A Brief Timeline of Neverwinter
Neverwinter has a long and storied history. Presented below is a brief timeline of the city, with important historical events listed in roughly chronological order. ("Important" is, of course, relative.)
All times are given as BG or AG, referring to Before Game or After Game.
~500 years BG: The last Lord Protector of Neverwinter dies in an unspecified "accident". It is never clear afterward who or what killed him, only that he passed without leaving a clear line of succession. Following his passing, the city was plunged into chaos and nearly collapsed. Following a return to order, the nobility of the city created the White Council, a loosely-affiliated group of elites to rule over the city and see a "steady hand" return to guide the helm.
~495 years BG: The first of the City Acts are codified. Included in the Acts are provisions to prevent direct election of a new Lord Protector, as well as rules and standards for councilor behavior.
~250 years BG: The Great Fire of Neverwinter happens. The causes are never fully known, but Artin Winterenvy, Senior Councilor, perishes as the city burns. It is suspected that the fire was not accidental but was caused in part by Thallan Shara.
90 years BG: Ceva and Daj, fleeing from Waterdeep, arrive in the city.
30 years BG: Plague strikes the Sword Coast. Plague is especially bad in Neverwinter, where roughly 10% of the population dies, whether from plague directly or from the ripple effects thereof. Sana Winterenvy and James Cordoroy's parents are both lost to the plague, and the Temple of Tyr is severely impacted.
15 years BG: A group of six revolutionaries attempts a coup to oust the White Council. Led by Sakai and Brant, they are stopped almost immediately before being tried and executed for treason.
14 years BG: Solana Presna, one of the group that planned the coup, is appointed to the Council, in a back door deal that most suspect was led by her turning them in. (Presna herself later verified that this was true, but that her fellow conspirators were aware of the deal and knew that by letting her be elected, they would have eyes/ears on the Council if/when they were able to restart the Resistance.)
8 years BG: The Bounty Hunter's Guild is founded by Big Jim.
4 years BG: Aiden Shippen, a member of the Bounty Hunter's Guild, is killed during a mission to destroy Undead in a defiled shrine located off the Sword Coast. As a result of his death, the Guild is investigated, fined, and prevented from recruiting further members until it can prove its adherence to the City Acts.
0 BG: The Guild is allowed to recruit members again. Big Jim hangs fliers around the city, and recruitment begins in earnest. This is when the Guild grows in numbers and a good number of members join.
6 Months AG: The Guild answers a call and discovers that the Neverwinter Resistance is up and active, this time led by a young man named Henry Lillen with help from Taran Miraleth and Nerim Elabar. They enlist the help of Guild members in moving a printing press and printing/distributing an illicit underground newspaper.
8 Months AG: Henry and Taran are subtle, but not subtle enough. Henry is caught during a routine newspaper delivery and taken off-site to an abandoned mining claim in Phandalin owned by Temdess Longwinter for questioning. Post-capture, Taran is made aware of the arrest of one Sister Constance Greeley, a priestess of Tymora who tends a shrine in Phandalin. Her arrest was due to suspected involvement in "seditious activity", and she was scheduled to be hanged without proper trial, due to a "special ruling" by the White Council. Fearing that this was a trap, Taran nevertheless approached the Guild, including Ceva and Eimar Daj, for help. A number of Guild members worked with Taran and Daj to spring the priestess from the Neverwinter City Jail, injuring White Council member Rolim Cardell in the ensuing fight.
Daj saw the party and priestess taken to Waterdeep, where Sister Greeley sought other members of her order, before bringing Taran and party members back to the College of Neverwinter Library (location of one of Neverwinter's few non-private Teleportation Circles). At the library, the party was nearly intercepted by Invis Winterenvy, who, knowing his trap had been sprung, attempted to arrest all those responsible. Realizing that Winterenvy was in attendance thanks to a prior warning from Dandy Crowle, Daj transformed the party into mice via Mass Polymorph before allowing himself to be arrested to gain access to Winterenvy in order to use Modify Memory to change his memory of events that had happened that evening. This was notable as the first time that Daj had done any magic higher than third-level spells before members of the Guild (rumors of what happened to Arun Waesfield's desk notwithstanding).
Following the modifications to his memory, Winterenvy had Daj tried in an accelerated sham trial, sentencing him to be lashed publicly for "behavior unbecoming of a member of the College of Neverwinter".