Reviewing game organisations: The Zhentarim

[Kelemvor]

The Zhentarim
The Zhentarim are an organization that operates out of Zhentil Keep. They
are an evil group that disrupts trade all the way across the Kingdoms. The
Zhentarim is said to be openly ruled by Manshoon, Fzoul and Semmenon. They are said to pay well but make a mistake and expect to find yourself floating face down in the Zhentil Keep Sewers.

Zhentarim
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In the Forgotten Realms setting, there exists a sinister society intent on exploiting every resource of Faerûn to its own ends. This society is known as the Zhentarim. The Zhentarim, also known as the Black Network, is an evil organization whose goal is to dominate the lands from the Moonsea to the Sword Coast North. Originally a secret society, the Zhentarim have operated openly in the area of the Moonsea, particularly around Zhentil Keep, their greatest base of operations. It is currently led by Fzoul Chembryl, Chosen of Bane and High Lord of the Zhentarim.

Many Zhentarim are simply opportunistic merchants; however, some do resort to illicit acts such as attacking rival caravans, extorting villages for food, or far more serious crimes like arson and murder. Bandits are hired by the Zhentarim to attack other caravans and towns. Wizards are also hired to conjure up or enrage foul monsters. Recently, the Zhentarim have been sending some older members of their organization to frontier nations such as the Silver Marches, where they buy land and become peaceable homesteaders, raising their own families and biding their time until they are called upon again.

Rumors state that the Black Network is a sinister, murderous band of spies, informants, armies, and wizards who ride around on monsters, engaged in all sorts of secret and terrible activities. These rumors spread fear of the cabal from the lands of the Moonsea and across the Heartlands to the Sword Coast.

The peoples who live in the lands of the Dragon Reach know a lot more about the Zhentarim. They can recount how it rose to open rule and power in Zhentil Keep, then seized control of the Citadel of the Raven from the other Moonsea cities that shared it. They can tell of how the Zhents conquered Teshendale, Voonlar, and Yûlash, and plotted the conquests of Shadowdale, Daggerdale, and Mistledale. The Zhents have entire armies hidden away in the Citadel of the Raven and in a sinister fortress called Darkhold, which is somewhere in the Western Heartlands. Zhents govern affairs east to the walls of Mulmaster, north through the Ride and the Cold Lands to the Great Glacier, and south through the weaker Dales. Until the arrival of the shades, the Zhents also greatly influenced affairs west across Anauroch to the vales of the Gray Peaks.

The Zhents are soldiers commanded by cruel minor wizards possessing more ambition than power, who report to truly powerful mages (the Black Cloaks) headed by Lord Manshoon—the Zhentarim's founder. The Zhentarim can also count amongst their forces some beholders (led by one named Xulla), many clerics of Bane, and (with much rarity, except in Darkhold) clerics of Cyric. The Zhentarim desire to enrich themselves and control towns, villages, and entire realms along a trade route linking the Moonsea to the Sword Coast—the Waterdeep area, specifically—via Darkhold. Along that route, they smuggle slaves, poisons, and contraband. They have spies almost everywhere in northern, eastern and western Faerûn.

Fzoul Chembryl, the ambitious Chosen High Priest of Iyachtu Xvim, joined the Zhentarim when Lord Manshoon (then leader of the Zhentarim) forged an alliance with him. He served as second-in-command for years, seemingly content with his position, but he schemed with another high-ranking Zhentarim, the Lord Orgauth (the lord of Zhentil Keep who was, in fact, not human as he seemed, but a fell pit fiend) and eventually ousted Manshoon from power. Fzoul intended to turn the Zhentarim into an arm of the faith of Xvim (now the faith of Bane), and forced from the Zhentarim both loyalists to Manshoon (including Manshoon's lieutenant, the powerful mage Sememmon) and the faithful of the rival deity of Cyric. This led to a brewing war within the organization, with the western Zhentarim of Darkhold led by Sememmon and the Cyrisists opposing the Zhents and Banites, until Sememmon was forced to abandon Darkhold and go into hiding. The Zhentarim of Darkhold, however, led by the evil Cyrisist knight known as the Pereghost and a priest of Cyric called Dhamir Ercals, remain at odds and on the verge of war with the Banites. Fzoul, having slain Orgauth, had almost gained full control over the Zhentarim. An agreement made with Khelben Blackstaff has prevented Fzoul from organizing Zhentarim expansion into the Sword Coast, but the agreement would not last forever.

Among the ranks of the Zhentarim's other major players are the Banite priest Teldorn Darkhope—the lord of the Zhentarim in Mintar, and a close ally of Fzoul—and Lady Scyllua Darkhope—Zhentil Keep's champion, who administers the defenses and day-to-day affairs of the keep itself. Apart from Fzoul, the most influential member of the Zhentarim remains Manshoon, for despite being forced from command and actually slain, his death awakened over a dozen magical clones who attacked each other in the so-called Manshoon Wars, and eventually several escaped, including one (seemingly the Manshoon) who returned to the Zhentarim some time later to work directly for Fzoul.

NB: With regard to the Wiki sourced information above, please bear in mind that here on FK the return of Bane has not yet happened.

An excellent link with background information is this one

http://www.davidcwood.com/adnd/campaign ... ntarim.php

And, of course, the by now familiar referral to the Lords of Darkness source book found here

http://theisleofkev.com/dnd/books/Lords ... rkness.pdf

[Kelemvor]

The renewed interest in this particular organisation was a driver in reviewing all of the in-game organisations.

An application has been submitted by a group of players who wish to rework the Zhentarim and establish it anew as an evil organisation intent on providing grand roleplay opportunities for all players.

Whilst this commendale aim has the full support of the Immortal team there are a number of issues common to all of our organisations which need to be considered.

How to provide a long term roleplay aim and give the membership a clear direction above and beyond individual acts of evil pillage and slaughter.

How to implement changes which can be worked in and through future roleplay events. Bane's eventual return being quite a biggie.

How to promote this organisation without taking away from the other areas of Zhentil Keep, principally the work done recently to expand the city.

I've deliberately left this organisation til last in the discussions as I wanted to establish the other threads as a guide to what we need to look at.

I'm hoping that the commenst made here by other players will help in our assessment of the application currently under discussion.

Have at it...

[Selveem]

How to provide a long term roleplay aim and give the membership a clear direction above and beyond individual acts of evil pillage and slaughter.

From what I understand, that isn't really what the Zhentarim is about. In my mind, anyhow, they operate much like the spy organizations in information-gathering, countering Waterdeep/Harper initiatives, keeping the power in the Zhent and not other rogue guilds, etc.

There are plenty of interesting roleplays generated through this and plenty more are possible.

How to implement changes which can be worked in and through future roleplay events. Bane's eventual return being quite a biggie.

I hate even the mention of Bane anymore. This has been discussed like... since I first joined. 7 years ago? I think it's pretty safe to say unless there is something already in the works to just ignore Bane as a possible consideration. The guild could eventually be renamed if need be and the like. I don't think it would take too much effort.

How to promote this organisation without taking away from the other areas of Zhentil Keep, principally the work done recently to expand the city.

I could see a good number of things - most of them to affect Waterdeep and get people to walk away from the Square. Most of them will require Imm support, but think of something like this: Squandering Waterdhavian trade: cutting off food supplies to Waterdeep through trade blocks. Paying higher rates for food in an effort to divert food supplies from reaching Waterdeep. Little things like this can have a big impact! Costs for food in Zhentil Keep will be higher, but the cost of precious little supplies remaining will skyrocket in WD. (Of course, for lowbies they still have access to training area food and priests can still make food..) It's my opinion that we need more friction between WD and ZK.

[Kelemvor]

From what I understand, that isn't really what the Zhentarim is about. In my mind, anyhow, they operate much like the spy organizations in information-gathering, countering Waterdeep/Harper initiatives, keeping the power in the Zhent and not other rogue guilds, etc.

My reference to acts of pillage and slaughter were not in reference to the playerbase, but to the background information provided above.

eg.

Many Zhentarim are simply opportunistic merchants; however, some do resort to illicit acts such as attacking rival caravans, extorting villages for food, or far more serious crimes like arson and murder.

[Selveem]

What's wrong with pillage, plunder, and slaughter as long as rules are adhered to?

*grin*

In any case, thanks for clarifying.

[Nedylene]

That quote is taken straight from the sourcebook =P

My two cents has already been spomen to staff. Personally I am a long time member in the Zhentarim (as in five OOC years) I actually withdrew an alt from the Harpers to join the Zhentarim as I wanted to give evil rp more "to do" even way back when. The key to making this organization work is a group of leaders who have the drive, ambition andforsight to give their members direction in a way that pillaging, PK fest and things like that are an AFTERTHOUGHT and not the main show. With every group there will be some "stagnant time" when there is no plots going on but if you build the group and give them direction often members can continue on with their own plots while keeping to the general "feel" of being Zhentarim.

I know quite a few evil people interested in this group and quite a few that I feel will play it responsably. Is that spelt right? Regardless, the demand for this group is there and the player base is there. Some of the members, like myself, gave up an alt in the Harpers to join this group. With all of the organizations I believe the Harpers and the Zhents is the ONLY two that people should not have alts in which is fine really, I think we have the playerbase to support the two of them.

As a way to revitalize this group while not taking away from the general feel of Zhentil Keep, including the expansion planned ... The same group who put in an application has been discussing this. And we have also been discussing amungst ourselves as to applying to build a "place of interest" for the group to operate out of. We haven't yet as we are still plotting bout it between us. We have the small ZK headquarters in ZK itself which is great when the ZK is there for "law" purposes but not so great for plotting anything else.

[Lathander]

Selveem

I hate even the mention of Bane anymore. This has been discussed like... since I first joined. 7 years ago?

As in other posts, word choice. I am sure you could make the same point and make it directly, without being so condescending.

Most of them will require Imm support...

I see this statement creeping up in several of the organisation threads. I need some clarification. It is my understanding in the review of player-run organisations that the impetus for and continuation of rp centered around the organisation is to be done primarily by players. Please clarify for me the intent so that I am thinking along the right lines.[/quote]

[Lerytha]

I made reference to the need for imm involvement in the other thread. I also made the point (I thought, clearly) that the majority of the actions must be instituted by PCs. The player-base is the most important part of all discussions about organisations.

My point about imms, was that occasionally they should utilise organisations as part of major RPs, and occasionally run small roleplays giving organisations something to do other than JUST player-initiated stuff.

I say again, player-initiated stuff will be (and should be) the vast majority.

[Lathander]

Thanks for clearing that up. I have a better understanding now.

[Aegir]

How to provide a long term roleplay aim and give the membership a clear direction above and beyond individual acts of evil pillage and slaughter.

You quote later in this thread a mention of the Zhentarim being opportunistic thugs, more or less, raiding caravans and the like. This is an aspect of the FR Zhentarim, even in FR its not a primary one, more a way of keeping greedy evil soldiers in line by allowing them to have their way with surrounding lands.

Primarily, the Zhentarim are about the domination of trade, and about an extensive spy network to keep tabs on potential areas of exploitation, as well as rivals (such as the Harpers). One completely passive function of the Zhentarim and Harpers could very well be something of a cold war mentality, both working to spy on the other, learn their active members, current plots, locations of interest and the like. You read through the FR sourcebooks, and they're littered with Zhent-controlled cities with planted Harper spies, and good or otherwise benign cities having Zhent spies gathering information.

A focus on this cold war mentality, as well as a domination of trade and a general mentality of power through knowledge and wealth can easily avoid the Harper/Zhent rivalry descending into a collection of raids.

How to implement changes which can be worked in and through future roleplay events. Bane's eventual return being quite a biggie.

How to promote this organisation without taking away from the other areas of Zhentil Keep, principally the work done recently to expand the city.

I bunch these two together because my answer to both is very similar. In FR, Bane and Cyric could not hate each other more, but this is largely caused by the manner of his return. You alter that return for FK, there is no reason their hatred of each other can't be lessened somewhat. Case in point: when Bane returns in FR, a sizable chunk of Cyrics faith converts, including his High Priest, and with him goes the Zhentarim. If the Zhentarim shifts to PC hands (and thus maintaining a more neutral position regarding the pair) then there is no reason the interaction can't be left at a heated rivalry as opposed to out and out murder of each other.

As far as the specific case of ZK, simply leave it as-is, but tone down the hatred between Bane and Cyric. Cyric doesn't like Bane, Bane doesn't like Cyric; Maybe they'll never have tea and crumpets together, but at least they don't maintain a "kill on sight" mentality. And beyond them, the Zhentarim keeps an outwardly faith-neutral stance, skewed slightly by whoever its current leaders are.

So the simple answer is not to alter things drastically, but to tweak them just enough to produce the sort of simmering hatred between the two faiths that you want, instead of the PK-encouraging outright hatred and faith war that exists in FR.

[Mariela]

There are other religions besides Selune and Shar that want to kill each other on sight? Say it isn't so!


To be honest, the American in me wants to strip the organizations like the Harpers and the Zhentiteriam away from church affiliations and make them more independent and their own sort of wicked strange faith. That way you can be from ANY faith and join them.

The problem with setting the Harpers and the Zhentierium right now at opposite sides of the conflict is well.... we'd have to get the Harpers back into the play and I tell you what... the Zhenti's have been up in arms about getting their organization back into working. I haven't heard a high or tail of the Harpers doing the same. The Zhent's would need more than 1 organization to target, and I encourage it.

Sooo what am I saying?
Make the Zheniterium more about promotion of the city of Zhentil Keep's adgenda and less church driven. That way the Bane and Cyric issue, where is it could be an internal plot of fighting for control of the group and city can be there.. it's not a main plot of who's group it is.

Does it break cannon? Probably.

However, screw it. If you set it up that way, you got internal city affairs that need to be taken care of.. kinda like a secondary watch to tZhentil keep.. and then you got external conflict vs the city of Waterdeep.. so the guard force.... and the Harpers..when they are found out.. and then with Daunyelle just to keep the Truescar happy.

But.. that's just me.

[Zynarc]

Selunites aren't the only heretics around. Banites are too. (Actually, all the others are probably heretics to Cyric).

Zhentarim should be involved in all the infighting and internal conflicts. Look, all us selfish people just want to be at the top of the food chain, don't we

However, when something major occurs, Zhents will put aside their differences outwardly and seem to work together. eg, Dominating and monopolising trade (hey, Dalvyn's component idea seems to be a good one *cough*) attacking an convoy carrying some important items.

I'm saying it can be dominated by a particular church, but let us do away with canon. Let it shift hands every now and then according to whichever church is in power.

Or else that would mean I'll get to have a Banite inscribing heretic on every Cyricist I catch


EDIT to add in:

The places of Zhentarim control should charge outsiders a higher fee for services and products, but charge its locals a normal price. The Zhentarim perhaps give visitors they trust a symbol of citizenship, although I cannot offhand think of a prerequisite for this. This will allow those 'branded citizens' to enjoy the benefits the locals enjoy.

[Orplar]

I think the Zhentarim is one of the orgs that must stay in the game, along with the harpers. Everything should branch out from there based on the size of the player base.

[Kirkus]

I like the referance to the cold war mentality but for me that dosn't quite sum up the feeling of the Zhents.... I see the atmosphere as more of a simmering pot about to boil over. And the Zhents are what puts the water at 211 degrees, just about to push the world into a frenzy.
They are forceful, brutish and sinister. They openly act in their own area of influence while through subterfuge and by all means necessary try to expand that area of control.

One of my biggest reasons for adamently through the years supporting the Zhents has been that they are a basic cover all for evils. I saw in source book once a description of a Zhent raiding party of some sort...(I site it all now but I am, as usual stuck at work)... But the importing thing stuck. They had members of all sorts and uses for them all. Bingo! In my mind that is something we can use.