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Helm's Hold was a fortified city and cathedral dedicated to Helm found on the Sword Coast North.[1][2][3][6]

Geography[]

Helm's Hold was located around 20 mi (32 km) southeast of the city of Neverwinter,[3] not far from the edge of Neverwinter Wood. A stretch of the forest full of wild magic known as the Watcher's Forest was named for the fact it was tended by some residents of Helm's Hold.[7]

Government[]

The Hold was originally led by its founder, First Guardian Dumal Erard. His title was a position that could only be passed on to another by means of martial combat.[7]

Eventually a democratically elected City Council was chosen from among the city's populace. This council was composed of 'Speakers' that often resorted to ostentatious and self-serving behavior and at times even intimidation against their fellow members in order to pass legislation. The Chief Speaker led this forum and had final say on policy-making decisions.[4]

When the Ashmadai revealed themselves within the city in the 1470's DR, their leader known as The Prophet temporarily became the de facto ruler. She held control over the Hold until she showed her true colors and was forced to flee underground into the city's crypts.[8]

As of the late 1480s DR, the Chief Speaker was Amarandine Wanderfoot.[6]

Defenses[]

For the first 40 or so years of the Hold's existence, local priests and paladins of Helm patrolled the Watcher's Forest and the perimeter of the Neverwinter Wood.[9]

A high wall was erected around the Hold when expanded to the size of a true city in the Year of the Arch, 1353 DR.[1]

One hundred men and women served as Helm's Hundred, a fighting force consisting of magic-users, warriors and even thieves. In the years leading up to 1370 DR, this troop would leave the Hold for Sundabar every Spring to battle the tanar'ri of Hellgate Keep.[10]

After Dagult Neverember became the Lord Protector of nearby Neverwinter circa the Year of the Elves' Weeping, 1462 DR, he sent a detachment of Mintarn mercenaries led by Dunfield to Helm's Hold. While their leader was an associate of the lord who fell out of his favor, the mercenaries still held enough power to impose martial law if so directed.[4]

In the later years of the 15th century DR, the brutal Order of the Gilded Eye became the de facto police force of the city.[6]

History[]

14th Century[]

Helm's Hold was originally a farming community known as Helm's Stead some time during or before the early 1350's DR. It was fortified into a fortified temple-city by a priest of Helm and former member of the Company of Crazed Venturers named Dumal Erard in the Year of the Arch, 1353 DR. In the subsequent years other followers of Helm arrived, many of whom chose to remain amongst their fellow devotees. By 1353 DR, the Hold had grown to a fortified town of seven hundred who lived around the Helmite abbey.[1][2]

The town lost prominence following the Time of Troubles, in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, when the people of Neverwinter proscribed the residents for the actions of their god during that year.[7]

The cultists responsible for infecting Neverwinter with the Wailing Death in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, posed as Helmites while using Hold as their base of operations. They desecrated the abbey until the Hero of Neverwinter entered it by means of a portal, and arrested their leader Desther Indelayne.[11]

After recovering from its losses, Helm's Hold gained a reputation for safety over the next several decades and began to quickly grow again. The abbey became a grand cathedral and the town itself grew to become a small city. Despite this, only a few actual Helmites remained in the cathedral after their god's death in the Year of Three Streams Blooded, 1384 DR.[3]

15th Century[]

Sanitorium - Mark Winters

Spellscarred patients of the Hold's Sanatorium

In the years following the cataclysm of the Spellplague, Helm’s Hold became renowned as a place of safety and healing that catered to all those in need. Eventually, Prince Clariburnus Tanthul of Thultanthar used the barbarous Uthgardt Gray Wolves of the Neverwinter Wood to take over Helm's Hold, but lost control of the city following the eruption of Mount Hotenow in the Year of Knowledge Unearthed, 1451 DR, allowing it to be reclaimed.[12]

Helm's Hold became a prime site for refugees fleeing Neverwinter's destruction, many infected with Spellplague energies.[3] Though none of the residents held any preconceived notions against such people, many of the uninfected refugees brought theirs with them and persecuted any who showed signs of spellscars. Those who were persecuted against fought back, forming the Heirs of Azure to retaliate against their oppressors.[12]

When Dagult Neverember began reconstruction efforts in Neverwinter, he put a call out to all skilled carpenters and masons to travel to his city. This left a dreadful lack of such tradesmen in the Hold and caused many of its buildings to fall into disrepair. Because of the already high population of spellscarred within the Hold's walls, and the success that some of the priests had shown in suppressing symptoms, Lord Neverember also issued the Protector's Law, an edict that required all those showing symptoms be sent to the Hold for treatment.[8][12]

A leader of the Heirs of Azure named Rohini, known in the Hold as "The Prophet", capitalized on this turn of events and earned the trust of the Helmites with a divination of the return of Helm.[13][note 1] Over time gained great influence in the area and corrupted many of the Helmite priests. She worked on behalf of the Abolethic Sovereignty to take claim over the city's unfortunate spellscarred to the Sovereignty to be used as servants and experiments.[14][6]

In or around the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, it was revealed that the Prophet Rohini was in fact a member of the Ashmadai who wanted the spellscarred for service to her god Asmodeus. Rohini's machinations were discovered, and the Helm's hold fell under siege. She summoned forth her fiendish allies to defend her domain against the Neverwinter Guard and their allies, who sought to take back the fortress of Helm. The Heroes of Neverwinter forayed into the streets of the city, infiltrated the Cathedral and killed the evil succubus, alongside her devil and aberrant allies. Helm's Hold was finally declared cleansed of evil influence.[6][8]

Some time later, an adventuring member of the Order of the Gauntlet by the name of Javen Tarmikos, began experiencing signs of the god Helm's return. This event was followed shortly afterward by several others claiming the same visions. A veteran of the siege of the Hold, Javen started a splinter-group he named the Order of the Gilded Eye, which refused to follow the Order of the Gauntlet's ethos of attacking without provocation and actively sought out to destroy all hidden evil. Resorting to brutal tactics, the Order came to gain control over Helm's Hold.[6]

As of the Year of the Warrior Princess, 1489 DR, followers of Helm received cryptic visions of aberrant creatures working below the Cathedral of Helm, despite its "cleansing" a decade prior. This implied that the threat of the Abolethic Sovereignty was far from over.[6]

Rumors and Legends[]

Rumors persisted that passages formed when Scar Alley was created led up and inside the Sanatorium. Nobody who ever explored that way was seen again but it didn't stop the brave and the desperate from trying.[15]

Notable Locations[]

Scar Alley

The entrance to the Warrens from Scar Alley

Inns & Taverns
Landmarks
  • Town Hall, the city's official council chambers that was once a former inn.[4]
  • Heartward, the city's central marketplace.[4]
Temples
  • Sanatorium, the underground asylum located immediately beneath Helm's cathedral.[16]
Underground

Notable Inhabitants[]

14th Century[]

15th Century[]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

Adventures
Storm over NeverwinterStorm King's Thunder
Referenced only
Lost Crown of Neverwinter
Video Games
Neverwinter NightsNeverwinter

Notes[]

  1. As demonstrated in the novel The Sentinel and pages 21-24 of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide this "divination" was indeed false.

External Links[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 slade, et al. (April 1996). “The Wilderness”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 38. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 133. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 165. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 167. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  5. slade, et al. (April 1996). “Cities & Civilization”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 16. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
  6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 Steve Kenson, et al. (November 2015). Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 85. ISBN 978-0-7869-6580-9.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Ed Greenwood and Steven E. Schend (July 1994). “Campaign Guide”. City of Splendors (TSR, Inc), p. 15. ISBN 0-5607-6868-1.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Cryptic Studios (June 2013). Neverwinter. Perfect World Entertainment.
  9. slade, et al. (April 1996). “Cities & Civilization”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 14. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
  10. Jennell Jaquays (1988). The Savage Frontier. (TSR, Inc), p. 10. ISBN 0-88038-593-6.
  11. BioWare (June 2002). Designed by Brent Knowles, James Ohlen. Neverwinter Nights. Atari.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 166. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 168. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 96. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 170. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  16. Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 169. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  17. Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 172. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
  18. Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 163. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
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