Nesmé

Nesmé (pronounced NEZ-may ) was a small frontier city located in the Savage Frontier of northwest Faerûn, lying by the River Surbrin.

Geography
Nesmé sat beside the River Subrin. The dangerous Lurkwood forest rested in the north. To the north and west were plains and hills inhabited by many Uthgardt barbarian tribes. The Evermoors lay to the southeast. The road to the south led to Mornbryn's Shield in the Surbrin Hills.

Travel and Trade Routes

 * Silverymoon - 165 miles
 * Zundbridge - 30 days

Population
The city normally had a population of approximately 6,000 people, but this could rise by up to 50% during high trade season. However, following the raids by trolls and the frost giants, the population plummeted to under 2,000 people by the end of 1372 DR.

In late 1484 DR, after the city was taken by the forces of Many-Arrows, only 600 of the original population remained, all as prisoners.

Defenses
The Riders of Nesmé were an effective military force that defended Nesmé against its enemies. With peace rare, the Riders swiftly became experienced veterans. But after years of attacks by trolls and giants, by 1374 DR, the Riders had been reduced greatly in strength and numbers.

Nesmé's leaders encouraged adventurers to come and stay in their city and fight off the trolls and giants, provided they behaved themselves. Those who were not were escorted out by the Riders. As a result, Nesmé was a great base for adventurers looking for action.

In 1368 DR, Nesmé had the finest stone wall between Silverymoon and Mirabar. Arrow slits allowed it to be defended at any location and several catapults were kept ready behind it.

By 1484 DR, the wall had grown to be about the size of two ogres stacked on top of each other. It was 15 feet from the battlement to the ground.

Economy
Nesmé's economy was based mostly around trade, and focused on investing in defense of the city and its people. Almost all goods bound for the west and from the west passed through Nesmé.

Nesmé was known for its exceptional steel.

Government
The city was ruled by a First Speaker and dominated by its merchants.

In 1357 DR, the First Speaker was Jygil Zelnartha, who was also the local High Priestess of Waukeen. Under Jygil, Nesmé was a theocracy and it's ruling council was mostly made up of Waukeenar clergy.

The following year, during the Godswar, Waukeen was apparently dead and Nesmé's temple dissolved. Tessarin Alaurun, a staunch opponent of the theocracy, called for and then organized an election wherein the large population of adventurers living in the town at the time led the voting. They elected a council that was more focused on the town's defense than it's wealth and Tessarin became First Speaker.

With money saved by the previous council and the accumulated wealth of the adventuring electorate, a wall was built and the Riders of Nesmé received more funding. Jygil was still on the council but in a much more minor role, frequently having to add her political clout to her old rival's in the face of adversity, which eventually led to a respectful political partnership and Tessarin taking on Jygil as her wizard apprentice.

In 1372 DR, the First Speaker was still Tessarin Alaurun. With Waukeen's return in 1370 DR, Jygil Zelnartha was again High Priestess of the local church of Waukeen. Though both the merchants and the church focused heavily on Nesmé's welfare and both focused on wealth, they often stood in opposition. However, their disputes were kept to a minimum when Nesmé suffered from external threats.

Circa 1372 DR, Eregund Walen commanded the Riders of Nesmé. Galen Firth, leader of the Riders, was in charge of day-to-day affairs, taking on the role of Mayor, presumably while First Speaker Tessarin Alaurun took care of the more important issues.

Pre-Spellplague
In Eleint of 1358 DR, the town came under the first of several attacks from the Uthgardt Griffon Tribe. Rumours at the time claimed that Nesmé had surrendered to the barbarians and that Tessarin Alaraun led the city along with the tribe's leader, Kralgar Bonesnapper, after forcing First Speaker Jygil Zelnathra into exile. In reality, after repelling the attacks, the weakened town council, suffering the loss of their goddess, had been ousted in an election, which ended with Zelnathra being demoted and Alaraun taking her place.

Around 1368 DR, the population of Nesmé experienced a dramatic fall with an equally dramatic rise in the number of troll and orc attacks. A group of adventurers discovered that fog and cloud giants had moved into the Evermoors, driving the former inhabitants, the trolls, out of the moors. It reached a climax in 1370 DR, as an army of trolls invaded and ruined Nesmé. They were driven out by an army of dwarves from Mithral Hall and Mirabar.

After this, Nesmé had to rely on its own defenses, as the cities of the Silver Marches were forced to refocus their forces northward, along the frontier with the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows. In the face of repeated giant raids and the threat that the trolls might one day regroup, Nesmé's First Speaker, Tessarin Alaurun, stretched her finances to pay the Riders of Nesmé and maintain a small force of Uthgardt barbarian mercenaries.

With the expenditure of considerable time and resources, Alustriel and Silverymoon decided to have Nesmé rebuilt into a town of both larger and grander proportions. First, the remnant of the Riders and a large detachment of Knights in Silver drove the trolls deep into the Trollmoors, making the surrounding roads the safest they'd been in over a decade. Then, refugees displaced from homes lost to the orcs were encouraged to go to Nesmé to aid in the reconstruction. This had the effect of increasing Nesmé's population to around twice that of what it was before the siege. These people spent the entire winter of 1371 DR to 1372 DR building new structures that greatly outshone the old ones in both durability and size and erecting a double wall that surrounded the place, especially fortified and manned on the border of the Evermoors. Contingents of Riders and Knights patrolled the streets regularly and the town was never been finer, a startling difference to those who knew the place either before or during the troll siege.

Post-Spellplague
In 1484 DR, the city's First Speaker was Jolen Firth. Nesmé was one of the first cities to fall under siege by the orcs of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows (spurred on by the drow matron mother Quenthel Baenre through the restored House Do'Urden). The Companions of the Hall, including Drizzt Do'Urden and Athrogate, spent several weeks defending the city, but left in an attempt to aid other regions. Soon after their departure, the city was beset by orcs and the white dragon Arauthator. The city fell; the 600 survivors, including First Speaker Jolen Firth and Rider of Nesmé Giselle Malcomb, were taken prisoner. The drow Tiago and Saribel Baenre were declared "Duke and Duchess of Nesmé."

Notable Locations
The temple of Waukeen in Nesmé was a round building with four stories, with a peaked roof supported by wooden beams. It was not damaged in the sacking of the city in 1370 DR. The church was on the rise again since Waukeen's return that year.
 * House of Fair Trade:

The House of the Wise Unicorn was a rental club run by Nistlor Lothlyn.
 * House of the Wise Unicorn:

In 1484 DR, Torch was a tavern and inn in the southwestern part of the city, with staircase leading directly to a southern parapet of the city wall. Many adventurers stayed there.
 * Torch:

The First Speaker's Hall was the seat of government.
 * First Speaker's Hall:

Novels

 * Streams of Silver
 * The Orc King
 * Rise of the King