The Chasm
Description
The Chasm is a huge canyon-like crack amid the southeastern district of Neverwinter. It occupies what was once the districts known as the Beggar's Nest and the Arcanist Quarter, which were destroyed during the cataclysm that followed the eruption of Mount Hotenow. Because of that, the surrounding areas are in utter ruins, a maze of destroyed buildings and clotted streets. The Chasm proper is large, covering almost all of the central part that once was the Arcanist Quarter's central area, and many earthmotes float amid and around the abyss, some drifting slowly and others bashing against the walls of the Chasm or against each other. It is also deep, reaching down to a lake located in the Underdark. The land within the Chasm proper is warped and twisted because of the plagueland located below Neverwinter. Storms of elemental energy and other strange phenomena can surge up from the depths without warning at any moment.Demographics
All manner of plaguechanged creatures dwell in the earthmotes and on precipices and caves in the walls of the abyss.
History
During the Spellplague of 1385 DR, when the catastrophe struck Neverwinter, a small plagueland was created in the Underdark below Neverwinter.
When Mount Hotenow erupted in 1432 DR, bringing about the destruction of most of Neverwinter, the Beggar's Nest and the Arcanist Quarter were completely destroyed by the earthquakes that followed the cataclysm. A huge, canyon-like chasm replaced most of the districts, and released the foul energies of the Spellplague, as well as the plaguechanged creatures living there. The survivors of the catastrophe built a wall to better protect themselves against the monsters.
The Chasm was magically sealed around 1445 DR, although at such cost to the city's coffers that some of its outer walls still lay in ruins and several of its neighborhoods remained abandoned by 1450 DR. Even as of 1459 DR, telltale signs of plagueland, including blue fires and warped reality, could still be observed above the sealed Chasm.
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