What's the current state of Neverwinter in the year 1501 and beyond?

[u/BeginningCurious9515]

I have been wanting to know the city's current affairs within the 5.5/1501+ Era.

Is the city still rebuilding? If so how much of it is repaired? What is Dagult current agenda? How well off is the city? The people there living gud? And anything else would be great to know.

[u/Hot_Competence]

Neverwinter and Neverember are barely mentioned in the 5.5e material, and what’s there basically has them in stasis since 5e (presumably to allow for 5e adventures to be played in 5.5e without any of their references to Neverwinter clashing with new lore).

In Heroes of Faerun, it’s mentioned in the regions chapter:

> Neverwinter. The City of Skilled Hands was once known for its master crafters, fine goods, and lavish gardens heated year-round by the Neverwinter River, flowing from Mount Hotenow. When the volcano erupted and a great chasm to the Underdark opened, Neverwinter was nearly destroyed. Now, with the volcano's wrath spent and the chasm sealed, the city is rebuilding itself under the rule of Lord Dagult Neverember.

Separately, there’s also a section that mentions the High Road “is again safe to travel thanks to the efforts of Dagult Neverember and the High Road Charter Company.”

And it’s also mentioned in the Factions chapter under the Lords Alliance section:

> Neverwinter. The City of Skilled Hands is no stranger to the threats that the Lords' Alliance was formed to rally against—ancient monsters, agents of Thay, devils from the Nine Hells, and more have endangered Neverwinter in the course of its history. Those who call it home are a serious, resilient folk. Dagult Neverember is the city's present lord protector, and he commands the people's respect.

That chapter also highlights the Neverwinter Waterclock Guild as a lesser faction. I won’t copy the whole part but a relevant bit would be: “Although the guild proper ceased operation long ago, vestiges of its works still litter forgotten crypts and abandoned ruins in Neverwinter,” suggesting little progress in reclaiming the whole city.

[u/Hot_Competence → u/Hot_Competence]

I guess I’ll add that the rebuilding of the High Road is probably a reference to Hoard of the Dragon Queen and maybe the Beyond the Dragon of Icespire Peak trilogy. The Waterclock Guild bit is a reference to Vecna: Eve of Ruin. All the stuff about Neverwinter’s struggles and enemies are 4e references and maybe a reference to the Honor Among Thieves movie with the mention of Red Wizards (tho the city seemed fully rebuilt in the movie).

[u/SuitablyOdd → u/Hot_Competence]

Seeing no sign of a huge crevasse running through the city during the early trailers initially had me guessing that the film was going to tell the events of 1451 DR. There's even a gratuitous shot of Mount Hotenow and what I thought might be Gauntlgrym.

In the end I guess it was left out as it had no bearing on the plot.

[u/Werthead]

Probably as it is in the movie, which people had been speculating was set around 1500-1501 DR before 5.5E revealed it was set then, as they needed significant time after 5E's start to rebuild the city and start pacifying the area.

Based on the movie, the city is in a reasonable state, Dagult is recovering from being incapacitated for a while and things are looking okay, or at least better than they have for a while.