The Neverwinter arena was an amphitheater located in the city of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast North and built in the late 1490s DR.[note 1] It was the site of the revived High Sun Games.[1][2][note 2]
Location[]
The amphitheater stood at the foot of Castle Never in the Blacklake District of Neverwinter.[1][note 3]
Structure[]
Entrance[]
Flanking the main entrance to the arena stood two massive copper statues of past Neverwintan rulers, each as high as the amphitheater itself.[1][2] Facing outward and to the east, on the left was a statue of Lord Nasher Alagondar, crowned, with his belt adorned with the Neverwinter Eye, and holding the longbow with which he'd slain a minotaur.[1][2][3] On the right was a statue of Lord Halueth Never, the founder of Neverwinter, in helm and armor and holding a longsword.[1][2][note 4]
Just a few of the terrible monsters that spectators could see escaping.
Beside the gates at the entrances to the arena, colorful teal-and-orange tilework images on the walls depicted the various monsters one might see within, including a beholder, a rust monster, a hook horror, and a displacer beast.[1][2]
Amphitheater[]
It was a vast circular amphitheater constucted of dressed sandstone, comprising three levels of high open arches, which formed gaps between the interior and exterior. Inside were three tiers of seating for the general audience and a sturdy arch over the arena from which the wealthier spectators could look down on the competitors. At the top of the arch, directly over the center of the arena, was a circular chamber that served as a luxury balcony.[1][2] Around the roof of the arena and the balcony were blue awnings that provided shade to spectators.[1]
The concept of the amphitheater was intended to invoke a historical scene of a ring of elves standing around Halueth Never as he stood victorious after defeating an orc army early in the city's history.[2]
Luxury Balcony[]
The luxury balcony was an opulent space with windows looking out onto the arena between ornate columns. At the center, a special gaming table magnified the scene in the arena below for a closer view. Seated around this table, patrons placed bets with a broker on the action in the arena, specifically on how each competitor would meet their doom. At the sides were refreshments tables, where servants provided beverages to the gamblers.[1][2]
The walls were adorned with murals of various dragons, including a bronze dragon and a black dragon, and the ceiling displayed scenes of Neverwinter and its environs, including Castle Never, the Mount Hotenow volcano, and waterfalls in Neverwinter Wood.[1][2]
Hanging below the balcony were mechanisms for ringing gongs periodically. These were used to indicate starts of matches and rounds and timed events.[1][2]
Arena Floor[]
The classic 5-foot cube.
The arena floor consisted of a vast grid of square pillars, each 5 feet (1.5 meters) to a side and rising up to 80 feet (24 meters) in height. Shallow recesses in their sides ensured they would tessellate and interlock. Some pillars had stationary gelatinous cubes built into them as traps for the unwary. Powered by magic and mechanics, these pillars could be raised or lowered for various purposes, such as creating podiums for announcements, delivering contestants and monsters into the arena, and arranging courses for the games, such as a maze, zones, and even a pyramid. There was also a large "cage of sanctuary", a study enclosure with spikes on the outside to keep monsters out. Contestants had to reach this to win a stage or go on to the next one.[1][2]
Tunnels[]
Underneath the arena floor was a subterranean space whereinto the square pillars descended when not in use. The floor was a layers of maze-like grills lit from below.[1]
This area connected to a series of access tunnels and storage chambers running under the arena. Lit by torches, these held props, banners, and supplies, as well as keys to the magic-suppression cuffs used in the games. These tunnels also linked to the city's docks. [1]
History[]
After he took power as Lord of Neverwinter in the late 1490s DR, one of Forge Fitzwilliam's main acts was to revive the High Sun Games, a monster-filled blood-sport that had been banned[1][4] by Lord Dagult Neverember some time prior as he considered them too brutal.[1][5] The Neverwinter arena was constructed to host the Games.[speculation][note 5] The first Games were to be held in the late 1490s DR, allegedly as a way of bringing the city together. It also brought many visitors from outside Neverwinter, including rich, powerful, and unscrupulous people—people like Din Caldwell and Porb Piiradost, two of the wealthiest men of Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep of the day, who wanted to bet big on the Games and brought their riches with them, which Forge graciously offered to store safely in the Castle Never vault.[1][4][6][5] To advertise the spectacle, Forge distributed fliers as far away as Targos in Icewind Dale to announce them; these were magically animated to display Forge's winking face.[1][7] He even raised a hot-air balloon over the city with his own grinning face on it.[1][4]
The displacer beast, the real star of the show.
Finally, Forge opened the revived High Sun Games at the Neverwinter arena from atop one of the moveable pillars, though he was not comfortable with the height of it. Addressing the crowd and announcing the rules of the competition, he asked that no one leave the arena until the very end, promising "a wonderful gift" to each of the spectators. While the games proceeded apace, one of the teams—Edgin Darvis, Holga Kilgore, Simon Aumar, and Doric, who'd been entered unwillingly—escaped by leaping inside a gelatinous cube in order to be carried down into the tunnels beneath the arena.[1]
Sofina supplies the light show.
In fact, the arena was all a trick, and a trap. Forge had stolen the riches of his wealthy visitors from the Castle Never vault and smuggled them out via the tunnels beneath the arena and had it all loaded aboard a ship for his getaway as he abandoned the city to his advisor Sofina, who had much of the populace gathered together in the arena for her dark purpose. Levitating out of the luxury balcony over the arena, Sofina revealed herself to be a Red Wizard of Thay and invoked the horn of beckoning death in order to turn all the spectators into undead and thereby seize the city for Szass Tam, the Regent of Thay. The red smoke of the Beckoning Death filled the luxury balcony and turned all the gamblers and their servants into ravening zombies. Fortunately, Edgin and his thieves used a portal from their hither-thither staff to pour the stolen treasure from Forge's hot-air balloon and over the stands and streets, leading all the people out of the arena. With no more victims to claim, the Beckoning Death was wasted and Sofina's concentration was broken, ending the spell. Enraged, she sought out and assaulted Edgin, Holga, Simon, and Doric, first hurling a meteor swarm at them from above the arena and damaging the head of the statue of Halueth Never by the entrance. She then battled them in the streets outside the arena.[1]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
- The Field of Triumph in Waterdeep
Notes[]
- ↑ The Honor Among Thieves movie and its tie-ins are as yet undated. As discussed here, from the condition of Castle Never and Dagult Neverember's reign, this wiki estimates a date of the late 1490s DR for the main events of the movie. Prequels and flashback scenes are set up to 11 years before this.
- ↑ The proper name of the amphitheater is unknown, but it's referred to as 'Neverwinter arena' in capitalized titles in The Art and Making of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and in the Monopoly Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Movie Edition Board Game. While it's possible this should be read as 'Neverwinter Arena', this wiki presumes the lower-case form until a clear name is provided.
- ↑ The layout of Neverwinter depicted in Honor Among Thieves does not match the maps of the city in the Neverwinter Campaign Setting and Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and other depictions, as the movie shows the Neverwinter River running north of Castle Never rather than south. Moreover, it shows the arena as being directly south of the castle, where the river ought to be. For convenience, this wiki presumes the shots of the city should be reversed and the arena actually lies directly north of the castle. This places it in the Blacklake District, an area often described as needing clearing and redevelopment in this era and puts it closer to the Driftwood Tavern, a key location in the events of the movie. This also matches the original concept art of Neverwinter presented in The Art and Making of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, suggesting the shots were flipped during production or post-processing for artistic license or convenience.
- ↑ While Nasher is easy to identify from his close match to scenes in Neverwinter Nights, Halueth can only be presumed from context as one of the few known Lords of Neverwinter with history in battle. Halueth is depicted in a Castle Never set, as discussed in The Art and Making of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Coincidentally, although a common design, this resembles stock statues representing Halueth and the Neverwinter Nine seen in Neverwinter Nights 2. Alternatively, this may be Dagult Neverember, but he is still alive at the time of construction and Forge's critique of his predecessor shows he would not memorialize him like this.
- ↑ As no structure of the kind has been seen or mapped in Neverwinter before, the arena is presumed to be new and built by either Neverember or Forge.
Appearances[]
Film & Television
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley (2023). Honor Among Thieves. (Paramount Pictures).
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Eleni Roussos (April 4, 2023). The Art and Making of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. (Random House Worlds). ISBN 9781984861863.
- ↑ BioWare (June 2002). Designed by Brent Knowles, James Ohlen. Neverwinter Nights. Atari.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 David Lewman (February 28, 2023). Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization. (Random House Worlds), chap. 5, pp. 37–38. ISBN 0593647955.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 David Lewman (February 28, 2023). Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization. (Random House Worlds), chap. 11, pp. 74–76. ISBN 0593647955.
- ↑ David Lewman (February 28, 2023). Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization. (Random House Worlds), chap. 7, p. 51. ISBN 0593647955.
- ↑ David Lewman (February 28, 2023). Honor Among Thieves: The Junior Novelization. (Random House Worlds), chap. 4, p. 34. ISBN 0593647955.