Waterdeep
Waterdeep, the City of Splenders, rivals Neverwinter as the most important and influential city of the north, and it is much larger than its northern ally. These days, it is a friendly rivalry. While Neverwinter acts as a port to the multiverse and the face of the Western Alliance to the wider world, Waterdeep focuses on affairs closer to home. It is the home to the Grey Hands, the Company of Crazed Venturers, and until recently, the Blackstaff. The city is vast, cosmopolitan, and diverse. In the 16th Century (by Faerun's 'Dale Reckoning') it is the largest city in the multiverse by population - although some say it cheats by defining outer suburbs as part of its 'city'.
Waterdeep is ruled by the Lords of Waterdeep, who rule annonymously except for a single member, the 'Open Lord', Laeral Silverhand, Lady of the Harpers. It trades in everything, but somehow produces enough essentials for its massive population to never be hostage to the vaguaries of a single trade route. Mithril was once mined by the dwarves here, and although the mines have long run dry, Mount Waterdeep is still riddled with their underground highways and hidden passages. Many of these passages form the dungeon known as Undermountain, an ongoing battleground and lair of all manner of things from the Underdark, and a magnet for adventurers looking to prove themselves.
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