Waterdeep

Rising from the shores of its deep harbor to ring the great mountain standing tall out of the Sea of Swords is Waterdeep, the City of Splendors and the Crown of the North. To all of Faerûn, this great metropolis stands as the pinnacle of what a great city might be, in wealth, influence, and stability. Here, the citizens work, the nobles sneer, and the great masked lords plot and scheme, all while merchants dance between them to collect their coins and continue profiting as best they can. Waterdeep’s shops and merchants offer goods of every sort from every corner of Toril, and even the rarest of items can be procured, given sufficient coin and patience. Adventurers lacking one or the other can very easily find all manner of employment, from simple escorting of caravans, to guarding nobility, to investigating a ruin or rumor of monsters anywhere in the North.
Though it has stood for hundreds of years, Waterdeep is only now returning to its status of a century and a half ago. The recent disruptions began when the gods walked the Realms and slew each other before the eyes of mortals, until they walked back to their divine domains through the very streets of Waterdeep itself. Decades later, more deities began dying off, magic failed, and all manner of catastrophes started altering the very nature of the city. Lord Neverember wasted the city’s navy and then, instead of rebuilding it, hired sailors out of Mintarn (and profited from the endeavor).
Now, the City of Splendors is on the mend. The harbor has been cleared of the broken ships that made up the former district of Mistshore, and Waterdeep again has its own navy. The City Guard (its army), City Watch (police force), Navy ), and the famous Griffon Cavalry are all being reformed, but all of that might be a matter of years in the settling. A plague chased most residents out of the Warrens and Downshadow, and living or digging below the city’s surface has been deemed illegal except by those authorized by the lords to do so.
Perhaps most surprising of the newest developments is the return of Laeral Silverhand to Waterdeep. Long thought dead, she reemerged only recently, and swiftly rallied the masked lords to support her supplanting of Dagult Neverember as Open Lord of Waterdeep. Very few remember Lady Laeral from her previous time in the city, but those elves who have been living in there for the last century claim she is more reserved than she once was. The new Open Lord doesn’t speak of her family — any mention of her children, her late husband (the fabled Blackstaff, Khelben Arunsun), or any of her famed sisters is cause for her to cut short whatever conversation may be in progress at the time. Her relationship with the current Blackstaff, Vajra Safahr, is cordial, but the two are seldom seen in one-on-one conversation, and most think that Lady Laeral has little to learn from a mage who isn’t nearly her equal.
As always, the Open Lord is selected and supported by several masked lords, who bear masks, robes, and amulets to disguise themselves when publicly sitting in judgment or council, and who make policies for Waterdeep. Every Waterdhavian has suspicions as to whether this or that influential citizen is or isn’t a lord of the city, and some are willing to make their beliefs public, but few who are confronted in such a way have ever claimed to be a lord, and none of those have also produced proof of that assertion.

Demographics

Humans 64%
Dwarves 10%
Elves 10%
Halflings 5%
Half-elves 5%
Gnomes 3%
Half-orcs 2%
Others 1%

Government

Ruled over by Laeral Silverhand as the Open Lord of Waterdeep, supported by the council of Masked Lords

Defences

Waterdeep maintained two separate armed forces, the City Guard (its army) and the CityWatch (police force). The City Guard served as Waterdeep's soldiery and its members staffed garrisons, road patrols, and watchposts, and served as bodyguards and gate guards. The Watch was the local police force.

"The Guard guards the wall, the Watch watches all"

— Volothamp Geddarm

Waterdeep had strong walls on its landward sides and was protected in part by Mount Waterdeep on the seaward side. Mount Waterdeep was studded with watch towers and defensive positions, and patrolled by special guard units on flights of hippogriffs. Aside from this, Waterdeep also benefited from a large native population of the adventuring classes (including powerful mages, priests, and warriors) who were more than willing to deal with any and all miscreants who threatened their home city, and did so in the past. This often proved the City of Splendors' most potent defense.[citation needed]
The city also had the eight giant Walking Statues of Waterdeep. Seven of these statues could be animated by the Blackstaff of Waterdeep to defend the city, one was too damaged to be activated. These statues were extremely destructive, and only used to fend off armies or win otherwise impossible battles

Guilds and Factions

Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors
The Thieves' Guild

History

Waterdeep was used as a trading site for trade activities between northern tribesmen and southern merchants from −1088 DR onward. By 52 DR, permanent farms had sprung up in the area.The name "Waterdeep" (not as a city, but as a town) was used by the ship captains docking to trade at the port, and it was slowly adopted into common use. The city was truly established by 1032 DR, the year Ahghairon became the first Lord of Waterdeep, and the date from which Northreckoning is counted.
The city grew spectacularly, such that by 1248 DR both the City of the Dead and the guilds had been developed. The guild masters seized control soon afterwards, ushering in a period of unrest and bitter conflict known as the Guildwars. The Guildwars ended only when the two surviving guild masters brought in their own period of misrule. It was only in 1273 DR that the modern system of government was instituted. This was the year that the Magisters were established and the secret Lords of Waterdeep were firmly reestablished. Since that time, the city continued to grow and prosper.
Humankind and other races came from all over the Realms to earn hard coin in the City of Splendors.[citation needed] Over the years, these successful merchants set up guilds and themselves became nobility, supporting the secretive Lords of Waterdeep who policed the city fairly, yet with a light hand, by means of the superb City Guard (soldiers), City Watch (police) and over 20 black-robed magistrates. As a result, Waterdeep was a place tolerant of different races, religions, and lifestyles. This in turn encouraged commerce and Waterdeep grew into a huge, eclectic city

Alternative Name(s)

City of Splendors, Crown of the North

Type

City

Population

132,661

Inhabitant Demonym

Waterdhavian

Included Locations

• Castle Ward
• City of the Dead
• Dock Ward
• Field Ward
• North Ward
• Southern Ward
• Trades Ward
• Walking Statues of Waterdeep

Owner/Ruler

Laeral Silverhand

Owning Organization

Lords' Alliance

Characters in Location

• Durnan
• Laeral Silverhand
• Mirt