The Threnody of Neverwinter

Introduction

Welcome to the Threnody of Neverwinter! Set in the Forgotten Realms, the Threnody of Neverwinter campaign starts in and around the city of Neverwinter as Lord Dagult Neverember struggles to rebuild it. Various factions and figures vie for power within the city, for altruism, greed, or any other number of motivating factors. As a character in this campaign, your choices and actions will determine the fate of Neverwinter and perhaps the entire Sword Coast! With an intriguing backdrop and setting in place, it will be up to you to interact with the environment at your own pace and fashion.

In this guide, you'll find helpful tips on designing your character, as well as an overview of the places and some factions that you'll interact with during the campaign. Built around the themes of horror, intrigue, mystery, and war, this guide will also give hints of what might come as you dive deeper into the campaign.

Character Tips

This campaign will focus on an immersive storyline: one that is filled with political turmoil, ancient plots, powerful artifacts, and lots of skill checks. With a healthy dose of horror and the macabre acting as a backdrop, you will explore the themes of mortality and its inevitability, insidious evil, both the sort that rages without and within the heart and mind, the price of power and greed, and more!

With all of this in mind, please consider the advice found within the four themes listed below.

Horror

Vampires brood on the battlements of their accursed castles. Necromancers toil in dark dungeons to create horrid servants made of dead flesh. Devils corrupt the innocent, and werewolves prowl the night. All of these elements evoke horrific aspects of the fantasy genre.

In a horror campaign, monsters abound, and having the tools and knowledge to defeat them will be invaluable as you fight for your life. Proficiency in at least Arcana and Religion will go a long way in keeping you and your allies safe as you explore the desecrated part of Neverwinter or uncover sinister plans of time-ravaged lunatics.

Intrigue

The baron’s oldest daughter schemes to assassinate the baron. A hobgoblin army sends doppelganger spies to infiltrate the city before the invasion. At the embassy ball, the spy in the royal court makes contact with his employer.

Political intrigue, espionage, sabotage, and similar cloak-and-dagger activities will provide the basis for the Therenody of Neverwinter. Illusion magic will allow you to pass through areas safe and undetected. Proficiency in Stealth, Insight, or any kind of social skill will help advance your own agenda and any agenda of a figure or faction you might work for. A valuable and renown ally will prove more useful to you than a flaming sword in this campaign, with roleplaying and social interactions being key components to the story.

Mystery

Who stole three legendary magic weapons and hid them away in a remote dungeon, leaving a cryptic clue to their location? Who placed the duke into a magical slumber, and what can be done to awaken him? Who murdered the guildmaster, and how did the killer get into the guild’s locked vault?

Like a classic mystery novel, this campaign will put your character in the role of an investigator more than once, moving throughout Neverwinter or perhaps from city to town to village to search for answers to the inevitable questions you will face. Being proficient in Investigation and History will grant you new knowledge that might upend and question everything you thought you knew to be true. Divination spells might prove to be the only key which will help you advance in your seeking for truth.

War

A hobgoblin army marches toward the city, leading elephants and giants to batter down the stronghold’s walls and ramparts. Dragons wheel above a barbarian horde, scattering enemies as the raging warriors cut a swath through field and forest. Salamanders muster at an efreeti’s command, poised to assault an astral fortress.

Perhaps you'll be tasked with capturing a magical standard that empowers undead armies, gathering reinforcements to break a siege, or cutting through the enemy’s flank to reach a demonic commander. In other situations, you might support your faction or city by holding a strategic location until reinforcements arrive, killing enemy scouts before they can report, or cutting off supply lines. Or diplomatic ties might be made due to your efforts, bringing a war to an early and peaceful end, or avoiding it all together! The consequences of your actions will ripple across the surrounding countryside and dark recesses hidden in plain sight.

Character Creation

In addition to the above character tips, there are a few other things you'll want to know when deciding what sort of character you wish to role-play as you unravel secrets, dine with powerful figures from the Forgotten Realms, and explore the unhallowed and desecrate.

What's Allowed in This Campaign?

A great question to ask! Official material such as the Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Player's Handbook, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Volo's Guide to Monsters, or Xanathar's Guide to Everything will be allowed for use when creating your character, as well as certain homebrew material per the DM's permission.

Heroic Feats

Most heroes have some kind of supernatural aid to help them achieve their goals. Often this aid comes from the gods, but some heroes might find their support from other beings, such as an angel, an archfey, a powerful wizard, or a repository of mystical knowledge. Some heroes are born with supernatural power or born as a result of supernatural events.

The characters in this campaign begin with one supernatural gift, flavored as a free feat. Work with the DM to decide where your character’s gift came from. Is it tied to the god you serve? Was it the result of a fateful encounter with an archfey or a dragon? Does it indicate the nature of your birth? Think about movies or literatue that has heroes to spark your imagination about your character’s gift. Some examples are:

Faction Agent

As a complement to your adventuring career, you serve as an agent of a particular faction in Faerûn. You might operate openly or secretly, depending on the faction and its goals, as well as how those goals mesh with your own. Becoming an adventurer doesn’t require you to relinquish membership in your faction: in fact, it will act as a home base where you can gather intel, seek refuge, and contract yourselves out to those who need your services. In addition to a background of your choice, you gain the equipment and feature found in the Faction Agent background. The factions you can choose from to join are: the Lords' Alliance, the Harpers, the Order of the Gauntlet, or the Zhentarim.

Character Background

A character background details the events, people, and experiences that make up the origin story of a character. A character's background forms the basis for complex motivations and emotional vulnerabilities, and these past experiences guide the way the character responds to circumstances in his or her present life.

The details in your background give you a quick handle on your past, making it easier to slip into the character's skin and embrace this mind-set in play. As the campaign proceeds, your early adventures become part of that background—a seamless chain of events that make up your life and contribute to your constantly changing and evolving persona.

• Originality: While original ideas can be hard to come by, every person you meet is unique, shaped by his or her individual experiences. Rather than strive for an original concept, try focusing on the experiences that define your character's life and give him his personality and point of view.
• Opposites: When you're stuck on a characteristic that strikes you as boring, plain, or stereotypical, decide that the opposite is instead true of yourself.
• Steal Shamelessly: Sometimes when starting a new character, you just need a good template or foundation from which to build. The key is to alter various aspects of the model character until you have changed enough to have an altogether different concept.
• Start with a Flaw. When designing a character's personality, first choose a flaw that won't be obnoxious to or take away from the other characters. Then build your character around the flaw, so you can portray that flaw above your other characteristics.
• The Knife Theory. When writing a character's backstory, it's important to include a certain number of "knives". Knives are anything that the DM can use to raise the stakes of a situation for your character or make a conflict personal, such as a threatened loved one or a mystery of your past revealed. The more knives a player has, the easier it is for the DM to involve them in the story.

In the 5th Edition rules for D&D, each character is asked to come up with a series of personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws: personal characteristics that can easily be drawn upon to help fuel and inspire your role-playing.

• Personality Traits. Your personality traits should tell you something interesting and fun about your character. They should be self-descriptions that are specific about what makes your character stand out.
• Ideals. Your ideals are the things that you believe in most strongly, the fundamental moral and ethical principles that compel you to act as you do. Ideals encompass everything from your life goals to your core belief system.
• Bonds. Bonds represent a character’s connections to people, places, and events in the world. They tie you to things from your background. They might inspire you to heights of heroism, or lead you to act against your own best interests if threatened. They can work very much like ideals, driving a character’s motivations and goals.
• Flaws. Your character’s flaws represent your vices, compulsions, fears, or weaknesses — in particular, anything that someone else could exploit to bring you to ruin or cause you to act against your best interests.

Above all, don't let creating a background become a burden for you. The goal is to help you play a character, not to paralyze you with decisions you don't want to make right now. So have fun with it!

The Current Timeline

The Second Sundering

A century after the Spellplague (circa 1385 DR), the lands and peoples of Faerûn had become accustomed to the state of things — just in time for everything to change again.

The first indication of new turmoil came in 1482 DR, when Bhaal, the long-dead god of murder, was reborn in Baldur’s Gate amid chaos and bloodshed, leaving two of the city’s dukes and many of its citizens dead. The return of Bhaal and his apparent reclamation of the domain of murder from Cyric led some scholars and sages to believe that the rules by which all deities must abide were in flux.

In 1484, strange calamities began to occur throughout Faerûn. An earthquake struck Iriaebor. A plague of locusts afflicted Amn. Droughts gripped the southern lands as the sea steadily receded in places. Amid this tumult, conflict broke out in many regions of the continent. The orcs of Many-Arrows warred against the dwarfholds of the North and their allies. Sembia invaded the Dalelands, and Cormyr raised an army to come to the aid of the Dalesfolk. Netheril brought forces to Cormyr’s border, and Cormyr was drawn into a war on both fronts.

Throughout this period, tales began to spread of individuals who had been touched by the gods and granted strange powers. Some of these so-called Chosen were at the root of the conflicts that grip the land. Some seemed driven by divine purpose, while others claimed to be mystified as to why they would be singled out.

In 1485, in Icewind Dale, the Chosen of Auril foments war with Ten-Towns and was defeated. In Anauroch, seeing that Netherese forces were spread thin, the long-subjugated Bedine people rebelled. Having defeated or besieged the dwarfholds of the North, orcs march on Silverymoon. In Cormyr and Sembia, the Netherese and the Cormyreans traded ground, while the Dalelands became a war zone. As if to offset the drought in the south, in the autumn of 1485 the Great Rain began to fall around the Sea of Fallen Stars and continued unceasingly.

While the waters rose to the east in early 1486, the tide turned against the orcs in the North, and by the end of the year their armies were broken and scattered. Also during that year, the elves of Myth Drannor came to the aid of the Dalelands and helped push back Sembian forces. On the Sword Coast, the Hosttower of the Arcane rose again in Luskan, along with the Arcane Brotherhood. In Waterdeep and Neverwinter, efforts were made to clear those cities of century-old rubble and neglect. Cormyr repulsed the last of the Sembian and Netherese forces from the nation, reclaiming its territory, and recalled its forces, turning inward to address issues of rebuilding.

Late in 1486, the Great Rain finally abated, but this event didn’t signify an end to the chaos. The Sea of Fallen Stars had grown, submerging great swaths of land beneath its waves.

Early in 1487, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions abounded for months, as if the whole world was convulsing. Rumors spread of chasms caused by the Spellplague suddenly vanishing, and stories circulated of known destinations being farther away from one another, as if the world had quietly added miles of wilderness to the distance between them. Word began to spread of places and peoples not heard from since the Spellplague. It became apparent that some of the effects of that terrible time had been reversed. During the year, ships claiming to be from Evermeet, Lantan, and Nimbral — nations thought vanished or destroyed — sailed into ports on the Sword Coast and in the Shining South. Tales spread of the legendary skyships of Halruaa being spotted in southern skies. No longer engaged in Cormyr, Netheril attacked Myth Drannor by floating the City of Shade over it. In a struggle for control of Myth Drannor’s mythal and the Weave itself, the flying capital of Netheril was brought crashing down on Myth Drannor, resulting in the cataclysmic destruction of both.

As the year drew to a close, there were nights when the heavens seemed to hang motionless. Throughout much of Faerûn, the winter of 1487 and 1488 lasted longer than any on record. The solstices and equinoxes had somehow drifted. Later seasons followed suit, with each starting and ending later than expected. Prayers to the gods for knowledge and mercy seemed to go unacknowledged, apart from the presence of their Chosen.

Although the orcs were defeated in the North, the League of Silver Marches was disbanded in 1488, as former allies blamed one another for failures in the war. Sembia divided into separate city-states only nominally allied with one another. While a handful of settlements survived, the Netherese Empire was no more. The remainder of the Netherese forces battle with the Bedine over control of the Memory Spire, thought to be a tomb of the phaerimm, Netheril’s ancient enemies. The battle awakens what turns out to be a hive of the creatures, and they use the life and magic-draining power of the spire against the lands below.

By 1489, many of the wars that began during the Sundering had ground to a close. Other conflicts arose, and mighty threats still imperiled the world, but the deities ceased interfering with the world through their Chosen. The gods were no longer silent but quiet, and in many places new priesthoods arose to interpret the gods’ now subtle signs.

The current year is 1496, and the world seems a place filled with new lands and opportunities, where those who dare can leave their mark. Students of history and those elves and dwarves who recall the past that short-lived humans see as distant perceive a world much like it was over a century ago. For most folk, wild tales of people empowered by the gods, and of far-off lands returned to the world, are the subjects of fireside chatter. Daily concerns and the dangers and opportunities just beyond their doors take precedence, and plenty of both remain on the Sword Coast and in the North.

The Present Status of Neverwinter

A short while ago, Neverwinter was beset by all manner of damage, danger, and gloom. Now, the orcs that once menaced the city have moved east to join their brethren in being crushed by the dwarves. The Chasm that rent the land has been sealed by powerful magic. The High Road has been cleared and rebuilt, and trade has resumed with Waterdeep and realms to the south. What was the blasted, wounded city of Neverwinter just a decade ago is now a busy place, where folk seem eager to throw off the hardships from which they have emerged and create a new future for their city.

Nearly half a century ago, Mount Hotenow (the nearby volcano that perpetually heats the river flowing through the city) violently erupted, destroying much of Neverwinter, killing thousands, and leaving in its wake a great, gaping chasm that split the city. Neverwinter was in ruins, and external influences — from Netheril to Thay to Lord Dagult Neverember of Waterdeep to the agents of the Hells themselves — sought to exert control over the city. Many folk fought to stem all these dangers, and eventually, a measure of peace fell over Neverwinter.

Since Dagult Neverember was deposed as the Open Lord of Waterdeep, he has thrown his full attention and effort into the rebuilding of the city from which he claims descent. Whatever people’s opinions are of his claim to Neverwinter’s throne, he has proven a capable, inspiring leader over these last few years. He engineered the sealing of the Chasm and the restoration of the High Road, and is seeking other ways to repair and improve the city. Even if he isn't a descendant from Lord Nasher Alagondar, the people accept him.

Neverember’s influence radiates outward from the Protector’s Enclave, centered at the Hall of Justice. With Tyr restored to life and his worship returning to prominence, the Lord Protector has moved into a modest, private villa. This sacrifice — and the renewal of Tyr’s faith in the previous center of his operations — is only further proof, to some, that Neverember deserves to rule Neverwinter. As yet, Castle Never remains a dangerous ruin, but Neverember has plans to reclaim and rebuild it as a symbol of the city’s rejuvenation.

The faithful of Oghma have arrived in Neverwinter to restore the House of Knowledge to its former glory, but beyond that, shrines to all manner of gods have been cobbled together in every corner of the city.

As the city restores itself, there are likely to be requests for ennoblement and the privileges that provides, and certainly, trading interests will emerge. But Lord Protector Neverember is sure to point out that he is merely a protector, not a king, and so can’t invest or recognize anyone. Guilds may form, but it is sure to be years, if not decades, before any prove strong enough to persevere over their rivals.

Increasingly, calls come from the citizenry for the enforcers out of Mintarn to be replaced by respectable, local guards who have a personal interest in the defense of Neverwinter. This public sentiment has led to some neighborhoods organizing their own makeshift militias, and the Lord Protector wants to avoid conflict between them and the mercenaries he has hired. As a result, Neverember has slowly been drawing down the number of soldiers from Mintarn, as the citizens that grew up defending the makeshift Wall from threats out of the Chasm prove themselves capable of becoming a proper military force. Both Baldur’s Gate and Waterdeep have offered to help train the new guards of Neverwinter, but Lord Neverember prefers the assistance of seasoned adventurers to the ignominy of seeking help from his former city.

With the restoration of nearby Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter hopes to have a close ally that can provide it with stout armor and strong weapons. Although the city presently has little to offer, trade activity is rapidly growing in Neverwinter, as word of its rebirth opens it up to shipping from the Sea of Swords, goods from the north, and coin from the south. Adventurers come to Neverwinter seeking work and following rumors of nearby treasures, and often find additional employment clearing out dangerous corners of the city and escorting the ever more numerous caravans up and down the High Road. It is the Lord Protector’s hope that, with commerce and income both on the rise, and talented craftfolk returning to ply their trades, that Neverwinter will someday again be worthy of its former epithet: the City of Skilled Hands.

Opposition to Neverember’s authority still exists, but with no unified leadership and no other power in the city to which to appeal, the rebels are slowly turning away from their resistance and toward helping the city rebuild. Many of the Sons of Alagondar, a rebel group that initially opposed Lord Neverember, have begun to volunteer as replacements for the Mintarn mercenaries currently patrolling the city. If the Sons of Alagondar can be brought into line with his goals, Neverember hopes to use that achievement as a draw for wealthy Waterdhavian nobles — who have been reluctant to link their fortunes to a failed Open Lord who was effectively exiled from Waterdeep — to invest in the city and perhaps rebuild some of the noble villas in that district as places for them to stay when they do business.

With the Chasm closed, and the wall that separated the rest of the city from its horrors now torn down, a great swath of Neverwinter lies empty, with no inhabitants and plentiful chunks of stone plundered from ruins all across the city. Anyone who is willing to do so can come to this area, claim a portion of land, and build a structure in which to live or work. There aren’t yet any guilds to restrict trade or construction, and no nobles to be petitioned or placated. Those seeking to create a home or start a business can simply do so, and even those without skills or money can use their hands and backs to provide until they can set up a place for themselves.

Along the river, many of the merchant villas are being claimed and restored by folk who have heard rumors of what Neverwinter once was, and might be again. Some have no skills to speak of, and many have no wealth, but all come with the desire to work and to enrich themselves in the process. New stores and workshops open by the tenday, and workers without training offer their services as laborers or apprentices; those that fail move on to other employment, taking advantage of the multitude of opportunities the city now offers. Those with no other options can get work dredging or mapping the city’s sewers for the Lord Protector, a task made necessary by the cataclysm that created the Chasm.

Like any city, Neverwinter isn’t without its drawbacks. Though most folk are willing to work, some steal as a means of making their living, and prey upon those who have little to be taken. Food is sometimes scarce, as inns and taverns underestimate the number of guests they will receive, or merchants simply run out of goods to sell. It’s likely to be a few years before the city entirely shakes itself of these ills, but for some, the uncertainties of life in Neverwinter are what make the place exciting. For many traders, in particular those who produce or vend the grains and vegetables needed in the city, it is a vast opportunity to both aid a fledgling power and get quite rich in doing so.

Neverwinter's History with Luskan

Thousands of years before time was recorded as Dalereckoning, the first settlement in the Savage Frontier was an elven city known as Illefarn, which became a bustling nation after the time of the Crown Wars. Illefarn lasted long enough to see the founding of Gauntlgrym and the harnessing of Maegera the Inferno beneath its lands. Eventually, Illefarn was divided into three nations, of which Iliyanbruen was the most prominent.

Iliyanbruen frequently fought with the city of Illusk, which was a legacy of the Netherese. The Netherese city of Xinlenal crashed in Iliyanbruen territories where it would remain hidden for thousands of years. 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.

In 1372, Neverwinter succumbed to the Wailing Death, a disease that resisted magical healing and killed much of the population of the city. The cure was eventually found but the casualties by that time were catastrophic. It was soon discovered that the Wailing Death was merely the precursor of war between Neverwinter and its enemy, the city of Luskan. Although it was the Sarrukh Queen Morag who sponsored the war, rather than the Host Tower of the Arcane, the fighting soured the relationship between the two cities even more.

Despite this, a shaky relationship between Neverwinter and Luskan was reestablished until an upstart Host Tower mage named Black Garius attempted to raise an undead army to conquer Neverwinter, ostensibly in the name of the King of Shadows. In a last ditch effort, an adventure who hailed from Neverwinter was able to put down Black Garius and the King of Shadows, restoring peace to the Sword Coast and reestablishing a loose truce between the two cities.

Tensions ran high again, with another war on the verge of outbreak up until the eruption of Mount Hotenow. While the eruption largely impacted Neverwinter's infrastructure, Luskan was impacted by that and other complications as well. The rulership of the city changed from hand to claw to hand so many times that it would be nigh-impossible to document them in any kind of detail. Most buildings were ruined and murderers and demon-worshipers roamed the streets freely, plying their trade in broad daylight.

Luskan only recently began regaining some semblance of its former prestige and glory fifteen years ago. A crippling plague, the source unknown, washed through the city, purging the city of its vulnerable inhabitants. The High Captains swept through the city soon afterward, ridding it of the roving gangs, monstrous entities, and other vile vermin. The Arcane Brotherhood also assisted with restoring the city, defeating a great black dragon which had laid claim to most of the city's ruins as well as cleansing the Luskar ruins of the recent undead presence.

The Spark Which Ignited Fireshear

Towards the middle of the year 1495, communication with Neverwinter's ally and a supplier of precious metals, Fireshear, ceased. While this might've been suspected earlier in the year–for half of the year, the city was cut off from most communication with the outside world due to the ice– the period of "cut-off" had passed months ago, with a steady supply of iron arriving in Neverwinter's docks on a weekly basis. The silence from Fireshear was accompanied by silence from Captain Nirvosa and his small fleet of ships meant to protect shipments to and from Fireshear, as well as all contacts Neverwinter had in Fireshear initially.

It wasn't until nearly two months since the last shipment of precious metals from Fireshear that an agent of the Lord Spymaster of Neverwinter who had been stationed in Fireshear arrived at the Hall of Justice: worn, exhausted, and wounded. The agent related the grave news to Seyeanar: Fireshear had been ransacked and razed to the ground by a two-pronged assault organized by the city of Luskan.

The High Captains of Luskan led a naval assault once the ice had broken up and allowed passage, quickly decimating the forces of Captain Nirvosa. The agent described great balls of fire raining from the Luskan ships, engulfing Nirvosa's ships in flame–a detailing that strongly hinted at the cooperative efforts of the Arcane Brotherhood and the High Captains. Once the forces of Captain Nirvosa were destroyed, the ships laid siege to the port of Fireshear, burning down any boats in an attempt to cut off any hope for escape.

The true horror, as the agent put it, wasn't in the ships but in the great swathes of undead which marched across the frozen tundra, crashing against the battlements of Fireshear and overwhelming the city. The screams of the innocent–men, women, and children–still haunt his memory as he could only watch in horror from the nearby hillside, hidden amongst a small pile of boulders.

Luskan's hostile actions against Neverwinter sounded clearly across the Nevercourt and Lord Neverember's ears: Luskan had declared war on Neverwinter, and Neverwinter was forced to answer the call.

Main Factions in Neverwinter

Neverwinter has many factions within: each of them with their own aspirations and visions of Neverwinter's future. Here are a few examples of the most common factions you can interact with.

The Lords’ Alliance

The Lords’ Alliance is an association of rulers from cities and towns across Faerûn (primarily in the North), who believe that solidarity is needed to keep evil at bay. The rulers of Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Neverwinter, and other free cities dominate the coalition, and all lords in the Alliance work primarily for the fate and fortune of their individual settlements.

Alliance agents include sophisticated bards, zealous paladins, talented mages, and grizzled warriors. They are chosen primarily for their loyalty and are experts in observation, stealth, innuendo, and combat. Backed by the wealthy and the privileged, they carry fine equipment (often disguised to appear common), including large numbers of scrolls scribed with spells of communication.

Agents of the Lords’ Alliance ensure the safety and prosperity of civilized Faerûn by standing united against the forces that threaten civilization. They proactively eliminate such threats by any means, fighting with pride for the glory and security of their people, and for the lords who rule over them. However, Alliance operatives are often glory hounds, looking to gain a leg up on their counterparts from other Alliance cities. The leaders of the Alliance know that the order will survive only if its members support each other, requiring a balance between pride and diplomacy. Rogue agents within the Lords’ Alliance are rare, but defections have been known to occur.

Beliefs

• If civilization is to survive, all must unite against the dark forces that threaten it.
• Glory comes from protecting one’s home and honoring its leaders.
• The best defense is a strong offense.

Goals

• To ensure the safety and prosperity of the cities and other settlements of Faerûn by forming a strong coalition against the forces that threaten all, eliminate such threats by any means necessary whenever and wherever they arise, and be champions of the people.

The Harpers

This clandestine network of spellcasters and spies seeks to tip the scales in favor of the innocent, the weak, and the poor within the Realms. Harper agents pride themselves on being incorruptible defenders of good, and they never hesitate to aid the oppressed. The Harpers has its finger on the pulse of power in the Realms and works tirelessly to even the odds for the downtrodden.

Individual Harper agents operate alone, relying on their wits and extensive information networks to gain an advantage over their enemies. They know that knowledge is power, so gathering intelligence beforehand is paramount to their success. They are well-informed and always have access to aid, magical and otherwise. Veteran members have access to secret caches of knowledge stashed all over Faerûn, along with trusted sources stationed in every major town and city.

The organization is always on the lookout for powerful items, expressly to keep them out of the hands of evildoers. To this end its agents use various guises and identities to gain access to carefully guarded secrets such as ancestral maps, buried cities, and mages’ keeps.

The bond between Harpers is strong, and their friendships are nigh unbreakable. Rarely do they operate in the open, but on rare occasions they must, because there is no other choice. When that happens, you can be sure that a fellow Harper is watching closely, ready to emerge from the shadows and help a comrade at a moment’s notice.

Beliefs

• One can never have too much information.
• Too much power leads to corruption.
• No one should be powerless.

Goals

• To gather information throughout Faerûn, discern the political dynamics within each region or realm, and promote fairness and equality by covert means. Act openly as a last resort. Thwart tyrants and any leader, government, or group that grows too powerful, and aid the weak, the poor, and the oppressed.

The Order of the Gauntlet

The Order of the Gauntlet is a relatively new organization dedicated to smiting evil wherever it lurks and without hesitation. The Order understands that evil wears many guises, playing games and tricking others in order to spread. That is why its members act on their own authority, identifying threats and smashing them before they can grow.

Because the seeds of evil are nourished in the shadows, the Order of the Gauntlet rides out to the most dangerous dungeons, the darkest caverns, and the foulest pits to weed out wrongdoers. But the Order is keenly aware that the shadow of evil lies within everyone, waiting for a moment when it can gain a foothold on their souls. Thus its paladins, monks, and clerics spend long hours deep in prayer to keep their inner eye vigilant and focused on their own thoughts and emotions. In this way they purify themselves from within before taking up their swords to cleanse the world.

The Order of the Gauntlet believes that all sentient beings must come to the light of reason and goodness of their own volition. That is why it is not interested in controlling minds: it focuses only on deeds, setting an example to the world in hopes of inspiring and enlightening others. The Order holds that faith in one’s god, one’s friends, and one’s self are the greatest weapons in quelling the hordes of malice.

With such devout conviction, the Order’s members can be depended on as a source of strength to themselves and others, a bright light against the darkness. They are not preemptive bullies, though. A strict code of honor allows them to strike only when evil deeds are being committed. Thus, the Order of the Gauntlet is hypervigilant, using every resource at their disposal—both divine and mundane—to know where and when dark deeds will occur.

Beliefs

• Faith is the greatest weapon against evil—faith in one’s god, one’s friends, and one’s self.
• Battling evil is an extraordinary task that requires extraordinary strength and bravery.
• Punishing an evil act is just. Punishing an evil thought is not.

Goals

• To be armed, vigilant, and ready to smite evil, enforce justice, and enact retribution. This means identifying evil threats such as secretive power groups and inherently evil creatures, watching over them, and being ready to attack the moment they misbehave.

The Zhentarim

The Zhentarim, or Black Network, is an organization who seek to expand their influence and power throughout Faerûn. Agents of the Zhentarim feel that if they play by the rules, nothing gets done. Ultimately, they want to make the rules—and, in some cases, they already do. They walk a fine line when it comes to the letter of the law and don’t shy away from the occasional shady deal or illicit activity to get what they want.

To the Zhentarim, wealth is power. Its agents know that nothing else inspires such confidence and dispels doubt so well. In an instant, wealth speaks louder than a thousand bards. Zhentarim agents routinely carry the finest weapons and armor, with no expense spared. When a merchant needs an escort for a caravan or when a city is desperate for trained soldiers to defend its walls, the Zhentarim provides the best warriors money can buy.

The organization encourages individual ambition and rewards innovators who take matters into their own hands. Those who come into the Black Network with nothing can become major players within the organization through their own moxie and hard work.

Beliefs

• The Zhentarim is your family. You watch out for it, and it watches out for you.
• You are the master of your own destiny. Never be less than what you deserve to be.
• Everything—and everyone—has a price.

Goals

• To amass wealth, power, and influence.

Important Figures in Neverwinter

Lord Dagult Neverember

A human with pumpkin-brown hair, deeply set dark eyes, and broad shoulders, his appearance would remind you of the phrase "a lion of a man". He is polite in conversation, patience in education, and stern in rule. As Lord Protector of Neverwinter, he guards the position once held by the Alagondar family, the true heirs to the throne of Neverwinter. An exiled noble from Waterdeep, he gives his undivided attention to rebuilding the city he was born and raised in. He heads the movement known as "New Neverwinter", which is rebuilding Neverwinter in a new and brighter image.

Marquess Samor Galleen

A well-built male human, The marquess is Lord Neverember's righthand man, seeing to his more personal affairs. His skin is dark and leatherly, his voice gruff. While not charming, he comes from a long-line of nobles who have lived in Neverwinter and is loyal to Neverember. A retired adventurer, it's said that he travelled with Lord Dagult into the Undermountain to find fame and glory. The two now sit as the highest ranking officials in the City of Skilled Hands, with him sitting at Lord Neverember's right hand on the Nevercourt.

Seyeanar Sarpyl

A short and charming forest gnome, Seyeanar's wit is quick with his tongue barely keeping up. He fumbles with his words due to speaking so fast because of all the ideas which rush into his head. His coffee-brown hair is usually streaked back, though can easily get messy when he gets going. His heart is pure and gentle, though one can only fathom how many secrets he must know and have due to being the Lord Spymaster of Neverwinter. No one is really sure just how he goes about aquiring his information, but many brooding plots have been discovered and broken before they can take off because of his whisper in the various Lord's ears. He's sat as Lord Spymaster for nearly sixty years now, having served under the late Nasher Alagondar before he was killed in the violent upheaval of Mount Hotenow erupting. He serves as Lord Neverember's "Silent Hand", sitting on his left hand.

Valinara Erenelor

Her age impossible to determine, Valinara Erenlor is a moon elf who originally hails from Evermeet. Her pale skin comes close to her snow-white hair, only contrasted by her plump, red lips. A scar runs across her forehead and left cheek, narrowly grazing over her eye. She has a more wild personality, due to the length of time she claims having spent in the Feywilds, and is an extremely talented and brilliant mage. Having acted as the High Cloakmage of the Order of the Many-Starred Cloak for nearly ten years now, she is subservient to Lord Neverember's wishes, answering his summons when a threat needs to be dealt with or the local mercenary forces need the might of the Many-Starred Cloaks. As the leading mage in Neverwinter, she was granted a seat on the Nevercourt.

Sir Aejolagon Beoulve

A towering half-elf with a loud, boisterous personality, Aejolagon nevertheless comes as righteous and incorruptible as they can. A paladin of Tyr with exalted, magical blood, Sir Beoulve has slain many demons and necromancers in his lengthy life, earning him the highest honors in the Order of the Gauntlet. He leads the rebuilding of the Hall of Justice, a task entrusted to him by Lord Neverember, and oversees a small cadre of holy inquisitors who operate under disguise to locate evil before he and his paladins come charging in to destroy them. His valor, bravery, and desire for righteousness to prevail have granted him a seat on the Nevercourt as a New Nine.

Eshuuni Masavori

A human woman of quiet demeanor, one can best describe Eshuuni as a volcano. While usually calm and collected, her violent outbursts are legendary amongst the Zhentarim, and usually result in the death of someone. Her teal eyes, coupled with her rosy cheeks and red hair, would make you never suspect her of being capable of what she's done. Calculated, she is quite brilliant, able to establish a strong, inexpensible position in Neverwinter's military, even having gone as far as to recruit and train local citizens to win over the citizenry as well. While not a Dread Lord within the Zhentarim faction, she has earned the second-highest title of Ardragon. Her true ambitions are unknown, thought many believe she plots something.

Lomiraehel Quurah

Contemplative and wise, Lomiraehel is a wood elf priest to Silvanus. He speaks on behalf of the Emerald Enclave, who have entrusted him with voicing their concerns and the concerns of the wild. An average sized elf, his reddish-orange hair and amber eyes make him stick out in a crowd with ease. While he sits on the Nevercourt as a New Nine, advising Lord Neverember on affairs of nature, his voice is rarely heard, and most think he was placed on the court out of tradition to the past.

Baron Viorel Kennaviir

"The Baron from the Gate", as he is known throughout the higher circles, is a tall, frail, elderly man. Yet while his body might betray him, his mind is sharp and quick, and his many years have brought him much experience in matters of negotations and political maneuverings. He tends to keep to himself and rarely attends meetings outside of the Nevercourt, where he acts as the foreign representative of Baldur's Gate. He is a true believer of the Lords' Alliance.

Kaerhyveliss Liiorn

Choosing to go by "Rhys" after countless failed attempts to say his name, Rhys is a dark-skinned elf with hair as white as snow. His eyes are a brilliant ruby red, giving him a near-magical appearance. An avid follower of the Dark Maiden, most in the court suspect his was an uphill battle to gain enough trust and faith from Silverymoon to place him as their foreign representative in Neverwinter. He has a charming personality, tending to the needs of those around him as best as he can. His exotic nature makes him the frequent star at the noble's parties. He sits on the Nevercourt as a New Nine.

Durimnar Blackforge

The court's foul-mouthered mountain dwarf with a short temper, Durimnar is an old dwarf who has little cares for the world and its people. His reddish-brown, dreaded hair hangs from the back of his head in a ponytail, which nearly matches his beard in length. The foreign representative from Gauntygrym, Durimnar also doubles as the chief overseer of architecture and recontruction of Neverwinter. He's brought dozens of dwarves with him to help stimulate trade and reconstruction to help jump-start Neverwinter's economy, an act that most with any knowledge of politics and trade know would also boost Gauntlgrym's economy too. Regardless of his intentions, no one can deny the aid he's given to the city in the few years he's been here. As a foreign representative of Gauntlgrym, he sits on the Nevercourt as a New Nine.

Sir Reynor Aragnon

A mild-tempered and quiet fellow, Reynor Aragnon comes from a minor noble family situated in Waterdeep. Unknown as to if he is the leading noble of his family or not, he currently has resided in Neverwinter for the past few months, slowly establishing contacts and cordial relationships with the city's leaders. Due to his growing prestige, he is frequently seen at the high-end parties in Bluelake District. He oversees Aragnon Trade's exports and imports coming into and out of the city.

Ichabod De Vries

While his presence might demand fear, Ichabod seems to go out of his way to be friendly and kind to those he meets. Born as a tiefling, he swears he has fought the more infernal impulses of his kind his whole life, striving to make a positive impact on the world. His eyes are gold, a rare shade for tieflings, with horns which draw back from his brow and end in prolonged pointed-ends past the back of his head. A retired adventurer, Lord Neverember has given him lands and titles in Neverwinter to make him a noble after he was responsible for leading the charge against the Many-Arrows orc tribe, which had gained a foothold in the northern ruins of the city. He squared off and defeated Droghtu the Elf-Eater in a fantastic display of arcane power. He is seen entering and leaving Neverember's private villa at least once per tenday.

Places of Note in Neverwinter

Castle Never

An imposing fixture of Neverwinter’s western end, Castle Never stands as a monument to the city’s former glory. The cataclysm struck it hard, toppling towers, collapsing walls, and starting fires that burned throughout the structure. The entire royal family is thought to have perished, and the remaining servants sealed the vaults, crypts, and grounds with the hope that a worthy heir to Neverwinter would arrive one day to take his or her rightful place on the throne.

To the uninformed eye, Castle Never looks like a big, hulking ruin. Half its towers fell in the cataclysm, and the wall on its seaward side crumbled to rubble. Chunks of stone and fallen statues litter the windswept courtyard. Inside, the stone corridors stink of ash and dust, which swirls up around the feet of intruders. Even in their emptiness, the corridors never seem vacant, for the ghosts of those who perished haunt the halls.

The castle was built on a strong foundation, however, and if the structure were purged of monsters, it could be refurbished. Many of the interior rooms collapsed, but others stand eerily intact. The least damaged parts of the castle are also the best fortified: the firmly locked armory, the great hall, and the Neverneath dungeon.

Hall of Justice

The high walls and imposing stonework of Tyr’s former temple mark it as a timeless bastion of duty and honor. The great temple stands atop a seaside bluff, challenging all threats from the Sea of Swords or inland Faerûn. The city had long served Tyr, the god of justice, and even after the deity fell nearly a hundred years ago, the residents refused to convert the temple to worship of another god. Which served them well in the end after Tyr began answering prayers to the faithful in the year 1480.

The temple itself is a radiant and beautiful structure, big enough inside for giants to walk comfortably or for dragons to rest in the great hall, beneath the high-domed ceiling. The trappings of the building reflect a bygone age, one dedicated to justice and temperance in all things.

The Hall of Justice also serves as the location of where the Nevercourt meet.

House of Knowledge

At the far northeastern end of where the Wall once stood, stands what was, in happier times, a flourishing temple to Oghma, god of knowledge and wisdom. Before the quake, the House of Knowledge served as a repository of chronicled learning, including maps, history, and hundreds of poems and chapbooks produced over the centuries. Today, scholars have slowly began to return to the House of Knowledge, bringing with them scrolls and books pertaining to the reappearance of countries long thought forgotten, as well as tales of the new Netheril empire's fall.

Moonstone Mask

A vertigo-inducing journey along a cliffside trail takes the adventurous to a new fixture of the Neverwinter skyline. The earthmote now known as the Moonstone floats beside the western edge of the Protector’s Enclave, high over the docks below. It hangs a hundred feet above the crashing waves of the Sea of Swords, bound in place by thick chains strung to heavy anchors. A bridge that runs between the earthmote and the docks allows visitors to enter and exit the Moonstone. The inn for which the mote is named, the Moonstone Mask, offers guests lavish quarters, and pleasurable company.

The owner, a woman by the name of Ophala Cheldarstorn, has stuck with the Moonstone Mask through thick and thin over the past years of turbulence, helping to keep the place alive. A student of magic and an avid loyalist to Neverwinter, she is a high-ranking member of the Order of the Many-Starred Cloaks, and many cloakmages can be seen at the Mask, enjoying the discounted refreshments.

Aragnon Trading House

The rebuilt docks have attracted the eyes of the noble house of Aragnon—a noble family from the City of Splendor whose wealth is amassed through trade. Aragnon Trade has set up shop in a large warehouse complex next to a set of docks that are being rebuilt. The Aragnon Trade House is a busy area where contacts gather, deals are made, and adventurers find their services in high demand.

The Beached Leviathan

The Beached Leviathan tavern caters to sailors, smugglers, pirates, slavers, merchants, and others arriving by sea. Its innkeeper, a sallow former pirate captain named Harrag, lost a leg in a battle with sahuagin long ago. The name of the tavern honors his ship, the Beached Leviathan, which ran aground during a storm before the docks had been rebuilt. The tavern is built in and around the refurbished wreckage of the ship.

Harrag portrays himself as a scurvy, independent scoundrel, but in reality, Neverember owns him. Those who patronize the Beached Leviathan can expect—or will soon discover—that anything they say in Harrag’s presence will be shared with the Lord Protector.

The Swamped Docks

Below the more recent construction lie the remnants of the original docks: a splintering, rotting mass of ancient wood and stone that makes any number of natural lairs for aquatic creatures or hideouts for those on the run from the local militia.

This area was partially submerged during the city’s devastation. Now, half-sunken buildings rot beneath seaweed, the drowned dead float through foul water, and amphibious horrors crawl up onto land. No one, not even Lord Neverember, looks forward to cleaning up this area, but the job must be tackled eventually. The city’s hand might be forced soon—sahuagin have been sighted in the bay, and disappearances from nearby areas have become common. Rumor has it that a halfling gang operates out of the swamped docks, led by a sneaky thief named Palas. The halflings prey on those who wander the docks alone or in the dark.

The Fallen Tower

The broken base of an old wizard’s tower has long been the site of a popular tavern in Neverwinter. Within the Fallen Tower, phantoms form in the air each night, seeming solid and real as they replay the moments of their deaths during the Spellplague by appearing to fall into and through the cookfire in the middle of the tavern. Two terrified wizards, their bodies already ablaze, fall first, followed by another wizard whose limbs have turned into eels. Finally, a fourth wizard’s body descends as its flesh is stripped away, leaving the skull’s eerie grin as the last image to fade. Since before the cataclysm, the show has attracted customers to the Fallen Tower.

House of a Thousand Faces

With its broad windows and comfortable couches, this tavern is a popular gathering place in the Bluelake District. Amid mannequins dressed in the threadbare trends of thirty years past, patrons lounge about the airy interior, drinking, laughing, and scheming.

Named for the dozens of mirrors and mannequins positioned about the common room, the House of a Thousand Faces once was a fashionable boutique. The cataclysm crippled the house’s business, and the owner, an elf named Theryis, packed up her remaining goods and closed her doors. When the city’s population began to recover and increase, she opened the shop again as a tavern, using the dusty clothes and mirrors as decoration.

The Cloak Tower

The tower takes its name from the Many-Starred Cloaks who built it during the early years of Neverwinter's growth. In 1482, the first year of the Second Sundering, the tower and its occupants vanished, only to reappear a year later.

As a tavern tale has it, when thieves first broke into the tower several months after it first reappeared, they found empty halls and no mages (or bodies). Only the guild members' many-starred cloaks remained, hanging from pegs on the wall. Then disaster struck the thieves: The lone survivor of the group told of a horrific attack from cloaks that suddenly came to life and enveloped the other bandits.

With the cloakmages gone, the tower was left abandoned, and only served as a place that brave adventurers would explore... and usually die in. When the Many-Arrows orc tribe raided Neverwinter, it was around the Cloak Tower that they set up their new stronghold in the city. It wasn't until 1486 that Valinara Erenelor and Ichabod de Vries, with Ophala Cheldarstorn and several other cloakmages by their sides, stormed the Cloak Tower and rid the place of the orc tribe, gaining control of that section of the city. Under Valinara Erenelor, the Order of the Many-Starred Cloaks was reestablished and grew once again.

The Shard of Night

A bleak tower of black stone hovers above a cluster of ruined apartments in the Tower District, seemingly sheared off at its base when it was torn from whatever location it once occupied. The tower appeared in the sky on the night of the first new moon following the eruption of Mount Hotenow.

The Shard of Night rises high into the sky over Neverwinter, only appearing at night and vanishing into thin air as the dawn's light slowly grows from the rising sun. The tower casts a shadow by the light of the moon that looms over much of the area around the place. Nearby residents believe that the Shard of Night is haunted, since no one or thing is ever seen to come or go, yet sounds sometimes echo down from the opening in its base. No one has yet to see of or hear of the return of any brave soul that has ventured within either: a number which is few due to the tower floating hundreds of feet above the city restricting entrance to everyone but those capable of flight.

Neverdeath Graveyard

A cracked stone wall, patched in places with thick wood, surrounds the graveyard called Neverdeath. Consisting of two wide, roughly square areas of the city, Neverdeath is filled with rows of headstones interspersed with mausoleums and crumbling statues, often overgrown with withered grasses. Time, the Spellplague, and the cataclysm all took their toll on the graveyard, thrusting some sections higher than others, collapsing buildings, and revealing graves. Coffins now jut from small cliffs, and tumbled bones litter the ground.

In more recent years, the disrepair of Neverwinter left many citizens to bury their own dead. These recent graves have much simpler markers than those from prior time periods, and are clearly hand made by the mourners left behind. A combination of both the ease of digging up these shallower graves and the cataclysm revealing networks of catacombs, since the beginning of the Second Sundering, Neverdeath has seen a great deal of body snatching. While Lord Neverember has devoted a few of his resources to stopping the practice, he's done little to hinder the illegal activity.

Despite the body snatchings, the graveyard has been kept intact and in fair shape by the Most Solemn Order of the Silent Shroud, a small organization within the Church of Kelemvor. Unfortunately, with the eruption of Mount Hotenow, the church itself is all-but abandoned, and the order is mostly a group of embalmers, gravediggers, and other cemetary workers all led by a cleric named Castan Restbringer.

The Black Network

The Zhentarim seeks to become omnipresent and inescapable, more wealthy and powerful, and most importantly, untouchable. The public face of the organization appears much more benign, offering the best mercenaries money can buy. When a merchant needs an escort for his caravan, when a noble needs bodyguards to protect her holdings, or when a city needs trained soldiers to defend its honor, the Zhentarim provides the best-trained fighting men and women money can buy. However, the cost of doing business with the Black Network can be high.

The Black Network wants to make it necessary—and preferable, even—to deal with its members. It wants to secure, over time, an iron-fisted monopoly. Members must be the best—the cheapest, the fastest, and the most secure—at providing services and goods both legal and illicit, willing to lose coin if it means destroying a competitor, and securing profits from everyone they deal with, except when to do so would work against the Black Network's ultimate goal: to make everyone dependent on it.

A member of the Zhentarim thinks of himself or herself as a member of a very large family and relies on the Black Network for resources and security. However, members are granted enough autonomy to pursue their own interests and gain some measure of personal power or influence.

A Warm Welcome to the Family

You are a member of the Zhentarim, an unscrupulous shadow network that seeks to expand its influence and power throughout Faerûn. Your organization's goals are to:

• Amass wealth
• Look for opportunities to grow power
• Gain influence over important people and organizations
• Dominate Faerûn

You begin as a Fang, the first rank of five in the Zhentarim. Working for your organization will increase your prestige and rank in the organization: from Fang to Wolf, from Wolf to Viper, from Viper to Ardragon, and from Ardragon to the coveted title of Dreadlord–a position held only by the Peleghost and his secret council in Darkhold.

As a member of the family, you've sworn to give 10% of your findings to the organization–an expectation held by all members–in exchange for their services and hospitalities. The coin given goes towards furthering the Black Network's ambitions as a whole, and towards your own if such ambitions align.

The History of the Zhentarim

The Zhentarim's roots are fresh if one were to look at the entire history of the Forgotten Realms. Compared to the stories of Neverwinter and Luskan and their upbringings, the Black Network has barely made a scratch on the horizontal timeline. Yet, even though they've only been around for less than 300 years, the mark they've left on the world in undeniable. Founded in 1261 DR by Manshoon the Many-faced, the Zhentarim would quickly grow beyond Manshoon's initial ambitions for expansion, spreading across the entire continent of Faerûn and across the different planes of existence.

Manshoon's plots were quickly joined by a Banite priest named Fzoul Chembryl, the very Fzoul who would later become an exarch of Bane, serving as the god of service to evil. With Manshoon and his cabal of mages known as the Black Cloaks empowered by the church of Bane behind them, the duo swept across Faerûn, capturing cities, fortresses, and other places of power and prestige in order to become an economic power that was feared by the neighboring kingdoms. Darkhold itself was one of their claims, as the duo defeated the Lich Queen Vandalla and her evil hordes.

In the months following the Zhentarim's greatest moment, tragedy struck. Jyordhan, puppet ruler of Shadowdale, was assassinated by Khelben Arunsun, Xantriph the beholder killed by the Knights of Myth Drannor and Malyk, puppet ruler of Daggerdale, was overthrown by Randal Morn. Manshoon ended up betraying his allies in the Citadel of the Raven and took it over by sheer force. This would eventually lead to the Zhent city of Yûlash erupting into civil war.

Yet, as evil is, corruption was seeded in Fzoul's heart, and his conquest for power did not see him as serving beneath, or even as an equal, to Manshoon. Allying with Lord Orgauth, a high-ranking offical in the Black Network, Fzoul and Orgauth slew Manshoon, taking the leadership of the Zhentarim for themselves. This plan backfired, as Manshoon's death brought to life dozens of clones of Manshoon, each Manshoon believing themself to be the real Manshoon.

One of the clones returned to the Zhentarim, content to work as a free-lance agent under Fzoul's leadership and dabble in dark magic and the Weave. When Bane was resurrected in 1372 DR, Fzoul became an expansionist, but was threatened by the reemergance of Myth Drannor. His paranoia lead him to attack Myth Drannor and Shadowdale, which he temporarily controlled. Fzoul even engaged in a hopeless alliance with the Phaerimm, an evil race hellbent on enslaving everything and feeding on magic, which would enrage the Shadovar. In retaliation, the Netherese destroyed Zhentil Keep and the Citadel of the Raven, killing both Fzoul and the Manshoon clone, leaving only Darkhold.

Zhentil Keep was burning. The Citadel of the Ravens lay in ruins. The leadership of the Zhentarim died, were captured by the Shadovar of returned Netheril, or were in flight. The vaunted Black Network was shredded. Cells of Zhentarim agents were cut loose, and without connections or direction, they dissolved or were crushed by rivals. The Zhentarim was no more.

Or so it seemed. There was one stronghold of the Zhents that had not fallen and whose leader never wavered in his dedication to the organization. Darkhold stands deep in the mountains of the Western Heartlands, and there the remnants of the Zhentarim quietly gathered. There they swore allegiance anew to the leader who promised to reforge the organization into something stronger than before.

The man to whom this new Zhentarim owed fealty was a dark knight known only as the Pereghost. The Pereghost had long led the armed forces of the Zhentarim at Darkhold, and his vision for the revival of the organization was along military lines. After a time of recruitment and training, the Zhentarim emerged from Darkhold not as conquerers or as bullying capitalists but as mercenaries willing to serve others instead of forcing them to serve.

In the years that followed, the transformation served the Zhentarim well. They earned a reputation for sterling service, and their ranks swelled. Those who knew of Darkhold thought of it as the headquarters of this new version of the Zhentarim, a place where the Zhentarim could begin to reamass wealth, prestige, and power, making themselves untouchable and necessary in as many places as their dark, brooding hands could touch... like Neverwinter.

Those Who Harp

The Harpers is an old organization that has risen, been shattered, and risen again several times. Its longevity and resilience are largely due to its decentralized, grassroots, secretive nature, and the near-autonomy of many of its members. The Harpers have “cells” and lone operatives throughout Faerûn, although they interact and share information with one another from time to time as needs warrant. The Harpers' ideology is noble, and its members pride themselves on their integrity and incorruptibility. Harpers do not seek power or glory, only fair and equal treatment for all.

Harper agents are trained to act alone and depend on their own resources. When they get into scrapes, they don’t count on their fellow Harpers to rescue them. Nevertheless, Harpers are dedicated to helping one another in times of need, and friendships between Harpers are nigh unbreakable. Masterful spies and infiltrators, they use various guises and secret identities to form relationships, cultivate their information networks, and manipulate others into doing what needs to be done. Although most Harpers prefer to operate in the shadows, there are exceptions.

Silent Greetings and Good Luck

You are a member of the Harpers, a scattered network of spelcasters and spies who advocate equality and covertly oppose the abuse of power. Your organization's goals include:

• Gather information throughout Faerûn
• Promote fairness and equality by covert means
• Thwart tyrants and leaders/governments/organizations that grow too powerful
• Aid the weak, poor, and oppressed

You begin as a Watcher, the first rank of five in the Harpers. Working for your organization will increase your prestige and rank in the organization: from Watcher to Harpshadow, from Harpshadow to Brightcandle, from Brightcandle to Wise Owl, and from Wise Owl to the title of High Harper–a position held by a very select few of high-rank operators.

The History of the Harpers

The idea behind the Harpers was conceived by several Myth Drannan elven military leaders in collusion with a few trusted human rangers and druids. The mage Dathlue Mistwinter agreed to lead such a group in 324 DR at the head of a council. They took for their symbol Mistwinter's family crest - a silver harp between the horns of a crescent moon and would meet at twilight at secret locations in the Elven Court, earning them their moniker - the Harpers at Twilight.

The Harpers at Twilight dwindled in number over the next four centuries, victims of attrition at the hands of their enemies - bandits, slavers, drow, illithids, orcs and evil spellcasters attracted to Myth Drannor's success. By the end of the conflict, Dathlue was dead as were all but about a dozen of the Harpers at Twilight.

On the 26th of Flamerule of 720 DR, priests of various faiths—Corellon, Mielikki, Mystra, Oghma, Selûne, Silvanus, and Tymora—converged on a sacred druid grove in High Dale. They called for the support to help fight back against the faithful of Bane, Bhaal, Loviatar, Malar and Myrkul, who were coming from the south and attacking the elves and performing abhorrent deeds. This night thusly became known as the Gathering of the Gods, and marked the beginning of the First Reformation of the Harpers.

The remaining Harpers at Twilight set about recruiting new members and expanding their influence, though they did so very slowly. Over that time though, these new Harpers established an incredibly effective information network, and earned the respect of religious leaders by using that network to help their causes. In return, they were granted the use of fortified temples and monasteries wherein members could train and recuperate between missions.

It was during this period, known as the "Long Years" within the organization, that the Harpers erected the wards around Hellgate Keep and helped to kill Sammaster. The Harpers' increasingly public actions also made them come into more frequent conflict with the Church of Bane and the nation of Thay. When the Harpers eradicated the Wearers of the Skull and thereby attracted the ire of the Church of Myrkul, who sent liches after the Harpers, only to see each destroyed, Thay then raised armies to hunt them down and the remaining Harpers went underground in 1021 DR.

After the loss of many members during the previous year, Elminster and Khelben Arunsun decided in 1022 DR that new recruits were needed and that the revitalized Harpers would be an 'underground army of adventurers', initiating the Second Reformation. Over the next two centuries the Harpers re-established their information network but were drawn into ever more public fights with evil churches, the Cult of the Dragon, Thay and others. Casualties began to mount again and to avoid a repeat of history, Khelben and Elminster had all senior Harpers go into hiding.

Khelben led the Harpers on the Sword Coast over the next century but sponsored the Harpstar veteran Cylyria Dragonbreast in her bid to become High Lady of Berdusk in 1321 DR, giving over leadership of his Harpers to her. This also freed up Khelben for other things, like rescuing Laeral Silverhand from the Crown of Horns in 1357 DR. The Harpers of Twilight Hall, as they were colloquially known, acted openly against the Zhentarim and Amnian interests, which brought open hostilities from them both. The move also brought many volunteers who wanted to join the Harpers however, swelling their ranks with new members and heralding in the Third Reformation.

The Fourth Reformation, and the most recent one, began shortly after the Spellplague. The Harpers were said to be 'overwhelmed' by the Spellplague and the ensuing chaos of the Wailing Years. Many died, others vanished, and those who survived were cut off from one another, so they focused solely on the perils that menaced their homes and neighbors. While the original organization was divided and its members scattered across the continent, the hope of returning the Harpers to their former glory has never died.

One bastion of Harper strength remained however. Moongleam Tower was run by Eaerlraun Shadowlyn, who tried to keep the Harper ideals alive and circa 1419 DR, refounded the group as the "Harpers of Luruar" to secretly counter the forces of Netheril. Following the example of the "Harpers of Luruar", other Harper cells began to operate again throughout the Realms. Some of these groups were clearly new organizations that adopted the name and some of the ideals of the Harpers of old, while others were groups of Harpers that had survived the fall of the organization during the Spellplague but had went underground and now returned to action, such as the Harpers of Waterdeep and the Harpers of Cormyr and the Dales, led by Storm Silverhand, and whom many feel that were the spiritual successors of the original Harpers.

Nineteen years ago, the Harpers of Neverwinter suffered a devastating blow. One of their high-ranking members, Cymril, was helping the Sons of Alagondar to oppose the rule of Dagult Neverember. However, an ambush by Mintarn Mercenaries resulted in her dead, and in the revelation that she was also a double-agent working for Neverember. After her treachery was revealed, the reputation of the Harpers of Nevewinter was greatly damaged. The Harpers of Neverwinter struggled to rebuild, having lost the faith of many of the commonfolk and other factions and nobles in the city. However, it was quickly learned by the Harper cell that Cymril was not, in fact, the true leader of the Harpers of Neverwinter. While their identity remains a mystery to the Harpers themselves, their knowledge of events happening within Neverwinter rival that of Neverember's Silent Hand himself.