Daeghun sends the protagonist away from West Harbor with the silver shard, ostensibly to remove the object of the invaders' search from the village and thus prevent any further invasions. The Githyanki seem to be searching for something, and through cryptic exposition by the player character's foster father Daeghun, we are given to understand that there is something special about a particular silver shard found years ago at the King of Shadows' defeat, and that this object should not fall into the hands of the planar creatures. The plot kicks off with the sudden invasion of West Harbor by extraplanar creatures called Githyanki and their hordes of minions. As the game begins, these events are long in the past, and the infant has grown to a young adult, never having left West Harbor.

The player character's fate is intricately tied to this historical battle, where the character's parents were killed, resulting in the infant character coming under the foster care of the elven ranger Daeghun. The protagonist starts out as a resident of the tiny village of West Harbor, which long ago served as a titanic battleground where the King of Shadows was thought defeated by most. The main plot of Neverwinter Nights 2 centers around a powerful force of evil named the King of Shadows and an artifact that can ultimately defeat the arch-foe. So begins an epic tale of shattered alliances, noble acts and dark deeds to be told across the Realms for generations to come. A mysterious relic is borne to Neverwinter in the hands of a lone hero so that its secrets may be unlocked - secrets that carry the fate of all the North. If left unchallenged, all of the North is doomed to fall under its power. Unbeknownst to the denizens of the North, deep in the Mere of Dead Men, dark forces from across the Realms have been rallied under the banner of a legendary evil. Unnoticed, a greater danger stalks the City of Skilled Hands. Tension growing between the mighty city-states means the Sword Coast again teeters on the edge of open war. But the brief peace the Realms have known may be at an end. Years have passed since the war between Luskan and Neverwinter, almost enough time for the wounds of war to heal. The official fact sheet says:Д«ards sing tales of heroes from ages past, but never have the Forgotten Realms so desperately needed a champion. In the NWN2 campaign, players start from level 1, and there is a level 20 maximum and the option to multiclass the player's character up to 4 classes (3 regular classes in addition to 1 prestige class). It has been stated that a character playing through the official campaigns of NWN and its two expansion packs will have reached around level 30, so there is little that will be a credible 'challenge' to those players. The official campaign is set around the city of Neverwinter, although it will not be a continuation of the NWN campaign. New NPCs include Jalboun of the Two Blades and the King of Shadows Lord Nasher Alagondar returns from Neverwinter Nights.

The game's locations include the city of Neverwinter, a new village named West Harbor, and the Mere of Dead Men. Players will also be able to acquire a stronghold during the course of the campaign. The crafting system from the original Neverwinter Nights has been revised, and players can now craft weapons, shields and armor, mix up potions, or create magical items with special 'workbenches' scattered in towns and shops. In addition, the player can now gain or lose influence with party members, which will dictate outcomes to certain quests or even set strife inside the party. The official campaign in NWN2 provides a pool of 12 NPCs who would join the player's party. The player can also customize statistics and abilities. Options include choosing the character's gender, race, class, appearance, and name. Comparable to the first NWN, gameplay starts by creating a character.

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