I miss the Forgotten Realms; I really do.  We ended the game at a nice resting spot but I wanted to say, “good-bye,” in some meaningful way.  Ah well…

A buddy of mine is visiting and it looks like we’ll have a little more than a day to hang out while everyone’s off at work.  He had told me how jealous he was of our Realms game, so I suggested that he make up a character and we’d start a solo game, when I get to New York City, we’d have a game in our trunk to take out when nothing else was brewing.  He has a daughter on the way, so this could be a pipe dream but still, its good to have one-on-one games seeded hither and yon.

When he told me about his Realms jealousy, I asked him what he would play and he posted that he would play a bard.  We narrowed that down a bit, a bard or a spy of some kind in Waterdeep with some kind of underworld contacts.

Okay.  So, I sent him this e-mail to get the wheels burning:

Note: this is all according to the gray boxed set and the original supplement, Waterdeep and the North.  We can change it; it is presented here just to inspire ideas.

P.S. This is too much writing.  The gist: the underworld is up in the air, there is a vacuum and something is looking to fill it.

Book of the Eldar: in which Celedon observes the growth of a young port city on the Sword Coast

Fall of the Shadow Thieves

Waterdeep grew from a humble cow pasture used to feed passing sailors into the largest metropolis the Young Races have ever seen at a staggeringly fast pace.  As such, the criminals were not able to organize and have a hold over the entire city.  Skullport probably had an effect on these disparate cells of criminal activity never gathered under one banner, as the rogue city was a gathering point for all manner of evil, scum and villainy.

The criminal element of Waterdeep did not boast an organized guild as could be found in Calimsham or even the gangs in Neverwinter until the Shadow Thieves.  Not only were these assassins and cut-purses supported from Amn but many of these thieves had otherworldly powers directly from the demi-plane of Shadow.

A troupe of Harpers, deputized by a Masked Lord and supported by Khelben Blackstaff and several bonded adventuring companies drove the Shadow Thieves from Waterdeep in the Year of the Devil Manticore.

Once the Shadow Thieves were banished, smugglers, cutpurses and desperate killers all over Waterdeep laid low for a while, not wanting to bring on any attention to themselves.  While the Shadow Thieves controlled the gangs and criminals in Waterdeep, many obeyed out of fear without actually being a part of the criminal guild’s infrastructure.

Now there are rumors of a criminal tyrant of some kind, a creature fascinated by wizards and having intense supernatural abilities.  Someone or something is making a bid for power, hoping to fill the vacuum that has been unfilled for years since the Shadow’s banishment.

Any thoughts?

Next up: Some lords of Waterdeep and thoughts on the noble families therein.