The most important and influential city in the North, and perhaps in all Faerûn. A truly marvelous cosmopolitan city, and a hub of commerce and culture.

City of Splendors, Crown of the North

Waterdeep attracts the most talented artisans, artists, and scholars from across the Realms. It's also a major commercial hub for financial interests along the coast and beyond.

• Docks Ward (southwest). The poorest ward, home to most of the city's laborers. Always smells strongly of fish and filth. However, the Watch maintains as strong a presence here as anywhere else, so it's still safer to live here than in other cities.


• Trades Ward (southeast). The homes and shops of tradespeople and artisans, mingled together in no particular order.


• North Ward (northeast). Oldest surviving ward in the city, sort of a historic district. The shops here generally cater to wealthier clientele, ie. nobles, though (I think) most of the actual noble estates are located further west.


• Sea Ward (northwest). Home to noble estates and the amenities that service them (temples, entertainment, etc).


• Castle Ward (west-central). Home to Castle Waterdeep, which gives the district its name. A lot of government buildings and noble estates are located here.

• Market


• Any major street


• Any city gate


• The Yawning Portal (busy 24/7)

The Code Legal - see image. Strictly enforced by the City Watch... at least, above ground. In the city's expansive network of sewers and underground tunnels, just about anything goes.

• Ruled by the Open Lord, chosen from a pool of the city's most prominent noble houses.


• The Open Lord works alongside the Council of Masked Lords, whose true identities are a closely guarded secret even from one another.


• Nobles are always jockeying for position.


• The Zhentarim have a big presence here, though no one is precisely sure how big.


• There also seem to be a lot of Harpers. They seem to be working against the Zhents, currently.

Grown locally or imported; the former usually enters the city via the North Gate, and the latter via the Docks.

A lot. They have an extensive, well-maintained sewer system, which I'm pretty sure just drains into the ocean. (Though the idea of having your sewer system drain into the Underdark is also funny.)

Notably, water that drains from the City of the Dead doesn't mix with the rest of the sewers.

Sewers are maintained by the Dungsweeper's Guild.

Image credits

Waterdeep Nights by ~deusuum