A Dread Ring is an enchanted area created by necromancers with the intention of stealing the souls of the living in order to feed necromantic powers such as animating the dead or creating structures such as fortresses. People that died there fed the power of the necromancer casting the spell with their souls and would likely be raised as undead. Dread Rings were most notably affiliated with the Red Wizards of Thay under the rule of Szass Tam.