Travel in Waterdeep

The city's centuries-old layout dictates its traffic patterns today.

Waterdeep lies on a plateau adjacent to a long mountain that shields much of it from the sea. In the southern third of the city, where the land slopes up from the harbor, the High Road and the Way of the Dragon are the two main south-north roads. These converge both at the Waymoot near the southern gate, and in the heart of the Trades Ward where the city is at its narrowest-bounded by Waterdeep Castle, high on a spur of the mountain, and the walls of the City of the Dead. The conjoined boulevard then splits to the north, continuing as the High Road, and to the west as a boulevard called Waterdeep Way, heading toward Piergeiron's Palace. In the middle of the city, six boulevards run north from Waterdeep Way, where they meet the road that encircles The Market. On the other side of the Market, five boulevards continue north.

The aforementioned boulevards, along with the Street of the Singing Dolphin in the Sea Ward, are the major arteries of the city. Hire-coaches and drays can be most frequently found on those streets, and traffic is at its most hectic there. Most other roads in the city run east to west, but regardless of their direction, traffic elsewhere is generally less hectic and thus safer to cross.

Traffic Wardens

During particularly heavy traffic and at congested areas such as the great oval road around The Market, members of the City Watch double as traffic wardens. Wardens signal with small blue hand flags for traffic to proceed, and with yellow flags for traffic to hold. A traffic warden can often be heard blowing a whistle. When you hear it, look to the warden to see if you are being signaled. Failure to take care might result not only in accident but also arrest.

Thanks to the Scriveners', Scribes', and Clerks' Guild, Waterdeep labels its streets, alleyways, and courts.

The method of identification varies by ward and neighborhood (including brass plates, carvings in stone, and stencil-painted wooden signs), but street names are typically displayed on the corners of buildings at intersections, roughly a dozen feet above ground. The name of the road you travel on will be on the wall nearest, while the name of the crossing road will be around the corner.

Drays

These towering vehicles are unique to and ubiquitous with Waterdeep. Invented by exiles from Lantan in the last century, a dray is a long, glassed-in carriage with bench seating that provides additional open-air bench seating on its roof. The driver sits at the level of the roof seating, providing a vantage point to see over other traffic and make eye contact with other dray drivers.

Passengers enter through the back whenever it stops or slows down enough to make mounting the rear step safe. There, a fare taker stands near the lower seating area to take the fee (typically 2 to 4 nibs per person). Passengers can choose to ride inside or ascend the spiral stairway at the rear to ride atop the vehicle.

Most drays run on the main north-south boulevards, but some circle the Market, and a few run along the smaller east-west roads in rough areas. Be warned that when the demand for drays is high-during rain or snow, or to get to or from an event at the Field of Triumph—conditions become crowded and perfect for pickpockets.

Dray Stations

In the past handful of years, the government of Waterdeep has partnered with the Fellowship of Carters & Coachmen to implement municipal dray stations—transportation hubs with set routes and schedules. There are two to five stations per ward and though they primarily house and service drays, they have become hubs for private hire-coaches. These stations also serve as postal depots for the Guild of Letters, Parcels & Logistics.

Hire-Coaches

Hire-coaches cater to those who desire to travel in relative comfort and most directly reach their destination. Customers typically give a spirited wave and shout to any hire-coach driver who has no passengers. Each of these handsome, two-wheeled black coaches comfortably seats two travelers (perhaps four, depending on passengers' size), who ride facing the road ahead. The hire-coach's driver sits high and to the rear of the carriage, manipulating the horses by means of long reins and a short whip on a rod.

The fare must be agreed upon and paid before the journey, but only rarely will the cost exceed a half-dozen shards.

Carriages

The well-to-do—or those who want to ride in luxury during a day out—can hire a full carriage, many of which are as finely outfitted as those owned by the nobility. Up to eight can take such a ride in silken comfort.

Prices and services vary, but generally a prospective customer agrees to rent the carriage, the services of the driver, and any attendant servants or guards for a full day.

Mount Rentals

It's possible to rent rather than own horses, mules, and other similar mounts for those who wish to expedite their travels but are unable or unwilling to purchase them outright. Prices to procure the usage of a mount range from 5 shards to 5 dragons per day depending on the creature.

However, newcomers to the city or unknown faces may be required to pay a deposit fee as insurance in case a mount is lost, damaged, stolen, or killed. This fee can range from 20 to 75 dragons, which is refunded upon return of the mount.

The folk of Waterdeep often remain indoors in the colder months, particularly when it rains or snows. The flow of trade and travelers into the city slows to a trickle during winter, and as a result, traffic diminishes and drays and hire-coaches become more scarce.

Fortunately, the Fellowship of Carters & Coachmen works with the Wheelwrights' Guild and the Wagonmakers' & Coach Builders' Guild to convert the drays and hirecoaches that do operate into sledges, so that some are available even in the worst weather.

Mount Waterdeep provides a useful landmark for general orientation. It stands stark across the skyline to the west, its far slopes dropping right into the sea. A spur of the mountain juts inland, and atop the easternmost point of this spur stands Waterdeep Castle; the northern ridge of the mountain descends to the Field of Triumph, the city's great coliseum. These landmarks, when visible, provide easy orientation. The mountain peak looms over the southern third of the city near the Deepwater Harbor in the south. The City of the Dead lies opposite the northern ridge of Mount Waterdeep.

Waterdeep's titanic Unknown, no longer mobile, offers another point of orientation. At nine stories tall, twice the height of any buildings nearby, the Honorable Knight stands guard in a block of buildings between Snail Street and the Way of the Dragon. Positioned as it is at the crosspoint between four wards, it provides a useful metric to judge position in the city; if it is south and west of your position, you are in the Trades Ward. North and west? The Southern Ward. South and east? The Castle Ward. North and east? You're in the Dock Ward.