E4: Baldur's Gate
Baldur’s Gate is a bustling center of trade, with goods coming from north and south by wagon along the Trade Way and by ship on the Sea of Swords, and from the east along the River Chionthar and from Cormyr and Sembia. Baldur’s Gate is situated on a prominent bluff next to the river, overlooking an excellent natural harbor. It is divided into three distinct segments: the Upper City where the richest and most influential citizens live and where the city’s marketplace (the Wide) is located; the Lower City, which surrounds the harbor and where most of the city’s merchants live and conduct their business; and the Outer City, which lies outside the walls and where most of the city’s laborers reside in conditions that vary from crowded but clean to squalid.
Frume’s contact is a human trader named Ackyn Selebon. He is not directly involved in the hiring of guards for caravans, but he knows people who are. With him to vouch for the characters, they should have no trouble getting hired on as guards for a northbound caravan, but he can’t give them work with a specific merchant.
Hiring Out
Baldur’s Gate doesn’t allow wagons, pack animals, horses, or even dogs into the city. The streets are so narrow, steep, and slick from frequent rain that heavy wagons would be a menace. This is actually one of the reasons why Baldur’s Gate is such a bustling commercial hub: for goods to pass through the city from south to north, for example, they must be unloaded in the Outer City east of the wall, carried through the city by porters on foot, and reloaded onto different wagons north of the city for the rest of their journey. No road conveniently bypasses the city—a situation that the gate’s profiteering intermediaries work hard to maintain. Most merchants find it easier to sell their loads to those intermediaries and consignment dealers when they reach Baldur’s Gate, buy a new load of exotic goods from somewhere far away, and turn around and head back home, where they can again sell the new goods at a profit.
Along with wagons, guards seldom make a continuous journey through Baldur’s Gate. Guards for northbound caravans are typically hired in Blackgate where northbound wagons begin their journey. Selebon tells the characters that if they hang around any of the taverns or tent saloons near his shop, they are sure to see all the northbound traffic. They shouldn’t hesitate to use him as a reference if a potential employer asks for one.
The northbound journey from Baldur’s Gate is arduous, so merchants travel together for safety. Each merchant hires guards independently, but the common belief is that if everyone hires two or three and enough wagons travel together, the caravan is well protected.
The city’s wealthy elite, however, often travel the streets in screened or curtained palanquins for both comfort and privacy. It's likely Rezmir does the same. When characters spot familiar faces from the cult camp, the cultists are carrying a palanquin.
Rezmir and her bodyguards come to Selebon’s yard to purchase five wagons and supplies (having sold the other wagons south of the city). Once they are equipped, local porters pack merchandise and supplies onto the wagons, cover them in canvas, and lash them down.
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