History of Neverwinter

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

Early history
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. Iliyanbruen frequently fought with the city of Illusk, which was a legacy of the Netherese.

Eventually, Illefarn was divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent. 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 in importance, that was founded in 87 DR. 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 orcs invasions became more dangerous over time, and Neverwinter was besieged at least twice, in 306 DR and in 611 DR. To put an end to the orc threat, the group of wizards known as the Covenant founded the School of Wizardry in Neverwinter, in 457 DR.

The wizards of the Convenant 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 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.

Modern History
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, when a disease known as the Wailing Death laid low most of the city's inhabitants.

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.

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.

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.

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 the 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.

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.

By 1491 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) and Neverwinter was slowly being restored as a center of civilization in the North.

Neverwinter in games
Many years before the 14th century DR, 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 the city succumbed to 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, 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 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 its security was in doubt due to the deaths of so many Greycloaks 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 the Year of Lightning Storms.

Post-Spellplague
Neverwinter and other cities north of Waterdeep fared poorly in the years following the Spellplague and, by the Year of the Ageless One, both it and Luskan were in utter ruins. Minor earthquakes had troubled Neverwinter for months, eventually resulting in an eruption from Mount Hotenow with mounds of lava and superheated ash falling down on the city. Half of the city's population died in a heartbeat, with many great buildings razed. A great rift known as the Chasm ripped apart the earth of the city and strange monsters haunted the ruins. Yet after the destruction, many who had fled upon the minor earthquakes returned, bringing looters and thieves with them. The people began to rebuild and eventually, arriving with a host of mercenaries from Mintarn, Dagult Neverember arrived and styled himself the Lord Protector of Neverwinter.