Mulhorand
Mulhorand (pronounced: /məlˈhoʊrɑːnd/ muhl-HOH-rand) was one of the Old Empires in eastern Faerûn. The Mulhorandi were among the peoples brought to Toril from another world by the Imaskar Empire to serve as slaves. After countless praises, Ao contacted Ptah who led a part of the Mulhorandi pantheon to Toril. Ironically, their rival in the millennia to come was another human tribe captured by the Imaskari at the same time, which founded the empire of Unther.
Structure
Mulhorand’s government is a theocratic monarchy ruled by a living Pharaoh who embodies the will of the Mulhorandi pantheon and holds supreme authority over both spiritual and temporal matters. Beneath the Pharaoh, a powerful priesthood administers state functions—collecting tithes, enforcing religious law, and managing provincial governance through appointed viziers and temple officials. The realm is divided into nomes, each overseen by a high-ranking cleric or noble charged with upholding divine decrees and maintaining order. Major policy decisions and legal judgments require the sanction of an inner council of high priests, ensuring that civil legislation remains inseparable from sacred doctrine and that the Pharaoh’s divine mandate goes unchallenged.
The central government is headed by the pharaoh, although before Horustep they rarely intervened in day-to-day governance. The actual head of the government is the Vizier, who effectively functions as a prime minister, formulating and enacting policy in close consultation with the rulers of the cities and representatives of the clergy, military and magical orders. The Vizier is usually the highest-ranking priest of Horus-Re in the nation and wields tremendous power, second only to that of the pharaoh. However, the position is also noted for its tendency to corrupt. Viziers are kept honest by the overwatch of the pharaoh and the vigilance of the Justices, priests of Osiris noted for their incorruptibility.
Under the Vizier are the sixteen Precepts of Mulhorand, each of them wielding significant power over the region of Mulhorand which they control, which they effectively control as governors with military and civil responsibilities.
Culture
The people of Mulhorand were arrogant individuals that considered themselves better than any rival nation. Law was paramount to the nation's citizens, and change was avoided whenever possible. The government was run by the clergies devoted to the deities of the Mulhorandi pantheon, with the church of Horus-Re being foremost in power. However, despite the peaceful existence these priests sought to create, the different priesthoods were plagued by infighting, bickering, and struggles. These conflicts occurred both within their individual orders and against those of other faiths.
After the reformation of Mulhorand in 1487 DR, the deities of the Mulhorandi pantheon set aside their differences and focused in rebuilding the country, leading to a peaceful existence between their clergies.
Customs
As a theocratic nation, clergy of the Mulhorandi deities were treated with great respect and honor. Priests expected special treatment from the community, and held authority in all matters; public prayers were performed daily. The wealthy Mulhorandi also spent time planning and constructing personal tombs, preparing for their deaths and their continued life thereafter.
Holidays
On Midsummer, the people of Mulhorand honored their gods with performaces of the Divinity Plays.
Language
Peoples native to Mulhorand spoke Mulhorandi, a language that remained largely true to the tongue spoken by the Mulan peoples upon their arrival to Faerûn. In its written form, it was composed of complex pictographs used to communicate ideas and concepts.
History
Arrival, Slavery, & Freedom
In response to a plague that killed much of its people, the Imaskar Empire captured over one hundred thousand humans through the use of two portals opened to another world. These portals were then closed and all connections between the two worlds were sealed; the captured peoples, now called the Mulan, were enslaved by the Imaskari.
The Imaskari barrier inhibited contact between the Mulan and their deities. However, Ao intervened and allowed mortal manifestations of these deities to bypass the barrier and enter Toril directly. The deities battled the Imaskari, eventually defeating them in the year −2488 DR. The divine manifestations founded the nation of Mulhorand in −2135 DR, as well as the rival nation of Unther in −2087 DR.
In −1967 DR, war broke out between Mulhorand and Unther. The conflict ended in −1961 DR when the ruling deities agreed upon the River of Swords as a common border between their two nations.
The Orcgate War
In the year −1081 DR the Theurgist Adept Thayd opened a portal to a world populated by gray orcs. Thayd was executed shortly after for inciting rebellion, and the portal remained forgotten until discovered by the orcs. In the year −1076 DR, the humanoids invaded Mulhorand and Unther, beginning what later became known as the Orcgate Wars.
The invading orcs possessed the ability to summon the avatars of their deities. The divine manifestations of the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons faced those of the orc pantheon in what later became known as the Battle of the Gods, a clash that resulted in the death of the Mulhorandi deity Re at the hands of Gruumsh in −1071 DR. The conflict continued until the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons allied to defeat the invading force in −1069 DR.
Decline & Recovery
In the wake of the Orcgate Wars, Mulhorand began a prolonged decline in power. Its daughter states broke free and formed the nations of Murghôm, Semphar, and Thay. This decline continued until the Time of Troubles, at which time the Imaskari barrier was dissolved by Ao. The divine manifestations that had ruled for centuries rejoined their primary essences; Mulhorand was ruled by a true mortal king for the first time in its history. After a brief upheaval, the nation stabilized under the rule of the clergy.
Untheric Crusade
In response to the death of Unther's manifest deity Gilgeam the Tyrant, the pharaoh, Horustep III, allowed the clerics of Anhur to cross the River of Swords and invade their long time rival nation. Assisted by a mercenary company, the Gold Swords, Mulhorand invaded Unther in 1371 DR. Although the initial invasion met with great success, fighting fell down to low-level skirmishes for years until 1379 DR, when the Mulhorandi launch one final wave of conquest, swallowing the weakened empire, ushering in the short-lived "Third Mulhorandi Empire".
The Spellplague
No more than six years after the conquest of Unther, Mulhorand was destroyed by the Spellplague in 1385 DR. Many of the Mulan people were killed during the alteration of the landscape or transported to the world of Abeir, and the few survivors that remained in Toril fled to other lands such as Chessenta. The Mulhorandi pantheon vanished without a trace.
Mulhorand soon became completely devoid of civilization, and the Deep Imaskari wizard Ususi Manaallin founded the empire of High Imaskar on its former territories, with immigrants from Deep Imaskar comprising most of its citizenry.
The Mulhorandi Rebellion
In the wake of the Second Sundering, when the gods of Faerûn began to pick Chosen to enact their will, several mortal descendants of the old Mulhorandi gods found themselves possessed by their divine ancestors and immediately began a war against the Imaskari. With the help of Nezram the World-Walker, the returned deities and their Mulan servants won out, driving the Imaskari east into the desert and began the process to rebuild their old nation again.
Demography and Population
Population: 5,339,520 (99% human, 1% misc.)
The populace of Mulhorand was primarily composed of humans of three primary ethnic factions: the Mulan, the Turami, and slaves from Thay known as Tethens. Other races proved hesitant to follow the Mulhorandi pantheon upon the nation's founding, and were exiled at that time; the non-human population remained low as a result. Mulhorand utilized a caste system with three social classes:
Nobility
Members of Mulhorand's nobility took positions in the nation's government, often as priests, wizards, or bureaucrats. These individuals shaved their heads and painted a series of one to three blue circles on their foreheads to indicate social standing and education.
Middle Class
Mulhorand's middle class was composed of landowners and craftsmen. Members of this social class were often wealthy, and were considered for marriages by members of the nobility as a result.
Slaves
The majority of people in Mulhorand fell into this category. Slaves were owned by the different clergies of the nation, and were guaranteed humane treatment by law. Despite this, the life of these individuals was a hard one, though less so than typically experienced by slaves in other nations.
After the reformation of Mulhorand in 1487 DR, the deities of the Mulhorandi pantheon abolished slavery altogether.
Territories
Geographically, Mulhorand occupies the entire eastern shore of the Alamber Sea, extending from the River of the Dawn in the north to the River of Swords in the south-west, which forms the border with Mulhorand's old rival, sometimes-enemy and occasional ally of Unther.
Military
Mulhorand has a formidable military, with attendant arcane and divine magical support. The army is principally arranged to defend against an invasion out of Thay to the north and also any possible hostility from Unther to the west, although given Mulhorand and Unther’s long-standing peace that seems unlikely. More of a concern is Unther’s slow-motion collapse into chaos and civil war, which threatens to spill over the border. Mulhorand’s large navy is arrayed to defend against pirates, Thayan warships and sahuagin raiders from the Alamber Sea. Mulhorand’s military was infamously outdated for many centuries, performing extremely badly in the wars against Thay and only winning battles due to its huge size and short supply lines whilst on the defensive. Over the past thirteen years, the pharaoh has sponsored wholesale reform of both the army and navy, dramatically improving morale by offering better pay and conditions and also taking on board inspiration from military tactics across Faerûn, including unifying a single chain of command (usually under priests of Anhur), promoting by merit rather than social rank and integrating combined arms of melee and ranged units, cavalry, artillery and magic.
Religion
Religion is important to the Mulhorandi. They say prayers four times a day, clerics run the government, and the temples own all the nation's slaves (which are rented out to others). Mulhorand is unusual in being a nation firmly located within Faerûn which worships a completely unique pantheon of gods.
The greatest source of dissent among the citizens is the rivalry between the churches of Anhur and Horus-Re. Anhur favors change and conflict while Horus-Re represents eternity and perpetual order. Now that Mulhorand is ruled by someone fully mortal once again, the dominance of Horus-Re is lessening, and deities from the Faerûnian pantheon are making inroads in Mulhorand while the local deities are expanding outward from their native land. Mulhorand is also unusual for its technology, primarily pumps to move water to irrigate crops. This aspect of the culture had fallen into decline for centuries but is now being revived by the clerics of Thoth and Gond.
Foreign Relations
Mulhorand’s foreign relations have traditionally been complicated because of the Mulhorandi belief that they are the supreme power in Faerûn and all other nations are cursed, unenlightened barbarians. Traditionally Mulhorand regards only Unther, its great rival and sometimes-partner to the west, as an equal, and even that has disappeared after Unther’s fall into chaos. Mulhorand continues to regard Thay as a breakaway, rebellious province that will one day return to the fold, and it tends to treat Murghôm and Semphar as semi-vassal states rather than the independent powers they have become. Mulhorand has more neutral relations with other, more distant nations, although some pharaohs have encouraged greater trade and diplomacy during their reigns.
Trade & Transport
Currency
Coins in Mulhorand were minted from gold and were primarily in two sizes—the smaller "precept" and the larger "pharaoh". The pharaoh was worth between one and two gold pieces in other countries; the precept was around three to five silver pieces. Within the borders of Mulhorand, six precepts equaled a pharaoh.
Coins were stamped with a date and the image of the current pharaoh at the time of minting. The edges were marked with bands to make it obvious if someone tried to shave off the metal.
Slavery
The majority of Mulhorand's people were slaves, with roughly equal numbers in the cities and five-to-one slaves to freemen in the countryside, though they only counted as seven-tenths of a person on the census. The slaves were functionally synonymous with the lower class, with free people making up the middle and upper classes. All enslaved people were owned by the land's temples, who then rented them out to customers, and they were bound by an oath to obey the gods and those that the gods placed above them. A curious aspect of this system was that Mulhorandi slaves were surprisingly haughty and considered themselves better than their foreign fellows, as they believed that they were not the property of mortal men but entrusted to the care of the gods themselves, with the temples as the intermediary. The majority of slaves were overseen directly by the temples as they worked on huge temple-owned farms in Mulhorand.
Though most slaves toiled in hardship, many received proper educations and served in the realm's bureaucracies. They were guaranteed humane treatment by law and were generally treated better than slaves in other lands; their working conditions were regularly inspected and any abuse or neglect was considered vandalism towards the temple, and killing a slave was a capital crime. The priesthood of Osiris was responsible for overseeing the welfare of all slaves, and any slave who felt that they were being mistreated was expected to call on them to dispense justice, which usually involved the forfeiture of lands and other assets. It was not uncommon for a master to directly pay their slaves as they returned to temple custody, with it seen as a form of virtuous piety.
During the 1350s DR, the vizier Rezim proposed radical changes to Mulhorand's society. He wished to allow temples to directly sell slaves to nobles, with no oversight over their treatment, and claimed that it would improve economic efficiency. This proposal made him greatly unpopular with the Pharaoh and other people of influence due to its obvious favoring of his political backers.
When Mulhorand conquered Unther in the 1370s DR, much of its efforts there went to controlling sudden slave revolts, and integrating the population into temple service. As the army of Mulhorand was controlled by the priests of Anhur, most of the "liberated" slaves were seized by the temple of Anhur. Some of the most capable and enthusiastic of these slaves were sent back to Unther with training and equipment, with the mission of finding and destroying the remaining Untheric resistance.
After the events of the Spellplague and the Second Sundering, and due to the experiences of the Mulani living under the rule of the empress of High Imaskar, in the late years of the 15th century DR, the returned gods of Mulhorand decided to abolish the institution of slavery and make the practice of it illegal.
Ale, beer, blank spellbooks, gold, granite, paper, precious stones
Fine timber, incense, iron, perfume, slaves (from Thay), spices
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