Waterdeep

Overview

Waterdeep grew up around the best natural harbour on the northern Sword Coast. Ships from Amn, Calimshan and the Moonshaes unload here, and caravans carry the goods inland along the Long Road and the Trade Way. Its wealth makes it the hub that most adventures in the North eventually pass through.

The city is split into wards, each with its own character: the Castle Ward around the city's seat of government, the Sea Ward of temples and noble villas, the North Ward of old families, the busy Trades and Dock Wards, the Southern Ward where caravans gather and the Field Ward squeezed against the walls. The City of the Dead, a walled cemetery park, lies within the walls.

Government

Waterdeep is ruled by the Lords of Waterdeep, a council whose members hide their identities behind masks when they sit in judgement. Only one of them, the Open Lord, rules with a known face. The City Watch keeps order in the streets, the City Guard defends the walls and harbour, and the guilds hold a great deal of practical power over trade.

Undermountain and the Yawning Portal

Beneath Mount Waterdeep lies Undermountain, a sprawling dungeon shaped by the wizard Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Mage. The best-known way down is the well in the common room of the Yawning Portal, an inn whose patrons pay to be lowered into the dark and bet on who comes back.

Factions

Almost every faction of the Sword Coast keeps agents in Waterdeep. The Lords' Alliance meets here, the Harpers and the Zhentarim compete for influence, the Blackstaff guards the city against magical threats from Blackstaff Tower, and criminal gangs such as the Xanathar's Guild work the sewers and the docks.