Good afternoon, @TheEdVerse! In Storm Kings Thunder we are told the Order of the Gauntlet has a strong presence in Neverwinter and I was curious what the relationship between the order and Lord Neverember is like. Are they scrutinized or stymied to the same degree guilds are?
— Richard Lorenzo (@richlore88) February 19, 2020
1)
Scrutinized, yes (by a motley collection of spies, including many street urchins who thereby gain enough coin to feed themselves), but not stymied. Lord Neverember sees their presence as providing a strong public perception2)
…(which he needs, to keep merchant shipping coming to his docks and through his gates) of Neverwinter as a ‘good’ law-and-order place, and therefore a relatively safe, secure city in which to live and do business.
And the Order…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 22, 2020
3)
…does, by their very presence, provide a deterrent to lawlessness that enables Neverember to not use the heavy hand of his soldiers in the streets as much as he otherwise would (and which would reinforce the ‘Neverwinter is a 4)
…tyranny, and Neverember its tyrant’ image he’s seeking to avoid).
Senior members of the Neverwinter-resident Order aren’t stupid; they see Neverember clearly for what he is. Yet they know that strong local rulership DOES…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 22, 2020
5)
…make for law and order, so they view him as a necessary evil; it’s far more desirable to work with him than to assassinate or depose him, and have to do ALL ruling work (and become everyone’s target and focal point of 6)
…criticism or open, active dislike) themselves. So they send envoys to speak with him when they need his worse excesses curbed, and keep him abreast of threats to the city and other intel about intrigues they’ve uncovered so…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 22, 2020
7)
…he will regard them as too useful to work against, and in this manner they and Neverember maintain an uneasy working relationship for the common good.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 22, 2020