Villains' Lorebook.pdf - Department of Political Science

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her friends and caused extensive damage to the
Keep’s interior and the infrastructure of the Zhen-
tarim itself.
This incident was only the beginning of the most
turbulent period in the recent history of the Black
History began in what is now known as the Time of
Troubles. It was 1358, and the gods Bane and Myrkul
stole the tablets of fate from their rightful resting
place. The two gods believed it was tablets that gave
the “over-god” Ao his power. They were wrong, and
all the gods were punished by having most of their
divinity ripped from them. They were then cast
down to Faerûn in their mortal (but still quite pow-
erful in terms of mortals) avatar forms.
Bane fell to the Realms at Zhentil Keep, where he
promptly took over operations. Bane even possessed
the body of Fzoul for a period of time.
Bane did not survive this time, however, He was
later killed while in battle with the avatar of the
good deity, Torm the True. At the crisis’ end, Cyric,
who’d grown up within the walls of Zhentil Keep
and a former Zhentilar soldier, had assumed the
mantle of Bane, as well as those of Myrkul and
Bhaal.
Most of Bane’s followers in Zhentil Keep did not
believe in their god’s death, however, and many continued
to worship him. This infuriated the new god,
Cyric, who soon began work to purge any nonbelievers
from the Keep. During this time, Manshoon became
aware of Cyric’s shortcomings. As a result, the
Zhentarim’s creator began surreptitiously moving re-
sources and personnel away from the Keep.
Meanwhile, only one year after the Avatar crisis,
the Tuigan Horde turned its attention toward the
heartlands of the Realms. Zhentil Keep took part in
the defense of the west by contributing 1,000 orcish
troops under the command of General Vrakk to
King Azoun of Cormyr’s “Alliance Army” in exchange
for concessions the Cormyrian king never
publicly revealed (a fact Manshoon has not for-
gotten).
In the year 1368, many of the past’s events came
to a climactic head. Cyric sent another inquisition
to the Keep in the form of clockwork inquisitors
made for him by the god, Gond, and even arranged
for an army of white dragons, frost giants, and humanoids
to threaten the Keep. Then, he could appear,
defeat the armies, and gain the worship of all
within. Or, Cyric could simply let the armies destroy
the place if he felt inclined to do so. Whether
through accident or intent, the latter occured and
most of the Keep is destroyed. (For more details,
read the novel Prince of Lies.)
Also during that time, the puppet “ruler” of
Zhentil Keep, Lord Chess, was killed when he was
double-crossed by the god Mask, in that deity’s
successful attempt to magically trap Kezef, the
Chaos Hound.
Since that time, Fzoul has renounced the faith
of Cyric and embraced that of the Godson of
Bane, Iyachtu Xvim, displacing the faith’s former
leader, Xana. He’s currently purging his ranks of
those still loyal to the mad god, Cyric. Once
again, Fzoul has cannily placed himself in position
of power that ensures a vital role for him in
the Zhentarim’s future.
Currently, the Black Network has three main
bases of power, including the partially rebuilt Keep.
The southern section of the Keep, also known as
the Foreign Quarter, came through the attack by
the dragons, giants, and humanoids in the best
shape. This was due largely to the fact that the orcish
Zhent troops, resentful of their treatment
under Cyric, blew up both the Force and the Tesh
bridges, inadvertantly preventing the ground elements
of the invading armies from reaching that
portion of the city in any great numbers.
The Keep is still the hub of Zhentish trade with
the Heartlands—due in part to the reconstruction
efforts currently proceeding. The Zhentarim hope
to turn this concentration of trade to their advantage,
eventually gaining control of all trade (both
licit and illicit) in the Moonsea region.
The actual conquest of the region also remains on
the minds of the Zhentarim, but such a goal is even
farther removed from reality until the keep is rebuilt.
The Keep’s new lord, ORGAUTH has these rebuilding
efforts well under way. He even seems to
dealing fairly with the skilled craftsmen and others
needed to rebuild an entire city. Fzoul remains in
the Keep, working to build a power base for the worship
of Xvim there between the Keep’s residents and
the Zhentarim.
The third and final member of the Zhentarim’s
Inner Circle is Sememmon, and potent wizard and
former student of Manshoon himself, commands
the forces of the fortress known as Darkhold. Over
1,000 Zhentarim reside there under the mage’s command.
The Pereghost (see below) serves as Sememmon’s
military commander.