For many years, we’ve heard about the massive, underground tunnel system beneath Waterdeep, which has been a popular target for adventurers dating back many years. Most recently, however, talk has begun emerging of new tunnels that have been discovered.
“There’s enough hints; enough stories,” says Waterdhavian historian Relo Thann, “there’s no question about it in my mind. No question. We’ve known for quite some time that there could be more – especially after the spellplague hit.”
Most residents know of places in the city which are located close to known underground tunnels, which are clearly marked as such. The presence of underground tunnels is no mystery to the city folk.
However, it can also be said that there are a great many secrets that the Masked Lords see fit to keep from the public eye for their own reasons. The new tunnels in question reportedly date back to well beyond the founding of the city, according to several adventurers who claim to have seen them, meaning that these are not new constructions. Who built them, and what they were used for, remains unclear.
“There’s always s**t like this going on.” Gibson, a local tavern owner, gave us his opinion on the matter. “It could be smugglers, thieves, or any other sorts of nasty business. They aren’t very well hidden either; I found one of them myself last night, let me show you.”
Gibson led our reporter to an older area of the city where he opened up a vacant building. “This is where I think the tunnel is,” he said while searching around the floor, “and of course it has a stone floor now and I can’t really prove it. Probably magic.”
A few people our reporter spoke with at Gibson’s tavern, which was located just a few blocks away from the vacant building. Many spoke with say they have heard about entrances to these tunnels inside various buildings near this area.
“It’s probably just a scam to get people to his place,” one of the patrons stated, “we’re always hearing about things like this which turns out to be wild rumors or exaggerated at best. The only one I know of that’s actually true are the places beneath the Yawning Portal Inn.”
The tales did not end with tavern owners and their patrons. A stranger approached our reporter during an interview and said he has seen closed up tunnel entrances in the basements of some downtown buildings.
Upon following up on his claims, it appeared true. Getting through these blockades legally would be quite a process, however, as you needed explicit permission from the guard to unblock them. For good reason, we might add, as they could be sealing up an area formerly trafficked by monstrous creatures.
We sought out the City Guard. Asking them about these tunnels, they hand waived the issue, calling the authenticity of the rumormongers into question. “We hear these sorts of rumors all the time,” said a City Guard captain, “they’ve been true once or twice, but the other fifty times they haven’t. We’ve already investigated the precise rumor you’re tracking down and found no reason to believe anything new has been unearthed. I repeat: there is nothing new under Waterdeep. There is no reason for adventurers to investigate.”
The reporter could not help but feel like there was something beyond those words and a twinkle in the eye of the captain as he spoke. It was made evident no to press the matter, however.
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