Silver Peak

## Origins

As the legend goes, Silver Peak began in around 1734 BC as an exile’s hut on a hill. Every four months, the exile would make the long, three-day trek to a small fishing village to trade teeth, bones, and fur for fresh weapons and tools.

On one of these occasions, the exile noted a conflict between the guardsmen of the town and a young group of high elves. The elves’ leader had recently stolen a few of the guards’ arrows, and in retaliation they were to publicly execute him. On learning of this, the exile furiously took up arms against the guardsmen and, warily, the guards chose banishment over execution. The exile offered to take the elves with them, and so they built homes around the exile’s hill.

After a year, the elves grew restless and began wandering from Silver Peak. They would find outcasts and misfits in other towns and bring them back to Silver Peak. And thus, the exile reluctantly assumed responsibility for governing the growing settlement.

## The Expansion Era

In 1276 BC, a great famine struck Silver Peak and killed hundreds of citizens. When the city finally recovered, it determined to expand so that the same problem, a lack of resources, would never again befall it. By this point, the city had established a Mages’ Guild to study arcana, and the Archmage served as an advisor of sorts to the mayor.

As Silver Peak began to expand, Archmage Talocene grew impatient with the pace of the city’s implementation of magic into its military. In a bloodless coup, he pressured the mayor to resign and established himself as Emperor.

Talocene established the Empire of Amethos, named after the gem around which most of Silver Peak’s magical capabilities depended on. He immediately strengthened the military’s arsenal with magical weapons and artillery, and the empire would continue expanding for the next 200 years.

## The Mineral Wars

In 1035 BC, the Empire’s expansion era came to an end as it found itself confronting an aggressive westward neighbor, the Kingdom of Ri'Almaz. The two initially formed a peace treaty, but after only three years it fell apart over a minor dispute involving resource sovereignty on the border. The wars between the two civilizations ultimately lasted 804 years and would be ridiculed by future historians as the Mineral Wars: for the spark that set them off involved small deposits of coal and tungsten.

## The Warrior-Emperor Era

In 947 BC, the Archmage Aetherio voluntarily stepped down from the responsibilities of emperor, bestowing the title on his favorite general. Aetherio disliked the duty of governance and would often be away from Silver Peak to study magic and alchemy. Thus, the line of the mage-emperors that began with Talocene came to an end.

## End of an Empire

In 231 BC, the Mineral Wars finally came to an end as the Kingdom of Ri'Almaz conquered Silver Peak. Rather than oppressing its citizens, they allowed the nobility to remain and rule as they always had as long as they pledged undying loyalty to the King. Every noble complied.

## The Catastrophe

In Year 0, Vaas T’elos, capital of the Kingdom of Ri'Almaz, underwent a catastrophe of unknown origins that left of all its citizens dead and the city and surrounding areas in ruins. With the Ri'Alman King dead, dukes and lords went to war over control of the Kingdom’s pieces, sparking the Wars of Succession that lasted almost 50 years. Silver Peak immediately declared independence and was left alone by the combatants, most of whom lived further to the West, in regions closer to the fallen capital. For a millenium, Silver Peak would keep to itself and serve as a beacon of arts, science and magical studies.

## Lochwind’s Curse

In 1044 AC, Eoris Wex, a young human mage from Silver Peak, set off in search of the mythical Citadel of Envi, supposedly older than both Silver Peak and Vaas T’elos. Wex never returned, but after a few years undead began assaulting those living in Lochwind every night, and would continue on to the present day. Silver Peak expanded on its defenses and would drive back the undead at its main gate every night for centuries.

## Silver Peak is Overwhelmed

In 1612 AC, the undead finally broke through Silver Peak’s defenses and rapidly infected a majority of the city. A few districts responded quickly enough to set up their own defenses and repel the undead, but 7 of the 11 fell. Thus, Silver Peak was split into infected and uninfected districts, and would find another district overwhelmed in 1670 AC.

## Modern Day

In the current year, 1815 AC, three districts remain uninfected, but the undead continue to pressure Silver Peak’s remaining citizens night after night, leaving the city a living nightmare. Most residents sleep during the day so they can take up arms through the night. With the recent migration to Lochwind led by the Explorers’ Guild, the city has finally begun to see more new citizens than deaths each year. For the first time in centuries, a cautious hope possesses the citizens of Silver Peak.