Baldur’s Gate

Baldur’s Gate, often called the Gate, is one of the largest and most powerful cities on the Sword Coast of Faerûn. Known for its wealth, opportunity, and danger, the city stands as a vital center of trade, politics, and adventure in the Western Heartlands. It has been called “halfway to everywhere,” a crossroads where merchants, mercenaries, refugees, and thieves all mingle beneath the same rain-slicked streets. With a population exceeding 125,000 by 1492 DR, it remains a self-contained metropolis governed by ambition and guarded by the Flaming Fist mercenary company and the city Watch.

Despite the city’s reputation for corruption, its neutrality and wealth have made it indispensable to trade across the western Realms. Within its towering walls and sprawling shantytowns, power belongs not to kings or clergy but to those who can afford it. Baldur’s Gate is a plutocracy ruled by four Grand Dukes—the Council of Four—and advised by a body of wealthy nobles called the Parliament of Peers. Though the Gate stands as a member of the Lords’ Alliance, its allegiance has always been first and foremost to itself.

Geography and Climate
The city lies on the north bank of the River Chionthar, about forty miles from its mouth on the Sea of Swords. The region’s geography is defined by steep bluffs, rolling fog, and a natural harbor known as the Gray Harbor. The city’s layout resembles a crescent moon that wraps around the water—its Upper City flat and ordered, its Lower City rising and falling with the slopes overlooking the harbor. Beyond the walls sprawls the Outer City, a dense and chaotic district of shanties, markets, and stockyards.

The weather of Baldur’s Gate is notoriously dreary—endless drizzles, mist, and fog give the city its gray palette and damp atmosphere. Ingenious aqueducts and cisterns channel the rainwater through underground drains, but even so, mildew and a musky scent cling to the stones. Locals often scatter straw across the cobblestones to prevent slipping on the wet streets.

Society and Culture
Baldurians take pride in their cosmopolitanism. Anyone—rich or poor, noble or fugitive—can find a place here. The Gate’s population is predominantly human but includes dwarves, elves, and halflings in significant numbers. Visitors from across Toril arrive daily by ship and caravan, drawn by opportunity or the promise of anonymity. The people are practical and hardworking but wary of fools; indulgent debauchery is frowned upon, and few have patience for troublemakers.

The city celebrates few formal holidays, but major events include The Breaking each spring—marking the thaw of the Gray Harbor—and Returning Day, a celebration of the legendary seafarer Balduran’s return from his voyage across the Trackless Sea. Informal “cobble parties” are common, where citizens gather in the streets under red torches to share food, songs, and stories.

Religion is as diverse as its people. Shrines to almost every Faerûnian deity can be found in the district of Twin Songs. Major faiths include Gond, Umberlee, and Tymora—patrons of invention, sea travel, and luck. Even darker cults such as Bane and Bhaal have tolerated followings under the city’s lenient policies.

Government and Law
The Gate’s government emerged from rebellion. After a bloody tax revolt between farmers and seafarers centuries ago, four captains known as the Grand Dukes were elected to rule, forming the Council of Four that governs to this day. These Dukes are supported by five key officials: the Harbormaster, High Constable, Master of Drains and Underways, Master of Cobbles, and Purse Master. Together, they oversee the port, sewers, roads, and finances.

Above them all sits the Parliament of Peers, about fifty wealthy citizens who debate civic matters and elect new Dukes when needed. Their wealth ensures influence, and corruption is a known but accepted cost of doing business in the Gate.

Law enforcement is split between two major forces: the Watch, who guard the Upper City and the noble Patriar class, and the Flaming Fist, who police the Lower and Outer City. The Fist serves both as the city’s army and mercenary company for hire—its members are often former adventurers hardened by battle.

Justice in the Gate is swift and severe. Theft and assault are punished publicly; contract breakers face forced labor, and public indecency brings a night in the stocks. Yet bribery and influence can soften most verdicts.

Economy and Trade
Baldur’s Gate’s harbor is the busiest on the Sword Coast, rivaling even Calimport in the south and Waterdeep in the north. It trades in everything—fish, dyes, lamp oil, textiles, coinage, and contraband alike. Its neutrality allows it to act as a middleman between rivals, and the saying “Whoever holds the Gate holds the goods” has proven true for centuries.

The city mints its own silver trade bars and regulates their value, giving its merchants control over regional commerce. Nearly ninety professional guilds operate here, from shipwrights and stonemasons to scholars and financiers. Though many legitimate, others such as the Knights of the Shield and remnants of the Iron Throne hold considerable shadow influence.

Its wealth, however, breeds crime. Numerous thieves’ guilds have risen and fallen, but one—simply called the Guild and led by the elusive Nine-Fingers—dominates the underworld of the Lower and Outer City. Smuggling, gambling, and extortion remain everyday realities beneath the surface of legitimate trade.

Defense and Military
The city’s natural bay and massive walls—first begun by Balduran himself—make it nearly impregnable. Its defenses are bolstered by the Flaming Fist, numbering over 1,700 soldiers, and a small navy that patrols the Chionthar and the Sea of Swords. The Watch secures the Upper City, while the Fist defends the rest and acts as an expeditionary force abroad.

Historically, the Fist has fought as far as Maztica and across the Heartlands. Its Marshal traditionally holds a seat as one of the Grand Dukes, ensuring the army’s loyalty to the state.

History
The site that became Baldur’s Gate was once known as Lok’s Fist, ruled by a hill giant named Lok. After his death, fishermen founded the village of Loklee along the Chionthar. Over time, pirates and scavengers used the foggy coast to lure ships aground, salvaging their cargo in the haven that became Gray Harbor.

Legend tells that the hero Balduran returned from distant Anchorome with untold riches and ordered a massive wall built to protect his home. He vanished soon after, but his name endured. Farmers completed the wall, fortifying their farms and inviting settlers within. Disputes between harbor merchants and inland landowners led to the infamous Tax Revolt, during which seafarers stormed Old Town. A peace was struck, and the victorious captains—now the first Dukes—founded the city as Baldur’s Gate.

Trade with Amn brought prosperity, and the city expanded rapidly through the 1200s DR, its walls extending to the riverbanks. Baldur’s Gate joined the Lords’ Alliance and survived countless threats—from orc hordes to internal riots like the Bread Riots of 1249 DR, which ended with the bizarre death of Duke Suldrian in his self-polishing armor.

In the late 14th century, the Flaming Fist rose to prominence, and the city became the stage for the Bhaalspawn crisis. The traitor Sarevok sought to plunge the city into war, but was defeated by Abdel Adrian, who later became Grand Duke. During the Spellplague, Baldur’s Gate’s neutrality spared it from destruction, and waves of refugees swelled its population.

The 15th century brought further upheaval. A coup attempt by Grand Duke Valarken led to a governmental overhaul and the establishment of the Parliament of Peers. Abdel Adrian’s assassination in 1482 DR, during Murder in Baldur’s Gate, unleashed riots, corruption, and the resurrection of Bhaal’s influence through Duke Torlin Silvershield, who was ultimately slain.

In 1492 DR, during The Absolute Crisis, the city faced its most devastating assault—a cult led by an illithid elder brain known as the Netherbrain rose from beneath the streets, devastating multiple districts before being destroyed by a band of heroes.

Districts and Landmarks
Baldur’s Gate is divided into three primary sections:

Upper City – Home of the wealthy Patriar families, including the Silvershields. Landmarks include High Hall (seat of government), the Watch Citadel, and the Hall of Wonders museum of Gond. Prestigious inns like the Three Old Kegs and the Helm and Cloak serve the elite.
Lower City – The bustling heart of trade, filled with markets, taverns, and guildhalls. It includes the Elfsong Tavern, Blushing Mermaid, Low Lantern, and Gray Harbor, as well as the temple of Umberlee and the moneylenders’ Counting House. Beneath it lies the Undercellar, a warren of tunnels and hidden festhalls leading to the ancient Undercity—once home to a temple of Bhaal.
Outer City – The sprawling slums beyond the walls, divided into rough districts like Little Calimshan, Twin Songs, and Rivington. It holds stables, shrines, and the Calim Jewel Emporium, but little law.
Wyrm’s Crossing – A double-bridge fortress spanning the Chionthar and covered in shops and houses, serving as the city’s southern gateway.