Waterdeep, also known as the City of Splendors or the Crown of the North, is the most important and influential city in the North and perhaps in all Faerûn. It is a marvelous cosmopolitan city of great culture that attracts the most talented artisans, artists, and scholars from across the Realms, as well as a commercial hub for financial interests along the coast and beyond.
It stands as one of the most powerful and influential member-states of the Lords' Alliance, a coalition of nations and city-states that strives to maintain order along the Sword Coast and the North.
Though it may seem as if all of Waterdeep rushes and bustles about with eyes and minds only for their own business at hand, it profits everyone to remember that part of their business is watching what is unfolding around them, without appearing to do so, in hopes of seizing on the next big opportunity. Even if only to sneer, Waterdeep always watches.