Syngorn

"Syngorn is a city of wonders and beauty of the like rarely seen anywhere else on Exandria. Towers and bowers, cloisters and arches so graceful and fine they make your heart ache—and yet, for all of these works, the most precious treasure in our city is the innocent laughter of children."

—Ouestra, the Voice of Memory

Founded by the sorceress Yenlara in the wake of the Divergence, Syngorn becamee the heart of elven civilization on Tal'Dorei following its calamitous destruction. The remnants of the fallen Court of Ulusa fled to the Feywild for a generation following the end of the Age of Arcanum, returning only when Yenlara found the realm safe to return. These four hundred survivors built a new home, taking inspiration from their temporary home among the fey, and formed the foundations of Syngorn. Though elves have spread all across Tal'Dorei, even as far as the frigid Neverfields, there was once a time when nearly all of them resided in Syngorn.
This beautiful city of curving stone is built in harmony with the trees of the Expanse and sits against the western base of the Stormcrest Mountains. It is all but impervious to external assault—not simply because of its forty-foot-high walls of ivy-covered jade, and not only because it's also surrounded by living trees of the Verdant Expanse and beacons of detection that keep constant vigil for intruders. No, Syngorn is virtually unassailable because every entrance to the city is warded by a series of threshold crests: massive emblems of a crescent moon flanked by two trees over a deep cerulean stone. These enchanted stones act as an anchor to the Feywild, where Syngorn's founders once recovered, allowing the city to vanish tracelessly into the Feywild as a final act of preservation.

Society

Syngorn is steeped in elven tradition that dates back to before the Divergence. The arts are lauded and revered, the pursuit of knowledge is respected and encouraged, and some training in refined martial techniques is culturally expected. The idea of trade between other cities and nations is understood to be both healthy and beneficial, but most foreign trade and travel is relegated to outer areas of the city.
There was a time when few foreigners ever saw Syngorn's innermost reaches, but that time has passed. Syngorn's gates are open to travelers from across Tal'Dorei—though all who visit the city are bound by Syngorn's strict cultural laws to respect their millennia-old traditions. Any who disrespect the ways of Syngorn are warned but once, and are thrown out of the city thereafter. Delicate crafts by Syngornian hands are sought after by collectors around the world, so many take up the trade for both profit and honor.
In a populace of people who live extraordinarily long lives, having children is a rare and highly regulated process. Prospective parents must gain approval from the office of the Voice of Memory to procreate, and any unapproved children are sent out of the city to be raised in outposts or foreign cities. All elves call such an occasion "regrettable", and truly do treat it with sorrow—but the laws of Syngorn are clear on this point, and few elves are willing to speak out against rulings which have stood for a thousand years.

Crime

If Syngorn appears free of crime, it's because elven criminals have hundreds of years of experience lurking in the shadows. A thriving market for illegal goods runs invisibly through the city's guilds. Though time often seems to stand still in Syngorn, crime moves with the same celerity as it does in other cities—it must, if the criminal underbelly wants to stay one step ahead of the Wardens of Syngorn.
The most common contraband to pass through Syngorn are shipments of suude, stolen goods, and dwarven trinkets. Many come to Syngorn to purchase these goods for a low price on the black market, but those unwilling to make a journey and risk being stopped by the Verdant Guard can wait for these goods to make their way up to Kymal, where they can be purchased at an outrageous markup of five times their cost in Syngorn.
Most people in Syngorn have their basic needs taken care of by the city's government, to ensure the wellbeing of their people. Nevertheless, some people still fall into poverty, and these destitute individuals are often preyed upon by pickpockets, swindlers, and smugglers who seek to use them as patsies for a paltry sum of gold.

Demographics

85% elves, 9% humans, 3% halflings, 3% other races

Government

The city has been governed since its inception by the  High Warden of Syngorn, a hereditary monarch who appoints proven individuals to three other offices alongside them as the Wardens of Syngorn. Each Warden carries a title and bears a responsibility to guide the city toward safety and prosperity. The Verdant Lord is the head of the city guard, though they delegate this responsibility to a Vice Protector when leading the armies of Syngorn to war abroad.
The Guildrunner manages the city's treasury and oversees commerce within Syngorn's borders. The Voice of Memory is a heralded keeper of history and culture, and is often seen interacting with the elven people, gathering new memories for the archives. The High Warden has always been of Yenlara's bloodline, and is responsible for keeping order within Syngorn and its territories, as well as within the Wardens themselves.

Geography

The perpetual shade of the thick green canopy of the forest maintains cooler weather throughout the summer months, while this far south, the ice and snow of winter is present, but minimal.
Syngorn is broken up into six main districts and has a variety of neighborhoods:

Memory Ward

The mind of Syngorn is contained within a ring of marble walls in Syngorn's northeast reaches. A winding stair, the One Thousand Steps, leads up to its lofty gate. Standing in the center of its grand court is the mystical Sequoia of Remembrance, a three-hundred-foot-tall redwood within which are stored the lives and memories of every elf in Gwessar. At least, those whose bodies are brought before the sequia and are granted the Rite of Remembrance, as performed by the Voice of Memory and her disciples, have their memories preserved and added to the collective. Nearly all elves in Syngorn receive this rite, and a vast number of elves who live elsewhere write into their wills that they must be subject to the rite after their death.
Wisps of violet light flit about the sequoia's ancient boughs, and those who look closely into their centers have been known to catch glimpses of eras past, troubles present, and things that yet may be. The great redwood and its spirits are watched and tended to by the Dreamweavers, elves who have dedicated their waking and sleeping lives to the protection of their heritage. About five hundred Dreamweavers and five thousand scholars, merchants, and other elves call this district their home.
The elves are a culture obsessed with tradition and the past. As such, the Dreamweavers are among the most well-respected factions within Syngorn. Their leader, Ouestra, the Voice of Memory, is likewise the most revered and socially powerful of the Wardens. Ouestra rarely descends from her tower of moonlight in the south of the Memory Ward, but when she does, all of Syngorn pays heed.

Beryl Keep

This fortress-district houses the martial might of Syngorn. Situated on a hill in the northwest of the city, thick walls of leaf-green beryl separate the district from the rest of the city. Within these walls are rows of barracks, archery ranges, trance chambers, forges, mess halls, and all the other necessities of training an army of long-lived elves. At the far northwest of the district is the Beryl Keep itself. The near-unassailable fortress proves the saying that even the most utilitarian of elven things are beautiful to mortal eyes. Six ancient eucalyptus trees of unknown age mark the boundaries of the keep, and between them grows a thick curtain of ironbark. A dense canopy of impenetrable steelfern forms its roof. Legend says that when Syngorn's need is greatest, the six ancient eucalyptus trees that guard the keep will uproot and march as mighty treants to defend the bastion of the elves.
Beryl Keep is commanded by Verdant Lord Celindar, Syngorn's master strategist. He possesses a crystal ball of true seeing within his war room, which he can use to scry upon any part of the Verdant Expanse and to pierce any illusion. From this vantage point, he commands his forces like a chess master, always one step ahead of the savage threats within the enchanted forest. So far, Syngorn remains safe because its enemies are wild and disorganized. Were they to unify, the might of the Verdant Guard would truly be put to the test.
The armies of Syngorn are about five thousand elves strong, though only about three thousand are within district at any time. The rest are stationed at outposts within the Verdant Expanse and the Feywild.

The Tarn Ward

Syngorn's central ward is a peaceful commerce district surrounding Lake Ywynnlas and split by the channels that feed it. From sunrise to sunset, no business is conducted here, save for food at public houses and beds at inns. During the daylight hours, elves socialize, play, sing, write poetry, paint great works of art, and meditate here. Elves are long-lived, and if half the day is not spent in peace and self-improvement, it is thought that the day was truly wasted, no matter how productive one might have been in matters of business.
At nightfall, however, the Tarn Ward changes. The Tarn Thoroughfare opens at moonrise, lit only by the heavens and by magical floating lanterns. The streets are silent but for the ethereal elvensong that guides those who know how to listen through the district. Elves and half-elves raised in Syngorn know this musical language, but those unfamiliar with it must use a comprehend languages spell to follow the melody. When the river of sound guides a customer to a vendor, they speak in hushed Elvish, like an audience whispering at the theatre.
Any basic goods can be purchased here at twice their usual cost. These goods, however, are of fine elven make. Weapons have a +1 bonus to damage rolls, horses and other mounts increase their movement speed by 10 feet, and other items are possessed of unearthly beauty and uncanny durability. All common magic items can be easily found here, and any uncommon magic item has a 50% chance of being found here.

Emerald Citadel

The great palace of Syngorn looms high over the north of the city—a mighty castle of faded white marble, now covered with climbing ivy and sprouting plants. As the highest point in the gradually sloping city, its emerald-tipped spires can be seen from anywhere below. Visitors to the citadel first climb a grand set of stairs, curved like a flowing river of marble, before reaching its brass gates. The Verdant Guard aggressively protects the castle's main entrance, rejecting any commoner who does not have an invitation to the palace marked with the High Warden's seal. High Warden Tirelda's monocled majordomo, a silver-haired elf named Ibbimas, screens all of the High Warden's supplicants.
The palace's high, vaulted ceilings are supported by pillars of gleaming marble carved in the image of tall elm trees, such that the ceilings are a canopy of polished stone. Beautiful portraits of past Wardens line the walls, along with opulent of tapestries of Yenlara and the creation of Syngorn. The citadel is made up of four main levels. The basement levels hold the castle dungeons, as well as grand vaults containing fabulous treasure, historical artifacts, and overwrought gifts—the latter given by emissaries uncertain of how to present a gift fine enough for an elven monarch. The first floor holds lush quarters for ambassadors and visiting dignitaries. The second floor's chambers are dedicated to business of state, including the High Warden's throne room. The towers above the citadel contain studies and quarters for the High Warden and her family.

Feygrove

A once-splendid manor house in southern Syngorn is now completely overgrown with plant life. Massive mulberry trees sprout at odd angles out of windows and through gables, and fairy lights dance around the house at all hours of the day. When Syngorn returned from the Feywild after the Conclave's defeat, the elves unintentionally brought a little of the Feywild with them. A number of fey creatures slipped through a gate from the Feywild to Exandria, then wriggled through Syngorn's defenses and made their home in the mansion of an elven noblewoman named Lady Il'shavfa. She has tried for years to reclaim her home, but even the patience of elves wears thin; the fey are simply too numerous and too tenacious to be kicked out for good.
The fey interlopers, however, are having the time of their lives. Far from merely throwing nightly parties—though they do that, too—they have made Il'shavfa Manor a place for them to experiment with wild new magic. Their leader, a pixie prince named Windybranch, has found great pleasure in planting strange fey plants in the house and watching as they integrate with the mansion. The house is now living, breathing, thinking—a new friend for the fey! It keeps the elves out and it's a great conversationalist! To the fey, this arrangement has no downsides! The fairies have named this manor after the Archfey who first allowed them into the city. To them, their new home is Artagan's Lodge (and it's said that the Archfey Artagan occasionally stays within its walls when he visits Tal'Dorei).
Since the Feygrove was first "founded" over twenty years ago, the fey have spilled out of Il'shavfa Manor and made an entire district of the city into their home. By this point, only the most stubborn of elven nobility still gripe about "the fey menace" within their midst. Most of Syngorn's residents are delighted to have a district filled with the fey, even if it causes the southern end of the city to be a little more chaotic than usual. The fey here seem to have kind hearts, and their chaos rarely crosses the line from churlish pranks into cruelty.

The Reverie Walks

The artistic and spiritual center of Syngorn is a winding labyrinth of living trees and stones. Elves who seek a day-long (or days-long) journey of meditation may wander the Reverie Walks, entering a trance-like state as they do. Those who seek true enlightenment may dedicate years of their near-immortal lives to wandering the evershifting labyrinth, finding peace in isolation or in search of the Stone of the Archeart in the labyrinth's center. An elven monk named Lyssev Sorveline has walked the labyrinth for five hundred years, seeking answers to questions even the gods do not know. Some elves leave gifts of food for the Wanderer within the labyrinth, allowing them to continue their eternal meditation in peace.
No Warden holds sway over the Reverie Walks. Legend holds that the living stones and trees that shift the labyrinth are devotees of the Archeart that swore to be their god's eternal wardens.

Points of Interest

Syngorn has a number of famous landmarks. They are keyed to the map of Syngorn above.

Elvencraft Alliance Guildhall

The Elvencraft Alliance is supposedly the oldest guild in Syngorn. They are entrusted with creating works of art that spread the culture of Syngorn far and wide across Gwessar. The front rooms of their guildhall are a museum of fine elven crafts from ages past, and they're open to all who wish to appreciate Syngorn's cultural heritage.

Guildrunner's Mansion

Guildrunner Rawndel, Warden of the Tarn Ward, makes his home within a permanent magnificent mansion. Its exterior is a magnificent façade of stone and leering fey statues, yet if one were to look inside, they would find it completely empty. The door, which is constantly locked to all but the Guildrunner and his guests, is actually a portal to an extradimensional space containing a manor of supernatural beauty and luxury.

Mithral Fellowship Guildhall

The master metallurgists and smiths of the Mithral Fellowship are tasked with arming the Verdant Guard and the armies of Syngorn. In peacetime, they turn their talents to creating things of beauty from metal and jewels, sometimes in tandem with the artists of the Elvencraft Alliance. Due to their military involvement, none but authorized members of the fellowship are allowed within their guildhall.

One Thousand Steps

This winding stair is the only way in or out of the Memory Ward. Each step is inscribed with an ancient elven idiom, aphorism, or impossible philosophical question. Anyone who enters the Memory Ward is told to read the aphorism upon the first step and ponder it the entire time they are climbing the stairway. If they find peace in their answer, they are to read the inscription of the second step on their next journey, and so on. There are few, even among the elves, who have pondered the inscriptions of all of the steps to their satisfaction.

Spires of Yurek

Roads lined with dormitories and vendors radiate out from the branches of the Sequoia of Remembrance to the walls of the Memory Ward, providing essentials for not only the Dreamweavers, but the elven scholars who teach, study, and experiment with magic within the Spires of Yurek. This academy was named for Yurek Windkeeper, founder of the Arcana Pansophical and personal counselor to the Voice of Memory herself. The school is small compared to Emon's magnificent Alabaster Lyceum, but its seven marble towers are no less awe-inspiring. Adventurers who visit the Spires of Yurek can learn any historical fact by studying its tomes for one hour and then making a successful DC 20 Intelligence (History) check. They can uncover hints toward long-lost secrets by completing a day's study and then succeeding on a DC 25 Intelligence (History) check. New spells are constantly being invented here, and countless tomes filled with ancient spells can be found within the libraries.

Tower of Moonlight

Most visitors to Syngorn doubt that Ouestra, the Voice of Memory, truly dwells in a tower of moonlight. It is the truth. Her tower does not exist under the light of the sun, and then appears as a semi-solid pillar of Catha's silvery glow, occasionally veined by lines of Ruidus' ruddy light when the smaller moon is full. Its inside has supposedly never been seen by any but the other Wardens of Syngorn, and a thousand rumors circulate throughout the realm of magical and divine marvels that must be contained within.

Spellbinders' Guildhall

The Verdant Expanse is saturated with magic. The ley energies that suffuse the greenwood make it easy for arcanists to create works of spellcraft by themselves, when it might take a half-dozen mages working in concert in other lands. Many of Syngorn's most trustworthy magi are members of the Spellbenders, a guild dedicated to creating new spells and using them to create works of art, defend their homeland, and improve their people's lives. Their guildhall is only accessible to those with the express permission of Guildrunner Rawndel.

Stone of the Archeart

In the heart of the Reverie Walks is a column of pure diamond, carved in the radiant likeness of an androgynous elf. Though the Archeart is worshipped throughout Exandria as a god of magic and art, they are something more to the elves of Syngorn: a progenitor of their people, a deity of fatherhood and motherhood, yet also of neither—a liminal god that by their very nature both embraces and destroys binaries. Elves that are "born of the Archeart" are honored within Syngorn, and many who seek that honor wander the Reverie Ward in search of the Stone, longing for physical transformation, social power, or arcane might. Some search for centuries and never find it, but in times of peril, the Archeart always makes their wisdom known to those who truly need it.

Type

City

Population

37,030

Inhabitant Demonym

Syngornian

Location under

Verdant Expanse

Owning Organization

Wardens of Syngorn