Forgotten Realms: Mulhorand

[The Grumpy Celt]

Mulhorand…

I have always been disappointed by the lack of current empires in the Realms. If I had a pet peeve about the setting, I would say that was it (aside from the ways Chosen are used, but that is a b*tch session for another day).

Throughout most of human history people were perpetually trying to build an empire, destroy an empire or maintain an empire. However, there are few such entities in the Realms during the assumed years of the setting (circa 1350s and then the 1370s).

To be certain, there are lots of group trying to build empires, such as the Zhents, the Red Wizards, the nefarious government of Calimshan, yaunti, Shades, beholders, Shriners, Church of Bane, so forth and so on. However, for all of that, the only existent actual empires were Unther and Mulhorand.

And now it is down to Mulhorand. Which is nifty, ‘cause it is Pseudo-Ancient-Egyptian and Ancient Egypt is pretty cool.

I am not so much a fan of empires as I think they can offer story opportunities; there is much grist for the mill in trying to build an empire (think Roman Imperial philosophy), destroy an empire (Star Wars to a “T”) or maintain an empire (arguably every war movie ever made).

There should be a lot going in the lands of the Old Empires; outright conquest, rampant intrigue, fleeing populations, Shriners running around in those little cars, terrific contests of divine will as gods struggle for dominance and survival, etc., etc.

What do you think of Mulhorand? I think it is cool for many reasons.

Have you participated in games set there? Yes.

Is there a possibility of ever really seeing a Mulhorand book? I am betting no, at least not for years, if ever.

What would you want in a Mulhorand book? Many epic level divine magic goodies.

What currents books deal with the Old Empires? I know three books deal with it, including the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Dragons and Forgotten Realms Book of Power. Any others? What do these books cover, in terms of the Old Empires?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Mulhorand…

I have always been disappointed by the lack of current empires in the Realms. If I had a pet peeve about the setting, I would say that was it (aside from the ways Chosen are used, but that is a b*tch session for another day).

Throughout most of human history people were perpetually trying to build an empire, destroy an empire or maintain an empire. However, there are few such entities in the Realms during the assumed years of the setting (circa 1350s and then the 1370s).

To be certain, there are lots of group trying to build empires, such as the Zhents, the Red Wizards, the nefarious government of Calimshan, yaunti, Shades, beholders, Shriners, Church of Bane, so forth and so on. However, for all of that, the only existent actual empires were Unther and Mulhorand.

And now it is down to Mulhorand. Which is nifty, ‘cause it is Pseudo-Ancient-Egyptian and Ancient Egypt is pretty cool.

I am not so much a fan of empires as I think they can offer story opportunities; there is much grist for the mill in trying to build an empire (think Roman Imperial philosophy), destroy an empire (Star Wars to a “T”) or maintain an empire (arguably every war movie ever made).

There should be a lot going in the lands of the Old Empires; outright conquest, rampant intrigue, fleeing populations, Shriners running around in those little cars, terrific contests of divine will as gods struggle for dominance and survival, etc., etc.

What do you think of Mulhorand? I think it is cool for many reasons.

Have you participated in games set there? Yes.

Is there a possibility of ever really seeing a Mulhorand book? I am betting no, at least not for years, if ever.

What would you want in a Mulhorand book? Many epic level divine magic goodies.

What currents books deal with the Old Empires? I know three books deal with it, including the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Dragons and Forgotten Realms Book of Power. Any others? What do these books cover, in terms of the Old Empires?

I doubt these are the answers you were looking for, but:

Mulhorand is neat. A stewpot of magical intrigue and powermongering, with a truly vast number of archeological sites and ancient treasures therein. It has it's own distinct culture which is different from Thay, the northern realms, or even the southern realms. It has it's own heritage.

The 1st and 2nd IRs involved Mulhorand. Those games occurred on ENWorld long ago.
Mulhorand watched as the gnomes set off a renaissance and enlightenment in the west. But when the gnomes began to industrialize, Mulhorand leaped on the chance, combining technology with their own magic to produce technomancy. They quickly industrialized after that, seeking power and conquest.
But then Chessenta to the west joined the fledgling Technomancy, and then Thay to the north (terrified of Mulhorand's growing might) united and joined. Thesk joined to protect itself from Thay.
Mulhorand agreed to join the confederation, and became it's eastern anchor.
Druidical assaults subsequently devastated much of Mulhorand. Mulhorand responded by declaring war against Rashemen, the Great Dale, the whole Chondalwood, and other places. This pulled in the other northern nations, and soon Mulhorand was up against armies from Cormyr, Waterdeep, the Daleslands, and Narfell.
The elves then brought their might to bear, and managed to actually temporarily suspend all magic across Toril. The result devastated Mulhorand, but it's armies held out against the foreigners. Then Zhentil Keep and Hillsfar declared non-aggression, and sent their own armies to help their new 'allies' in the south. Sembia switched sides and lent them ships against Mulhorand. Elements from Aglarond (but not the Simbul) assaulted southward.
Mulhorand and all it's allies were in danger of falling. But Mulhorand pulled strings behind the scenes, working with Calimshan in the west (which was doing the same thing with Lantan, Amn, and Tethyr), and they convinced Thesk, Thay, and Unther to accept their 'protection.' Eventually, these nations were absorbed into a Greater Mulhorand.
Greater Calimshan in the west and Greater Mulhorand in the east then offered 'protection' to a beset Chessenta. Chessenta refused, and was subsequently crushed by the northern armies. Calimshan and Mulhorand 'liberated' Chessenta, then divided it (and the adjacent lands) amongst them. (Calimshan then retook the Vilhon Reach, lost to northern armies.)
Calimshan and Mulhorand then coordinated the defense of the Old South. Heavy trade and industrialization and technomancic development occurred in both places. Mulhorand's more vibrant and aggressive culture eventually absorbed Calimshan, however, and finally Calimshan became a protectorate of Mulhorand.
With this victory, the capital of Mulhorand became the capital of the Technomancy, stretching unbroken from the Trackless Sea to the Raurin Desert. Mulhorand then quickly overran the smaller countries eastward, out to the edge of the Waste.

The northen nations, exhausted from the assault, were no match for Forrester, who had risen to sudden supremacy amongst the humanoids of the north. In rapid succession, most of the northern nations fell, and their peoples acknowledged the overlordship of the humanoids, or fled south (swelling the population of Mulhorand, amongst other places.) The exception was Sembia, which was declared a protectorate of the Technomancy, and the Nations of the Chosen (Waterdeep, Luruar, Shadowdale, and Aglarond) which the Technomancy entered into a standoff against.
The only other exception was Evereska, and Forrester immediately besieged it. (Shade Enclave joined as an ally, while the phaerimm and sharn remained inactive.)

Threatened by Forrester on the north, and now by Phasmus and the Illithid Empire Below, Mulhorand pulled the Technomancy into a tighter empire, raised it's own vast armies, and threw all efforts into technomancic research.

 

[Slapzilla]

Empires need space to flourish or barring that, a unifying enemy. Once together, an empire needs to spend so much time staying in control that a neighbor gets uppity or, there is nobody left to fight. FR is so jam packed with people and stuff and places that a unifying enemy seems the way to go. There are so many to choose from it is silly. Also, while FR has a history, it seems to have no sense of history. Many old countries but no sense of age. Try building an empire in 'Generic Fantasy World' and I bet you'll find that you need a sense of history, a common enemy and a few centuries to pass to give it the right feel. Hard to do in FR where everything seems so already done and on the verge of collapse anyway.

 

[Sejs]

Check out Lost Empires of Faerun. There's some Mulhorandi stuff in there.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Mulhorand. The fact that it's ancient egypt lifted lock, stock, and barrel - not just figuratively, but literally - irks me. Doubly so for the fact that actual egyptian gods got to come along for the ride. I would've much rather had it where some of the people came thru the gate that brought the Mulhorandi here, and since then they've been adapting to life on Faerun. Whatever they call their gods arn't seperate deities from the normal spread of Faerunian gods, but rather that they're simply worshiping those local gods but by different names. The god of the sun is the god of the sun; he used to be called Amaunator, he currently goes by Lathander, and over in Mulhorand they call him Horus-Re... but in the end it's all the same god they're praying to.

That sort of general thing. The fact that it's lifted whole-hog and the overall lack of adaptation is what keeps me from liking the empire more than I do now.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Check out Lost Empires of Faerun. There's some Mulhorandi stuff in there.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Mulhorand. The fact that it's ancient egypt lifted lock, stock, and barrel - not just figuratively, but literally - irks me. Doubly so for the fact that actual egyptian gods got to come along for the ride. I would've much rather had it where some of the people came thru the gate that brought the Mulhorandi here, and since then they've been adapting to life on Faerun. Whatever they call their gods arn't seperate deities from the normal spread of Faerunian gods, but rather that they're simply worshiping those local gods but by different names. The god of the sun is the god of the sun; he used to be called Amaunator, he currently goes by Lathander, and over in Mulhorand they call him Horus-Re... but in the end it's all the same god they're praying to.

That sort of general thing. The fact that it's lifted whole-hog and the overall lack of adaptation is what keeps me from liking the empire more than I do now.

My Mulhorand I altered so it did not resemble ancient Egypt.
What would be a good comparison? Hmmm ...
Think of that crossroads nation (Zamora?) mentioned in Conan the Barbarian, then give them the aggressiveness of the ancient Franks and magical might equal to about half that of Halruaa, under a king and royal family of multiclass wizard/warrior/priests (it is mandatory one to excel in all three classes, or be disowned by the family and likely killed.) Other nobility respect the king, since he is a strong leader, and fear him, because he is ruthless (he is neutral or neutral evil, depending on interpretation.)

 

[Solmyr]

With the Harpers and other "good" agents perpetually keeping everyone in a state of disorganized anarchy, there isn't much room for empires to be created. If anyone tries to do it, they will be summarily executed by the Chosen of Mystra and other world-police-type characters. The only empires allowed to exist are the ones directly controlled by the Chosen (Silver Marches). Anything else would be a threat to their chokehold on the Realms.

 

[Set]

Mulhurand is one of my favorite lands in central Toril, with my other two favorites, Chessenta, a neighbor, and Thay, a country spun off of Mulhurand, being related. (Then again, my favorite lands on the whole planet are Zakhara and Kara-Tur, so I'm obviously far from the FR mainstream...)

The non-European flavor is entirely welcome for me, as the Cormyr/Dales/Waterdeep swath feels a bit too 'Ren Faire' for my tastes. (Calimshan doesn't work so well for me. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I just haven't read enough about it.)

The direct meddling of the god-kings, all striving against one another, makes for an intriguing exploration of the naturally high-powered quasi-divine NPC-run Realms. Each city becomes a completely different microcosm, depending on the local powers preferences, and each of the locals remains enough of an individual to color the core faith itself, which, to me, is fascinating.

The Hamunaptra boxed set (from Green Ronin) may provide some interesting background inspiration for a Mulhurand-set game.

 

[sckeener]

The Hamunaptra boxed set (from Green Ronin) may provide some interesting background inspiration for a Mulhurand-set game.

Also Necromancer's Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia is great for Unther.

Mulhorand, Thay, Chessenta, Unther, etc (basically anything Mulan) are my favorites countries in FR.


Personally I think Unther's mulan purity will probably help during the Unther/Mulhorand war. I think the Unther elite will try to trace their relations back to Mulhorand and survive.