Westgate

Westgate was the oldest, richest and most corrupt port in the Sea of Fallen Stars. It gets the nickname, Gateway to the West, from its role as the Inner Sea's most prolific port city. A person from Westgate was known as a Westar or a Westhavian. It was an open city that welcomed all races and all religions.

History
This area of the Dragon Coast was first settled by humans from the Vilhon Reach roughy 3,000 years ago. The largest place was the human town of Westgate, ruled cruelly by the great topaz dragon Kisonraathiisar.

In -349 DR Saldrinar destroys Kisonraathiisar and becomes Westgate's first human king.

In 257 DR, pirates from the Pirate Isles invade Westgate and start a 200 year reign of Pirate Kings.

After the spellplague the Sea of Fallen Stars begain to drain into the Underdark. The lower water level caused the shoreline to recede and left the dock area of Westgate high and dry. The docks were rebuilt on the new shoreline and the new dock area was known as Tidetown.

Foreign Policy
By the Year of the Ageless One Westgate was one of the few free cities left on the Dragon Coast not occupied by either Cormyr or Sembia. In order to preserve its independence Westgate played both powers against each other, perhaps even supporting insurrections within Cormyr's borders to stem its expansionism.

Notable Locations

 * Bent Mermaid Inn
 * Black Eye
 * Castle Thalavar: Gedrin Thalavar's childhood home and headquarters of the Eye of Justice.
 * Darkdance Manor: Home of House Darkdance and ancestral home of Myrin Darkdance.
 * House of Steel: Abandoned temple of Garagos and lair of the vampire Kirenkirsalai.
 * House of Winds: Temple of Talos
 * Lair of the Night Masters: Formerly the lair of the vampire Orbahk.
 * Rotten Root Tavern
 * Shou Quarter: District home to many immigrant Shou.
 * Tidetown: New dock district built after the water level of the Sea of Fallen Stars dropped
 * Timeless Blade: Fencing school

Important figures

 * Clyde The Cleaver: Information broker & underworld figure. Notorious for his hand axe of Sharpness
 * Gedrin Thalavar: Founder of the Eye of Justice
 * Gul The Grim: Dwarven Leader & figurehead of the Westgate underworld
 * King Verovan: last King of Westgate who during a ship race against the Red Wizards of Thay, was tricked into turning his whole crew into stone when the Red Wizards secretly replaced his whip with one braided with a cocatrice feather.
 * Lord Topaz: Mercenary, assassin, bounty hunter, and unofficial contractor for the Night Masks. Affiliated with Waterdeep's Assassin's Guild of the VenomBlade.
 * Mintassan the Magnificent
 * Zedrick Neely: Leader of the Night Masks

Organizations and Factions

 * Eye of Justice: Paladin order dedicated to the worship of the Threefold God
 * Fire Knives: Assassins' guild at war with the Nine Golden Swords.
 * Night Masks (guild): Thieves guild driven out of Westgate by the Eye of Justice in 1391 DR.
 * Nine Golden Swords: Shou organization with criminal roots by way of Telflamm, opposes the Fire Knives
 * Zhentarim: mercenary company

Noble Houses

 * Athagdal: symbol is a set of russet weighing scales
 * Bleth: symbol is seven suns
 * Cormaeril: symbol is a red wyvern and a silver hor
 * Guldar: symbol is a black hawk
 * Malavhan: symbol is a red sun
 * Ssemm: symbol is an ivory bird's claw
 * Thalavar: symbol is a green feather
 * Thorsar: symbol is a blue hand holding corn
 * Urdo: symbol is a yellow eye
 * Vhammos: symbol is a steel-gray open hand