Szass Tam

Szass Tam is a powerful lich and member of a group of eight Zulkirs who rule the country of Thay. The Zulkir are archmages representing each of the eight schools of magic that command The Red Wizards of Thay. Tam is the Zulkir of Necromancy and commands the Legion of Bone, a huge legion of undead soldiers, led by his vampire and lich generals. Szass Tam is the ruler of Thaymount.
Szass Tam is tall, and prefers to appear as a dark skinned man whose face has fine-boned, intellectual features with dark eyes and a wispy black beard. He wears a vermilion robe with voluminous sleeves trimmed with gems and gold. He is gaunt, but only his withered hands and the hint of dry rot occasionally wafting from his person truly attest his lichdom. He often has an ebony staff with him. During the Spellplague, Szass' undead nature was apparent to every onlooker since the chaos rendered his magical glamours close to useless thus hindering the lich from altering his burned and ruined appearance.
Like other Red Wizards, Szass Tam prefers to remain unseen, working through lackeys and servitor creatures (including vast armies of undead) while he plots and schemes. His own undeath gives him patience. He's quite prepared to abandon servants and attempts that fail, and simply try again later in a better way. Those who meet him (Or seemingly real magical images of himself that he creates and sends far across Faerûn) discover Szass Tam to be calm, cultured, and even pleasant. Tam is polite but blunt, and he can be plunged instantly into cold, controlled rage by insolence or deliberate defiance. On the other hand, he seems to admire those who cross or foil him by cleverness, as long as they treat him politely. He is always spinning more simultaneous intrigues than most Faerûnians have years in their lives, seems content to view existence as a great game, with plots and schemes as the playing pieces-or, if you prefer, weapons.