Melvaunt Melvaunt ( pronounced " MELL - vont " ) was a city that sat on the northern coast of the Moonsea , adjacent to Thar . It was a city of smithing and mercantile services , serving as the port of entry to many travelers coming to the region . The city itself was cold and gray , with a mist that rose from the Moonsea seeming to cover it entirely . Government . A Council of Lords ruled over the city of Melvaunt , though they were more often concerned with affairs that could line their coffers . All members were required to be merchants of some kind and vacant seats could be purchased for for at least 100 , 000 gp while a new one could be created starting at a sum of 2 , 000 , 000 gp . In 1373 DR , there were 21 seats on the council , with one vacant . Four positions in the council had more influence than others . The " Lord Chancellor " was Chairman of the Council , Treasurer and also Last Speaker . The " First Envoy " was the Council ' s First Speaker and Diplomat . The " Lord of the Keys " was the General of Melvaunt ' s army while the " Lord of the Waves " was the Admiral of it ' s navy and Chief Inspector of the city ' s docks . Below these four lords , all of the others were theoretically equal in influence . The lords met once a month to discuss issues but these meetings could last up to five days depending on the importance of the topics being discussed and the power plays made by council members . The council did not tax its citizens like most governments , instead , the treasury was filled by taxes on every single transaction made ; taxes on the mooring of ships in the city ' s harbor ; and taxes on every conveyance entering through the city ' s gates as well as state seizures of property . The lack of state taxation ensured the Council ' s popularity with the citizenry , despite near - constant infighting and jockeying for better position . Trade . Guild s held much of the power within the city , primarily through legitimate trade but also as a front for criminal organizations . This caused many foreign traders to become apprehensive about underpricing the local merchants . Ships from Melvaunt constantly traded goods to Mulmaster and Hillsfar , where they could be more efficiently distributed around the region . Legitimate trade with Zhentil Keep was dangerous and rare , but the black market was alive and well . As well as the cities primary exports of worked metal goods , Melvaunt was also a popular stop for those interested in the purchase of slaves . The slave trade was tolerated by the citizenry due to fears of the involvement of powerful wizards in the business . This fear was , in part , valid , since Zhentarim agents were surreptitiously replacing Melvaunt ' s own slavers in 1369 DR Defenses . Melvaunt had a curtain wall surrounding it , wide enough for armed patrols of five men to march atop , which they did night and day . The Melvauntian army doubled as the city guard and was kept at a steady number of five thousand trained men wearing plate mail and wielding halberd s , longsword s and club s . Halmuth Bruil commanded the army as a whole , while Abarel Stendale was captain of those on guard duty . Meldonder Nurian was admiral in charge of Melvaunt ' s navy - which was small ( between twelve and twenty ships of varying sizes ) , but being steadily upgraded . Old ships were sold when they became too outdated . Adventurers were welcome to hire on as mercenaries for the ruling nobles and as long - range troubleshooters when threats arose from the sea , Zhentil Keep or Thar . The Council had also proven amenable to hiring entire mercenary armies from Hillsfar if they felt suitably threatened . Finally , inspectors on the docks were all equipped with magical items that spewed fire for use if trouble arose on visiting ships . History . Melvaunt ' s recorded history was primarily one of conflict with creatures from Thar and forces out of Zhentil Keep . In 902 DR , Melvaunt was drawn into a battle between it ' s ally Phlan and Zhentil Keep , who had invaded part of Phlan . Melvaunt ' s navy drove off the Zhentilar invaders but the allies were steadily beaten by the Zhentilar in the resulting four - year - long war . Just as defeat seemed inevitable , the creation of Shadowdale to the south distracted the Zhentilar enough that they abandoned the war and bullied both Phlan and Melvaunt into signing the Treaty of the Ride . Around 1261 DR , orc s out of Thar stormed Melvaunt ' s outposts among other settlements surrounding their territory . Zhentil Keep ( who had arranged the orc attacks in the first place ) pushed the tuskers back in an effort to regain support from their neighbours so they could be better persuaded to help fortify the Citadel of the Raven . Melvaunt was one of eight Moonsea powers who fell for this ploy , sending warriors and construction crews to secure and strengthen the massive fortress in 1276 DR . In 1303 DR , Melvaunt refused to send aid to Phlan when it was attacked by the ogres of Thar , leading its ally to be overrun . Melvaunt itself was then attacked by the same horde , but fared better , managing to survive the assault despite Zhentarim agents assisting the ogres . Three years later , Melvaunt was involved in the Moonsea War against Mulmaster , helping to defeat Mulmaster and free the River Lis up so they could again trade with the realms surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars . During the 1340s , Zhentil Keep and Mulmaster both tried to pit the other Moonsea powers against each other , spurring assassinations and arson attacks in each other ' s ports . It all culminated in the Battle of Lisen Sands in 1346 DR when Mulmaster again tried to blockade the Lis . Melvaunt eagerly sent it ' s fleet out to vent it ' s frustrations against the architects of its recent troubles . In 1347 DR , Melvaunt narrowly avoided a direct attack from the Zhentarim thanks to forewarning from Phlanite scouts and the refusal of the Zhentarim ' s orc mercenaries to redirect their attack via Thar . Eight years later , adventuring diviners gave advance warning of the Zhentarim betrayal at the Citadel of the Raven , allowing Melvaunt to save their troops from walking into a trap . Lord Rather , who was Chancellor at the time , declared an official end to the Triple Alliance forced upon the city by the Treaty of the Ride and banned the Zhentilar from Melvaunt . A reprisal was organised by the Zhentilar as Melvaunt ' s army marched home , but hired mercenaries from Hillsfar surrounded the Zhents before they could reach Melvaunt ' s walls . In 1356 DR , Melvaunt was embarrassed when it was discovered that one of its own , Lyran Nanther , was a lieutenant of the Zhentarim agent Jyordhan and had him executed when he returned , defeated , from a failed invasion of Shadowdale . Around the same time , Melvaunt began building a large military fleet , more than sixty ships strong , all of which appear to have been destroyed two months later when a dragon split off from the Dragon Run and temporarily conquered the city , ruining a significant portion of it . Rather than rebuilding the city , when the dragon left , the Council of Lords began rebuilding the fleet instead . The following year , the fleet was involved in a disastrous three - way naval battle with Zhentil Keep and Mulmaster . Immediately afterward , it became apparent that Lord Orm had absconded with the city ' s treasury to an estate outside of Zhentil Keep , where he was considered the ruler of Melvaunt in absentia by the Zhents . Civil war followed as the most powerful merchant families tried to install their own members in Orm ' s vacant seat . The spring of 1367 DR saw unusual cold weather compared to the warmth experienced by neighbouring cities . Firewood came to be in great demand and reinforced the public ' s disapproval of the worship of Auril . When Lord Envoy Dundeld Nanther , an experienced and influential politician , died around 1373 DR , it left a power vacuum in Melvaunt that threatened to spark another civil war between the noble families to fill Dundeld ' s empty seat . The Leiyraghons cancelled all of their annual public events and doubled the guard presence on their property ; the Nanthers themselves entered a period of mourning while the Bruils , already in control of the city ' s army , also upgraded the equipment of their private guards in a clear show of their intent to fill the Lord Envoy ' s seat with one of their own . Meanwhile , nobles from other cities also made attempts to purchase the seat , many such offers were refused out of hand by the rest of the Council . After the Shadowbane War between the Zhentarim and Netheril , Melvaunt struck a fragile pact with Myth Drannor to curb Netheril ' s power on the Moonsea .