North City
Shamal Al Madina
Baldur's Gate's North City, is the largest metropolis and city-state on The Sword Coast, located on the north-eastern border of the Western Heartlands. It is a crowded city of commerce and learning, perhaps the most prosperous and influential merchant and scholarly city on the western coast. Baldur’s Gate stands as the northernmost extent of Unitarian rule and marks the southernmost boundary of the influence of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel. As such, it is seen as a crossroads between northern and southern civilization.
North City keeps a tolerant and welcoming attitude towards outsiders, whether they were wealthy merchants or poor refugees and acts as a meeting point for learned beings from all corners of the known world.
North City keeps a tolerant and welcoming attitude towards outsiders, whether they were wealthy merchants or poor refugees and acts as a meeting point for learned beings from all corners of the known world.
Defences
Layers of walls that encircle the city and its various neighborhoods. As the city’s population grew past the borders of its walls, city planners struggled to catch up, circling these neighborhoods with more wall, which then would have to be expanded on again in a generation. As a result, the interior of North City is interlaced with the remnants of many previous walls in a variety of styles.
History
Baldur’s Gate started as a small settlement of human and moon elf refugees taking shelter in an old world ruin on the southern banks of River Chionthar, sometime during the turmoil of The Age of Sorrows. Fleeing the inferno of unceasing war, this ragtag group found an unlikely saviour. Slumbering deep within his tower was The Controller, a powerful but reclusive mage, dedicated to the protection of this Imperial facility and the secrets it holds. The Controller and the refugees came to a bargain. He would allow them to settle in the ruins and protect them with his magicks and they would help him rebuild and maintain certain parts of the facility.
Under the protection of The Controller, Baldur’s Gate shielded itself from the warlords and raiders that plagued the land. It thrived and by the 7th century AHL, Baldur’s Gate had become an idyllic town, making a living from quartering travelers along the Coast Way and ferrying them across the river and from lush farms on the fertile volcanic souls to the east.
By the 8th century the local shield dwarves who had sequestered themselves in The Lone Mountain opened the massive iron doors of their city, Citadel and reemerged on the surface. They quickly established a trading relationship with the residents of Baldur’s Gate, trading gold and other precious ores. Baldur’s Gate grew rich off the trade between the dwarves and the travellers along the Coast Way. Then they expanded their business by building the port on the north harbor of the river. With that, what would become North City was established.
Not under the protection of The Controller and being flush with ships and caravans loaded with gold and other precious cargo, North City had to defend itself in more traditional fashion. North City started as a small walled fort surrounding the harbor. But, as the south was brought to peace by the spread of Unity and The Age of Sorrows came to an end, more people were free to travel the land to find better lives. Many of those migrants flocked to North City seeking adventure and fortune on the growing fleet of trade ships and overland caravans. Many came for employment in the shipyards, or in the dwarven mines of Citadel, or as crafts-people to help build and supply the city. In the space of a generation, North City had grown from a small fort-town to one of the largest cities in the known world. During this time, North City earned its reputation as both a city one could make one’s fortune in and a crowded, violent, lawless place filled with opportunists and cutthroats.
The legacy of this growth is seen today in the layers of walls that encircle the city and its various neighborhoods. As the city’s population grew past the borders of its walls, city planners struggled to catch up, circling these neighborhoods with more wall, which then would have to be expanded on again in a generation. As a result, the interior of North City is interlaced with the remnants of many previous walls in a variety of styles.
As North City sprawled and pulsated with the fevered, soiled dreams of averous, South City became as a beautiful butterfly encased in amber. Seeing the turmoil of North City across the river, The Controller closed South City. Only current residents, their descendants, and those receiving special invitation would be permitted to reside in South City. Under the protection of The Controller, without excess population, and flush with riches from the gold trade, South City became a luxurious paradise of beautiful palatial manor homes and verdant parks.
At the start of the tenth century, war once more came to the land. For fifty years The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel and Unitarian Caliphs waged holy war against each other. While armies flowed over the River Chionthar, both South and North City were able to avoid the majority of the war by maintaining strict neutrality. No army was willing to confront the power of The Controller (though many tried to sway him to their cause), and the plutocrats that administered North City were able to play both sides against the middle and enrich themselves by financing both sides of the war.
In 953 AHL, the war did come to Baldur’s Gate. In a largely bloodless siege, North City fell to the armies of elven priest-king Solemn Al-em-nar in his final push north. His forces threatened to cross the River Chionthar and push The Church from The Sword Coast. Two years later after the final battle at Elturel, Lightfoot halflings brokered a peace between Solemn Al-em-nar and The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel. The Treaty of Baldur’s Gate set the River Chionthar as the dividing line between the realm of The Church in the north and Unity in the south, but cedes Baldur’s Gate North City as a Unitarian exclave. Solemn Al-em-nar then set his son, Solemn Al'asghar as the Caliph (Priest-King) of Baldur’s Gate and returned to Huzuz in the south. The crusades/jihads ended and The Long Peace began.
The true victors of the holy wars were several dwarven and dragonborn clans. Several shield dwarf clans were able to parlay their gold trade into money lending and finance businesses by lending to both sides of the war. During this time they established The Dragon Bank, the largest bank and moneylender on The Sword Coast. Meanwhile, the Maranz Clan and the Profac Clan of dragonborn instituted themselves as Baldur’s Gates premier weapons brokers, mercenaries, smugglers, and loan sharks. They too became wealthy supplying their special services to both sides of the war. Under the rule of Caliph Solemn Al’asghar, North City prospered. He commissioned the final set of walls encircling the city and The Bridge of Hope linking north and south, provided much needed law enforcement and sanitation services, and instituted the Dar Al Aum Al Shamaly, The House of Knowledge of The North. This university established North City as a center of philosophy, research, art, and education.
In 999 AHL, the first of the gnomish airships floated down through pierced the clouds to hover above the city. Offering trade to the surface dwellers, North City responded quickly by redesigning Suk al Meena, the southern port market, with airfields for the airships to dock and trade houses for the air gnomes to do business in. The Controller, long indifferent to the affairs of the world outside of South City, awakened to the new visitors, commissioned the building of South City’s own airfield and markets to draw in gnomish airship traffic. He now competes with North City for dominance in airship traffic.
North City now stands as a nexus of air, sea, and land trade, technology, finance, learning, art, and culture and acts as a bridge between northern civilization (the realm of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel) and southern civilization (the realm of Unity). Meanwhile, South City sits as an eternal, unchanging paradise, built on a foundation of unknown, ancient sorcery.
By the 8th century the local shield dwarves who had sequestered themselves in The Lone Mountain opened the massive iron doors of their city, Citadel and reemerged on the surface. They quickly established a trading relationship with the residents of Baldur’s Gate, trading gold and other precious ores. Baldur’s Gate grew rich off the trade between the dwarves and the travellers along the Coast Way. Then they expanded their business by building the port on the north harbor of the river. With that, what would become North City was established.
Not under the protection of The Controller and being flush with ships and caravans loaded with gold and other precious cargo, North City had to defend itself in more traditional fashion. North City started as a small walled fort surrounding the harbor. But, as the south was brought to peace by the spread of Unity and The Age of Sorrows came to an end, more people were free to travel the land to find better lives. Many of those migrants flocked to North City seeking adventure and fortune on the growing fleet of trade ships and overland caravans. Many came for employment in the shipyards, or in the dwarven mines of Citadel, or as crafts-people to help build and supply the city. In the space of a generation, North City had grown from a small fort-town to one of the largest cities in the known world. During this time, North City earned its reputation as both a city one could make one’s fortune in and a crowded, violent, lawless place filled with opportunists and cutthroats.
The legacy of this growth is seen today in the layers of walls that encircle the city and its various neighborhoods. As the city’s population grew past the borders of its walls, city planners struggled to catch up, circling these neighborhoods with more wall, which then would have to be expanded on again in a generation. As a result, the interior of North City is interlaced with the remnants of many previous walls in a variety of styles.
As North City sprawled and pulsated with the fevered, soiled dreams of averous, South City became as a beautiful butterfly encased in amber. Seeing the turmoil of North City across the river, The Controller closed South City. Only current residents, their descendants, and those receiving special invitation would be permitted to reside in South City. Under the protection of The Controller, without excess population, and flush with riches from the gold trade, South City became a luxurious paradise of beautiful palatial manor homes and verdant parks.
At the start of the tenth century, war once more came to the land. For fifty years The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel and Unitarian Caliphs waged holy war against each other. While armies flowed over the River Chionthar, both South and North City were able to avoid the majority of the war by maintaining strict neutrality. No army was willing to confront the power of The Controller (though many tried to sway him to their cause), and the plutocrats that administered North City were able to play both sides against the middle and enrich themselves by financing both sides of the war.
In 953 AHL, the war did come to Baldur’s Gate. In a largely bloodless siege, North City fell to the armies of elven priest-king Solemn Al-em-nar in his final push north. His forces threatened to cross the River Chionthar and push The Church from The Sword Coast. Two years later after the final battle at Elturel, Lightfoot halflings brokered a peace between Solemn Al-em-nar and The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel. The Treaty of Baldur’s Gate set the River Chionthar as the dividing line between the realm of The Church in the north and Unity in the south, but cedes Baldur’s Gate North City as a Unitarian exclave. Solemn Al-em-nar then set his son, Solemn Al'asghar as the Caliph (Priest-King) of Baldur’s Gate and returned to Huzuz in the south. The crusades/jihads ended and The Long Peace began.
The true victors of the holy wars were several dwarven and dragonborn clans. Several shield dwarf clans were able to parlay their gold trade into money lending and finance businesses by lending to both sides of the war. During this time they established The Dragon Bank, the largest bank and moneylender on The Sword Coast. Meanwhile, the Maranz Clan and the Profac Clan of dragonborn instituted themselves as Baldur’s Gates premier weapons brokers, mercenaries, smugglers, and loan sharks. They too became wealthy supplying their special services to both sides of the war. Under the rule of Caliph Solemn Al’asghar, North City prospered. He commissioned the final set of walls encircling the city and The Bridge of Hope linking north and south, provided much needed law enforcement and sanitation services, and instituted the Dar Al Aum Al Shamaly, The House of Knowledge of The North. This university established North City as a center of philosophy, research, art, and education.
In 999 AHL, the first of the gnomish airships floated down through pierced the clouds to hover above the city. Offering trade to the surface dwellers, North City responded quickly by redesigning Suk al Meena, the southern port market, with airfields for the airships to dock and trade houses for the air gnomes to do business in. The Controller, long indifferent to the affairs of the world outside of South City, awakened to the new visitors, commissioned the building of South City’s own airfield and markets to draw in gnomish airship traffic. He now competes with North City for dominance in airship traffic.
North City now stands as a nexus of air, sea, and land trade, technology, finance, learning, art, and culture and acts as a bridge between northern civilization (the realm of The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel) and southern civilization (the realm of Unity). Meanwhile, South City sits as an eternal, unchanging paradise, built on a foundation of unknown, ancient sorcery.
Geography
Baldur's Gate is located to the south of the great city-state of Waterdeep, north of Amn along the well-traveled Coast Way road that passes over the River Chonthiar, through South City and into the south gate of North City. North City is nestled on a stretch of rich 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 and to the east of dormant volcano, The Lone Mountain. South City sits on the opposite bank of the river built on the ruins of an old world facility.
Alternative Name(s)
Shamal Al Madina
Type
Large city
Population
700,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Northies
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
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