Thay

'We wove a fear into the primitive peoples of Toril. At their firesides, as their shamans, their soothsayers, we preached the fear of the dead, and soon they came to believe us. As they should! They have long since learnt to fear, to revere, but to not meddle. And now this changes.'- Necromantic Celebrant Lorenzo al-Mualim, one of the magocratic council of Thay, giving a speech in the wake of the Great Resurrection Event.
Alqamarzia Al'imburiat Thay w Dawlat Espare qamar (The Thayan Enclave) was a magocratic enclave located mostly in the straits of Gildegra, with one overseas territory, Espare, connected via teleportation gates. It was by far the oldest power on Toril, and incredibly advanced. It inhabited the Crimson Zone, a habitable terraformed shielded zone in Gildegra. Its inhabitants spoke Thuar.
Its capital was Amkhemar.
Thay was founded many tens of millenia before the Dalereckoning by people from Sigil, but in the 20th century Pre-DR, indigenous Gildegran peoples discovered the enclave, but many of them were allowed into the fold and handed off the magical secrets. 
The Thayans wove a fear of necromancy and the undead into most early Torillian cultures during the days when fireside shamans and cave paintings were the means of storytelling. As such, the almost ubiquitous cultural fear surrounding necromancy was their doing. This was both selfish and selfless - to ensure Thay was the only place that could wield necromantic secret, and to stifle threats against it, but to protect the world from wizards outside Thay too.
Despite its isolation, its intake of people slowly grew; Mages, artifices and scholars of interest were often recruited into the empire, but then would be sworn to secrecy should they ever leave. The biggest influx in population was after the Dalereckoning, when Netherese wizards were allowed refuge in the enclave.
It was hidden from the outside world by powerful wards, so that most non-Thayans had no idea where it was. Some of the more well-educated non-Thayans knew Thay was in the north somewhere, but that would usually be the extent of their knowledge. As such, the term 'Thayan' became a sort of byword amongst non-Thayans to refer to some kind of powerful magic device - many merchants would describe magic trinkets or ships as being 'Thayan' in origin, without really knowing where Thay was. To the outsiders, Thay appeared an impenetrable wall of ice in an endless ongoing blizzard.
Thayan law was especially harsh when it came to the jeopardising of Thay. The Black Watch was a special force used to ensure the secrets of Thay, and threats either to or from it, never came to fruition. They rarely failed. 
The most powerful outside magic academies and schools were usually controlled in some way by Thay - they were essentially the magic illuminati.
The empire was highly magocratic and magic was incredibly widespread. Due to the culture, it was almost unheard of for a born Thayan to not have magical prowess - it was in their schools, their stories, their academies, their jobs, and their blood. Their technology was legendary - the outside world was sometimes given but the slightest taste of Thayan power with devices such as the Vortex Translocator or Cassalanter's Spear. It had hubs for Skipjammer and planar transport, a link to The Underdark, and more. 
They had several forces and companies dedicated to magical travel, such as the Tubekh Subterrane Shipping Authority and the Thayan Outer World Expeditionary Range. With the help of Sigil, Thay protected Materia from Outsiders.
 
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