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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

I'd strongly suggest you start with the 3E supplements:

Magic of Faerun - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_of_Faerûn

and

Silver Marches - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Marches_(accessory)

They do a good job of touching on the sorts of things one might expect to find in the area on that date (and at mage fairs in general).

What system are you running your game in?

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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

I used to run my Realms campaign in Pathfinder as well, it was a decent 3E alternative.

As you've checked the two books I suggested, you might also take a peek at "Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms" (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/398880000) for some good 'day to day living' tidbits to make the game come alive.

I'd also be interested to hear what other scribes might suggest by way of lore for that specific date. (BEAST is an excellent chronicler of events in the North for any given date.) Obviously the two biggest things to happen around that time were the signing of the peace treaty with the Kingdom of Many Arrows and the return of Shade enclave. You might see people and have plot lines related to both events.

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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

Cards,

You've got a good library over that way! Lol.

Okay, my last recommendation as an amateur lore finder is this: http://silverymoon.thyle.net It is a website/netbook compiled by some lovers of the Silver Marches (and the city in particular) written with 3E in mind and compiled contemporaneously to the advent of 3E (y2k for us, 1372 DR).

I don't recall if it had anything VERY on point, but it will give you some examples of local color.

Best of luck (or something, something, Tymora).

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Originally posted by BEAST

The FRCS (3E) touches on LOTS of different Realmsian ceremonies which are held on Shieldmeet. Take a look-see at that.

Since it says that Shieldmeet was held in the capital city of Battledale of the Dales, Essembra; my guess would be that the Silver Marches Shieldmeet would have been held in its own capital, Silverymoon. (When news first spread of the Spellplague, people converged upon Silverymoon, as well {The Orc King}.)

The League of the Silver Marches had only officially been in existence since early 1371 DR, so there would certainly be business to discuss concerning that.

The signing of the Treaty of Garumn's Gorge would probably have occurred just prior to Shieldmeet, 1372 DR. My guess is probably sometime in the month of Flamerule. The defeat of the upstart Chieftain Grguch had occurred just prior to this, as well--perhaps in Mirtul or Kythorn.

The svirfneblin town of Blingdenstone appears to have fallen to the Menzoberranyr drow in late 1370 DR, so that would probably need to be commemorated.

OTOH, since the FRCS says that Belwar Dissengulp headed a deep gnome contingent in Mithral Hall at Midsummer, 1372 DR, but RAS never wrote about any such thing in his novel which was set in the first half of 1372 DR (The Orc King), then my guess is that Belwar's group must have arrived at Mithral Hall in Flamerule, 1372 DR, right after the novel drew to a close. The miraculous discovery of more survivors from the recent fall of Blingdenstone would certainly be cause for celebration!

Mayhaps there would be some sort of would-be friendly competitions between the orcs and other races, for the first time ever? I can totally see that blowing up in people's faces, though!

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Originally posted by BEAST

The FRCS (3E) touches on LOTS of different Realmsian ceremonies which are held on Shieldmeet. Take a look-see at that.

Since it says that Shieldmeet was held in the capital city of Battledale of the Dales, Essembra; my guess would be that the Silver Marches Shieldmeet would have been held in its own capital, Silverymoon. (When news first spread of the Spellplague, people converged upon Silverymoon, as well {The Orc King}.)

The League of the Silver Marches had only officially been in existence since early 1371 DR, so there would certainly be business to discuss concerning that.

The signing of the Treaty of Garumn's Gorge would probably have occurred just prior to Shieldmeet, 1372 DR. My guess is probably sometime in the month of Flamerule. The defeat of the upstart Chieftain Grguch had occurred just prior to this, as well--perhaps in Mirtul or Kythorn.

The svirfneblin town of Blingdenstone appears to have fallen to the Menzoberranyr drow in late 1370 DR, so that would probably need to be commemorated.

OTOH, since the FRCS says that Belwar Dissengulp headed a deep gnome contingent in Mithral Hall at Midsummer, 1372 DR, but RAS never wrote about any such thing in his novel which was set in the first half of 1372 DR (The Orc King), then my guess is that Belwar's group must have arrived at Mithral Hall in Flamerule, 1372 DR, right after the novel drew to a close. The miraculous discovery of more survivors from the recent fall of Blingdenstone would certainly be cause for celebration!

Mayhaps there would be some sort of would-be friendly competitions between the orcs and other races, for the first time ever? I can totally see that blowing up in people's faces, though!

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Originally posted by Cards77

Hi Beast, can you be more specific? i just read through my FRCS and Shieldmeet is given a total of 3 paragraphs in a side bar, and mage fairs are given approximately 2 paragraphs.

So not much there at all. Can you give me some examples of these ceremonies and where they are located?

Sorry to trouble you but I really want to make this special for my players.

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Originally posted by Demzer

Since BEAST is busy trying to shed some light on a scroll i opened, i think it's right if i try to lend a hand here.

I didn't find anything Silver Marches specific yet, but i have found bits and pieces that maybe can be of help in deciding what happens in your campaign.

FRCS (2e) on page 31 says that Battledale attracts folks from all the surrounding regions (Dales, Moonsea, Sembia) for Shieldmeet while pretty much all 2e sources (The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier, Volo's Guide to the North, Waterdeep City of Splendors) and a couple of 1e sources (The Savage Frontier, Waterdeep and the North) say that Yartar attracts a host of people form all over the North during Sheildmeet. This leads me to believe that over time some places in Faerun built up a reputation for hosting the best Shieldmeet Fairs in their regions and so rose to prominence in that regard. How could that help you? Seeing how Alustriel wants Silverymoon and the Silver Marches to be the beacon of hope in the North i can imagine some kind of "friendly competition" with Yartar (and Waterdeep) to establish Silverymoon as the new "must be there" place for Shieldmeet (with all the economical and cultural consequences that brings).

Another interesting tid-bit of information from the 2e FRCS is on page 90 about the halfling costume of gathering in Corm Orp to trade and be merry each Shieldmeet, this is further reinforced in Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast (page 175) where it says that a lot of halfling that get to Corm Orp for Shieldmeet end up moving there thus leading to Corm Orp being the biggest halfling concentration north of Luiren. Again, how does this helps you? Well to me this suggests that demihuman races use Shieldmeet festivities to travel around and visit human dominated lands for trade and merriment without worrying too much about racism and integration problems and seeing the multicultural and multiracial vocation of Silverymoon i see Shieldmeet as perfect time for the city to showcase its qualities in hope of persuading wandering demihumans (dwarves, halflings, gnomes, elves) to settle in the city.

The Vilhon Reach reports that the custom of Turmish-Chondath mock wars was established in 300 DR in Shieldmeet to let the nations vent their hatred without resorting to full scale war, this is still a fight to the death and hunderds of mercenaries lose their lives in this mock wars. Now i don't know if the treaty of Garumn's Gorge was signed before or after Shieldmeet but athletic competitions and various fighting tournaments seem to me the perfect place were orcs, humans, dwarves and elves can compete as equal without (too much) bloodshed and thus are the perfect but very risky opportunity that can make or break integration between the various races (if things start to go wrong tragedy will ensue but nothing speaks more of integration than a dwarven and an orcish wrestlers beating the s**t out of each other and then getting drunk together while making lewd comments about Alustriel of Silverymoon!).

Next we have the Heralds, from Code of the Harpers we know each Shieldmeet the High Heralds have a public meeting (at which anyone can attend) where they discuss matters. This "Herald's Round", seeing as Herald's Holdfast is too small for big congregations can take place wherever you want it to take place (as i didn't find a specific location where it's at, so far) and being next door to Silverymoon ... you know where i'm going. Also there are two Heralds office that get renewed each Shielmeet: Green Shield (that has to organize and care to the defenses of the Herald's Round) and Gauntlet (that issues mercenary and adventurer's band contracts and deals with those sort of people on behalf of monarchies).

My beloved Lands of Intrigue has some tasty bits that, while very specific, can inspire you in making stuff up for your Shieldmeet events:
- The Orderd of the Silver Chalice (Siamorphe's sponsored knightly order) accepts members only during Shieldmeet or other very special events (in Tethyr's case, the ceremonies for the Reclamation of the Throne);
- Waukeen appeared in Trademeet (Amn) in 920 DR to broker the "Merchant's Peace" and punish dishonest merchants;
- Two courtly positions of the Tethyrian monarchy are changed at Shieldmeet: Lord Royal Chancellor (highest government administrative position with direct ties to the monarchs) and Royal Hayward (caretaker of the gardens of the royal palace).

And to conclude, we get to Faiths & Avatars where we can find which churches held specific ceremonies for Shieldmeet:
- Beshaba's faithful observe only Midsummer and Shieldmeet as special occasions in which they throw wild revels of destruction and rudeness in honor of their goddess;
- Deneirrath on Shieldmeet let people check any contract of which the local church has a copy and any other non-magical text someone wishes to read. Also on Shieldmeet they observe the "Gliding", a rite in which the priests congregate around a levitating script on which they cast the Words of Deneir in golden letters (and the manuscript is later exposed to the public);
- Helmites observe the "Ceremony of Honor to Helm" on Shieldmeet (no further info on this that i could find);
- Kelemvorites use Shieldmeet to tell the Deeds of the Dead so that the living never forget the importance of their ancestors;
- Mielikkans extend Midsummer's "Wild Ride" to the whole day and night of Shieldmeet (during the "Wild Ride" unicorns appear and ride on the country in herds, Mielikkans are allowed to mount them bareback and travel for all Midsummer's night, during this time Mielikki empowers the unicorns to teleport at will);
- Oghmanytes hold Shieldmeet in high regards because it's a time when a lot of agreements and contracts are signed;
- Selunites observe one of their most important ceremonies, the Conjuring of the Second Moon, only on Shieldmeets. During the Conjuring the Shards (celestial servitors of Selune) are summoned to the the bidding of the assembled clergy and at the end of the night one of the priestesses is taken to join their ranks;
- Tormtars use Shieldmeet as the preferred day to marry, perform marriages and finalize apprenticeships or training agreements.

That's all for now, hope this helps.

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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

Cards,

You've got a good library over that way! Lol.

Okay, my last recommendation as an amateur lore finder is this: http://silverymoon.thyle.net It is a website/netbook compiled by some lovers of the Silver Marches (and the city in particular) written with 3E in mind and compiled contemporaneously to the advent of 3E (y2k for us, 1372 DR).

I don't recall if it had anything VERY on point, but it will give you some examples of local color.

Best of luck (or something, something, Tymora).

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Originally posted by Cards77

quote:

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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

Cards,

You've got a good library over that way! Lol.

Okay, my last recommendation as an amateur lore finder is this: http://silverymoon.thyle.net It is a website/netbook compiled by some lovers of the Silver Marches (and the city in particular) written with 3E in mind and compiled contemporaneously to the advent of 3E (y2k for us, 1372 DR).

I don't recall if it had anything VERY on point, but it will give you some examples of local color.

Best of luck (or something, something, Tymora).

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That site is great but I noticed that all the links are dead (to all their PDF's, maps and some parts of the netbook). You don't happen to have those files stored away some where do you? I'm interested in MANY of the things they fleshed out, inn and tavern map PDFs, etc. But all links dead.

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Originally posted by Asharak

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Originally posted by Cards77

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Originally posted by Kris the Grey

Cards,

You've got a good library over that way! Lol.

Okay, my last recommendation as an amateur lore finder is this: http://silverymoon.thyle.net It is a website/netbook compiled by some lovers of the Silver Marches (and the city in particular) written with 3E in mind and compiled contemporaneously to the advent of 3E (y2k for us, 1372 DR).

I don't recall if it had anything VERY on point, but it will give you some examples of local color.

Best of luck (or something, something, Tymora).

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That site is great but I noticed that all the links are dead (to all their PDF's, maps and some parts of the netbook). You don't happen to have those files stored away some where do you? I'm interested in MANY of the things they fleshed out, inn and tavern map PDFs, etc. But all links dead.

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search "wayback machine", copy the link, ... and all is there...

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