Silvergate

Silvergate's Population
Silvergate's population is approximately 750,000 persons.

15,000 residents are isolated or itinerant.
667,500 residents live in 954 villages.
45,000 residents live in 9 towns.
22,500 residents live in 1 city (Silvergate).

The average distance between villages is 3 miles.
The average distance between towns is 34 miles.

Silvergate supports no Universities.

Silvergate supports 1,650,500 head of livestock: 1,122,000 fowl (e.g. chickens, geese, ducks); and 528,000 dairy and meat animals (e.g. cows, goats, pigs, sheep).

The inhabitants of Silvergate have been building castles for the last 42 years. There are approximately 16 standing fortifications in Silvergate. 16 castles are in active use, 1 castle is ruined or abandoned, 12 castles are located in settled areas, and 4 castles are located in remote areas, unsettled areas, or wilderness.

Government: Monarchy (Ruled by Intaba)
Capital: Silvergate
Religions: Yam ibn Saud, The Silver Tree; Nature
Imports: Coffee, silks, rope, wool, metal work, weapons, olive oil, wine, chains, salt, horses
Exports: Timber, Cloth, Wagons, Pottery, Items looted from ruins, wooden items, silver

Major Geographical Features of Silvergate

Silvergate is a small land, about 300 miles by 100 miles, of forests and arable plains. Rivers are plentiful, and the soil is rich. It has a very temperate and mild climate.

Tho'ef's Domenses: An expanse of heavenly woodland on the Northern end of Silvergate. A Sylvan forest, enchanted and crawling with elves. Not for humans.

Silver Lake: A large X-shaped lake on the Southern end of Silvergate. Very beautiful. Although distant from the capital, this is the most populated region of Silvergate, and the most civilized. Although ruled by Intaba, and harrassed by his horde, these areas are where many of the knights of Silvergate retired to, and they maintain their own law, their own order when they must.

Silver River: This river is the main route to and from civilized Inzeladun. It cuts through Onaya and Cahoki, and comes out near Alisander in Lamapacher. The river was discovered by Sir Grimhelm and his Guardians of the Silver Tree.

Silver Mountains: The mountain range that forms the Western border of Silvergate. They are low mountains and are forested. It is believed they were formed during the ice age, when a glacier made a strange path and stopped here. The mountains are rich in silver ore.

Important Sites in Silvergate

Silvergate: The capital of Silvergate. This once bustling city surrounded Castle Silvergate, which protected the physical incarnation of the Silver Tree. Now the Castle (and the tree) have vanished, leaving an empty plateau in the center of the nearly vacant city. Intaba has called this empty site holy, and only the shamans of his barbarian tribes are permitted to walk there.   Intaba still calls this the capital of Silvergate, and 22,500 of his barbarian hordes reside there currently. Essentially it is a huge military encampment. The few civilized humans who remain in the city service the needs of Intaba and his horde.

Amenhemet's Tomb: A Second Age Khemian tomb has been found on the Eastern edge of Silvergate, but no one has managed to break into it yet. Amenhemet, the Guardian of the Secrets of Eternal Youth, left the Islands of Khemt and arrived on Inzeladun because Nargothrond captured Amenhemet's children.   Amenhemet was an accomplished alchemist and is credited with the discovery of the longevity formula used for most potions of longevity. What few know is that Amenhemet had also discovered a formula for eternal youthfulness as well as the temporary longevity formula. Lore indicates that Ra has made Amenhemet an eternal guardian for this formula as a punishment for his evil deeds in life. Until recently, no one knew where his tomb was. It was found in the 3rd year of the Eighth Age by Redmund Rathwyn, Loremaster of Silvergate.

Novgorod: One of the nine towns of Silvergate. This town sits on the shores of Silver Lake on the southern end of the kingdom. With a population of 5,678, Novgorod is ruled by Sir Folcmund, Knight of the Silver Tree. Sir Folcmund tries his best to keep the ravaging hordes of Intaba away from his lands and his people. He refuses to submit to the rule of Intaba, and is probably the foremost knight in Inzeladun trying to keep the dream of King Grimhelm alive. He has extended his castle walls to encompass the town and is trying desperately to keep the Knighthood alive. Currently he is at peace with Intaba since he negotiated a treaty to trade food to the barbarians for peace. But the barbarians grow restless, and Intaba is not pleased with the lack of submission. Without an influx of new population, his town grows ever smaller, as people flee in fear, or are killed in skirmishes with the barbarians over real or imagined slights.

Sollium: A town of 4,322 people.   It sits on the eastern edge of Silvergate, near Amenhemet's Tomb. It is ruled by Oidilgif, a retired Knight of the Silver Tree. He rules in the name of Intaba and enforces Intaba's will. This town functions to supply Intaba with arms and armor. It also exports 2nd Age Khemian artifacts looted from Amenhemet's City of the Dead built around the tomb.

Taklamakan: A town of 5,000 people located in the Silver Mountains.   This town sprang up around the richest, largest silver mine in the history of Inzeladun. It is ruled by Hedin, one of Intaba's sons. Originally named Bernstan, Intaba renamed it in his language.   It means God of Silver in his tongue.

Life and Society in Silvergate

Silvergate is a country of chaos. Once a seat of glorious chivalry and knighthood, it has been conquered by barbarians. Intaba and his Horde now rule Silvergate. Intaba is a brutal lord, but he is also marked for his keen intelligence, unlike Morgul the Barakan, who aided him in his conquest of Silvergate.

Most of the society in Silvergate is on a village or tribal level. In the south, however, there remain nine civilized towns that hold the remnents of old Silvergate. Here the original honor guard, the Knights of the Silver Tree, still hold sway, still hold the chivalric codes of Grimhelm in esteem.

The village life in Silvergate is, to be blunt, barbaric and primitive. Although the bulk of the Horde (who call themselves Hordelings) are free farmers, not everyone is of equal rank. There are chiefs, kings, princes, and generals. Intaba doesn't allow slavery, so there are no slaves in Silvergate. Women have their roles, but Intaba rewards effort, and women can often escape their roles to take on roles more common to men if desire and effort are great enough. Indeed, Intaba has often been quoted as saying, "A Hordling can achieve anything for which he or she is willing to pay the price." Intaba is also fond of saying, "Every Hordeling is responsible for shaping his life circumstances and experiences into success -- no other Hordeling, and certainly no Inzeladunian, can do for a Hordeling what he neglects to do for himself."

The primary language of Silvergate is Indorian in the southern towns, but is Garmakan in the rest of the nation, the language of Intaba and his Horde.

Characters from Silvergate may be of almost any class. Barbarian characters serve Intaba and Yam ibn Saud. Knights, noble warriors, and cavaliers are renegade Knights of the Silver Tree. Excepting, perhaps, thieves, non-barbarian, non-Azraelite Silvergate natives tend to follow the precepts of chivalry. Elves from Silvergate are former followers of Tho'ef. Sorcerers are more common than wizards due to the destruction of the libraries of Thumedan in Silvergate.. The Sorcerers may be from the defunct "white robe" order once headed by Thumedan, Guardian of the Silver Tree. Silvergate also has a druidical order.

Religion in Silvergate

In the South, The Silver Tree is the primary god of worship. The religion, also called the Faith of Aeroth, is primarily a written religion now. The ideal in this religion is a person of exacting morals and ethics. The First Age hero Aeroth has become a mythical figure for this religion, as has Sir Grimhelm and the Guardians. These sympathetic heroes challenge the people's fear of death and those parts of their psyche that hold them back, allowing the people to ascend to a higher state of being, a transformation into something greater than the follower himself.

The Silver Tree is occasionally portrayed in art as a green man, his face covered in silver foliage with deer horns. He seems to represent purity, protection, chivalry, and the link between man and nature. The followers of the Silver Tree pray by kneeling and are usually said in the Old Language, the language spoken by Aeroth, or in Indorian. The church of the Silver Tree, now based out of Novgorod, insists on a 10% tithe from all of its members. At the vernal equinox, small trees are planted as a sign of the Silver Tree's bounty.   The longest night of the year, the winter solstice, is venerated as a time when the Silver Tree and Yogath Hob battled and the outcome teetered.   Yogath Hob is the villian in this religion and is reviled as the god of evil and darkness. The winter solstice is then celebrated as a time when light overcame darkness, and Yogath Hob was defeated. Around the Autumnal Equinox the religion holds a holiday centering around death. A grand festival is held to mock and embrace death as a part of life.

The dead are cremated in this religion, for fire is symbolic of the leaves of The Silver Tree.

The creation of the world came about when the Silver Tree found a Divine Egg. The shell contained all the raw elements of creation.   The Silver Tree hid the egg from Yogath Hob and finally the egg hatched, warmed by the love and care of the Silver Tree, and Inzeladun was born. Yogath Hob found Inzeladun and tried to take it for his own, but the Silver Tree resisted and the pair fought. As they fought, leaves and branches and bark and sap fell from the Silver Tree and they became the peoples and the races of Inzeladun. Leaves, branches, sap, and bark also fell from Yogath Hob and formed the Drow, the Dragons, and the Monsters of Inzeladun.

Yogath Hob withdrew and began to create other deities from his dark acorns to aid him in his conquest of Inzeladun. Yogath created Na May Hob (Chaos) and Djandri Hob (Time). He created Asmodius (Law-evil, devils) and Tenebrion (Magic).   The Silver Tree saw that he would be overrun, so he dropped his own silver seeds on the cosmos and formed allies of his own to help the people of Inzeladun. He created Thomtain Hob (Law), Fate (Destiny), Jazirian (Law-good, Couatl), and Catemar (Magic). Thus Law fought Chaos, Destiny fought against Time, The Couatl fought against Hell, Catemar began his war against Tenebrion.

The forces of the Silver Tree won the wars, and Order came from Chaos. Thomtain Hob struck down Na May Hob in the Sea of Storms. Jazirian had her tail bitten off by the serpent Asmodius, and where her blood spattered, a couatl sprang up, fully formed. Asmodius, who was hanging onto Jazirian by his teeth fell into the Pit of Hell. He bled as he fell and his blood formed the devils of Hell. Wounded Jazirian remains on Mount Celestia, and Wounded Asmodius lacks the strength to climb out of Hell. Destiny defeated Time with a sword blow, and thus men could strive against time to acheive their goals if they so willed.   Tenebrion was thrown into the darkness by Catemar, and thus Tenebrion became a lord of Darkness, and strives ever to regain his title as God of Magic.

Fire came to man via an artist, who so desired to see at night that he climbed to the stars and plucked one of the glowing silver leaves of The Silver Tree down. The Silver Tree was annoyed, but at the same time impressed by the artist's ingenuity. He decided to grant the artist light, but to make it dangerous as well, and the shining leaf became a brilliant tongue of fire.

Heaven for the worshipper of the Silver Tree means being allowed into the silver realm of Mount Celestia to live a life of peace and harmony. Hell means being embraced into the dark, leafy realm of Yogath Hob, to be turned into monsters and unleashed upon Inzeladun.

Men, when originally placed on Inzeladun, were, as part of the Silver Tree, good and lawful, as the Silver Tree is.   But Yogath Hob and his evils began to interbreed with men, elves, gnomes, and such. Eventually Yogath Hob sent forth a champion, Kozad Jardak to bring about the final fall of man. He turned men and elves into orcs and, by the close of the First Age, man was no longer perfect.   Indeed, so many had succumbed to the wiles of Yogath's servants, that the Silver Tree actually had to wipe out most of the people on the world.   Thus was the fate of Angust, a place unholy to the Silver Tree. The Silver Tree killed the people of Angust and forbid people from ever setting foot into one of their cities ever again. Through interbreeding, and the lessening of their holy blood, man, elves, and such eventually arrived at their modern, less than perfect state.

In the North, the barbaric religion of Intaba's Horde holds sway, and supreme deity in that savage pantheon is Yam ibn Saud. The religion followed by Intaba's Horde is one that is intended primarily to provide a way to communicate with the divine in their lives. It is a religion filled with superstitions, taboos, and horoscopes.

Its lore is an oral tradition. The shamans are storytellers who guard the lore of their culture, and memorizing the myths is important to the clergy and laity alike. Caves are holy to these people. They do not make their homes in caves. Caves are corridors to the heart of nature and serve only as temples and places of prayer or worship. Indeed, a prayer is more likely to be heard if spoken aloud in a cave so that the worms of the earth can hear it and carry the prayer to the gods below.

When a child is born in Intaba's Horde, the child is touched with mud applied with the the index finger of the father. This announces the birth of the child to Inzeladun and its gods. The dead are buried or laid in caves, so as to return the corpse to the gods. The body is on loan from the gods, according to these people.

Not too long ago, the primary god among the people of Intaba's Horde was The Great Mother Inzeladun. She was a fertility goddess, a sympathetic figure of prosperity.   Lately, however, a new mythological figure has been added to the pantheon - Yam ibn Saud, the God of War and Storms. He has power over thunder and is a commanding figure.   Intaba's Horde also worship a trickster god, a revelry god, a sun god, a celestial queen, and a keeper of the dead.

The shamans of the tribe determine what offerings the gods need from portents and omens. The tribes and villages obey without question. The Vernal Equinox is celebrated with the ritual slaughter of a piglet or a rabbit, followed by a huge feast.   Before the equinox, Intaba's Horde fasts for three days, being allowed to eat only at night, and only allowed to eat food picked from plants by their own hand. The Winter Solstice offers plays and rituals put on by the shamans. Tribes come to a ritual place and the plays center around Yam ibn Saud who defeats Tenebrion, saving The Great Mother Inzeladun from eternal darkness.   On the Autumnal Equinox, Intaba's Horde acts as savage and frightening as possible, wearing grotesque masks and war paint to convince the spirits of the dead that they are not safe to possess.

According to Intaba's Horde, the world was created from the living body of The Great Mother. The peoples of the cosmos, due to the darkness of Tenebrion, had no place to live, for the worlds were darkened. So the Great Mother gave herself to the peoples and they were allowed to live upon her, and Yam ibn Saud was given charge to defend her from evil.   The peoples of the cosmos were created by other gods and were forced to live upon the Great Mother by the darkness. She gave them bodies to live in while they tarried upon her body.

Tenebrion, or Darkness, attempted to shroud The Great Mother, but the God of War and Storms was angered, and battled Darkness.   Yam ibn Saud defeated Tenebrion, but Tenebrion wounded the God of War, and thus was permitted to cover the world for half the day. But Yam ibn Saud did not give up his struggles, and, each night, he continues to poke Tenebrion with his sword, creating holes, and thus the world was given stars - the holes poked into and through Tenebrion, and the stars represent hope that someday Tenebrion will die, and the world will be immersed in sunlight eternally.

Regional History

Silvergate was founded by Sir Grimhelm of Indor, the Knight of the Silver Tree in the Sixth Age. The physical incarnation of the Silver Tree resided in the courtyard of Silver Castle. Sir Grimhelm assembled a group of six companions collectively called the Guardians of the Silver Tree. The kingdom they founded was called Silvergate.

Silvergate was originally a kingdom of medieval luxury. King Grimhelm had ushered in a golden era for the lands of Inzeladun. An order of knighthood, the knights of the Silver Tree, was begun to protect the beauteous lands of Silvergate and to seek out and destroy evil. King Grimhelm eventually became Emperor Grimhelm and he brought the concepts of chivalry again to all the known world.

But good things always seem to come to an end. Emperor Grimhelm left this world, and the Guardians, save Tho'ef the Archer, abandoned Silvergate, placing it in the hands of others to govern. The Knights of the Silver Tree were spread out across Western Inzeladun. The barbarians were waiting and fought hard at the borders. The knights were recalled, and the battles were furious. And the Knights, led by Tho'ef the Archer, held back the barbarian horde of Intaba. Until the coming of Morgul.

Morgul the Barbarian, a desert dweller, served the demigod Yam ibn Saud. Morgul, leading the Azraelite army of Yam ibn Saud, made a bargain with Intaba. Together, the Azraelites and Intaba's Horde crushed the remnants of Silvergate. Tho'ef and his elves were forced to retreat into Tho'ef's realm in a corner of Silvergate, and the knights of the Silver Tree were all but destroyed.

Today, Silvergate is a land in turmoil, a land that still battles barbarism, a land that still longs for the golden age of chivalry that once belonged to it. And with every passing day, Intaba does his best to crush that longing. Intaba and his horde rule Silvergate in the name of Yam ibn Saud, and the people cry out for a savior. But Silvergate lies far beyond civilization, and no one hears their cries. Intaba worships Yam ibn Saud and obeys only him. Mages in Silvergate today, a rare thing, are required to register with Intaba, as are psionicists. Unless they worship Yam ibn Saud and serve in the Azraelite military, the people are no longer allowed arms or armor. Remnants of the Knights are hunted, and the people of Silvergate hide the knights.

Plots and Rumors

Rumors persist that the Mummy of Amenhemet is alive and walking around. People who get too close to entering his tomb are often found dead, rotting as if they had been dead for years.

Rumors also persist of several Angustian ruins found not far from the borders of Silvergate.

Silver Lake apparently is home to a river monster.

Major NPC's

Intaba - The Barbarian King of Silvergate

Sir Folcmund - Knight of the Silver Tree, Lord of Novgorod