Szass Tam Szass Tam was a powerful lich and member of a group of eight Zulkirs who ruled the country of Thay . He was the Zulkir of Necromancy and commanded the Legion of Bone , a huge legion of undead soldiers , led by his vampire and lich generals . Szass Tam was the ruler of Thaymount . Description . Szass Tam was tall , his face had fine - boned , intellectual features with dark eyes and a wispy black beard . He wore a vermilion robe with voluminous sleeves trimmed with gems and gold . He was gaunt and pale , but only his withered hands and the hint of dry rot occasionaly wafting from his person truly attested to his lichdom . He often had an ebony staff with him . During the Spellplague , Szass ' undead nature was apparent to every onlooker since the chaos rendered his magical powers close to useless thus hindering the lich from altering his burned and ruined appearance . Personality . Like other Red Wizards , Szass Tam prefered to remain unseen , working through lackeys and servitor creatures ( including vast armies of undead ) while he plotted and schemed . His undeath gave him patience . He was quite prepared to abandon servants and attempts that fail , and simply try again later in a better way . Those who met him ( or seemingly real magical images of himself that he creates and sends far across Faerûn ) discovered Szass Tam to be calm , cultured , and even pleasant . Tam is polite but blunt , and he could be plunged instantly into cold , controlled rage by insolence or deliberate defiance . On the other hand , he seemed to admire those who cross or foil him by cleverness , as long as they treated him politely . He was always spinning more simultaneous intrigues than most Faerûnians have years in their lives , seemed content to view existence as a great game , with plots and schemes as the playing pieces - or , if you prefer , weapons . In " The Crimson Gold " , Tam shows a desire to find someone worthy of sharing lichdom with him . Activities . Szass Tam was the Zulkir of Necromancy in Thay , its most influential Red Wizard , and — observers said — the true ruler of Thay . A lich for the last two hundred - odd years , Szass Tam achieved his present power through great arrogance , the skills and preparation to back up his overwhelming ambitions , and the brilliant schemes of one of the most cunning and intelligent beings in all Faerûn . Relationships . Szass Tam had a deal with Larloch , searching for ancient magic items and artifacts for him in exchange for some of Larloch ' s . History . Szass Tam was born in 1104 DR . In 1157 DR Szass Tam led a group of Red Wizards to slay Nyressa Flass , the Zulkir of necromancy . Afterwards , Szass Tam was named the successor to the Zulkir of necromancy . In 1159 DR Szass Tam became a lich after an abortive invasion of Rashemen . In 1201 DR Szass Tam slew the Zulkir of illusion , Nymor Thrul after a failed invasion of Aglarond . Szass Tam slew the Harper King , but was defeated himself by Elminster Aumar in 1222 DR . In 1359 DR Szass Tam allied Thay with the Tuigan horde . Working through Harper agents , Szass Tam defeated Maligor Zulkir of Alteration . In 1367 DR Szass Tam released the demon lord Eltab that destroys much of Eltabbar . Szass Tam unleashed a horde of undead to attack Aglarond , but failed to breach the Watchwall . In 1373 DR Szass Tam aided Thazienne Uskevren to release Eltab In 1375 DR , Szass caused the murders of the Zulkirs Druxus Rhym and Aznar Thrul and betrayed a Thayan army under the command of tharchions Azhir Kren and Homen Odesseiron to the Rashemi to create a climate of fear within the Thayan population . He hindered the proper investigation of the murders and solved these issues by himself . He thus tried to convince the nobles , legions and common people that he was the only one who can deal with these problems , in order to get him elected supreme ruler of Thay . When Dmitra Flass rallies the Zulkirs originally loyal to him to stand against his aspirations , Szass decided to achieve rulership by force and declared war to all opposing Zulkirs . When Dmitra ' s council achieved a great victory against his undead army at the Keep of Thazar , Szass called upon the united armies of Gauros and Surthay to march south toward the great city of Bezantur . By 1377 DR Szass had established his seat of power at Thaymount by evicting his enemies from their estates on the plateau . Some of the zulkirs changed sides a couple times during the war and ended up as Szass Tam ' s allies . One of them was the diviner Yaphyll . After realizing that the lich ' s Thay would be comprised of the undead , she decided to switch sides again in favor of the council of Zulkirs . . As a result Szass took her prisoner in 1385 DR , binding her with the Death moon orb and Thakorsil ' s Seat , powerful items of domination . He forced Yaphyll to perform the most powerful divination known to her order no matter the consequences to her own well - being , and to tell him how to arrange for a decisive victory over the other Zulkirs . She performed the task and told Szass to lay a trap at the Keep of Sorrows . Then she left him with another vision : At the end of the vision Yaphyll was surrounded by a blue flame and broke free of Szass Tam ' s power . The lich killed her with his poisonous touch trying to regain control over the diviner . Later it became apparant that Yaphyll saw what became known as the Spellplague , the blue flames being a result of the event . As Yaphyll predicted , the fight at the Keep of Sorrows turned into Szass Tam ' s favor . With the help of the Death Moon Orb , Szass tried to coerce his former ally Dmitra Flass into fighting for his side . But then the Spellplague hit . The Death Moon Orb exploded in Szass Tam ' s hand , freeing Dmitra of its power . Szass was hit by a wave of azure fire , a result of the Spellplague , rendering his magic close to useless and burning the flesh from his face and hands . The lich fled from the scene with the help of Xingax . By revealing to Malark Springhill why he killed Druxus Rhym , the lich convinced the spymaster to switch sides and work for him and his greater cause henceforth . In order to learn more about the ways of magic in the time of the spellplague Szass summoned Bane , sacrificing the tharchion Pyras Autorian in the ritual . Bane made a bargain with the lich : he would reveal to Szass his knowledge about the chaotic magic , grant the lich the ability to raise more dead for his cause and augment the lich ' s powers . Szass in turn agreed to surrender his soul after 1000 years had passed when his quest of conquering Thay was completed . Szass knew that the mystical strength lent to him by Bane would gradually fade so he choose to exploit it immediately . When it came to another fight at the Keep of Sorrows , Szass summoned a dream vestige to turn the tide in his favor . He succeeded in beating the legions of the zulkirs , chasing them all the way to Bezantur . His undead legions and loyal priests of Bane further forced the zulkirs to leave the town aboard vessels . Szass summoned the bodies of drowned men and also undead aquatic beasts for a final and lethal victory over the zulkirs . Accompanied by a fleet of warships made from darkness , Szass followed the fleeing zulkirs , entangling them in a marine war . His enemies and Nevron ' s conjured denizens of the infernal oceans proved quite adept at sea fight , beating back his undead minions . Szass conjured the dream vestige again , finally exhausting his magical powers bestowed by Bane . When Bareris defeated the dream vestige and the zulkir ' s forces beat Szass Tam ' s minions , the lich and Malark withdrew to the Thaymount , the lich being content with his conquered lands . Szass didn ' t bother chasing the remaining zulkirs any more , leaving Aloar and the Wizard ' s Reach to them not fearing any retribution by the depleted zulkir ' s forces . He revealed to Malark that he found a book once in possession of Fastrin the Delver .