I'm currently working on a scenario for my players who are just about to finish up with Icespire Peak after having gone through Lost Mines of Phandelver.

The new scenario takes place in Neverwinter. They expressed a wish to go there for research, retooling, and cashing in, so I came up with the idea for Lord Neverember to ask them (through agents) if they will go in to Castle Never and find out what's buried underneath (Rumors and recent events suggesting that its nothing good). 

I am working on a map with an above the ground Ruined Castle Grounds and a Basement Level, including a Royal Crypt and Dungeon,  but lo and behold! Well.... no spoilers.

I want to get the Lore as correct as possible, so I've considered the fate of the Neverwinter Nine, the Lost Crown of Neverwinter, even (especially) the royal claims of Lord Neverember, etc. But what I cannot seem to find anywhere is who was the King when the King went missing? And when exactly did that happen? 

I have Nashar Alagondar having a son named Bann Alagondar and an alleged bastard, Vers Never (who was his mother, and how did he come by the Never name?). It seems that none of them would have been alive at the time of the Mt Hotenow eruption, and no King (or Lord) of Neverwinter is mentioned at that time. In fact, this is the opportunity Lord Neverember takes to put his hooks into the city, so presumably this is when the rightful King went missing. What was his name?! 

I've looked everywhere (mostly Forgotten Realms WIki, Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, and the 4e Neverwinter Regional Campaign Setting) and these answers do not seem to exist. 

If you know somewhere else I can look, or better, HAVE the answers, please share. Furthermore, if you know some good Neverwinter Lore that could be included in in my scenario, that would be awesome as well.

I suppose the name of the last rightful King is not known, therefore I will accept suggestions on what it should be.

Finally.... if anyone is interested in reading my Castle Never Scenario, please let me know. It can certainly use some proofreading. NOTE: Its not finished yet, and I may have to start my party in it before it ever gets done, but I'll share what I have for advice, proofreading, and beta-testing if you are so inclined.

Sign me up buddy! 

I'm a little late to the party but part of Neverwinter Nights 2 happens under Castle Never. Not sure how lore-friendly it is but might be something to look up.

Here's a video I found of the level, I haven't watched it through but its fair to assume spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E49q3PMr2M8&list=PLXcG0B6NDhpBnFoixpotczkbZH5MlyIpP&index=72&t=0s

Maybe have a Nazgul style thing with the Neverwinter Nine? Also this page might help.

Quote from Harbinjer >>

I'm currently working on a scenario for my players who are just about to finish up with Icespire Peak after having gone through Lost Mines of Phandelver.

The new scenario takes place in Neverwinter. They expressed a wish to go there for research, retooling, and cashing in, so I came up with the idea for Lord Neverember to ask them (through agents) if they will go in to Castle Never and find out what's buried underneath (Rumors and recent events suggesting that its nothing good). 

I am working on a map with an above the ground Ruined Castle Grounds and a Basement Level, including a Royal Crypt and Dungeon,  but lo and behold! Well.... no spoilers.

I want to get the Lore as correct as possible, so I've considered the fate of the Neverwinter Nine, the Lost Crown of Neverwinter, even (especially) the royal claims of Lord Neverember, etc. But what I cannot seem to find anywhere is who was the King when the King went missing? And when exactly did that happen? 

I have Nashar Alagondar having a son named Bann Alagondar and an alleged bastard, Vers Never (who was his mother, and how did he come by the Never name?). It seems that none of them would have been alive at the time of the Mt Hotenow eruption, and no King (or Lord) of Neverwinter is mentioned at that time. In fact, this is the opportunity Lord Neverember takes to put his hooks into the city, so presumably this is when the rightful King went missing. What was his name?! 

I've looked everywhere (mostly Forgotten Realms WIki, Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, and the 4e Neverwinter Regional Campaign Setting) and these answers do not seem to exist. 

If you know somewhere else I can look, or better, HAVE the answers, please share. Furthermore, if you know some good Neverwinter Lore that could be included in in my scenario, that would be awesome as well.

I suppose the name of the last rightful King is not known, therefore I will accept suggestions on what it should be.

Finally.... if anyone is interested in reading my Castle Never Scenario, please let me know. It can certainly use some proofreading. NOTE: Its not finished yet, and I may have to start my party in it before it ever gets done, but I'll share what I have for advice, proofreading, and beta-testing if you are so inclined.

It's hinted at, that the Alagondars /may/ not be ruling when Mt Hotenow erupted and the Alagondars were killed. It's unclear.

"...Upset that Hugo Babris, the Lord of Neverwinter, would not rename a prominent bridge after him, Alegni summoned his chief assassin, Barrabus the Gray, from his home in the port city of Memnon..." - from the synopsis of the novel "Gauntlegrym by RA Salvatore.  This is in the year 1451, right before the eruption of Mt Hotenow.

So, the status of the Alagondar dynasty is in question /prior/ to the eruption that supposedly wiped them out.  4e had the Neverwinter Noble background, so there are certainly Alagondars around and one of them escapes.  The background text puts around 1478 (27 years after the eruption).  The current year in game I believe is 1495, so the eruption would have been ~50 years ago.  There could be multiple descendants by this point if that single survivor has had multiple children.

Beyond that, I don't think there is any canon lore as to which Alagondars were active at the time of the eruption.  I believe that there is no /clear/ answer for the reason that by design, so that DMs had the freedom to craft their own story around House Alagondar and it's possible heirs.  That's a big part of why 4e had a big gap in lore.  If I were looking to write lore and try to be consistent with established canon, I would say that the true Alagondar king at the time was a minor and unable to rule, and Hugo Babris was forced on Neverwinter as some variety of regent.

Vers Never's mother is not named in any source I can find.  He may have gotten the name Never from being a bastard....perhaps it's a local custom to give them the surname "Never".  That's what I'd go with, and it would explain why he added his wife's surname of Ember to create House Neverember.

EDIT:  Candlekeep is a great place to check for FR lore.  I my google searches hit on nothing there (I'd hoped that some of the folks who talk to Ed Greenwood that post there might have answered a question about it) so my guess is such information does not exist outside Ed Greenwood's or his close confidantes' notes.

Thank you. Very Helpful! 

I googled Hugo Babris and found him mentioned on the Forgotten Realms wiki:

The Alagondar line of kings and queens ruled their city fairly and well until, at some point before Year of Knowledge Unearthed, 1451 DR, the Lords of Waterdeep put Lord Hugo Babris in charge of the city.

Unfortunately, a paragraph later, the same article says that the Alagondar Royal Family was killed in the cataclysm of the Mt. Hotenow eruption, with no mention of Hugo. Perhaps the Alagondars came back to power, just in time to die? This is not explained.

Then I found a different article, discussing the renaming of the Winged Wyvern Bridge, that says this about Hugo:

In 1451 DR, the Netherese warlord Herzgo Alegni used his slave, Barrabus the Gray, to coerce the then lord of Neverwinter, Hugo Babris, to officially rename the bridge "The Herzgo Alegni Bridge". The bridge maintained its name only for a few days, before the Ruining destroyed most of the city, killing most of the citizens. The Winged Wyvern was the only one of the three bridges that withstood the cataclysm almost unscathed.

The implication of course, Hugo Babris was the Lord of Neverwinter a few days before, and therefore likely during, the cataclysm in which the Alagondars died.

I can think of two options that explain everything: 

• The Alagondars were in exile at the time (ousted by factions from Waterdeep, evidently), or
• Hugo Babris was, in fact, an Alagondar.

I like the first option better.

My thinking on Vers Never's mother was she is possibly descended down a more distant line of the Never family... second daughter of a third son of a third son of a second son of Lord Never, or something... Nowhere in the line of succession, but with enough nobility that she's welcome at court. She maybe even intentionally got pregnant by Alagondar to restore her line to royalty.

That's why I suggested that Hugo Babris was in fact some sort of regent for an Alagondar heir who was too young to rule.  If the Alagondars had been deposed, you would think that their claim to the throne would also be gone.