The emblem of Neverwinter.
Neverwinter
Geographical information
Size	Large city
Area	Sword Coast North, Northwest Faerûn
Societal information
Races	Mostly humans, some elves, half-elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings and half-orcs
Population	23,192
Political information
Ruler	Lord Nasher Alagondar (Deceased), Lord Protector Dagult Neverember
Inhabitants of Neverwinter
Locations in Neverwinter
Organizations in Neverwinter

Neverwinter, also known as the City of Skilled Hands or the Jewel of the North, is a metropolis sitting on the northwestern Sword Coast of Faerûn. The video games Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 take their name from the city. Neverwinter is regarded by many, including the erudite travel writer Volo, as the most cosmopolitan and the most civilized city in all of Faerûn, quite a reputation, considering the breadth and variety of the continent. The city is a member in good standing of the Lords' Alliance and Lord Nasher has ensured that the city is well defended, both physically and magically, against attacks or infiltration from Luskan, Neverwinter's warlike rival. Maps of the city, which has a maze of meandering streets, are not distributed, as part of an effort to thwart Luskan spies.

The city of Neverwinter is so named because, even though the town is situated in the cold north of Faerûn, the Neverwinter River that flows through it is heated by fire elementals living under the nearby Mount Hotenow in the Neverwinter Wood. The heat given off from the river creates a permanent warm climate in the immediate area; without the elementals, the river, and subsequently the city's water supply, would freeze over.

Contents 1 Government 1.1 Pre-Spellplague 1.2 Post-Spellplague 2 Structure 3 Trade 4 History 4.1 Post-Spellplague 5 Military 6 Trivia 7 Appearances 8 References 9 Further reading

GovernmentEdit

Pre-SpellplagueEdit

The city is ruled fairly and justly ^[1] by Lord Nasher Alagondar, an aging, veteran adventurer and devout worshiper of Tyr. As such, although Neverwinter is prosperous, its master-craftsmen making lamps of multi-coloured glass, precision water clocks and exquisite jewelry, its Tyrran faith promotes justice and fairness and greed is frowned upon.

Post-SpellplagueEdit

With the death of Lord Nasher in the Spellplague, there was none to succeed the royalty and thus the city succumbed to chaos and was left in utter ruins. However, Dagult Neverember, the open lord of Waterdeep, is the illegitimate heir of Nasher and hopes on unifying the city under rule of Waterdeep. However, it is wrong to say, even though Neverember has been elected Lord Protector of Neverwinter, that Dagult is the ruler as many factions vie for Neverwinter and the citizens are divided in loyalties.

StructureEdit

In addition to having an unnaturally warm climate, Neverwinter is a picturesque city and boasts such sights as its three spectacular, intricately carved bridges: the Dolphin, the Winged Wyvern and the Sleeping Dragon. Under these, the waters of the Neverwinter River cascade over small, gentle waterfalls as they course into the city's bustling harbour. Neverwinter's magnificent gardens (the phrase "The City of Skilled Hands" refers to Neverwinter's accomplished gardeners) ensure the warm winters are colourful and the summers are rich with fresh fruit. The city is replete with beautiful and ingeniously designed buildings, many of which are famous in their own right, such as The House of Knowledge, and Neverwinter's tall and many-windowed temple of Oghma. In addition, the reputations of such unique taverns as the Moonstone Mask and The Fallen Tower reach far beyond the Neverwinter's walls and further add to the city's distinction.

TradeEdit

Neverwinter is one of the cities on the trade route, The High Road.

HistoryEdit

The first settlement in the Savage Frontier was an elven kingdom known as Illefarn. Illefarn would become a bustling nation around the time of the Crown Wars. Illefarn would last long enough to see the founding of Gauntlgrym and the harnessing of Maegera the Inferno beneath its lands. Eventually, Illefarn would be divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent.

Ilyanbruen would constantly be at war with Illusk, which was powered by the Netherese. The Netherese city of Xinlenal would then crash in Ilyanbruen territories where it would remain hidden for thousands of years. Ilyanbruen would be weakened by Orc invasions, which would pave the path to allow for Eigersstor, the first settlement of the area which would later be called Neverwinter.^[2]

Many years ago, the forces of Neverwinter were involved in a battle with the King of Shadows. None of the men sent into combat survived the battle, although the garrison at Fort Locke survived a demonic onslaught.^[3]

In 1372 DR the city succumbed to the Wailing Death, a disease that resisted magical healing and killed most of the population of the city. The cure was eventually found but the casualties by that time were catastrophic.^{[4] [5]}

It was soon discovered that the Wailing Death was merely the precursor of war between Neverwinter and its enemy, the city of Luskan. Although it was the Sarrukh Queen Morag who sponsored the war, rather than the Host Tower of the Arcane, the fighting (which ended in a stalemate, thanks to a plucky adventurer known only as the Hero of Neverwinter) soured the relationship between the two cities even more.^[5]

Despite this, a shaky relationship between Neverwinter and Luskan was reestablished until an upstart Host Tower mage named Black Garius attempted to raise an undead army to conquer Neverwinter, ostensibly in the name of the King of Shadows. Again, an adventurer put an end to the plans of Black Garius and defeated the King of Shadows once and for all.^[3]

Unfortunately the conflict, which came to be known as the Shadow War, left the economy of the Sword Coast North in tatters, and its security was in doubt due to the deaths of so many Greycloaks during the fighting. This made it a great opportunity for an enterprising Samarachan mercantile house led by a woman named Sa'Sani. Under her leadership, and with the assistance of a group of adventurers, the Neverwinter region's economy was brought back to health by the end of the Year of Lightning Storms.^[6]

Post-SpellplagueEdit

Main article: New Neverwinter

Neverwinter and other cities north of Waterdeep fared poorly in the years following the Spellplague, and by the Year of the Ageless One both it and Luskan were in utter ruins.^[7]

In 1451 DR, a Thayan plot to create a dread ring in Neverwinter Wood resulted in the release of the fire primordial who had been enslaved in ancient times by the Delzoun dwarves of Gauntlgrym to power their forge. The primordial's awakening resulted in the explosion of Mount Hotenow and unleashed a pyroclastic flow which completely destroyed Neverwinter. By 1461 DR, some settlers had returned to Neverwinter in an attempt to re-establish the city. ^[8] Work on New Neverwinter started by building a new town around the ruins of the old city, however the dead constantly threaten the work on New Neverwinter.^{[citation needed]}

The Shadovar furthered their claim on New Neverwinter when Artemis Entreri, alive by being bound to Charon's Claw, assisted in defeating the Ashmadai on Neverwinter Bridge. The grateful citizens renamed the bridge in his honour, naming it the Walk of Barrabus.^{[citation needed]}

MilitaryEdit

Neverwinter has a standing army of 400 archers and spearmen. It is their job to guard the city walls and the docks and patrol the High Road from Port Llast to Leilon 100 miles south of the city. During peacetime, 60 of these soldiers are assigned to the city watch, 60 are on leave for R&R and 60 are busy retraining. If the city's walls are threatened by orcs or Luskan the defenders catapult a veritable hail of explosive missiles down on the attackers. Both missiles and the specially designed catapults were devised by the best 'skilled hands' of the city's namesake. In desperate situations, Lord Nasher can call upon the guild of the Many-Starred Cloak's wizards.

TriviaEdit

The city of Neverwinter serves as the origin of the phrase "By the clocks of Neverwinter", used when one is solemnly swearing, a reference to the precision of its timepieces.

AppearancesEdit

• Neverwinter Nights (AOL)
• Neverwinter Nights
• Neverwinter Nights 2
• Neverwinter series
• Dungeons & Dragons: Neverwinter

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ slade (April 1996). The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier, p. 14. TSR, Inc. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
2. ↑ Brian R. James and Ed Greenwood (September, 2007). The Grand History of the Realms, p. 61. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Obsidian Entertainment (2006).  Ferret Baudoin, J.E. Sawyer. Neverwinter Nights 2 [video game]. Atari.
4. ↑ Brian R. James and Ed Greenwood (September, 2007). The Grand History of the Realms, p. 153. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} BioWare (2002).  Brent Knowles, James Ohlen. Neverwinter Nights [video game]. Infogrames/Atari, Inc., MacSoft Games.
6. ↑ Obsidian Entertainment (2008).  Tony Evans. Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir [video game]. Atari.
7. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, p. 84. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
8. ↑ R.A. Salvatore (October 2010). Gauntlgrym (Hardcover). Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0786955008.

Further readingEdit

• Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition, p. 176. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.

• slade (April 1996). The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier. TSR, Inc. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.

• Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. TSR, Inc. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.