History of Westgate

Westgate was an ancient and powerful city on the Dragon Coast with a storied history.

Early History
This area of the Dragon Coast was first settled by humans from the Vilhon Reach around. They founded various settlements, of which Westgate grew to be the biggest.

However, in time, the tyrannical topaz dragon Kisonraathiisar reigned over the fledgling town. Finally, in the, Kisonraathiisar was slain by Saldrinar of the Seven Spells, a Netherese wizard, who took over as the first human king of Westgate.

In the, the vampire Orlak and a small army of mercenaries captured the city in a single night. Orlak proclaimed himself the Night King and ruled Westgate for over a hundred years. Sometime between the rise of Dharien the emperor of nearby Jhaamdath in the and Jhaamdath's destruction in the, Westgate and Jhaamdath fought the Battle of Prespur, where the majority of the Westhavian fleet was sunk.

Orlak was defeated and overthrown by a group of Lathander-worshiping paladins in the.

In the, pirates from the Pirate Isles invaded Westgate and began the 200-year-long reign of the Pirate Kings.

In the the Chondathan mercenary captain Mulsantir Illistine attacked Westgate and overthrew the pirate kings.

Modern History
The city of Westgate was lax laws towards visitors and in the, these policies taken advantage of by the infamous Pirate King Immurk and his gang of buccaneers. The Pirate King hatched a daring ploy to assemble a large contingent of his men in Westgate and attempt to steal the entirety of the city's naval fleet. Immurk's pirates were successful in taking over several vessels, but they promptly were sunk by a barrage of fireballs and smokepowder kegs fired at them by the remaining navy. The event later became known as The Rout of the Pirate King.

During the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR, the god Garagos manifested in Westgate and went on a rampage.

Following the conclusion of the Twelfth Serôs War in the, which raged beneath the Inner Sea, merchants all around the Inner Sea began trading more with their undersea neighbors. Relative to Starmantle, however, Westgate was unable to profit from these new trading opportunities, owing to the proximity of koalinth tribes nearby their city.

Starmantle's advantage would prove short-lived, however, as the city was annihilated by the Spellplague in the, while Westgate escaped relatively unscathed. It affected Westgate primarily in two ways. First, the shrinking level of the Inner Sea caused Westgate's docks to no longer abut the sea, and new construction was required. The second was that the effects on magic weakened Orbakh and his vampire allies, allowing a coalition of the Fire Knives, foreign adventurers, noble families, and the Eye of Justice to drive the Night Court from Westgate in the.

Throughout the 1390s, waves of Shou immigrants settled along the Dragon Coast and in Westgate in particular. In the, they formed the neighborhood of Tidetown in the new construction built near the lower level of the Inner Sea. However, the Shou were brutally oppressed in Westgate for decades until, at long last, in the a group of nine Shou heroes stood up against injustice. They were dubbed the Nine Golden Swords and they defended the Shou neighborhoods on the eastern end of Westgate. Their success drew the attention of the Shadowmasters of Telflamm, who began funding the group, hoping to gain a foothold on the Dragon Coast. Over time, the heroic origins of the Nine Golden Swords gave way to corruption, with the group becoming yet another criminal gang of Westgate.

In the tensions between the Fire Knives and the Nine Golden Swords reached a breaking point and gang warfare erupted across Westgate. The Fire Knives patron and Croamarkh Jaundamicar Bleth lost considerable power and influence during this conflict, including many family members being assassinated.

In the, the young and aggressive vampire Kirenkirsalai restored the Night Masks underneath the city and became a force to be reckoned with.

As of the, Westgate remained a seedy metropolis, and a haven for the Fire Knives and other enemies of Cormyr. However, Queen Raedra of Cormyr declined to permanently add the cities annexed during their war with Netheril to Cormyr's empire domain in hopes of reducing tensions between Cormyr and Westgate, as Westgate's greatest fear was an expansionist Cormyr. In particular, Westgate bristled at Cormyr's acquisition of cities on the Dragon Reach such as the city of Proskur.