Lady's Hall

Tymora's temple in Baldur's Gate is made of local yellow granite, roofed with slate shingles, and inconspicuously blended into the surrounding architecture. Recently added to the structure are beautiful mosaics depicting souls prevailing against ill fortune at sea.

Other than holding formal religious observances—which most of Tymora's faithful only attend on major holidays—the primary purpose of the temple is to accept requests, and large donations, from petitioners seeking the temple's intercession. For countless reasons, Baldurians are reluctant to trust the Watch, the Flaming Fist, or the Guild. When they find it necessary to seek aid from an influential organization, such people often turn to Lady Luck for help. The Lady's Hall is there to hear their pleas, and to accept their offerings in exchange. While such intercession often takes the form of blessings, magical or otherwise, clergy moved by a tale of exceptional injustice might be swayed to petition the church elders to intercede. Such happens rarely, the church being unwilling to jeopardize its standing by pitting itself against every specific injustice laid at its doorstep. Yet, members of the clergy often anonymously reach out to the adventurers that congregate near their temple, sponsoring small acts of justice whenever they can.

Purpose / Function

Since it was seafaring traders who founded Baldur’s Gate, clergy of the goddess of good fortune and risktaking found fertile ground for establishing a temple to Tymora in the city’s early days. The Lady’s Hall, made of local granite, roofed with slate shingles, and featuring a modest spire, rises only slightly above the Upper City’s already tall buildings. Unlike the High House of Wonders and the Water Queen’s House, this unassuming building blends nicely with the city’s other architecture.
Within the Lady’s Hall, statuary and artwork depict scenes that tell tales of pluck and luck winning the day at sea. The temple’s art has been accused of catering to the passions of seafaring Baldurians. In actuality, the Tymorans inherited both the artwork and the building, which had served as Valkur’s temple in the city’s earliest years. After Valkur’s priests, or wavetamers, established the temple, a series ofinfamous sailing disasters sparked a riot in which residents demanded that the wavetarners protect ships from Umberlee’s wrath. When another ship sank, killing all aboard it, rioters captured Valkur’s priests and threw them— bound and weighted—down the steps of the Water Queen’s House. The site of Valkur’s temple was considered cursed after that episode, but the Tymorans recognized a great opportunity to challenge the rumors of haunting spirits in the place, and Tymora rewarded their gamble.
Tymora’s temple might seem underwhelming, but the building is used only for religious ceremonies, which her devoted care little about. To do Tymora’s bidding, her priests, or luckbringers, preside over much of the city’s gambling. Rather than participate, they impartially judge races, wrestling matches, cock fights, and other contests of chance and skill.
The priests work in various gambling halls and gaming establishments and run contests at city festivals. Tymora’s luckbringers also act as talent agents for people who have exotic or exceptional abilities, and they help supplicants who need anonymous problem solvers. For various reasons, many Baldurians won’t confide in or work with the Guild, the Watch, or the Flaming Fist. So the temple fills that niche for them, accepting requests, and large donations, to broker solutions. Its clergy recognize the danger ofstepping on the Guild’s toes, but the priests are firm believers in the mantra “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Gunnar Thrune, a transplant from Gundarlun Island in the cold northern sea, is the loud-voiced and ever-smiling temple patriarch. Boisterous to a fault, Thrune can be found wherever betting is fast and furious, egging on gamblers with shouts and hearty backslapping. In times of crisis in the Gate, Thrune immediately encourages and presides over bets regarding the involved parties, his actions effectively proclaiming the temple’s neutrality.

Type

Temple / Church

Parent Location

Manorborn