Nesmé

Nesmé (pronounced: /ˈnɛzmeɪ/ NEZ-may^[9]) was a small frontier city located in the Savage Frontier of northwest Faerûn.^[1][3]

Geography[]

Nesmé sat beside the River Subrin. The dangerous Lurkwood forest rested in the north. To the north and west were plains and hills inhabited by many Uthgardt barbarian tribes. The Evermoors lay to the southeast.^[1] The road to the south led to Mornbryn's Shield in the Surbrin Hills.^[10]

Travel and Trade Routes[]

• Silverymoon to Nesmé: 165 miles (266 kilometers) by barge^[11]
• Zundbridge to Nesmé: 30 days by barge^[12]

Population[]

The city normally had a population of approximately 6,000 people, but this could rise by up to 50% during high trade season.^[1] However, following the raids by trolls, frost giants, and barbarians, the population plummeted by more than one-fifth, to under 2,000 people by the end of 1372 DR.^[3][5]

In late 1484 DR, after the city was taken by the forces of Many-Arrows, only 600 of the original population remained, all as prisoners.^[6]

Defenses[]

The Riders of Nesmé were an effective military force that defended Nesmé against its enemies. With peace rare, the Riders swiftly became experienced veterans.^[1] But after years of attacks by trolls and giants, by 1374 DR, the Riders had been reduced greatly in strength and numbers.^[13]

Nesmé's leaders encouraged adventurers to come and stay in their city and fight off the trolls and giants, provided they behaved themselves. Those who were not were escorted out by the Riders. As a result, Nesmé was a great base for adventurers looking for action.^[1]

In the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, Nesmé had the finest stone wall between Silverymoon and Mirabar. Arrow slits allowed it to be defended at any location and several catapults were kept ready behind it.^[14]

When Luruar began to face the burgeoning threat of Many-Arrows, Nesmé had to fend for itself against the giant raids that had not subsided since its fall. Tessarin Alaurun spent much of her treasury in 1372 DR to retain the services of Sky Pony Uthgardt mercenaries and the Khoroshen tribe of lizardfolk in order to supplement the Riders of Nesmé.^[13]

By 1484 DR, the wall had grown to be about the size of two ogres stacked on top of each other.^[15] It was 15 feet (4.6 meters) from the battlement to the ground.^[16]

Economy[]

Nesmé's economy was based mostly around trade, and focused on investing in defense of the city and its people.^[1] Almost all goods bound for the west and from the west passed through Nesmé.^[2]

Nesmé was known for its exceptional steel.^[17]

Government[]

The city was ruled by a First Speaker and dominated by its merchants.^[1]

In the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, the First Speaker was Jygil Zelnathra, who was also the local High Priestess of Waukeen. Under Jygil, Nesmé was a theocracy and its ruling council was mostly made up of Waukeenar clergy.^[9]

The following year, during the Godswar, Waukeen was apparently dead and Nesmé's temple dissolved. Tessarin Alaurun, a staunch opponent of the theocracy, called for and then organized an election wherein the large population of adventurers living in the town at the time led the voting. They elected a council that was more focused on the town's defense than its wealth and Tessarin became First Speaker.^[14]

With money saved by the previous council and the accumulated wealth of the adventuring electorate, a wall was built and the Riders of Nesmé received more funding. Jygil was still on the council but in a much more minor role, frequently having to add her political clout to her old rival's in the face of adversity, which eventually led to a respectful political partnership and Tessarin taking on Jygil as her wizard apprentice.^[14]

In the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the First Speaker was still Tessarin Alaurun. With Waukeen's return in 1370 DR, Jygil Zelnartha was again High Priestess of the local church of Waukeen. Though both the merchants and the church focused heavily on Nesmé's welfare and both focused on wealth, they often stood in opposition. However, their disputes were kept to a minimum when Nesmé suffered from external threats.^[1]

Circa 1372 DR, Eregund Walen commanded the Riders of Nesmé,^[1] followed by Galen Firth.^[18]

History[]

Early History[]

In the Year of the Moat, 1269 DR, a half-orc bandit named Thaurog built Thaurog's Keep on the site where Nesmé would later lie.^[19] Control later fell into the hands of his son, Throgh. However, in the Year of the Deep Moon, 1294 DR, he was killed by human adventurers from Waterdeep, who were then attacked by wyverns. The wyverns made their lair in Thaurog's Keep.^[20]

14^th Century DR[]

Later, in the Year of the Mace, 1307 DR, Algraetha the Enchantress got rid of all the wyverns and rebuilt the settlement around the old keep, and it became known as Nesmé.^[21]

In Eleint of the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, the town came under the first of several attacks from the Uthgardt Griffon Tribe. Rumors at the time claimed that Nesmé had surrendered to the barbarians and that Tessarin Alaraun led the city along with the tribe's leader, Kralgar Bonesnapper, after forcing First Speaker Jygil Zelnathra into exile. In reality, after repelling the attacks, the weakened town council, suffering the loss of their goddess, had been ousted in an election, which ended with Zelnathra being demoted and Alaraun taking her place.^[22] That year, Nesmé contributed troops to the Battle of Keeper's Dale, aiding the dwarves of Mithral Hall against the drow of Menzoberranzan.^[23]

Nesmé suffered a dramatic increase in attacks by orcs and trolls in the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR. The city hired adventurers to investigate the cause and, the following year, a group learned that fog and cloud giants had settled in the Evermoors, driving the trolls out of the moors. The conflict reached a climax in the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, as an army of trolls invaded and ruined Nesmé. They were forced out by an army of dwarves from Mithral Hall and Mirabar.^[13]

After this, however, the other cities of the Silver Marches redeployed their armies in the north to guard the border of the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows, leaving Nesmé to look after itself. Still fighting off giant raids and fearing a resurgence of the trolls, First Speaker Tessarin Alaurun found the coin to pay the Riders of Nesmé and hire a small band of mercenary Uthgardt barbarians.^[13]

With the expenditure of considerable time and resources, Alustriel and Silverymoon decided to have Nesmé rebuilt into a town of both larger and grander proportions. First, the remnants of the Riders and a large detachment of Knights in Silver drove the trolls deep into the Trollmoors, making the surrounding roads the safest they'd been since 1358 DR. Then, refugees displaced from homes lost to the orcs were encouraged to go to Nesmé to aid in the reconstruction. This had the effect of increasing Nesmé's population to around twice that of what it was before the siege. These people spent the entire winter of 1371 DR to 1372 DR building new structures that greatly outshone the old ones in both durability and size and erecting a double wall that surrounded the place, especially fortified and manned on the border of the Evermoors. Contingents of Riders and Knights patrolled the streets regularly and the town was never been finer, a startling difference to those who knew the place either before or during the troll siege.^[24]

15^th Century DR[]

In the Year of the Awakened Sleepers, 1484 DR, the city's First Speaker was Jolen Firth. Nesmé was one of the first cities to fall under siege by the orcs of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows (spurred on by the drow matron mother Quenthel Baenre through the restored House Do'Urden). The Companions of the Hall, including Drizzt Do'Urden and Athrogate, spent several weeks defending the city, but left in an attempt to aid other regions. Soon after their departure, the city was beset by orcs and the white dragon Arauthator. The city fell; the 600 survivors, including First Speaker Jolen Firth and Rider of Nesmé Giselle Malcomb, were taken prisoner. The drow Tiago and Saribel Baenre were declared "Duke and Duchess of Nesmé."^[25] Eventually, however, the drow were forced to abandon the city.^[26]

By the Year of the Iron Dwarf's Vengeance, 1485 DR, the city had fallen to ruin, with monsters from the Evermoors thwarting efforts to rebuild it. Some time after the city's abandonment, the ruins were used as a meeting place between Zhentarim mercenaries and Gundahella, a fire giant representing Duke Zalto.^[26]

Notable Inhabitants[]

• Tessarin Alaurun
• Maxuld Blueaxe^[5]
• Darven Crownlar^[5]
• Maeleera Eveningtree^[5]
• Galen Firth
• Narma Haever^[5]
• Nistlor Lothlyn
• Rannek^[27]
• Shorgath Tantor^[5]
• Chaver Tegarech
• Jygil Zelnathra

Notable Locations[]

Temples[]

• House of Fair Trade: A temple dedicated to Waukeen. It was not damaged in the sacking of the city in 1370 DR.^[3]

Inns and Taverns[]

• Evermoor Inn^[28]
• Tavern of the Riders^[28]
• Torch: In 1484 DR, Torch was a tavern and inn in the southwestern part of the city, with staircase leading directly to a southern parapet of the city wall. Many adventurers stayed there.^[2]

Other Locations[]

• First Speaker's Hall: The First Speaker's Hall was the seat of government.^[29]
• House of the Wise Unicorn: A rental club that was run by Nistlor Lothlyn.^[30]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

Further Reading[]

• Duane Maxwell (2001-09-12). The City of Nesmé. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved on 2012-10-02.
• Russell Brown (March 2007). “The Muster of Morach Tor”. In James Jacobs ed. Dungeon #144 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (144)., pp. 16–26.

References[]