The Watch

The Watch is the official constabulary of Baldur’s Gate. Although the Watch is technically the Gate’s only civil authority, its soldiers rarely leave the Upper City. Most of the police work in the Lower City is conducted by the Flaming Fist , and the Outer City is left to fend for itself. The Watch is limited to civil police work, which means it has no jurisdiction outside the city. In wartime, its soldiers are prohibited from fighting outside the city and its immediate environs. Such “foreign duty” is in the purview of the Flaming Fist.

The Watch is the only organization allowed to keep warhorses within the city’s walls. The Watch’s stables are in the Citadel. Its small, elite corps of knights responds quickly in times of crisis.

Structure

The Watch has nine military ranks. In ascending authority:

• Shield (Private)
• Sarmar (Sergeant)
• Vigilar (Lieutenant)
• Sword (Captain)
• Havilar (Major)
• Commandal (Colonel)
• Highsword (Major General)
• Oversar (General)

Six officers hold the rank of highsword, and two hold the rank of oversar. An oversar is always on duty and reports directly to the Grand Duke or the rest of the Council of Four if the grand duke is unavailable.

Culture

The Watch continually patrols the Upper City’s walls. It’s said in Bloomridge that you can tell the passing of a quarter hour, day or night, by timing the interval between Watch patrols marching past a certain point. At dusk, the Watch evicts everyone from the Upper City except its residents and their invitation-carrying guests and liveried servants. Watch soldiers, many of whom are lifelong Upper City residents, pride themselves on recognizing every Upper City citizen on sight. They also know every detail of how true patriars talk and behave, so they can often identify nighttime interlopers by watching suspects for a few minutes, getting a good look at their faces and garb, and asking a few questions.

Public Agenda

The Watch employs around a thousand members, and a duty shift lasts for eight hours, so one-third of the force’s total strength, roughly three hundred soldiers and officers, is on active duty at any moment. Most patrol the Upper City’s streets while their remaining comrades-in-arms stand sentry on the walls, train in the Citadel, or perform the hundreds of mundane tasks involved in keeping a police force functioning. A street patrol is composed of four to eight soldiers. Every Watch member carries a brass whistle with which to call for help if needed . . . and the nearest guard detachment is never very far away.

In times of crisis, bells at the High Hall and the Citadel are rung simultaneously. If the pealing continues for more than fifteen minutes—the time it should take a force to assemble at the Citadel and march to Black Dragon Gate—every Watch member is required to rally at the Citadel or along the Upper City’s walls. The bells are rung only in emergencies that threaten the entire Upper City, such as an invading army, a citywide fire, or any scenario that threatens to overwhelm the soldiers on duty.

Assets

The Citadel, the Watch’s headquarters, is a massive keep built at an angle into the Upper City’s walls. The Citadel has its own water supply and is amply provisioned to withstand a months-long siege. Long ago, the Citadel’s dungeons were the only prison in Baldur’s Gate. They are seldom used now, and only for the purpose of housing suspects awaiting trial in the High Hall or sequestering patriars or their servants when such imprisonment must remain quiet. All other prisoners are locked up in the Seatower of Balduran.

Type

Government, Law Enforcement

Leader

Dillard Portyr

Leader Title

Grand Duke

Parent Organization

Council of Four

Location

Baldur's Gate

Notable Members

• Lenta Moore

Related Historical Events

• 1450 DR
  Failed Coup