Neverwinter

Neverwinter, also known as the City of Skilled Hands and the Jewel of the North, was a multi-racial city-state sitting on the northwestern Sword Coast of Faerûn. Neverwinter was regarded by Volo as the most cosmopolitan and the most civilized city in all of Faerûn. The city was a member in good standing of the Lords' Alliance.

Etymology
The city of Neverwinter was so named because, even though the town was situated in the cold north of Faerûn, the Neverwinter River that flowed through it was heated by fire elementals living under the nearby Mount Hotenow in the Neverwinter Wood. The heat given off from the river created a permanent warm climate in the immediate area.

The city was originally named "Eigersstor", which was an Illuskan word. The name "Neverwinter" was the Chondathan translation.

Brief History
The first settlement in the Savage Frontier was an elven city known as Illefarn. Illefarn became a bustling nation after the time of the Crown Wars. Eventually, Illefarn was divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent. Iliyanbruen was weakened by orc invasions, which paved the way for Eigersstor, the first multi-racial settlement in the area, which would later be called Neverwinter.

Neverwinter became a center of civilization, peace and culture and was widely viewed as a marvel by visitors. This trend lasted, seemingly unbroken since its founding until 1372 DR when a disease known as the Wailing Death laid low most of the city's inhabitants. Then, in 1385 DR, the Spellplague struck.

The century that followed saw the rise in power of Netheril. Netherese loyalists infiltrated the power structure of the weakened Neverwinter, but their efforts were sidetracked by the eruption of Mount Hotenow in 1451 DR, so powerful that laid the city to waste and killed the ruling royal family.

In 1462 DR, Lord Dagult Neverember, Open Lord of Waterdeep, seeing an opportunity to add to his financial empire, hired artisans and carpenters to help rebuild the city and Mintarn mercenaries to protect it from monsters and bandits; claiming himself to be a descendant of Neverwinter's former rulers and thus the rightful "Lord Protector" of the city, started the New Neverwinter movement. Lord Neverember invested a great deal of his own personal fortune to rebuild the city's infrastructure, buy the interest of merchants to send their caravans again to Neverwinter, and even ensuring Neverwintan refugees had enough food and gold in hand. By 1491 DR, Neverember's efforts to rebuild the city proved successful, and Neverwinter had slowly being restored as a center of civilization in the Sword Coast North.

Government
As of 1370 DR, the city was ruled fairly and justly by Lord Nasher Alagondar, an aging, veteran adventurer and devout worshiper of Tyr. As such, the Neverwintans followed a Tyrran faith that promoted justice and fairness, with greed being frowned upon. Lord Nasher ensured that the city was well defended before his death, both physically and magically, against attacks or infiltration from Luskan, Neverwinter's warlike rival. Maps of the city were not allowed to be made as part of an effort to thwart Luskan spies.

While Lord Nasher was the nominal leader of Neverwinter, the real power in the city was held by the Many-Starred Cloak, an order of good-aligned wizards that supported the rule of Lord Nasher.

Lord Nasher rejected the position of King of Neverwinter for much of his life, accepting the title only in old age, by public acclamation. After his death, he was succeeded by his son Bann Alagondar, who founded the Alagondar royal family. The Alagondar line of kings and queens ruled justly and kept Neverwinter stable and prosperous even in the dark period that followed the Spellplague, until the destruction of Neverwinter after the eruption of Mount Hotenow, when all members of the royal family died in the disaster.

New Neverwinter
As part of his bid to create a mercantile empire in Neverwinter, Dagult Neverember created the title of "Lord Protector of Neverwinter", held by Neverember himself, in 1462 DR. However, it was questioned whether Dagult was the rightful ruler, as many factions vied for Neverwinter and the citizens were divided in loyalties. As he had to fulfill his obligations as Open Lord of Waterdeep, Lord Neverember left the day-to-day running of the city to General Sabine and Mayor Soman Galt.

In 1489 DR, Lord Neverember was exiled from Waterdeep and replaced as Open Lord by Laeral Silverhand. After being ousted of his city and former position, Neverember then focused all of his efforts to his role of Lord Protector of Neverwinter. Due to this commitment and his past accomplishments helping Neverwinter and its citizens, the Neverwintans finally accepted Lord Neverember as their rightful leader. Bitter over being exiled from Waterdeep, however, Neverember became more despotic than ever and enforced heavy-handed laws. He levied heavy taxes to noble families living in Neverwinter, preventing them to gain significant power, while enacting harsh laws that prohibited the formation of new guilds and limited the power of existing ones.

Defenses
As of 1372 DR, Neverwinter had a standing army, the Graycloaks, composed of 400 archers and spearmen, that doubled as a city guard and patrolled the High Road from Port Llast to Leilon. If the city's walls were threatened by orcs or Luskan attackers, the defenders could catapult 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 could call upon the wizards of the order of the Many-Starred Cloak for help.

As of 1479 DR, the army of Neverwinter was composed mostly by the Mintarn mercenaries hired by Lord Neverember and a few independent militia forces assembled by the citizens, or rebel groups such as the Sons of Alagondar. Lord Neverember also hired adventuring bands to eliminate threats to the city that the Mintarn mercenaries could not handle.

With the city rebuilding in the late years of the 1480s DR, many of the Sons of Alagondar volunteered themselves to serve as the city guard, making Lord Neverember to depend less on the services of the Mintarn mercenaries. Lord Neverember still hired a few adventurers and mercenaries to help to protect Neverwinter and train the local troops rather than to accept the help of the armies of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep, who he felt had betrayed him.

Society
As of 1370 DR, Neverwinter was a cosmopolitan and cultured city, and even the merchants from Amn and Calimshan, who had a poor opinion about the cities of the North, considered Neverwinter to be a civilized place. The Neverwintans avoided conflict and controversy, and were considered to be a quiet, mannered, literate, efficient, and hard-working folk, who had great respect for deadlines, as well as the the property and happiness of others. Amid all the weird-following tolerance and variety in the city, there was a great respect for peacefulness, law, and order.

After the destruction of the city in 1451 DR, the Neverwintans showed a new facet: stubbornness and determination. Many survivors remained in the city, and ever since had demonstrated the resolution to rebuilt Neverwinter to its former glory and to defend her from many dangers, both mortal and extraplanar alike.

Religion
The main faiths in Neverwinter in the 14th century DR were those of Helm, Oghma and Tyr. The temples of the Hall of Justice and House of Knowledge served to cater the faithful of Tyr and Oghma, while the faithful of Helm congregated in nearby Helm's Hold.

With the deaths of Helm and Tyr in the years before the Spellplague, their faiths were replaced by those of Torm and his subordinate deity Bahamut, as well as the faith of Selûne, as her followers wanted to bring hope to the peoples of Neverwinter. By 1479 DR, the faith of Asmodeus had become popular as well, and the ashmadai had great influence in the city's politics.

The Neverwintans never stopped to revere Tyr even after his death, and when the god returned to life after the Second Sundering, his faith was quickly accepted again in Neverwinter, and became as popular as before.

Trade and business
Around 1370 DR, Neverwinter controlled much of the mining trade from dwarf and gnome outposts from the nearby Underdark by using hidden ways in various warehouses in the city. It also had a large fishing economy, and did good trade in logging from the Neverwinter Wood. Neverwinter traded mostly with the city of Waterdeep.

However, Neverwinter's true assets were its importance as a center of craftwork, learning, and magical innovation. Merchants and crafters usually practiced their works in buildings dedicated for such tasks. Street vendors were rarely seen in Neverwinter.

With the destruction of Neverwinter in 1451 DR, trade came to a total halt in the region.

In 1479 DR, as part of the rebuilding efforts Lord Neverember focused much of his resources to restore trade and to contract crafters to help restore the city's infrastructure. Merchants from the "new" continent of Laerakond began to trade with the Faerûrian cities of the Sword Coast. In Neverwinter, a group of traders from Tarmalune, one of the Windrise Ports of Laerakond, approached Lord Neverember in hopes to establish permanent trade routes between the two continents.

Around 1491 DR, Neverwinter was a city full of opportunities. As word spread that Neverwinter was being restored, traders from both the North and the southern lands became interested in trade with the city once again. Likewise, Lord Neverember began to work to forge a trading alliance with the restored Gauntlgrym, in the hopes of increasing the trading opportunities for both cities, while ensuring his advantage over the nobles and merchants from Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate.

Without guilds to restrict trade or construction, those who wanted to start a business in Neverwinter could simply do so, and those traders who dealt with basic products, such as foodstuff, became wealthy just by selling their goods in the city. Likewise, there was demand for many jobs, and those who wanted to offer their services either as workers or as apprentices had plenty of opportunities.

Structure
Before the eruption of Mount Hotenow, Neverwinter was a picturesque city and boasted 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 cascaded over small, gentle waterfalls as they coursed into the city's bustling harbour. Neverwinter's magnificent gardens (the phrase "The City of Skilled Hands" referred to Neverwinter's accomplished gardeners) ensured the warm winters were colourful and the summers were rich with fresh fruit.

The city was full of beautiful and ingeniously designed buildings, many of which were famous in their own right, such as The House of Knowledge, 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 reached far beyond the city's walls and further added to the city's distinction.

After the eruption of Mount Hotenow, the city was almost entirely destroyed. Of the three bridges, only the Winged Wyvern remained functional. Much of the southeastern quadrant of the city collapsed into a yawning pit, known as the Chasm, that continually spawned plaguechanged horrors. Many former edifices and homes became martial garrisons to maintain the monsters at bay.

Although Neverwinter remained in ruins for almost two decades, thanks to Lord Nevermeber's efforts the city was repaired to its former glory in the late years of the 1480s DR. The Chasm was magically sealed and the city was slowly recovering its position as the Jewel of the North.

Trivia

 * The city of Neverwinter serves as the origin of the phrase "By the clocks of Neverwinter", used when one is solemnly swearing, meaning either a high standard of perfectionism or great honesty; a reference to the precision of its timepieces.
 * The Neverwinter knife owed its name to the city.

Video games

 * Neverwinter Nights (AOL)
 * Neverwinter Nights
 * Neverwinter Nights 2
 * Dungeons and Dragons: Neverwinter

Novels
Neverwinter Saga:
 * Brimstone Angels
 * Gauntlgrym
 * Neverwinter
 * Charon's Claw
 * The Last Threshold