Naerth Maxildanarr (pronounced: /ˈnɛərθ mɑːksɪlˈdɑːnɑːr/ NAIRTH max-ill-DAN-ar[2]) was a human rogue from Luskan in the late 15th century DR. He reigned as the Speaker of Targos in Icewind Dale in the late 1480s DR.[1]
Personality[]
He displayed a friendly and down-to-earth manner.[1]
Home[]
Naerth lived and worked out of the Luskan Arms inn in Targos. He felt the inn was a good place to meet visitors and that it reminded him of his home city. He occupied the biggest guest suite on a permanent basis. He kept three flying snakes in a cage in his room for use as messengers.[1]
Activities[]
As a secret member of the Zhentarim, Naerth was their highest-ranked agent in the Ten-Towns as of 1489 DR. His goal was to dominate local trade and turn Targos and all of Icewind Dale into a hub of the Black Network's mercantile activities in the north. To this end, he had agents pressure businesses in the region to buy Targosan fish rather than from any other town, and to get of suspected Harpers who might oppose him.[1]
Relationships[]
He controlled a network of at least dozen Zhentarim spies and agents in the Ten-Towns and had them carry out his schemes, sending them messages via flying snake. They included the loyal Captain Skath, a Zhent mercenary who commanded the town militia,[1] known as the Targos Guard.[3]
Others were Prudence Tarkwold, a clerk at the Town Hall in Easthaven;[4] Shandar Froth, a logger of Good Mead;[5] and senior officers in the militia of Termalaine.[6]
History[]
Hailing from Luskan, Naerth arrived in Targos circa 1487 DR and based himself in the Luskan Arms. With his coin and charm, he bought influence and loyalty among the town's fisherfolk and quickly rose to prominence and power. By 1489 DR, he had even taken the Speaker's position after the previous person, although well liked, apparently tired of the role.[1][note 1]
His plans would be interrupted, however. When Auril the Frostmaiden descended onto Icewind Dale in the Year of Dwarvenkind Reborn, 1488 DR, spreading her unending winter, Naerth Maxildanarr, together with the Speakers of Bryn Shander and Easthaven, took the drastic step of holding monthly lotteries to determine who of the inhabitants was to be sacrificed to the Cold Goddess and cast out into the freezing tundra to die of exposure.[7] Under the tyranny of the goddess, Targos faced the harshest of winters. The bigger boats of the fleet were frozen in the docks, leaving fishing to be done by smaller boats dragged over the ice and limiting the food supply dramatically.[1]
Finally, in the winter of the Year of the Warrior Princess, 1489 DR, this period of strife culminated in an attack by a rampaging chardalyn dragon, a creature forged out of black ice by Xardorok Sunblight and unleashed to destroy each of the Ten Towns. Naerth's personal spy network alerted him to the attacks on the other towns, giving Targos time to muster its militia and ready siege weaponry, though invisible duergar sabotaged these defense and murdered townsfolk. Fortunately, the creature was defeated by a group of adventurers and the efforts of the militias of the Ten Towns.[8][note 2]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This previous person may be Giandro Holfast, who was Speaker circa 1485 DR, unless was someone between them. Given Giandro's dedication to Targos and Naerth's nefarious deeds, the fact that he would tire of the job may be intended to be suspicious.
- ↑ In Rime of the Frostmaiden, the chardalyn dragon's rampage proceeds depending on PCs' actions, with it destroying towns in sequence. Since Targos appears in Honor Among Thieves and is the home of the protagonists before, during, and after these events, it could not have been destroyed, and was likely not even attacked. Nevertheless, in the worst-case scenario, Naerth would abandon the doomed town and Captain Skath and flee to a safehouse in Bryn Shander, and would also survive the attack there, though afterward lacks a powerbase and spy network in Icewind Dale.
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Black Isle Studios (August 2002). Designed by J.E. Sawyer. Icewind Dale II. Interplay.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 72, 78. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 95. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 15, 21–24. ISBN 978-0786966981.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 190. ISBN 978-0786966981.