Gil would look to Darvin before pulling out his jewelers kit. "Well I suppose that is fine.. " The small Verdan would say as he holds each gem up to his eye... and examines them under a magnifying glass before putting all but four of them gems into the chest, separating them into different bags depending on what type of gem is inside. "Here Issen... Here is two hundred gold worth of gems. That should cover our monthly expenses and a guard for the month!" Gil would say with a smile. "If you all want some of these gems to go with your share of the coin, that is fine with me! Otherwise I will add them to the group loot and occasinally try to sell them for a little additional coin" Gil would say with a wink as he puts his jewelers kit away.
Gil would toss the Tankard to Darvin as he packs up the items, putting things into the chest and attaching his lock before sliding it into his bag of holding. "Do any of you want anything else out of here before I pack it up? I have a few things I would like to buy with my share of our profits and I am sure you all would like to make some purchases as well before we take our next job!" The verdan would exclaim excitedly.
Whistler just shakes his head at the offering of the tankard with a small smile. He does gesture to the town, but not being really sure how to indicate what he means, he goes quite for a a few moments. He speaks in Tibi's voice. "I propose to go out tonight to see what we can do about convincing these gangs it is really not in their best long term interests to assume we are an easy target. Who is with me?”
After repeating what Tibi said, he follows with a nod and gestures to the town, trying to say he thinks that is what they should do next.
Character Fluff
Wherever possible, I try to play Whistler as the silent type, even considering his mimicking abilities. But by having him speak up, i am trying to show that he is feeling more comfortable with the group. He will still be silent and communicate in others ways normally but he may speak a little bit now.
Gil would grab his portion of the gold and place it in his coin pouch tied securely to his belt. "Make sure you all grab your share of coin and let's head I to town then." Gilbert would say with a large smile. "Issen, Do you want us to pick anything up while we are out? I plan to pick up some spell components to put an arcane lock on the door to our office, as well as a few other places.." Gil would mention rubbing his chin.
a moment taler Gil would grab Whistler's hand and pull him out the door once he had his coin. "Lets go friend! I have never had this much coin before!" he would shout excitedly pulling the kenku out the front door and motioning to the others to follow.
Darvin startles slightly at the sound of Whistler speaking in Tibi's voice, but nods and smiles in response to him. Scooping up the tankard and his share of the cash, he strides toward the door.
Once they are in town and have the opportunity to stop by some shops, Darvin trades in his chain shirt for a shiny new breastplate, buying a rapier and two potions of healing as well.
"Oh! Those tokens are neat. It allows you to cast feather fall on yourself. It only works once but since you like to fly around high in the air, I thought it would be good for you to have it incase something happens to you and you come falling to the ground!" Gil would exclaim on the way to town. "I know the feather fall spell myself, it I very useful. I think you will like that token"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Once Gil passes through the gates of the city, the small Verdan would excitedly move from shop to shop. Eventually he would stop and ask a guard for directions to a magic shop. Once there he would ask to buy some magical ink used for inscribing spells and gold dust. He would then reach into his bag of holding and pull out the large magical greatsword and place it on the table. "Hello friend! I appreciate you selling me those items. I was wondering if you would be interested in buying this magical weapon! It is truly a magical marvel!" The small verdan would say with a smile. "Not only is it capable of piercing the thickest hide of the most resistant monsiters... but I believe it was forged in a dark demi-plane known as the upsidown!... They call this spectacular piece of magical engineering.. Winters Dark Bite.... " Would you be willing to purchase or trade for this spectacular weapon? I would keep it but I am afraid that it is a little too large for me to wield efficiently.." Gil would say looking up to the shop keeper as the top of his head barely crests the counter.
Persuasion!? 11
Gil would buy: Gold dust x 3 = 75 gold Materials for copying spells = 50gp (Possibly more if you allow me to keep a stockpile for easy spell copying?) Spells? Magic items?
It's late morning when you head out to see about the trouble while you were gone.
Your HQ is located in the Outer City near the Black Dragon Gate that leads into the Upper City. Facing the Outer City neighborhood of Blackgate, Black Dragon Gate is also called the Landward Gate and the Wrist of Baldur’s Gate, the latter being a poetic reference to the city’s shape curving around the harbor like that of a hand grasping for gold. The great Trade Way to Waterdeep and the north passes through Black Dragon Gate.
<Your are in the section of the Outer City on the bottom left of the map which would be just outside the Black Dragon Gate (7) in the second map.
Outside the Upper City, the road extends through miles of sprawling slums, paddocks, cut-rate inns, and stockyards. The gate takes its name from the story about a Knights of the Unicorn adventurer who triumphantly displayed a black dragon’s head above the structure. As the tale goes, a dragon had threatened the city to gain food and gold. A knight hid among the offered tribute, supposedly covering his scent with pig dung, and ambushed the dragon as it slept. After birds picked clean the creature’s head and souvenir hunters snatched most of its teeth, the Council of Four elected to have a sculpted stone black dragon head installed over the gate’s inner entrance. Persistent rumors claim that the head can magically spew acid at attackers during a siege, but no one can prove to have seen it do so.
A large number of warehouse fill this location. A lot of the goods that are moved into the city from along the Trade Way come into the city through these gates. Since horses aren't allowed in the city proper the goods are stored in warehouses and then porters bring the goods in.
Sprinkled throughout the district are other shops, merchants and vendors as well as rundown homes, shacks and whatever else people find to make homes.
There are always kids running the streets, the youngest looking like they are playing while the older they get the more they look like they are up to no good.
You are no fools and you know the area is rough and that the Guild has a presence here. Cutpurses, loan sharks, killers, thugs, con artists, grave robbers, cat burglars—the Guild unites virtually every crime and criminal under one organization’s rule. For more than a century, the greedy, violent, and desperate in Baldur’s Gate have come together to form a fluid hierarchy of loose associations overseen by the Guild’s mysterious leaders.
“The Guild keeps the gutters clean” is a phrase underworld denizens use to refer to the contract killings of wayward Guild members. The metaphor is true in a larger sense as well. The Guild monitors and controls crime in Baldur’s Gate and its environs. Thus, it serves the densely populated city by keeping illicit activities quiet. Much credit is given to the Watch and Flaming Fist for keeping the city’s cobbled streets free of open crime. But bold, daylight robberies and slaughter in the streets would invite too much attention from the authorities, so the Guild has “outlawed” such action unless Guildmaster Nine-Fingers sanctions it.Governing the Guild The Guild is a syndicate of loose-knit groups under the authority of local kingpins. Nine-Fingers and her Lady’s Court head the criminal organization. A web of favors, duties, debts, intimidation, patronage, and gratitude hold the network together.
Each of the city’s districts roughly correlates to one kingpin’s territory. The different gangs and kingpins compete, usually bloodlessly, for influence and territory. Nine-Fingers discourages arson, flagrant murder, and other indiscriminate actions that would anger or kill bystanders or upset the general populace.
The most prominent gangs include Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate; the Bloody Hands in Stonyeyes; Ganthall’s Gallants in Whitkeep, dubbed “Gallant” for never stealing from females; and the Rivington Rats in Rivington.
You easily find a provision shop nearby that provides basic needs. You also find a forge that sells basic armor and weapons. Nothing special but certainly serviceable.
Your inquiries into anything more magical in nature direct you into the Lower City. Any manner of shops and goods can be found in the Lower City.
If you try to enter the Upper City from the Black Dragon Gate you are stopped by the Watch and asked your business before being allowed entrance.
< I have also added a number of map images to the initial post of this adventure. These will be updated if Descent to Avernus provides more/better maps of the city >
Whistler walks through the outer city. His keeps a casual appearance, but upon closer inspection his eyes are constantly darting around keeping any eye out for any signs of danger or untoward attention in their direction.
After a while, Whistler lets out a whistle to get the attention of one of the children. (Looking for an urchin or something similar that could pass on a message)
OOC: My intention is to use my background feature - details in spoiler below - to find two things. Details about the attack on our HQ and possible blackmarket dealer for rare and unique items.
As a faction agent, you have access to a secret network of supporters and operatives who can provide assistance on your adventures. You know a set of secret signs and passwords you can use to identify such operatives, who can provide you with access to a hidden safe house, free room and board, or assistance in finding information. These agents never risk their lives for you or risk revealing their true identities.
I can craft a message when i know to what degree this can be fulfilled, if at all.
Amazed at the vibrancy of the city Tibi just looks around in amazement bowing to ladies left right and centre with a flourish. What if anything does he know about Shar and his crew such as where they might hang out?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond DM - Four bards walk into a bar... Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
"I would like to do our shopping first, that way we have any new equipment we purchase to help us with out..." Gil would look carefully around before whispering to the others "Gang problem" He would say before sidestepping an oblivious half-orc that nearly stepped on him.
Even though the dukes tax the Outer City and nominally rule the area, they rarely exert control over it. Neither the Watch nor the Flaming Fist patrols these povertystricken districts. In times of siege, Outer City residents can flee inside the Gate’s walls—if they’re fast enough. In normal circumstances, Outer City residents must rely on neighbors and friends for justice or pay for the Guild’s protection. Despite this state of affairs, the leaderless Outer City is not ripe for conquest, since the Flaming Fist would brutally quash any such attempt. Thus, even though crime and open violence are commonplace in the Outer City, people are still able to do business.
The Outer City sprawls without rhyme or reason, its muddy streets a tangle of shanties, forges, tanneries, dye works, slaughterhouses, stables, stockyards, paddocks, and dung heaps. Its layout and architecture are a mess of unregulated construction and styles. Many buildings are made of wood or wattle. A significant amount of daily trade takes place in this unpoliced, dangerous area, where live “outsiders” (foreigners too poor to lodge in the Lower City, farmers, dabblers in unwanted or illegal trades, and the lawless).
The Outer City threatens to overwhelm visitors to Baldur’s Gate. On any given day, a passerby could encounter packs of stray dogs, people hawking wares, stable hands fighting over potential customers, braying animals penned near the road, flocks of chickens and geese, beggars raising their hands and mumbling in unknown tongues, and a riot of pungent scents. Patriars who need to run this gauntlet do so inside closed and curtained carriages filled with fresh-cut flowers or perfumed cushions. Other visitors carry a handkerchief dipped in rosewater or a cut citrus fruit shipped in from Calimshan. Folk who live in the Outer City just get used to it.
Unlike in the Upper and Lower cities, the Outer City’s days and nights are much the same. People live in shifts and sleep when they can, so their filthy surroundings are always bustling. For instance, although Hulthar the swordmaker might be unavailable at a particular time of day or night, several of her competitors will be open for business then.
Noisy and Noisome: Businesses considered to be public nuisances because of the sounds or smells they produce are prohibited within the walls of the city, so the Outer City houses the Gate’s loudest and smelliest trades. Butchers, blacksmiths, tanners, dyers, masons, animal breeders, and fullers all ply their trades outside the walls and sell their merchandise inside the city’s fortifications. The most successful tradespeople have Lower City shops to which they bring their goods; the rest end up selling their wares in the Wide. Of course, sales to Outer City residents are handled directly, thereby avoiding the city’s taxes and tolls.
Despite the reduced costs of operating in the Outer City, merchants still take their best wares inside the walls, leaving the poorest districts to serve as marketplaces for substandard, defective, or stolen goods. Crime pays well in the Outer City, where pickpockets are rampant; undercloak slavers buy, drug, and hide new “stock”; and sellers of poisons make a killing.
Stockyards, Stables, and Storage: Due to the city’s narrow and steep streets, and the patriars’ desire to keep Baldur’s Gate clean, no animals larger than a peacock are allowed within the walls. (The beasts most often seen in the city are cats, both domesticated and feral ones. Baldurians believe it’s bad luck to kill a cat, especially since they help to control the ever-present influx of shipborne vermin.)
This ban on large animals means that Outer City establishments are responsible for receiving caravans, unloading goods into warehouses for later portage into the city, and stabling horses and beasts of burden. In addition, flocks of sheep and goats and herds of horses, pigs, and cattle available for purchase are penned in paddocks along the Trade Way. The Flaming Fist pays some Outer City stables and liveries to maintain groups of horses and mules that are kept in reserve for when the mercenary company’s members need to ride out.
Culture Cauldron: Baldur’s Gate does not take sides in the conflicts of other nations and city-states. Nor does it form grudges or permanent alliances based on the Flaming Fist’s actions outside the city. This policy of noninvolvement has earned the city a not-quite-deserved reputation for tolerance and has made it a magnet for refugees looking to escape wars and other disasters.
Battles in Calimshan have driven many of that nation’s people north. In fact, the Calishite immigrant population has built a walled-in village in the traditional Calishite style. Baldurians took to calling it Little Calimshan, and the residents eventually adopted the name for themselves.
Similar but smaller communities dot the Outer City, giving immigrants of different sorts pockets of their homeland in which to rest their heads and weary souls. Halflings exclusively occupy a larger tenement on Wyrm’s Crossing; several half-orcs who work as porters have taken lodgings in Stonyeyes; shield dwarves do farrier and ironsmithing work in Blackgate; and gnomes in Whitkeep perform most of the city’s tinsmithing.
The Guild: Like any other conclave of thieves, the Guild tries to keep a low profile, and much of its effort inside the walls deals with policing crime so that the illicit activities don’t draw too much attention. The criminal organization doesn’t rule the Outer City in anything resembling the same way, but it’s the only group that has any significant control in the area. Many Outer City businesses and residents pay protection money to the Guild. In return, these cooperative establishments and people are marked with a special sign as off limits to would-be burglars or vandals, and the Guild makes an effort to hunt down anyone who flouts its decrees. Pleading ignorance earns offenders nothing.
Tibi doesn't know Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate, nor where they hang out. Though it is highly likely that any of the footpads and petty thieves in the district work for the gang in some manner. He could easily make some contacts if needed. A balancing act would be needed, keeping the Guild out of the business of Acquisition's Inc without having to pay extortion money, er rather protection money. Where on that balance is something that will need to be addressed as circumstances play out. But a few discreet hand motions in Thieves' Cant.
Amazed at the vibrancy of the city Tibi just looks around in amazement bowing to ladies left right and centre with a flourish. What if anything does he know about Shar and his crew such as where they might hang out?
Tibi doesn't know Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate, nor where they hang out. Though it is highly likely that any of the footpads and petty thieves in the district work for the gang in some manner. He could easily make some contacts if needed. A few discreet hand motions in Thieves' Cant would likely identify members of the gang if they chose to answer him.
Whistler walks through the outer city. His keeps a casual appearance, but upon closer inspection his eyes are constantly darting around keeping any eye out for any signs of danger or untoward attention in their direction.
After a while, Whistler lets out a whistle to get the attention of one of the children. (Looking for an urchin or something similar that could pass on a message)
OOC: My intention is to use my background feature - details in spoiler below - to find two things. Details about the attack on our HQ and possible blackmarket dealer for rare and unique items.
I can craft a message when i know to what degree this can be fulfilled, if at all.
As Whistler makes his way through the Outer City he does not see any signs that anyone from his network is at work in this area.
OoC: I was also thinking about attaching some concrete details to Darvin's background feature, in the spoiler. His half-elf face would likely have some Calishite features; the original Darvin had the surname "Rein". I'm also thinking he might have a persona as an aristocrat of some kind; probably with some forged documentation of residence in the upper city? I'm not sure how much he would know about all of that, though.
Feature: False Identity
You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting you are trying to copy.
Nothing you find in the outer city meets your immediate needs. Any attempt by Tibi to identify members of the gang either fails or is not answered. Seeking higher quality goods and an opportunity to buy and sell items that the meager shops in the Outer City you make your way through the Black Dragon Gate and find yourselves in the Wide. The Watch at the gate allows you passage so you may enter the huge open market area known as the Wide.
The Wide, a sprawling marketplace, is the eponymous landmark of this Upper City district. Its reputation as a thriving crossroads of trade spans the Sword Coast and stretches as far east as Thay. During the day, the steamy aroma of roasted, spiced meats mixes with the wet, earthy smell characteristic of Baldur’s Gate. Bright, multicolored awnings cover stalls in which tools, textiles, foods, luxuries, oddments, silks, scarves, tobacco, Shining South spices, and all manner of creature comforts from every corner of Faerûn are bought and sold. Prices are lower in the Wide than elsewhere in the Gate, which means negotiations are usually sharper. Not all merchants here are in the commodities trade. Tattoo artists, fortune tellers, sages, hedge wizards, astrologers, and poets also work in the Wide. At tables throughout the market area, Baldurians mingle to debate city affairs, philosophize, gossip, and conduct business and trade.
Meanwhile, strong, young delivery-makers bull through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds heading to and from stalls. If not for the tall poles they wear strapped to their backs and shoulders, the goods carried by these young males and females would be easy targets. Atop the poles, out of a human-sized person’s reach, swivel and sway baskets and crates full of goods. Seldom do these top-heavy poles collide and become entangled. But when they do, a row inevitably ensues. As soon as pole-carters leave the open air of the Wide and enter less crowded city streets, they lower their merchandise to street level lest enterprising bandits lean out second-story windows to strip them of their wares.
The Beloved Ranger statue is the only permanent structure in the marketplace. All others are collapsible, movable, pitchable, or temporary. Competition for the best stall locations is fierce. Upper City merchants have the upper hand, of course, as do those with plenty of cash to grease the palms of the bailiff of the Wide, his officers, Watch soldiers who provide security, and the dozens of other outstretched hands bearing permits, charters, and signet rings of office. A prime location in the Wide can turn so much profit that almost any amount of graft is justified in obtaining it. The Wide’s market area constitutes nearly half of the district that bears the same name. High-class shops, well-heeled merchants’ residences, trading and insurance offices, the sages’ and traders’ guildhalls, the Undercellar’s public entrance, and Ramazith’s Tower fill out the rest of the district.
A statue of a powerful warrior in plate armor stands in the Wide. Far from being the typical grim guardian, this warrior wears an enthusiastic grin and cradles a hamster in his hands. The late Orburt Lewel, an eccentric textiles merchant, erected the statue about seventy years ago. According to legend, the featured figure is Minsc, a dull-witted but brave warrior of Rashemen who saved Lewel’s life from some forgotten danger. The hamster is Boo, a pet that Minsc referred to as a “giant pygmy space hamster.” The quirky statue is a favorite landmark and meeting spot in the ever-changing sea of market stalls, both because it’s easy to spot and because Baldur’s Gate loves its peculiar characters.
As you wander the Wide looking at the stalls and the goods Whistler does recognize a symbol on a cart selling spices that a potential contact with is present.
Tibi also sees the work of those of his profession at work, and the occasional stall or cart that offers more than what is offered there in the Wide.
Gil would look around excitedly, bouncing from cart to stand to shop. "This place is amazing. I bet if I had setup my cart here, sales would have been extraordinary!" Tue small verdan would exclaim before an expression of sadness washed across his face for a moment. Then, shaking his head and slapping himself in the face with his ears, he would hunt of any kind of shopt or stand specializing in magical goods and reagents, as well as a shop that might want to buy a magical weapon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Gil would look to Darvin before pulling out his jewelers kit. "Well I suppose that is fine.. " The small Verdan would say as he holds each gem up to his eye... and examines them under a magnifying glass before putting all but four of them gems into the chest, separating them into different bags depending on what type of gem is inside. "Here Issen... Here is two hundred gold worth of gems. That should cover our monthly expenses and a guard for the month!" Gil would say with a smile. "If you all want some of these gems to go with your share of the coin, that is fine with me! Otherwise I will add them to the group loot and occasinally try to sell them for a little additional coin" Gil would say with a wink as he puts his jewelers kit away.
Gil would toss the Tankard to Darvin as he packs up the items, putting things into the chest and attaching his lock before sliding it into his bag of holding. "Do any of you want anything else out of here before I pack it up? I have a few things I would like to buy with my share of our profits and I am sure you all would like to make some purchases as well before we take our next job!" The verdan would exclaim excitedly.
Whistler just shakes his head at the offering of the tankard with a small smile. He does gesture to the town, but not being really sure how to indicate what he means, he goes quite for a a few moments. He speaks in Tibi's voice. "I propose to go out tonight to see what we can do about convincing these gangs it is really not in their best long term interests to assume we are an easy target. Who is with me?”
After repeating what Tibi said, he follows with a nod and gestures to the town, trying to say he thinks that is what they should do next.
Character Fluff
Wherever possible, I try to play Whistler as the silent type, even considering his mimicking abilities. But by having him speak up, i am trying to show that he is feeling more comfortable with the group. He will still be silent and communicate in others ways normally but he may speak a little bit now.
Gil would grab his portion of the gold and place it in his coin pouch tied securely to his belt. "Make sure you all grab your share of coin and let's head I to town then." Gilbert would say with a large smile. "Issen, Do you want us to pick anything up while we are out? I plan to pick up some spell components to put an arcane lock on the door to our office, as well as a few other places.." Gil would mention rubbing his chin.
a moment taler Gil would grab Whistler's hand and pull him out the door once he had his coin. "Lets go friend! I have never had this much coin before!" he would shout excitedly pulling the kenku out the front door and motioning to the others to follow.
Darvin startles slightly at the sound of Whistler speaking in Tibi's voice, but nods and smiles in response to him. Scooping up the tankard and his share of the cash, he strides toward the door.
Once they are in town and have the opportunity to stop by some shops, Darvin trades in his chain shirt for a shiny new breastplate, buying a rapier and two potions of healing as well.
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
Tibi takes the feather token and sticks it in his hat band next to the green dragon scale “do we know what this thing actually does?”
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond
DM - Four bards walk into a bar...
Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
"Oh! Those tokens are neat. It allows you to cast feather fall on yourself. It only works once but since you like to fly around high in the air, I thought it would be good for you to have it incase something happens to you and you come falling to the ground!" Gil would exclaim on the way to town. "I know the feather fall spell myself, it I very useful. I think you will like that token"
Once Gil passes through the gates of the city, the small Verdan would excitedly move from shop to shop. Eventually he would stop and ask a guard for directions to a magic shop. Once there he would ask to buy some magical ink used for inscribing spells and gold dust. He would then reach into his bag of holding and pull out the large magical greatsword and place it on the table. "Hello friend! I appreciate you selling me those items. I was wondering if you would be interested in buying this magical weapon! It is truly a magical marvel!" The small verdan would say with a smile. "Not only is it capable of piercing the thickest hide of the most resistant monsiters... but I believe it was forged in a dark demi-plane known as the upsidown!... They call this spectacular piece of magical engineering.. Winters Dark Bite.... " Would you be willing to purchase or trade for this spectacular weapon? I would keep it but I am afraid that it is a little too large for me to wield efficiently.." Gil would say looking up to the shop keeper as the top of his head barely crests the counter.
Persuasion!? 11
Gil would buy:
Gold dust x 3 = 75 gold
Materials for copying spells = 50gp (Possibly more if you allow me to keep a stockpile for easy spell copying?)
Spells?
Magic items?
It's late morning when you head out to see about the trouble while you were gone.
Your HQ is located in the Outer City near the Black Dragon Gate that leads into the Upper City. Facing the Outer City neighborhood of Blackgate, Black Dragon Gate is also called the Landward Gate and the Wrist of Baldur’s Gate, the latter being a poetic reference to the city’s shape curving around the harbor like that of a hand grasping for gold. The great Trade Way to Waterdeep and the north passes through Black Dragon Gate.
<Your are in the section of the Outer City on the bottom left of the map which would be just outside the Black Dragon Gate (7) in the second map.
Outside the Upper City, the road extends through miles of sprawling slums, paddocks, cut-rate inns, and stockyards. The gate takes its name from the story about a Knights of the Unicorn adventurer who triumphantly displayed a black dragon’s head above the structure. As the tale goes, a dragon had threatened the city to gain food and gold. A knight hid among the offered tribute, supposedly covering his scent with pig dung, and ambushed the dragon as it slept. After birds picked clean the creature’s head and souvenir hunters snatched most of its teeth, the Council of Four elected to have a sculpted stone black dragon head installed over the gate’s inner entrance. Persistent rumors claim that the head can magically spew acid at attackers during a siege, but no one can prove to have seen it do so.
A large number of warehouse fill this location. A lot of the goods that are moved into the city from along the Trade Way come into the city through these gates. Since horses aren't allowed in the city proper the goods are stored in warehouses and then porters bring the goods in.
Sprinkled throughout the district are other shops, merchants and vendors as well as rundown homes, shacks and whatever else people find to make homes.
There are always kids running the streets, the youngest looking like they are playing while the older they get the more they look like they are up to no good.
You are no fools and you know the area is rough and that the Guild has a presence here. Cutpurses, loan sharks, killers, thugs, con artists, grave robbers, cat burglars—the Guild unites virtually every crime and criminal under one organization’s rule. For more than a century, the greedy, violent, and desperate in Baldur’s Gate have come together to form a fluid hierarchy of loose associations overseen by the Guild’s mysterious leaders.
“The Guild keeps the gutters clean” is a phrase underworld denizens use to refer to the contract killings of wayward Guild members. The metaphor is true in a larger sense as well. The Guild monitors and controls crime in Baldur’s Gate and its environs. Thus, it serves the densely populated city by keeping illicit activities quiet. Much credit is given to the Watch and Flaming Fist for keeping the city’s cobbled streets free of open crime. But bold, daylight robberies and slaughter in the streets would invite too much attention from the authorities, so the Guild has “outlawed” such action unless Guildmaster Nine-Fingers sanctions it.Governing the Guild The Guild is a syndicate of loose-knit groups under the authority of local kingpins. Nine-Fingers and her Lady’s Court head the criminal organization. A web of favors, duties, debts, intimidation, patronage, and gratitude hold the network together.
Each of the city’s districts roughly correlates to one kingpin’s territory. The different gangs and kingpins compete, usually bloodlessly, for influence and territory. Nine-Fingers discourages arson, flagrant murder, and other indiscriminate actions that would anger or kill bystanders or upset the general populace.
The most prominent gangs include Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate; the Bloody Hands in Stonyeyes; Ganthall’s Gallants in Whitkeep, dubbed “Gallant” for never stealing from females; and the Rivington Rats in Rivington.
You easily find a provision shop nearby that provides basic needs. You also find a forge that sells basic armor and weapons. Nothing special but certainly serviceable.
Your inquiries into anything more magical in nature direct you into the Lower City. Any manner of shops and goods can be found in the Lower City.
If you try to enter the Upper City from the Black Dragon Gate you are stopped by the Watch and asked your business before being allowed entrance.
< I have also added a number of map images to the initial post of this adventure. These will be updated if Descent to Avernus provides more/better maps of the city >
(OOC: I can remove my last post if you want. I was trying to do a combination of RP and quickly moving through the buying and selling process)
Go ahead and leave it. We'll make use of it after the others get a chance to post.
Whistler walks through the outer city. His keeps a casual appearance, but upon closer inspection his eyes are constantly darting around keeping any eye out for any signs of danger or untoward attention in their direction.
After a while, Whistler lets out a whistle to get the attention of one of the children. (Looking for an urchin or something similar that could pass on a message)
OOC: My intention is to use my background feature - details in spoiler below - to find two things. Details about the attack on our HQ and possible blackmarket dealer for rare and unique items.
As a faction agent, you have access to a secret network of supporters and operatives who can provide assistance on your adventures. You know a set of secret signs and passwords you can use to identify such operatives, who can provide you with access to a hidden safe house, free room and board, or assistance in finding information. These agents never risk their lives for you or risk revealing their true identities.
I can craft a message when i know to what degree this can be fulfilled, if at all.
Amazed at the vibrancy of the city Tibi just looks around in amazement bowing to ladies left right and centre with a flourish. What if anything does he know about Shar and his crew such as where they might hang out?
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond
DM - Four bards walk into a bar...
Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
"I would like to do our shopping first, that way we have any new equipment we purchase to help us with out..." Gil would look carefully around before whispering to the others "Gang problem" He would say before sidestepping an oblivious half-orc that nearly stepped on him.
Even though the dukes tax the Outer City and nominally rule the area, they rarely exert control over it. Neither the Watch nor the Flaming Fist patrols these povertystricken districts. In times of siege, Outer City residents can flee inside the Gate’s walls—if they’re fast enough. In normal circumstances, Outer City residents must rely on neighbors and friends for justice or pay for the Guild’s protection. Despite this state of affairs, the leaderless Outer City is not ripe for conquest, since the Flaming Fist would brutally quash any such attempt. Thus, even though crime and open violence are commonplace in the Outer City, people are still able to do business.
The Outer City sprawls without rhyme or reason, its muddy streets a tangle of shanties, forges, tanneries, dye works, slaughterhouses, stables, stockyards, paddocks, and dung heaps. Its layout and architecture are a mess of unregulated construction and styles. Many buildings are made of wood or wattle. A significant amount of daily trade takes place in this unpoliced, dangerous area, where live “outsiders” (foreigners too poor to lodge in the Lower City, farmers, dabblers in unwanted or illegal trades, and the lawless).
The Outer City threatens to overwhelm visitors to Baldur’s Gate. On any given day, a passerby could encounter packs of stray dogs, people hawking wares, stable hands fighting over potential customers, braying animals penned near the road, flocks of chickens and geese, beggars raising their hands and mumbling in unknown tongues, and a riot of pungent scents. Patriars who need to run this gauntlet do so inside closed and curtained carriages filled with fresh-cut flowers or perfumed cushions. Other visitors carry a handkerchief dipped in rosewater or a cut citrus fruit shipped in from Calimshan. Folk who live in the Outer City just get used to it.
Unlike in the Upper and Lower cities, the Outer City’s days and nights are much the same. People live in shifts and sleep when they can, so their filthy surroundings are always bustling. For instance, although Hulthar the swordmaker might be unavailable at a particular time of day or night, several of her competitors will be open for business then.
Noisy and Noisome: Businesses considered to be public nuisances because of the sounds or smells they produce are prohibited within the walls of the city, so the Outer City houses the Gate’s loudest and smelliest trades. Butchers, blacksmiths, tanners, dyers, masons, animal breeders, and fullers all ply their trades outside the walls and sell their merchandise inside the city’s fortifications. The most successful tradespeople have Lower City shops to which they bring their goods; the rest end up selling their wares in the Wide. Of course, sales to Outer City residents are handled directly, thereby avoiding the city’s taxes and tolls.
Despite the reduced costs of operating in the Outer City, merchants still take their best wares inside the walls, leaving the poorest districts to serve as marketplaces for substandard, defective, or stolen goods. Crime pays well in the Outer City, where pickpockets are rampant; undercloak slavers buy, drug, and hide new “stock”; and sellers of poisons make a killing.
Stockyards, Stables, and Storage: Due to the city’s narrow and steep streets, and the patriars’ desire to keep Baldur’s Gate clean, no animals larger than a peacock are allowed within the walls. (The beasts most often seen in the city are cats, both domesticated and feral ones. Baldurians believe it’s bad luck to kill a cat, especially since they help to control the ever-present influx of shipborne vermin.)
This ban on large animals means that Outer City establishments are responsible for receiving caravans, unloading goods into warehouses for later portage into the city, and stabling horses and beasts of burden. In addition, flocks of sheep and goats and herds of horses, pigs, and cattle available for purchase are penned in paddocks along the Trade Way. The Flaming Fist pays some Outer City stables and liveries to maintain groups of horses and mules that are kept in reserve for when the mercenary company’s members need to ride out.
Culture Cauldron: Baldur’s Gate does not take sides in the conflicts of other nations and city-states. Nor does it form grudges or permanent alliances based on the Flaming Fist’s actions outside the city. This policy of noninvolvement has earned the city a not-quite-deserved reputation for tolerance and has made it a magnet for refugees looking to escape wars and other disasters.
Battles in Calimshan have driven many of that nation’s people north. In fact, the Calishite immigrant population has built a walled-in village in the traditional Calishite style. Baldurians took to calling it Little Calimshan, and the residents eventually adopted the name for themselves.
Similar but smaller communities dot the Outer City, giving immigrants of different sorts pockets of their homeland in which to rest their heads and weary souls. Halflings exclusively occupy a larger tenement on Wyrm’s Crossing; several half-orcs who work as porters have taken lodgings in Stonyeyes; shield dwarves do farrier and ironsmithing work in Blackgate; and gnomes in Whitkeep perform most of the city’s tinsmithing.
The Guild: Like any other conclave of thieves, the Guild tries to keep a low profile, and much of its effort inside the walls deals with policing crime so that the illicit activities don’t draw too much attention. The criminal organization doesn’t rule the Outer City in anything resembling the same way, but it’s the only group that has any significant control in the area. Many Outer City businesses and residents pay protection money to the Guild. In return, these cooperative establishments and people are marked with a special sign as off limits to would-be burglars or vandals, and the Guild makes an effort to hunt down anyone who flouts its decrees. Pleading ignorance earns offenders nothing.
Tibi doesn't know Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate, nor where they hang out. Though it is highly likely that any of the footpads and petty thieves in the district work for the gang in some manner. He could easily make some contacts if needed. A balancing act would be needed, keeping the Guild out of the business of Acquisition's Inc without having to pay extortion money, er rather protection money. Where on that balance is something that will need to be addressed as circumstances play out. But a few discreet hand motions in Thieves' Cant.
Tibi doesn't know Shar’s Serpents in Blackgate, nor where they hang out. Though it is highly likely that any of the footpads and petty thieves in the district work for the gang in some manner. He could easily make some contacts if needed. A few discreet hand motions in Thieves' Cant would likely identify members of the gang if they chose to answer him.
As Whistler makes his way through the Outer City he does not see any signs that anyone from his network is at work in this area.
"Let's get to the lower city! I can't wait to spend some coin!" Gilbert would say almost skipping ahead of the group.
OoC: I was also thinking about attaching some concrete details to Darvin's background feature, in the spoiler. His half-elf face would likely have some Calishite features; the original Darvin had the surname "Rein". I'm also thinking he might have a persona as an aristocrat of some kind; probably with some forged documentation of residence in the upper city? I'm not sure how much he would know about all of that, though.
You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting you are trying to copy.
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
(( Darvin, send me a PM on what you propose ))
Nothing you find in the outer city meets your immediate needs. Any attempt by Tibi to identify members of the gang either fails or is not answered. Seeking higher quality goods and an opportunity to buy and sell items that the meager shops in the Outer City you make your way through the Black Dragon Gate and find yourselves in the Wide. The Watch at the gate allows you passage so you may enter the huge open market area known as the Wide.
The Wide, a sprawling marketplace, is the eponymous landmark of this Upper City district. Its reputation as a thriving crossroads of trade spans the Sword Coast and stretches as far east as Thay. During the day, the steamy aroma of roasted, spiced meats mixes with the wet, earthy smell characteristic of Baldur’s Gate. Bright, multicolored awnings cover stalls in which tools, textiles, foods, luxuries, oddments, silks, scarves, tobacco, Shining South spices, and all manner of creature comforts from every corner of Faerûn are bought and sold. Prices are lower in the Wide than elsewhere in the Gate, which means negotiations are usually sharper. Not all merchants here are in the commodities trade. Tattoo artists, fortune tellers, sages, hedge wizards, astrologers, and poets also work in the Wide. At tables throughout the market area, Baldurians mingle to debate city affairs, philosophize, gossip, and conduct business and trade.
Meanwhile, strong, young delivery-makers bull through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds heading to and from stalls. If not for the tall poles they wear strapped to their backs and shoulders, the goods carried by these young males and females would be easy targets. Atop the poles, out of a human-sized person’s reach, swivel and sway baskets and crates full of goods. Seldom do these top-heavy poles collide and become entangled. But when they do, a row inevitably ensues. As soon as pole-carters leave the open air of the Wide and enter less crowded city streets, they lower their merchandise to street level lest enterprising bandits lean out second-story windows to strip them of their wares.
The Beloved Ranger statue is the only permanent structure in the marketplace. All others are collapsible, movable, pitchable, or temporary. Competition for the best stall locations is fierce. Upper City merchants have the upper hand, of course, as do those with plenty of cash to grease the palms of the bailiff of the Wide, his officers, Watch soldiers who provide security, and the dozens of other outstretched hands bearing permits, charters, and signet rings of office. A prime location in the Wide can turn so much profit that almost any amount of graft is justified in obtaining it. The Wide’s market area constitutes nearly half of the district that bears the same name. High-class shops, well-heeled merchants’ residences, trading and
insurance offices, the sages’ and traders’ guildhalls, the Undercellar’s public entrance, and Ramazith’s Tower fill out the rest of the district.
A statue of a powerful warrior in plate armor stands in the Wide. Far from being the typical grim guardian, this warrior wears an enthusiastic grin and cradles a hamster in his hands. The late Orburt Lewel, an eccentric textiles merchant, erected the statue about seventy years ago. According to legend, the featured figure is Minsc, a dull-witted but brave warrior of Rashemen who saved Lewel’s life from some forgotten danger. The hamster is Boo, a pet that Minsc referred to as a “giant pygmy space hamster.” The quirky statue is a favorite landmark and meeting spot in the ever-changing sea of market stalls, both because it’s easy to spot and because Baldur’s Gate loves its peculiar characters.
As you wander the Wide looking at the stalls and the goods Whistler does recognize a symbol on a cart selling spices that a potential contact with is present.
Tibi also sees the work of those of his profession at work, and the occasional stall or cart that offers more than what is offered there in the Wide.
Gil would look around excitedly, bouncing from cart to stand to shop. "This place is amazing. I bet if I had setup my cart here, sales would have been extraordinary!" Tue small verdan would exclaim before an expression of sadness washed across his face for a moment. Then, shaking his head and slapping himself in the face with his ears, he would hunt of any kind of shopt or stand specializing in magical goods and reagents, as well as a shop that might want to buy a magical weapon.