History of Winterkeep

The town of Winterkeep was founded on the most northwestern point of the Sword Coast by industrious folks for trade and profit. Winterkeep orginally was established to facilitate the export of fine Dwarvish goods that were made by Dwarvish craftsmen in the Dwarven Citadel. There were also mining of the surrounding hills that added to their growing concern. Contact with the Druids to the Southeast of Winterkeep has also brought some additional profit by exporting there fine woodland products.

With the fall of the Dwarven Citadel Winterkeep has been on hard times but is maintaining it's existance. But recently a Pirate Haven has been established off the coast on one of the deserted islands. The pirates have not threatened Winterkeep as of yet and seem to take their "trade" further southeast along the Sword Coast, as far south as Luskin.



//Feel free to add to this narative ... try to keep it simple ...

All major decision concerning Winter Keep and all the surrounding "civilized" cities be it for trades, wars, conflicts, etc, are taken by "The Keeps Council".

"The Keeps Council" is composed of 7 members at all time. The counsilman/woman position is "for life" and when a new member is needed, the remaining counsilmen are the one making the choise.

There is 4 knowed members at all time, those being the mayor of Winter Keep, the mayor of FrostKeep, the Captain of the Outpost garnison and the High Druid of the Wolfshire Druids Conclave(Town of Wolfshire).
The 3 others members identies are keeped secret from all the citizens except the others counsilmen.

There is a 8th seat not taken at the counsil table at the moment, it was the Ironrock Citadel representative one before the fall of the citadel about 80 years ago.
Without the weapons and goods the dwarves were providing, the then new founded Town of Wolfshire was given a new seat at the table.

The counsil was put in place after the fiasco of Lord Max DiLarel who was then the single ruler of Winter Keep, he became jealous of the power and richess the dwarven folks was accumulating which he decided, at the time, to counter by hireing a band of well trained mercenary and taking the citadel for himself by treachery...

The exact emplacement of the old citadel was lost to time and all the land surrounding the citadel up to the Outpost was retaken not long after "Lord DiLarel Fiasco" by a tribe of frost giants. Since then, many other kind of monsters have been seen north of the Outpost, which has became a "no-man land" for the good citizens of Winter Keep.

Not much more is knowed of that time since all the important documents related to it were lost in the Big Blaze, 60 years ago, when a whole section of Winter Keep was burned down by fire storm of unknowed origin.