Szass Tam

Zulkir of Necromancy, Regent of Thay (a.k.a. Tarloth Narmandur)

Szass Tam is a powerful lich and a member of the eight Zulkirs who ruled the country of Thay and, after the War of the Zulkirs, he reignes as the Regent of Thay. He is 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 is 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

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Szass Tam is thin and 6 feet tall. His face has fine-boned, intellectual features with dark eyes, a wispy black beard, and thinning black hair. He wears a vermilion robe with voluminous sleeves trimmed with gems and gold. He is 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 implements illusions and the preservation spell to maintain his human appearance. He often takes on the appearance of a fine-featured sixty- or seventy-year-old scholarly man with deep black eyes. He often carries 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.

Social

Social Aptitude

Szass Tam embraces the traditional habits of the Red Wizards. He is 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 is 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 treats his favorite servants with fairness and even kindness.
The lich is polite and civilized but communicates in a direct manner.
If angered by the insolence or bullish defiance of others, Tam can become consumed by rage, albeit icy and controlled.
The lich shows immense respect towards those who successfully foiled his plans through cleverness and skill and Tam treats them with the same respect and politeness as they show him. The lich is a mastermind who juggles a plethora of intrigues at the same time. He enjoyes long-lasting great games of plots, schemes, and intrigues. He hates not knowing things.

Where others see misfortune, I see only opportunity.
— Zulkir of Necromancy

Year of Birth

1104 DR 398 Years old

Current Residence

Citadel, Thaymount

Gender

male

Aligned Organization

Red Wizards of Thay