The Lord's Alliance
The Lords' Alliance, also known as the Council of Lords, was a partnership of merchant cities founded in 1325 DR. Its members were from the Sword Coast, the North and Western Heartlands, including Waterdeep, City of Splendors, Silverymoon, Baldur's Gate, and Neverwinter, as well as other free cities and towns in the region, which made up the bulk of the organization. It was formed to oppose the growing influence of the Black Network in The North, as well as the Shadow Thieves of Amn.
The alliance usually hired adventurers to work for them in the past for tasks ranging from gathering simple information, or even for use in raids against Zhentarim strongholds and outposts. Local adventurers could quickly gain status, as well as powerful friends by helping the alliance, but can just as easily make enemies of the sinister Zhentarim as a result.
Structure
In the years soon after its founding more than one hundred fifty years ago, there was more interest in membership, and the Alliance accepted some members from farther south. Since then, events such as the growth of Elturgard into a power in its own right, and the recent fall of the Silver Marches, have caused the group to draw in on itself, restricting its membership to powers in the North. The current members of the Alliance are Amphail, Baldur’s Gate, Daggerford, Longsaddle, Mirabar, Mithral Hall, Neverwinter, Silverymoon, Waterdeep, and Yartar. There is some doubt that Mithral Hall will be part of the alliance for much longer, but until rulership of the dwarven city is more firmly established, it remains a member.
Culture
The Lords’ Alliance isn’t a nation unto itself, but a partnership of the rulers of towns and cities across the North, who have pledged peace with one another and promised to share information and effort against common threats such as orc hordes and Northlander pirates. It is a loose confederation of those settlements and their agents, all of whom owe allegiance first to their homelands, and second to the Lords’ Alliance.
In the harsh lands of the North, where winters are cold and monsters and human barbarians regularly stream out of the mountains to pillage outlying settlements, large nations are rare indeed, particularly in the current state of the world. Instead, great city-states have emerged, enriched by trade and protected by stout walls and loyal defenders. Such cities — including Baldur’s Gate, Mirabar, Neverwinter, Silverymoon, and Waterdeep — extend their influence into nearby regions, often creating or accepting vassal settlements, but in the end, these realms are cities, driven to consider their own protection and future before other concerns.
It is impossible to ascribe an overall character to the individual members of the alliance. As a group, the agents of the members are interested in the preservation of civilization in the North, and they share what information they can — and oppose what threats they must — to further that goal. In the end, though, a merchant of Waterdeep and one of Baldur’s Gate are concerned mainly for their own purses and the welfare of their home cities, and are unlikely to care what happens to the other, except inasmuch as it affects trade.
In the harsh lands of the North, where winters are cold and monsters and human barbarians regularly stream out of the mountains to pillage outlying settlements, large nations are rare indeed, particularly in the current state of the world. Instead, great city-states have emerged, enriched by trade and protected by stout walls and loyal defenders. Such cities — including Baldur’s Gate, Mirabar, Neverwinter, Silverymoon, and Waterdeep — extend their influence into nearby regions, often creating or accepting vassal settlements, but in the end, these realms are cities, driven to consider their own protection and future before other concerns.
It is impossible to ascribe an overall character to the individual members of the alliance. As a group, the agents of the members are interested in the preservation of civilization in the North, and they share what information they can — and oppose what threats they must — to further that goal. In the end, though, a merchant of Waterdeep and one of Baldur’s Gate are concerned mainly for their own purses and the welfare of their home cities, and are unlikely to care what happens to the other, except inasmuch as it affects trade.
Public Agenda
For a century and a half, and more, the Lords’ Alliance has stood as the most important and influential group in the North. Its power has kept towns safe from the predations of larger powers, has kept the ambitions of Luskan in check, and has taught the rulers of many cities that it is better to cooperate, even for a time, then to merely shut one’s doors and allow the storms to rage outside. It was this philosophy that led to the founding of Luruar, and when the lesson was lost, so too were the Silver Marches. But it serves no purpose to dwell on the folly of the past. Better instead to look to the future, repair the walls, and wait for word from the watching sentries.
- Andwe Cururen, agent of the Lords’ Alliance
Maps
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The Sword Coast
The Sword Coast was an expansive tract of wilderness, dotted with independent cities and overrun by bands of monstrous creatures, that some saw as merely a place through which you had to travel in order to reach an actual meaningful destination. It was much more than that of course, a rich and vibrant land with a long and storied history that encompassed some of the most important cities in all the Realms. It was considered one of the rougher locales of Faerûn, both geographically and by virtue of its people. Some say the Sword Coast took its name from the white cliffs that rose up sharply for hundreds of miles along the coastline between the River Dessarin and Baldur's Gate. Traveling author Volothamp Geddarm attributed the region's name to its dangerous inhabitants, both humanoid and bestial.
Founding Date
1325
Type
Alliance, Generic
Alternative Names
Council of Lords
Leader
Location
Notable Members
WoTC Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Fandom