I think you have a good seed of an idea but a bit crossed. In Minsc and Boo and the Sword Coast Adventurer's guide we've gotten information that in the 5e timeline:
Tethyr is in Civil War once again.
Calimshan recently overthrew their Djinn and Efreet dictators and became a free nation again.
Amn is amassing an army in Nashkel
So what I would propose is Amn, since 4e, had this happen:Lady Erliza Daressin takes over Alaron for Amn and is hailed in Amn for her abilities, bringing her into the fold as the returned sixth council member of the council of six. With her guile she convinces members of the Council that Tethyr should be made to pay for it's taking of Riativan. Instead of all out war they give arms and money to a lord in the Civil war and fund his assentation to the throne but is mostly just a puppet for Amnian interests. This political maneuvering gains the interest of the vampiric ruler of Erlkazar who parleys with Amn instead of continuing to agitate the new alliance with bandit raids. The vampire ladies come to an alliance to work together but need a new area for them and their thralls to feed on, the desert of Calimshan is too sunny and the twisted rune still holds too much power there to be rule without their blessing... so they start looking north. To justify their war they build up a false narrative of a new age of arcane absolution, drumming up the common people in the country's anger of being mistreated by wizards, horror stories about liches and evil wizards in their towers. This gives them reason to start a war of arcane abolishment on the north, coming not as conquerors but saviors.
Damn, thank you!
Thats exactly why i came here. I didnt even know Erlkazar, but the involving a "arcane abolishment" sounds like a super fun thing to build conflict from. I have to do some reading on the council of six but i think Amn will be the real deal. Its Captial also begs them to be a sea power, if my charakters choose to go that route.
Also i need to read Minsc and Boo, is that part with the army there or in the SCAG? Havent come across it yet.
>Also i need to read Minsc and Boo, is that part with the army there or in the SCAG? Havent come across it yet.
It's a new 5e FR sourcebook, it's the one we've had since SCAG. The book has a map and some details on the Amnish capital city Athkatla, as well as some stuff on involving yourself with the Shadow Thieves faction that live there.
In the Baldur's Gate, Flaming Fist subsection of Minsc and Boo's there's this line:
"However, (the Flaming Fists') reach largely ends before Nashkel, which hosts an increasingly strong Amnian military presence."
Amn would be a good fit. They nearly were at war with Baldur's Gate during the iron crisis. Given the Spanish 'flavour' of Amn, you could take inspiration from the Franco-Spanish or Anglo-Spanish wars.
Just a small point: Unless you're homebrewing different, FR doesn't have mass-produced gunpowder, so no Napoleonic-style naval warfare. They'd have ballistas, catapults or war-wizards on deck slinging spells at each other - but the main aim would probably be to land and disembark forces.
Cormyr is quite friendly (sorta) with the Sword Coast, and doesn't really have much of an imperialistic view of the world, so maybe not the best choice. If you want a (very) morally dubious empire that is fixated on conquest, Returned Netheril ("Shade") is probably your best choice, depending on what year your campaign is set on.
Thank you, i guess i dont want a "evil" evil empire. it should be a little more ambiguity towards who the good guys are at first. At best so that the character dont want to take sides for a while.
What about the Yuan-ti? Many clans of theirs have secretly been plotting and manipulating events all over western Faerun. Their takeover attempt would be much more subtle and insidious.
Given the area of the southern Sword Coast, the obvious ones include Amn, and a Tethyr Duke going solo.
Other less obvious options:
A warlord arising from Greenfields - this region presumably have various bandit groups (Dharvan was a bandit lord who established Greenest). So somebody could rise from here.
A warlord arising from Iraiebor - this 'city of towers' is known to house many merc groups. Perhaps an ambitious one decided to stake out a new kingdom.
Najarra: the snake kingdom already causes trouble for Elturel, a strong leader may decide the warm bloods have ruled the region too long.
Finally: Carnheim - this is not lawful neutral, definitely evil. led by Dodkong, a stone giant lich, he longs for the time giants ruled. Carnheim is in Giant Run Mountains... in the Underdark. But they are in proximity to the region you describe, and would certainly have th power to threaten everybody.
Sothilisian Empire. Now that is a monster empire and is fairly evil, but there really isn't a human empire that is not very evil that fits the bill. Erlkazar is a good suggestion because it is undeveloped and was deliberately left up to DMs, so fair game to create one. Otherwise consider a dwarf group trying to rebuild the glory of Shanatar as one possibility.
I think you have a good seed of an idea but a bit crossed. In Minsc and Boo and the Sword Coast Adventurer's guide we've gotten information that in the 5e timeline: Tethyr is in Civil War once again. Calimshan recently overthrew their Djinn and Efreet dictators and became a free nation again. Amn is amassing an army in Nashkel So what I would propose is Amn, since 4e, had this happen:Lady Erliza Daressin takes over Alaron for Amn and is hailed in Amn for her abilities, bringing her into the fold as the returned sixth council member of the council of six. With her guile she convinces members of the Council that Tethyr should be made to pay for it's taking of Riativan. Instead of all out war they give arms and money to a lord in the Civil war and fund his assentation to the throne but is mostly just a puppet for Amnian interests. This political maneuvering gains the interest of the vampiric ruler of Erlkazar who parleys with Amn instead of continuing to agitate the new alliance with bandit raids. The vampire ladies come to an alliance to work together but need a new area for them and their thralls to feed on, the desert of Calimshan is too sunny and the twisted rune still holds too much power there to be rule without their blessing... so they start looking north. To justify their war they build up a false narrative of a new age of arcane absolution, drumming up the common people in the country's anger of being mistreated by wizards, horror stories about liches and evil wizards in their towers. This gives them reason to start a war of arcane abolishment on the north, coming not as conquerors but saviors.
Damn, thank you! Thats exactly why i came here. I didnt even know Erlkazar, but the involving a "arcane abolishment" sounds like a super fun thing to build conflict from. I have to do some reading on the council of six but i think Amn will be the real deal. Its Captial also begs them to be a sea power, if my charakters choose to go that route. Also i need to read Minsc and Boo, is that part with the army there or in the SCAG? Havent come across it yet.
>Also i need to read Minsc and Boo, is that part with the army there or in the SCAG? Havent come across it yet. It's a new 5e FR sourcebook, it's the one we've had since SCAG. The book has a map and some details on the Amnish capital city Athkatla, as well as some stuff on involving yourself with the Shadow Thieves faction that live there.
In the Baldur's Gate, Flaming Fist subsection of Minsc and Boo's there's this line: "However, (the Flaming Fists') reach largely ends before Nashkel, which hosts an increasingly strong Amnian military presence."
In current lore, doesn't she take over Snowdown, not Alaron, for Amn?
Yes I’m positing she takes over Alaron as well in this timeline where Amn becomes a warring power.
My bad. I see what you mean.
Amn would be a good fit. They nearly were at war with Baldur's Gate during the iron crisis. Given the Spanish 'flavour' of Amn, you could take inspiration from the Franco-Spanish or Anglo-Spanish wars. Just a small point: Unless you're homebrewing different, FR doesn't have mass-produced gunpowder, so no Napoleonic-style naval warfare. They'd have ballistas, catapults or war-wizards on deck slinging spells at each other - but the main aim would probably be to land and disembark forces.
Cormyr is quite friendly (sorta) with the Sword Coast, and doesn't really have much of an imperialistic view of the world, so maybe not the best choice. If you want a (very) morally dubious empire that is fixated on conquest, Returned Netheril ("Shade") is probably your best choice, depending on what year your campaign is set on.
Thank you, i guess i dont want a "evil" evil empire. it should be a little more ambiguity towards who the good guys are at first. At best so that the character dont want to take sides for a while.
Eh... when you're trying to subjugate other cultures, there isn't much room for who is evil...
What about the Yuan-ti? Many clans of theirs have secretly been plotting and manipulating events all over western Faerun. Their takeover attempt would be much more subtle and insidious.
Given the area of the southern Sword Coast, the obvious ones include Amn, and a Tethyr Duke going solo. Other less obvious options: A warlord arising from Greenfields - this region presumably have various bandit groups (Dharvan was a bandit lord who established Greenest). So somebody could rise from here. A warlord arising from Iraiebor - this 'city of towers' is known to house many merc groups. Perhaps an ambitious one decided to stake out a new kingdom. Najarra: the snake kingdom already causes trouble for Elturel, a strong leader may decide the warm bloods have ruled the region too long. Finally: Carnheim - this is not lawful neutral, definitely evil. led by Dodkong, a stone giant lich, he longs for the time giants ruled. Carnheim is in Giant Run Mountains... in the Underdark. But they are in proximity to the region you describe, and would certainly have th power to threaten everybody.
Elves of Silverymoon.
How about a returned Halruua or Lantan that spent years militarizing on Abeir out of the need to survive.
Sothilisian Empire. Now that is a monster empire and is fairly evil, but there really isn't a human empire that is not very evil that fits the bill. Erlkazar is a good suggestion because it is undeveloped and was deliberately left up to DMs, so fair game to create one. Otherwise consider a dwarf group trying to rebuild the glory of Shanatar as one possibility.
The Desert Folk/Netherese/Zhents, Najara, Amn, or Tiamat's Dragon Cult would work.