Patriar

Patriars are the elite upper class of the city, a rank defined largely by money and lines of vague, increasingly inconsequential heritage. Many nobles claim generations of lineage, dating to the earliest days of Baldur's Gate. Their money funds industries and lines political pockets, but their names allow them to wield influence throughout the city. Some patriars are economically-minded individuals who rise early and spend their days in meetings and negotiations. They fund expeditions into dangerous locales and hire explorers to map uncharted territories. Other patriars manipulate the city's power players through diplomacy and intrigue. They spend their days flitting from theater performances to private balls, while quietly making and breaking the alliances that underwrite the city's structures. Patriars live and work in the Upper City. Their manor homes employ dozens of servants, along with contingents of personal guards. The wall surrounding the Upper City as well as the constant presence of the Watch-which exclusively patrols that district-goes far toward assuring their security. As a side effect, it also means many patriars go months without engaging with the city's common folk, their insulation leading to the spread of divisive rumors. Patriar know the danger of the other districts, where their wealth is a lure and their names carry no weight. Patriars who have to travel the Lower City always do so with guards, and still risk robbery or worse violence. Many patriar families hire proxies to carry out their business in the Lower City or Outer City. If circumstances force patriars to visit the Outer City personally, they typically travel in disguise, paying adventurers or mercenaries to protect them without drawing the attention of a uniformed personal guard. Among the common folk and criminal element of the city patriars have a reputation for callousness. Common wisdom holds that patriars are out of touch with everyday life and value citizens' lives cheaply. For some nobles, this assessment holds true. These patriars are class-conscious dilettantes who spend their money on frivolous bets, debauched entertainment, and risky business ventures. For this callous lot, the common people are nothing more than fools to be bilked, clods undeserving of comfort and wealth due to their lack of comfort and breeding. For a few patriars, though, the inequality of Baldur's Gate is a serious concern. Blocked by a corrupt government and uncaring peers, these civic-minded nobles use unorthodox channels to distribute aid. They quietly fund vigilante action that protects the vulnerable groups. They stage robberies on their own property and secretly send the "stolen goods" to sick houses and charities. These patriars know that to act openly is to invite scorn from their peers, which may edge them out of alliances and deals that could strengthen their standing. Worse, it makes them targets for corrupt elite who prefer the city's divisions as they are. naïveknown to venture into the Lower City and even the Outer City to volunteer with the disadvantaged or share their wealth. Even in disguise, though, these nobles are usually quickly identified and become targets of the Guild or other criminals. More than one patriar on a mission of mercy has disappeared into the Lower City, never to be seen again.

Prominent Patriar Families

Belt - owns horses for sale and exchange
Bormul - is related to the Bormul nobility in Amn and has interests in southern silver mines and vineyards
Caldwell - owns most of the city's art museums
Dlusker - is nearly broke but maintains a textile mill in the Lower City and a few slaughterhouses in the Outer City
Durinbold - is related to Waterdeep nobility and owns large sheep herds.
Eltan has an ancestral link to the grand duke who formed the Flaming Fist, but sold its interests in the mercenary company to pay debts.
Eomane - owns the most elite perfumery in Baldur's Gate as well as fish- and whale-oil processors that make lamp oil.
Gist - controls much of the city's dye production.
Guthmere - owns butchery and tannery facilities.
Hhune - has ties to Tethyr nobility and the Knights of the Shield, as well as holdings in other major cities.
Hlath - owns several cafes in the city and is awash in gambling debts.
Hullhollyn - owns a merchant fleet and has a trade truce with the lrlentree family.
lrlentree - owns a merchant fleet, has a trade truce with the Hullhollyn family, and has membership in the Merchants' League.
Jannath - owns tin and copper mines.
Jhasso - is part owner of the struggling Seven Suns Trading Coster, a long-standing trade organization.
Linnacker - collects income from gem mines in Tethyr.
Miyar - supplies and repairs wagons and caravans, and has membership in the Merchants' League.
Nurthammas - invests in businesses involved in supplying ships for long voyages.
Oathoon - imports wine and spirits.
Oberon - owns most of the port's dry docks.
Provoss - is nearly destitute after losses to its cattle herds.
Ravenshade trades in inks, dyes, gems, and jewelry.
Redlocks - has secretly financed piracy and smuggling for a longtime.
Rillyn - runs a sword-wielding school, creating new generations of soldiers, mercenaries, and legbreakers.
Sashenstar - owns shipping, mining, and textile operations, and has membership in the Merchants' League.
Shattershield, a family of shield dwarves, is the only nonhuman family among the patriars and was instrumental in building the city's original walls.
Tillerturn - owns and leases out many buildings in the city.
Vammas - controls the majority of trade from Chult .
Vannath - fled the city of Neverwinter after the eruption of Mount Hotenow and married into the patriars to elevate their status.
Vanthampur - specializes in civic engineering under the purview of family matriarch Duke Thalamra Vanthampur .
Whitburn - owns the slate quarry east of the city.