Spellguard

The Spellguard was an organization of powerful, militaristic mages in Silverymoon, who served as the city's protectors, the personal guard of its ruler and patrons of its illustrious college of magical learning. They kept watch over the city's mythal and its protective wards, until it was destroyed in the Spellplague, an event which strengthened their resolve as guardians of knowledge in the North.

Membership
The order was open to arcane spellcasters of all sorts; while primarily comprised of wizards, it also included swordmages, sorcerers and warlocks among its ranks. In order to gain admittance, aspiring members had to demonstrate a certain prowess in battle-magic by casting a number of spells while in audience with the Spellguard's Lord Warder. The applicant would be interrogated by the Lord Warder, who was aided by a number of clerics casting divination spells such as detect evil, detect thoughts, discern lies and true seeing. Once they were accepted, Spellguards were formally brought into the order in a grand ceremony held within the High Palace.

New Spellguards were given an adrath token, a small metal badge that allowed them to cast certain arcane spells that were otherwise prohibited by Silverymoon's mythal. It allowed a Spellguard to cast conjuration, fire and teleportation spells within the city's wards.

Requirements and benefits
Service within the order was strictly on a volunteer basis, and members were free to retire whenever they chose. They were expected to turn in their adrath token but retained all the abilities and knowledge they had gained while in service.

Mages were required to serve two days out of every tenday on active duty, either within the city or patrolling the surrounding areas, and earned a salary of at least 50 gp per month, or 250 gp/month for the Warders. This dutiful service was came with certain reverence and authority, as Spellguards commanded significant respect in Luruar and the surrounding lands. Many long-serving members were high-ranking politicians within the League of Silver Marches.

Serving within the Spellguard was often a requirement for joining the Conclave of Silverymoon.

Organization
The Spellguard was not a conclave or loosely-structured guild of mages, rather a fully-functioning military organization. As of the late 14 century, they numbered 25 members whose activities were overseen by seven Warders, all serving under the guidance of the Lord Warder Jorus Azuremantle.

Duties
The primary duty of the Spellguard was to defend the Silvaren citizens from the many threats of the North, including monster attacks and evil spellcasters. The region was regularly troubled by attacks from trolls, drow, giants and even more malicious beasts. The Spellguard worked closely with the Knights in Silver when the city was threatened by the more mundane dangers of the North.

The High Palace of Silverymoon was always protected by at least one Warder and two Spellguards.

Powers
Once they gained entry into the order, Spellguards of Silverymoon were attuned to the city's mythal. As such they were granted access to a number of unique spells, including force lash, mythal splinter and mythal spark. These spells drew from the residual power of the mythal, even in the years following its destruction.

Spellguards were skilled in metamagic, and focused on minimizing the collateral damage that could be caused by their battle-magic. Through significant practice, they were able to focus their magic, causing it to only effect or cause damage to certain races, creatures or specific sub-species, at their discretion.

History
The Spellguard were established by Taern Hornblade in 1255 DR, as an arcane bodyguard for Alustriel Silverhand, but quickly grew in both number and skill, which garnered them more responsibility within the city. In the following years they grew to a city-wide force, spreading their duties between the High Palace and the rest of Silverymoon.

Following the the destruction of Silverymoon's mythal during the Spellplague, in the year 1385 DR, the Spellguard took on a more offensive role in their guardianship of the city, seeking out and hunting down threats to the capital of Luruar.

Notable members

 * Taern Hornblade: The founder of the Spellguard was a noted member of the Harpers who ascended as the High Mage of Silverymoon after Alustriel.
 * Jorus Azuremantle: A member of the Council of the Marches, Jorus took over the rank of Lord Warder after High Mage Hordblade.