OFFICIAL GAME ACCESSORY OLD EMPIRES by Scott Bennie Table of Contents Introduction ......................................... 2 Personalities of Unther ................................. 47 History of the Old Empires ............................. 3 Culture of Unther ..................................... 49 Lands Surrounding the Old Empires ...................... 7 People and Society of Chessenta ......................... 50 People and Society of Mulhorand ........................ 11 Geography of Chessenta ................................ 52 Geography of Mulhorand ............................... 14 Current Economy of Chessenta .......................... 56 Current Economy of Mulhorand ......................... 19 Current Politics of Chessenta ............................ 57 Current Politics of Mulhorand ........................... 20 Religion of Chessenta .................................. 61 Laws of Mulhorand ................................... 22 Personalities of Chessenta .............................. 62 Adventurers in Mulhorand ............................. 22 Mercenary Companies of Chessenta ...................... 63 Religion of Mulhorand ................................. 23 Culture of Chessenta .................................. .64 Personalities of Mulhorand ............................. 30 Adventurers in the Old Empires ......................... 65 Culture of Mulhorand ................................. 33 Southern Magic. ..................................... 71 Technology of Mulhorand .............................. 34 Magical Items ........................................ 81 People and Society of Unther ........................... 35 Encounters in Mulhorand .............................. 87 Geography of Unther .................................. 40 New Monsters ........................................ 88 Religion of Unther .................................... 44 Credits Editing: Mike Breault Typography: Kathleen C. 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Printed in U.S.A. 9274 ISBN 0-88038-821-8 9274XXX1501 INTRODUCTION “The span of earthly things is as a the answer is so easy that you have to be fulfilling a quest, but discovering a ma- dream; but a fair welcome is given he careful not to miss the forest for the jor challenge and using every resource who has reached the South.” trees. There are two ways to use any you have, including your intelligence, Old Mulhorand saying RPG supplement. One is to read through to succeed. it solely for pleasure, enjoying the work As you read through The Old Em- The South, the ancient South, is the for its own sake. The other way is to use pires, you will find that this supplement place where mankind first reached it as a source of background and adven- places a strong emphasis on the politics greatness in the Forgotten Realms at ture in your campaign. and the personalities of these king- the beginning of the age. The remnants If you are running a campaign out- doms; this book is full of strange names of this greatness are the three king- side of the Forgotten Realms, this book and devious political factions, all schem- doms of Mulhorand, Unther, and Ches- can still be useful. This book contains ing to achieve their ends. There are two senta, kingdoms of mystery and ancient dozens of new spells, magical items, reasons for this. empires. characters, and monsters that can be First, one distinguishing feature of This book tells of the rise and fall of taken out of this supplement and used the Forgotten Realms is the number of great realms, of god-kings and ancient in any campaign, regardless of setting. distinct and interesting characters that magic whose power is unmatched any- Cityscapes may be redesigned for use in player characters can interact with; as where in the Realms. This is the story of other campaigns. Adventure ideas and it says in the Source Book of the Realms the Old Empires. rumors can be transferred to other set- (p. 17) more than anything, these indi- The ancient south can be termed a tings. This is meant not just as a viduals are the Realms. In the same slumbering giant. It is an extremely Forgotten Realms book, but as a source way, these characters are the essence powerful land that wishes to be left book for any inventive Dungeon Master of the Old Empires. alone to engage in its own self- running campaigns in any world. The second reason is the nature of indulgent, decadent pursuits, not car- The other use, of course, is as a high-level campaigns. Many high-level ing what goes on beyond its borders. FORGOTTEN REALMS game supple- campaigns collapse very quickly when Still, many of their neighbors do not ment. If you are running characters the emphasis is solely on monster bash- see them this way. When a plague oc- from outside the Old Empires who ing and treasure snatching. The secret curs elsewhere in the Realms, you can travel in these reaches, please make to a successful high-level AD&D® cam- often hear whispers of Southern magic. sure you read through the book care- paign is to get the PCs to interact with The South is considered to be a place of fully. Any land has its customs and ta- the campaign world in ways other than twisted power, better left untouched. boos that seem strange to outsiders, combat. There is a lot of fun in getting Even the most reckless adventuring and the Old Empires is no exception. involved in politics, making plans and parties give the South a wide berth. How a character deals with culture alliances, and outwitting truly clever Yet it is rich in magic, and on occasion shock can be as interesting as how a NPCs. It isnt easy to run a good political outsiders venture to Mulhorand or Un- character handles a new monster, as campaign (and most players dont want ther and become entangled in the laby- both are unfamiliar challenges that test a campaign where the action consists rinthine politics of their gods. his ability. only of political maneuvering), but Many things are unique to the Old If you are running characters from when it works, its a real thrill. Empires. They have strange gods. They the Old Empires, be sure that the char- If the details in the political sections wield weird and powerful magic. And acters realize that the attitudes of their seem too trivial, you can feel free to ig- there is a hint of the weirdest magic of homelands are often quite different nore them, but you might want to give alltechnology, a word that causes than other places in the Forgotten it a try. It can be a lot of fun. The politics hardened sages to shudder. There are Realms. They should understand their of the Old Empires, like its characters, strange monsters and strange men, homelands, and be able to imagine operate on a grand scale. great treasures and unknown delights, what it was like to be a child there, and life-ending perils. In short, nearly what they were taught, and what they anything that an adventurer could were brought up to believe. want. This book documents all of these. The Old Empires is known as a high- powered area. There is lots of magic, How to Use this Book much of it quite strange. There are also major challenges in obtaining this This may be the hardest section of this magic, which is how it should be. The supplement to write, perhaps because essence of an adventure is not casually 2 HISTORY OF THE OLD EMPIRES Toward the end of the previous age, conquests. It expanded north as far as end, the orcs were either slaughtered tribes of humans were pushed out of Yuirwood, where it warred for centu- or driven into the far north, but the the Great Kingdoms of the southeast, ries against the elven tribes. It reached holds of Mulhorand and Unther on which were covered in desert. Legends west as far as Chondath, swallowed their far-flung provinces were broken, speak of a great war in which powerful most of the eastern Shaar, and even and the two empires dwindled. The humans fought against the gods to went to war against the southern god-kings withdrew into their towers, wrest away their power. The humans dwarves in the Great Rift. Unther creating continually reincarnating in- won and became god-kings, but the war gained a reputation for having fierce carnations to lead their cities. Thus the destroyed their kingdoms. These god- and ruthless warriors who were hated First Empires of Mulhorand and Un- kings, Re and Enlil, led the shattered by those they conquered. ther ended. remnants of their peoples into Mulho- At their peak, 1,000 years before the The lands lost by the southern em- rand and Unther. The two god-kings start of the current age, the First Em- pires were quickly retaken, but not by and their spouses became the leaders of pires of Mulhorand and Unther were at them. Instead, two new powers rose to the royal houses of these two nations. a level that has never been equalled prominence after the Orcgate Wars, the The people of Unther, who prided since. Their magic was extremely pow- powers of Narfell and Raumathar. themselves on the purity of their race, erful, and they had learned a new These were warlike nations that coa- warred against barbarian peoples and sciencetechnologythat gave them lesced out of the migrating northern drove them from their lands, but the greater power. tribes that were paid to fight as merce- god-kings of Mulhorand, who were Two events brought the first great naries in the Orcgate Wars.