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ContentsINTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1: THE LAY OF THE LAND . . . . 5A Brief History of the North . . . . . . 5

Geographic Overview . . . . . . . . . . . 7Lands and Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The Arn Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Graevelwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8The Cold Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Thradulf’s Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8The Cold Vale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Tulrun’s Tent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Druarwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The Moonlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Beorunna’s Well . . . . . . . . . . . . 10The Lonely Tower . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Moonwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Claw Hollow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11The Herald’s Holdfast . . . . . . . 11The Mouth of Song . . . . . . . . . 12One Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Nether Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Baraskur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Dalagar’s Dagger. . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ladypeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Moon Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Morueme’s Cave . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Doomspire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Silverymoon Pass . . . . . . . . . . . 14The Thousand Maws . . . . . . . . 15Telkoun’s Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Tombs of Deckon Thar . . . . . . 15Turnstone Pass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Night Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Old Delzoun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Auvandell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16The Fork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Sundabar Vale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Wolmad’s Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Rauvin Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Dead Orc Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17The Goblin Holds . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Rauvin Vale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Everlund Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Jalanthar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19River Rauvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Silverwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Vordrorn Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Border Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Anauroch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Delimbiyr Vale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22The Evermoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23The Fallen Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Stormkeep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Witchfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Far Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Masulk’s Tomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Taerymdoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Frost Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Black Raven Camp . . . . . . . . . . 26Castle of Illusion . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Dungeon of the Ruins . . . . . . . 26Fell Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Mithral Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The High Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Citadel of the Mists . . . . . . . . . 27Elven Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Grandfather Tree . . . . . . . . . . . 27Hellgate Keep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Lost Peaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Lothen of the Silver Spires . . 28Mhiilamniir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29The Nameless Dungeon. . . . . . 29Noanar’s Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Olostin’s Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Reitheillaethor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29The Star Mounts. . . . . . . . . . . . 30Stone Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Turlang’s Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31The Unicorn Run . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The Ice Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The Ice Spires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The Lurkwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32River Surbrin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The Spine of the World . . . . . . . . 32

Tholvarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33The Lands Against the Wall . 33Dark Arrow Keep . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The Underdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Araumycos` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Blingdenstone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35The Darklake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36The Fardrimm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Gracklstugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Menzoberranzan. . . . . . . . . . . . 37Yathchol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2: EXPLORING THE WILDS . . 38Animals and Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Flora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Fauna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Wyrms of the North . . . . . . . . 41Wilderness Encounters . . . . . . . . . . 42Weather: The Invisible Enemy . . . 47

Natural Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Random Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3: CITIES OF THE SILVERMARCHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Silverymoon, Gem of the North. . . . 54Sundabar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Citadel Felbarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Citadel Adbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Deadsnows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Everlund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Mithral Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Quaervarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Newfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4: PEOPLE OF THE SILVERMARCHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Life and Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Law and Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Adventurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Defense and Warcraft . . . . . . . . . . . 87Strategies and Tactics. . . . . . . . . . 88The Muster of the North . . . . . . 89Armies and Militias . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The Knights in Silver. . . . . . . . 91The Spellguard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

The Uthgardt Tribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

5: POLITICS AND POWER. . . . . 98Recent History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Articles of Confederation . . . . . . . . 99Enemies and Threats . . . . . . . . . . . 102

The Arcane Brotherhood . . . . . 102People of the Black Blood . . . . . 102King Obould Many-Arrows . . . 103Other Humanoids . . . . . . . . . . . . 104House Dlardrageth . . . . . . . . . . . 104The Drow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106The Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106The Shades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Minions of Evil Deities. . . . . . . 108

6: HEROES OF THE NORTH . 109Giant-Killer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Hordebreaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Knight-Errant of Silverymoon . 112Orc Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Peerless Archer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Wild Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

7: MONSTERS OFTHE MARCHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Animal (deer, elk, red tiger) . . . 119Branta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Giant Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Rock Wyrm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Snowcloak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

8: ADVENTURESIN THE NORTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Black Fury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Dead Orc Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Telkoun’s Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Blood and Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Table of Contents

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Welcome to the Silver Marches! This isa land like no other in Faerûn. Hometo a diverse population of folk dedi-

cated to carving prosperity and order from the forbiddingwilderness, the area remains a little-explored and largely un-conquered territory inhabited by war-hungry orc hordes, hos-tile giants, and an array of bloodthirsty monsters.

The inhabitants of this northern land share their terri-tory with dangers that lurk in every forest, alpine valley,and mountain passes. Folk who leave the shelter of the citywalls must go armed and go carefully, lest they fall victim toone of the many horrors waiting to claim its next victim.And hanging over every tavern meal and every merchant’sbargain is the unspoken fear that this might be the day thatKing Obould Many-Arrows or some other great orc chief de-cides to hurl his army of warriors out of the mountainsagainst the cities and homesteads of the Marches.

Feral savages and prowling monsters are not the onlyperils of this land. Ice and snow and howling winds coldenough to freeze the marrow of a red dragon’s bones wait toclaim the lives of the unprepared or unwary. In the foothillsof the Nether Mountains, a pleasant spring day can becomea raging blizzard in the blink of an eye, while strength-sap-ping frosts can settle over the depths of the Moonwoodovernight. The weather is often a traveler’s worst enemy inthese northerly lands, and those who fail to give nature therespect that is her due soon find themselves at her mercy.

As if these dangers were not sufficient, the Silver Marches isunder daily threat from foes that its citizens cannot easily see.Minions of evil organizations such as the Arcane Brotherhood,the People of the Black Blood, and the Church of Shar havewormed their way into the very heart of the confederation’sgreatest cities. These spies seek to bring about the downfall of theSilver Marches for reasons that they do not share with outsiders.Some merely desire conquest and power, while others haveage-old grudges to settle with the new Speaker of the Marches,the High Lady Alustriel herself. Travelers must exercise due

caution, for they cannot know whether the jovial merchantthey’ve just met is what he seems, or an agent for a ruthless powerintent on bringing down what the defense pact has wrought.

Yet despite all these dangers, there is still hope that theSilver Marches may one day be free from the host of dan-gers that beset the land. The civilized inhabitants of this landare determined to fight for their survival, and the continua-tion of their dream, despite the odds stacked against them.Many are committed to making the Silver Marches a havenfor like-minded folk, and have dedicated themselves to pre-serving what they have already achieved.

To this end, Lady Alustriel strives to ensure that theleaders of the confederation maintain their focus on re-solving its mutual problems and concerns. Meanwhile herallies strive to deal with the most pressing dangers arrayedagainst the cities, combing the wilderness for clues andhints to King Obould’s intentions and other, unseen threatslurking in the wilds. The power of the dwarfholds growssteadily, and their kings are well aware of the orc threatpoised to sweep down upon them.

How to Use this Book

in Your CampaignThis book gives you everything you need to explore theSilver Marches in your own FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign.

The Lay of the Land: This chapter introduces the SilverMarches as a geographic entity. It details the area’s majorfeatures, from the Cold Wood to the Nether Mountains. Thechapter also examines the border areas surrounding theSilver Marches, including the Evermoors, the High Forest,and the Spine of the World.

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Exploring the Wilds: The Silver Marches is not to be trav-eled lightly. All manner of dangers and threats lurk in its denseforests, rolling hills, and steep mountain passes. This chapterdetails the flora and fauna of the area, and also examines howthe inhospitable climate of the Silver Marches affects charac-ters and their activities. Random encounter tables and weathertailored specifically to the region are included here.

Cities of the Silver Marches: This chapter takes a look atthe six members of the confederation (Silverymoon, Sunda-bar, Citadel Felbarr, Citadel Adbar, Everlund, and MithralHall). It also covers three smaller settlements that enjoy theleague’s protec-tion, or at leastits benign neg-lect: Deadsnows,Quaervarr, andthe Zhent settlertown of Newfort.

People of theSilver Marches:This chapter isabout living, work-ing, and adventur-ing in the SilverMarches. It fea-tures a detailedlook at the area’srecent historyand a discussionon the agree-ment that formedthe league.

Politics and Power:How did the SilverMarches become a polit-ical entity? What are thedetails of the confedera-tion, and how is it enforced?Who are the allies and ene-mies of the Silver Marches? Thischapter answers these questionsand provides detailed information onthe forces attempting to ensure that theconfederation does not achieve its goals.

Heroes of the North: This chapter pres-ents six new prestige classes common to theSilver Marches: the giant-killer, the horde-breaker, the knight-errant of Silverymoon, theorc scout, the peerless archer, and the wild scout.

Monsters of the Marches: Four new monsters and threevarieties of animal common to the Silver Marches are pre-sented in this chapter, including deer, elk, red tiger, branta,giant raven, rock wyrm, and snowcloak.

Adventures in the North: The last chapter in this sourcebookcontains four adventures. “Black Fury” describes Claw Hollow, asecret stronghold of the People of the Black Blood. “Dead OrcPass” deals with the dangers of Dead Orc Pass and the Torn-skulls orcs who lurk there. “Telkoun’s Tower” details the hiddenvale of High Thorog and Telkoun, its sinister master. Finally,

“Blood and Gold” is a longer adventure set in the town of Dead-snows. It consists of several significant sites and threats in thevicinity of Deadsnows for heroes to explore and confront.

Poster Map: The foldout map shows the Silver Marchesand some of the surrounding territory at a scale of 30 milesto the inch. It also includes inset maps of several key region-al locations, including Silverymoon, Sundabar, Everlund,Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbarr, and a guide to Underdarksites in the vicinity.

WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAYThis sourcebook assumes that you own the three core rule-books of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

® game: the Player’sHandbook, the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, and the Mon-

ster Manual. In addition, you will find the FORGOTTEN

REALMS Campaign Setting necessary for descriptionsof some of the characters and creatures of the Silver

Marches.Finally, we recommend Monster Compendium:

Monsters of Faerûn. A number of the creatures men-tioned in this sourcebook can be found there;

the list appears below. If you do not haveMonsters of Faerûn, substitute the ap-propriate monster from the MonsterManual (given in parentheses).

Aarakocra (giant eagle); aballin(gray ooze); abishai, green (barbazu

[devil]); abishai, white (osyluth[devil]); asabi (troglodyte);

baneguard (wight); bat, nighthunter (dire bat); bat, sinister(half-fiend dire bat); behold-

erkin, eyeball (shockerlizard); chitine (etter-

cap); choldrith (driderClr4); crawling claw

(Tiny zombie); darktree (shamblingmound); darken-beast (fiendish direbat); deepspawn(fiendish 14 HDotyugh); dragon,fang (blue dra-gon); dragon,shadow (black

dragon); dragonkin(half-dragon ogre); dread warrior

(mummy); dwarf, arctic (dwarf with coldsubtype); ghost, doomsphere (beholder ghost); giant, fog(cloud giant); goblin, Dekanter (bugbear); gulguthydra(twelve-headed hydra); helmed horror (shield guardian);hybsil (centaur); ibrandlin (young red dragon); ice serpent(medium air elemental); leucrotta (displacer beast); nishruu(fiendish will-o’-wisp); nyth (will-o’-wisp); peryton (fiendishgiant eagle); planetouched, fey’ri (tiefling); planetouched,tanarukk (half-fiend orc); quaggoth (bugbear); spectral pan-ther (half-fiend leopard); tall mouther (athach); werebat (ce-lestial dire bat).

Introduction

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Most Faerûnians think of the North as asavage, untamed wilderness of shriekingblizzards, snow-capped mountains, and

trackless forests, haunted by terrible mon-sters and marauding hordes of bloodthirsty orcs. In hundredsof blood-curdling tales of danger and hardship, the North isa cold, lawless, and vast landscape no one will ever tame.Grim dwarfholds, proud barbarians, and half-legendary elfrealms may stand for a short time in these fierce lands, butnone will last. An orc horde or a flight of dragons couldsweep them all away tomorrow . . . leaving nothing but mileupon unmapped mile of wilderness.

Or so say the folk of the South. Roads and soaring citiesand prosperous hedge-walled farms may be scarcer in theSavage Frontier than in warmer lands, but to say that thearea is uncivilized and always has been is simply a mistake.If the North has always been a howling wilderness, whodelved all those abandoned mines, and who raised all thoseruined towers?

A Brief Historyof the NorthThe lands that now comprise the Silver Marches looked verydifferent thousands of years ago. In those days, there was noAnauroch desert yet. All lands but the coldest mountains androcky moors were covered in deep forest, split by rivers runningvery much where they do today. Deep in the mists of dawn,elves raised their first and mightiest realms in this area: Ary-vandaar, in the depths of the High Forest; Illefarn, along thenorthern Sword Coast; and Miyeritar, which is now the blastedHigh Moor. For many thousands of years these realms endured.The dwarves of Delzoun conquered mountains and cavernsfrom the Spine of the World to the Narrow Sea, where thewestern edge of Anauroch now lies. Goblins flourished

everywhere, and orcs rose in the northernmost peaks and glaciers.Humans, too, lived in the North. They learned magic

from elves, and humans and orcs fought over the ruins leftwhen the great elf kingdoms made war upon each other. Thefirst human realm of note was Illusk, now little more thanan echo in the city of Luskan. Illusk lay along the SwordCoast, though its true extent is only guesswork now. Wherethe dwarf realm of Delzoun reached its southeast border,Netheril began. This mighty empire, the second great humanland in the North, grew about the Narrow Sea between–4,000 and –3,000 DR. In their arrogance, the humans ofNetheril thought to work greater, more reckless magics thanthe elves had ever dared to master.

The wizards of Netheril harnessed the very power of theWeave itself, using its unbelievable might to give life towonders and terrors never before seen in Faerûn. Even asthe wizards of Netheril feuded, the phaerimms—the secretenemy of Netheril—crafted a dire sorcery and poisoned theheart of the human realm with a magical desert. Netheril’scatastrophic end came in –339 DR, the Year of SunderedWebs, when the archwizard Karsus attempted a spell thatwould transform him into a god—but failed, and in his falldestroyed Mystryl, the goddess of magic, and any great worksustained by the Art.

The survivors of Netheril scattered as orcs swept out ofmountains everywhere in the North in numbers never seenbefore or since. The ancient dwarf realm of Delzoun fell in–100 DR. Alone among the realms of the North, the elfrealm of Eaerlann held against the orc tide. Some of the de-scendants of the Netherese founded or occupied the north-ern holds that would become Ascalhorn, Silverymoon,Everlund, and Sundabar. Others sank into barbarism,mingled with the Illuskans, and became the Uthgardt peoples.

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Surviving elves of Illefarn, dwarves, Netherese descen-dants, and Northlanders banded together against the attacksof the reaver-races in 523 DR to form the short-lived realmof Phalorm, also known as the Realm of Three Crowns. TheFallen Kingdom, as it came to be known, held back the orcsand goblins, only to be swept away by the Horde of theWastes in 615 DR. Phalorm’s warriors and mages spent theirdying days lashing out against all the reavers they couldreach, depleting the ranksof the giants and goblinkinfor some centuries.

In 882 DR, the haughtywizard-lords of Ascalhornbrought about the city’sdoom. First lured into dark-ness by a secret incursion ofdevils, the mighty wizardssummoned demons to fightoff the threat within, andthe city fell to the demons.The demons overran thecity’s neighbors, the elfrealm of Eaerlann, and thedwarf realm of Ammarin-dar. With Eaerlann’s fall,the old realms of the Northwere no more. Of the oldlands, only Evereska and afew of the dwarf citadels sur-vived, isolated fortresses in ahostile wilderness.

But new realms were risingin place of the old. Near themouth of the Dessarin, Wa-terdeep rose swiftly tobecome the anchor of theNorth. From it, settlers re-claimed the Dessarin andlower Delimbiyr valleys andsettled Secomber, Loudwa-ter, Llorkh, Triboar, andLongsaddle. Silverymoon,founded in 574 DR at a fly-speck river crossing, grewsteadily into the Gem of theNorth. Roads, trails, and tradingpatterns were established, and theNorth opened up.

Like their predecessors, these new cities andkingdoms also struggled against the hostile hordesand monsters plaguing the region. In 1235 DR, ahuge orc horde swept down from the north-ernmost peaks south over all the lands toCalimshan, besieging Waterdeep and plun-dering all other settlements in their path. Armies and wiz-ards hastily gathered to put a halt to the horde’sdepredations before Calimshan was swept away. Though thecivilized hosts prevailed, orc raids continued across westernFaerûn until 1241 DR. In a year of determined orc-slaying,

the armies of the west temporarily exterminated thetuskers in southern lands, and reduced them to a fewbroken bands in the remote North. While the orcs lickedtheir wounds, the shield dwarves of the North mustered fora campaign aimed at recovering their long-lost lands. Thefirst generation of dwarf warriors born after the Thunder-ing of 1306 DR grew to adulthood, took up arms, and

swelled the ar-mies of the stoutfolk . The firstsignificant dwarfconquest of thisgreat effort camein 1356 DR,when BruenorBa t t l eh ammerslew the shadowdragon Shimmer-gloom, drove outits servant duer-gar , and pro-claimed himselfthe Eighth Kingof Mithral Hall.

Yet reaversnever ceased toraid. As summerdrew down in1367 DR, a hordeof one hundredfifty thousandorcs under KingGreneire chargeddown from thenorthern rangesand struck at theCitadel of Many

Arrows, held by KingObould. For four

months the two orcarmies clawed at each

other, until Obould slewGreneire in single combat,

breaking his horde. Dwarves of ClanWarcrown, bolstered by troops from Sil-verymoon, attacked the exhausted Many

Arrows orcs and seized the Citadel.Obould fled north to hide in the Spine

of the World, and King Emerus War-crown was enthroned in triumph in the Citadel,

restored to its old dwarf name of Felbarr.In the hard winter of 1368 DR, troll at-

tacks on the town of Nesmé grew wild and fre-quent. Something was driving the trolls out of

the moors. That something proved to be warbands of foggiants, cloud giants, and hill giants, themselves displacedfrom their homes in the Spine of the World by (amongothers) Obould’s orcs. Later that year came the bold captureof Hellgate Keep by the Blue Bear Uthgardt tribe.

The Lay of the Land

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