96-108 -3 18d6 + 18121-134 109-120 -4 2 0d6 + 20135-148 121-133 -5 22d6 + 22149-162 134-146 -6 24d6 + 24

Brown dragons, also known as great desert dragons, migratedfrom the desert Raurin and now frequent much of the wastes inEastern Mulhorand. Brown dragons prefer to tunnel deep intothe desert sands, where they sleep in a burrow at night, surfac-ing to attack prey. While they can survive indefinitely on a diet ofrock and sand, live meat is their preferred game.

Brown dragons are ferocious beasts; while they are intelligent,they view human beings as food, and they believe that it isstrange to talk with one�s meal.

Brown dragons do not have wings and cannot fly.Brown dragons have a coloration similar to that of desert

sands, ranging from dim brown at hatchling stage to almostwhite at great wyrm stage. They have small, webbed claws thatare well developed for digging, and very large, long mouths.Their scales are leathery and not as hard as other dragon armors.

Brown dragons have their own tongue, and they speak that andthe language of blue dragons. They have a 5% chance per age cat-egory of being able to communicate with any intelligent creature.

Spells (Wizard)NilNilNil123

3 13 23 3

3 3 13 3 2

3 3 2 1

MR Treasure TypeNil NilNil NilNil NilNil Nil

20% ½ H25% H30% H35% H40% H x 245% H x 250% H x 255% H x 3

XP Value1,4003,0005,0007,0009,000

10,00011,00015,00017,00018,00019,00020,000

Combat: Brown dragons prefer to dig deep trenches in thesand, waiting for prey to appear so they may ambush them.

When absolutely still, they have a 9 in 10 chance of hearing aman-sized creature�s footsteps on the desert sands, even from adepth of 500 feet below the surface.

When they breach the desert sand, they do so with incrediblesilence, imposing a -5 penalty to opponents� surprise rolls. Olderbrown dragons use illusions, or even invisibility spells to concealthemselves from unwitting prey.

When brown dragons grab their prey, they hold it in their jaws,taking it to their lairs to be eaten when it is most convenient.

The brown dragon�s breath weapon is a powerful acid, which itspews in a five-foot-wide spray that extends in a 60-foot-longstraight line from the dragon�s head. All creatures caught in thisspray can roll a saving throw vs. breath weapon for half damage.

A brown dragon will use this spray against large numbers of in-dividuals, but not against mounted foes, since it knows thathorses are good eating and don�t put up as much struggle as hu-mans. Brown dragons cast spells as 8th-level wizards.

Brown dragons are born immune to acid and the effects of thedesert heat. They may survive in airless environments nearly in-definitely.

Dragon, Brown

As they age, brown dragons gain the following abilities:

AgeYoungJuvenileAdult

AbilitiesCast create sand to cover up their burrowsCast create water once per dayCast sandstorm, as per the Mulhorandi spell, onceper day

Venerable Can summon a 12-HD earth elementalGreat wyrm Cast disintegrate once per day

Habitat/Society: Brown dragons are found in deserts, oftenclose to settled areas. They are fierce and savage creatures, whoequate their own cruelty with that of the desert heat. They typi-cally dwell in deep burrows nearly 1,000 feet beneath the sand,where they carve out vast chambers, often looting ancientforgotten treasures for their hoards. During the day, they tunnelupward, listening silently for hours, waiting for food to come.

The brown dragon mates and raises a family for only a shortperiod of time; all parents encountered are in the mature adultstage of development. Many brown dragons do not mate, but livetheir lives in solitude.

Man is the main enemy of brown dragons. Humans hunt themfor their hide and treasure. Blue dragons, which like to burrowinto the desert sand, also attack brown dragons.

Battles between brown and blue dragons are legendary fortheir ferocity. The people of the desert have a curious respect forthe brown dragon, so these tales often make the blue dragonslook more evil than the brown.

Ecology: Brown dragons are able to digest sand and other min-eral materials to sustain themselves over long periods of time.However, meat is their preferred diet, with horseflesh being aparticular favorite.

Hakeashar

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Alternate Prime Material PlaneFREQUENCY: Very RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: MagicINTELLIGENCE: Highly (13-14)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

11039110NilAbsorb magicSee belowSee belowL (12� diameter sphere)Elite (16)2,000

A hakeashar, also known as an eater-of-magic, appears as a brightred sphere. Their bodies pulse and glow as they drift about. Theycan seep through finger-width cracks with great ease.

Hakeashar are relatives of the nishruu. These weird, thank-fully rare creatures are believed to come from an alternate PrimeMaterial plane. Within the red mist comprising the body of a ha-keashar are hundreds of grasping hands, probing eyes, and gap-ing hungry mouths.

Combat: Hakeashar have no attacks. Fire and physical attacksaffect them normally; those who are wrapped in a hakeashar areautomatically hit by these attack forms.

Hakeashar can sense magic within a 600-foot radius; they al-ways move toward the greatest concentration of magic withinthat area. Hakeashar move fearlessly and relentlessly towardsources of magic, taking full damage from physical attacks. Mindcontrol spells and illusions have no effect on them.

Spells cast at a hakeashar are absorbed by it, having no effectexcept to give the creature hit points of life energy equal to thedamage the spell normally does. A non-damaging spell gives a ha-keashar extra hit points equal to the spells level.

Chargeable magical items are drained of 1d4 charges upon con-tact with a hakeashar. If contact is continued, the 1d4 drain oc-curs at the end of every second round.

All magical items and artifacts are nonoperational while in con-tact with a hakeashar. Artifacts do not function for one round af-ter such contact ceases; magical items have their powers negated

for 1d4 rounds after contact ends. If a potion or scroll is usedwhile in contact with a hakeashar, it does not take effect until 1d4rounds after the contact is broken.

Spellcasters of all classes who are enveloped by a hakeasharlose one memorized spell, determined randomly, at first contact,and one per round after.

Each time a loss occurs, the spellcaster must roll a successfulsaving throw vs. breath weapon or become feebleminded.

When a hakeashar is slain, its body dissipates, losing luminos-ity and hue, seeming to sink to the ground. Any magical itemwithin its body area when it is slain, or any magical weaponslaying it, even if no longer in contact with the body, receives amagical bonus of 1d6 additional charges, or a second use in thecase of a one-shot item, such as a scroll or an arrow. Potions,memorized spells, artifacts, and items that do not have chargesare not augmented.

Habitat/Society: Hakeashar are not native to this Prime Mate-rial plane.

They are solitary creatures.A hakeashar has the ability to give 20% of the number of spells

or charges absorbed to a person. This is done very unwillingly,usually in exchange for being brought to this Prime Materialplane.

Ecology: Hakeashar feed on magic. Their life spans are mea-sured in centuries.

Lycanthrope, Werecrocodiles

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Desert/swampFREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: PackACTIVITY CYCLE: DayDIET: CarnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Neutral evil

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:

MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:

1-313, Sw 125 + 51522-12/1-8Infection, Control 1d3 crocodilesHit only by silver and magicalweaponsNilM-L (6� human, 8-12� long croco-dile)

MORALE:XP VALUE:

Priest, 1st-4thPriest, 5th

Very Steady (13-14)6509751,400

Werecrocodiles are the creations of Sebek, a crocodile-headedminor deity in the Mulhorandi pantheon. Very few Sebek-spawnremain in Mulhorand, having been driven off by the servants ofthe god-kings five centuries ago, but they thrive in Chessenta�sAdderswamp.

In their human form, werecrocodiles are tall, thin creatureswith sharp features, a long nose and chin, and a thin face with anoticeable overbite. In their crocodile-form, they are very long,big, and powerful monsters. They speak Mulhorandi and thecommon tongue, and can speak with crocodiles at will.

Combat: In combat, werecrocodiles prefer to assume their hu-man form. They try to trick their prey into assuming they areharmless. Werecrocodiles are infamous for playing on people�ssympathy by pretending to be grieving. Once the prey is in closerange, they change to crocodile form and attack. They can bitewith their huge jaws and sharp teeth for 2-12 points of damage,and lash out with their tails for 1-8 points of damage.

Werecrocodiles have an 18 Strength. They use this to some-times grab their opponents, drag them deep underwater, changeto crocodile form, and attempt to drown them. Every point ofdamage received from a werecrocodile bite equals a 1% chanceof turning into a werecrocodile at the next full moon (if a victimtakes 20 points of damage, there is a 20% chance of contractinglycanthropy).

Werecrocodiles are able to summon 1d3 regular crocodiles,which obey their every command.

Habitat/Society: Werecrocodiles live in small family groups.The mother is usually the leader of the family pack.

Mating occurs within their own kind, and werecrocodiles areborn live from the mother�s womb; they attain the ability to trans-form into a crocodile at the onset of puberty.

Werecrocodiles live in mud shacks by the edge of rivers or inswamps. They usually assume crocodile form to find prey, thenassume human form at night to sleep. They are very territorialand attack any human, demihuman, or humanoid that enterstheir territory, though they will try to be as subtle as possible be-fore springing their trap.

Werecrocodiles worship the god Sebek. Clerics of Sebek can ad-vance to 5th level as priests; they receive 1d4 extra hit points perlevel.

Werecrocodiles do not collect treasure or possessions. Theystay away from populated human settlements. They do not par-ticularly enjoy killing humans, but humans are too tasty to resist.

Ecology: Werecrocodiles are biologically identical to humans,except for the curse of lycanthropy. They prey on both warm-blooded creatures and fish native to the swamps. They eat anywererats native to the swamps. No one preys on werecrocodilesexcept humans, so werecrocodiles try to have as little conflictwith large bands of humans as possible.

Minions, Divine

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Any/Desert, arid, or citiesUncommonGroupAnyCarnivoreHighly (13-14)NilLawful evil

NO. APPEARING: 1-20ARMOR CLASS: -2MOVEMENT: 12 or see belowHIT DICE: 6 (25 hp)THAC0: 11 (15)NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 or see belowDAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-12 or see belowSPECIAL ATTACKS: Polymorph selfSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%SIZE: Variable, M (6½' tall)MORALE: Elite (16)XP VALUE: 1,400

Each divinity of the Mulhorandi pantheon has a number of magi-cal servitors, known as minions. Each minion is a fanatical fol-lower of the deity and serves his ends at all costs.

Divine minions serve as messengers of the deities. In the case ofthe minions of Set, they also serve as assassins and as military as-sistance for his mortal worshipers. They appear as great war-riors, well over six feet tall and quite broad, in bronze platearmor that is decorated with the symbol of their deity.

Combat: Divine minions are capable of taking a number of dif-ferent forms. Armor Class, Hit Dice, and hit points remain thesame, while they acquire the movement rate, attacks, and specialattacks of each form. The stats of these forms are as follows:

Form Move #AT Dmg SABaboon 12 1 1-4 + 1 NilBear 12 3 1-6/1-6/1-8 HugCrocodile 6, Sw 12 2 2-8/1-12 NilHawk 3, Fl 24 3 1-3/1-3/2-8 swoopIbis Sw 6, Fl 12 1 1-3 NilJackal 15 1 1-2 NilLion 12 3 1-4/1-4/1-8 Rear clawsScorpion 12 3 1-8/1-8/1-4 StingSnake 15 1 1-3 VenomAll minions roll their attacks and saving throws as 10th-levelfighters; this is reflected in the THAC0 stat above.

The minions of each deity in the Mulhorandi pantheon can as-sume a number of different forms, as follows:

Anhur: LionHorus-Re: Hawk, LionIsis: HawkNephthys: Hawk, CrocodileOsiris: Hawk, BearSet (any 3): Bear, Jackal, Snake, Scorpion, CrocodileThoth: Ibis, Baboon

Habitat/Society: Divine minions are creatures touched by di-vine power. They serve the deities or me Mulhorandi pantheon;hundreds live in the deities� towers in Skuld. With the exceptionof Set, all minions are willing volunteers to divine service; theyforfeit life in return for the honor of working for their deitythroughout eternity.

Set�s volunteers are less willing, as his touch can transform itsvictim into a minion of Set. These lawful evil creatures are by farthe most active divine minions, as the others prefer not to be no-ticed by mortals unless specially called by magic.

Ecology: Divine minions are supernatural creatures; they neednot eat or drink.

Their armor and all possessions disappear when slain, and theycarry no treasures.

Skriaxit

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Subtropical/Desert Combat: Skriaxits move by creating a large vortex of wind thatVery Rare propels them at tremendous speed. If there are one to six skriax-Pack its together, their speed is 12; if there are seven to 12 skriaxits,Any their speed is 18, and if there are 13 or more skriaxit, their speedDestruction is 24. The skriaxit vortex creates a sandstorm in a 200-yard radiusExceptional (15-16) around them; those caught in this storm suffer 1 point of damageNil per round per skriaxit (thus if there are 12 skriaxits, those caughtNeutral evil in its whirlwind receive 12 points of damage per round).

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:

3-18-512, 18, or 24 (see below)16+16522-20/2-20Sandstorm, dispel magic+ 2 or better weapon to hit, im-mune to slow, acid, fire, light-ning

Within the confines of this sandstorm, the skriaxit group con-tinuously dispels magic, as a 16th-level wizard.

Each skriaxit can form its winds into a razor sharp lash, inflict-ing 2d10 points of damage on a successful strike.

Though skriaxits were originally summoned from the elemen-tal plane of Air, the Prime Material is now considered to be theirhome and they cannot be dispelled.

MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

50%L (10� tall)Fanatic (17-18)

16 + 16 HD: 16,00024 + 24 HD: 24,000

Skriaxits, the blackstorms, the living sandstorms, are the mostfeared creatures in the deserts of the east. When the ancient godswere defeated by those lords of Raurin who would later becomethe god-kings of Mulhorand, the ancient gods summoned spiritsof retribution that destroyed all that had not been demolished inthe war. When the god-kings fled Raurin, these spirits took theland as their own domain, with each pack stirring from slumberevery century to wreak havoc on all that oppose them.

Habitat/Society: Skriaxits are a society of highly intelligent,but extremely evil, air elementals. They feed on causing destruc-tion and terror; once they have caused enough catastrophe, theysleep for 1d3 centuries. While asleep, they have removed them-selves from the confines of existence and not even the gods canaffect them. They reawaken when hungry. They view humans,demihumans, and humanoids as playthings, with the same sadis-tic attitude as a human child playing with a fly. They hate nothingand fear nothing; they just delight in destruction. They mayamuse themselves by listening to humans bargain with them, buthumans have nothing to offer them of interest. The skriaxit packis ruled by the Great Skriax.

Ecology: Skriaxits are creatures of magic, now considered tobe native to the Prime Material plane. They feed on the feelings ofsuperiority they gain by destroying and killing. No known magicis has been able to control them, though they are susceptible towards against air elementals.

Skriaxits are powerful and intelligent air elementals that takethe sand and dust of the desert and whirl it to create their ten-foot-tall forms. It is as a pack that they create their greatest ter-ror, generating huge winds and a fierce sandstorm that canrender a human fleshless in minutes. They speak the tongue ofair elementals and their own language, a howling, shriekingtongue that frightens most humans who hear it.

The Great Skriax

The leader of the skriaxit pack is the Great Skriax. It has 24 + 24Hit Dice and attacks with a +4 bonus to all attack and damagerolls. The Great Skriax is considered the most evil of the pack.

Sphinx, Draco-

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Desert/PlainVery RareSolitaryDayCarnivoreGenius (17-18)FLawful evil

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

1-19, F1 24 (MC C)11+11933-12/3-12/5-20Breath weapon, spellsNilNilH (9� tall)Fanatic (17-18)12,000

The dracosphinx is native to the desert highlands, where it com-petes with the more numerous hieracosphinx for territory. Thisfierce, sly predator scours the wilderness for prey, be it smallgame or humans.

The dracosphinx has a lion�s body, a red dragon�s head, and amane of colorful feathers. Its long paws have very sharp dragonclaws. The dracosphinx speaks the language of red dragons, towhom it is distantly related.

Combat: A dracosphinx attacks with its large claws and itsteeth, causing 3d4 points of damage with a successful claw strikeand 5d4 points of damage with their fangs. They have a breathweapon that they can use once per turn; this spews forth flaminggas in a 100-foot-long cone that is 20 feet wide at its far end. Thisgas inflicts damage equal to the number of hit points possessedby the dracosphinx when it is uninjured (e.g., a dracosphinx withan uninjured total of 65 hit points inflicts 65 points of damagewith its breath weapon, regardless of its current hit point total).A successful saving throw vs. dragon breath cuts this damage inhalf.

Dracosphinxes are excellent wizards, specializing in illusions;they have the spells of a 9th-level wizard but cast as 12th-levelspellcasters.

They like to use their illusions to fool prey into a false sense ofsecurity, then strike when it is least expected.

Habitat/Society: Dracosphinxes live solitary existences onbleak cliff sides. They spend their days looking for prey and lyingin the sun.

Each dracosphinx carves out a territory of approximately fivemiles in diameter. It does its best to keep out major predatorsfrom that territory: dragons, men, hieracosphinxes, and the oc-casional wyvern. Its philosophical ideas include �only the strong-est deserve to survive� and �the weak get what they deserve.�

Dracosphinxes know that humans like to seek them out, talk tothem, then slay them; they enjoy tricking humans with riddlecontests and conversation that leave the humans unaware for asudden attack. Dracosphinxes pride themselves on their cun-ning. Like dragons, they like to hoard coins, jewels, and othervaluables.

Ecology: Dracosphinxes are egg-laying mammals. They mateonce in a lifetime, with the female flying away to raise a clutch ofthree to five large, brown eggs. The eggs are laid in separate ar-eas and buried, since hatchlings are likely to eat each other. Thehatchlings are one foot long at birth and are capable of huntingsmall game. They grow to nearly full size within a year. Theyhave life spans of about 60 years. Dracosphinxes cannot be tamedexcept through magical means.

Wraith, Desert

CLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Subtropical/DesertRareSolitary or GroupNightLife energyLow (5-7)NilChaotic evil

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:

1-349 (18 in jackal form)6 + 31311-4 (in human form) or 1-6 (injackal form)

SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

Energy drain+1 or better weapon to hit30%MElite (13-14)2,000

Creatures killed by skriaxits are animated three days later as des-ert wraiths, malevolent spirits of the sands.

These creatures have two forms�that of a human and that of ajackal. Their goal is to destroy any living creature that theyencounter.

Combat: The desert wraith shifts between its two forms as itsees fit; it uses its jackal form to charge at its prey, then trans-forms itself into human form to attack. The human form inflicts1d4 points of damage on a touch and drains the victim of one lifelevel (no saving throw allowed), as per a wraith, with appropriatereductions in hit points, spell abilities, etc.

A desert wraith is undead and can be turned, on the samecolumn as a spectre. Daylight destroys them utterly, and holy wa-ter inflicts 2d4 points of damage per vial.

While they have only low intelligence, they are capable of cun-ning (e.g., burying themselves in the sand, then attacking theirprey by surprise).

They can see in total darkness as if it were noon.

Habitat/Society: A desert wraith is totally evil. It lives only tofeed off the life forces of others. Desert wraiths dig barrows forthemselves in the sand; they retreat to these during the day.

Ecology: Desert wraiths feed off life force energy. No creaturesexist that prey on them. Creatures brought to 0 life levels by adesert wraith are transformed into zombies within 48 hours,even if raised, unless their bodies are washed in holy water.