History of Neverwinter


 * See also: the history of Neverwinter in timeline format

This article details the history of Neverwinter, a city-state in the Sword Coast North.

Prehistory
During the final years of the Days of Thunder, the sarrukh queen Morag and some of her followers built a magical device known as the Source Stone to flee to another dimension as an ice age was devastating the world and the sarrukh were all but wiped out.

The founding
The first settlement in the Savage Frontier was an elven city known as Illefarn. In time, Illefarn became a bustling nation after the time of the Crown Wars, and lasted long enough to see the founding of the dwarven nation of Delzoun, the rise of Netheril, the founding of the original Gauntlgrym, and the harnessing of the primordial Maegera the Inferno beneath its lands. Eventually, Illefarn was divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent. Iliyanbruen frequently fought with the city of Illusk, which was a legacy of the Netherese.

With the fall of Netheril, Iliyanbruen was weakened by the orc invasions known as the Orc Marches, which paved the way for humans settlers from Ruathym to spread to the North. One of the first settlements founded by them was Eigersstor, a small settlement that eventually grew in importance, that was founded in 87 DR by Lord Halueth Never after the construction of Castle Never.

Unknowingly to the founders, the city of Eigersstor was built above the caves that housed the Source Stone.

A century later, in 187 DR, the now large settlement was renamed Neverwinter, a direct translation of its Illuskan name to the Chondathan language.

The orc invasions became more dangerous over time, and Neverwinter was besieged at least twice, in 306 DR and in 611 DR.

The Orcgates Affair
To put an end to the orc threat, a group of wizards known as the Covenant founded the School of Wizardry in Neverwinter, in 457 DR. The wizards then rallied the human nations of the north against the orcs, and were able to stem the tide for a time. However, victory against the orcs that could have ended the threat for good was stolen from the human host when, in 955 DR, the Red Wizards of Thay transported the horde to lands farther south.

That event, known as the Orcgates Affair, triggered a long feud between the Covenant and Thay that erupted in Neverwinter over a century later. Red Wizards slew Aganazzar of the Covenant in 1081 DR, starting a wizardwar of titanic proportions. For the next twenty years, the Red Wizards and members of the Covenant battled each other throughout the North and Thay. The conflict ended when the leaders of the Covenant either left Faerûn or went underground.

The loss of the Covenant proved deadly when the largest orc horde in history swept down from northern lands to attack settlements as far south as Waterdeep. After a long and gruesome campaign, humanity eventually won the war in 1301 DR, when the armies of Waterdeep, Neverwinter and Port Llast retook the city of Luskan, that was in power of the orcs, crushing the horde at last. But the North had paid a heavy toll and recovery was slow.

Without the orc horde threatening its existence, Neverwinter became a center of civilization, peace and culture and was widely viewed as a marvel by visitors.

Plague and War
Around 1329 DR, the popular adventurer Nasher Alagondar became ruler of the city of Neverwinter. His rule brought prosperity to the city, and was considered uneventful until 1372 DR.

At some point during this time, 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.

In 1372 DR, a disease known as the Wailing Death, a disease that resisted magical healing and killed much of the population of the city. The cure was eventually found but the casualties by that time were catastrophic. 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, as part of her plot to return to Toril, 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.

Despite this, a shaky relationship between Neverwinter and Luskan was reestablished until 1374 DR, when 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.

Unfortunately the conflict, which came to be known as the Shadow War, left the economy of the Sword Coast North in tatters, and the security of Neverwinter was in doubt due to the deaths of so many Graycloaks 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 1374 DR.

Then, in 1385 DR, the Spellplague struck. Neverwinter was not hit as hard as other settlements in the region, and while Lord Nasher died, his descendants founded the Alagondar royal family, that ruled Neverwinter fair and well, allowing to city to prosper in the hard times after the Spellplague.

The Ruining
In 1451 DR, a small adventuring party rediscovered ancient Gauntlgrym beneath the nearby Mount Hotenow. The party, consisting of Dahlia Sin'felle, Korvin Dor'crae, Valindra Shadowmantle, Athrogate, and Jarlaxle Baenre, made it all the way to the legendary forges. There, the latter two were betrayed by their Thayan allies, with Athrogate hypnotically forced to activate the forge. This briefly awoke the primordial Maegera, who, in a fit of rage, released a burst of energy so powerful that it forced the eruption of the volcano.

The resultant earthquake and combination of smoke and lava destroyed much of Neverwinter. A great rift known as the Chasm ripped apart the southeastern quarter of the city, and strange ash zombies and plaguechanged horrors haunted the ruins. Thousands of citizens died during the cataclysm, including the Alagondar royal family. After the cataclysm, Netherese loyalists infiltrated the power structure of the weakened Neverwinter, trying to take advantage of the situation of the city to locate old Xinlenal.

The survivors determined that they needed an effective way to protect themselves from the plaguechanged creatures and built The Wall was built using debris and other materials, and initially it was patrolled by the survivors themselves.

After the eruption, a contingent of orcs from Many-Arrows led by Vansi Bloodscar invaded the River District. Although her orders were to explore to ruined city, Vansi defied Obould XVII's orders, seeing an opportunity to take power in Neverwinter as part of a future plan to annex the city to Many-Arrows. Her forces eventually were able to subjugate the entire district.

In 1462 DR, Lord Dagult Neverember, Open Lord of Waterdeep, 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.

Unable to deal with the orc forces from Many-Arrows, Lord Neverember signed a peace treaty with with them, declaring The Fallen Tower neutral ground.

In 1463 DR, Thayans and their Ashmadai allies attacked Neverwinter, hoping to cause enough deaths to fuel a Dread Ring, but their plans were foiled with the help of adventurers and some Netherese agents. Due to the help given by the Netherese, the shadovar attempted a power grab in the city but were driven out when Herzgo Alegni was defeated in combat by Artemis Entreri and Dahlia Sin'felle, which inspired the citizens to revolt against Herzgo's Netherese 'Shadow Guard'.

In 1474 DR, the Sons of Alagondar emerged in Neverwinter and waged a campaign of insurgency and propaganda against the rule of Dagult Neverember. Proclaiming themselves as the descendants of the servants and retainers of Lord Nasher and his descendants, they wished to restore rule to the rightful line of Alagondar.

Neverwinter reborn
In 1479 DR, the Harpers cell in Neverwinter suffered a devastating blow. One of their high-ranking members, Cymril, was helping the Sons of Alagondar to oppose the rule of Dagult Neverember. However, an ambush by Mintarn mercenaries resulted in her dead, and in the revelation that she was also working for Neverember. After her treachery was revealed, the reputation of the Harpers of Nevewinter was greatly damaged in the region, at least for a time.

That same year, the Abolethic Sovereignty was investing their efforts to thwart the New Neverwinter movement or to use it to advance their own agenda. Using the Chasm, the aboleths kidnapped many inhabitants of Neverwinter and nearby settlements for their ambitious experiments to improve the dreaded Symphony of Madness.

Likewise, 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.

The Battle of Sleeping Dragon Bridge
At some point during this year, Valindra Shadowmantle and her forces put Neverwinter under siege. Several adventurers were thrust into battle against Valindra's undead minions while trying to reach the relative safety of Neverwinter's walls, after their ship was sunk by a dracolich controlled by Valindra. The adventurers were joined by other heroes of Neverwinter and soon they defeated Valindra's forces. For their valor in defending the city against the undead, the adventurers became known as the Heroes of Sleeping Dragon Bridge.

The Lost Heir of Neverwinter
During an attack of plaguechanged creatures to the Protector's Enclave, a presumed heir of the Alagondar royal family showed up and helped the defenders of the city to deal with the creatures. However, this act caused civil unrest in the city, as the Sons of Alagondar and those who opposed Neverember's ruled wanted him to dismiss his claim to the rulership of Neverwinter in favor of the presumed heir. Lord Neverember then hired a group of adventurers to track down the so-called heir and discover his true intentions. The investigation uncovered a plot devised by Seldra Tylmarande to unseat Lord Neverember. The adventurers were able to foil the plot and dealt with Seldra and the Crown of Neverwinter as they saw fit.

Around 1485 DR, Neverember's efforts to rebuild the city proved successful. He ordered the use of magical means to seal the Chasm (although at a huge expense to the city's coffers). Trade with Waterdeep and other cities of the south was resumed, and Neverwinter was slowly being restored as a center of civilization in the North.