Waterdeep

Overview

Waterdeep, also known as the City of Splendors or the Crown of the North, is the most important and influential city on the Sword Coast, and perhaps across the entire continent. It is a truly marvelous cosmopolitan city of great culture that attracts the most talented artisans, artists, and scholars from across the Realms, as well as a commercial hub for financial interests along the coast and beyond. Waterdeep is one of if not the most powerful and influential member-states of the Lords' Alliance, the coalition of nations and city-states that seek to maintain order along the Sword Coast and the North.

The various roads to Waterdeep are well paved and well patrolled. The major trade routes include:

Trade Way, the trade route to the south
Long Road, the inland trade route to the north
High Road, the coastal trade route to the north (not to be confused with the stretch of the road that passes through the city)

Government

Waterdeep is ruled by a sixteen-seat council whose membership is largely secret. These hidden Lords of Waterdeep maintain their identities behind magical masks, called the Lord's Helm, and while they rule in public, none know the true identities of most of them. The subject of who the Lords are is a common topic of noble conversation, and some consider it a game to discover the Lords' identities, a game made more confusing by the fact the Lords themselves set their own rumors afloat. The one public face of the council is the Open Lord of Waterdeep. While ostensibly of the same authority level as the rest of the council members, the Open Lord is a special position of power due to being the representative of the city in all foreign affairs and matters of state.