Shoon VII Qysar Shoon VII was one of the most wicked rulers and one of the most powerful spellcasters to ever have lived in Faerûn . Thought to have died with the Shoon Imperium of Calimshan , in truth , Shoon VII had managed to preserve himself as a lich for a thousand years . Description . The man known as Shoon VII had taken many physical forms over his long life , beginning with that of his natural , Calishite male body . In his demilich form , Shoon appeared as a mostly intact floating skull with gem teeth . In his most recent form , ( the strange circumstances of which are explained below , ) Shoon VII appeared as a short , young wood elven maiden with bobbed , curly silver hair . In this feminine form , he had hazel eyes , which darkened to mahogany when he became angry . Personality . Shoon VII was an exceptionally cruel man , yet he had such great charisma that he could inspire deep loyalty from his underlings and the people of his realm . His speeches were said to have been " awe - inspiring " . While a demilich , Shoon would not bother speaking with anyone who did not refer to him as " Emperor " . He was cold - blooded and cynical and would only speak in a calm , deadpan tone , even if in the midst of combat . In his guise as an elven woman , Shoon had a dry sense of humor and a strange knack for knowledge of ancient history . Abilities . Shoon VII was exceptionally talented at magical combat , and had a special talent for anticipating which spell his opponents would choose to cast . Shoon had made himself immune to poison s . In his lifetime , Shoon VII had developed several powerful spells , including " soulfire " , which converted the souls of living victims into spellfire , " Kodos ' eruptive strike " , which launched molten rock into the air , and " Shoon ' s villein volley " , which converted up to 20 living persons into a powerful " magic missile " . More than 500 slaves and peasants lost their lives to his repeated use of this latter spell . In his demilich form , Shoon was able to drain the souls of victims . He could also steal spells from the minds of any who had touched the " Tome of the Unicorn " . He could either cast the stolen spells or use their raw power to heal himself . However , as a demilich , Shoon was incapable of memorizing or casting any of the spells he had known in life ; he could only cast a stolen spell . In his new elven form , Shoon could still use all of his full magical powers ; plus he gained the innate abilities of being in an elven body , such as superior night vision and hearing . Possessions . Shoon VII crafted a good number of magical items and artifact s with his evil magics , perhaps most notably the " Tome of the Unicorn " and the " Staff of Shoon " , the latter of which was carved from unicorn horns . The " Tome ' s " last known location was in a safehold beneath the Imperial Mount in Shoonach . The " Staff " was in the treasure horde of a blue dragon . Shoon VII acquired the " Codex Thealnakkar " , a tome describing the creation of " Calishite mosaics " from a wizard of Memnon named Thealnak . Shoon used " mosaics of teleport ation " to link some of his many safeholds . Shoon inherited the artifact known as " Janyra ' s Tome " from previous emperors of the Imperium , and he used it with one of " Janyra ' s Rings " to interrogate spies or to steal secrets from enemies . Shoon VII also possessed two of the Qysari Rings , " Qysarus Secretus " , which protected him from scrying , and " Unicorn ' s Bane " , which he used to hunt down and slay unicorn s . In his latest female form , Shoon VII wore an " amulet of proof against detection and location " , an " elven cloak " and " elven boots " , and a " ring of mind shielding " . He wore this last magic item to ensure that his secret identity was not detected . Holdings . Shoon VII had magically protected lairs in every mountain range and forest in the Lands of Intrigue . One of his major safeholds was the one below the old Imperial Mount , below the tomb city of Debukkher . He also " laired " in the apprentice quarters of Zallanora within the Gheldieg estate in Eshpurta . Relationships . Shoon VII was the son of the Caleph Arcane of Almraiven , Nadim el Jhotos , and Selara , the second daughter of Empress Shoon V . He was one of twelve children . He and eight of his siblings were exceptionally talented in the art of magic . Shoon had at least one daughter , Shaani . He was the nephew of Shoon VI , whom he would murder . Shoon ' s archnemesis was the blue dragon Iryklathagra , and the two fought three epic battles over the period of Shoon VII ' s reign . History . Rise to Power . Kodos yn Nadim el Jhotos was born in the Year of Full Cribs , 290 DR . he was trained by the famous guild arcane of Almraiven , the oldest guild arcane in Calimshan . He was so skilled at spell battles that he had already slain at least twelve archmages before he even became emperor . In his nineteenth year , he and his father orchestrated the bloody assassination of Emperor Shoon VI by paying off the royal guard to slay hin with no fewer than 35 stab wounds . No sooner had they assassinated their master than Shoon VI ' s nephew Kodos " took revenge " for his uncle and killed them all . With Shoon VI dead , Kodos was the next male kin and took the throne of the Shoon Imperium , becoming Shoon VII in the Year of the Cascade , 309 DR . As emperor , Shoon VII made sure that he had full control of the subtlest details of his empire . He immediately demanded a vow of loyalty ( enforced magically ) from each of the calephs arcane . Some refused and were killed ; others accepted and were rewarded with riches . The caleph arcane of Memnon was one who refused , as did the mages under him , so Shoon VII killed them all and proceeded to rule the guild arcane of Memnon himself . Atrocities . When crime increased in his empire , Shoon VII ' s solution was to order that oil be poured into the sewers of each Shoon city and lit to drive out the thieves ' guilds living in hiding there . Shoon did not care that these conflagrations resulted in the deaths of over three million people . Ankhapur , Calimport , Innarlith , Ithmong , and Memnon were nearly destroyed from these Great Fires in 319 DR . In Shoon ' s view , the end had justified the means , as organized crime was essentially eliminated . Instead , the emperor and his advisors took over control of " illegal " activities themselves . Shoon was responsible for the deaths of at least two dozen unicorns , which were sacrificed to create his most powerful magical artifacts . He even sanctioned hunts against them . In 355 DR , when the elves of the Snakewood tried to defend a small herd of seven unicorns from being captured and slain , Shoon VII ordered his legions to eradicate the elves . So many elves were killed that the headwaters of River Rimril turned red from blood . Two - thirds of the elves from two tribes of the forest were captured . Half of these were enslaved ; on the other half , Shoon VII performed horrifying magical experiments . From the slaughtered elves and unicorns , Shoon VI was able to craft the magical artifact known as the " Tome of the Unicorn " . Shoon complete his enchantments on the " Tome " in 355 DR by soaking the metal book plates in the blood of twelve unicorns . Not wanting to waste the remains of the unicorns he had massacred , he used their horns to carve the " Staff of Shoon " . In 361 DR , Shoon VII discovered the hidden lair of Hazamir al Aktorral , a former regent of the Empire who had successfully become a lich . Shoon VII battled with Hazamir and turned him into a grisgol . In that same year , Shoon VII made secret plans to expand his territory , using the ambitious prince Ashar Tornamn of Tethyr as a pawn . Wanting to impress his " qysar " , the young " nazir " built up an army and marched in a fifteen - month campaign , setting himself up as king of Valashar . Ultimately , in 376 DR , Crown Prince Azoun I of Cormyr squelched Ashar ' s dreams and marched an army through Valashar and all the way to Ithmong before returning to Cormyr to deal with orc hordes . Despite the loss of territory , Shoon VII believed that he had tricked Cormyr into a trap , hoping to strike at that country after having it weaken itself on its long march , and was disappointed that random chance had ruined his plans . Conflicts with Iryklathagra . Shoon VII ' s conflict with the blue dragon Iryklathagra started in 322 DR when she landed in the Qysar ' s Square and demanded to speak with the emperor . She wanted reparations for the " theft of her hoard " by Shoon ' s great - great - great - grandfather Shoon IV . After several days of negotiations , Shoon VII paid her a small fraction of her claims , promising to arrange the rest of the payment at a later time . He said that he would personally deliver the hoard to her . Instead , he attacked her , and the two fought for the first time somewhere in the region of Valashar in northeastern Tethyr . Four entire villages were destroyed by their volley of magic , and Shoon VII emerged the victor , driving the dragon away after having stolen multiple magic items from her grasp . In 358 DR , Shoon VII fought with Iryklathagra a second time in the plains of what would soon be Valashar . Some believe that Shoon chose the spot to keep the battle away from Shoonach . The battle ended in a sort of stalemate , as Iryklathagra fled from the fight with Shoon ' s magic staff . Even more Tethyrian lands were demolished , and dozens of peasants and soldiers were sacrificed to power Shoon ' s " soulfire " spell . In 366 DR , Shoon would have his final battle with " Sharpfangs " . This battle occurred in the skies above Shoonach , over the slaves ' city adjacent to the city center . 75 , 000 persons were slaughtered as a result of the careless use of magic from both parties . During the battle , Shoon ' s right leg was crippled , and his left arm was shattered and nearly bitten clear off . Only his powerful contingency magics saved him . ( From that day on , he forever walked with a limp . ) He had managed to shred Iryklathagra ' s wings , and his soldiers and wizards were then able to drive her off . Shoon shouted in victory even as his capital city smoldered . Undeath . After his final fight with Iryklathagra , Shoon VII decided to set his plan into action to achieve lichdom . He placed his daughter Shaani on the throne as regent while he recovered from his injuries and avoided being assassinated by a few advisors or family members . He had his own tomb constructed in Debukkher in Shoonach , which had a secret passage to his hidden lair . Shoon used illusions to make it appear that his injuries would not heal . Then , he successfully faked his own death — or rather his murder — in 367 DR . He tricked his greedy daughter Shaani into poisoning his soup and taking the throne for herself . She had no idea that he was immune to poisons . He used magic to create a clone of his dead body , which was embalmed and entombed . Free from the responsibilities of ruling his empire directly , Shoon spent the next several years researching lich dom , while he continued to pull strings behind the scenes . He was successful in becoming a lich in 370 DR . During this time , Shoon carefully moved many of the magic items he had created during his life from the imperial treasuries and into hiding in his own lairs . Since his archnemesis Iryklathagra had stolen his most powerful staff , he kept his remaining artifact , the " Tome of the Unicorn " close by his side . Except for the elves , the rest of civilization was unaware that Shoon VII existed for the next seven centuries , and all that the elves knew was that he had hidden away somewhere within the ruins of Deep Shanatar , having reached those depths from tunnels in his dungeons below the Imperial Mount of Shoonach . Sometime during that 700 years , Shoon ' s skeletal form decayed until only a demilich remained . No one knows whether it was intentional or accidental , but Shoon ' s floating skull became entrapped in an extradimensional space within the last page of the " Tome of the Unicorn " , where Shoon remained until he was discovered another 300 years later by Shond Tharovin in the year 1357 DR . Shond successfully figured out how to summon Shoon VII . Rather than destroy Shond , he made a proposal . He requested that Shond bring him the souls of seven innocent victims for him to consume . If Shond did this , Shoon would tell him the location of a powerful artifact known as the " Living Gem " , which Shoon had discovered at some point before the fall of the Imperium . Zallanora Argentresses . In 1358 DR , a young wood elf maiden from Mosstone of only 105 years was traveling with some companions from Erlkazar to Silverymoon . Her name was Zallanora Argentresses . She had recently graduated from the Mystics ' Academy and was planning to next attend the Lady ' s College . She never arrived . She and her friends were ambushed in the Cloud Peaks and kidnapped by the wicked and insane Calishite wizard Shond Tharovin . Shond had recently discovered and stolen the evil " Tome of the Unicorn " from where it had been hidden away in Ruathym and released the demilich — Shoon VII — who had been trapped inside . Shoon VII drank the souls of Zallanora ' s friends . When it was her turn to be consumed , at the moment , the Time of Troubles began , and magic chaos that occurred when the gods fell to the earth somehow caused Zallanora and Shoon VII to switch bodies . From that moment on , Zallonora found herself in the form of a skull trapped within the " Tome of the Unicorn " , and Shoon VII was once again free to reign unchecked in the world . Shoon and Shond worked together to hide the evidence of the ambush of Zallanora ' s caravan , making it look like it was destroyed by the magical chaos of the god ' s fall . Then , Shoon kept his promise and revealed the location of the " Living Gem " to Shond . It took Shoon twelve years to get used to controlling his new female body . After this time of waiting , he set to work returning to his evil plans . He began by joining the Cowled Wizard s of Amn , becoming an apprentice to Lady Varytha Gheldieg . While in a woman ' s body , " she " used seduction to gain many male admirers and had several wizards who volunteered to mentor " her " . On those few occasions where " Zallanora " accidentally revealed that " she " knew more about magic than a young apprentice should , Shoon methodically assassinated any observers and skillfully covered his tracks . Shoon VII was patient . He knew that he had many hundreds of years to make his plans in his new elven body , and those plans fully included returning to rule the lands and empire that were once his to control . Shoon VII was fully aware of the existence of the Twisted Rune . He had gained knowledge of their plans through Uruathis a lamia noble working for Kartak Spellseer deep under the ruins of Shoonach . His plans included offering the Twisted Rune to join him as his servants or be destroyed . By 1370 DR , Shoon had gained influence among the Cowled Wizards in Eshpurta , Esmeltaran , and Keczulla . He intended to use the riches of his " mentor " , Lady Varytha , to fund a mercenary army and use the Cowled Wizards as magic support to restore the Shoon Empire . He was still active and in Zallanora ' s body by the year 1374 DR , and he was actively trying to figure out a way to destroy his greatest rivals , Iryklathagra and the liches of the Twisted Rune . Toward the dragon , he planned to send waves of dragonslayers against her until he could fully grasp her defenses and find a weakness in them . His method for this was to leave such things as maps and descriptions of her hoard in various dungeons and crypts in the south , so that unsuspecting adventurers would find them and greedily seek after her treasure . After the Rage of Dragons in 1373 DR , Shoon VII sent an agent disguised as a priest of Bhaelros to Calimport to speak with the Syl - Pasha Ralan el Pesarkhal , who attempted to convince the caleph to offer a bounty of the position of Syl - Vizar of Calimport to whoever could slay the dragon . Appendix . Trivia . Steven E . Schend , who created the character of Shoon VII , has suggested that Shoon VII would have traveled to Maztica to effortlessly conquer that continent . He further postulated that the return of Abeir to Toril ( 4 edition ) would have resulted in him no longer existing on Toril .