Waterdeep had actually been managed quite strictly ever since the Drow wreaked havoc there.
However, the city guard had rotted for too long, leaving the seemingly tight defenses practically useless... What was kept out was, at best, low-tier adventurers who couldn't bear to spend money to find a way in.
Neverwinter had blown up, Luskan had high demands, and Aglaia was even harder to enter... These people had no choice but to try coming to Waterdeep to look for job opportunities.
Unfortunately, the price one had to pay to enter Waterdeep had risen to a level they simply couldn't afford.
Yes, for these palm-upward-accustomed Waterdeep City Guards, the result of the lords' repeated orders for strict defense was that the entry fee, originally 50 coppers, had become 50 silver pieces.
If one were a Half-Elf, it took a whole gold coin... They believed Half-Elves were Drow spies.
Of course, this was the official excuse, even though everyone knew they were talking nonsense... But they just needed an excuse to collect money, didn't they?
Half-Elves could make money much easier than humans.
Yet Half-Elves weren't stupid.
Those with clean alignments naturally went to Aglaia and Luskan to make a living... Waterdeep's merchant ships were indeed numerous, but Aglaia and Luskan weren't lacking either!
With no magic ships flying in from the planar gates right now, Waterdeep's biggest source of trade revenue had been cut off for a long time.
As for those assassins and thieves lingering in the shadows, they hadn't planned to pay even when the fee was 50 coppers.
With such a huge Waterdeep and such a long coastline, who couldn't find a gap to slip through?
Waterdeep didn't even have a Mythal.
In the end, the only ones blocked outside the city gates were the lowest-tier adventurers.
So