commerce-no matter one's heritage, everyone must
have coin in order to eat. There is but one nonhuman
family among the patriars, the dwarven Shattershields,
who have been in Baldur's Gate for long enough that
they are just as accomplished as their human peers at
looking down on the rest of the citizenry.
A number of gates divide the Upper City from the
Lower City, but the one to note is the famous Baldur's
Gate, from which the city takes its name. Trade passes
only through this gate, and is taxed by the city-despite
the fact that it was just such taxes that led to the city's
being overthrown by its first dukes and the Lower City
enclosed by its ring wall. The other gates exist solely for
the convenience of the patriars and their retinues. Any
who aren't in the presence of a patriar, wearing a patri-
ar's livery, or bearing a letter of proof of employment by
a patriar must use Baldur's Gate to pass between the
Upper and Lower Cities. Bear this in mind when trying
to sneak from one part of the city to the next.
LOWER CITY
Hard against the harbor lies the Lower City, where
stone, slate-roofed houses stand (sometimes unsteadily),
and the folk who have long performed the real work of
the city reside. Baldur's Gate depends on trade, and that
trade flows in and out of the Gray Harbor. The hands
that load and unload ships, that tally cargo and haul
goods, that repair keels and mend sails, all live here.
The damp clings heavily in this portion of the city-
some say it's held in by the Old Wall-and lamps (lit and
CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTHfilled by citizens, not the city) pierce the fog. Most locals
are wise enough to carry lanterns or lamps, and visitors
that have not learned to do so can usually hire a young
Baldurian to guide them through the streets.
The Lower City was long ago walled in to benefit from
the protection of the city, but the divide between the two
wards is as stark as it has ever been. The Flaming Fist
is responsible for keeping order in the Lower City, and
do so with brutal efficiency, deterring most from engag-
ing in bold, public acts of theft, vandalism, or violence.
Where merchants in other cities might hope to one
day join the nobility, in Baldur's Gate the best one can
hope for is to become an absurdly wealthy and influen-
tial merchant. Becoming a patriar is out of the question.
Still, the wealthiest Baldurians live as much like the
patriars as they can, buying up adjacent properties in
the hopes of demolishing them in order to build large
homes to echo the manors of the Upper City. The
Bloomridge district has a number of such homes, and
some of the patriars grumble that these merchants are
growing too comfortable with their new status.OUTER CITY
Outside the walls, there are no laws barring construc-
tion or settlement, and so those who are too poor to
reside within the city or to purchase property have
slowly built up a third ward of the city, living in the
shadow of its walls, paying its taxes, and covering both
sides of the roads leading into Baldur's Gate. Here, the
poorest of the poor live in the Outer City, but so too do