Rise of the Empress

:Main article: Dmitra Flass

Dmitra Flass' name may have been destined for great things, but the woman herself wasn't. She was noble-born, but possessed little of the requisite bearing. She was a Red Wizard, but not one of particular note or talent. It was her best friend Zahl who nurtured her best traits, and would ultimately carry on her legacy.

In 1358, Dmitra, Zahl, and an elven slave named Winter set forth on a personal quest for Szass Tam, a dangerous mission requiring deep inflitration of Rashemen. Little is known of this mission, save what can be inferred; Zahl's collection of ancient Raumathari artifacts is one of the finest in Thay.

This mission hardened Zahl and Winter's already considerable combat prowess, while pushing Dmitra to her limit. She perished of her wounds, but before she died, she bade Zahl to take up the mantle of her life. Zahl was much more talented than she--more powerful, more charismatic, more intelligent, even more beautiful--but had so little of Flass' advantages, being of ignoble birth and Damaran/Rashemi descent. Dmitra made Winter swear to keep the secret, and, to this day, he has not told a soul.

Zahl returned, in a disguise she would wear for almost 20 years, as the late Dmitra Flass. The wealth and power she'd amassed in her travels, not to mention the strong support of Szass Tam she'd earned, quickly saw her rise through the ranks of Eltabbar's politics. Her stint as Autharch of Security gave her an ideal position from which to attack then Tharchion Abraxes Halk. After ousting him, she was the logical choice for his successor.

The Tharchioness, as she was then called, or sometimes the First Princess of Thay (a prophetic title), soon proved a woman to be reckoned with.

Zahl would rule as Tharchioness of Eltabbar from 1359-1375. Her overarching goal was always the accumulation of more power, but she was willing to play it slow, to avoid making an enemy of the Zulkirs who could easily derail her plans.

She spent much of this period building a stronger Eltabbar. The capital city of Thay, once a grand testament to the divide between rich and poor the likes of which even Bezantur couldn't match, was transformed into a model city. To this day, it is a model of civic pride: its wide canals are lined with paved and regularly-cleaned avenues, dotted with fine stores and gathering places. Its parks celebrate Thay's long and storied history, honoring not only the legacy of the Mulan, but the accomplishments of the Rashemi and Raumathari people. While it did not come without some "cleansing", as it were, Eltabbar now boasts the highest standard of living in a predominantly human city in Faerun, bested only by Silverymoon, Myth Drannor, and various demihuman cities.

Her works gained her much popularity among the masses, and admiration from her fellow Tharchions (those not jealous or suspicious). She was, as ever, a consummate diplomat, and won the hearts of all those whom she could entrap long enough to entrance them with her wiles. She maintained positive relations with almost all of her fellow Tharchions, and aligned herself strongly with Szass Tam's faction among the Red Wizards.

Her marriage to Mulmaster's Selfaril Uuomdolphin came as a shock to many. She had long lived the playboy lifestyle, entertaining herself with the pleasures of dozens of men and women each night. Moreover, it seemed to most, even her detractors, that she would target someone of higher birth and greater importance. Many even suggested rival Tharchion Aznar Thrul, the only man in politics whose ambition and ability equalled her own.

In truth, though Mulmaster's potential power was understated by the arrogant Thayan elite, her marriage was not for power at all, but for love. She had met the man when he was but a prince, and he was the vision of a noble knight--nothing like the conniving, chauvinistic men of the Thayan nobility. He represented something she thought she would never have: true love.

The two were wed in 1366, in a traditional Moonsea ceremony in Mulmaster, after which she became somewhat less active in Thayan politics. She was beginning to settle, a victim of her own contentment, and began to think of her future children more so than her future power.

Sadly, it was not to be. Her first child, along with her fertility, was lost in the earthquake of 1367, wherein she was undergoing painful and difficult labor. In the years following, she became more distant from her husband, and returned to her duties as Tharchioness.

Her dampened spirits turned to cold rage in 1375, when she learned that her husband, who, despite their distance, she still loved, had been slain by his twin brother, who now assumed his identity. She confronted him, threatening murder and worse, and he countered by revealing his knowledge of her own dirty little secret. Her rage was deflected for a time, but she would not forget his betrayal.

Her dormant ambitions flared into life with this discovery, and she would soon make use of all she'd amassed in one final push for ultimate power.

On 13 Nightal 1375, Zahl called a grand convocation of Tharchions in Eltabbar. She shocked the noble scene by sporting a very different look: gone was her bronze skin, her shaven head, and her Mulan affectations. Her pale skin, long, raven hair, and velvet gown made her look for all the world like a northern queen.

While her fashions would soon be emulated by the Eltabbar elite, that was not her intent. She was making a bold statement about her individuality, her pride in her Damaran heritage, and her close ties with the Moonsea. The message was not lost.

On this night, a number of tragic accidents befell the last few fools amongst the Tharchions who did not concede her superiority. Zahl had achieved total control of both the Eltabbar underworld and its major religions; in concert with her direct political power, she easily overpowered her political rivals, and struck fear into the hearts of those who disdained and loved her alike. With the message received, she began her short career as the "First among Equals", a title belying her true power as de facto Supreme Tharchion.

At this point, she retained only one true enemy: Aznar Thrul. For all his losses in the sphere of the Zulkirs and in the political arena of Tharchions, he remained an enormous threat, and a potentially terrifying dictator of all Thay, should she ever lose to him. She considered it a duty to Thay to oppose his ambitions, for the good of the people was clearly never his intent.

During the Thayan Intervention in Unther, Aznar and Zahl fired the first shots in their war, competing for the hearts of the Untheric people in their quest for independence from Mulhorand. Aznar sought to grandstand by showing up the Pharaoh, but he never captured the hearts of the people. Through subtle and shocking religious upheaval, Zahl's faction gained both control of the Untheric people and bolstered their might considerably, allowing Unther to throw off the Pharoah's chains, and rise to a new height, which even now takes them as conquerors to foreign shores.

Her victory earned her a powerful ally, and great accolade amongst Zulkir, Tharchion, and commoner alike. Aznar was not pleased. But even has he planned his counteroffensive, she was a step ahead. Soon, she procured a proclamation from the Zulkir council: Aznar must choose to be either Tharchion or Zulkir, not both, for he served neither well by dividing his attentions.

Knowing either choice would weaken him to insignificance, he chose instead to rebel against both authorities, raising his army, fresh from victory over Mulhorand, and marched on Eltabbar. His power was mighty indeed, and the Zulkirs offered much assistance, but Zahl waved them off. She would prove herself against the Red Dragon of Thay.

Though his army was superior, the will of the people galvanized for their Tharchioness, and the early defenders fought exceptionally well. Still, it seemed he had the power to break her--that is, until she offered to resolve matters not as military commanders, but as wizards, in a magical duel to the death.

He laughed her off, but she insisted. Long was Aznar thought the mightiest of wizards, perhaps greater than Szass Tam himself, while she had never achieved complete mastery of her own domain, and was woefully untested. He assumed she was making a play to his noble sensibility, to perhaps earn herself a consort's position at his side, or maybe she was so bold as to think he would spare her and fall in line simply because she was too weak to kill. Were she betting on his chivalry, she would have been sorely disappointed.

In fact, she bet on his ego, a bet no one ever lost in Thay. Even against a clearly inferior opponent, he couldn't possibly back down from a challenge, and he would make anyone who questioned the unfair fight suffer for their insolence.

But for years--nay, decades--Zahl had hidden her true power. She was never much of a wizard, because her true gift was one forbidden by the Red Wizards. She was a powerful demon-binder, as strong in the Shadowed Art as Aznar was in the art of Evocation.

What she lacked in overall power, she more than made up for with the element of surprise. Before he even entered the arena, he was cursed, cut off from his many magical contingencies. The battlefield was shifted into the Plane of Shadow, where her power waxed and his waned. Invisible demons ravaged his mind and soul even as she bore down on him with strange and terrible powers. Acid burned his flesh, poison sapped his strength, and black slime forced its way into his lungs. Nary a single blow from his fireballs landed upon her; every drop of energy was absorbed by a guardian force, and returned to him as shadow energy, sapping his very soul.

In the end, he had been drained to feeble weakness, his mind ravaged into near-insanity. He dribbled and stuttered, unable even to stand, but in his final moments, he was witnessed begging for a merciful death. Instead, she remanded him to the custody of the former Tharchioness of the Priador, long Aznar's slave, whom she had returned to her former glory especially for the occasion. Under her ministrations, he would surely know years of torment.

With the fall of Aznar Thrul, her supremacy was assured. Not only had she bested him, she had stunned the wizarding world with the revelation of her true power. Her intent was not only to terrify her political peers and rivals, but to send a clear message to the Zulkirs: she was their equal, too.

:Main Article: Spellbound Epilogue (somewhat out of date)

Freed of her present temporal concerns, assured of her political power for the time being, Zahl was free to pursue a personal matter. Incensed by the betrayal of her husband, whom she truly loved, by his evil brother, she mounted a campaign of terrible vengeance. In one night, the knives of Rylaun's assassins and Kossuth's holy armies laid waste to the temples of Bane within Thay, and she mounted a personal assault on Mulmaster. Channeling all the power she could muster, she brought forth horrible demons to rape and violate Rassendyll, condemning him to hell. Now fully spent in her rage, and her soul fully forfeited to the depths of hell, she allowed herself to be pulled into darkness, freed of her mortal woes forever.

Or was she? That last bit was an interesting ploy by Rylaun and Winter, who used a bit of Deep Imaskari technology to put her in a virtual reality simulator. Though they completed the excising of Bane's clergy, they wished to save her from herself, showing her what might happen if she pursued her vengeance.

She didn't appreciate the gesture. She banished them both from her lands, on penalty of death. Notwithstanding, however, she heeded her vision, and didn't pursue vengeance. Instead, she simply annulled her marriage, and banned any further interference in Thay's affairs by the Church of Bane.

Having tapped into the power of Shadow to achieve her heights, she felt it only natural to align herself with the Shadovar. Through a diplomatic coup, she achieved an alliance with the Shadovar in secret, even as she courted a rogue faction of the Witches of Rashemen.

Through clever manipulation, she attracted the rage of the Simbul to Szass Tam's secret hideout in the Sunrise Mountains, even as she led her allies amongst the witches to the same location. The Shadovar sealed the deal; Tam was overwhelmed by the odd alliance, and Zahl saw to it that the most powerful among the witches were slain, leaving a power vacuum. The Simbul, for her part, realized the deception soon, and took her leave of a battle consisting of so many of her epic enemies.

Zahl used the devastation wrought by the battle as an excuse to condemn the Red Wizards, blaming them for goading Rashemen and Aglarond to war with no pretext. Even as she mustered her troops (who were already quite prepared), she declared the Red Wizards a rogue faction, bent on dominating Thay, and ordered them all arrested. She personally assaulted the remaining Zulkirs who were foolish enough not to flee, overpowering them with the help of magic purloined from Tam's cache. She imprisoned and executed hundreds of Red Wizards, though most escaped through magical means, vowing vengeance against the usurper.

For someone tasked with the extermination of the Red Wizards while fighting a war on two fronts, Zahl performed unbelievably well. Rashemen fell swiftly, with the initial push of berserkers decimated by a few tactical epic spells, and the witches undermined by infighting, the nation had little ability to resist Thay's might. Aglarond was a different story altogether; as Thay's forces massed along the border, shielded against the Simbul's weave by Shadow Canopies provided by Shadovar arcanists, the Simbul made her move. Everyone expected an explosive assault against the armies; no one expected a grand defensive spell. The Witchwall, as it would be called, was erected in mere moments, but would last years--a massive prismatic wall reaching a mile into the sky, that would allow the free passage of all but Thayans and their agents, and would ruthlessly punish any who violated it.

In a single move, Aglarond was immune to the Empress' ambitions. Cursing the Simbul's name, she maneuvered her armies around the Witchwall, conquering neighboring Thesk and the Wizard's Reach, then pouring into the Sea of Fallen Stars, taking every island with a halfway decent harbor, including the Pirate Isles, all in the name of containing Aglarond in every possible way.

Off-kilter by the Simbul's grand maneuver, she'd made a blunder. The Priador, already weakened by the civil war against Aznar Thrul, was now critically vulnerable without the bulk of its navy. Unther's army, while formidable, was mostly committed to the conquest of Chessenta. Seeing an opportunity, and having righteous cause, the Pharaoh took the Alaor, and mounted the largest amphibious operation in Faerun's war history. The Priador fell in a matter of days, and Bezantur soon languished under Pharaonic rule.

Zahl weighed her options, and they were few. She could probably win the war against the Pharaoh, but not without heavy losses which would ensure the liberation of her new territories, and cost her dearly of the hearts of her people, particularly those in the south still bitter over the loss of Thrul. Instead, she chose to parlay. The Pharaoh's gains were immense, but he knew that, in a long campaign, he would be forced to choose between assaulting Thay further and defending himself from the inevitable and massive Untheric counterattack. He also knew of the Shadovar, and though they were not a full party to the war, he worried at what hand they may yet have to play.

Zahl offered a white peace, and Horustep refused. He countered with the cessation of Bezantur and the release of all conquered lands. She laughed in his face.

The play soon gave way to real negotiations. Zahl gave him an earnest and tempting offer: the Alaor. Ceding the Alaor would mean a major shift in naval power in the region, something the Pharaohs had wanted for centuries. She would keep her territories, but allow the Pharaoh passage through her waters, and safe harbor on her islands, for a nominal fee of course. For once, Mulhorand could trade directly with the rich nations to the west, rather than having to sell their goods at a steep discount to opportunistic Thayan and Chessentan merchants.

He acquiesced, but only on the promise of a cessation of further conquests. He proclaimed a guarantee of the independence of Aglarond, and demanded an exception to the Thayan blockade of that land's ports, so he might assuage the suffering her grand siege was sure to bring them.

In the end, despite her setbacks, Zahl had achieved the unthinkable: Thay was united under a single ruler, and had proven its long promise of such power by conquering its longtime rival in Rashemen. It had even extended its reach to the center of the Inner Sea, and was sure to become a major mercantile power should it prove able to maintain its hold on the Pirate Isles.

At the conclusion of the war, Zahl held a grand parade within Eltabbar. The city swelled beyond capacity, filling massive festhalls built expressly for the purpose. She constructed a grand palace, from which she would rule...not as Tharchioness, or First Among Equals...but as Empress Zahl, First Empress of Thay.