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Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
Today we’re discussing Sembia, which lies to the right of Cormyr.
Sembia reminds me a bit of Amn, in that money is important, and merchants hold quite a bit
of power.
They are not at the same economic level as Amn but their priorities align perfectly.
Sembia has changed since 3rd edition being overtaken by the Netherese during 4e and returning
to an independent nation by 5th edition.
Sembia is a young country, settlers from Chondath arrived in the Sembia region and gained independence
when the Chondathans were unable to hold on to the colony because of Cormanthor Elves
during the Battle of Singing Arrows in 884 DR.
Sembians gathered together and formed a merchant council that elected an Overmaster to rule
in seven year terms.
By 913 DR the country of Sembia was official, with rulers and their armies in place.
One of the Overmasters named Kendrick had a son named Miklos that spent most of his
life as an adventurer in the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Moonsea, and the Underdark.
Calling himself the Silver Raven Miklos makes the merchant rulers nervous with his negotiation
skills, ability to wield a sword, and powerful magic.
Miklos once returning to Sembia formed a personal army of 200 loyal Sembians to improve the
overall image of Sembia abroad.
To gather information, retrieve magical treasures, and accomplish missions.
They are known as the Silver Ravens.
Miklos sees his army as a reaction or counter to the Harpers that are not well liked within
Sembia.
Miklos prefers his Silver Raves to be like him, True Neutral with loyalty to Sembia.
Sembia is very lawful which is unlike the pirates of the nearby moonsea and other lawless
thugs in the area.
They observe and adhere to contracts and laws, often finding loopholes to exploit while still
being within the rules.
Their government is a Plutocracy, which in this case means a
merchant’s council with an elected overmaster like I mentioned earlier.
They are a land of wealth with the grasping drive to earn more.
Despite it’s lawful citizens Sembia is home to secret cabals, cults, and other dangers.
Everyone is looking for an edge in this cutthroat market.
The Sembians, also called Semmites, that live in the larger cities look down on the country
folk, and folk of other cities.
Consorting with pirates isn’t permitted although it might be a lucrative corner if you
could somehow redefine your pirate friend as a nobel business partner.
The countryside of Sembia is rich farmland.
Orchards and vineyards cover the area to the south and livestock take over the northern
farmland.
Normally within the realms farmers are taken advantage of by other merchants, but Semmite
farmers have strong business skills and often get fair or better prices for their exports.
The capital of Sembia is Ordulin, where politics is nearly as important as economics.
It’s a relatively new city, as it should be because Sembia is a relatively new kingdom.
The city is laid out like a great sunburst, with a central core consisting of three great
buildings and roads radiating out from it.
The center of city is the Great Hall of the Council of Sembia.
Here the nations rulers live, who are the great and powerful merchants within Sembia’s
society.
Sembia would rather make a deal than go to war.
Despite this they did have conflicts with the Dalelands and the Elves of Cormanthor.
Then there was a civil war in the mid 1370s that tor Sembia apart.
It was during this time that the Netherese reappeared on Faerun and took advantage of
the political climate within Sembia.
By 1380 Sembia was under the thumb of the Twelve Princes, also known as the Princes
of Shade.
By 1400 DR Sembia was fully absorbed into Netheril.
The Netheril who were gone from Toril for centuries used Sembia to remake it’s economy.
Utilizing their sea ports for trade as well as their soldiers to protect and workers to
build the Netheril up.
Many of the Sembian merchants welcomed the Netheril because it filled their pockets with
large amounts of coin.
Also the Shadovar, i.e. the Netherese, were able to help Sembia with long distant trade
by navigating through the Shadowfell to far reaches of Toril.
Literally trading everywhere, and sometimes secretly with other realms where trading with
Sembia was outlawed, such as Cormyr.
Early on there was a resistance to Netheril rule but that existed only for the first decade
or so.
Through money, assassination, and magic the Shadovar (the Netherese) took control of their
Sembian subjects.
They didn’t wipe out the resistance, but soon it was only capable of petty acts of
terrorism within the city.
Using Sembia The Shadow Empire of Netheril strengthened their hold on parts of Faerun.
Sembia outright invaded the Dalelands.
The nation of Cormyr aided the Dalelands but Netheril brought their forces to Cormyr forcing
that Kingdom to fight on two fronts.
But Sembia was pushed back thanks to the elves of Myth Drannor that came and fought back
against the Netherese.
The returned Netherese fell around 1484 DR during a conflict with Myth Drannor.
Without Shadow Empire control Sembia returned to being an independent economic power within
Faerun.
Trade with warring neighbors was restored thanks to Sembia distancing itself from the
Netherese way of life.
Reminding trading partners of the long and mutually profitable relationships they previously
enjoyed.
You can find more about the fall of the Netherese in the Sundering Series of novels published
by Wizards of the Coast.
The Netherese empire rolled a natural one on their attack against Myth Drannor, but
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Sembia is a great place for some political or economic focused campaigns.
Have your PCs arrive by ship using their newfound wealth from adventuring to purchase goods
for trade within Sembia.
Perhaps they will have to deal with assassination attempts for encroaching on another’s economic
territory.
They could weed out all the lawless rebels and become a true merchant king of Sembia.
Thanks for watching everyone, thanks to my patrons on Patreon that keep these videos
going.
I really value and love your support.
Please give the video a thumbs up if you feel so inclined and I’ll see you all next week
with another video.