Baldur's Gate, also called simply the Gate, was the largest metropolis and city-state on the
The Sword Coast, within the greater Western Heartlands. It was a crowded city of commerce and opportunity, perhaps the most prosperous and influential merchant city on the western coast of Faerûn. Despite its long-standing presence as a neutral power, the leaders of Baldur's Gate were members of the Lords' Alliance of powers in the west.
The strong peace-keeping force known as
The Watch, along with the presence of the powerful
Flaming Fist mercenary company, kept the city generally peaceful and safe. This inherent sense of security allowed the Gate to keep a tolerant and welcoming attitude towards outsiders, whether they were wealthy merchants, poor refugees or, as it historically attracted, less-scrupulous individuals such as pirates and smugglers.
“Baldur's Gate is a viper's nest of schemes and schemers.”
- Coran
Description
Even the most hardened adventurers watch their steps in Baldur’s Gate, where lives hold prices in copper and greed proves deadlier than dragon fire. Baldur’s Gate has a reputation for being a rough place, where crime and opportunity walk hand in hand, and where anything can be bought, sold, or seized at swordpoint. If something can be given a price, it’s for sale somewhere in Baldur’s Gate. Drugs and poisons sit on shelves alongside tinctures and remedies. Trade goods from Chult, mechanical wonders from
Neverwinter, tomes of magic from Calimshan, and the most believable counterfeits of each can all be found in the city’s stalls.
The
Flaming Fist, a mercenary company paid for by the city, protects residents without the barest hint of civil delicacy.
The Watch, the guardian force of the wealthy of
The Upper City, exists only to serve the patriars — the city’s detached upper class. Meanwhile, crime flourishes under the control of
The Guild, which oversees almost every organized criminal act, from dockside gambling rings to blackmail at patriar garden parties. Either under
The Guild’s auspices or in defiance of them, those who cut purses or throats make a decent living in the city, their talents traded as briskly — and often just as openly — as those of any other professional.
For all its shadows and dark dealings, Baldur’s Gate is not without its lights. Some residents earnestly seek to make the city a safer place by banding together to make their own sort of imperfect but effective justice.
Geography
Baldur's Gate was located to the south of the great city-state of
Waterdeep, north of Amn along the well-traveled Coast Way road, that passed over the
Wyrm's Crossing, through the
The Outer City and into the Gate proper. It was nestled on a stretch of poor soil, within a natural bay that formed on the north bank of the River Chionthar about 40 miles (64.4 km) east from its mouth on the Sea of Swords.
As the minstrels of the 14th century described it, the city was a crescent moon that wrapped around the great harbor, though in the century that followed it grew well beyond that form. While the terrain of
The Upper City was flat and level,
The Lower City was built over steep bluffs that overlooked the Gray Harbor.
Weather
The region surrounding Baldur's Gate received an abundance of drizzling rain and sleet with frequent-occurring fog that rolled through the city's streets. This excessive precipitation was well-mitigated with an advanced water system where underground basins collected the run off rainwater, maneuvering it through subterranean aqueducts that emptied it into massive cistern beneath the
Temples District.
Despite the city's engineering and cleanliness, this continual rain led to regular growth of mildew accompanied by a musky smell that permeated the city's cellars. To abate the slippery stone streets, it was sometimes necessary to spread straw or gravel along the wet cobblestones.
Government
Since its famous tax revolt, Baldur's Gate was ruled by four Dukes, whose membership composed the
Council of Four. They were elected by the citizens to serve for life or until they wished to retire. The Council served as a member of the Lords' Alliance, which included
Waterdeep and
Silverymoon, among other nation-states.
After an attempted coup by former Grand Duke Valarken, Baldur's Gate's government underwent a major restructure and the newly-created Baldurian parliament elected the Dukes.
This changed again however, sometime before 1479 DR, as the
Council of Four was reinstated. They were still aided by the
Parliament of Peers, who continued to serve as their electors as well as a legislative body. These 50 or so influential Baldurians met to discuss city matters and made recommendations to the council.
Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard
Ulder Ravengard is a fearless soldier who rose up through the ranks of the Flaming Fist to become its supreme marshal. Ravengard used his military position and influence to secure for himself a seat on the Council of Four. Following the deaths of two council members amid a cloud of corruption and scandal, he persuaded the Parliament of Peers to back his election to grand duke.
Upon ascending to the highest position in the city government, Ravengard refused to relinquish command of the Flaming Fist, making him the most powerful figure in the city by far. This decision has not endeared him to anyone, but Ravengard could care less about his popularity. His only concerns are the stability and prosperity of Baldur’s Gate, and he doesn’t trust any of the other dukes or anyone in the Parliament of Peers to put the city’s interests before their own.
Ravengard rose to grand duke on a platform largely backed by idealistic commoners and enemies of the other established dukes. While he won election handily, Ravengard has struggled in performing his duties, finding his hands tied at every turn by both overt and invisible bureaucracy. Despite this, he’s been a voice of reason and common sense on the Council of Four — if not the egalitarianism some hoped. He’s also proven largely resistant to scandal and corruption, though many of his fellow dukes and those in the Parliament of Peers still regularly outmaneuver him politically. One of his only obvious pleasures remains the surprise inspections he regularly visits upon the troops at Wyrm’s Rock.
Ravengard was recently tricked into attending a diplomatic summit in Elturel, unaware that his political enemies in Baldur’s Gate orchestrated this meeting in a fiendish plot to remove him from power. In his absence, the Flaming Fist is leaderless, the council rudderless.
Duke Belynne Stelmane
Once a vigorous and formidable politician, Duke Belynne Stelmane recently suffered a seizure that left her with a partially paralyzed face and slowed speech. In truth, a mind flayer provoked the duke’s “seizure” when it took mental possession of her. Now Stelmane wages a silent war against the mind flayer’s influence, biding her time until she can find a way to signal for aid or regain her will. Not even Stelmane’s aides are aware of her secret struggle, though they cover for her as best they can.
Given her current situation, Duke Stelmane is in no position to oppose attempts by her fellow dukes to seize the reins of power in Baldur’s Gate.
Duke Dillard Portyr
Duke Dillard Portyr was once a respected businessman, but after a string of sour deals, he pulled back from his investments. Now he uses his time to enjoy the comforts that his wealth and title provide him. He lives alone in his manor, having outlived his two wives and three sons, and trades correspondence with his niece, Liara Portyr, who commands a Flaming Fist outpost on Chult known as Fort Beluarian.
Duke Portyr is conflict-averse and goes out of his way to avoid stress. He shows well in social situations, but is easily manipulated in the political arena. He is known for listening with concern, showing an earnest desire to help, making promises to look into things, and then doing nothing. As a result, a great deal of the citizenry’s scorn lies heaped upon Duke Portyr’s shoulders.
Duke Portyr expressed concern about Ravengard’s diplomatic mission to Elturel, fearing what the Flaming Fist might do while Ravengard is away. If his worst fears come true and the Flaming Fist can’t control itself, Duke Portyr plans to write a letter to his niece, urging her to return to Baldur’s Gate and take command of the Flaming Fist in Ravengard’s absence. It’s literally the least he can do.
Acid-tongued, shrewd, and aggressive, Duke Thalamra Vanthampur is the matriarch of the Vanthampur family. Born with nothing, she spent years wallowing in obscurity, repairing and renovating the city’s ancient sewer system. One promotion after another followed until she was named Master of Drains and Underways. By then, she had been married three times and given birth to three sons. Her lifelong goal has been to lift herself and her family out of the sewers and into high society.
Years of political dealing, blame shuffling, and bribery paid off when Thalamra was elected to the Council of Four. Although she has served on the council for the shortest amount of time, Duke Vanthampur is easily the most politically savvy council member. She speaks little during meetings of the council, preferring to further her political agenda through meetings in her private offices and at her family estate. When she does choose to debate, she speaks with a strength beyond what it seems like her age should allow, and is known for leveling insults that land unsettlingly close to (supposedly) hidden truths.
City Officers
The Council of Four were served by five deputies, city officials that oversaw their subordinate bureaucrats and maintained the daily needs of Baldur's Gate. Their titles and responsibilities were as follows:
Harbormaster
Managed operations of the Gray Harbor, assigned tariffs and taxes on imported goods, and maintained the records of all goods shipped in or out of the city
High Constable and Master of Walls
Castellan of the Watch Citadel
Maintained operations of the city's drains, sewers, waterways and aqueducts
Master of Cobbles
Oversaw construction and maintenance of all city roads, bridges and non-water-related, stone infrastructure
Purse Master
Collected taxes, invested city funds, directed payment to city officials, and oversaw the Bailiff of the Wide
Taxes
Historically, the Baldurian people had a complicated relationship with taxation at the hands of city officials. Excessive gate tolls incited a transformative revolution in the city in its formative years, leading to the formation of its preeminent form of governance. Ironically, that same governing body enacted nearly identical taxers that remained for hundreds of years. By the 15 century, city officials collected tolls from passersby at nearly every cite gate, through a vast, far-reaching bureaucracy that was constantly under threat of corruption.
Law and Order
Everyone in Baldur’s Gate is expected to hew to common law. Murder, theft, assault, blackmail, and fraud all carry severe penalties. Patriars, the wealthy, and the well-connected are given much more leniency than commoners. A noble heir who steals from a shop might get away with a fine paid by a parent, whereas a commoner committing the same crime may be jailed or publicly flogged.
Both the Watch and the Flaming Fist have the right to dispense immediate justice, should they witness a crime in progress. In unclear situations, or when a person of influence is involved, the accused is jailed until a trial can be set. Patriars and other powerful individuals are usually placed under house arrest, except in dire circumstances. Commoners await their trial in jail. On occasion, a vigilante or hired mercenary will break an accused commoner out of prison in order to ensure the accused’s safety until the trial date.
Minor crimes, such as creating a public disturbance, petty theft, or vandalism carry commensurate punishments. Time in the stocks, public humiliation, or a fine are the usual judgments. Some patriar families consider petty crimes to be worse than major ones — they are a sign that one can’t manage one’s baser instincts. Patriars have been known to pay huge bribes or promise outsized favors to protect a rebellious heir from being charged with a minor crime.
Lawyers must belong to the Barrister’s Guild to practice, and the associated fees means they prefer to represent wealthy clients. Poorer citizens often must throw themselves on the mercy of the courts, or scrape together what coin they can to hire an adventurer or mercenary to find evidence to support their plea.
Military
Baldur’s Gate boasts two military forces: the Flaming Fist and the Watch. Use the Guard Arrival Times table to determine how long it takes for the Flaming Fist or the Watch to arrive at a location after a crime or similar incident is reported.
The red and gold symbol of the Flaming Fist mercenary company (see "Flaming Fist Coat of Arms") has become emblematic of Baldur’s Gate. The Council of Four funds the Flaming Fist, supporting it as the city’s army. Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard is now its undisputed leader.
The Flaming Fist largely patrols the Lower City, though it holds nominal authority over the Outer City as well. The company has enough to do maintaining order within the city walls without straying too far from its gates, though the Fist has been known to hire independent agents when its ranks are spread thin.
Thousands of soldiers currently serve in the Flaming Fist: in Baldur’s Gate proper, at the fortress of Wyrm’s Rock on the Chionthar River, and at remote outposts such as Fort Beluarian in Chult. The Flaming Fist offers employment and a sense of belonging to any who can lift a sword and follow orders. Native Baldurians, immigrants, former criminals, and retired adventurers can all be found within the company’s ranks.
Watch officers can spend their entire careers within the Upper City. Bankrolled by the patriars, the Watch has a reputation as glorified bodyguards for the city’s elite.
Orderly and regimented, the Watch maintains precise, predictable patrols. At dusk, the Watch clears the Upper City of everyone but residents, their household staffs, and guests bearing written invitations. Many Watch officers, born and raised in the city, pride themselves on recognizing every Upper City resident on sight.
The Watch operates out of the Citadel, a massive keep built into the Upper City’s walls. In times of crisis, bells at the High Hall and the Citadel are rung simultaneously. If the pealing continues for more than a few minutes, every Watch member is required to rally at the Citadel or appointed guard posts. The function of the bells is common knowledge.
Crime
Throughout its history, various thieves guilds had risen and fallen in Baldur's Gate, including the one led by Alatos Thuibuld, Xantam's Guild and the Hands of Glory. Since the fall of these groups in the late 14 century, the Guild, led by Nine-Fingers emerged as the predominant thieves' organization in Baldur's Gate. Nearly all of the smaller gangs of the Outer and Lower City regions owed at least some obedience to this influential organization.
Economy and Trade
With trade ways running north and south along the Sword Coast, a port on the Sea of Swords, and the Chionthar River leading inland, Baldur’s Gate is perfectly situated for its role as a commercial hub. Craftspeople, merchants, traders, and smugglers all make a brisk living in the city, and many immigrants are drawn by the dream that anyone willing to work hard can be successful in Baldur’s Gate.
Baldur’s Gate has plenty of exports, notably fish, fish glue, and sea salt, but its main economic force is trade itself. The city boasts multiple large and well-connected trade guilds and a marketplace where wholesalers can exchange goods before moving up or down the Sword Coast.
The number of ships in port and traders making their way north or south mean that Baldur’s Gate boasts one of the most expansive markets in the west. Coin trumps morals in Baldur’s Gate, with profit being the ultimate good. As a result, nearly anything can be bought and sold in the city’s shops, whether it be rare jewels, magic weapons, secrets, alliances, or even murder. People visit the city seeking imports from Port Nyanzaru, verdigris-covered treasures dredged from the sea, blackmail information on political rivals, or custom-brewed poisons.
Though the city has laws regarding the sale of stolen property, smuggling, and contract killing, such crimes are rarely reported and even more rarely enforced. Unless the complainant is a patriar or other powerful individual, law enforcement lacks the time and interest to pursue those engaging in mutually beneficial transactions. The unwritten law is do nothing that interferes with the city’s economy and make your bargains in peace. Individuals who suffer due to morally questionable contracts must seek out private means of obtaining justice.
Professional Guilds
Craftspeople and merchants organize in professional guilds and follow official charters. Unofficial guilds are technically illegal, but in the Outer City, such informal guilds are common.
Most professional guilds operate in the Lower City, but prefer to provide their goods to the wealthy patriar families of the Upper City. Commoners grumble that they can’t even buy from their own neighbors, with the choicest items and freshest food traveling up the hill. A laborer might toil all day at a fishmonger’s shop, then be forced to take their pay to the Outer City and buy yesterday’s catch from an unlicensed seller.
In many cases, guilds intersect with crews. Such groups take an interest in their members beyond a professional level, working to assure that they’re safe on the streets and at home so they can return to work the next morning. Those who mistreat a guild member might find themselves ostracized by all members of that profession, or even find themselves cornered by members of the guild’s associated crew, their most menacing tools of the trade in hand.
Citizenry
The citizens of Baldur’s Gate include many races and ethnicities. Though prejudices can exist among certain residents, Baldur’s Gate as a whole is a diverse and unprejudiced — if not welcoming — city.
Many of the patriar families of Baldur’s Gate can trace their lineage back for generations, but a significant portion of Baldurians were not born in the city. Most citizens began their lives in Tethyr, the North, the Western Heartlands, or other communities along the Sword Coast. Baldurians born in Amn, the High Forest, and nations bordering the Inner Sea are less common, but still present. Rarely, travelers from as far away as Chult, Mulhorand, or Luiren decide to follow the flow of trade and settle in the city.
Commoners and Crews
Baldur’s Gate can be a rough place for ordinary folk. Among the twisting streets of the Lower City, commoners have significantly fewer rights than patriars, with only the brusque mercenaries of the Flaming Fist to keep them safe. Even worse off are the poor residents of the Outer City, many of whom aren’t recognized as citizens. With the Flaming Fist too eager to punish criminal behavior by drubbing both accuser and accused, it’s important that common folk have someone to watch their backs. That’s why the people of Baldur’s Gate created crews — collections of likeminded folk who band together for mutual protection. Depending on the crew, this protection can range from taking someone’s side in a tavern brawl or guarding each other’s shops to price fixing or inter-crew loans.
Crews were the first to institute the common practice of burl. Under this system, anyone seeking shelter and safety — usually those fleeing from the Flaming Fist or some other danger — can approach a house or shop and give three sharp knocks followed by a heavier one. The residents are then obligated to take that person in and hide them. This applies even to members of opposing crews, though anyone requesting sanctuary from a crew other than their own incurs a debt, both personally and on behalf of their crew. Abusing someone who’s granted burl is grounds for immediate expulsion from one’s crew, and such “drowners” are universally shunned.
The dozens of crews calling Baldur’s Gate home are as different in attitude and approach as the city’s residents. For instance, everyone in the Lower City knows that if you need cheap muscle, you hire members of the burly Porters’ Union or Stonemasons’ Guild, and not even the Flaming Fist would willingly pick a fight with the blood-spattered Butchers’ Block or the mercenaries and “security consultants” of the Bannerless Legion. Other crews, such as the Scribes and Sages or the Honorable Order of Moneylenders, would never dream of getting their hands dirty, while the Apothecary Alliance and Brethren of Barbers don’t need to throw a punch to strike fear into rivals. From carpenters to grocers, the Forgeworkers’ Lodge to the Wisewoman Weavers, nearly every profession offers some access to a crew. And not just legal professions, either; the Revelers’ Union, made up of night-workers who sell drugs, companionship, and other recreations, is one of the most powerful in the city, thanks to the information it gathers from its clients.
Some crews are simply neighborhood-based, their association based on territory rather than trade, such as the Right Pashas of Little Calimshan, the Crossed of Wyrm’s Crossing, the Gravemakers of Tumbledown, or the Bloomridge Dandies.
By far the most important crew to travelers, however, is the Gateguides. Made up primarily of teenage lantern bearers, the Gateguides earn a living hiring themselves out to newcomers to show them the ropes of the city, help make connections with other crews, and offer some degree of collective protection.
Patriars are the elite upper class of the city, a rank defined largely by money and lines of vague, increasingly inconsequential heritage. Many nobles claim generations of lineage, dating to the earliest days of Baldur’s Gate. Their money funds industries and lines political pockets, but their names allow them to wield influence throughout the city.
Some patriars are economically-minded individuals who rise early and spend their days in meetings and negotiations. They fund expeditions into dangerous locales and hire explorers to map uncharted territories. Other patriars manipulate the city’s power players through diplomacy and intrigue. They spend their days flitting from theater performances to private balls, while quietly making and breaking the alliances that underwrite the city’s structures.
Patriars live and work in the Upper City. Their manor homes employ dozens of servants, along with contingents of personal guards. The wall surrounding the Upper City as well as the constant presence of the Watch — which exclusively patrols that district — goes far toward assuring their security. As a side effect, it also means many patriars go months without engaging with the city’s common folk, their insulation leading to the spread of divisive rumors.
Patriars know the danger of the other districts, where their wealth is a lure and their names carry no weight. Patriars who have to travel the Lower City always do so with guards, and still risk robbery or worse violence.
Many patriar families hire proxies to carry out their business in the Lower City or Outer City. If circumstances force patriars to visit the Outer City personally, they typically travel in disguise, paying adventurers or mercenaries to protect them without drawing the attention of a uniformed personal guard.
Among the common folk and criminal element of the city, patriars have a reputation for callousness. Common wisdom holds that patriars are out of touch with everyday life and value citizens’ lives cheaply. For some nobles, this assessment holds true. These patriars are class-conscious dilettantes who spend their money on frivolous bets, debauched entertainment, and risky business ventures. For this callous lot, the common people are nothing more than fools to be bilked, clods undeserving of comfort and wealth due to their lack of comfort and breeding.
For a few patriars, though, the inequality of Baldur’s Gate is a serious concern. Blocked by a corrupt government and uncaring peers, these civic-minded nobles use unorthodox channels to distribute aid. They quietly fund vigilante action that protects the vulnerable groups. They stage robberies on their own property and secretly send the “stolen goods” to sick houses and charities. These patriars know that to act openly is to invite scorn from their peers, which may edge them out of alliances and deals that could strengthen their standing. Worse, it makes them targets for corrupt elite who prefer the city’s divisions as they are.
Some good-hearted but naïve patriars have been known to venture into the Lower City and even the Outer City to volunteer with the disadvantaged or share their wealth. Even in disguise, though, these nobles are usually quickly identified and become targets of the Guild or other criminals. More than one patriar on a mission of mercy has disappeared into the Lower City, never to be seen again.
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