City of Neverwinter

**City of Neverwinter** (无冬城), formerly known as **Border Town** (边陲镇) is the new capital city of the Kingdom of Graycastle. After Roland's second Month of Demons and completion of the road between the former Border Town and Longsong Stronghold, he decided to merge them together to form the new city. After merging, Border Town was referred to as Border Area and Longsong Stronghold as Longsong Area instead.

## Geography

Neverwinter City is located in the most western part of the Graycastle Kingdom, bordered in the north by the Northern Mountain Slope and in the west by vast Hidden Forest. To the east, a road leads to the Longsong Stronghold. On its south runs the Redwater River and going further south there is another Mountain Range, which gives way then to the Sea.

From the start, the establishment of the Border Town was to provide an early warning to the Longsong Stronghold. Therefore the town was set between the slope of the North Mountain and the Chishui River. As Roland puts it, Border Town was initially built to serve as 'cannon fodder'.

## Background

Border Town was established roughly 30 years before Roland Wimbledon's arrival, a young place compared to Longsong Stronghold's 200 years of history. It was set up by Duke Ryan's ancestor to be an outpost with the intention to serve as an early warning to the evil beasts' invasion. However, the pioneers discovered a mine rich with ores and gemstones in the Northern Mountain Slope and so it became practically a small municipality. Every year the locals mined gemstones and ores, exchanging them with the stronghold in order to gain shelter and food for the winter, however they didn't know it wasn't a fair trade. They went into the Stronghold for hiding throughout the winter. They often scammed the people of Border Town by purchasing high-quality animal furs at low prices.

Two years before Roland's arrival, the Months of Demons which happens annually has lasted for almost 4 months. Because the mined ore was only enough for three months worth of food, the greedy city official Reynolds who was responsible for supplies refused to provide additional grain. It caused starvation among Border Town's population and the deaths of nearly one-fifth of its population (~500), which. Despite some nobles' complaints, Reynolds wasn't punished as he was Duke Ryan's son-in-law.

The original citizens of Border Town consist of many people who didn't take the church's teachings seriously, and it can be assumed that
Karl van Bate was the only one to be teaching them the church's beliefs. Therefore it was easy for Roland to convince the original 2,000 population to accept witches alongside them over the duration of 3 to 4 months of isolation.

## Population

When Roland Wimbledon arrived in Border Town, it counted 2000 people. After accepting refugees from all over the country, the number of residents exploded exponentially. So much so that, right before the 'Project of a Million' was put to practice it had 200 thousand people and right after the Elanor Skycruiser took off the population exceeded 1 million people.

## Economy

At the start, the main exports of the Border Town were from mining and hunting, and the bulk of the imports were food items. Everything would be transported through Longsong Stronghold or directly through the Redwater River from Willow Town.

The mining exports contained all kinds of minerals, like iron, copper, sulfur, rock crystal, ruby, sapphire, with an annual output value of 1000 gold royals. The minerals exported by the town weren’t paid for with the kingdom’s gold royals, instead they were paid for with the foodstuffs that arrived, as the Longsong Stronghold had the trade monopoly.

Roland's first policy was breaking the embargo, in order to stop the unfair trade with Longsong Stronghold. He started trading directly with Willow Town, selling ores and gemstones at market price and buying food, saltpeter and refined metals. Indirectly under Lightning's influence, the witch brought in Margaret, Roland's main saltpeter supplier and a good merchant. Through Margaret, Roland was introduced to many merchants who wished to purchase his specialized products such as perfume, hot-air balloons, the steam engine and other unique stuff.

Agriculture was introduced and expanded, leading to a situation where the domestic production could sustain alone the entire population. Serfs are allowed to retain 30% of the wheat production, and that can only be sold to the State at a fixed price.

Industrialization allowed for the increase of productivity in the mines, smelting of metals and also for the very lucrative export of steam engines.

With the setting of the convenience market, a diverse assortment of innovative products were offered to the residents, such as perfumed soap, wine, mirrors and mushrooms. Amenities like public bathrooms and piped water were also implemented.

## Expansion

* Originally consisting of the Border Area and the Longsong Stronghold Area, the unclaimed wild land between gradually began to fill in.
* Border Area's original City Wall was replaced by a wider and taller one, extending further northward, a little into the Misty Forest.
* A massive steel bridge was built across the Redwater River and the unclaimed land south of the Redwater River gradually began to fill in as well.
* A path through the mountains south of Neverwinter City was magically flattened to connect the Border Area to the sea where a new port and shipyard was built.
* The Impassable Mountain Range north of the Border Area was tunneled into by a Devouring Worm operated by Fran, to build the secret base known as the "Third Border City" for the Taquila Witches to live and operate out of.
* Much of the Misty Forest still outside the City Wall, has been claimed by Leaf's magic to serve as an early warning and control system against the demonic beasts and Demons.

## Buildings and Places of Interest

* **Roland's Castle**: Home to Roland Wimbledon and the Witch Union founders (minus Nana Pine). There is a garden with a gazebo. One bathroom has a tub Roland modified to use modern-esque plumbing. Roland has an office, where he spends most of the day going over reports.
* City Wall: Spanning from the Northern Mountain Slope to the Redwater River, built to defend the town from the Demonic beasts' invasion.
* Town Square: Surrounded by the marketplace, the square is used for speeches, citizen banquets, and plays, for which Roland modified it several times.
* New Civilization District: A planned neighborhood.
* Industrial Park: A district where factories are to be built.
* Kingdom Main Street: A paved road to Longsong Stronghold.
* Third Border City: Home of the Taquila Witches. A rubber worm farm and Celine's laboratory are located here. Kyle also has a work area for experimenting with the rubber substance. Celine's lab deals with safely experimenting with substances before Kyle can be allowed their use.
* Chemical Labs: Numerous laboratories built for Kyle Sichi and his apprentices to conduct experiments and create necessary products. Due to originally being understaffed, a majority of the buildings were left unused.
* Bicycle factory: A factory for producing bicycles. This was one of Roland's few oversights, having not considered the lack of material would stagnate production. It was shut down for a few years.
* Redwater River Docks: Used for riverboat shipbuilding, First Army movement, refugee gathering, and inland trade.
* Shallow Bay Port: Port for trade with the Fjords, deep-sea shipbuilding, and travel between the City of Neverwinter and its allied witches on Sleeping Island.
* Spellcaster Tower: A three-storey lab built for Agatha to conduct her own research. The first two floors are for experiments, while the third floor serves as her office and library to store notes. Agatha quickly realized that she was running out of space for her research, asking Roland to expand the building.
* Witch House: Having run out of guest rooms in the castle, Roland authorizes the construction of a new dwelling for the Witch Union's additional members and guests from the Sleeping Island. It initially is a three-floor building, but was the first to have modern amenities like central heating put in; it has 50 suites for witches to live in as duos. The witches share rooms as duos. It has a lobby with a desk area, where a clerk can be spoken to for hiring a member of the Witch Union. Members of the Witch Union and Sleeping Spell can be found by a table in the lobby playing cards when off work. Tilly was known to have her own room while Roland was still king.
* Sleeping Spell neighborhood: a residential area where the members of Sleeping Spell live. Along with several four-storey houses, a two-storey office building lays in the middle for work-related matters.
* Neverwinter Police Department: Replacing the First Army as enforcers of the law. They are tasked with keeping the peace in Neverwinter.
* Holy Mountain Hotel: A hotel for merchants and other important guests to Neverwinter. It was named in honor of the Holy Mountain the former Cooperation Association looked for.
* Evelyn's Complex Wine House: An tavern funded by the Witch Union, It's run by Evelyn who uses her magic to create exquisite fruit wine & chaos drinks. Wealthy Travelers and traders usually stop here, allowing Evelyn to overhear potentially important conversations.
	+ Wine Cellar: The storage house for Evelyn's spare brew. The Chaos Drinks are kept in the basement. As it relies on skylight for lighting (to avoid igniting the alcohol) the cellar can only be accessed during the day.
* Neverwinter Hospital: A low-tech hospital run by Nana, Leaf and Lily. Nurses are trained in basic medication & first aid to relieve the burden on the Witches. Hero received her leg regrowth treatments here.
* Theater: A theater Roland created for the Magic movies, it has magic stone of light installed.
* Aerial Knight's Academy: Managed by Tilly, Aerial knights are trained by her. The initial models *Seagull* and *Unicorn* are stored here along with newer models.
* High Energy Lab: Anna's personal laboratory for creating lead boxes to harness uranium energy. Azima and Lucia work here. There are numerous gates and guards around the lab as a safety precaution against the populace as their curiosity could lead to hazardous materials being taken from the lab.
* Miracle Building: Dubbed such by Karl due to being a 15-floor apartment building. It is the closest building to Roland's modern era built in the city as of Chapter 1197. The first 5 floors had apartments for sale at 500 gold royals. Afterwards the price doubled by every few floors. The 15th floor was bought jointly by the Astrology and Alchemy departments to set up a new headquarters for a joint department. The Rainbow Seed clothing business is also located here, taking up two rooms. Floor 14 apartments cost 400 gold royals.

## Trivia

* The town had been established 70 years before prince Roland's arrival.
* During the City Hall Meeting where the name-change from "Border Town" to "City of Neverwinter" was decided, the attending members also decided on the new flag of the new city: "The design of the ﬂag was based on the emblem of the royal family of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Its basic pattern was a gun and a tower, above which was a big pentagram with three smaller ones below. The big pentagram represented Lord Roland Wimbledon, while the smaller ones each represented the City Hall, the Army, and the Witch Union."
* Age 16 is when residents are allowed to work, a law Roland placed to prevent child labor. Though acting as a clerk for the Witch Union is an exception.
* The last witches to arrive in Neverwinter before the Battle of Divine Will arrived in chapter 1235
* It is currently ruled by Tilly.

## Gallery

Manhua's depiction of Border Town before it was transformed into the city of Neverwinter.Border Town's Town Square.The people of Border Town cheering for their Lord, Prince Roland.Border Town's castle and Roland Wimbledon's place of residence.A night view of the castle.The castle at noon.The castle during the Months of DemonsThe castle after winter has ended.Side View of Border Town's Castle and Government Affairs OfficeThe castle gate guarded by two of Roland's knights.Border Town's towering city wall.Long shot of Border Town's wall.The City Wall during the Month of the DemonsBird's eye view of Border Town during Month of DemonsTwo of Border Town's townfolkThe flag of the City of Neverwinter: The spears and the tower are from the emblem of the royal family, the big pentagram represents Lord Roland Wimbledon, while the smaller ones represent the City Hall, the Army, and the Witch Union.
## References

1. ↑ Chapter 2 (novel)
2. ↑ Chapter 7 (novel)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 16
4. ↑ Chapter 8
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 17-18
6. ↑ Chapter 13 (novel), Chapter 25 (manhua)
7. ↑ Chapter 1174
8. ↑ Chapter 1455
9. ↑ Chapter 8 (novel)
10. ↑ Chapter 271 (novel)
11. ↑ Chapter 273 (novel)
12. ↑ Chapter 473 (novel)