Manshoon Manshoon was the founder of the Zhentarim , also known as the Black Network , until he was " slain " by Fzoul Chembryl , his ally , and Lord Orgauth in 1370 DR . However , it transpired that Manshoon had created a dozen or more clone s that the murderous duo then found themselves facing . Only one of these clones survived into the late 1370s DR and once more headed the evil organization known as the Zhentarim . Personality . For years Manshoon was the lord of Zhentil Keep and leader of the Zhentarim . Completely fitting the archetype of the sly - tongued , sinister and decadent master spellcaster , Manshoon ruthlessly crushed revolts within his own ranks of the Black Network , easily slaughtered his rivals and weeded the weak out of the ranks of the young and ambitions by sending upstarts on nigh - impossible suicide missions . Hated and mistrusted by Fzoul , Manshoon manipulated him much as he did all others - remaining arrogant , untouchable in his power and faintly amused by it all . History . Early Life . Manshoon was born in Zhentil Keep in 1229 DR to Harlshoon , the first lord of Zhentil Keep . Manshoon , his brother Asmuth and the son of their father ' s chief rival , Calkontor , named Chess were sent off together to prove themselves worthy of being lords like their fathers . While his sons were away , Harlshoon was poisoned by Calkontor but with his dying breaths he threw Calkontor out of a tower window . The trio ' s fathers ' places were usurped by a pair of opportunists ( and blamed on foreign assassins ) while the lord - princes continued their adventures together . One such adventure was the quest to take a magical sword from a barrow , a goal shared by a trio of female harpers . Asmuth was blinded and Manshoon had one of his hands blown off when he carelessly grabbed for the sword . Chess saved both their lives and the three fled when the sword animated itself , appearing to attack the harpers . They came across a party of adventurers and murdered them all in their sleep . Manshoon recovered a wand and a spellbook . He traded the wand for his hand to be restored but kept the spellbook , secretly planning to study the Art , inspired by the magic of the sword . After a few more adventures they headed home , learning about their sires and their usurped positions in an inn somewhere in the Dalelands . Manshoon made sure his blind brother Asmuth fell off of a bridge to his death before they returned to the keep where he and Chess planned to dispose of the usurpers . One of them had gone to fight some mages from Thar and had died in the conflict while the other remained in the keep . The two were attacked by Banite priest / assassin s upon their arrival but were saved by Manshoon ' s magic . However , unknown to him , Chess would defect in exchange for his father ' s seat on the council . It was , however a double cross ! Chess , Manshoon and their childhood friend Fzoul Chembryl killed the usurper . They claimed their rightful council seats and supported Fzoul ' s rise through the ranks of the Banite priesthood . Building the Zhentarim . Feeling exposed , Manshoon immediately set about creating a cabal of mages , his Black Cloaks , to protect him , recruiting Fzoul early on . In 1261 DR , not long afterward , he founded the Zhentarim . Knowing the priests to obey Bane over anyone else and assuming the wizards were just as ambitious as he was , Manshoon held little trust for any of his new allies , he sent out spies and was determined to raise his powers in the arcane far above anyone else in Zhentil Keep . Some of his spies came out from Teshendale talking of a flying hollow rock . Manshoon investigated personally , hoping to find powerful magic . Instead , he discovered the beholder Xantriph . The two canny individuals joined forces , claiming the rock was a conduit to the gods . Banite priests flocked to the place where Xantriph instructed them all to do as Manshoon commanded , joining the Zhentarim and leading them away from the decadent High Impereceptor of the church . However in order to do this Manshoon and his magelings had to pledge fealty to Bane , promising to lead the faith to even greater heights of power than the weakening High Imperceptor had . Furthermore Manshoon promised control of the priesthood and Zhentil Keep to the beholders , or so it seemed . In secret Manshoon embarked on another plan for his organisation , having little interest in empire - building , he set his Zhentarim wizards the task of establishing trade routes between the Moonsea and the untapped markets of the Sword Coast . This allowed Manshoon to further dream of advancing his skill in the Art while manipulating both the beholders and the church of Bane from behind the scene . During this period Manshoon developed his ultimate insurance plan , the notorious Stasis clone spell . With the Banites taken care of , and his Zhentarim agents in place , all seemed well . Although many things went well for Manshoon ' s Black Network , many things went wrong as well . The Clones and the Manshoon Wars . In 1370 DR , Manshoon was " slain " by Fzoul and Lord Orgauth , who then found themselves facing around a dozen clones that the wizard had created . Each of the clones was convinced that he was the real Manshoon and was inexplicably compelled to slay his rival clones . Most of these perished in the ensuing battles . The caches of magical items formerly hidden by Manshoon were scattered throughout the Realms . Three clones , who mastered this killing compulsion by means of spells and devices , survive with the one that returned to the Zhentarim appearing to be ' the ' Manshoon . Used to ruling and manipulating from behind the scenes and relived of responsibility of administering to the Black Network , he seems to have learned a lesson in caution and patience . He has since redoubled his arcane research , seeking ways to transfer his consciousness from one clone to another at will . One of the three remaining clones returned to the Zhentarim , conceding leadership to Fzoul and entering into some sort of accommodation with him . The second clone assumed a position of power among the Night Masks of Westgate , calling himself Orbakh . The third took refuge in Undermountain with Halaster . The Zhentarim Manshoon is a powerful lieutenant of Fzoul . He serves as a member - at - large , a free agent with the power and authority to direct Zhentarim assets as he sees fit , this was strange as the original Manshoon and Fzoul barely tolerated each other . Orbakh awoke at the beginning of the Manshoon Wars only to find that he had been turned into a vampire and was not in the stasis chamber with the rest of the Manshoon clones ( or the stash of magic items he had left for himself in the event of his death ) . He hunted down the vampire who had turned him , the Night King Orlak , and slew him , taking the vampire lord ' s magic items and his title of Night King . Whilst venturing up to the surface to feed , he found himself in Westgate where the magic items influenced him to create some vampire underlings and with them , he decided to take over and revitalize the Night Masks thieves ' guild . Orbakh quickly took over the Night Masks as he arrived in the midst of a power vacuum left by the death of the guild ' s former leader . He restructured the guild to his tastes and planned to turn Westgate into the capital city of a vampire kingdom by wedding the last in the line of the defunct Westgate royalty . This plot never saw fruition , however , because of the intervention of the Spellplague . Although most believe the Manshoon Wars persisted only a few short , chaotic years , they actuaclly waged over the course of at least a century . Where the survivng clones became increasingly entrenched , hoping to outlast their foes . Post - Spellplague . When Netheril learned of the Zhentarim ' s alliance with the phaerimm , the shadovar destroyed Zhentil Keep , killing the Zhentarim Manshoon . The one in Undermountain died during the events of the Spellplague itself . Only Orbakh remained . He was now the Night King , leader of the Night Masks and a powerful vampire . The Fire Knives though , purged Westgate of vampires . Retaking his original name , the last Manshoon clone relocated to the haunted castle , Stormwatch , and rebuilt the forces of the Zhentarim , adding his own undead thralls to those few living Zhents that remained . Stormwatch and Darkhold were the main bases of these forces , but not having the resources to rebuild the organization to its former glory , the Manshoon ' s new Zhentarim is now merely a mercenary company , bolstered by priests of Cyric from Darkhold . Decades after collapse of the Weave and the devastating effects of the Spellplague , the vampiric Manshoon began plotting to take rulership of Cormyr . To this end , he slowly began collecting information on items rumored to contain the spirits of the Nine . Known as blueflame ghost s , combining their power was rumored to be strong enough to breach the wards protecting the royal palace of Suzail . He also began to use his powerful mental techniques on lowly and powerful alike , enslaving some , making others mind - thralls to be used or discarded as needed ( without the person being any the wiser ) , and spying on the nobility and palace staff . Manshoon also began to slowly whittle away at Elminster ' s defenses , killing an ally of the Old Sage ' s or removing one of the many contingency spells still tied to him whenever he felt like having some fun . Finally , in the Year of the Ageless One , he took revenge upon Elminster for the foiling of so many plans and the destruction of so many clones . Manshoon , using the body of a beholder held in mind - thrall , unleashed magics strong enough to reduce Elminster to dust . He departed , however , before discovering that Elminster survived as a pile of magical ash . Manshoon continued to plot his overthrow of the Obarskyr s . He followed Elminster to the Simbul ' s cave in Shadowdale with the intent of killing Elminster . However , Elminster and Storm Silverhand were able to restore the Simbul ' s sanity , and she forced Manshoon to yield and promise to work with Elminster to recover Blueflame items . After the Simbul teleported away , Manshoon once again blasted Elminster ' s human form to ashes but couldn ' t destroy him . Later , after Mystra ' s return around 1480 DR , Elminster regained his original body and destroyed for good the vampire Manshoon . However , Elminster knew that Manshoon was ready to awaken a new clone .