History of Baldurs Gate

[Chronis]

Hello I am working on a mod and find that I am in need of the history of the Baldurs Gate area.

 

Anyone have an idea of what the area around Baldurs Gate have looked like back when Durlag was building his tower.

 

Specifically would Baldurs Gate have been a small fishing village?

 

Friendly Arm a Bhaal stronghold?

 

Ulcaster School a thriving school of magic?

 

Firewine bridge still a ruin?

 

Other interesting thigs that would have been different at that time?

 

Thanks,

Chronis

[Lemernis]

You'll probably get the most help on this at the Candlekeep forums. I know Ed Greenwood has provided fans there with a considerable amount of information regarding the Sword Coast's history. If it is from setting creator Ed Greenwood consider it canon, even if it's only shared on a website versus in a publication.

 

You probably already know this, but the most detailed published canon info (at least that I'm aware of) for Durlag's Tower is found in Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (Note: if you don't already own it, you might want to Google the title and see what you find; every so often someone out there on the worldwide web hosts a .pdf like this for their gaming group.) "Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate" which is included in the BG1 manual is another canon source book for the Sword Coast region. (Apparently it's available for free via Librarything.com (here's a review of that service), otherwise try Ebay.)

 

You may have your work cut out for you. What other points of interest in the region were like at that time depends on when Durlag's Tower was built, of course. At Candlekeep in his "Questions for Ed Greenwood" thread, Ed has provided quite a bit of background on the origins of the city of Baldur's Gate and Ulgoth's Beard. I'm honestly not sure what else he has detailed for the region at the Candlekeep site. Hopefully the good folks at Candlkeep can glean through what Ed has shared about the region's history and link his posts, or repost the info. If you ask him these questions yourself you'll likely not see an answer for well over a year (at least), if at all. He has a huge backlog of fan questions, and only a number of them will ever get answered.

[Chronis]

Thanks that helps a lot. I did not know about Volos guide to the sword coast online. Found it online and that does the trick

 

Kirinhale says she has been trapped in Durlags tower for 300 years so I know it is at least that old.

 

Ulcaster founded a little more 300 years ago.

 

Firewine was a functioning bridge about 200 years ago.

 

Friendly Arm was a Bhaal Stronghold less then 50 years ago.

 

That will do for what I need. Thanks for the help.

[Lemernis]

A mod like that might be interesting to try with NWN or NWN2, btw.

 

Interesting that a mage school all the way up in the savage wilds of the Sword Coast caught the attention of wizards all the way down in Calimshan. I guess whatever Ulcaster was working on must have raised some eyebrows.

[Chronis]

Yeah more details on the fall of Ulcaster might be interesting.

 

I am working on making Kirinhale a joinable character in BGI. Since she was around 300 + years ago I figure she would have something to say about these things.