Sword Coast

The Lower City envelops you in a swirl of activity, its maze-like streets packed with merchants, sailors, and craftsmen hustling to make their fortunes. The buildings here are a jumble of timber and stone, their facades weathered by sea air and streaked with soot from countless chimneys. Narrow alleys twist unpredictably, some leading to bustling marketplaces, others to dim, shadowed corners where whispers carry unseen deals. The air is thick with contrasting scents—salt and brine from the harbor mingling with the aromas of sizzling street food and the occasional foul stench from poorly drained gutters. The rhythmic clang of blacksmiths at their forges mixes with shouts of traders and the chatter of dockhands unloading ships. Despite its grime and chaos, the Lower City exudes an undeniable vibrancy, a living testament to the ambition and resilience of Baldur’s Gate’s working class, where danger and opportunity exist side by side in every shadow.

A great crescent of steep slopes descending to the docks, is packed tight with conjoined, slate-roofed buildings that are made of stone and feature window boxes and stout shutters in vibrant hues. The narrow alleys access interior court·yards and other streets. Stone buttresses often span its roadways, literally holding apart the upper floors of structures that face each other. Even though some of these narrow supports act as pedestrian bridges, they are most often used by pigeons, gulls. rats, and cats. The citizens are accustomed to their noisy, cramped existence. Trade is king in this section of Baldur’s Gate. Craftwork, repairs, and buying and selling consume the lives of the tradesfolk, shopkeepers, and day servants who dwell here. Commerce in shops and crowded streets begins before sunrise and continues until after dark. Aside from inns and taverns, the Lower City is largely dark and shuttered after sundown.