Life and Society
There are four levels of Thayan society. They are, in order
of increasing influence: slaves, commoners, nobles, and Red
Wizards. It’s no coincidence that this is also the decreasing
order of population. There are far more slaves in Thay than
any other group, but they have the least power. The Red Wiz-
ards, on the other hand, have few members but easily the
most power.
SLAVES
The lowest level of Thayan society is, of course, the slave. The
economy of Thay is built upon slave labor, and without it the
country would quickly collapse. The current trade in magic
items has changed this only a little, and it has not improved
the lives of slaves one whit.
Slaves are not considered citizens and have no rights. They
are chattels, like livestock. Killing or harming a slave is not
murder or mayhem. It is merely damaging someone’s prop-
erty. A slave’s owner can do with his own slave as he wishes,
but if he harms someone else’s property, he is expected to
make reparations.
Slaves are costly (a young human field slave sells for about
50 gp in the markets at Eltabbar), so few commoners have the
means to own them. Since slaves represent a significant in-
vestment for a small farmer or artisan, common Thayans
take good care of them. Slaves consigned to the broad estates
of noble Thayans face a harder existence, and those unfortu-
nate souls sold off to the vast state-run fields or mines are
treated as nothing more than beasts of burden.
Thay imports slaves from all over Faerûn, and just about
every race is represented among the servile population. Those
who survive the trip are usually the hardiest, but most do not
last long in their job. House slaves live in relative comfort,
caring directly for the needs of their Mulan masters. Those
consigned to the mines rarely survive a year of scratching
metals from the unforgiving Underdark.
COMMONERS
As a whole, commoners do not have much better lives than
slaves do. However, they are citizens, not property, which
means they can’t be indiscriminately tortured or killed. The
Red Wizards can usually get away with such behavior, but they
usually have to invent some sort of pretext for their actions.
Commoners have a far better life expectancy than slaves
and better prospects overall. The worst jobs go to slaves, so by
default, the commoners are a slight step up. Some have even
managed to claw their way to the top of the heap, usually by
becoming successful adventurers or wealthy merchants. A few
are actually wealthier than most of the nobles and even some
Red Wizards. Most commoners are Rashemi, although there
are a few members of this class from more distant lands.
NOBLES
Most of Thay is owned by ancient noble families of Mulan de-
scent. The dividing line between a well-off Mulan commoner
and an impoverished Mulan lord is starkly defined by ances-
try. Certain Mulan families are noble, and others aren’t. The
nobles of Thay are content to be governed by the Red Wiz-
ards (after all, the most influential mages in that order are
nobles themselves), but they jealously maintain control over
the elevation of commoners, even heroic ones, to noble status.
Nobles enjoy two paths to comfort, power, and wealth: land
and service. Wealthy nobles often own vast tracts of land and
make money by leasing it to those who reside upon it, whether
they are farmers, ranchers, or miners. Land ownership is not
restricted to the noble classes, but in practice, most land in
Thay is already owned by a noble, so it is difficult for a com-
moner to acquire land of his own.
Landless nobles (or those who simply wish to make some-
thing of themselves) often take up service in Thay’s army, bu-
reaucracy, or clergy. While any free Thayan can become a
soldier, official, or priest, leaders are most often drawn from
the ranks of well-off nobles who purchase their rank or title.
For example, in a typical Thayan garrison, the captain is a
minor landed Mulan noble, his officers are landless Mulan
nobles, and his sergeants are Rashemi veterans. The troops, of
course, are mostly Rashemi. A noble who buys a good post can
enrich himself just as easily as one who owns a great estate:
It is expected that a powerful official or highly-placed officer
will divert a certain amount of “taxes” for his own use.
THE RED WIZARDS
At an early age, noble children are carefully examined for any
signs of arcane talent. Any who are shown to have even a
small aptitude are immediately inducted into wizardry
school, followed by a long and arduous apprenticeship to a Red
Wizard. Those who survive their apprenticeship and are am-
bitious, resourceful, and talented are invited to join the Red
Wizards. Some refuse the red robes, but this is rare: Becom-
ing a Red Wizard is such an obvious path to power that the
zulkirs don’t need to recruit anyone.
The Red Wizards are the ruling class of this magocracy. It’s
illegal for any Red Wizard to take on an apprentice of other
than Mulan blood. Some still do, however, and it’s usually an
open secret. At any given time, most Red Wizards claim up to
a dozen apprentices (in game terms, wizards who have not yet
acquired their first level in the Red Wizard prestige class),
whom they keep at one another’s throats to advance their own
schemes. Apprentices exist to serve as the master’s agents, min-
ions, and thralls. What magical training they gain in the process
is determined solely by their own ambition and initiative.
Only Red Wizards are permitted to wear red robes, their
badge of office. The penalty for posing as one is instant death
at the hands of the first Red Wizard to uncover the deception.
The Red Wizards are ruled by a council of eight zulkirs, one
representing each of the eight schools of magic. These posi-
tions are for life—the only way a zulkir would ever deign to
leave office would be feet first. Within each school exists an
elaborate pecking order, in which standing is determined by
magical ability and the patronage of more powerful wizards.
The current leader of the council is Szass Tam, the zulkir of
necromancy.
The Red Wizards are evil through and through. Their ul-
timate goal is nothing less than world domination, and they
have spent much of Thay’s history in pursuit of that effort
by military means. It’s only within the past few years that
they have set aside the ways of war in favor of more insidi-
ous, economic methods.
ECONOMY
Thay’s economy has traditionally been borne on the backs of
the vast number of slaves who are brought into the country
in chains. With the increase of trade in magic items over the
past few years, the number of slaves sold in Thay hasn’t gone
down one bit. In fact, now that Thay has enclaves in just about
every major city of Faerûn, its merchants have even more
access to slaves, and the slave population is actually growing.
Revenue from the sale of discounted magic items in the en-
claves has far exceeded expectations. Thayan merchants have
long traded their nation’s goods throughout the world, but
they are finding their wares in high demand these days. Before
the change in policy, the vast bulk of Thayan exports were raw
foodstuffs, timber—including that of the highly prized black-
wood tree—and Thayan artwork, jewelry, and crafts, mostly
fashioned by skilled slaves. Such trade continues to this day,
cementing Thay as a mercantile powerhouse.
Everyone the Thayans do business with is aware of their
horrible history and their evil ways. The prices and quality of
their wares, however, are just too good to turn down. This suits
Szass Tam and the rest of the zulkirs, who have not given up
their goal of world domination. The current plan is to use the
greed of other people as a tool against them. Bearing dis-
counted goods, Thayans should be able to work their way into
every major economy on Faerûn. Once the Red Wizards have
become entrenched in a nation, they can learn enough about
the locals to dismantle them quietly from within.
Not all the zulkirs agree with this policy. This is particu-
larly true of the more aggressive leaders such as Aznar Thrul,
as well as those who aren’t in a position to line their own pock-
ets with the wealth brought in by this new venture, such as
Zulkir Nevron of the school of conjuration. As with most
large projects in Thay, this one could be brought low at any
point by the bickering of the zulkirs.
LAW AND ORDER
Anyone, foreigner or Thayan, traveling in Thay must carry
a pass issued by a tharchion allowing the traveler to use spe-
cific roads and visit specific cities. All tharchions delegate the
task of issuing passes to minor officials and officers, which
means that a travel permit for most points can be purchased
with a suitable bribe (generally, 10 to 50 gp for foreigners).
Soldiers, messengers, and officials engaged in the perform-
ance of their duties are exempt from the requirement to
obtain permission to travel, but they generally carry tokens
of their authority.
Outsiders traveling without authorization find it difficult,
if not impossible, to move about the plateau. Patrols con-
stantly scour the roads and byways, searching for escaped
slaves (and the occasional brigand, criminal, or foreign spy).
The penalty for being caught is usually death. Those found
inside a Red Wizard’s estate, on the other hand, are in for an
even worse fate as the subject of painful magical experiments.
The laws of Thay are simple, and the penalties are brutal.
They are mostly concerned with establishing who’s in power.
The tharchions and zulkirs consult a set of tomes known as the
Library of Law when faced with a serious problem. However,
most of the time, the authorities ignore these books in favor
of expediency. These are the most important laws of Thay.
Only Red Wizards may wear red robes, so that all shall be able
to identify them instantly.
Do not steal from other Thayans or harm their belongings,
especially their slaves.
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