Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
I wanted to talk about The Empires of the Sands or also known as the Lands of Intrigue.
It’s a region south of waterdeep that contains three nations Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan..
There was a lot of info to sift through, so let’s see how far we can get in a video.
This area has been home to native human tribes since the elves arrived on Fearun a millennia
ago.
During these early centuries the land was ruled by elves, dwarves, giants, dragons,
and even goblins for a short period of time.
The beginning of Amn is closely tied to that of Calimshan, which is currently a region
south of Amn.
Before Amn came to be it was Calimshan, which was controlled by tribes that covered most
of the region.
Calimshan began colonizing every place it could.
Expanding into present day Tethyr and Amn.
It was Tethyr that fought against Calimshite rule and after several decades of fighting
in -288DR Calimshan’s pasha (which is like a king) granted the Tethyrians independence
rather than continuing to lose soldiers.
With Tethyr cutting the north and Calimshan in two, it opened up the North to become it’s
own area known as Amn.
This is the precursor for the upcoming Age of Shoon.
Calimshan knew they couldn’t win a war against Tethyr so they attempted to politically take over
After marrying into the royal families of Tethyr a terrible “accident” occurred
and most of the family died in -6 DR leaving behind a grandchild to rule Tethyr.
Calishite troops, advisors and vizars were sent to help this young king rule Tethyr.
Because of this puppet ruler the Pasha over Calimshan soon controlled most of the clans
and lands in Tethyr.
He even destroyed a neighboring city Ithmong putting it’s uprising citizens into slavery
and took apart the city stone by stone.
Moved that stone to a new location and used it to build another city.
A new capital city in the south called Shoonach.
This began the sixth age of the Shoon Imperium.
27 DR to 450DR became known as the Sixth Age of Calimshan also called the Age of Shoon.
In four short centuries the Imperium controlled lands originating from Calimshan far to the
north and south.
As far north as the River Chionthar, Along the Snowflake Mountains, past the Shining
Sea and as south as Tashalar.
It was during this time that a paranoia about wizards started to circulate.
Anyone known to practice magic was hunted down and slain.
Wizards were allowed to practice magic if it was in service to the state, rogue magic
users were considered a threat and eliminated.
The Fall of the Shoon Imperium occurred in 450 DR, with another uprising from Tethyr.
Amn joined in wanting freedom from Shoon rule.
For an entire summer the two fought to overthrow the Shoon Imperium with some success.
The leader of the Shoon Imperium purposed a duel between himself and the King of Tethyr.
The Shoon leader poisoned the King of Tethyr during this duel which, obviously, angered
the people of Tethyr.
This lead to Prince Strohm the son of the Tethyrian King to organize a plan in killing
every Shoon loyalist until the Imperium fell.
While the people of Shoonach, the capital of the Shoon Imperium, reveled in the death
of the Tethyr King; Strohm’s soldiers infiltrated the city and hid.
When everyone was in place they struck out in unison killing every Shoon loyalist until
there were no more.
With the head of the Shoon Imperium destroyed the areas it controlled swiftly fragmented
and Amn came into being.
By 460 DR the Western Emirate of Amin becomes the country of Amn under King Esmel Torlath
who was an ex-Shoonite general and native to the area.
Many Shoonite loyalists migrated to Amn and the the small country grew more than twice
its size in 150 years.
Amn at this point has three major city-states west of Lake Esmel.
Athkatla, Crimmor, and Murann, but the fantastic Esmeltaran became
the capital when it was completed in the reign of Esmel’s grandson, King Imnel.
It took another 150 years to completely conquer the lands to the east, but Amn reached it’s
current borders in the late 760s.
Amn could be seen as being built overnight.
It rose very quickly and it did this with money from trade.
By the year 1182 DR Amn completed the great trade roads which connected it with Baldur’s
Gate, Dragonspear Castle, and Waterdeep.
It furiously expanded trade with the north and partnered with Tethyr and Calimshan.
With money comes power and the major problem that erupted during these years was a number
of wizard schools and isolated conjurers practicing interesting magic.
No one today remembers the specifics, but many a monster or plague was unleashed due
to the influence of wizards.
The consequences live on today, the people of Amn have no tolerance for magic users and
wizards are looked at with great suspicion.
Amn’s government changed drastically in by the 1330s.
Ruled by a royal family the king had turned into a puppet that was being influenced by
the city-states and their personal agendas.
By 1306 DR the last heir to the throne died from poison at the hands of his vizier.
This sparked a trade war as wealthy houses were vying for power.
There was sabotage, assassinations, these houses were more or less at war with one another.
Then a young merchant had the insight to create a council.
Thayze Selemchant did not want this Trade War to hurt his profits.
So he coerced five other merchant houses to form a council of six that would rule Amn.
To compel the public into compliance he spread rumors of an elven invasion, or attacks from
Waterdeep, or pirates and that the people needed government protection.
This worked and the council dropped their family names to lessen the family rivalries
within Amn.
They dumped much of their personal fortune into creating a government treasury but that
was quickly made back with fees and tariffs after the government was put in place.
The council of six promised to reunite the country, rule for all the families rather
than just wealthy favorites, and restore peace that would increase profits.
It took one year and the Council was now the accepted government of Amn.
Complete with a militia able to oppose groups that resisted it.
Within five years the council was unbreakable and Amn provided a huge asset to neighboring
cities.
Aiding Waterdeep with their armies to fight against hordes of orcs, baatezu and other
ungodly creatures that were pouring out of Dragonspear Castle.
And that’s where I’ll end it today.
More to talk about on The Empires of the Sands.
Next week I’ll discuss more on Amn; their lifestyle, their culture, and probably some
specifics on cities.
Please give a like if you enjoyed this video and I’ll see you all next episode, thanks
again for watching.