Evernight was the dismal echo of Neverwinter located in the Shadowfell. It was a city of the undead and those that trafficked with them—unhinged necromancers, slave traders, and followers of dark deities.[1][2]
Description[]
The whole city was in disrepair, as if the wood and stone that held the buildings together had the life leeched out of them, becoming rotten and crumbling. The few streets paved with cobblestones were cratered with potholes, and the rest were lanes and alleys filled with grave-dirt trodden and scuffed into a fine dust. The atmosphere was damp and humid, with a chill wind under a perpetually gray sky.[1]
Certain places throughout the city were bursting with necromantic power that made lights dimmer, the air colder and more still, attracted the undead, and drained mortals of their stamina.[3][4]
Evernight had a few portals and many "dimensional gaps" that connected it with Neverwinter in the Material Plane, allowing for easy passage between the two planes.[5]
Geography[]
Evernight was located on the coast at the mouth of a once fast-flowing and treacherous river, that had since been replaced by a lava flow. The western end of the city was often shrouded in mist and fog from the lava where it met the sea.[6] Not far beyond the eastern city walls was the Burning Woods.[7]
Government[]
The closest thing to a city hall or courthouse in Evernight was the House of Screams.[3] The city was controlled by a ruling caste of intelligent ghouls,[1] and was governed by a tribunal of particularly powerful and/or ancient ghouls, ghasts, and living followers of Orcus, usually spellcasters. This tribunal had the power to declare specific living people to be citizens of the city, thus making them off-limits to the population as a food source.[2] They also dictated foreign policy, and insisted that Evernight remain a neutral zone.[5]
Law and Order[]
When a conflict was brought to the tribunal to be resolved, its members proclaimed their verdicts by eating whichever party they found unworthy of their time. Because of that, few citizens petitioned the tribunal unless there was no other option.[2] In some cases, disputes might be resolved without the tribunal's involvement, either by a sanctioned battle to the death in the basement of the House of Screams or by petitioning for intervention from the priests of the Temple of Filth, who generally demanded to be repaid for their judgments with services to the temple.[3]
There were no formal laws in Evernight, and living beings that were not declared citizens by the tribunal usually were fair game for the undead unless they had a powerful citizen as patron or were considered useful for the city to function properly.[2] Living humanoids who were captured within Evernight were rarely eaten right away, and were instead killed slowly by being buried alive in an elaborate funeral service: they were paralyzed and dressed at Lamantha's mortuary before being carried in a blood-stained coffin from the Temple of Filth to the Graveyard, and only once it had begun to rot was their corpse dug up and eaten.[8]
Inhabitants[]
The majority of Evernight population was undead, and almost any kind of corporeal undead creature could be found there whether intelligent (such as the ghouls, ghasts, vampires, and wights) or non-intelligent (such as zombies).[1][2][9] A minority of inhabitants were living individuals of varied races, usually those of evil-alignments or those who had been captured to serve as food for the undead.[1][2] It was also home to pale reavers[2] and a few creatures of pure shadow.[9]
The undead worshiped Orcus and Doresain. They paid homage to these entities by engaging in profane rights at the Temple of Filth, singing triumphant songs, and sacrificing living creatures to the Demon Pit.[3][8]
Notable Inhabitants[]
- The Glumguts family, a community of dark creepers. Their leader was Blackclaw.[9]
- Katrice Ansar, the leader of a small force of Thayan representatives.[9]
- Lamantha, a near-mad human necromancer and mortician.[8]
- The Resurrectionist, a mysterious old man known to wander the town's markets.[10]
- Ursuntos, the Grand Disciple of Orcus at the Temple of Filth.[3]
Trade[]
Evernight lay at the western end of the Shadowfell Road[11] and was located at a crossroads in the Shadowfell, making the city a center of commerce in that plane.[5] Evernight imported live meat: those that were lucky became slaves, those that were unlucky became meals.[1]
Defenses[]
A hungry population of flesh-eaters and blood drinkers was enough of a threat to put off most living adversaries. For enemy undead or necromancers however, the priests of the Temple of Filth had a secret doomsday weapon hidden away in case their own people were not enough to defend the city. This weapon was said to be a magical artifact that had the ability to project radiant energy equivalent to the light of Toril's midday sun. Only strong undead creatures were capable of handling it without being instantly destroyed, but even they suffered crippling pain. Once wielded against enemy undead however, hundreds were sure to be destroyed all at once, even under the pall of the Shadowfell. The artifact itself was protected by a shrine in the Temple of Filth, hidden by ritual magic, behind trapped and cursed doors.[3]
History[]
Evernight had a shadovar ambassador before 1372 DR. It also maintained a diplomatic relationship with Thay after it became a nation of necromancers in the 15th century DR.[5]
In 1451 DR, when Mount Hotenow erupted on the Material Plane, so did its Shadowfell mirror. On the Shadowfell though, rather than a pyroclastic flow like the one people in Neverwinter suffered, Evernight got a slow stream of lava that was contained and channeled by the riverbed, evaporating the river water but otherwise not damaging the city save for a few piers.[8] Evernight became a thriving city after this event, to the chagrin of some living individuals who wanted to see Evernight destroyed.[2]
Notable Locations[]
- Black Mound
- Castle Nowhere
- Corpse Market
- Dark creeper enclave
- Demon Pit
- The Graveyard
- Haunted Pier
- House of Screams
- Lamantha's mortuary
- Shadowfell Road
- Temple of Filth
- Thayan outpost
Rumors & Legends[]
It was rumored that Evernight mirrored one city on every mortal world of the multiverse.[1]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Video Games
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins, James Wyatt (2014). Dungeon Master's Guide 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 52. ISBN 978-0786965622.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 202. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 205. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ James Wyatt, Bill Slavicsek, Robin D. Laws (September 2009). Dungeon Master's Guide 2. Edited by Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 59–60. ISBN 978-0786952441.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 204. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 203. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 210. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 206. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 209. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 208. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.
- ↑ Matt Sernett, Erik Scott de Bie, Ari Marmell (August 2011). Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Edited by Tanis O'Connor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 212. ISBN 0-7869-5814-6.