The Dock Ward of Waterdeep was situated on the Great Harbor of Waterdeep. It contained the docks, shipbuilding yards, and warehouses for the sea trade. Compared to the rest of the city it was exceptionally dirty, smelly, and particularly dangerous. In the words of Unknown himself, the Dock Ward was a "riotous, nigh-perpetual brawl that covers entire acres, interrupted only by small buildings, intermittent trade businesses, an errant dog or two, and a few brave watchguards, who manage to keep the chaos from spreading beyond the docks; the whole lot wallowing in the stench of rotting fish."
History
Circa 1368 DR, an enterprising halfling Joshuan Havabuck was involved in numerous schemes and business in the Dock Ward. His main profitable business was the lottery where the folk of Wateerdeep placed bets on the total daily tonnage that entered the harbor. The numbers were reported by the dockmaster and the winnings were distributed accordingly. One ticket was sold for a single gold lion and the take, on average, was ten thousand coins. Amazingly, in 1368 DR, not ten people, picked the correct number, not even thirty. Every single gambler guessed it correctly. This was due the goddess of luck - Tymora's power running amok in Faerûn. Joshuan Havabuck resorted to loaning ten million gold lions with steep interest from Mirt the Moneylender and pay the winnings out.
After the Spellplague the northern section of Waterdeep harbor became dilapidated with most of the harbor choked with sunken ship hulls. This section became known as Mistshore.