Baldur's Gate
Capital in The Sword Coast · the Gate
Baldur's Gate is a crowded trading city on the north bank of the River Chionthar, near where it meets the sea; it is the great rival of Waterdeep on the southern Sword Coast.
Fog rolls off the Gray Harbour over steep, crooked streets where dockhands, smugglers and Flaming Fist patrols jostle under the gaze of patriar mansions on the hill.
Baldur's Gate at a glance
- Also known as
- the Gate, the City of Blood
- Type & size
- Large walled trading city and river port, 120,000–140,000 (1479 DR)
- Allegiance & rule
- Allegiance: Independent city; a member of the Lords' Alliance
- Ruled by: The Council of Four, led by the Grand Duke; the Watch and the Flaming Fist mercenary company keep order, and the patriar families hold old privileges
- People & culture
- Mostly humans, with many halflings, dwarves and gnomes; sharply divided between the wealthy patriars of the Upper City and everyone below them, and wary of the refugees crowding the Outer City
- Key exports & trade
- Dyes
- Fish
- Lamp oil
- Trade coinage
Overview
The city takes its name from Balduran, a seafarer whose fortune paid for the city's first wall. It climbs a hillside above the Gray Harbour in three tiers: the walled Upper City of the wealthy patriar families, the Lower City of merchants and dockworkers, and the sprawling Outer City outside the walls, where newcomers, refugees and caravans crowd together.
Baldur's Gate lives on trade between the Sword Coast, Amn to the south and the inland realms up the Chionthar. Its reputation is mixed: rich, cosmopolitan and ambitious, but also corrupt, with smugglers, thieves' guilds and old cults operating in its shadows.
Government
The city is governed by the Council of Four, a council of dukes led by a Grand Duke. Order is kept by the Flaming Fist, a mercenary company that serves as the city's army and police, and whose loyalty often depends on who pays it. The patriars hold old privileges and much of the real influence.
In adventures
Baldur's Gate is the starting point of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, in which the nearby city of Elturel is dragged into the Nine Hells. Its history is bound up with Bhaal, the god of murder, whose cult and descendants have shaped the city more than once.
At the table
- A patriar hires the party for a quiet errand in the Outer City that the Flaming Fist must not hear about.
- Refugees from upriver bring rumours that something is wrong in Elturel.
On the map
Roads from Baldur's Gate
- CandlekeepRoad · 175 mi
- Fort MorninglordRoad · 190 mi
- BeregostBy sea · 236 mi
- OrlumborBy sea · 345 mi
- AthkatlaBy sea · 446 mi
- Caer WestphalBy sea · 509 mi
- DaggerfordBy sea · 535 mi
Regions nearby
- The Fields of the DeadPlains · ~6 mi east
- The CloakwoodForest · ~21 mi south-west
Nearby places
- BeregostTown · ~95 mi
- CandlekeepFortress · ~141 mi
- Fort MorninglordFortress · ~172 mi
- Trollclaw FordVillage · ~182 mi
- ElturelCity · ~205 mi
- NashkelTown · ~217 mi
Distances as the crow flies, measured on our map.