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, Never-
winter 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 escort-
ing 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
CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTHcraftfolk 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 inhab-
itants 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