The Silverpeak cities of Highreach and Halefjord are shielded from wars and monsters by unassailable geography and grow wealthy on the products of their mines. Isolated from threat, the two mountain cities of the Republic of Silverhold have developed a unique culture that indulges in extravagant, exuberant athletic competitions as a way of life. Children born in these mountain cities often train daily from youth in traditional athletic events such as archery, footraces, throwing, wrestling, tumbling, or wood-splitting. The most popular event to watch is bull-jumping, but that is an event for spry and fearless youths!
Rivalry between the cities of Highreach and Halefjord is fierce, with seasonal and annual youth and adult championships held at large open-gymnasiums in either city. The competition is taken so seriously that marriages are often arranged between champions so as to produce future champions!
In tournaments, there are sex-divided events but also an open, championship division involves the best men and women on the same field. Attitudes toward physical modesty by athletes are relaxed. Competitors traditionally wear only a linen athlete’s skirt; women may add a simple leather halter for support. After training or a competition, athletes in Halefjord have the luxury of relaxing in hotspring-fed thermal baths - in Highreach, they must heat the baths with wood-stoves and masonry flues piped beneath. Some baths are runs by Sunite priests & priestesses, whose exuberant celebration of the human body and its beauty is right at home in Halefjord and Highreach.
Characters who grew up in Halefjord include Lorren Truesong (competes in almost everything but the bull-jumping he aged out of), Geoff (used to compete in wrestling), Samantha Mead (competed in archery), Katarina Mead (competed in acrobatic tumbling and bull-jumping), and Balon Steelarm (competed in wrestling). Characters who grew up in Highreach include Grorin (competed in woodsplitting, wrestling, and footraces) and Theodore (competed in throwing, footraces, and wrestling).