The Synod of the Silver Flame, called the Synod, is the ruling religious and political body of Argentum and the Silver Vale. It keeps the Silver Flame, and its seat is the Cathedral of the Silver Flame in the Lantern Wards.
Organization
High Pontiff Augustus Vane presides over the Synod’s ceremonies and is the spiritual leader of Argentum. Dorian Draken spoke of a ruling council of the Synod, which he said had allowed him his sword as a grace for his years of heroics.1
The Order of the Lantern answers directly to the Synod, and each of its three sub-orders is answerable to it. The Silver Archives are the branch of the church responsible for the city’s libraries and historical records.2 Rurik Hulduro, the Synod’s chief historical expert, writes what counts as official history.3 Lord Thaddeus Marwin, a solicitor with the Lexicon of Civil Notaries, is its lead legal counsel.3
Beliefs
The Synod teaches that arcane hubris called down the Starfall a little over seventeen hundred years ago, and that nothing civilized survives outside the protection of the Vale. Those who live beyond it are corrupted by the Sorrow, or else cultists, brigands or madmen. Its teaching holds that Bahamut, the last god, gathered the survivors into a walled city in the Silver Vale, and there performed the Covenant of the Silver Flame, giving up his life and consciousness to become lasting protection for the city.
Its doctrine is focused on community rather than on faith or magic, apart from the acts of Bahamut.4 Arcane magic is forbidden in Argentum and throughout the Vale, and those who show arcane talent are taken by the Order of the Lantern for purification. Divine and primal magic are accepted. Divine casters receive their power through the Blessing of the Silver Flame, which the Synod grants once they have proved their faith and dedication. Wellby Emberthumb told Temerity that purification belongs to the church rather than to the holy texts.5
No law in the Silver Vale forbids dealing with devils, since it is unheard of, but doing so would bring the full force of the Synod.6
Activities
The Synod provides spiritual guidance, funds civic projects and manages the governance of the city. It declares the Festival of Bells, a holiday with no fixed date, and the Calendar of the Silver Flame sets five annual festivals between its months. Communal Hearth-Meals in the Hearth Wall district are both social occasions and demonstrations of the Synod’s providence.
The Synod funds the arts. The Footlight Theater, owned by House Draken, is the city’s Synod-sponsored center for the performing arts, and much of its money is public funding from the Synod.6 Now and then the Synod sends the Candlelight Players an angry letter telling them to change a play, but mostly it leaves them alone.6
Reputation
The Synod is held to be stern but just. It is the authority most citizens look to for safety and spiritual guidance. The Unbound, a group of citizens made up mostly of archivists, believe it is lying about the city’s history.3
History
Session 8
Temerity asked Wellby Emberthumb what purification involves. He did not know. His understanding was that arcane corruption created the Sorrow through the Starfall, and that purification is the Synod’s tool for excising that corruption where nothing else will prevent it.5
Session 9
Luma’s work order from the Vaultsmiths carried their emblem, an anvil with the Synod’s mote of flame above it.2 Kessa Tumblebrim told her that Rurik Hulduro works through the Silver Archives but, she believed, technically for the Synod.2
Session 11
At the Dancing Sword, Dorian Draken said the ruling council of the Synod had allowed him his sword as a grace.1 Hazel asked Temerity afterwards whether the Synod allows nobles and heroes what it does not allow others. Emberthumb had never raised the question with her. As far as she knew, magic is illegal unless it is the magic of the Silver Flame.1
Session 16
Amber Deepdraft told the party about the Unbound. Every year new inconsistencies turn up in the official records and are dismissed, and the people who raise them find themselves jobless, at best.3 There had been many cases of the Synod clashing with communities of elves or dwarves who would not follow its directives. Amber believes those who left in the Elder Exodus were driven off by whatever means the Synod had.3
On 6 Nightdeep, 1714 PSF, Thaddeus Marwin and Rurik Hulduro questioned Luma at the Silver Archives about her survey of the sealed vaults, in what Marwin called a procedural review. He told her the forge vaults were sealed because of dangerous seismic activity, and that the residential vaults could hold poisons or other hazards.3
Session 17
The party learned that the Synod funds the Footlight Theater. Sera Siannodel told Rhysaene that now and then it sends the Candlelight Players an angry letter demanding changes to a play.6