Flaming Fist's Founding

Military action

The Lower City struggled as a lawless area until a warrior named Eltan, a native son of Baldur’s Gate, founded the Flaming Fist mercenary company in the city—and in so doing unified the many small mercenary organizations throughout the Sword Coast region. Fighters eagerly enlisted, expanding the fledgling group to almost two thousand members.

The power and political leverage that the Flaming Fist gave to Eltan earned him a position as one of the council’s four members. In one of his first acts as duke, Eltan quickly put Flaming Fist soldiers on police duty, making the unpatrolled Lower City his top priority. He used a portion of the taxes the dukes collected to pay the mercenaries. The establishment of the Flaming Fist gave Baldur’s Gate considerable standing as a military power on the Sword Coast, expanded the city’s tax revenue, and brought badly needed law and order to the Lower City.

Other than tripling in size to its current membership of nearly six thousand, the mercenary company has not changed much since its early years. It still forms the core of the city’s military strength.