The Sword Coast

Sword Coast – Current Events, 1496 DR

The Sword Coast’s great cities have always thrived in the space between trade and treachery, but 1496 DR has brought a subtle, unnerving unification to the region’s criminal and political chaos. In @Waterdeep, whispers circulate about the Silent Scepter, a clandestine alliance between three Masked Lords who have quietly struck a pact with the Zhentarim. Their aim is to establish a covert “security consortium” that monopolizes the use of mercenary companies along @The Trade Way—ostensibly to protect caravans from bandits, but in truth to choke out independent merchants and consolidate wealth under their control. Disappearances among vocal guild opponents are becoming alarmingly common, and more than one corpse has been found with a polished silver coin gripped in its mouth—a symbol that the Scepter “owns” them even in death.

To the north, @Neverwinter's Lord Protector has been forced into a rare public admission: ships from the Moonshae Isles and @Icewind Dale have been arriving in Neverwinter’s port riddled with salt-eaten holes in their hulls—holes that look as though something drank the wood away rather than rotted it. These strange attacks at sea have coincided with the rise of the Saltwraiths, spectral raiders who strike only on moonless nights. Witnesses say their ghost-ships bear shredded black sails and crew with hollowed eyes that drip seawater. The Saltwraiths never take cargo, only people, and those taken are later found—alive, but empty of memory—wandering the Sword Coast’s beaches with their mouths full of salt.

Further south, @Baldur's Gate is in the grip of a political fever. The Flaming Fist has split into two factions over the rise of the Harbormourn Syndicate, a group of foreign financiers from @Amn who have purchased large swaths of the @Outer City docks. The Syndicate claims to be revitalizing trade, but their ships are oddly heavy for their visible cargo and are rumored to be transporting artifacts dredged from @The River Chionthar —artifacts linked to long-forgotten Netherese ruins upriver. Each artifact is stored in lead-lined crates guarded by mercenaries who refuse to speak and bear strange burn scars around their eyes.

Tying these threads together is a rising unease: strange mists have begun to creep inland from the coast, defying wind and tide. Sailors claim the fog carries voices that offer deals, promises, or apologies in languages they cannot name. Some believe it is the work of the Cult of Dendar, the Night Serpent, attempting to weave dreams into the waking world. Others see the touch of @Baator, the Nine Hells, testing a new form of incursion. Whatever its origin, the Sword Coast has rarely been so alive with opportunity—and so ready to consume those foolish enough to seize it.