History of Waterdeep

History DCs

• Melairbode & Deepwater Plateau History (-1088 DR to 882 DR): DC 20
• Nimoar's Hold History (882 DR to 936 DR): DC 18
• The Founding of Waterdeep (936 DR to 1032 DR): DC 15
• The Era of Ahghairon (1032 DR to 1256 DR): DC 12
• The Usurpation of the Guilds (1256 DR to 1273 DR): DC 10
• The Rule of the Masked Lords (1273 DR to 1322 DR): DC 8
• Recent History (1322 DR to 1353 DR): DC 5

Other Knowledge DCs

• Religious Lore: As History, by era
• Arcane Lore: As History, by era
• Noble House Foundings: History DC 12

The Melairbode & the Deepwater Plateau

-1288 DR

• A shield dwarf named Melair discovers a vein of precious mithral beneath Mount Waterdeep. King Melair I, as he comes to be known, sends word to his kindred, and those who answer his call become Clan Melairkyn. The Melairkyn are traders, artisans, and explorers, strongly protective of their home, which they name the Underhalls of Melairbode.

-1088 DR

• Annual trade begins between southern merchants and barbaric local tribes on the future site of Waterdeep.

Year of Fervent Glances (-677 DR)

• Drow from the city of Karsoluthiyl (located beneath the Trackless Sea, west of the mouth of the River Chionthar) begin their first incursions against the Stout Folk of Melairbode.

Year of Purloined Power (34 DR)

• Drow overwhelm the Melairkyn dwarves of Undermountain, and King Melair IV is slain. The dwarves retreat to lower, less important levels of the Underhalls.

Year of the Thundering Horde (52 DR)

• Permanent farms established in the area of Waterdeep by locally settling human tribes.

Year of Scattered Stars (168 DR)

• A wizard of unknown ancestry calling himself Halaster Blackcloak builds a tower and fortified ramparts in the middle of the Deepwater Plateau, to the north and west of the burgeoning farms along the harbor shore in Waterdeep. He begins exploration of the Underhalls of the Melairkyn and claims the delvings for himself.

Year of Spoiled Splendors (211 DR)

• Clan Melairkyn, forced to retreat to successively lower and less important levels of the Underhalls by the drow, finally vanishes. The drow name their new holdings Kyorlamshin and claim most of fallen Melairbode as their demesne.

Year of the Sundered Sails (307 DR)

• The apprentices to Halaster, known as the Seven, leave Halaster’s Hold hoping to establish their own holdings in the subterranean depths. The tower and surface holding fall into decay and ruin, and the tribes of Blackcloak Hold, as the settlement had come to be known, quickly learn to avoid the “cursed” enclosure.

Year of the Half Moon (390 DR)

• Followers of Selûne begin worshiping the Moonmaiden on the slopes of Mount Waterdeep.

Year of the Blighted Vine (482 DR)

• A Tethyrian warlord named Ulbaerag Bloodhand conquers the ever-feuding tribes of Blackcloak Hold. Within a generation, Ulbaerag unites the tribes as one. The settlement becomes known as Bloodhand Hold.

Year of the Ecstatic Priest (493 DR)

• The drow, forced into the lowest levels of the Underhalls, finally abandon the former dwarf home of Melairbode entirely.

Year of the Gleaming Gates (644 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Sunstaff

Nimoar's Hold

Year of the Curse (882 DR)

• A great human warrior known as Nimoar the Reaver gathers an armed host and leads them in search of a new home. They come upon Bloodhand Hold and decide to seize it for their own, quickly vanquishing the Bloodhand tribe. The settlement is named Nimoar’s Hold.

Year of Fell Pearls (887 DR)

• Southern pirates attack Nimoar’s Hold in force, but the Reaver’s followers beat them back three times in a row.

Year of the Shining Shield (889 DR)

• The Tethyrian Bull Elk tribe attacks Nimoar’s Hold and sets it afire. The Reaver’s followers drive off the barbarian raiders and rebuild the hold before the first winter snow.

Year of Great Riches (DR 920)

• Ahghairon is born on Midsummer's Night, and many legends report Mystra's symbol glowing brightly among the stars of the North.

Year of Fireslaughter (DR 932)

• First Trollwar: Gangs of trolls begin attacking Nimoar’s Hold with increasing regularity. In response, the aging Nimoar leads his forces northward against the Everlasting Ones in what becomes known as the First Trollwar, burning uncounted square miles of land bare in the process.

The Founding of Waterdeep

Year of the Sky Raiders (936 DR)

• Town of Waterdeep: In the aftermath of the Orcfastings War, Nimoar dies of old age, and the mantle of “War Lord” passes to Gharl, his most accomplished general. Nimoar’s Hold grows and prospers, and the fledgling community becomes known among ship captains as the town of Waterdeep.

Year of the Cold Claws (940 DR)

• Second Trollwar: Beginning with Amphail the Just, who reigned for a year, six warriors claim the mantle of War Lord of Waterdeep during the next twelve years, only to fall in never-ending battle as the defenders of Waterdeep battle gangs of trolls throughout the Dessarin River valley.

Year of the Circling Vulture (942 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Talmost

Year of the Forbidden Tome (948 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Roaringhorn

Year of the Rings Royal (952 DR)

• End of the Second Trollwar: This year marks the end of the Second Trollwar as the Everlasting Ones are pushed back from the walls of Waterdeep. The human realms and holdings of the North unite under the leadership of Aeroth, War Captain and champion of Silverymoon; Ahghairon of Waterdeep; and Samular Caradoon of Tyr and clear the Evermoors of trolls. The wizard Renwick Caradoon, brother of Samular, dies in the final battles and is transformed into an archlich. Ahghairon is recognized as the premier mage of the Savage North, becoming the official advisor to the War Lord of Waterdeep.
• Houses Ennobled: Belabranta

Year of the Deadly Duo (963 DR)

• Construction of Castle Waterdeep begins around the site of Nimoar's Hold on the eastern spur of Mount Waterdeep, just north of the city walls.

Year of the Emptied Lair (973 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: House Sunstaff becomes House Wands

Year of the Haunting Harpy (974 DR)

• Castle Waterdeep is completed at High Harvesttide. Laroun, Waterdeep’s first female War Lord, takes up residence therein. The city walls expand (now abutting the wall around Halaster's Hold for defense) and the worn log palisades are replaced with new, high stone walls.

Year of Bright Nights (985 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Moonstar

Year of Much Iron (998 DR)

• War Lord Laroun establishes a naval guard to protect the city and its trading partners. Construction begins on fortifying the harbor and Deepwatch Isle. A temple and monastery to Lathander breaks ground far to the north of the city (at the present-day site of the Spires of Morning).

Year of the Bold Barbarian (1007 DR)

• Waterdeep’s city walls expand, absorbing the ruins of Halaster’s Hold (the walls running along the lines of what are now the northern borders of Dock and Southern Wards). Ahghairon builds his tower out beyond the city’s walls and places magical barriers around the ruins of Halaster’s tower, preventing many dangers from escaping into the city.

Year of Three Signs (1010 DR)

• Laborers finish the extensive harbor fortifications at Midsummer, and the Free City of Waterdeep is officially established, with Laroun as its "Warlord" (ruler).

Year of Lathander's Light (1024 DR)

• Uruth Ukrypt unleashes the Broken Bone orc horde, which emerges from the Sword Mountains bent on destroying Waterdeep. The attacks of the dragon Lhammaruntosz, also known as the Claws of the Coast, substantially weaken the horde, allowing the armies of Waterdeep to prevail.

Year of Crimson Magics (1026 DR)

• Laroun, Warlord of Waterdeep, dies when orcs besiege the city. Ahghairon creates the magical axe Azureedge. After the siege is broken, her successor Raurlor destroys the Black Claw orc horde at Stump Bog, shattering the strength of Uruth Ukrypt and sending it into its final decline.

Year of Warlords (1030 DR)

• Raurlor begins to increase Waterdeep’s standing army and navy to a size not seen since the fall of Phalorm. Over the next two years, he turns the city into a garrison and military encampment, "to protect Waterdeep from her many, jealous enemies." He brooks no dissent from the populace.

The Era of Ahghairon

Year of the Nightmaidens (1032 DR)

• Raurlor proclaims the Empire of the North, but Ahghairon defies him, transforming his Warlord’s Blade into a viper that poisons its wielder. Raurlor dies at the mage’s feet, and Ahghairon becomes the first Lord of Waterdeep. Ahghairon determines that henceforth wisdom and not armed might will rule in the city, and the Lords of Waterdeep are formed.
• Ahghairon restructures Raurlor's armies into the Guard (a military to defend the city from external threats) and the Watch (to keep its peace internally), bringing order and an end to military domination to Waterdeep.

Year of Falling Stars (1035 DR)

• The city grows under Ahghairon’s and the Lords’ rule, the walls expanding again (to the current areas of Waterdeep Way and River Street) to handle the increased population. The System of Wards comes into being, initially creating Castle Ward, Trades Ward, Temple (later Southern) Ward, and Dock Ward.

Year of the Immortals (1037 DR)

• Otherplanar creatures spill out of Undermountain into the city but are turned back by Ahghairon and Kherris, a masked Lord wielding Azuredge. Ahghairon refortifies the magical and physical defenses around the ruins.

Year of the Stranger (1064 DR)

• The city walls of Waterdeep swell (running along the current locations of Selduth Street and the Coffinmarch) to handle increasing numbers of people. A low wall abutting the city walls surrounds the eastern cemetery of the city.
• Waterdeep's population surpasses 50,000 this year.

Year of Lion's Roars (1071 DR)

• Noted adventurer Ranressa Shiard returns to the slopes of Mount Waterdeep on dragonback, astride a copper wyrm named Galadaeros, prompting Ahghairon to create wards deterring dragons from raiding the city.

Year of the Defiant Salute (1076 DR)

• Waterdeep is attacked by the Tethyrian Black Boar tribe of the Dessarin, led by Nalethra of the Winged Spear. After being repelled from the city’s walls, the princess and her bodyguard slay thrice their number of Waterdhavian fighters before they fall.

Year of the Gleaming Crown (1097 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Gauntyl

Year of the Maelstrom (1101 DR)

• The Spires of the Morning, the abbey and temple to Lathander, becomes part of Waterdeep as the walls expand to accommodate more settlers. (The perimeter approximates the current paths of Trader's Way and Andamaar's Street.) The plateau north of the city is all irrigated farmland.

Year of the Consuming Glory (1103 DR

• Houses Ennobled: Zun

Year of the Dark Dawn (1104 DR)

• Noted explorer Lord Vanrak Moonstar returns to Waterdeep from a disastrous expedition to the Black Jungles in Chult.

Year of the Perilous Storm (1112 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Ulbrinter

Year of the Empty Scabbard (1116 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Agundar

Year of Shining Waves (1138)

• Houses Ennobled: Sultlue

Year of the Sword's Oath (1142 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Amcathra

Year of the Persuasive Trees (1149 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Tchazzam

Year of the Scourge (1150 DR)

• Waterdeep is hit hard by the plague throughout the Sword Coast, the situation made worse by attacks by trolls and orc tribes.
• Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun the Elder arrives in Waterdeep and builds Arunsun (later Blackstaff) Tower.

Year of the Molten Man (1151 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Ruldegost

Year of Blood Tusk Charge (1158 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Bladesemmer

Year of the Parchment Heretical (1167 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Eltorchul

Year of the Moonlight Tapestry (1170 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Hunabar

Year of the Secret Rider (1178 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Piiradost

Year of the Stalking Satyr (1179 DR)

• As a precursor to the Harpstar Wars, malaugrym attack Arunsun Tower but are defeated and banished by Khelben, Elminster, and an assortment of Waterdeep mages, including Hamiklar Wands, the father of Maskar.

Year of the Tomb (1182 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Nandar

Year of the Arcane Guise (1187 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Thunderstaff

Year of the Poisoned Quill (1190 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Melshimber

Year of the Sundered Shields (1197 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Gost (splits from Ruldegost)

Year of Seven Trinkets (1205 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Emveolstone

Year of Starlight (1215 DR)

• The House of Wonder, a temple dedicated to Mystra, is established in Waterdeep.

Year of the Toppled Tree (1220 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Brossfeather

Year of the Horn (1222 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Crommor

Year of the Long Watch (1230 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Dezlentyr

Year of Many Monsters (1233 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Artemel

Year of the Black Horde (1235 DR)

• The Black Horde: Waterdeep is besieged for nine months by the largest orc horde in recorded history. The city is spared when Ahghairon and his generals introduce griffons as flying steeds for the army, allowing them past the orcs to gain food and aid outside the walls.
• Houses Ennobled: Tesper

Year of Burning Steel (1246 DR)

• Kerrigan the wizard, a hidden Lord of Waterdeep, attempts to usurp Ahghairon’s position and set himself up as sole ruler of Waterdeep by killing the other Lords and Ahghairon. After the deaths of three Lords, Ahghairon slays Kerrigan in Southern Ward (at the site of the future Adventurers’ Quarter).

Year of the Cockatrice (1248 DR)

• Known as the Year of Bounty in Waterdeep, a record harvest and mercantile explosion causes a dramatic increase in population. Due to the expanded trade, the merchants form guilds, and a recognized merchant gentry emerges in the city.
• Houses Ennobled: Ammakyl, Anteos, Brokengulf, Cassalanter, Cragsmere, Durinbold, Eagleshield, Hiilgauntlet, Hothemer, Husteem, Ilitul, Ilvastarr, Ilzimmer, Irlingstar, Jardeth, Jhansczil, Kothont, Lathkule, Marrek, Majarra, Margaster, Massalan, Raventree, Thann, Thongolir

Year of the Bold Knight (1249 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Tarm

Year of the Riven Skull (1250 DR)

• Noble villas begin dotting the plateau north of Waterdeep.
• Ahghairon and other mages of Waterdeep alter the ancient cemetery of the city, eliminating individual graves and creating the tombs of the City of the Dead.

Year of the Wandering Winds (1251 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Gundwynd, Stormweather, Wavesilver

Year of the Empty Goblet (1252 DR)

• After two years of growing skirmishes with undead, the Lords of Waterdeep establish walls around the City of the Dead, and her still-current curfews.
• Houses Ennobled: Rosznar

Year of Silent Steel (1254 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Urmbrusk

Year of the Raging Flame (1255 DR)

• Growth in trade and population forces the walls of Waterdeep to move northward again (to the current paths of Sulmoor and Julthoon Streets).
• Marune the Masked helps found the Shadow Thieves, a minor thieves' guild.

The Usurpation of the Guilds

Year of the Dusty Throne (1256 DR)

• Ahghairon dies, and the Guildmasters begin seizing power in Waterdeep. The Council of Guildmasters grows to govern the city.
• Khelben the Elder disappears from the city, though his tower remains occupied by his apprentices.

Year of the Wilted Flowers (1258 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Kormallis

Year of the Vigilant Fist (1259 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Silmerhelve

Year of the Broken Blade (1260 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Gralhund

Year of the Black Wind (1262 DR)

• Second Guild War: Also known as the Misrule of Lords-Magister in city histories. Six years of self-interested squabbling among Waterdeep’s Guildmasters erupt into bloodshed. All but two of the city’s Guildmasters die in the next few months. The two surviving Guildmasters agree to rule together as Lords Magister, although their continued bickering prevents any effective governance of the city.
• The Shadow Thieves, previously a minor band of thieves openly tolerated as a recognized guild, grow in strength and influence throughout Waterdeep and establish their base of operations (the Citadel of the Bloody Hand, inside Mount Waterdeep).

Year of Flowers (1265 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Manthar

Year of the Groaning Cart (1267 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Thorp

The Rule of the Masked Lords

Year of the Wagon (1273 DR)

• The Lords’ Rule revives with Baeron and Shilarn Silmaeril, two long hidden Lords of Waterdeep, who slay the Lords Magister. Baeron becomes Open Lord of Waterdeep. The houses of Zoar and Gildeggh are outcast.
• The black-robed Magisters are appointed to keep justice and, by the month of Uktar, the Shadow Thieves' ventures are deterred and they, as a group, are outlawed.
• Waterdeep's population reaches 100,000 by year's end.
• Houses Ennobled: Assumbar, Snome

Year of the Crumbling Keep (1276 DR)

• Shilarn, a Lord and Baeron’s wife, gives birth to a daughter, Lhestyn.
• The Lords allow Waterdeep'’s perimeter to expand out to the borders they hold to the current day. North and Sea Wards are added and ward boundaries are adjusted and established as they remain today.
• The Lords increase their numbers beyond Ahghairon’s self-imposed limits, and establish sixteen Lords of Waterdeep.
• Houses Ennobled: Hawkwinter

Year of the Many Mists (1282 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Eirontalar

Year of the Smoky Moon (1287 DR)

• Construction begins on the white marble Palace of Waterdeep, commonly known today as Piergeiron’s Palace.

Year of the Hooded Falcon (1291 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Nesher

Year of the Wandering Waves (1292 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Helmfast

Year of the Talking Skull (1293 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Estelmer

Year of the Ormserpent (1295 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Phylund

Year of the Pointed Bone (1298 DR)

• Lhestyn, the “Masked Lady,” infiltrates the outlawed Shadow Thieves in Waterdeep and exposes their continuing activities. This act precipitates a bloody tenday of fighting between the guild and the City Watch that culminates in the death or flight of the guild’s members.

Year of the Starfall (1300 DR)

• Lhestyn weds Zelphar Arunsun, a powerful mage from Neverwinter and the youngest son of Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun the Elder.

Tear of the Trumpet (1301 DR)

• A mercenary army sponsored by merchant interests in Waterdeep and Neverwinter rides against orc-ridden Illusk.

Year of the Broken Helm (1302 DR)

• Khelben “Ravenscloak” Arunsun the Younger is born to Lhestyn and Zelphar Arunsun in Waterdeep.
• In Waterdeep, the practice of exiling criminals to the depths of Undermountain begins.
• Two noted adventurers from Waterdeep, Durnan and Mirt the Merciless, emerge from Undermountain bearing great wealth.

Year of Thunder (1306 DR)

• Durnan establishes the Yawning Portal over the ruins of Halaster's Hold, controlling the access to the dungeons beneath the city.

Year of the Catacombs (1308 DR)

• Lord Baeron dies of fever, and his wife Shilarn immolates herself on his funeral pyre. Their daughter Lhestyn, a Hidden Lord herself, becomes Open Lord of Waterdeep.
• Construction on the Palace of Waterdeep is completed by early winter.

Year of the Sunset Winds (1309 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Lanngolyn

Year of Storms (1310 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Phull, Zulpair

Year of the Fist (1311 DR)

• Zelphar Arunsun is crushed to death by a sorcerous hand of force. The perpetrator remains unknown to the Lords to this day.
• Lhestyn names Piergeiron, a paladin and officer of the city guard, a Lord and her eventual successor as Open Lord of the city.

Year of the Shadowtop (1314 DR)

• Lhestyn passes away, and Piergeiron Paladinson becomes Open Lord of Waterdeep.

Year of Spilled Blood (1315 DR)

• Armies from Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate clear out Dragonspear Castle and establish an armed temple of Tempus, the Hold of Battle Lions.

Year of Wandering Wyrm (1317 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: Adarbrent

Recent History

Year of Lurking Death (1322 DR)

• Khelben the Younger makes his first public appearance since his father's death; he is 19. Inheriting his grandfather's tower, he also takes the name "Blackstaff" for himself, appearing with that noted magical staff in-hand when he does so. He renames Arunsun Tower to Blackstaff Tower.

Year of the Great Harvests (1325 DR)

• The Lords’ Alliance is established in Waterdeep, with membership coming from most of the cities and settlements of the Sword Coast North. It is founded to oppose the mercantile aggression of Amn and to benefit from increasing trade flowing from the North into the Heartlands.

Year of the Sword and Stars (1332 DR)

• Houses Ennobled: House Marrek becomes House Maerklos

Year of the Saddle (1345 DR)

• Religious strife breaks out in Waterdeep between the church of Shar and the churches of Lathander, Selûne, and Tempus.
• The wife and children of Ultas Maernos, Patriarch of House Maernos, die due to plague while visiting Amn. He becomes a recluse.

Year of the Bridle (1349 DR)

• Naneatha Suaril, High Priestess of Selune, works to bring Ultas Maernos out of his seclusion. He becomes a devout and generous patron to the city's many temples.

Year of the Crown (1351 DR)

• In early winter, the Knights of the Sword Coast are founded and set out toward adventure.

Year of the Harp (1355 DR)

• Amril Zoar, scion of the outcast House Zoar, slays two Masked Lords of Waterdeep and badly wounds Open Lord Piergeiron. After being apprehended, he is spared execution by the intercession of Storm Silverhand of the Harpers.

Year of the Worm (1356 DR)

• Though Waterdeep's magical wards protect it from the ravages of this year's flight of dragons, many refugees from the surrounding countryside come streaming into its gates.
• The Dragonspear War: Armies from Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate besiege and set fire to Dragonspear Castle, defeating the devils within.

Year of the Prince (1357 DR)

• Waterdeep negotiates a truce between Ruathym and Luskan, but that backfires when Luskan, Ruathym, Tuern, and the Whalebones forget an alliance to raid settlements along the Sword Coast.

The Time of Troubles

Year of Shadows (1358 DR)

• The gods walk Toril, with dead magic and wild magic areas appearing. Bane, Bhaal, Gilgeam, Ibrandul, Myrkul, and other deities are destroyed. Cyric and Midnight (as Mystra) ascend to godhood.
• Myrkul manifests in Waterdeep, with a great army of the dead. Waterdeep rallies to fight him. Mystra ascends Mount Waterdeep to challenge Helm at the gate of the gods there, but is destroyed. Her power enters the mortal wizard Midnight, who uses that power to destroy Myrkul in the skies over Waterdeep. She then ascends to godhood as the new goddess of magic, taking the name Mystra as she does so.
• The Lords' Alliance expels Luskan's forces from Ruathym by applying combined diplomatic and military pressure. Luskan and the allied island realms of the Trackless Sea join to form the Captain's Confederation.

After the Time of Troubles

Year of Maidens (1361 DR)

• Word of the discovery of Maztica by Amn begins to reach ears across Faerûn.
• Harpers are assassinated by an unknown assassin all over the North.
• Waterdeep, as part of the Lords' Alliance, if forced to threaten war when Luskan once again conquers Ruathym to the west.

Year of the Wave (1364 DR)

• Shieldmeet in Waterdeep is disrupted by bard and ex-Harper Iriador "Garnet" Wintermist and the green dragon Grimnoshtadrano, the Riddling Dragon of the High Forest.

Year of the Staff (1366 DR)

• Waterdhavians refound the city's old bardic college, and name it New Olamn.

Year of the Shield (1367 DR)

• Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun unmasks himself and resigns as a Lord of Waterdeep, to the surprise of the populace and his fellow Lords.

Year of the Banner (1368 DR)

• A fad for dream spheres sweeps Waterdeep, appealing to the increasing ranks of those who dream of a better life but despair of ever achieving it. Waterdeep's nobility wr with each other behind the shadows. Lord Thesp Eltorchul's son and heir Oth is left a babbling husk after dabbling in the creation of the dream spheres.
• The Font of Knowledge, a temple dedicated to Oghma, is established in Waterdeep.
• Watedhavian youth enlist in Prince Haedrak's Reclamation Army to restore Tethyr's monarchy.

Year of the Gauntlet (1369 DR)

• Deepwater War: Led by Iakhovas, denizens from under the sea plague the Sword Coast. A great force attacks Waterdeep's harbor, and many ships and lives are lost as the forces are battled back.
• Halaster's Highharvesttide: At dawn, the sigil of the Mad Mage Halaster of Undermountain appears in 75 foot tall burning fire at the entry to the Waterdeep Harbor. All practitioners of Art within 400 miles receive a mental message: "Seek me at Aquitiocun!"
  • Gates began transporting monsters from Undermountain to various places around the Realms, but none moreso than the streets of Waterdeep, which was quickly beseiged by terrors.
  • Open Lord Piergeiron destroys the dracolich Kistarianth the Red – who was, in life, slain by Piergeiron's father Athar the Shining Knight – on the slopes of Mount Waterdeep.
  • The Lords discover that Halaster has been kidnapped by fall forces, and send powerful adventurers to rescue him. They succeed, and he returns order to Undermountain's gates.

Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR)

• Silvermoon and allies locales form the League of the Silver Marches, or Luruar, making Alustriel their High Lady. Waterdeep receives emissaries from the new League.

Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR)

• Thultanthar, the City of Shade, returns to the skies of Faerûn, marking the return of the archwizards of Netheril. They promptly establish control over the Anauroch, changing it with their magics. It becomes the nation of Shade. Waterdeep receives a diplomatic mission from them, and form a tentative alliance.
• Later in the year, the alliance with Shade falls apart when it is discovered that the Netherese shades are melting the High Ice of Anauroch.
• Western Faerûn is beset by drought.
• Evereska is attacked by phaerimm and their minions. Khelben Arunsun leads and army from Waterdeep which becomes trapped within the Vale of Evereska. Laeral and Storm Silverhand lead a relief army against the thornbacks and their minions, battling armies of bugbears and lizardfolk thralls led by beholder and illithid generals. After months of war, the Phaerimm are defeated.

Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373 DR)

• Rage of Dragons: The lich Sammaster incites the wyrms of Faerûn into a mindless rampage. Waterdeep's wards are overwhelmed, but the city is defended by its denizens, who quickly restore the wards.
• Rain of Fire: A Tear of Selûne draws nearer to Toril, and inexplicably hangs motionless above Faerûn, eclipsing the sun for most of the continent. It hangs motionless for nearly a day before plummeting once more, breaking into five chunks as it enters the atmosphere. These chunks then break apart into thousands of smaller pieces. This is seen as an ill omen.

Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

• When three agents of House Thorp are murdered by burnt osssra oil, the Lords of Waterdeep ban all such substances from the city.
• Lord Thestus Thongolir is kidnapped.
• Dhusarra yr Fadila el Abhuk leads a force of Grey Wolf Uthgardt tribesmen transformed into vampires into Waterdeep to conduct a High Hunt of Malar against a vampire she believes resides in Waterdeep. They are destroyed.
• Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun sacrifices his life in a final feat of great magic. His apprentice Tsarra "Autumnfire" Chaadren takes up the Blackstaff, but she continues to operate under an illusion as Khelben for years afterwards.

Year of Risen Elfkin (1375 DR)

• In the last day of Eleint, an earthquake rocks Waterdeep. Halaster Blackcloak is believed to have been killed by it. Alternately, some believe his death caused it.
• All arcane spellcasters and anyone with any connection Undermountain receive visions from the spirit of Halaster. Adventurers known as "the Called" arrive at the Yawning Portal to descend into the dungeon for various reasons.

Year of the Bent Blade (1376 DR)

• The Lords' Alliance briefly conquers Luskan, led by the famous pirate hunter Captain Deudermont.

Year of the Haunting (1377 DR)

• Captain Deudermont is killed by High Captain Kensidan of Luskan.

Year of the Blazing Hand (1380 DR DR)

• The High Mage Araevin Teshurr of Evermeet successfully restores Myth Drannor's mythal, and then tours the continent. One of his stops is in Waterdeep.

Year of the Starving (1381 DR)

• In Mirtul, Northern Faerûn is hit by a freak cold sanp that ruins food crops and animal forage. Urban centers all over the continent see much of their populace go hungry.

The Wailing Years

Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR)

• Cyric, aided and abetted by Shar, murders Mystra. With her death, the Weave convulses and blue flames envelop the Realms and surrounding planes.
• This causes the Spellplague: the ground rumbles and heaves like the surface of the sea. Curtains of blue flame sweep the landscape, reshaping the land by cutting crevasses or lifting and sculpting the terrain. Shards of earth wrench themselves free of the surface and rise into the sky as earthmotes.
• The far Southern nation of Halruaa is destroyed in a magical cataclysm so vast, its reverberations can be felt in Waterdeep.
• A young human woman appears in Waterdeep, trapped in a roiling pocket of blue flame.
• Effects of the spellplague:
  • Despite the efforts, with the structure of magic out of balance, many spells failed or produced unreliable results.
  • Most permanent magic items, such as artifacts, were left intact at the end of the Spellplague but charged magical items were either destroyed, warped, or simply ceased to function. Items with dormant magical qualities, which were manually activated, were largely unaffected by the Spellplague
  • Standing wards, mythals, and similar magical fields were either warped or destroyed.
  • Folk damaged by the blue fire often were dealt magical mutations; these were the spellscarred.
  • Portions of the world of Toril violently change places with similar locales on a sister world, Abeir, bringing strange folk such as dragonborn to Faerûn. It also brings greater populations of certain planetouched folk, such as tieflings and genasi.
• The first outbreak of Spellplague in Waterdeep is held at bay by Tsarra "Blackstaff" Chaadren, as Khelben.
• A second outbreak of Spellplague wells up out of Undermountain, forcing Tsarra to reveal her true identity.

Year of the Tanarukka (1388 DR)

• The Waterdhavian line of House Gundwynd enters the burial portal in their family tomb to inter three members of their family. When they emerge, they have been transformed into trolls or giants, and they rampage through the city. The Waterdhavian line of House Gundwynd is rendered extinct.

Year of Silent Death (1395 DR)

• The Stump Bog releases a plague called the Putrescent Anathema, spreading sickness and pestilence throughout the region. The temple-farm of Goldenfields is hit particularly hard.
• Most of the ongoing effects of the Spellplague end during this year, with only a few places (known as plaguelands) still affected by the wild magic brought by the cataclysm. Most arcane magic returns to a semblance of normalcy.

After the Spellplague

Year of the Fallen Friends (1399 DR)

• The Blackstaff Tsarra Chaadren, her heir, and many of the Tel'Teukiira die fighting a coven of vampire-wizards of the Stump Bog. Kyriani Agrivar risks her sanity by bearing the Blackstaff ack to Waterdeep.
• Kyriani Agrivar becomes the next Blackstaff. In order to acknowledge her legitimacy as the city's archmage, she proclaims it from atop Blackstaff Tower, with Open Lord Caladorn Cassalanter at her side. This form of proclamation of the inheritance to the Blackstaff becomes tradition.

Year of Lost Ships (1400 DR)

• Krehlan Arunsun, the son of Khelben and Laeral, becomes the Blackstaff of Waterdeep. He is 25 years of age.

Year of the Staves Arcane (1415 DR)

• Krehlan Arunsun and the Grand Mages of Rhymanthiin imbue Blackstaff Tower with some kind of strange magics. According to locals, the tower is now haunted by all the Blackstaves previous!

Year of the Dog-Eared Journal (1424 DR)

• Krehlan Arunsun is slain by Chartham Dellenvol. Krehlan's dear friend and heir Ashemmon of Rymanthiin becomes Blackstaff.

Year of the Malachite Throne (1445 DR)

• A collaboration of the Waterdhavian guilds construct a golemwork clock in the Lords' Palace. It becomes the means by which all time pieces are set. It occupies the tallest tower of the Palace.

Year of Knowledge Unearthed (1451 DR)

• Mount Hotenow, a long dormant volcano, erupts, with the pyroclastic flow destroying Neverwinter. Refugees flood into surrounding cities of the North, including Waterdeep.

Year of the Reborn Hero (1463 DR)

• Neverwintan refugees fleeing the occupation of rebuilt Neverwinter by Shadovar/Netherese arrive in Waterdeep. Open Lord Dagult Neverember welcomes them.

Year of the Six-Armed Elf (1464 DR)

• The Blackstaff Ashemmon dies, passing the mantle of Blackstaff to Samark Dhanzscul.

Year of the Three Heroes United (1467 DR)

• Dagult Neverember establishes the "New Neverwinter" organization, with the stated goal of rebuilding Neverwinter. Neverember arrives with forces to occupy and being rebuilding it, establishing himself as "Lord Protector of Neverwinter."

Year of the Dark Circle (1478 DR)

• The Magistrates of Waterdeep accept the first tiefling into their ranks, inducting Kylynne Silmerhelve as a black robe.
• Lord Dagult Neverember issues a standing order that anyone in the city showing signs of Spellplague infection should be sent to Helm's Hold for treatment.

The Present Era

Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR)

• Vajra Safahr becomes the Blackstaff after her master Samark is slain.

Year of the Deep Water Drifting (1480 DR)

• Waterdhavian noble titles become trade commodities for those with enough coin.

Year of the Awakened Sleepers (1484 DR)

• War of the Silver Marches: A large army of orcs and drow, supported by frost giants and white dragons, assaults the Silver Marches.
  • Nesmé is destroyed; Sundabar is conquered.
  • Refugees of this war flood into Waterdeep.

Year of the Iron Dwarf's Vengeance (1485 DR)

• The War of the Silver Marches ends.
• Dragons destroy the Field Ward at the edges of Waterdeep.

Year of the Rune Lords Triumphant (1487 DR)

• The Sundering: Many of the effects of the Spellplague begin to be entirely reversed, and many of the Abeiran nations that appeared now disappear again, returning to their proper home. Many deities previously thought gone return at this time, including Mystra, Helm, Mask, Lathander, Bhaal, Eilistraee, and others. Earthmotes begin to drop from the sky around Faerûn.
• Ships from Evermeet, Lantan, and Nimbral - all thought lost to the Spellplague - dock in Waterdeep during this year.

Year of Dwarvenkind Reborn (1488 DR)

• Astrologers note that the solstices and equinoxes do not align properly, something they've been noticing by increments for a while, but the proof is irrefutable this year.

Year of the Warrior Princess (1489 DR)

• After long periods of silence, the gods begin to answer prayers and grant full spells once again.
• Laeral Silverhand-Arunsun arrives in Waterdeep and helps to oust Open Lord Dagult Neverember, who flees to Neverwinter.

Year of the Scarlet Witch (1491 DR)

• Rumors begin to circulate through Waterdeep that some folk have seen the avatar of the goddess Eilistraee under the walls of Waterdeep, speaking with her followers and leading them in a dance.
• The Mistyshore ward burns above the waterline. The wreckage takes months to clean up, but makes room for a refurbishment of naval docks for Waterdeep's renewed fleet.
• Faithful of Eilistraee petition Remallia Haventree, of House Ulbrinter, for help establishing a forest-glade to Eilistraee in the Field Ward. She pledges to aid them establish such.