Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter

Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter by Jaleigh Johnson is one of the two prequel novels for the Honor Among Thieves movie and published on February 28, 2023. "Discover the thrilling origin stories of the bard Edgin, the barbarian Holga, and their whole adventuring party in this official prequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Edgin Darvis' life is a mess. All that he has left are his lute, his dashing good looks, and…not much else. After a chance encounter with badass bruiser Holga, Edgin is forced to take a hard look at his bad choices. But the road to redemption is long, and paved with unforeseen expenses. Fortunately, the world is full of rich fools begging to be parted from their money.

And so Edgin and Holga do what any sensible entrepreneurs would do—they form a crew.

Joined by a charming rogue, Forge Fitzwilliam, and Simon, a sorcerer with an intense inferiority complex, the team sets out to line their pockets with both well-earned and ill-gotten gold. Together, Edgin's crew battles monsters across the realms: gnoll raiders, fey witches, and more fall beneath their sharp weapons and sharper wit. But when they encounter a new, more sophisticated villain, keen blades and piercing blue eyes may not be enough.

Their target? Torlinn Shrake, a wealthy eccentric known for abusing his servants and hosting lavish parties.

The plan? Play dress-up, sneak into the Shrake estate, and fill their pockets with as much loot as they can carry.

The catch? Shrake is hiding a terrible secret: one that could endanger the lives of everyone Edgin has come to care for—even if the loot is too good to pass up."

- Publisher's description

Summary
The story opened with Edgin Darvis, an ex-Harpers who left the organization over a decade previously, telling a deb time story to his loving daughter Kira. After some negotiations, Edgin settled on telling the story of their thieving crew, their first meeting, and the first big heist job – the Staff of Aorth from a manse outside of Neverwinter.

The first part of Edgin's story took place a decade before Kira's bedtime story, in the remote town of Targos. He was a new father, left alone with a newborn chile after the recent death of his wife Zia, not too long after Edgin's encounter with a banshee, whose scream he mentally compared to the wailing of his newborn daughter. Zia's death was still fresh in Edgin's memory. He blamed himself and his blind devotion to the Harpers for the wife's death. Sleepless for countless days, running low on food, and unable to stop the child from crying, Edgin decided to use his dwindling emergency funds to buy a meal at a local tavern – Trip and Shuffle. The warmth of the inn's hearth and a bottle of milk calmed the child. A bowl of fresh stew did the same for the exhausted ex-Harper. Edgin fell asleep as his newborn cooed nearby. When the bard jolted awake, he saw a muscled tattooed woman holding his daughter. Groggy and panicked, Edgin attacked the barbarian, thinking she was looking to harm the baby. Instead, he witnessed both the woman and the newborn being completely enamored with each other, playing "got your nose." After awkward introductions, Edgin learned that the woman, Holga Kilgore, saw the sleeping father and took it upon herself to keep cooing Kira safe. After dinner, the barbarian offered to walk the father and his daughter home. Edgin realized that Holga was hesitating to leave them. She did not have anywhere to go. The bard offered her to stay with them for a little while at least. The little while became a long while. Kira never cried again.

Characters

 * Lady Bantakent • Lord Bantakent • • Miffles • Sharrestren • Simon Aumar • Sofina • Zia •  • Forge Fitzwilliam •  • Torlinn Shrake
 * Elminster Aumar
 * Elminster Aumar

Creatures

 * • beholder • centaur • chicken • choking vine • dire wolf • dog • dragonborn • dwarf • elf • fey • giant spider • gnoll • gnome • green hag • half-elf • half-orc • halfling • horse • •   • lobster • roper • shrimp • stirge • tabaxi
 * • bat • dracolich • horse • • sea hag • tarrasque • unicorn • Walking Statues of Waterdeep
 * • bat • dracolich • horse • • sea hag • tarrasque • unicorn • Walking Statues of Waterdeep

Locations

 * Settlements
 * Longsaddle • Neverwinter • Targos • Triboar
 * Baldur's Gate • Waterdeep
 * Baldur's Gate • Waterdeep


 * Buildings
 * • West Caraway Acres


 * Regions
 * • Icewind Dale •
 * Amn • Rashemen • Sembia
 * Amn • Rashemen • Sembia


 * Other

Organizations

 * Bantakent • Elk tribe • • Zhentarim

Magic

 * Spells
 * invisibility • reverse gravity


 * Magic Items
 * boots of spider climbing • amulet of invulnerability • driftglobe • Staff of Aorth

Religion

 * Chauntea • Helm • Lathander • Selûne • Silvanus • Tymora

Items

 * Food & Drink
 * • apple pie • • cinnamon roll • clams in cream sauce • Dragon's Morning Breath • Fizzy Cherry Delight •  • marshmallow • mashed potatoes •  •  • roasted beef • roasted chicken • roasted pears • rosemary •  •  • Tyr's Juice of Justice • vegetable skewers • Volo's Folly • wine


 * Miscellanies
 * • birch • diamond • gold • Light-Footed Maiden • lute • opal • marble • oak • obsidian • piano • pipe organ • silver • • Three-Dragon Ante • wax • Winter Enervation to Spring Innovation
 * emerald
 * emerald

Unknown

 * Harkendon

Background
The novel had the working or preliminary title Neverwinter Heist with a different cover (possibly a mock-up), which was shown in the Habsro 2022 Investor Day: Winning with Stories presentation on October 4, 2022. This was only a day before the actual title and cover were revealed.