Szass Tam

Szass Tam
Basic Information
Titles	Zulkir of Necromancy Regent of Thay
Aliases	Tarloth Narmandur
Home	Citadel, Thaymount
Sex	Male
Race	Lich Formerly: human
Occupation	Ruler, necromancer
Patron deity	None
Dates
Born	1104 DR
Turned undead	1159 DR achieved lichdom
Rules Information
5th Edition Statistics
Alignment	Lawful evil
Challenge Rating	30
4th Edition Statistics
Alignment	Evil
Class	Artillery 30
3rd Edition Statistics
Alignment	Neutral evil
Challenge Rating	31
Class	Necromancer 10 Red Wizard 17 Archmage 2
2nd Edition Statistics
Alignment	Neutral evil
Class	Necromancer 29
1st Edition Statistics
Alignment	Neutral evil
Class	Magic-user 24

Szass Tam was a powerful lich and a member of the eight Zulkirs who ruled the country of Thay and, after the War of the Zulkirs, he reigned as the Regent of Thay. He was the Zulkir of Necromancy and commanded Cyric's Legion and the Legion of Bone, a huge army of undead soldiers, led by his vampire and lich generals. Szass Tam's seat of power was the Citadel on the Thaymount.

“

Szass Tam's dreams are finally coming true. He has walked the Paths of the Doomed and gone unscathed past the Devouring Portal. His destiny lies beneath the Thaymount, and when he looks to the future he sees all of Faerûn turned into a great charnel house, full of undead creatures which do his bidding. The other zulkirs have only one choice—follow him, willingly or unwillingly. Those who do so willingly are to be rewarded. Those who do not, lose both life and soul, and become Szass Tam's slaves. He means to do this, believe me. Seek the Paths of the Doomed, and you will see what I speak of.

”

— Lhaeo, Elminster's scribe

Description

Szass Tam was thin and 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. His face had fine-boned, intellectual features with dark eyes, a wispy black beard, and thinning black hair. He wore a vermilion robe with voluminous sleeves trimmed with gems and gold. He was gaunt and pale, but only his withered hands and the hint of dry rot occasionally wafting from his person truly attested to his lichdom. Szass Tam implemented illusions and the preservation spell to maintain his human appearance. He often took on the appearance of a fine-featured sixty- or seventy-year-old scholarly man with deep black eyes.

He often had an ebony staff with him. During the Spellplague, Tam's undead nature was apparent to every onlooker since the chaos rendered his magical powers close to useless, thus preventing the lich from altering his burned and ruined appearance.

Personality

Szass Tam and his undead sentry.

“

Where others see misfortune, I see only opportunity.

”

— Zulkir of Necromancy

Szass Tam embraced the traditional habits of the Red Wizards. He was a talented manipulator and planner, working from the shadows through agents, servants, and a vast number of undead minions, including skeletons, zombies, juju zombies, ghouls, ghasts, wights, and vampires, who later were joined by a new breeds of risen creatures created with the help of the god Bane. His undeath gave him almost limitless patience. Tam was quite prepared to abandon servants or allies and plans that failed and simply try again later in a better way. Lucky or unlucky individuals who encountered Tam in person or through a magical projection were surprised to discover him to be calm, learned, sophisticated, and even pleasant. He treated his favorite servants with fairness and even kindness. The lich was polite and civilized but communicated in a direct manner. If angered by the insolence or bullish defiance of others, Tam could become consumed by rage, albeit icy and controlled. The lich showed immense respect towards those who successfully foiled his plans through cleverness and skill and Tam treated them with the same respect and politeness as they showed him. The lich was a mastermind who juggled a plethora of intrigues at the same time. He enjoyed long-lasting great games of plots, schemes, and intrigues. He hated not knowing things.

The lich kept his study always filled with lit candles. He liked to keep his home shrouded in the dim light of candles, which he preferred to daylight. Tam kept the curtains closed even during the day.

As for religion, Tam did not worship any one deity. As years passed, the lich found no drive to venerate any deity that promised him eternal life. Whatever deity received mortal Szass Tam's worship, the undead wizard had no patron god. He showed respect to some gods, such as Cyric, but others were not worth attention in Tam's eyes. Even the goddess of deceit Leira received no attention nor respect from him.

As a creature of undeath himself, he came to despise those life and stated that the living defiled the world.

Abilities

After achieving lichdom, Tam gained all abilities and immunities that came with the new existence. He was completely unaffected by cold, electricity, polymorph, and mind-affecting magics. Like all other undead, he was immune to diseases, poison, sleep, paralysis, could not be stunned, and could not be affected by death magic. Negative energy healed him and he possessed darkvision. The lich's touch could paralyze creatures, and Tam could cast spells that required a touch from as far as 30 feet (9.1 meters) away. He was always shrouded in a powerful aura of fear.

As a powerful necromancer and a lich who had centuries to collect powerful magics, Szass Tam had a vastly powerful arsenal of spells, both common and extremely rare. Some of the spells always available to Tam were circle, dazzle, preservation, fire lance, proof from teleportation, Beltyn's burning blood, negate magical weapon, animate dread warrior, imbue undead with spell ability, Simbul's synostodweomer, flensing, unlife, mage tunnel, and spell-lash.

Apart from his impressive mastery of the Art, Tam wielded daggers, darts, and staves. He was knowledgeable on the topics of ancient and modern Thayan history, astrology, engineering, etiquette, heraldry, gem cutting, naval navigation, and herbalism.

Tam also spoke the Common, ancient Thorass, Abyssal, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, and Mulhorandi languages.

Possessions

Due to his power, age, and status, Tam had a vast vault of numerous powerful magic items. Some said that his collection was one of, if not the largest in Faerûn. Potions, scrolls, wands, staves (including a staff of power) and robes were all numerous. He owned rare wands of whips, crystal balls, a ring of three wishes, and two unique artifacts of impressive power: the Death Moon Orb and Thakorsil's Seat. He wore a powerful version of bracers of defense and often was seen using a hand of glory, a ring of spell storing, a ring of protection, and a darkskull. Zulkir's Dreadnought was a magical robe rumored to have been worn by Szass Tam once.

A magical tome of knowledge—The Tome of Blasphemous Magic—was loaned to the Red Wizard of Daggerford, Arvik Zaltos, during the Second Sundering. A Harper hero, Artus Cimber, stole a magical journal with infinite pages from Szass Tam's library at some point before 1362 DR.

Before claiming the Citadel, Tam had owned four sizable keeps, all located in Thay. The largest was his favorite home and stood between Amruthar and Eltabar. The keep's lands were filled with graveyards where his armies slept until summoned, while regular patrols of various undead creatures ensured Tam was uninterrupted in his plans and research. Underneath the Citadel lay the Paths of the Doomed, the labyrinthine cave system and powerfully enchanted dungeons lorded over by Tam. The tunnels had rich deposits of crimson gold and kings' tears gems, while the dungeon hid elaborately secured chambers where Tam hid the most valuable magic items guarded by summoned elemental creatures, gem golems, and enslaved fiends.

Activities

He was considered an accomplished sage. Sometime before 1372 DR, Szass Tam authored a famous anatomical work known as the Aesthetics of Human Anatomy.

Tam was also a spell inventor. Most notably, he developed the spell animate dread warrior, a type of undead created by Tam. He used these dread warriors to unleash attacks on Rashemen. It was believed that Szass Tam also was the inventor of the mage tunnel spell; however, in reality, the lich learned it from some mysterious source. Tam found a way to "recycle" leftovers from necromantic experiments. Discarded bodies, unusable for anything else, were transformed by the lich into bloodhulks.

Relationships

“

Do my words have any meaning to you, who have never looked upon the corrupt depths of Thay? Have you gazed upon the Runes of Chaos, beheld the thing which sits enthroned upon Thakorsil's Seat, held the Death Moon Orb in your trembling hands, wielded Nyskar's Nightblades, entered the Devouring Portal and walked the Paths of the Doomed, or sat at the left hand of Szass Tam during the Ritual of Twin Burnings? I have done all these things. Each day I pray for forgiveness, and each night at sunset I pray for deliverance from the evils that stalk me. I pray, but I fear that no gods will listen.

”

— Nathor, Thayan refugee, three days before his disappearance

Allies

Szass Tam had a deal with Larloch and searched for ancient magic items and artifacts for him in exchange for some of Larloch's prized enchanted possessions. Both powerful artifacts, the Death Moon Orb and Thakorsil's Seat, were gained by Tam from this agreement with Larloch. Another alliance of note was struck by Tam with the Ashmadai, cultists of Asmodeus, who aided Tam's 15^th-century plot against Neverwinter.

Even though Szass Tam had dozens of attendants over the years, one—Charmaine—had served the lich for several decades as of 1364 DR in exchange for food and a promise of immortality. Tam appreciated a loyal servant and anticipated making her his loyal servant forever. However, she died at the fangs of a fledgling vampire. Furious, the lich incinerated the vampire with a mere thought. It was too late to raise her as a vampire herself, and Szass Tam hated the idea of raising her as a mere zombie or a ghoul. In the end, he decided to let her rest in peace. Tam's next chambermaid was Neera, who replaced Charmaine and was a much less liked and competent servant.

Despite his desire for absolute rulership over Thay, Szass Tam took in apprentices whose number and names were kept a secret. A talented necromancer named Gweltaz was one of Tam's pupils circa 1268 DR. Gweltaz was ambitious and lusted for the title of the Zulkir of Necromancy. His plots against Tam failed spectacularly, and he was killed by the lich. Another apprentice of note was Frodyne, Tam's favorite for her drive and immense talent. Not surprisingly, she was punished for her hubris and her master's betrayal. A third apprentice was Sofina, who had apparently served him for almost three centuries by the late 1490s DR. He called her the disciple upon whom he had always most relied. The last known apprentice was a fiercely loyal woman named Undumora who was appointed the governor of Emmech in the 15^th century DR. After her death, Tam was "wildly beyond rage" that there was nothing left of her to be returned as an undead. Living Thayans speculated that Tam desired Undumora as some sort of consort.

Szass Tam once showed interest in finding someone worthy of sharing his lichdom. One such individual was Thazienne Uskevren, whom Tam considered intriguing and felt something akin to attraction. However, Thazienne was morally opposed to slavery, while the lich firmly stated that it would always be part of Thay.

Foes

The lich had many enemies. The Zulkir of Alteration, Maligor's plans to claim power over Thay through monetary means were thwarted by Szass Tam's manipulations. If Maligor was ever to return, surviving the collapse of Thayvian gold mines or through undeath, as archmages were notoriously hard to kill, Tam would be Maligor's main enemy and target of vengeance. People and defenders of Thay's neighboring nations—Rashemen and Aglarond—were Tam's enemies, as well as the pesky Harpers. Fellow Red Wizards and Zulkirs were not Tam's allies either, always plotting and grasping for power.

In the mid–14^th century DR, Tam was a high-ranking secret sponsor of Dennaton's gladiatorial pits in Thay. During the same period of time, Vicross commanded a small team of Thayan Knights, Thayan Fighters, and Red Wizards in Tethyr. Secretly, Vicross was a wild mage, and an aberration in the eyes of the Zulkir. When her nature was revealed, Tam sought to end her life for concealing the wild magic gift.

Apart from making an enemy out of Leira, Szass Tam was also a chief rival of Velsharoon and indirectly the cause of his apotheosis as the Patron of Evil Liches. Velsharoon was once a Red Wizard and a candidate for Zulkir of Necromancy, but was driven out of Thay by Tam after feuding with him and several other Red Wizards. Seeking more power to destroy Tam and his other enemies led to Velsharoon's ascent to godhood.

History

Szass Tam, in his preserved human disguise, with the Death Moon Orb.

“

I have never understood why so many of my peers find it necessary to reveal themselves to the world. Is it not more useful for your enemies to wonder and guess at who was behind the latest trouble washing up on their shores? Arrogance serves you not at all in pursuing your objectives. Give into petty, human needs, and you will find your objectives drifting out of reach and your enemies converging against you. Instead, gird yourself in secrecy. Let your proxies act on your behalf, and keep them ignorant about whom they serve and what exactly you hope to achieve. In my experience, the lands are filled with potential servants. Should one fall, you will always be able to find another to take its place.

”

— Szass Tam

Rise to Power

Szass Tam was born in the Year of the Dark Dawn, 1104 DR. As Tam accumulated power in secrecy, he used the name of Tarloth Narmandur. As Tarloth, Tam sponsored adventuring companies to procure enchanted items for him, and once the bands brought "enough" magic, they were destroyed by the future lich before they could become dangerous or hold some things back.

At some point in his youth, Tam inherited his favorite polished, enchanted, several-hundred-years-old crystal ball that belonged to his mentor after the future lich killed him. Tam increased his arcane powers after wresting all sorts of arcane devices, elixirs, and books from his dead teacher. The teacher's body was reanimated by Tam and kept within his lair, patrolling the Citadel's halls as a simple skeleton. This was done not as an act of malice or proof of superiority but simple practicality. No body should go to waste, according to the lich. In the Year of the Wizened Mage, 1157 DR, he led a group of Red Wizards to slay "the Vampire Zulkir" Nyressa Flass, the Zulkir of Necromancy at the time. Afterward, Tam was named her successor, becoming the new Zulkir of Necromancy.

Before becoming a lich, one of his bitter rivals was a fellow Red Wizard, master of the school of evocation whom Szass Tam faced in a spell-slinging duel. The other Red Wizard was prepared to face Tam's necromancy spells and was caught off-guard when the future lich flung twelve fireballs into his face using a necklace of fireballs. This prompted Tam's opponent to waste most of his spells in deflecting and defending against the infernal onslaught, while Szass Tam had his entire repertoire of memorized spells at his disposal. Needless to say, the future undead emerged victorious.

Lichdom

“

You are both vain and impetuous. All who have visited me in the past have been destroyed, regardless of their allegiance.

”

— Larloch, the Shadow King

In the Year of the Cloven Stones, 1159 DR, Szass Tam became a lich after leading an unsuccessful invasion of Rashemen. The Zulkir of Necromancy personally led an army against Rashemen but suffered mortal wounds on the battlefield. However, he did not perish; instead, powerful magics that coursed through his body transformed him into a lich.

In the Year of Embers, 1201 DR, Szass Tam joined the newly elected Zulkir of Invocation, Narvonna Kren, and the Zulkir of Illusion Nymor Thrul, to invade the nation of Aglarond. The trio developed an elaborate plan: a feint attack on the Watchwall using Tam's zombies allowing the other two zulkirs to attack the nation from the flank, at the forest of Yuirwood. The initial attack was successful, and Tam's forces performed their part. However, the mortal troops of Narvonna's and Nymor's were disorganized and cared more about looting and pillaging rather than following the battle plan. This cost the zulkirs the element of surprise, and the invasion was a failure. Tam blamed Zulkir of Illusion, Nymor Thrul, for the fiasco, and after a heated argument, the lich killed Nymor with the suffocate spell.

Some time in the late 12^th or early 13^th century DR, Szass Tam became involved in the Harpstar Wars when he met the corrupt and ambitious Harper Rundorl Moonsklan. With Rundorl desiring to be the power behind every throne in the North and Szass scheming to destroy his rivals in Thay, the two made a dark deal: Szass would funnel Rundorl information on his rivals and Rundorl would gain prestige by sending Harpers to win victories over them. To justify this focus on Thay, Rundorl spread the story of "the spell of Undeath". According to information he'd 'discovered', the Red Wizards were developing a new spell capable of instantly turning the populations of whole cities into undead slaves in order to quickly produce armies and threaten and enslave all of Faerûn. The plan went perfectly and Rundorl sent his fellows against those Red Wizards and even zulkirs whom he claimed had involvement in "the spell of Undeath". They killed many and both he and Tam advanced in power. Eventually, though, Red Wizards were being replaced but not weakened overall and had begun to reach beyond Thay to retaliate against the Harpers. Worse, Rundorl realized more Harpers were dying than Thayans and his exhausted men were being assassinated and reanimated as unique undead themselves, and he rightly suspected that Tam had betrayed him. He broke off the alliance, then made a worse deal with another lich, Thavverdasz, to deal with his undead Harper problem. Thavverdasz took control of Tam's undead Harpers and Rundorl alike and got into a war with the Cult of the Dragon.

Meanwhile, Szass Tam was annoyed at how easily he'd lost his undead to the other lich, but bided his time until the Cult of the Dragon was almost on Thavverdasz's lair in the Vast Swamp. Then, in the Year of the Horn, 1222 DR, Szass Tam struck, surprising Thavverdasz in his lair. The two fought a great spell battle, but both had cunning magical ruses. Rather than appear in person, Szass sent a magical image of himself that could cast spells and had a material form, while he remained safely in Thay, unhurt and undistracted, so Thavverdasz's spells merely damaged his own lair. However, Thavverdasz's lair's defenses redirected all Szass Tam's magical assaults into the Vast Swamp against Harpers and Dragon Cultists. Neither could harm the other, until Thavverdasz utilized some potent magical item to obliterate Szass Tam's image. It was powerful enough to even affect him back in far-off Thay—the Zulkir of Necromancy lost his senses for many years, defeated again by the superior lich. (Worse still, Elminster had popped in, surprised and destroyed Thavverdasz in his moment of victory.)

However, Szass Tam would go on to do exactly what the Harpers had feared, as in time he acquired or developed the spell known as beckoning death...

The Era of Upheaval

In the Year of the Dragon, 1352 DR, Tam developed his animate dread warrior spell, and began using it to amass an army.

Tam became a prominent and widely known power in the mid–14^th century DR after he and three other Red Wizards plotted to overthrow the governments of the cities on the Sea of Fallen Stars. The lich and his Red Wizards summoned an army of creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire: efreeti and salamanders. The elementals were promised a payment, namely a permanent magical gate between Toril and the Elemental Plane of Fire, a promise the zulkirs never intended to honor. When the deception was revealed, Red Wizards failed to banish salamanders, leading to the Salamander War of the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR. Tam sent his undead forces to aid the three wizards against the salamanders, but the war still lasted for almost a year. During that same year, Tam allied with two tharchions and unleashed an army of dread warriors—known as Myrkul's Legion—in a failed invasion of Rashemen.

In the Year of the Serpent, 1359 DR, Tam and several fellow Red Wizards approached the Grand Army of the Tuigan, following the breaching of the Dragonwall. Bewildered Tuigans informed the Zulkirs that the leaders of the recent battles were Yamun Khahan, Illustrious Emperor of All Peoples, and General Chanar. With a demonstration of Thayan powers, Tam transported both Yamun Khahan and Chanar using his magic to the meeting, leaving the Tuigan leaders no say in the matter. The lich showed Yamun Khahan a vision of the Grand Army clashing with Thayan forces and their defeat under the onslaught of Red Wizards' magic. To avoid the war, Tam cemented an alliance between Thay and the Tuigans through flattery, intimidation, and demonstration of his strategic leadership. The horde was rerouted towards the lich's much-hated enemies in Rashemen. Together, two armies attacked: Tuigans from the east and Thayan forces from the south. Tam loaned Yamun Khahan the Red Wizards that arrived with him to the negotiations to lead the attack on Rashemen. The Grand Army of the Tuigan ravaged Rashemen, and as payment for the alliance, Tam used Thayan magic to part the Lake of Tears, allowing the horde to move west across Faerûn, until stopped by a united army led by King Azoun Obarskyr IV in the Year of the Turret, 1360 DR.

At some point before the confrontation with his nemesis Maligor, Tam had an apprentice named Frodyne. She attempted to claim a powerful magic item from a temple of Leira in Delhumide, despite the lich's claim to the artifact. When Tam arrived at the site to personally claim the crown of Leira, he realized that his favorite apprentice Frodyne was the first to descend into the temple's vaults. It was revealed that the treasure was a trap laid by the goddess Leira for a lich who refused to show her respect as a goddess deserved. The crown granted mortals who wore it eternal life, but if worn by the undead, it became a source of eternal pain and torment. Szass Tam allowed Frodyne to be captured by the temple's monstrous guardian and granted her eternal life as punishment for her insolence. Frodyne was left in the temple only to be killed by the guardian over and over again, endlessly, until the end of time.

By the Year of the Helm, 1362 DR, Tam's arch-rival among the Zulkirs was Maligor, the Zulkir of Alteration. Maligor's personal army was comparable to Tam's, so instead of war, Maligor hatched a plan to take over the Thayvian gold mines and, through it, the production of gold in the country. Willeth Lionson, the tharchion of Thaymount, was slain and replaced by Maligor's shapeshifting commander, the spirit naga Asp. The Zulkir's plan to outsmart Tam was foiled with the aid of the lich's unwilling allies: the Harper agent and druid Galvin, a politician from Aglarond named Brenna Graycloak, and the centaur Wynter. The trio was sent to Thay to investigate Maligor's activities, suspecting a looming war against Aglarond. Seeing an opportunity, Tam put the Harpers in charge of his undead army that clashed with Maligor's darkenbeast and gnoll forces. The confrontation resulted in the collapse of the Thayvian gold mines, with Maligor seemingly swallowed by the tunnels. However, the Harpers made themselves an enemy when they intentionally decimated Tam's army in the process.

In Marpenoth of the Year of the Shield, 1367 DR, Szass Tam manipulated a group of adventurers into delivering a box filled with plans for the Thayan invasion of Rashemen. Tam sent an anonymous warning to the Simbul, the ruler of Aglarond, leading to the box falling into her hands and the adventurers being tried as Thayan agents. The Simbul, ever-prepared, had spies watching the adventurers and knew of their innocence. She tasked them with traveling to Rashemen, warn the huhrong, and aid in defending the country from Thay. Tam used the invasion to discredit his main opponents among the zulkirs Lauzoril, Aznar Thrul , and Nevron. This stunt drew some zulkirs to support Tam, namely Mythrellan, making him a major power in the Thayan government.

The demon lord Eltab, trapped by Tam on Thakorsil's Seat.

The same year, a powerful earthquake shook Thay, destroying a big part of Eltabbar. The disaster was caused by Szass Tam releasing the demon lord Eltab, who had been imprisoned under the city for centuries since the early days of Thay. Tam used two powerful artifacts to capture Eltab—the Death Moon Orb and the Thakorsil's Seat. The lich was attempting to bind the demon lord into servitude through the Ritual of Twin Burnings. Tam inscribed Thakorsil's Seat with eight out of the nine Runes of Chaos, shielding Thaymount from the Simbul's magical gaze. Once the ninth Rune was finished, Tam would become the eternal master of the enslaved demon lord. Each rune was inscribed through a sacrifice of a powerful mage of goodly nature. For the ninth, Szass Tam captured a Harper ally named Azargatha Nimune. However, Tam's one-time ally Nathor informed the Simbul of Tam's plans before mysteriously disappearing. She assembled a group to infiltrate Tam's holdings within the Citadel, travel past the Paths of the Doomed, and stop the Zulkir of Necromancy from becoming the supreme ruler of Thay. The group was evidently successful as Eltab slithered out of Tam's clutches and hid underneath Thaymout, within its demoncyst. Tam used magic to trap the demon lord within the demoncyst but the spell had a tiny flaw the tanar'ri would exploit with time.

Another attack on Aglarond was helmed by Tam in the winter of Year of the Gauntlet, 1369 DR. The lich unleashed an army of undead that marched across the Umber Marshes. Waves of Tam's undead crashed against the Watchwall but ultimately failed to breach it.

In the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, he was aided by Thazienne Uskevren of Sembia against an assassination attempt by Naglatha, Thay's Spymaster. Thazienne was forced by Naglatha to retrieve Tam's hidden scrolls and unwittingly unleashed Eltab and his minions on Thaymount.

Szass Tam versus the defenders of Rashemen.

Thayan Civil War

Szass Tam has the worst party horn.

According to history books a century later, and as Xenk Yendar would recall, in the mid-1370s DR, Szass Tam called all the other zulkirs and all the people of the Thaymount tharch, Xenk and his parents among them, to a grand celebration atop the Citadel on the eve of the summer solstice. A few of the common people carried sun symbols. But it was all a lie—instead, Szass interrupted Zulkir Dmitra Flass as she addressed the crowd and produced a red horn from under his robes. With it, he cast the beckoning death, thereby creating an army of undead under his control for his coup and following conquest of Thay. All who tried to flee were slain by Red Wizards in his service, among them Sofina.

In fact, in the Year of Risen Elfkin, 1375 DR, Tam orchestrated the murders of the Zulkirs Druxus Rhym and Aznar Thrul and betrayed a Thayan army, under the command of tharchions Azhir Kren and Homen Odesseiron, to the Rashemi to create a climate of fear within the Thayan population. He hindered the proper investigation of the murders and solved these issues by himself. He thus tried to convince the nobles, legions, and common people that he was the only one who could deal with these problems, in order to get himself elected supreme ruler of Thay. When Zulkir Dmitra Flass rallied other Zulkirs originally loyal to him to stand against his aspirations, Tam decided to achieve rulership by force and declared war on all opposing Zulkirs. When Dmitra's council achieved a great victory against his undead army at the Keep of Thazar, Tam called upon the united armies of Gauros and Surthay to march south toward the great city of Bezantur.

“

The white queen is troubled but can't say why. The black queen hates the white and gives the assassin a black coat. The assassin steals upon the white queen. She can't see him gliding through the shadows. The sword screams. The white queen falls. Her city falls. Stones fall in the cavern to crush the soothsayer. The tree burns and thrashes in agony. Branches break. Branches twist and grow together...

”

— Yaphyll's second cryptic vision

By the Year of the Haunting, 1377 DR, Szass Tam had solidified his seat of power in the Citadel at Thaymount by evicting his enemies from their estates on the plateau. Some of the Zulkirs switched sides during the war and ended up as Tam's allies. One of them was the diviner Yaphyll. However, after realizing that Thay under the lich's reign would be a nation of undead, she decided to switch sides again in favor of the council of Zulkirs. As a result, Tam took her prisoner in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, binding her with the Death Moon Orb and Thakorsil's Seat, powerful artifacts of domination. He forced Yaphyll to perform the most powerful divination known to her order, no matter the consequences to her own well-being, and to tell him how to arrange for a decisive victory over the other Zulkirs. She performed the task and told Tam to lay a trap at the Keep of Sorrows. Then she left him with another cryptic vision.

At the end of the vision, Yaphyll was surrounded by a blue flame and broke free of Szass Tam's power. The lich killed her with his poisonous touch, while trying to regain control over the diviner. Later, it became apparent that Yaphyll saw what became known as the Spellplague, the blue flames being a result of the event. As Yaphyll predicted, the fight at the Keep of Sorrows turned in Tam's favor. With the help of the Death Moon Orb, he tried to coerce his former ally Dmitra Flass into fighting for his side. But then the Spellplague hit. The Death Moon Orb exploded in Tam's hand, freeing Dmitra of its power. The lich was hit by a wave of azure fire, rendering his magic close to useless and burning the illusory flesh off his face and hands. The lich fled from the scene with the help of his atropal ally Xingax.

By revealing to Malark Springhill, a monk of the Order of the Long Death, why he killed Druxus Rhym, the lich convinced the spymaster to switch sides and work for him and his greater cause henceforth. In order to learn more about the ways of magic in the time of the Spellplague, Tam summoned Bane, the Lord of Tyranny, by sacrificing the enthralled tharchion Pyras Autorian in the ritual. Bane made a bargain with the lich: he would reveal to Tam his knowledge about the chaotic magic, grant the lich the ability to raise more dead for his cause, and augment the lich's powers. Szass Tam, in turn, agreed to surrender his soul after 1,000 years had passed when his quest of conquering Thay was completed. Tam knew that the mystical strength lent to him by Bane would gradually fade, so he chose to exploit it immediately.

When it came to another fight at the Keep of Sorrows, Szass Tam summoned a dream vestige to turn the tide in his favor. He succeeded in beating the legions of the Zulkirs, chasing them all the way to Bezantur. His undead legions and loyal priests of Bane further forced the Zulkirs to leave the town aboard vessels. Tam summoned the bodies of drowned men and undead aquatic beasts for a final and lethal victory over the Zulkirs. Accompanied by a fleet of warships made from darkness, he followed the fleeing Zulkirs, entangling them in a marine war. His enemies and the Zulkir of Conjuration Nevron's conjured denizens of the infernal oceans proved quite adept at sea fighting, thus beating back his undead minions. Tam conjured the dream vestige again, finally exhausting his magical powers bestowed by Bane. When Bareris defeated the dream vestige, and the Zulkir's forces beat Szass Tam's minions, the lich and Malark Springhill withdrew to the Thaymount, the lich being content with his conquered lands.

Tam didn't bother chasing the remaining Zulkirs anymore, leaving Alaor and the Wizard's Reach to them, as he did not fear any retribution by the Zulkirs' depleted forces. He revealed to Malark that he found a book once in the possession of Fastrin the Delver.

Regent of Thay

By the Year of Silent Thunder, 1432 DR, Thay was a country under Tam's absolute control. The lich regent set his eye on the fortress of Emmech in the much-hated nation of Aglarond. Tam's attack was swift and relentless. The first wave was made up of undead that attacked from the Shyvar Pass as Red Wizards teleported angry monsters straight onto Aglarondan troops to sow chaos. Tam's living soldiers marched behind golems, yet the attack was repealed before the troops reached the Tannath Mountains, which was exactly what the Thayan strategists planned for. As the defenders were distracted, a small strike force infiltrated Emmech and turned down the fortress's defensive magics and wards, exposing it to Red Wizards' teleportation spells that brought in hundreds of less powerful Red Wizards. Battles on the streets lasted for a month, fueled by barges full of undead soldiers shipped down River Umber from Nethentir and Nethjet, until all resistance quelled. Thay exterminated all civilians and Aglarondan soldiers. However, the conquest came at a price – lives of thousands of lesser Red Wizards under the zulkirate's command, several thousand living Thayan soldiers, and tens of thousands of undead, all were lost in this short war. This hefty price curbed Szass Tam's ambitions for decades, forcing him to focus on recovering his military numbers. This win also convinced Tam that undead legions were the best military force one could have. The "lean years" of weakened Thay caused the living Thayans to lose the last vestiges of respect for Tam as a leader, and fear was the only thing that kept them in check.

Tam appointed a personally-loyal apprentice, governor Undumora, who began to transform Emmech into a formidable Thayan fortress with a sizable garrison of undead forces. In spring of the Year of the Mages in Amber, 1466 DR, Undumora was disintegrated by a guerrilla spell attack by the Simbarch Council of Aglarond. The attack's goal was to disrupt and delay any offensive plans Thay might've had against Aglarond. Tam was enraged at the loss. The keep soon was renamed to Undumor in her memory.

In the Year of the Dark Circle, 1478 DR, Tam, as the absolute ruler of Thay, attempted to ascend to godhood and unmake the world with the use of the Dread Rings his minions constructed in Thay. Even though the plan failed in 1478 DR, with the help of several zulkirs who died in the process and a group of heroes, the lich was adamant in expanding the borders of Thay to attempt the ritual once again as the Dread Rings of Thay were unusable.

By the late 15^th century DR, Tam had reestablished the zulkirate by elevating powerful arcanists loyal to his rule. Tharchions and autharchs were allowed to run the territories of Thay under his control. The main army of Thay and Szass Tam became known as the Dread Legions, a horde of undead, orcs, and gnolls, as well as other monsters, all serving mainly as the defensive force of Thay. By the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, Thayan agent Valindra Shadowmantle, supervised construction of a new Dread Ring deep within Neverwinter Wood; however, the devastation of Neverwinter left the Ring unfinished.

At some point, however, the Harpers seem to have acquired or stolen Szass Tam's red horn, perhaps preventing him from casting the beckoning death.^{[speculation]} They stored it within the vault of Korinn's Keep, far from the lich's reach.

Finally, in the mid-1490s DR, Szass Tam's apprentice Sofina allied with the confidence trickster Forge Fitzwilliam and, in disguise, hired his partner the ex-Harper turned thief Edgin Darvis to steal the treasures of Korinn's Keep. They, together with Holga Kilgore and Simon Aumar, infiltrated the vault and Sofina claimed back the red horn of Szass Tam's beckoning death, betrayed the thieves, and escaped with her prize.

However, Szass Tam did not merely want his horn back, but instead set Sofina a greater task. Over the next two years, she aided Forge to become Lord of Neverwinter, with her as his advisor. From the shadows of her office in Castle Never, Szass sent whispering images of himself to communicate with her, giving counsel and encouragement. In time, Sofina used the red horn and cast the beckoning death over the Neverwinter arena to turn its people into undead. However, the plan was a failure. The arena was emptied as citizenry was distracted by Forge Fitzwilliam's wealth being dispensed over the streets of Neverwinter. Furious over the spell's failure, Sofina dropped her mortal disguise and engaged in a spell-battle with Edgin Darvis, Holga Kilgore, Simon Aumar, and Doric, but was defeated and incapacitated via an antimagic cuff.

Rumors & Legends

• It was rumored that Szass Tam was the original creator of boneclaws on Toril. Stories said these monstrous undead beings were used to protect Thayan enclaves across Faerûn.

Appendix

Background

Szass Tam first appeared in a short story penned by Ed Greenwood in 1977. However, Tam had been hinted at and mentioned by name, status, or as a powerful undead from somewhere to the east as early as a decade prior.

In Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Szass Tam is played by actor Ian Hanmore.

Appearances

Adventures

Throne of Deceit • The Runes of Chaos

Referenced only
Forge of the Dawn Titan • Lost Crown of Neverwinter • Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle • Scourge of the Sword Coast • Dead in Thay • Hoard of the Dragon Queen • Rise of Tiamat • Tomb of Annihilation • Tales from the Yawning Portal • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Novels & Short Stories

Red Magic • Dragonwall • The Mage in the Iron Mask • The Simbul's Gift • Red Ambition • The Crimson Gold • Unclean • Undead • Unholy • Pieces • Gauntlgrym • Neverwinter • Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization

Referenced only
Crusade • The Ring of Winter • Cloak of Shadows • Second Chance • Qilue: Dark Dancer, Bright Dance • The Last Threshold • Charon's Claw • Eye of Justice • The Captive Flame • Whisper of Venom • The Spectral Blaze • The Masked Witches • Prophet of the Dead • Night of the Hunter • Archmage • Ashes of the Tyrant • The Adversary • The Reaver • The Herald • Spellstorm

Film & Television

Honor Among Thieves

Video Games

Baldur's Gate series (Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition • Baldur's Gate II: The Black Pits II – Gladiators of Thay)

Referenced only
Neverwinter Nights • Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide • Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford

Organized Play & Licensed Adventures

The Death of Szass Tam

Referenced only
The Undumor Connection • First Strike • Silent Streets and Vanished Souls • The Radiant Vessel of Thesk

Gallery

A portrait of Szass Tam.

From left to right: Szass Tam of Thay, the Simbul of Aglarond, and a Wychlaran of Rashemen.

Tam in his undead form, illusions dropped.

The lich during the Spellplague.

A drawing of Szass Tam wielding the horn of beckoning death.

Tam wearing the latest Thayan fashions.

External Links

• Perilous Gateways: Portals of Thay - The Undeath Portal, a free web supplement by Robert Wiese (2002).