Neverwinter

Neverwinter, also known as the City of Skilled Hands and the Jewel of the North, was a bustling, cultured, and cosmopolitan city-state in northwest Faerûn. Neverwinter was regarded by Volo as the most cosmopolitan and civilized city in all of Faerûn. The city was a member in good standing of the Lords' Alliance. Known for its craftsfolk and gardeners, the city's multi-colored-glass lamps, precision water clocks, exquisite jewelry, and magnificent gardens ensured the warm winters were colorful and the summers were rich with fresh fruit.

Neverwinter stood on the northern Sword Coast, on the High Road between Waterdeep and Luskan, specifically between Leilon and Port Llast. To the east lay the Neverwinter Wood and, at its heart, the volcanic Mount Hotenow. The Neverwinter River was heated by fire elementals living under the volcano before flowing through the forest and the city. It carried its supernatural warmth with it, keeping the river and harbor from freezing up in winter and the gardens green year-round. The heat given off by the river created a permanent warm climate in the immediate area.

Southeast of Neverwinter stood the monastery of Helm's Hold, further south down the High Road stood the village of Vilnask, to the east, the village of Floodblest on the shores of Neverwinter River, and the villages of Windycliffs and Rothé Valley to the north.

The first settlement in the Savage Frontier was an elven city known as Illefarn, a bustling nation after the time of the Crown Wars. Eventually, Illefarn was divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent. Iliyanbruen was weakened by orc invasions, which paved the way for Eigersstor, the first multi-racial settlement in the area, which would later be called Neverwinter.

Neverwinter became a centre of civilization, peace, and culture and was widely viewed as a marvel by visitors. This trend lasted, seemingly unbroken since its founding until the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR when a disease known as the Wailing Death laid low most of the city's inhabitants. Then, in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, the Spellplague struck both Neverwinter and all of Faerûn.

The century that followed saw the rise in power of a new Netheril. Netherese loyalists infiltrated the power structure of the weakened Neverwinter, but their efforts were sidetracked by the eruption of Mount Hotenow in the Year of Knowledge Unearthed, 1451 DR, laying the city to waste and killing the ruling Alagondar family.

In the Year of the First Circle, 1468 DR, Lord Dagult Neverember, seeing an opportunity to add to his financial empire, hired workers to help rebuild the city and Mintarn mercenaries to protect it from monsters and bandits. Claiming to be a descendant of Neverwinter's former rulers and thus the rightful "Lord Protector" of the city, Dagult started the New Neverwinter movement. Lord Neverember invested a great deal of his own fortune to rebuild the city's infrastructure, buy the interest of merchants to send their caravans again to Neverwinter, and even ensure Neverwintan refugees had enough food and gold in hand. By 1491 DR, Neverember's efforts to rebuild the city proved successful, and Neverwinter had slowly been restored as a centre of civilization in the Sword Coast North.