Silverymoon

Graceful spires above river mist, song in every square, and wards that hum like a second heartbeat: Silverymoon is the North’s famed haven of learning, art, and arcane craft. Often called the Gem of the North (and in old Elvish, Aerasumé), it grew from a ranger-blessed hamlet into the cultural capital of the Silver Marches and a lodestar for those who believe cities can be both beautiful and kind.

Setting & city plan

Silverymoon straddles the River Rauvin, which divides the city into Northbank—the older, half-circle ward within high stone walls—and Southbank, a newer sprawl that began as caravan yards and warehouses and blossomed into campuses, ateliers, and guildhalls. Northbank holds the High Palace, noble villas, and most temples; a great Market runs from the western wall to the riverside Docks. Southbank is the academic heart, home to the schools that form the Conclave of Silverymoon. Between them arcs the city’s signature wonder, the Moonbridge—a slender span of solid light that appears at need and answers only to Silverymoon’s wards.

Silverymoon sits at the hinge of the Interior North. Silverymoon Pass climbs east toward Sundabar; roads south lead to Everlund and the fringe of the High Forest; westward, hidden among wooded hills, lies the Heralds’ Holdfast. Upstream and downstream are rare, hard-won bridge crossings—reminders of the Rauvin’s power and the city’s engineering.

People, faith, and daily life

Silverymoon is deliberately cosmopolitan. Humans make up the largest share of its people, but elves, half-elves, shield dwarves, lightfoot halflings, and gnomes are numerous and visible in public life. The ethos is cooperative rather than conformist: street music, public debates, and student pageants are common; xenophobia is not. The city’s open patronage of the arts keeps sculptors, luthiers, illuminators, and glassblowers in steady demand.

Major temples honor Mielikki, Silvanus, and Sune alongside Oghma, Mystra, Helm, and Tymora. The cult of Cyric is explicitly outlawed. Festivals favor music, masked dances, and processions across the Moonbridge; even civic announcements may be delivered with recitals and lantern shows.

Government & law

Silverymoon is a constitutional magocratic republic. Executive power rests in a High Mage, advised by a civic council of guildsfolk, scholars, and veteran officers. The office’s best-known stewards are Ecamane Truesilver (the founder who shifted a forest village onto a path of lore), Alustriel Silverhand (whose long, unanimously acclaimed rule set the city’s tone of tolerance and public learning), Taern “Thunderspell” Hornblade, and Methrammar Aerasumé. Alustriel’s practice of transparent rule—morning adjudications, evening policy debates, and wide circulation of written arguments for public comment—set a precedent that later High Mages emulate to varying degrees.

Lawkeeping within the walls falls to the Silverwatch; the Moon Garrison mans walls and gates. Cyricist activity, unlicensed destructive magic, and treasonous aid to known enemies are aggressively prosecuted; otherwise, the law favors mediation, fines, and service to city works over brutal punishments.

Alliances & adversaries

Silverymoon helped conceive the Confederation of the Silver Marches and often acts as its diplomatic face. It also belongs to the Lords’ Alliance, working with Waterdeep, Neverwinter, Sundabar, and others to keep trade moving and borders safe. Enemies are never far: the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan covets influence over the Marches; orc hosts from the Citadel of Many Arrows have harried the Rauvin road; and drow thrusts out of the Underdark have drawn Silverymoon into campaigns beside Mithral Hall and other holds.

Trade & coin

Despite its northern latitude, Silverymoon is a busy entrepôt. It imports grain, livestock, armor, footwear, textiles, and finished weapons to outfit its garrisons and schools; it exports books and inks, paper, glass and delicate glassware, fine timber, pelts, and refined ores from Rauvin and Nether Mountains mines. The local vintage Silverymoon Blue—a white wine with a faint azure tint—travels widely as a signature luxury.

The city mints its own currency. The silver shield and gold dragon are common tender, with the platinum unicorn and larger moon-denominations used for major contracts. Silverymoon’s coin, simply called a moon, is widely accepted across the Marches.

Defenses & orders

Silverymoon’s security blends steel, spell, and civic pride:

Knights in Silver. The city’s field army—human and half-elf heavy infantry and cavalry renowned for morale and resilience. They garrison the walls, ride patrols up to fifty miles out, and often serve abroad as allied contingents. Recruitment is strict; training is relentless; esprit is high.
Spellguard. An elite cadre of battle-magi who accompany Knight patrols, reinforce wards, and act as rapid-response to arcane threats. Established as the High Mage’s personal guard, they now function citywide. Warders within the corps oversee doctrine and readiness.
High Guard. Veteran Knights assigned to the High Palace and its precincts, responsible for the immediate security of the ruler and council.
Argent Legion. When the Silver Marches mustered a confederate army, its High Marshal first made headquarters here. Elements still rotate through for training and logistics even when fielded elsewhere.
Wards & mythal. Silverymoon is wrapped in layered abjurations: alarms, veils, and interdictions that blunt scrying and flight, dampen hostile spellcasting, and harden gates. The city’s mythal—once thought lost—slumbered within the Moonbridge during the years of wild magic and has since re-blossomed, restoring many of the old protections. Legends speak of the Arbatel, a mithral-leaf grimoire engraved with tailor-made civic spells by High Mage Orjalun; it was stolen by his successor and never recovered.

Learning & the Conclave

Silverymoon’s colleges are its pride: the Lady’s College (founded to teach mages as students rather than apprentices, in exchange for future service), bardic halls, libraries like the Vault of the Sages, and schools for letters, natural philosophy, and the crafts. The Conclave of Silverymoon loosely coordinates admissions, ethics, and public obligations. Scholars are expected to give back—by tutoring, ward-keeping, serving with the Spellguard, or repairing and enchanting civic works.

History in brief

637 DR: Stone walls rise; Ecamane Truesilver elected High Mage; the forest village becomes a city dedicated to lore and art.
8th–9th c. DR: The Lady’s College opens to all worthy students; the Moonbridge is raised; wards are strengthened. A brief military coup by Warlord Lashtor ends with Lady Wolf’s sacrifice and a renewed, popular magocracy.
10th–11th c. DR: The city occupies Citadel Felbarr for five hard decades until overwhelmed in the Battle of Many Arrows. A plague in 1150 DR halves the population; recovery spurs waterworks and hospitals.
13th c. DR: During a great orc siege (1235 DR), Alustriel Silverhand and allies break the assault and she is unanimously chosen to rule, inaugurating an era of openness and civic investment.
14th c. DR: Fiends from Hellgate Keep batter the region; Silverymoon fights beside Everlund, Sundabar, and Citadel Adbar to hold Turnstone Pass. Refugees from the Dragonspear troubles flood the city. Alustriel steps down and later spearheads the Silver Marches; Taern Hornblade becomes High Mage.
15th c. DR: The city weathers the years of wild magic with less damage than feared but loses some ward-functions before the mythal resurges. In the War of the Silver Marches, Silverymoon’s measured response draws criticism even as it preserves its strength. Methrammar Aerasumé succeeds Taern; the city continues to speak and act within the Lords’ Alliance.

Through it all, Silverymoon has tried to work with nature, not against it, a choice made at founding on ground sacred to Mielikki and Lurue. The result is a city of gardens and green courts, of bridges that gleam at dusk, and of classrooms that spill into parks. Beneath the streets, rumor claims, run dwarven tunnels as lively as any ward above; above them, the Moonbridge glows, and the wards murmur to those who listen.

Getting there, and getting by

Travelers reach Silverymoon by the Evermoor Way and Long Road from the south and west, by barge along the Rauvin, or by the perilous Silverymoon Pass—often under escort due to orc and giant raids. Company of the Wolf and other reputable bands sell safe conduct. Merchants find ready markets but strict inspection; arcanists find collegial welcome but firm expectations. Raise a song in the Market, argue a thesis in Southbank, and when the Moonbridge kindles at twilight, remember why the Gem of the North gleams as it does: beauty married to duty, and magic yoked to mercy.