New player here.

[KillerTrees]

Hi, I'm a new player and I have a few questions. From what I've seen in my short time here so far, I am very impressed with the quality of RP and world-building here on Sundren.

Anyway, how undead-oriented is the server? The answer to this question wil determine whether or not I might consider making a rogue-ish character.

And do the Red Wizards have to be bald? Dumb question, I know.

[Usurper]

The undead are around,but nothing is really centerd around them or determines what the server is all about..There is only one location that houses them and that's the Necropolis.

In all cases that I know of,Red Wizards are bald.Most all of Thay's population that is of Mulan heritage is bald or there hair is cropped extremely short.Thay is made up of many backgrounds,Rashemi are even a large percent of their population.Far as I know all Red Wizards are of Mulan heritage and if your not,you are looked at as a lesser person.

Also,
Welcome to Sundren.

[Cornuto]

Here's some good excepts on the Red Wizards:

RACES AND CULTURES

Gnolls and orcs are the most common nonhuman humanoids in Thay. They form the backbone of the Thayan armies, especially the gnolls, who are often placed in city garrisons to keep the populace in line. The less-controllable orcs are usually employed as shock troops.

With the zulkirs' current policy of peaceful trade, the orcs often sit idle, itching for a fight of some sort. If one doesn't come quickly enough, they end up rioting among themselves. To keep this violence from overflowing into the rest of the population, the Red Wizards have set up a regular series of gladiatorial games. Orcs, gnolls, and other violent humanoids are pitted, against one another in blood matches for the enjoyment of ever-growing crowds of spectators.

Goblins and halflings are also not uncommon in Thay, although they are almost always slaves. Their lives may not be as violent as those of the gnolls and orcs, but they are just as short. Tieflings and other planetouched creatures can be found here as well, although these rare folk are judged more by their human ancestry than their physical appearance.

In addition to the nonhumans, Thay is home to two distinct human cultures: the Rashemi and the Mulan.

MULAN

Mulhorandi blood runs thick in the veins of the Mulan. These are the descendants of renegades who rebelled against the Mulhorandi Empire 400 years ago, and since those fateful days, they have retained the power they wrested from their distant masters. Nearly all Red Wizards are of Muhorandi extraction.

There are a few exceptions, and most of these pass themselves off as the children of Mulan parents.

The Mulan people are tall and slim, sometimes to the point of being gaunt. Their skin is sallow, and they usually remove what little body hair they have by means magical or mundane. They wear intricately designed tattoos in place of hair, usually on their bare skulls and where their eyebrows once were. These tattoos often represent dragons, demons, devils, and other creatures of ancient evil. They are extremely stylized, some- times to the point of being cryptic runes or even abstract designs. Many Red Wizards use tattoo magic, and the fashion of Tattooing arose from this. Even those without the power of the Red Wizards wish to appear as though they do.

Almost all nobles in Thay are of Mulan descent, although not all Mulan are nobles. At worst, lowborn Mulan are free farmers or artisans, although many seek power that does not depend on their family's wealth, becoming bureaucrats, soldiers, or priests. For those with the aptitude, the path of the Red Wizard lies open. In fact, most Red Wizards come from Mulan families of relatively humble means (although high-born Red Wizards have the advantage of personal wealth and noble alliances to aid their advancement when they complete their training).

RASHEMI

The common people in Thay are almost exclusively Rashemi, kin to the folk of Rashemen. The Rashemi are a hardy people, short and stocky with dusky skin and dark eyes. They all have thick, dark hair, although most free Rashemi choose to shave their scalps (or at the least, crop their hair quite short) to distinguish themselves from slaves, who are forbidden to cut their hair. Wealthy Rashemi often have themselves tattooed in the Mulan style.

Thayan Rashemi are not a conquered people, nor are they oppressed. They do not have the same opportunities for advancement or wealth that people of Mulan descent do, but they think of themselves as Thayans first. The Rashemi are not happy about having the Mulan as their overlords, but they are resigned to their lot and take fierce pride in the and dark majesty of their land. Any Rashemi with sufficient means owns slaves, and most likely treats those slaves as harshly as they are treated anywhere in Thay. Few Red Wizards are of Rashemi descent, but Rashemi make up the bulk of Thay's free soldiers. Many of the most elite military forces are composed of cruel Rashemi warriors who are happy to serve the Tharchions and Red Wizards.

Thay is basically a caste system, hair is a major indicator of your status -- basically the more you have the lower class you are within the country. Red Wizards who generally are all about posturing, power, and a belief in their own superiority aren't at all likely to groom themselves in the style of lower class.

[Cornuto]

Some more if you're interested.

LIFE AND SOCIETY

There are four levels of Thayan society. They are, in order of increasing influence: slaves, commoners, nobles, and Red Wizards, It's no coincidence that this is also the decreasing order of population. There are far more slaves in Thay than any other group, but they have the least power. The Red Wizards, on the other hand, have few members but easily the most power.

SLAVES

The lowest level of Thayan society is, of course, the slave. The economy of Thay is built upon slave labor, and without it the country would quickly collapse. The current trade in magic items has changed this only a little, and it has not improved the lives of slaves one whit.

Slaves, are not considered citizens and have no rights. They are chattels, like livestock. Killing or harming a slave is not murder or mayhem. It is merely damaging someone's property. A slave owner can do with his property as he wishes, but if he harms someone else's property he is expected to make reparations.

Slaves are costly (a young human field slave sells for about 50gp in the market of Eltabbar), so few commoners have the means to own them. Since slaves represent a significant investment for a small farmer or artisan, common Thayans take good care of them. Slaves consigned to the broad estates of noble Thayans face a harder existence, and those unfortunate souls sold off to vast state-run fields or mines are treated as nothing more than beasts of burden.

Thay imports slaves from all over Faerun, and just about every race is represented among the servile population. Those who survive the trip are usually the hardiest, but most do not last long at their job. House slaves live in relative comfort caring directly for the needs of their Mulan masters. Those consigned to the mines rarely survive a year of scratching metals from the unforgiving Underdark.

COMMONERS

As a whole, commoners do not have much better lives than slaves do. However, they are citizens, not property, which means they can't he indiscriminately tortured or killed. The Red Wizards can usually get away with such behavior, but usually have to invent some sort of pretext for their actions. Commoners have a far better life expectancy than slaves they and better prospects overall. The worst jobs go to slaves, so by default, the commoners are a slight step up. Some have even managed to claw their way to the top of the heap, usually by becoming successful adventurers or wealthy merchants. A few are actually wealthier than most of the nobles and even some Red Wizards. Most commoners are Rashemi, although there arc a few members of this class from more distant lands.

NOBLES

Most of Thay is owned by ancient noble families of Mulan descent. The dividing line between a well-off Mulan commoner and an impoverished Mulan lord is starkly defined by ancestry. Certain Mulan families are noble, and others aren't. The nobles of Thay are content to be governed by the Red Wizards, after all, the most influential mages in that order are nobles themselves), but they jealously maintain control over the elevation of commoners, even heroic ones, to noble status.

Nobles enjoy two paths to comfort, power, and wealth: land and service. Wealthy nobles often own vast tracts of land and make money by leasing it to those who reside upon it, whether they are farmers, ranchers, or miners. Land ownership is not restricted to the noble classes, but in practice, most land in Thay is already owned by a noble, so it is difficult for a commoner to acquire land of his own.

Landless nobles (or those who simply wish to make something of themselves) often take up service in Thay's army, bureaucracy, or clergy. While any free Thayan can become a soldier, official, or priest, leaders are most often drawn from the ranks of well-off nobles who purchase their rank or title. For example, in a typical Thayan Garrison, the captain is a minor landed Thayan noble, his officers are landless Mulan nobles, and his sergeants are Rashemi veterans. The troops, of course, are mostly Rashemi. A noble who buys a good post can enrich himself just as easily as one who owns a great estate: It is expected that a powerful official or highly-placed officer will divert a certain amount of "taxes" for, his own use.

THE RED WIZARDS

At an early age, noble children are carefully examined for any signs of arcane talent. Any who are shown to have even a small aptitude are immediately inducted into wizardry school, followed by a long and arduous apprenticeship to a Red Wizard. Those who survive their apprenticeship and are ambitious, resourceful, and talented are invited to join the Red Wizard s. Some refuse the red robes, but this is rare: becoming a Red Wizard is such an obvious path to power that the zulkirs don't need to recruit anyone.

The Red Wizards are the ruling class of this magocracy. It's illegal for any Red Wizard to take on an apprentice of other than Mulan blood. Some still do, however, and it's usually an open secret. At any given time, most Red Wizards claim up to a dozen apprentices (in game terms, wizards who have not yet acquired their first level in the Red Wizard prestige class), whom they keep at one another's throats to advance their own schemes. Apprentices exist to serve as the master's agents, minions, and thralls. What magical training they gain in the process is determined solely by their own ambition and initiative.

Only Red Wizards are permitted to wear red robes, their badge of office. The penalty for posing as one is instant death at the hands of the first Red Wizard to uncover the deception. The Red Wizards are ruled by a council of eight zulkirs, one representing each of the eight schools of magic. These positions are for life—the only way a zulkir would ever deign to leave office would be feet first. Within each school exists an elaborate pecking order, in which standing is determined by magical ability and the patronage of more powerful wizards. The current leader of the council is Szass Tam, the zulkir of necromancy. The Red Wizards are evil through and through. Their ultimate goal is nothing short of world domination and they have spent much of Thay's history in pursuit of that effort by military means. If s only within the past few years that they have set aside the ways of war in favor of more insidious, economic methods.

[Usurper]

Also,its against the law in Thay for any commoner or anyone that is not a Red Wizard to wear scarlet or red colors period.Also, at our time period in Sundren there is a split in the Zulkir council,three are allied with the lich zulkir of necromancy,Szass Tam.

[DM_Equinox]

There is actually another place that has undead. But not exculsively. The Mossdale. But as Usurper said, they only play a side part.

Most times.

Bahahaha.

[Urithrand]

Of course, we can only answer this question in terms of what scripted spawns there are. DM events are a whole different story

[GodBeastX]

Red Wizards

While all that is true for 1372 and previous years, as time advances in D&D so do trends. I know a couple red wizards IC that aren't bald. Also future red wizards in FR actually do not shave their heads at all.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wik...ed_wizards.jpg

I think if your goal is to play a Red Wizard, your best bet is to shave your head.

Also, undead are not rare at all, mostly because half the useable creature models in NWN2 are undead. Otherwise people would be facing the same creatures all the time which gets boring.

[Saulus]

4e Red Wizards look lame.

[GodBeastX]

Artist rendition. One person draws them hype and another draws them poorly.

[Doubtful]

To be fair a large portion of the WoTC pictures of many classes and creatures is pant-soilingly awful.