Zhentarim

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The Zhentarim, or "Zhents" for short, are one of the most instantly recognizable villainous factions in the Forgotten Realms after the Red Wizards of Thay. In fact, they're arguably more recognizable because they featured a lot as default bad guys throughouth the Realms' glory days in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The Black Network, as it's also known, is a combination of mercenary company and mercantile empire founded by the evil wizard Manshoon as a tool to provide him with wealth, resources and general muscle. Over time, it expanded through an alliance with the church of Bane, and has basically become the go-to network for power-hungry wizards, evil clerics and money-grubbing mercenaries who are interested in achieving world domination. Though they do serve as legitimate mercenaries and traders, they deal heavily in contraband or downright illegal goods (slaves, poison, drugs, smokepowder weaponry, etc), and often resort to blatantly illegal tactics to secure both employment and service dominance in the areas they visit.

One of their most defining features is that they have the closest thing ever seen to a race-wide peace treaty with the Beholders of the Realms, often recruiting them as magical muscle.

Enemies of the Zhentarim are widespread, since their goals and methods piss off just about everybody, and so their foes span the spectrum from the Harpers to the Cult of the Dragon.