Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate Spotlight #2

The second of the forum-based spotlights for the NWN2 adventure pack Mysteries of Westgate features Cosmopolitan Westgate and a new short Q&A.

Welcome to Westgate, where it isn’t the color of your skin that matters – it’s the color of your coin. The city’s 29,000 plus inhabitants are enough to make it the largest center of trade on the Dragon Coast, though its population is still barely a quarter larger than Neverwinter’s and less than a quarter as large as Athkatla’s. Nevertheless, Westgate is brimming with opportunity, a place where “anything goes and everything has a price.” What makes Westgate truly unique, though, is not so much its lively economy as those who are allowed to take part in it: Westgate welcomes creatures large and small, fanged and tentacled, furry and scaled alike; all that matters is one’s ability to produce coin. It’s not unusual to find ogres or bugbears putting their enormous strength to good use as dock workers or to encounter the occasional lizardfolk shaman making a living as a witchdoctor, selling tribal remedies to any adventurous enough to do business with them.

In addition to being acceptant of racial diversity in its citizens, Westgate is also extremely tolerant of a wide variety of faiths. While temples and shrines dedicated to the “evil” deities, such as Shar, may not be publicly discussed or acknowledged depending on time, place, or company, all are aware of their existence, and these deities boast followings just as large and active as those of their “aboveground” counterparts.

While Westgate’s willingness to put aside religion and race for the sake of trade obviously allows for increased economic opportunity, it also introduces its own dangers and complications. Where competition or ill-will between competitors might be attributed to race or faith in any other city, profit dictates everything in Westgate. If a newcomer steps on the wrong toes, takes to selling the “wrong” goods, or sets up shop where they’re not welcome, retribution from Westgate’s noble merchant houses is sure to be swift and merciless.