City of the Dead

The City of the Dead was a large cemetery and ward in Waterdeep. Most of the city's dead were buried here. By day, it also doubled as the city's major public park picnic area.

Purpose / Function

Besides burials and funerals, the City of the Dead was host a variety of activities among Waterdhavians. These included, but were not limited to: being an exercise run, a dueling ground, a playground, a highsun dining area, a meeting-moot, a place where courting lovers could meet in private, and a performance venue for minstrels (and would-be minstrels).[6] At night the City of the Dead was off-limits to the public, yet it was still used by many during those hours for more nefarious activities.

History

The area that would eventually become the site of the City of the Dead was used as a burial site as far back as the days of Nimoar's Hold.[7] When Waterdeep was much smaller, a cemetery was established on the end of the plateau overlooking the plains east of the city. A low wall was built around the cemetery in 1064 DR first establishing its boundaries north and east of the Trades Ward and south of the North Ward. Since that time, higher walls were built and gates into the City of the Dead were established which were only opened to the public during the daylight hours.[8]
Space soon became hard to come by in the cemetery itself. Many of those who could not afford to be buried there found themselves interred in an area known as Grave Alley (later called Ilisar’s Alley). There coffins were placed vertically below the cobblestones. This led to issues of the undead rising from the streets themselves and the practice was soon abandoned.[9]
In order to alleviate the overcrowding, in 1250 DR, Ahghairon and other mages of Waterdeep began to establish portals from tombs and mausoleums to uninhabited demiplanes of various types where the dead were laid to rest. Most notable among these wizards, except for Ahghairon himself, was the portal and teleportation specialist, Anacaster. Two of his more well known portals led from The House of the Homeless and Merchants’ Rest.[4]
Most noble houses, reportedly less than half, did not keep family tombs in the City of the Dead. They instead had crypts below their villas or were buried in family estates outside of Waterdeep.[8]
The cemetery suffered extensive damage during the Spellplague.[10]

Founding Date

1064

Type

Cemetery

Parent Location

Waterdeep