Neverwinter is a coastal city-state built at the mouth of a river. There are several stories about how it got that name, but the most popular one is that it was from the warm waters of that river, which prevent the delta from freezing during winter and so keep its port viable year-round.

Comparing the book and the computer games, I see present-day inhabitants of Neverwinter have a somewhat romanticized view of Nasher Alagondar, the former adventurer who ruled the city about 150 years before this campaign starts. He was an effective ruler, though, and his descendants formed a dynasty that remained unbroken until the cataclysm 27 years ago, when the last of them died or vanished.

The cataclysm wrecked the city, opening a huge chasm that destroyed its southeastern quadrant and began to vomit forth mutated monstrosities. Most of the citizens who didn’t die left as refugees, and only a minority of holdouts decided to stay and protect their ancestral homes. They built a makeshift wall to isolate the Chasm and its monsters from the rest of the city, and soon began to see its defense as a sacred duty.

Lord Neverember arrived nearly ten years ago at the head of an army of carpenters and builders, protected by a mercenary force from Mintarn. Around five years ago he established the Protector’s Enclave, a sort of “green zone” taking up the southwestern quadrant of the city, which he declared safe for occupation. There were already people living all over the city, but the establishment of the Enclave opened the way for refugees to return and for new immigrants to come seeking opportunities.

The people of Neverwinter, then, can be split into two demographic groups: the “holdouts” who never left the city, and the “newcomers” who arrived or returned after Neverember declared it once again open for business.

The Enclave

The Enclave’s infrastructure has been restored to pre-cataclysm levels, more or less. This includes the port, which has once again begun to see trade from Waterdeep and elsewhere. The variety of goods in its markets does a lot to make life in Neverwinter easier.

Not all is roses in the Enclave, though. Neverember’s government imposes a steep tax on all commercial transactions, and the place is heavily policed by those Mintarn mercenaries. The taxes are something one can get used to, but those mercs have spies and goons stationed everywhere and love to employ all sorts of excessive force against any perceived sign of dissent.

Neverember doesn’t personally care about this police brutality, but he does make an effort to keep it at a level that’s beneath his notice, occasionally blaming and punishing one of his underlings to get things to simmer back down for a while.

There’s discontent aimed at Neverember from a lot of sides. The holdout population dislikes him because he’s taking credit for much of their work, and sidelining them in his new government. The newcomers see him in a better light but still dislike the heavy taxes and oppressive mercs. Those who like him usually also like the whole New Neverwinter rhetoric and say the harsh measures and heavy taxes are needed to keep the city’s restoration going.

The Sons of Alagondar in particular see him as a foreign occupier and call him Lord Pretender. If your PCs want to brawl with a guard patrol, saying those words within earshot of them is the best way to do so.

Neverember’s current headquarters is at the Hall of Justice, the former temple of Tyr. If you played the first Neverwinter Nights game you might recognize this as your quest hub during Act 1. Tyr died in the Spellplague, but the citizens refused to convert the temple to worship of another god. Neverember had it restored and sponsors a group Torm priests that perform rituals following the old Tyrran tradition in here. While many people see this move in a positive light, the Sons of Alagondar claim Neverember’s presence defiles the temple and call it the “Hall of Never-Justice”.

The Moonstone and Other Earthmotes

There are three earthmotes in Neverwinter. These were created by the Spellplague, and became fixtures in the city’s skyline long before the eruption.

The first as the Moonstone, so called because it’s the current site of the Moonstone Mask. Another familiar location from the computer games, this fancy inn fell on hard times and shut its doors after the cataclysm. About five years ago it reopened under new management, with some financial help from Neveremeber. Liset Cheldar, the current owner, repays him by housing a large number of Mintarn mercenaries in her establishment. They take up most rooms and a bunch of them can be found there at all hours, dragging the atmosphere down and picking fights with non-merc patrons. The Moonstone is lashed to the docks with heavy chains, and connected by a bridge.

The book suggests making Liset the puppet of one of the other factions, but I think that’s a bit too cliche to make the pretty and flirty woman a secret monster. The inn is already dangerous enough with all the mercs in it.

The southernmost earthmote is called Fisher’s Float, and it’s home and workplace to a small community of fishers that have lived there since before the cataclysm. Their catch provides a great deal of food to the city, though their isolated location often gives rise to rumors of sinister goings-on. They’re just rumors unless the GM decides otherwise.

The mote that flies the highest and furthest from town is the Pirate’s Skyhold. A gang of sky pirates used it as a base because it’s impossible to reach without flight. One night, though, the pirates apparently all killed each other in a frenzy of betrayal, leaving the island deserted. Their skyship, and all of their treasure, are rumored to have stayed there intact - though other rumors say that a dragon made the island its lair after a while. You can still see the ruins of wooden buildings poking out of this island’s forested slopes, but it remains inaccessible to most. The GM is explicitly encouraged to make this place into a cool aerial dungeon of their own design.

The Wall

The Wall was built by Neverwinter’s holdouts after the cataclysm. It separates the southwestern quadrant of the city from the Chasm in the SE quadrant. It was initially built from rubble and barricaded buildings, and manned by martially-inclined survivors. Neverember reinforced it with proper defensive architecture and assigned a significant chunk of his mercenaries to supplement the survivor garrison. Those survivors still guard the Wall alongside the mercs, because they see it as their sacred duty.

Together with Neverwinter River, the Wall has been effective at preventing any plaguechanged horrors from leaving the area of the Chasm, but recently some of them have been spotted north of the river and near sewer entrances. Mayor Galt fields several daily petitions for expanding the Wall further.

Guarding the Wall and repelling plaguechanged assaults is one of the quickest ways to win the hearts and minds of the city’s inhabitants. The increasing friction between the mercs who make up most of the guard forces and the hardened native veterans who refuse to abandon their posts can also be a source of many plot hooks.

The House of Knowledge

This used to be a great temple to Oghma, occupying what is now the northeast end of the Wall. After the cataclysm, the elderly Brother Anthus became its head priest for a while, and they dedicated themselves to studying the plaguechanged creatures that emerged from it. When Anthus died under mysterious circumstances, the priestess Rohini took over and moved their whole operation to Helm’s Hold.

(To know the truth about those mysterious circumstances, check Rohini’s bio).

A single volunteer priest remained behind to look after the temple’s extensive library and archive, Brother Atlavast. Long years of solitude and isolation have made the priest a paranoid eccentric. He keeps to the lower levels underground and I don’t think a lot of people even remember he’s there.

By default, Atlavast is ornery but not evil. He’ll be very happy to see Oghma’s Faithful, for example, though he will insist on testing them and any other PCs to see if they’re worthy of the archives. If they do manage to befriend him, he can be a great help when exploring the library. Optionally, he might be in thrall to the aboleths (like the rest of the priests over at Helm’s Hold), and must be freed before he can become an ally.

The surface levels of the temple, long abandoned, have been taken over by a group of squatters which decided to make themselves useful by serving as lookouts on the Wall and ringing the temple’s bells when they see monsters. The mercs often leave them gifts of food and clothing, and are becoming fast friends with them… unaware that the squatters are all undercover Ashmadai cultists. They already managed to get one of the Mintarn captains possessed by a devil.

Neverdeath

This huge graveyard was in use for centuries until the cataclysm, when the vast expanse of graves and mausoleums was wracked by tremors. Some sections of it sunk, others rose up, and these convulsions exposed graves and underground crypts, causing coffins and bones to tumble about the whole area.

The current inhabitants of the city fear this place. The Mintarn mercs burn dead bodies outside the city walls instead of burying them here. It’s not uncommon for unburied bodies on or near the cemetery to rise as undead of their own accord.

It doesn’t help that the Thayans have a major secret base in here, and are using it as their main source of bodies for reanimation. The place also contains a shadow crossing into Evernight, and Valindra has built a teleportation circle here to make use of it.

The Netherese are aware of the shadow crossing and one of their goals is to destroy it or otherwise deny it to Valindra. They want to be discreet about it, though, and don’t want to jeopardize their project to raise Xinlenal.

Waterclock Crypts

Neverwinter was once known for the amazing quality of its water clocks. The guild responsible for making them built this crypt to inter its dead. Located somewhere inside Neverdeath, it’s filled with clever traps and engines built using hydraulics and elemental magic. Hidden here is the laboratory of its founder, who first arrived in the city coming from Luskan with a cartload of stolen magic knowledge. Its library contains all of that knowledge and more, including notes on the original ritual that bound Maegera.

An underground vein of elemental magic that links Luskan and Gauntlgrym passes through the crypt - it’s why the founder’s lab was built here. Following the vein could be one way in which the PCs find the lost city. Of course, they need to get through all the undead and Thayans up above, as well as whatever defenses this place has.

The Docks

Rebuilding the docks was one of Neverember’s greatest priorities. While there’s still plenty of work to be done here, the docks are already functional and able to receive ships. Trade with the rest of the world has resumed, and the lord makes a pretty penny charging tariffs on its cargo. There’s lots of crime and corruption here as well, but I get the feeling Neverember only cares about it to the extend that it impedes trade.

Also here is the Tarmalune Trade House, belonging to a merchant guild from Returned Abeir (the new continent a ways off to the west of Neverwinter). In what might be an unexpected development, they’re just a normal trading house who can offer supplies and filler quests to our protagonists. Their goal is entirely mundane: to form commercial ties with the very lucrative markets at Waterdeep. They’ll be extra-friendly towards any PCs that have ties to the nobility of that city, like the Neverwinter Noble or the Devil’s Pawn.

Impressions

Even though this is the “safe” part of town there are still quite a few sources of danger in it. A lot of that danger comes from the mercs, who will mercilessly harass anyone who looks like they might start trouble, a description that fits most PCs. Neverdeath will be a major location in any campaign focused on either the Thayans or on Gauntlgrym.