Baldur's Gate 3 Factions - The Zhentarim (D&D)

welcome back today's video will be the second video in my baldur's gate 3 faction lore series and this time we'll be talking about the mysterious zentarum but actually i think it's pronounced zentarim but it's too late i've already recorded this video and edited it and i'm not going back and changing everything i do apologize zantaram zentaram centarum zentarem there will not be any story spoilers in this video but i do use clips of gameplay from some of the areas that we encounter these factions in before we get started i'll give a quick shout out to some recent youtube channel members anthony wishin rabidwar gamer torben and phillip thank you guys so much if any of you guys want to come hang out for some live streams i stream every monday wednesday friday from the morning to late afternoon eastern time as well as randomly on the weekends right here on this channel links to my twitter and my discord server will be below let's get right into it [Music] zentarum we're a mercenary company and greater mercantile organization in faerun they were previously known and sometimes still referred to as the black network for the organization conducts much of their business in secrecy worship some rather shady gods and they are known to have a presence in organized crime throughout many of the major cities of faerun we encounter zentarum members in various places in baldur's gate 3 but primarily in the zhentarim hideout over the zhentarim's 231 years of existence they have gone through periods of conflict and misfortune as well as success and growth amassing wealth power and influence is always their mission and one of their main strategies for doing just that is working to secure a monopoly over all activities in faerun the zhentarim operate on the principles of cooperation between martial might and subterfuge in order to achieve their goals they often use their extensive mercantile contacts to move illicit goods and contraband throughout the continent this could include slaves poisons drugs and even smoke powder weapons they are involved in racketeering blackmail and bribery schemes which work hand in hand with weakening political unions draining government coffers and destroying infrastructure all of this can leave realms in weakened states and allow the black network to move in for martial conquest the zhentarim are also not afraid of spending large amounts of gold to destroy competitors and secure future profits despite all of their illicit business they have also developed a strong public mercantile presence in more recent history and actually do engage in legal activity quite often a large amount of zentaram merchants conduct legitimate business on behalf of the organization and their services can prove quite useful apart from trade the zhentarim can be called upon to serve as bodyguards escorts for merchants or as trained soldiers to help defend city walls no matter what they are up to legal or illicit it is all done with one goal in mind to bring all of faerun under the iron fist of the zhentarim the zhentarim was founded in 1261 dal reckoning around 231 years before the events in baldur's gate 3. a power-hungry wizard by the name of manchun created the organization to help spy and fight for him when needed manchun was the lord of zentil ki which was once the most powerful city in the moon sea region this area is far east of baldur's gate and north of the sea of fallen stars manchun had great ambitions of expanding his realm of control and he created this organization to help him do just that while also being able to act independently from the zentil keep he eventually formed an alliance with a high priest of bane named fazul shembrell who became his second in command with this change manchun disposed of the high-ranking priests within the zentil keep and converted the city's lesser clergy to the worship of bane the god of tyrannical oppression terror and hate over time manchun became paranoid of fazul but recognized his power and importance to his organization so to counterbalance this potential threat manchun went on to form an alliance with a beholder by the name of xantreff zantriff's lair the floating temple in the sky became an outpost for zentalar troops and baynite priests zantriff was later killed by the knights of myth drenor a famous adventuring party but the zhentarim still managed to secure packs with other beholders this is no easy feat zentarum then went on to seize the fortress of darkhold take over teschendale daggerdale and the citadel of the raven when bane was killed by cyric during the time of troubles when gods were forced to walk faerun as mortals this created some internal problems within the organization cyric was the god of strife and deception and he took on bain's dark portfolio and became the focus of worship for a great number of members of the zhentarim this created a conflict between the opposing faiths within the organization in an event known as bane death occurred which was a purging of all remaining bainites within the zentil keep eventually manchun came to realize that cyric was no replacement for the calculating cunning and patience of bane he discretely shifted resources away from cyric siric was eventually undermined by a divine conspiracy involving fazul the high priest of bane and this left a large portion of the zentil keep in ruins and many of the zhentarim fled fazul then went on to kill manchun in 1370 with the help of one of manchu's high officers named orgoth orgoth was then given control of the zentil keep from fazul for his acts of betrayal against manchu manchun was a powerful wizard though and he lived on through cloned bodies of himself that he created one of these clones returned to the zhentarim but actually conceded all leadership to visual and became an agent when bane the god of tyranny was resurrected in 1372 fazul attempted to expand the zhentarim once again however through his formations of rather poor alliances zhantarum created powerful enemies and fazul and much of the zhantarum's territories were destroyed by the netherese at this time only darkhold was left zentarum were then eventually taken back over by the forces of sirik one day a mysterious warrior who goes by the name of paragost appeared out of nowhere and joined the zhentarim through his might in ruthless efficiency he eventually was given command of the entire zhentarim army under the leadership of paragos the zhentarim have transitioned from a conquering force into a mercenary army that serves others they are now said to have greater numbers than ever before over the organization's history they have developed many powerful foes most notably would be the harpers the knights of the north the lord's alliance the purple dragons and the shadowvar it is important to note though that in recent history they have allied with some of these same factions to help put an end to the cult and red wizard's attempts to free the dragon god tiamat from her imprisonment in the nine hells all in all despite being a rather dark organization they do have some core beliefs that can draw in even those who consider themselves rather good natured zhantarum is your family you watch out for it and it watches out for you you are the master of your own destiny and never be less than what you deserve to be and everything and everyone has a price these three beliefs can sound promising for one wandering without true purpose and that will be it for today's lore video i do have many more lore videos planned specifically a couple more that involve the factions that we come across in baldur's gate three so make sure to hit that subscribe button if you're interested in seeing those videos as well i already did a video on the emerald enclave if you happen to miss that the next video i'll be putting out is probably going to be on ashes of creation and upcoming mmo let me know in the comments if you know what i'm talking about or if you made it this far into the video thanks so much for watching guys if you guys end up enjoying this video please like comment and subscribe wait before i continue i want to apologize again i think it is actually pronounced zentarim not zentara i think it's zentarim i think they say that in the game as well i did hear it on like a professional youtube video although another youtuber pronounced it the same way as i did i don't know i think i'm wrong though i think i'm wrong hope to catch you guys on a future video until next time

Channel: WolfheartFPS

Views: 11,445

Keywords: Baldur's Gate 3, baldur's gate 3 lore, lore, baldur's gate 3 factions, factions, baldurs, gate, baldur's gate 3 early access, early acces, bg3, bg3 ea, balder's gate 3, baulder's gate 3, dungeons and dragons, d&d, history

Id: ZFqG95uWQrg

Length: 9min 6sec (546 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 26 2020